Chapter 297 - Pit Fighter (Patreon)

Zeke had always considered himself a serviceable fighter. Even going back to his Earth years, he’d harbored the idea that, if he were ever really pushed, he’d come out on top in any physical altercation. That notion had been supported during his time in the Mortal Realm, where he’d pummeled thousands of enemies into submission. However, he’d rarely fought against truly specialized opponents of the sort who’d spent their entire lives in pursuit of martial perfection. And when he had, he’d leaned against his path for insight into how to come out victorious.

As Zeke faced off against Eta, he couldn’t help but wonder if his development had been woefully stunted. Despite looking like she’d been made of gnarled and twisted roots, the dryad moved with easy fluidity as she stepped forward, her hands raised in a fighting pose. So focused on those hands was he that, when her foot lashed out with frightening speed, Zeke was taken by complete surprise. Still, he managed to twist away just in time to avoid having his ribs caved in; instead, her sharp, bark-covered skin barely clipped him.

Even so, the attack scraped him down to the bone.

Instinctively, Zeke reached for [Metallurgical Repair], but as he always did when he was in the mining camp, he’d reinstituted the restrictions of his bindings, so the skill remained quiet. However, a surge of earth attuned mana still responded to his call, giving him a boost of energy. It didn’t heal him, but it did provide an overall enhancement to his body, making him feel stronger and more durable than he otherwise could manage without skills.

“An attunement?” Eta gasped. “Aren’t you just full of surprises?”

“Guess so,” Zeke muttered, still hesitant to take the fight to Eta.

“Well, you showed me yours,” she said. Then, without warning, a green mist erupted from her bark. To Zeke, it felt vibrant and full of life; by contrast, his own attunement gave the predictable impression of infinite stoicism. Smirking, she continued, “It would be rude not to show you mine as well.”

“Nature?” he asked.

“Naturally,” she punned. “Yours?”

“Earth.”

“How fitting in this setting.”

“If you say so,” was his response. Then, without another word, he stepped forward, aiming a jab at her chin. Moving like a snake – or perhaps a vine – she dodged it easily, countering with a quick strike of her own. But this time, Zeke was ready for her speed, and he merely turned so he took the punch on his shoulder. He barely felt the impact, muted as it was by his earth-attuned and incredibly durable flesh.

Judging by her wide-eyed response, Eta clearly hadn’t expected that, but she quickly regained her composure as she rained a series of rapid-fire blows at him. Zeke had no interest in dodging; he wasn’t built like that. Instead, he weathered the attacks by shifting ever-so-slightly in order to protect his most vital areas.

Every now and then, Zeke threw out a heavy blow, but he didn’t seriously expect much from these half-hearted attacks. They were meant only to keep the dryad from getting too comfortable. Then, after a few minutes of back-and-forth, Zeke saw his opening.

It all happened so quickly that he barely even registered what he was doing. He jabbed out, and Eta responded predictably by slapping the blow aside. However, doing so opened her up for the uppercut Zeke had held in reserve.

He held nothing back, instinctively embracing the energy associated with his martial path – or Will, as he’d recently learned it was called – and sent his fist screaming at her chin. A moment before it hit, Eta’s eyes widened, and she tried to dodge. However, she was already overcommitted and off-balance, so she could do nothing to mitigate the damage. The instant before Zeke’s fist collided with her face, he felt something stir, and the green energy of her attunement grew far denser.

But it didn’t matter. Zeke’s fist tore through it like it was nothing, and when his attack landed, it did so with explosive results.

Zeke wasn’t sure if the dryad had bones. After all, she was made of roots and branches, which probably provided her body with all the structure it needed. But one thing was certain – something audibly cracked when his attack landed. More impressively, the dryad’s entire body lifted into the air, sailing higher than the pit’s lip before gravity asserted itself and she came back crashing to the sandy floor.

When she landed, she didn’t move.

Knowing that he’d gone too far, Zeke rushed forward and knelt by her side. He had no knowledge of dryad physiology, but even he could guess that her horribly disfigured face – and the copious amounts of gooey sap leaking for various places – was not a good sign. However, before he could panic too much, Zeke saw that sap start to move. Before his very eyes, the bark in Eta’s face writhed back into place, and within half a minute, everything looked much as it had before the fight had started.

Then, she opened her eyes.

“I…I’m sorry – I didn’t mean –”

Eta grinned, displaying teeth that looked like thorns. “That was more explosive than I expected!” she laughed. “Guess you’re stronger than you look.”

