The Adept Archives: Volumes 1-3 Page 5

  Roy followed the path given to him, quietly making his way down stone paths that had grown busier with the passing of time. As the officer made his way through Atherune, he began to notice a decline in the city’s infrastructure. Buildings were left unpainted with cracks in the walls, locals walked about in rags rather than robes. It appeared that he had made his way into one of the city’s slums.

  As Roy grew closer to the sanctum, more people began gathering in the streets until he was quite literally walking through a crowd. He wondered if the streets were typically this busy on a given day...

  Then he heard the commotion.

  “You’ll pay for that you insolent cur!” a man’s voice bellowed, followed by the whimpers of what sounded like a child. Roy forced himself to the front of the crowd, weaving through commoners and other onlookers eagerly waiting for a show. It was then that he saw them. A burly giant of a man stood at the crowd’s center, towering over the body of a frightened adolescent. He was massive, with forearms thicker than Roy’s biceps and a chest broader than his entire body. On his tunic, he wore the emblem of a snarling black hound, partially covered by his braided beard. He held a butchering knife in one of those huge hands of his, its edge stained with blood while the other was balled into a fist.

  “You think it’s acceptable to ruin one of my rarest cuts in months?! Do you know how difficult it is to acquire an intact Raktos tail?! Why that’s a damned spirit beast!”

  Roy took a quick scan of the man.

  //////////

  Rojiro of the Blackdog Butchers

  Earth Adept

  Rank: 1st

  Specialization: Warden

  Divine Power: None

  //////////

  Roy wasn’t going to pretend he knew exactly what all that information meant, but he resolved to find out once he figured out what the hell was going on. Carefully, he crept forward amongst the others and watched the scene unfold.

  Rojiro continued to shout as he closed in on his apparent apprentice, saliva spraying from his mouth. The young apprentice seemed terrified, but he didn’t run. Instead, he scrambled to his knees and bowed so low that his forehead pressed against the road.

  “I am sorry, master Rojiro. I did not mean to,” before he could finish his sentence the butcher stepped forward and kicked him square in the jaw, sending him sprawling across the cobblestone. Tears began to well in the young one’s eyes as a line of blood trickled from his torn lip.

  Roy felt his skin grow hot. He was a stranger in this place, but he couldn’t just stand there and watch this man beat a boy to death. Sure, he knew how easy it was to become a creature fueled by rage… but he never took it out on anyone that didn’t deserve it. And he surely never stood by when someone struck down a child. He wouldn’t!

  “Hey!” Roy yelled as he leaped into the crowd’s center, putting a hand up to halt Rojiro’s assault. His reflexes told him to grab his badge, but that would do nothing for him now.

  “And who in the dark depths might you be? Another filthy outrealmer who doesn’t know his place?!” the butcher growled, his knife still clenched firmly in his grasp. “You better get your scrawny hide out of my way before you lose an arm!”

  Roy furrowed his brow in frustration. “Why does it matter who the hell I am? What about you? Are you really just going to slaughter the boy out in the streets?”

  “I’ll do whatever I damn well please!” the butcher interrupted, the veins in his head more prominent than ever. “His family didn’t think twice about selling him over to me when they were starving on the streets.”

  “I’m sure they didn’t plan on him being butchered,” Roy growled back through gritted teeth. He didn’t know this young man at his feet or the butcher staring him down, but he was more than certain that what was about to happen was not justice.

  Rojiro narrowed his eyes as he sized Roy up, contemplating his next move. Finally, after a few tense seconds, the man lowered his butcher’s blade and strapped it onto his belt.

  Roy breathed a sigh of relief as the man stepped past him, certain that he’d subverted the pending violence...

  He couldn’t have been more wrong.

  The onlookers roared as the butcher caught Roy with a sidelong strike to the face, a fist that felt like a hammer slamming against his cheek. That damned enormous fool! He’d waited for Roy to let down his guard before hitting him with an empowered blow. Apparently, cowards were prominent in Eon as well.

