WIEDERGEBURT Act VI: Chapter 19

While everyone else looked between me and the woman standing on the ceiling in complete defiance of gravity, said woman was grinning.

“I knew you were an interesting boy the moment I laid eyes on you.”

As if gravity suddenly realized it needed to do its job, the woman began falling. She flipped over. Landing on the floor in a slight crouch, the woman stood to her full height, and I realized she was quite a bit taller than I originally expected.

“My name is Kreya,” said the woman with a bright smile. “I’ll be the one testing you lot to see if there’s anyone here who is worth passing.” Her eyes landed on a few of us, and while it might have been hubris, I liked to think she lingered on me longer than anyone else. “The last test will one of combat. This is the Hall of Heroes, after all. Whoever heard of a hero who didn’t know how to fight?”

No one answered her. It was a rhetorical question.

“In the past, initiates would fight each other and the winner would win, but that’s boring.” So saying this, the woman placed her hands on her hips, thrust out her chest, and grinned. “That’s why everyone here will face off against several of my personal disciples.”

As if they had been waiting for this moment, several people suddenly appeared behind the woman. Battle raiments of glimmering silver adorned muscular men and women. Each one possessed a body that appeared as if carved from stone. Strong legs. Thick arms. The woman didn’t have much in the way of a chest, the soft feminism giving way to a powerful physique on par with any man. All of them, men and women, were beautiful in their own way.

Each of them carried a spear.

“I’ll decide who each of you should fight,” Instructor Kreya continued. “The challenge here is not to win but to put on a good show. If I think you have talent, I will allow you to pass. Now then.” She clapped her hands. “Who will be going first? Any takers?”

No one spoke up at first. I thought about it, but I was already standing out. While standing out could serve a good purpose, becoming even more famous might adversely affect my ability to look into Skude and Klaue.

“I will,” Hendral said, walking forward as he reached behind himself to grasp the long spear attached to his back.

“Oh-ho.” Instructor Kreya appraised him with a nod. “Very well. You’ll find Sigrid.”

I flinched when I heard the name, but the Sigrid who walked up to square off against Hendral was not the Sigrid I knew. This one looked like a man if you didn’t look closely. Her dark brown hair was cut in a messy and boyish cut, and she carried a spear in her hand much like her opponent.

“You two can start whenever you’re ready,” Kreya said with a wave of her hand.

Hendral needed no more than that.

The man stomped on the ground and burst forward like a Spiritual Lightning Technique. He was already thrusting his spear before he even reached Sigrid, though this woman did not panic, but calmly received his attack with her own spear. Sparks flew. The force created a gust that slammed into the faces of us watching. I was not affected, but several people screamed in surprise.

After realizing his initial attack failed, Hendral leapt back and thrust out his spear once more, then again several times, each thrust faster than the last. They were all met by Sigrid’s spear. It was like the woman could predict the future.

“The Concept of Time,” I murmured as I analysed her skill. I could see the wisps of Spiritual Power emanating from her eyes like invisible strings latching onto the fabrics of time.

“You have some powerful analytical abilities,” Kreya said. I didn’t know how she’d gotten so close without my presence, but she continued before I could ask. “You’re right. Sigrid has mastered the Concept of Time. Her personal understanding is a little limited, but she has such an incredible grasp on time that she can look .5 seconds into the future.”

As she spoke, Hendral and Sigrid were trading strikes. It looked to me like Hendral was much faster. That speed was useless against Sigrid, who moved half a second before he could make the move. It was just fast enough to make it seem like their speed was equal.

I could see how being able to look .5 seconds into the future would be useful. Battles very rarely lasted more than a few minutes. Most of the battles I had fought in were done within just a few moves. Being able to look into the future meant being able to attack in advance to gain the best possible outcome. It was an advantage few people could fight against.

I wondered how far into the future Durmuz could see.

“Who do you think will win?” asked Tora. “My bet’s on Hendral.”

Instructor Kreya wagged her finger. “Don’t put my student out of the running. I personally trained that girl, so I know what she is capable of better than anyone.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Hendral has already won.”

