Safe Zone, The Emperor’s Ascent - 1:54 PM

  After my fruitful talk with Callie, I spent the rest of my day in the arena. There were times when I fought, getting challenged by a few people here or there, but I didn’t try to monopolize the floor. Instead, I opted to give advice where I could. It was always annoying to have some nobody come up and suddenly start critiquing your fighting style so I was pretty happy when most people sought it out.

  Not that I was some nobody, but at the moment only a few hundred people respected me.

  Thankfully, those who approached didn’t seem too bothered by having to do so. The Gemini faction was much more casual about it thanks to Trevor’s session while those from Cancer were a bit more hesitant. They still came, at least. As they listened to my advice, I watched as their aura shifted from doubt to acceptance.

  With all my experience building up fighters, I had faith in my ability to put people on the best path to advancement with only a short conversation.

  <<<>>>

  [[Patron Message]]

  Cancer tells me that Brandon is on his way. Their next floor is the gathering floor, so there’s not much need for him there so long as they don’t go after the bosses. Ishum, his Patron, is fairly happy with the chance to have you spar with him.

  Also, as a head’s up, Sol Ligatus is almost to the boss room. They did the cooperative room earlier with Pisces which made things clear that the psychic head of that faction, Tanvi, really doesn’t like you. Right now they’re competing with Dennis from Virgo, who is absolutely grilling them about your Angelic heritage. Given that he’s a member of the clergy, that’s not surprising.

  <<<>>>

  “Thanks, Sara,” I said to the sky as I accessed the menu and used my token to jump to the front of the line for the next match. The three verse three that was going on shouldn’t take too much longer.

  What she told me about Tanvi made sense. The Indian woman had taken offense to my awareness aura when I had joined the stage in front of the Empire State Building. So much so that she pushed it right back into my body. I had let her do so at the time, but apparently she was looking down on me as a fellow psychic because of it.

  Which was fine. I knew that was one of the potential outcomes. She would either step into the ring and see what would happen or simply avoid me and take potshots from a safe distance. Tanvi was an Aura Gunner, after all; sniping was an important skill of hers.

  I stood up and looked around for Brandon as my thoughts wandered to Bishop Dennis Riggens. He was a good man overall, but a bit too passive for my liking. There was every chance for him to come and greet me, but he was taking his time and gathering more information before doing so. Such as whether I was actually an Angel or if I was just playing one.

  Lucky for him, he had a chance to talk to my crew about it. Unlucky for him, I wasn’t sure what kind of information they’d actually give up. So many of the Patrons saw that I could transform into an Angel and I knew Dennis trusted Virgo, but it was a whole other thing to witness it with your own eyes.

  Once I spotted Brandon, I put the thoughts of the other factions aside and waved at him. He saw me and froze for a moment before coming down.

  The dark skinned man was wide, wearing heavy gray armor. A scar had been cut across his cheek, making it seem like he had an almost perpetual sneer. He was incredibly careful in how he moved to avoid people going up and down the stairs, though his footwork made it seem like he was getting used to a different body. That wasn’t a great look two months into the system, but it was still something we could work with.

  I greeted the man at the edge of the arena with a handshake. “Good to see you, Brandon,” I said.

  “Yeah, you, too,” he said, his voice too soft to match his appearance. “Callie mentioned you wanted to spar with me specifically?”

  “Just a little friendly something to get you started on the path to becoming the best you can be,” I answered. “I’m really only doing one on ones for the faction heads, otherwise I’d be here all day, but seeing as you’re the most powerful fighter Cancer’s got in her faction, I decided it’d probably be better spent with you than Callie. No offense to her, of course.”

  “She can be scary, but she does really just flail around a lot, yeah,” he admitted with a chuckle. “Alright, so what do we need to do?”

  “Just need to wait for this match to…” I trailed off as the match finished when it became a two on one and the latter forfeited. “Looks like we just need to wait for the arena to clear.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Brandon said, shuffling from foot to foot.

  “Relax, it’s just a little spar,” I told him. “You’re going to do just fine. And, if you don’t, then that’s what I’m here for.”

  “Sorry, Ishum had a lot of things to say about you taking down that Reaper, is all,” he admitted nervously. “Ishum is my Patron, by the way.”

  I nodded. “Mesopotamia’s benevolent fire god. He’s a pretty good choice, especially for someone like you.”

