The chamber changed the moment the two words were spoken.
"Hello, World."
Elias stared at the boy across from him.
Raileigh stared back.
For several seconds, neither moved. Then almost instinctively, the two clashed.
There were twenty-two Traits in the world each named after one of the major arcana. Twenty of these were divided into four classes.
Cosmic. Cognitive. Existential. Soulfire.
Each represented a different method of interacting with reality. But two Traits existed outside those classifications like twin pillars of impossibility. The Anomaly Class traits The Fool and The World.
The Fool was symbolized by a shattered orb, its fragments reflecting light in constantly shifting patterns. Its personality unpredictable, adventurous, optimistic, spontaneous, and brimming with vast untapped potential. It was the embodiment of what could be, the vast, untapped reservoir of possibility that existed before any choice was made.
Its counterpart, The World —symbolized by an intricate pattern of infinitely spiraling rings, perfectly enclosing an absolute, lightless void at its center—represented the stillness of completion. Integrated. Complete. Final. It was the embodiment of what was, the profound stillness that existed after all choices had been made.
As Flow and Anti-Flow collided, the fight between Elias Dukker and Raileigh Zeppelin became a living reflection of this antithetical law.
Elias's first resonant ability allowed him to edit the parameters by which things operated—light, sound, pressure—but the sheer complexity of constantly rewriting raw reality demanded a lot of processing and calculation. So, he decided that the best way to use his abilities without overloading his brain was to use a medium and edit the parameters within that medium to achieve desired effects. Like mathematical constant that can be applied to any calculation. He used the wind as his medium, a'magic coefficient' to solve multiple equations simultaneously. Inversely, Raileigh operated on the principle of subtraction. He did not edit parameters; he pillaged them. He stole light from his earlier flashbang to emerge completely unscathed, and he had stolen Elias's dagger right out of his grip.
'I have a rough idea of what the kid can do,' Elias thought, his mind racing through the tactical calculus.
'And if the rule about the two anomaly traits being equal and opposite is true then it means that he is also suffering from the same problem i was.'
Ducking behind a shattered load-bearing column, Elias's chest heaved. Blood dripped from his temple, mingling with the red whisker-like marks of his Yako transformation. A bubble appeared in front of him, small in size and exploded unleashing a blast of wind Elias had shot at Raileigh another appeared and Elias jumped over a spot in the floor that had lost its friction.
'I knew it. Just like I was limited by constantly editing parameters for how long I wanted the changes to occur, he is doing it by quantity. Since parameters are interactive, he's using those bubbles as his medium, as his 'magic coefficient.' Tch, what a pain.'
They continued to exchange blows. Elias had more power—the Yako transformation had pushed him into the realm of a pseudo-Votary meaning he was the stronger one in this fight and that fact alone should have guaranteed his victory. However, Raileigh was clever. He didn't try to match Elias's speed or power; he simply stole the concepts that made speed possible. Friction. Momentum. The very idea of acceleration.
While Elias struggled to think of a way to counter this, the memory of Tamamo's lesson on the first layer of existence—Concepts—echoed in his psyche. Acolytes could not fully control the conceptual layer, but they could touch it, bleeding meaning and definition from the world. Meaning Elias too would have to tap into that layer if he wanted to survive this scenario.
'Just how far does the prince's pillaging go anyway? Does he possess a storage space or hidden arsenals like my Yako form?'
He didn't have time to dwell on it. Raileigh rounded the pillar, his movements unnervingly still yet preternaturally fast, bringing the black blade down in a silent arc. Elias ducked under the slash, channeling manipulating the pressure in the wind and temperature and applying the concept of explosions creating a powerful blast that sent the prince flying backward across the stone floor.
Unfortunately, the prince had managed to pillage that attack by applying Containment on the bubble and returning it to sender. Elias narrowly avoided y wrapping a strong gale around himself, intentionally directing the energy upward as he prepared to enact his plan.
Elias glanced toward the edges of the chamber. Todd and Chad stood completely motionless, observing the duel. The moment Raileigh had spoken his parting words—"Hello, World"—they had stepped back like stagehands yielding the spotlight to a main actor, giving the two youths an unobstructed player-vs-player arena.
'They intervening, so they really did plan this? Why?' Elias grit his teeth.
'Nah, I don't think I'll be getting any answers unless I beat this punk. But then again, they aren't just going to stand idle if I win.'
An ache rippled through his muscles. Maintaining the Yako transformation was bleeding his energy reserves dry. The prince was utilizing a completely different, rhythmic sword style separate from the established four schools and pillaging every physical parameter Elias threw at him. Worse still, Chad and Todd had effectively drained nearly four minutes out of the transformation's strict twelve-minute-and-thirty-second timer just by forcing him through the meat-grinder of their previous coordinated assault.
He had roughly five minutes left before his body violently rejected the transformation.
Deciding he couldn't win a prolonged battle of attrition, Elias made his move and switched tactics. He intentionally allowed energy to seep into the surrounding air dissolved into mist, flowing around Raileigh's defenses, and reformed behind him. His hand shot forward, reaching for the prince's shoulder. While this would limit his ability to use Flow Suppression and Reinforcement, it was necessary for what he was setting up.