Zeke shook his head and ran his hand through his sweaty hair. He wasn’t some giant, but he’d never been a small man. And years spent traversing the Radiant Isles, fighting, and training had left its mark, packing his body with dense muscle. So, the intimation that he didn’t look strong hurt his pride in a way he didn’t think possible.

Eta pushed herself to a seated position, continuing, “Oh, don’t give me that look.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied.

“Sure you don’t,” Eta said. “Still, I’m pleasantly surprised. The last few new recruits they’ve sent down here were clearly jumped up trash. Sure, they could pummel baby kobolds with the best of them, but none of them were real fighters. And they lasted just as long as you might expect. But you – you’ve got potential.”

“Just potential?” Zeke asked, holding himself back from pointing out that his “potential” had already put her own her back.

“Yes. Potential,” she stated. “A real fighter would’ve taken me down without resorting to Will. Or that attunement of yours. You use those things against the wrong person, and you’ll escalate a fight well past where it’s supposed to go.”

“No control,” came Feran’s voice.

Zeke turned to see the mustachioed possum-man standing above them at the lip of the pit.

Eta agreed, saying, “Yes. Obviously. But that’s not surprising. Not much use for control when you’re fighting for your life.”

“Still…”

Zeke sighed. “I’ve only just started to get a handle of that stuff,” he said. “So, I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

Eta shook her head. “No need for apologies necessary,” was her response as she waved away his statement. “It’s fine. I’m a fast healer.”

That was certainly true; the dryad was already back to pristine condition. The same couldn’t be said for Zeke, who was still missing a few chunks of flesh from his side. With his race’s ability to ignore pain, he barely felt it, but it was still there all the same. He’d have to disable his restrictions and heal himself when he found a little privacy. Until then, he’d just have to suffer in silence.

“Nasty cut there,” said Feran, absent-mindedly twirling his mustache on his finger. It was long enough that he could loop the hair around his fingers a few times before he ran out. “Need a healing pill? We don’t get many ‘round here, but they want us healthy enough to fight, so we get some. Better food than the miners, too. ‘Course, we also tend to die a lot more often, so it kind of evens out.”

Eta rolled her eyes – an altogether disturbing expression, given her body’s composition – saying, “It’s always about the food for you.”

“Dirbles have might appetites, and I ain’t gonna apologize for the way I’m made,” he countered.

That was right – he wasn’t a possum-man. Rather, he was classified as a dirble, which was just one of the many races of creature in the Eternal Realm. Zeke had no idea how many there were, but he suspected that trying to count them would take quite some time.

Eta pushed herself to her feet, then offered a hand to Zeke. He took it, and she hauled him upright before saying, “Come on. We’ll show you around.”

With that, they climbed out of the pit and started the tour. The chamber wasn’t as large as the mining camp, but it had many of the same facilities. There was a barracks, a food line, and, of course, the pit. There was also a series of caves that Eta referred to as meditation chambers. Apparently, that was how most people advanced their paths and, to a lesser extent, their attunements. If they had one, which wasn’t that common. Most people had to grow far more powerful to have that opportunity.

“So, what level are you?” asked Eta as she showed him his cot. It was an upgrade over the pallet he’d been given back in the mining camp.

“Uh…thirty-five,” he said.

She stopped in mid-stride, but it took her a moment to turn around and say, “What did you say?”

“I’m level thirty-five.”

“That…that’s not possible.”

“Um…I don’t know what to tell you,” Zeke said. “That’s my level. Why? What’s wrong?”

Feran, who’d been following along, said, “What’s wrong, he asks. Boy, what level do you think Eta is?”

“I have no way of knowing,” Zeke stated.

“Guess.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. About the same level as me,” he said, though he was being a bit generous. If he’d gone all-out, he would have wiped the floor with her. Plus, so long as he didn’t make any huge mistakes, she couldn’t really hurt him much. After fighting the bronze golems, she seemed incredibly weak.

On top of that, she seemed like an agility-focused fighter, but her speed couldn’t even compare to Talia’s. And that was before the ascension. Now, after getting the boost of gaining a class, plus whatever else she’d managed to gain in the new world, there would be no comparison.

Feran laughed. “She’s past fifty,” he said. “So am I.”

That didn’t make sense. The two were of a level with the golems? But if Eta had fought one of the living statues, Zeke guessed that she’d have ended up dead. Of course, he wouldn’t have been in any better position if he hadn’t had access to his skills. Without [Metallurgical Repair], he wouldn’t have had a chance against the things.