Instructor Kreya looked back at the battle to see what I meant, and when she did, her eyes widened.

Being able to see into the future was indeed a great ability. That did not mean it was perfect, however. Hendral understood the greatest weakness of someone who could look into the future.

They forgot about the present.

Hendral’s final attack came in the form of multiple spears that appeared several different angles. Sigrid moved back to the avoid the spear thrusts, then ducked underneath the spear that came at her from behind. In her haste to duck, she did not realize that Hendral had set up one more spear at ankle level. It had not been doing anything. It was just hovering there. And that was why she had forgotten about it.

Sigrid tripped, fell onto her backside, and Hendral pointed his spear at the woman.

“I surrender,” Sigrid said with a sigh.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Instructor Kreya whistled. “Looks like this victory goes to Hendral. Congrats. You pass.”

Hendral did not say anything. He nodded once and made his way back into the crowd.

“Anyone else wanna go before I begin calling out names?” asked Instructor Kreya.

“Since the fucking loser put on a show, I can’t let myself be shown up by him.” Tora stepped forward, unsheathed her sword and shield, and moved into the grin. “I’ll be going next.”

“So the daughter of Tyr wants to battle, huh? Well, all right.” Instructor Kreya grinned. “You’ll be battling Noctis here.”

A young man stepped out from the crowd of men and woman lined up. Blond hair. A well-defined jaw. Blue eyes. He looked like something from a fairy tail painting of a prince, the kind that went and rescued princesses in castles and whatnot.

He twirled the spear in his hand and flashed Tora a smile. “I look forward to battling against you.”

“Are fucking for serious?” Tora barked a laugh. “What sort of bullshit pre-battle banter is that? If you’re gonna fucking say something, then say ‘don’t feel angry when I rub your fucking nose through the mud.’ ‘I look forward to battling with you?’ Ha. That’s the kind of cum pussies say.”

Noctis’s face hardened as Tora spewed expletives and insults like it was going out of style--not that I could blame him. This woman had a way with words. And that way was enough to piss anyone off.

Once Instructor Kreya started the battle, Noctis swung his spear and launched a powerful crescent arc of death energy. It looked like a violent black wave. Tora didn’t appear concerned. In fact, the grin on her face widened as she waited until the very last second before making her move.

A single swing of her sword created a small line. It looked like a spatial tear, but I knew the concept she had comprehended was Creation like Hendral. Whatever this line was, the moment the black wave came into contact with it, the darkness was split in half.

Tora swung her sword again, and this time several more lines appeared, but these ones shot forward at a speed so incredible it was like they were teleporting.

Noctis grimaced as he channeled more death energy into his spear and attacked the lines. I soon realized what they were when each one emitted sparks and a squeal as he attacked them. They were runes created from her Spiritual Power.

Runes could be used for many purposes: creating Warp Gates, storage rings, engraving into armor so they could create a barrier to protect the wearer from Spiritual Techniques. The only limitation runes had was what someone could imagine with them.

The runes Tora was using were a combination of several runes that, when combined, meant “cut through death.” A very literal statement and application. The runes only looked like a line before they were so thin.

All the death energy gathering on Noctis’ spear was severed. Fortunately, for him at least, these runes were only useful against the death element. He was able to destroy them with his spear once the element vanished.

Unfortunately for him, Tora had used that moment to close the distance between them. Now she was on the attack with not one or even two weapons, but with four. Two swords and two shields. Tora now had four arms. Both the left and the right sides had a sword and a shield.

“She’s using the Concept of Creation to give herself four arms,” I muttered in disbelief.

It was not a method of combat I would have thought about, but it was perfectly viable. With four arms, she had two methods of defense and two of attack. This gave her far more options than Noctis with his single spear.

Tora swung the sword in her left hand. Noctis blocked it with the butt of his spear, then tried to attack by thrusting the tip forward, but a loud squeal erupted as Tora raised the shield on her right to intercept it. The woman bellowed a battle cry and shoved. Her strength was something else. Noctis was thrown off balance.

