Cyrus Solaris
I left Voen he was while sleeping
I hadn't slept in three days since. Growing my totem count wouldn't have been possible if Voen were still with me.
Our deal was done.
No goodbyes, no lingering words. I already wasted enough time on him. The only upside was the blade I managed to carve from the stag's horn.
It was currently the third night. I had found some success the night before stealing totems from students who were sleeping, increasing my total to twenty. Compared to first place, my score was meaningless.
One hundred was the top score, likely from a team effort. Every time I looked at the standings, my jaw throbbed, sore from grinding my teeth at the leaderboard. I knew my uncle's guild was watching; even with my mother's last name, he would know who I was. I was doing a horrible job of displaying what was coming for him.
I needed to change that.
Darting from branch to branch, high up in the forest. A sudden ripple in space caught my attention, a human-sized distortion.
Based on the distortion, the body was stationary. The closer I got to the source, the more I could feel a faint hum of cosmic energy permeating. My next target was acquired. I slowed my movements, reducing the noise I made brushing past leaves.
When I arrived, it was just as I expected. I knelt next to the student and realised the boy was sleeping. As I was rummaging through his dimensional storage, I found it weird that the kid didn't stir or even wake up. My past targets did.
Curious, I examined the student's core. I noticed his reserves were nearly depleted. I tried to sense the camera that should be following him, but it wasn't close; instead, it hovered far into the moonlight.
I wondered whether the staff would get him, since he was in rough shape. But I pushed the thought aside when his body stirred. I went through his dimensional storage, hoping for an easy score; sadly, my strategy bore no fruit. No totems.
As I deactivated the student's dimensional storage, I felt several new distortions in gravity around me. Several distortions bent the air between the trees. Shapes moved inside them, fast, coordinated.
Another chance to collect some totems.
I darted from tree to tree in pursuit of my prize. I needed totems. This was my chance to gain some momentum.
When I arrived at the source of the distortions, a few things caught my eye. Five students circling another student like a pack of wolves, but all I saw was six totems. Channeling cosmic energy into my legs, I exploded down from my perch.
Hurtling through the air, one of the students from the pack noticed me, the astral tattoo on his arm glowing green. Before I knew it, an invisible force smacked me out of the air, sending me crashing down into the ground. Whatever hit me gravisence didn't pick up, a troubling situation.
"Hey guys, looks like we got another. Stravos is gonna love this," the kid said, another force striking me in the chest, pushing me further back into a nearby tree.
I had no words for them, the announcement of that name driving me further into rage. He was powerful enough to have others do his work for him. Whatever little empire he was building, I was going to crush it.
Quickly, I commanded cosmic energy into my astral tattoo, activating gravity well. I visualized my field of gravity growing to encompass everyone present. As everyone slammed into the ground, I couldn't help but laugh as their confident looks turned to terror.
Swiftly, I made my way toward the kid who struck me out of the air. Without a second thought, I broke the arm his astral tattoo was on. I saw his mouth move, but I didn't hear a thing; my mind was in a tunnel of pure focus, fighting back the fatigue.
Only two seconds were left of gravity well.
I desperately went for his partner, who was five feet away. As my ability faded, I felt a crunch, pulling my hand away from his partner's calf.
Just as I was about to activate gravity well again, I was hit with another invisible force, knocking me off my feet and slamming me into the dirt. Upon impact, I felt the wind leave my lungs and a rib crack. Pain radiated throughout my abdomen as I struggled to my feet, my vision blurred.
I waited for the familiar warmth of my relic to mend the damage.
Nothing happened.
Right.
Gramps took it.
Just had to teach me a lesson, huh, Gramps.
My vision returned, and I saw the three remaining students were attacking a girl, the same girl with the third-highest score. Looking at them, they evaded and attacked the girl as if they were performing a choreographed dance.
Each one glided as if weightless, sending invisible bursts of energy toward the girls' earthen shields that were conjured. All of them were impressive. Far more than the grunts of the Lux Tenebris, I fought in the Valador region.
Biting back pain, I coiled my body, sending cosmic energy to my legs. I launched into the air, serpentine and fast.
Shooting through the air, I activated gravity well. One of the hovering members crashed to the ground. Quickly, I let my momentum carry me to the next tree and pushed off the trunk, diving straight for him.
I grimaced and twisted my torso, driving a punch with all the force I could muster. Just as gravity well expired, my fist slammed into the ground where my target had been. The blow punched a shallow crater, but the kid was gone.
Dust and rubble obstructed my vision. It was harder to maintain gravisense; my brain was slowly drifting deeper into a fog of disorientation, and my breath became labored. I had to finish this fast.
Suddenly, I felt a distortion in the ground beneath me. Quickly, I jumped to the left to evade whatever was coming, but I crashed into a slab of rock that appeared out of nowhere. My shoulder shifted out of place, and I howled as water pooled in my eyes.
Writhing in pain, I tried to get away from the distortion coming for me, but I couldn't move my feet. Looking down, they were ankle deep, trapped in the earth. Standing in front of me was a girl with red highlights and dark bronze skin.
"Was that you screaming like a little girl?" the girl said as a boulder went flying toward me.
I augmented my good arm with cosmic energy and struck through the rock. But as I did, a ripple in space shivered from her spot again. Nothing came, and she vanished from sight. I looked all around me. The three other students who were attacking her were also imprisoned, pinned to the ground, arms and legs immobilized.
My camera slowly descended to my right, invading my personal space as it filmed my defeat.
I raised my hand to slap it aside, but then the ground rippled with one last distortion, right beneath me. The earth began to bulge, and a hand shot out, layered in rocks coming straight for my face.
With my augmented hand, I swatted her strike aside, but she twisted with the momentum, slamming her heel into my gut. The impact hit like a mountain, instantly knocking me out of my gravisense state.
My mouth watered, and my stomach lurched forward. A rancid smell now assaulted my nostrils. Looking down, I saw the remnants of the stag meat I ate earlier.
"You know, those kids from the Kazehoshi clan and their wind attacks were troublesome. I don't know if I would have been able to take them all on, so thanks for the ambush," the girl said as she commanded a stump to sit on.
A dry heave cut between my words, "Not my intention."
"Well, your recklessness didn't do you any favors," she said as she rested her chin on her hand.
"Wait, aren't you the kid who scored higher than me? What was your name again, Shilo? Pyrus? Sorry, I'm bad with names."
"Ladies first."
A lul hung in the air.
"Mira," she said.
"Remember that name. Because from now on, you're beneath me."
"So what is your name?"
I raised my head and looked her into her amber eyes, and released a deep exhale.
"Gravity well."