  “That’ll teach you to mind your own business,” the butcher spat before turning his attention back to the boy, his boot pressed firmly into the adolescent’s neck.

  Roy rose back to his feet in an instant and gave the man a hard shove, freeing the boy from his grasp. He was surprised how solid the butcher felt, as if he were a slab of granite.

  “Go,” Roy said, urging the boy to flee as the butcher stared him down. The young man gave Roy a nod of gratitude then scrambled into the crowd, blood leaking from his nose.

  The crowd “ooooohed” as the officer and the butcher squared up.

  “You’re going to pay for that,” Rojiro growled, his eyes narrowed at the former officer. “Now you can pay for his life with your own!”

  “Yeah, piss off,” Roy retorted in a low, menacing tone. Suddenly, Rojiro flung himself at Roy, earthy green spirit energy cycling into his fists, flowing from the rest of his body like a rushing river. It was all too clear that the butcher wasn’t leaving without a fight, and Roy had made himself his new target.

  The officer fell into fighting stance just as the first punch came in, sidestepping the strike with mere inches to spare as the fist whizzed by his face. Roy began to circle away as a second fist came flying in, easily dodging this one before throwing a stiff counter of his own.

  Roy’s fist slammed into Rojiro’s side, a direct hit to his liver that should’ve at the very least staggered the brute. Instead, the officer’s own fist thrummed with pain as if he’d just slammed it into a stone wall.

  A notification appeared over the butcher.

  //////////

  Warden skill: Stoneskin

  //////////

  Roy staggered away from his opponent, cradling his fist into his chest as the butcher’s face stretched into a wicked smile. “Stupid fool, attacking without reinforcing your body. You fight like a damned child!” the man bellowed, stalking the officer down as if he was a wounded animal.

  Roy backpedaled as far as the crowd would allow, flexing his hand as the numbing pain began to fade. How was he supposed to defeat an opponent whose skin was harder than stone?!

  “Get over here, outrealmer!” the butcher spat as he lunged at Roy again, nearly getting ahold of the officer with his large, calloused hands.

  Damnit Roy, figure this out! The officer thought to himself as he sidestepped another sloppy blow. No matter the size or strength, every opponent had a weakness! Roy tried to get a closer look at the burly man as he continued to chase him down, focusing on his opponent’s spirit. Something the man said had stuck in his mind... reinforcing your body.

  Roy scanned over Rojiro before managing to avoid another pair of looping punches. It was then in that scan that he saw it, that he noticed the man’s spirit.

  Originally, Rojiro’s spirit aura had flowed through the man’s body like a river, but now it appeared as a thin veil of energy covering every inch of his skin.

  Roy’s eyes went wide with realization. That was it! The man had manipulated his spirit aura to reinforce his body, covering his skin and making it hard like stone. Now, if Roy could do something similar, if he could manipulate his own spirit… then perhaps he stood a chance!

  Roy ducked another awkward blow from Rojiro, rolling away and creating as much space as he could manage. Then, as he popped back to his feet, he began focusing on his spirit aura. He thought of the way it flowed through his channels, of how it coursed through his limbs. It was as if the aura was an extension of him, a piece of his body that he could manipulate.

  Sudd
enly, Rojiro bellowed something indistinguishable and pulled out his butcher’s blade, clearly looking to end the game of chase. With little time, Roy focused on channeling his aura, using his will to force it into his palms. His hands began to shake as the volatile Void energy rushed through his body and pulsed into his fingers, igniting his fists with both power and pain. The technique felt sloppy and unrefined, but dammit it was working!

  “Now die!” Rojiro yelled as closed the distance and swiped at Roy with his blade, aiming at the officer’s neck with all the power he could muster. Roy leaned back, dodging the blade with less than an inch to spare...

  And then came the counter strike.

  Roy struck back with all his might, his knuckles glowing with black-violet energy. The fist connected with vicious force, slamming into the butcher’s cheek and shattering the man’s stone skin aura in one mighty blow!