While it was clear Tora had the advantage, I had to give Noctis credit. He wasn’t willing to just bend over. Spiritual Power erupted from his body and formed a black as midnight monster that landed on the ground beside him. This creature was like a shadow. It vaguely reminded me of the shadow puppets Skygge had used way back when, but this was made from death energy.

The beast attacked Tora with powerful front paws. Tora swung her swords and created several runes that transformed into a temporary barrier of multi-colored light. The barrier shattered quickly as it was overwhelmed by the more powerful death monster, but Tora was already gone.

She spun around through the air after leaping, landed on the death monster’s back, and used both her swords to carve glowing runes into its shadowy flesh. The creature roared as Tora jumped off. Then it burst into particles of black energy that vanished mere moments later.

Noctis must have been too shocked to respond quickly. The man was given very little time to attack as Tora unleashed her own, a shield bash that slammed into his nose. I winced as blood flew. That attack had definitely been done deliberately to humiliate Noctis. It did the job well too. The man howled in rage as he attacked with reckless abandon, foregoing defense in favor of launching a complete offensive. He didn’t even bother using the Concept of Death anymore.

He might as well hand victory over to Tora.

As Noctis swung his spear down like he was trying to split Tora in half, the woman held both swords up and crossed them. The loud clang of steel on steel echoed as she caught his attack. Her knees bent and her muscles strained, veins bulging along her arms and legs as the ground beneath her cracked. While Noctis might be full of bravado, he was at least strong.

That didn’t mean much.

In the next moment, Tora used the kinetic energy built into her legs to deliver a powerful kick to Noctis’s sternum. As the man stumbled back, she knocked his spear from his grip, and then slammed both shields into his head. Everyone cringed at the noise. Noctis was, perhaps mercifully, knocked unconscious by the blow.

It was a flawless victory.

***

The next few battles were nowhere near as spectacular as the ones that Tora and Hendral fought. None of the other initiates managed to secure victory against the more experienced disciples of Kreya, and the enthusiasm many felt after seeing the first two battles waned.

I was not among those who became worried about victory and defeat. Standing beside Tora, I waited for my turn.

“All right,” Kreya called out after the last battle. “Eryk Vanir. It’s your turn.”

I still felt a little weird about being called Vanir. My marriage papers with Kari, Lin, Fay, and Siv were all Veiger, so I would have preferred going by that name. Despite this, I still walked onto the arena.

It couldn’t really be called an arena in my opinion; it was just a space on the floor that had been cleared out for this battle. At a guess, it was maybe twenty meters long and ten meters wide. This limited how much power someone could use during the fights. If anyone used a major technique that affected a wide area, it could harm the other initiates and disciples watching.

“And let’s see… the one who will fight you is…”

“I would like to fight him.”

A figure stepped forward, his dark skin and dark hair making him look like someone from the Endless Desert. Eyes that were black like obsidian peered at me from a strong face with a masculine jawline. Body clad in platemail, gauntlets, greaves, and wielding a spear, the man before him was the epitome of a hardened warrior.

I felt wary.

It was not his physical appearance that made the hairs on my neck prickle. It was the murderous intent in his eyes, the devious cunning I found. This man would kill me if he had the chance. The problem was I didn’t know who he was.

“Brynjar, you want to fight?” Instructor Kreya furrowed her brow. “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t be participating in these exams. You’re too strong.”

A few people broke into mutterings. I couldn’t hear them at first, but I locked onto a few of the people present and channeled wind chakra into my ear. Broken sentences appeared at first before the words came into crisp reality.

“Isn’t Brynjar the tenth ranking member on the Hero Chart?”

“He is! I heard he beat the former tenth seat so badly the other man was crippled. They say he’s not only powerful, but ruthless too.”

“Who is ‘they?’”

I stopped listening after that. So this man was a member of some ranking chart, probably a chart that lists the top ten most powerful students of the Heroes Hall. He was number ten, meaning there were nine people above him.