But would that be the case in twenty more levels? Zeke had no way of knowing, but he suspected that wouldn’t be the case. In twenty levels, he’d be significantly stronger, faster, and more durable. No – once he reached that level, those golems would still be difficult, but they would be beatable, even without his skills. He was sure of it.

Which didn’t make sense – not to Zeke, and certainly not to Feran or Eta. To hammer that home, Eta said, “I don’t understand.”

“Are you some scion of an ancient clan of warriors?” Feran asked.

“What would someone like that be doing here, you overgrown rodent?” countered Eta.

Feran shrugged, saying, “No idea. Training? A rite of passage? Maybe he ran away…”

“He clearly has the backing of –”

“I’m literally right here, guys,” Zeke said, tiring of their bickering. “You can just ask. I don’t think it’s a secret, anyway.”

Feran raised one bushy eyebrow and asked, “So? What is it? Are you a prince in disguise?”

“No,” Zeke said. “Furthest thing from it, actually. I’m…I guess I’m kind of new here.”

“Explain,” prompted Eta.

“Well, I ascended from the Mortal Realm,” Zeke stated. “I’d only been in this world for a short time when the dwarves captured me.”

“Wait, what?” said Feran.

But before Zeke could answer, Eta spoke up, “The Mortal Realm. That…I’ve never met an ascender…”

“Well, now you have” Zeke said. “Is it really that big of a deal?”

“It is,” she stated. “In some cultures, they are more common. But among others, ascenders are seen as a threat. They…you have far more potential than a native, and that frightens those in power. In some places, that can be a death sentence.”

“That’s…that’s ridiculous,” Zeke said.

Eta agreed, adding, “Potential should be nurtured. That’s how it’s always been with my people. But all races aren’t the nurturing types. Troll tribes, orc hordes, and even some of the human kingdoms actively hunt ascenders. Shortsighted and misguided, but so it is.”

“What does this mean for me, though?”

“It means that you should keep this to yourself,” she advised. “Some might suspect that you’re different based on the power you’ll have to display, but…”

“Easily dismissed by saying that he’s had some unique encounter that gave him an attunement,” Feran said. “That’ll be enough to explain his strength for a while. We can also help him hide in plain sight by talkin’ up his cultivation.”

“You think that’ll work?” asked Eta.

Feran shrugged. “Probably. The dwarves don’t pay much attention to us, really. So long as we give ‘em what they want, they leave us pretty much to our own devices.” He glanced at Zeke and said, “But you’ll have to spend a lot of time in the meditation chambers. Probably a good thing, ‘cause your control of your Will and attunement are atrocious.”

“Tell me how you really feel…”

Feran spat before saying, “No room for coddlin’ when it comes to self-improvement, boy. Brutal honesty and hard work – that’s what gets results.”

In Zeke’s experience, that was true enough. Sure, there were other ingredients to success, but there was no substitute for focused effort. “I guess that’s right,” he said. “So, where do we start? What do I need to do?”

“So excited,” Feran muttered. “That won’t last.”

“What do you mean?” Zeke asked.

“Nobody likes meditation,” Eta said. “It’s boring and time-consuming. Most of us here are action-oriented, so that kind of thing tends to be difficult for us.”

“You’ll be fine, though!” declared Feran. “Now, follow me. We’ll get you set up right.”

With that, the little dirble led him out of the barracks and to a tunnel across the chamber. The other pit fighters paid them no mind; even the spar in the pit hadn’t drawn much attention. Apparently, that kind of thing was a common occurrence and didn’t warrant anyone’s notice.

Soon enough, Feran and Eta had guided him to a room that had been cut out of the rock. Feran gestured, saying, “Go in there and concentrate on either your path or your attunement.”

“That’s it?” Zeke asked.

“That’s it. Shouldn’t be hard for you, being as you have an earth attunement and you’re underground, but when it comes to control, there’s no substitute for time,” Feran stated.

“Count yourself lucky,” Eta added. “For me, it’s extremely difficult down here.”

“Not as bad as the air attuned,” Feran argued. Winking at Zeke, he added, “Those don’t last long.”

“Fantastic,” Zeke said, stepping into the chamber. It was less than ten feet wide, and once inside, the low ceiling meant that he had to duck. So, he sat down and focused inward. Of course, he intended to use the chamber for its intended purpose by exploring both his attunement and path, but he expected that he would get far better results in combat. However, there was one aspect of his development that required isolation and silence; he intended to use the meditation chambers to work on his runecrafting so he could finally finish building his level thirty skill.