  Rojiro staggered backward in a daze as Roy began his pursuit, the butcher’s eyes wide and full of fear. As a fighter, it was a look Roy had seen hundreds of times, a look one carried when they knew defeat was imminent.

  The officer dodged another errant knife-strike and slammed his fists into Rojiro’s stomach, sending ripples of energy across his bulbous frame. He followed it with a left hand to the temple and a mighty right to the chin, forcing Rojiro to wilt. The ache in his hand had vanished, the uncertainty gone with it. Now, all that he felt was power.

  Roy and Rojiro continued their dance as the officer pummeled his off-balance foe, each empowered fist bringing more power than the first. Finally unable to sustain any more damage, the butcher dropped to his knees and cowered.

  “P-please. Spare me!” Rojiro begged, dropping his blade and covering his bludgeoned face.

  “Just as you were going to spare that boy?!” Roy growled back, his anger flaring like a torrent of flame inside his chest.

  Rojiro’s scowl began to return. “He is my apprentice.... my property!”

  Roy’s hands immediately went to the butcher’s collar. “I’m not going to stand by and watch you slaughter him!”

  Rojiro grinned, revealing a row of bloodstained teeth. “Then what is it that you plan to do with me?”

  Roy clenched his jaw as the bitter state of his reality set in. Back on earth, he could arrest the man and hope the criminal justice system did its part, but here... what power did he have?

  “As I thought,” Rojiro began to spout, clearly noticing the indecision in Roy’s gaze. “Your just scum trying to use me to make a name for himself on the streets! Pathless, guildless... your nothing but a spineless little-”

  CRACK!

  Roy’s empowered fist slammed into Rojiro’s sternum, dissolving whatever defenses the butcher had left as it sent him into unconsciousness. The crowd had suddenly grown silent, surprised by the fight’s unexpected conclusion.

  “That’ll shut you up, you bastard,” Roy muttered as his anger simmered.

  Pain began to return to Roy’s hand as his spirit aura returned to its usual ebb and flow, draining from his fists and circulating through the rest of his body. His gaze lingered on Rojiro’s body for a second before shifting to the crowd. Some of the onlookers seemed surprised, while others jeered at the butcher’s sudden misfortune. Still, they only lingered for a moment before shaking their heads and dispersing back to their daily tasks

  Roy crossed his arms, puzzled by the strange situation. He’d just witnessed an assault in broad daylight, he’d just committed one himself... and yet, things had just fallen back into place as if nothing happened. No law enforcement, no guards rushing to help. Just the street scum cleaning itself up. Roy allowed himself to stare off into the distance as he tried to get a grip on it all.

  “You lost, partner?” Roy nearly stumbled as the man’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. He quickly spun around to find the source, his instincts sending him into high alert.

  Standing under the overhang of a nearby archway was a man who exhumed charisma. His slender frame leaned against the stone arch, arms crossed over a bright red jacket sporting a trio of buckles and straps. The man’s face was hidden beneath the shadow of his wide-brimmed hat, with locks of shoulder-length black hair flowed from its edges. Still, beneath the guise, Roy was certain he could spy a smirk beginning to form.

  As he fully turned to face the man, a window appeared in his interface

  //////////

  Remley

  Flame Adept

  Rank: 3rd

  Specialization: Soulblade

  Divine Power: None

  //////////

  “I don’t even know what the hell that means,” Roy growled under his breath. A second window immediately appeared in front of the first.

  //////////

  Adept type- The type of element that an adept’s aura is attuned to. This is usually chosen through lineage and cannot be changed.

  Rank- a measurable level of an adept’s strength. Each increase in rank represents a substantial increase in power and growth in one’s aura. For instance, a rank 1 technique may be strong enough to break stone, while a rank 6 technique has the potential to decimate a small village.

  Specialization- The adept’s chosen path of advancement. Each specialization offers a unique set of skills and techniques, as well as different methods to strengthen one’s aura.

  Divine Power- A rare technique obtained through refining the essence of a relic, god, or other divine being.

  //////////

  Well, I guess that explains it, Roy thought to himself.