“I’m sure he will be fine.” Brynjar flashed a smile. “Don’t worry, Instructor. I’ll hold back.”

Instructor Kreya still looked like she wasn’t sure whether this was a good idea, but I stepped in at this point.

“I don’t mind fighting him,” I said.

“That so? Then I guess it’s fine.” Instructor Kreya sighed like she didn’t care anymore. “You two can fight whenever you are ready.”

Even though the battle had technically started, neither me nor my opinion moved just yet. I was sizing this man up. He had a lot of Spiritual Power. When I used Spiritual Perception, I could see the invisible fluctuations surrounding him, the ripples in space. This man had comprehended the Concept of Space.

“Ever since I saw your competition against Skude, I’ve wanted to fight you.” Brynjar grinned as he spun the spear around with ease. “You won’t be able to use those cowardly tricks that beat Skude here.”

I shrugged. “Skude and I were not fighting. We were hunting. He just happened to make better prey than he did predator.”

Oh? I watched with interest as Brynjar’s face twitched with anger, making me realize this man had some kind of relationship with Skude. Were they friends? Sworn brothers? It was something I would find out later since it could help me fulfill Fray’s request.

I tapped my foot against the ground. Gasps of surprise arose as the stone in the floor surged up, forming a long handle, followed by a thick crossguard, and finally a dull ruler that was about two meters in length. I grabbed the ruler by the handle and pulled, removing it from the floor.

It was heavy. This ruler was made from compressing two tons worth of stone into a two meter blade. However, I raised the blade with my fake arm and swung several times, generating a gust of wind each time.

“It looks like you really do use the seven elements.” Brynjar narrowed his eyes as he set himself in a combat stance. “Let me show you why the elements are useless in a battle between gods!”

The man’s entire form blurred, then vanished into a spatial crack. I didn’t know where he would appear from, so I kept my senses sharp, eyes peeled. My extended perceptions saved my life when I felt him appear over my head. The man swung his spear at me, unleashing exactly sixteen spatial blades. If those touched me, even if I was powerful, they would probably tear me apart.

My transformed into light and vanished. The blades struck the ground and left gouges on the stone. I was no longer there, however, and was instead floating next to Brynjar, swinging my Dragon Tail Ruler with reckless strength.

Brynjar once more disappeared into a spatial crack.

I landed back on the ground, frowned, and tried to think of how I could deal with this man and his ability to teleport at will. First I thought about what his ability was. Since he was manipulating space, he wasn’t “teleporting” so much as linking two places together within the same space. Fray had explained it like drawing two circles on a sheet of parchment, then folding the parchment so the circles touch. If I could find out where the second circle had been drawn, I could preemptively strike before he emerged.

Of course, finding the second circle was a problem.

I sensed movement behind me. Spinning on the balls of my feet, I swung the Dragon Tail Ruler, coating it in a thick layer of death and life energy. Loud howling resounded across the hall as my weapon clashed with Brynjar’s. The stone floor beneath us cracked, unable to handle the stress of so much Spiritual Power. Brynjar’s teeth were grit as he glared at me with hatred blatant in his eyes. I remained calm.

“You seem to hate me a lot, but I’ve never met you,” I said.

“You might not have met me, but I know you quite well,” Byrnjar snarled as he pushed against my ruler. “I saw what you did to Skude, how you humiliated him. I will kill you for that!”

I pursed my lips for just a moment. So my assumptions that Brynjar and Skude were friends rang true. That was good to know.

“Skude brought it upon himself when he insulted me,” I said. “You cannot blame me for returning the favor.”

“I don’t care! I’ll see you dead for what you did to him!”

Clicking my tongue as I leapt back, I avoided a spatial blade that created ripples as it tore apart the atmosphere. This was not the end of Brynjar’s attacks as he sent one blade after another at me. I was forced to once more transform into light and use my incredible reflexes to dodge the attacks, which were too powerful for my meager understanding of life and death to contend against.