  “You know what I can do?” he asked, surprised. “Did Callie tell you?”

  “Nah. I’m a psychic, remember? I know a lot of things I shouldn’t,” I said with a grin and a waggle of my eyebrows before slapping him on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s get out there, ya big Wrecking Ball.”

  Brandon bristled as I called him by his class name, but nodded and swiped open his inventory. I retrieved my Staff of Raphael while he pulled out a riot shield made of some clear material and a red, reinforced selfie stick.

  That got me a chuckle. Not because it was a stupid item, but because it was deceptively powerful. It allowed the wielder to use their abilities through the selfie stick as if it were an elongated limb. In my case, I could lift it high over my head and have objects move telekinetically with that as a starting point instead of keeping it inside my own body.

  For someone like a Wrecking Ball, anything that increased his range was a fantastic addition.

  I sent Brandon the duel request. He took a few seconds to look it over before nodding and accepting, but his face took on a serious quality to it that his scar exacerbated. He was the very picture of intimidation.

  His aura was another story, showing how nervous he was that this wasn’t going to go well. I really couldn’t help but chuckle at the dichotomy, which made both worse as the clock ticked down.

  <<<>>>

  [[Duel!]]

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The duel may now commence!

  <<<>>>

  Brandon hurled himself into action, his metal armor clanking as he ran towards me. Every step he took past the first saw the ground cracking beneath his feet, and every one after the third left small craters in his wake.

  It was really interesting to watch, actually. The phenomenon couldn’t be seen with the eyes, but my awareness aura picked up the flashes of energy coming out of his feet that dispersed immediately, destroying the ground when he kicked off. Each one gave him a small boost to his speed while altering the terrain behind him.

  He held his riot shield in front of him, watching me through the rectangle of tempered glass at the top. His eyes were narrowed and held on me though they darted around my body. No doubt looking for some tricks.

  I didn’t move, just waited.

  A large bundle of energy began to spark around the end of the selfie stick. Just like the ones he had under his feet, it crackled with power ready to be unleashed. Shoring up his shield, he attempted to run into me as he swung.

  Taking a step, I activated the skill I had mimicked from Kayla, Fae Step, to move through the space he was occupying.

  <<<>>>

  [[Skill]]

  Skill Mimicry

  You can mimic a skill that you have seen used. The skill you copy can only be used once per day even if it specifies otherwise, but will persist until you replace it.

  [[Skill]]

  Fae Step

  Teleport a number of feet up to your Dexterity stat once per day. This ability requires line of sight and effect in order to work.

  <<<>>>

  Brandon nearly panicked when I disappeared in sight, but his instincts were good. He swung the selfie stick backhand, and I parried it with the Staff of Raphael. Not at the end where the energy was building up, but in the middle. It went swinging towards the ground and, even though it put him at an awkward angle, he didn’t let go.

  An explosion rocked the arena.

  The small craters he had left behind with his footsteps had been nothing. My Force Field shimmered, nearly broken from protecting me, and between us was a hole the size of a grown man. He was immune to his own explosions, shrapnel excluded, but I needed extra protection.

  Hope permeated Brandon’s aura before he saw me and he realized that I was unharmed. Shifting, he began to swing his riot shield towards me.

  I parried it with the Staff of Raphael before sweeping under and going for his leg. Energy built up around his ankle where I was about to strike, and I activated Shield while leaving my Force Field up. That was going to be important for the lesson.

  My weapon was knocked out of my hand as energy exploded out from around Brandon’s ankle the moment I struck it. The staff was unhurt given the nature of the item, but my opponent didn’t even flinch. I was at a distance that it simply washed over me, dealing minimum damage to my Shield.

  Regardless, I took a step back and Pulled the Staff of Raphael towards my hand. Seeing his chance to deny me my weapon, he stepped in front of it, still facing me. His entire back lit up with energy to protect it, and I let it strike him. A bigger, although weaker, explosion rocked out, and he let this one push him towards me.

  Orbiting the Staff of Raphael, I struck him in the side with enough force to dent his armor. Brandon stumbled, his foot going into the large crater he had caused with his first strike. With the new high ground, I lifted my leg up as if I were going to kick him.

  Funny as it was, Brandon’s explosive energy showed up around his face while the riot shield protected his body. As much amusement as I would have taken to have it literally blow up in his face, I kicked his shield down and jumped, striking him in the chest with my other foot.