  “Are you... ok?” Remley asked as he watched Roy stare off.

  Catching himself, Roy blinked away the notifications and squinted as he tried to get a better look at this man, this Remley’s face. “Just looking to get these wounds tended to,” he replied. Roy raised his arms to reveal the partially healed lacerations on his limbs and torso. He kept his gaze firm and was careful to use language that the man would understand. Words like doctor or hospital likely would just produce some strange looks. In fact, Roy wasn’t sure how they understood any words that he said if this was in fact, a different realm.

  “Those are some nasty looking cuts. You get those outside the walls?”

  Roy nodded. “Got trapped outside after dark. I barely made it out alive.” He didn’t know this man or his motives, so he thought it best to tell him as little as possible for now.

  Remley tipped his hat upwards, revealing a boyish face and a set of deep, amber eyes. “I don’t see a guild sigil. You a loner?”

  Roy nodded.

  Interesting.... you must be another outrealmer then. Have you received any offers yet? I’m sure more than a few guild recruiters caught a glimpse of your little show.”

  Again, Roy found himself at a loss. “Offers? No. Listen, I’m just looking for-”

  “A little help?” Remley interrupted, a grin forming beneath the shadow of his brimmed hat. “Ya know, I could get those wounds of yours cleaned up. Maybe even get you a little something to eat.”

  “What’s the catch?” Roy replied, hesitant to trust anyone or anything in this damned place.

  The flame adept shrugged. “My crew and I are looking for someone that isn’t, well... useless. We also don’t have a ton of money to shell out for help either, so you seem to fit the bill.”

  “How’s that so?” Roy questioned.

  Remley’s grin widened. “Well, you just took down a Warden on pure strength alone, so you’re not useless, but by the way you’re dressed, I think I’m safe to assume you’re in dire need of some coin. Useful and poor... a perfect two out of two!”

  Roy’s cheeks grew flush, unsure if he was just complimented or insulted. “Damn you,” he spat under his breath. “And if I decline?”

  Remley stepped into the sunlight and pointed a finger over Roy’s shoulder. “Then I suppose you’ll have to deal with those fellows.”

  Roy turned to see three large men approaching from the far end of the road donning the symbol of a black-haired dog on their tunics. Each
of them pulled out a butcher’s knife as they laid eyes on Roy.

  The deadly butchers of the blackdog guild had arrived.

  Chapter 6

  The Man in the Wide-brimmed Hat

  Mid-morning, The slums of Aethrune CIty

  Remley looked on with heightened curiosity as a fight broke out in the streets of Atherune.

  Things had started out rather normal, with one of those hot-tempered blackdog butchers threatening to execute one of their poor, hapless apprentices. Actually, it was a pretty common occurrence among the blackdogs. Butcher takes an apprentice. Apprentice fails to meet expectations. Apprentice gets chopped. After witnessing it so many times, Remley had to wonder if it was the meat of those very apprentices themselves that the butchers served on their grills.

  Crowds gathered as the butcher withdrew his knife, drawing gasps from the onlookers as he prepared to exact his form of ruthless punishment on the young lad... Then something unexpected happened. A man stepped in to defend the poor apprentice. A man with no apparent ties to the butchers was putting his honor and his life on the line for a measly apprentice.

  This newcomer appeared in worse shape than a beggar, what with his torn clothes, disheveled hair and partially healed flesh wounds located on various parts of his body. What made things even stranger was that beneath all that grime lied a man with impeccable physique and a spirit aura that left Remley marveling. Normally, adepts with Void-type energy had spirit auras that were thick and slow-moving, mostly due to the void energy’s high density and increased power potential. But this man’s void aura flowed through him with ease, as if he had the fleet-footed spirit energy of a wind adept. If he learned to control that power, why he’d be truly formidable!

  Remley watched as the man ducked and dodged attacks from the fearsome butcher Rojiro before channeling his power into an awkward strike that knocked the butcher out cold. This man could fight, that was to be sure. But the lack of control over his spirit aura clearly pegged him as an outrealmer.