I sensed the spatial tear behind me a moment too late. With only enough time to make a minute movement, I shifted my body so Brynjar’s spear came down on my fake arm. The spatial distortions caused my body to revert back into flesh and blood, and my arm was sheered off my body.

Several people screamed. Even Tora looked shocked by the violence being perpetuated upon me, but Instructor Kreya merely narrowed her eyes when she realized something no one else had.

I backed away from Brynjar, who was staring at me with shocked eyes. On the floor was a pile of earth I had used to create my fake arm.

“Your arm,” he muttered.

I gave him a bland smile. “I lost my arm several months ago in battle. That was just a temporary replacement.”

Kneeling on the floor, I summoned more of the stone, which moved up toward the stump of my shoulder like liquid. It attached to my shoulder, then formed an arm. Flames covered the arm a moment later. The arm hardened before it became infused with water for flexibility, lightning to connect the nerve endings, and life to make it moveable. I flexed it for a moment, nodded in satisfaction, and then stood back up.

“Let’s continue,” I said.

Then I disappeared.

Brynjar’s eyes bulged as I vanished into the ground, but he was smart enough not to stay in one place. He disappeared into another spatial crack just as I emerged from the floor to attack him. I didn’t stick around. The moment I missed, I disappeared once more. I waited until I could feel the vibrations of his feet touching the ground, then manipulated the stone.

He probably wasn’t expecting the stone floor he was standing on to widen like a gaping mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth. His loud squawk of surprise even reached me. Despite his shock, he was still able to create a spatial barrier. The jaws closed around the barrier, phasing through it, but leaving Brynjar unharmed.

“You can’t harm me so long as I’m in this barrier!” Brynjar shouted. “This barrier isolates me from the outside world! I’m in my own space right now! Nobody and nothing can harm me!”

It was true. I tried launching several more attacks. Beams of light flew from my hand, flaming swords emerged from my ruler, and death energy swept over Brynjar like a wave, but none of my attacks harmed him. They all harmlessly phased through his body as if he wasn’t there.

But this was fine.

I had already discovered the weakness for this technique.

“You might be isolated in your own space,” I began, “but how long can you maintain that barrier?” Brynjar frowned. I continued. “Also, I might not be able to harm you, but you are still clearly connected to this world in some way since you can see me and talk with me, which means…”

Spiritual Power surged through my body as I called upon the powers of darkness, engulfing the shocked Brynjar in a dark mass of nothing. Through my connection to this darkness, I could sense the man’s sudden fear, and I could hear his screams from inside.

People feared the dark. It was natural. Vision was the most important of the six senses, the one sense almost everyone took for granted the most. For a person who had lived their entire life with sight, having it so suddenly cut off like this was terrifying.

Now I just had to find the spatial crack Brynjar would appear from, and he would appear. I narrowed my eyes and concentrated on sensing the ripples all around me. There were many. Most of them were simple waves of Spiritual Power, but when I narrowed my concentration further, I found the spatial ripples I was looking for. They were like white threads that swirled around a specific area to form a spatial crack.

I swung my Dragon Tail Ruler, infused with lightning. The interlocking segments split apart, forming something similar to chain links as it extended far beyond its original size. Brynjar had just stepped out of the portal and had no time to prepare. What’s more, he’d just been trapped within a dark space and was disoriented. The blunt edge of my weapon slammed into his torso, so hard and powerful that he was lifted off the ground, flew through the air, and slammed onto the floor.

Before he could get back up, I walked over to him, slammed a foot against his chest, and placed the Dragon Tail Ruler on his throat. He was too disoriented and too out of breath to manipulate space. All he could do was stare up at me in shock, fear, and rage.“Give up,” I said in a cold voice that rang across the hall.

Brynjar looked from the sword to me. I stared into his angered eyes with the coldest look I could muster. I didn’t just stare him down. Having faced death and killed more people and beasts than I could count, I suffused all the killing intent I had accumulated throughout my life to overpower his will.

“I… I surrender.” Brynjar looked down and away from me.

I let my sword crumble back into dust and stepped back. This victory was mine.