  Brandon fell backwards before scrambling to his feet quickly to return to a fighting stance. He lunged for me again, and that’s when I held up my hand.

  “Stop,” I ordered.

  The Wrecking Ball’s movement faltered as he tried to decide whether to listen to me, his enemy, or not, but he did take a step back. “Can we call time outs like that?” he asked, suspicious and confused.

  “I can, not sure about you,” I said cheekily. He frowned, and I nodded towards the selfie stick. “Go ahead and wrap your power around the end of your stick again.”

  “Okay, sure.” His frown deepened, but he did so and held it out. The energy gradually returned, taking about four seconds to return to full power.

  I stepped around the crater and took a closer look. It was a glowing ball of wrath on a stick. Literally.

  “You can see this, right?” I asked, gesturing towards the buildup. He jerked the stick away as if I was going to be stupid and touch it, which was honestly a good reaction.

  “Yeah but… you can, too?” he asked, eyes widening.

  “Psychic,” I said with a wink, tapping my head. “But you should be able to shape it by now, right?”

  “I, uh, yeah,” he answered, stammering slightly. “Only just got the ability when I upgraded after the last scenario.”

  “And why didn’t you?”

  Brandon winced, and he let go of the selfie stick only to catch it again. The energy winked out immediately. It was probably hard for him to keep it active.

  “Well, it’s difficult to do that on the fly,” he said like he was going to get in trouble for giving that answer. “It’s a lot easier to make a big explosion and move on my way. I’m a Wrecking Ball, after all. Big’s kind of what I do.”

  I nodded. The rationale wasn’t too off the mark, at least. “That’s going to be the big thing for you going forward, then,” I replied, gesturing towards my force field that was still out. It was still visible and shimmering due to the damage it had taken. “Because it was a big ball, you couldn’t get through my defenses. I mean, just look at all this wasted potential.”

  When I swept my hand towards the crater, he looked away from me. It took him a moment, but he nodded.

  “There’s a lot of wasted energy there,” he sighed. “That’s… I know it, but shaping it is really hard to do.”

  “Then you need to practice more,” I told him earnestly. When he shot me a look, I snorted. “Brother, I’m a literal psychic that can conjure items out of thin air. You think this was easy for me? No, it took a lot of work.”

  To prove my point, I started Constructing daggers made of purple light all around me before setting them to Orbit. Brandon watched them carefully, but didn’t take it as me attacking him.

  “If you know this is the path you need to take, then it’s extra egregious that you haven’t started yet,” I chastised. “You could have killed me at least twice over through my Force Field if you had shaped the charge even halfway. Not only that, but the ones you’re using for your feet are fairly weak, too. It might just be that you’re conserving energy, but I have a feeling you’re just having, and I’m sure you can guess, shaping issues.”

  Sighing, Brandon nodded. “Shaping every step is way harder than shaping on my body,” he admitted. “You know, on account of frequency?”

  “Understandable.”

  “But if I put too much power into it, then I just blast off! Like a rocket jump. It’s really annoying when I don’t mean to,” Brandon complained.

  “I hear you,” I said, sighing as I dismissed the Constructs and crossed my arms. “Alright, so here’s what we’re going to do. You and I are going to finish out the fight, because people are already starting to get impatient.”

  With a grimace, he looked around at the crowd. Some were behaving while others were booing. “Right. Got it.”

  “Then, I’m probably going to need to clear the boss floor of Tauros.”

  Brandon’s eyes snapped back to me. “Already?”

  I shrugged. “It’s early afternoon. I expect it any moment now,” I said honestly. “But I’m going to leave you with some mental exercises that should help you out before that. Later on, I’m going to have my man Jeff train you in some footwork. He used to do competitions for fencing, and he’s really good at it. If you’re not doing at least, say, 60% shaping by the time the Emperor’s Ascent is over, then I’ll eat my hat.”

  “Why?” he asked. “I mean, don’t get me wrong I appreciate it, but I’m still not sure why.”

  Reaching out, I put my hand on his shoulder. “Because I’m here to help. Also, I’m not here to pull my punches so forgive me for what I’m about to do.”

  “What do you—”

  “Time in,” I interrupted as I sucker punched him in the gut with a Push assisted strike. He stumbled back before glowering at me, energy spiking through his body, and I Pulled the Staff of Raphael back to my hand. “Man, I love being a teacher.”