The prince dodged the attack by flipping sideways, a bubble forming at his fingertips. while he was still midair.
He expanded it into a razor-sharp conceptual construct of Sharpness and hurled it. Elias countered by drawing upon Tamamo's golden flames—an absolute overkill measure, but necessary. The supernal heat roared forward and destroyed the first bubble, but another one of Raileigh's bubbles met the flames, attempting to swallow the thermal energy. The sheer density of the fire overwhelmed the bubble; it burst, but not before Raileigh managed to rip the kinetic trajectory from the blast, chucking a condensed shockwave right back at Elias's face. Elias dissolved into a wisp of mist, reforming a few yards away.
'Just as I thought, he can't steal everything. Good'
As she observed, Todd crossed her arms tighter, her eyes sharp. "He's adapting too fast."
Chad twirled his metal-tipped whip loosely, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
"Let the kid cook. The Prince wants to test his own limits."
Elias caught the tail end of their casual banter and felt a surge of cold fury. They really think this is a training exercise.
He was getting pushed back, the clock ticking down mercilessly. The flames had cost him too. His Yako transformation flickered, and he felt the timer ticking down. Three minutes. Maybe less.
Raileigh lunged again, and Elias met him with the Stillsword.
The shift was subtle, but it changed everything. Elias stopped trying to overpower the prince with the relentlessness counter attacks of the Stellar Aegis Style and began to flow with his attacks. He treated himself as a vessel, accommodating Raileigh's momentum rather than opposing it. The Stillsword Style wasn't about speed or strength—it was about stillness. About finding the perfect moment to strike.
Raileigh's attacks became less effective. Elias waited and when the prince overextended, Elias struck. The Jade dagger sliced across Raileigh's arm, drawing blood. The prince hissed, stumbling backward, his golden eyes widening with surprise.
Mist began to come off Elias' body and he felt strength slowly leave him.
'The Yako transformation is gone,' Elias realized. 'I have to finish this now.'
He had been preparing for this moment throughout the fight. As they clashed again, their blows didn't just rattle stone; they grazed the conceptual underpinnings of the cavern. Elias used this to his advantage and manipulated the wind to supercharge ambient electrical currents with the energy he had been emitting all this time, raising the static charge of the air molecule by molecule. He had been quietly emitting micro-bursts of energy throughout the entire skirmish—cloaking the electrical buildup as mere residue from his missed wind attacks, further masking the accumulation through concept-level obscuration.
It seemed to have worked as the two Votaries standing sentinel didn't react to it. Now that there was moderate buildup, Elias decided that it was time.
As Raileigh lunged with a piercing thrust, Elias abruptly dropped the heavy momentum of the Yako state, switching to the precise, light-footed rhythm of the Stillsword style. He met Raileigh's swing with exact, proportional force, his blade parrying the prince's strike with a sharp clang that threw Raileigh off balance.
He reached out and grabbed Raileigh's wrist and pulled him in. he prince reacted almost instinctively aiming to stab him in the chest again though he was evidently confused as to why Elias would set up an attack against himself.
"Wait, what are you—"He realized it too late but could not stop the inertia of his movement as Elias ducked under him and carried the prince on his shoulder and bracing for impact. Chad and Todd attempted to intervene but it was too late.
A massive, accumulated web of electrical current converged above them and detonated across the chamber in a blinding flash of azure light. Raileigh's scream was drowned beneath the thunder.
The lightning arc locked their muscles together but since Elias' bare feet were touching the ground the current concentrated on Raileigh and escaped downward. The shock wave tore through the air, sending even Todd and Chad flying a few feet away and the two boys crashing violently into the stone floor. Raileigh's eyes rolled back, knocked unconscious by the concentrated voltage, while Elias spasmed, his body smoking and his Yako transformation shattering like brittle glass as he reverted to his normal human state.
Panting heavily, tasting copper and ash, Elias forced shakily himself onto his hands and knees.
Across the room, Todd and Chad rose to their feet. Their expressions hardened. Energy crackled around Todd's hands, and Chad's whip lashed out like a striking viper.
'Damn it,' Elias thought, his vision blurring.
Elias reached for his Jade Dagger.
'I didn't want it to come to this but using Bloody Wonderland is now my only option.'
The fragment of his domain stirred and the ruby embedded in the Jade dagger gave a faint glow as his trembling hand held the blade. The only problem is that he didn't have enough energy to maintain it. Perhaps a minute. Maybe less.
And if the Domain faded and Todd and Chad recovered before he did—
He would be finished.
Still—
A last resort was better than no resort.
Elias snatched the Obsidian Dagger from Raileigh's fallen grip and tried to run. Todd lunged at him with superhuman speed while Chad cracked his whip, aiming to snare Elias's leg and snap him back like a ragdoll.
Before the metal tip could bite into his flesh, a heavy, disruptive distortion tore through the air between them.
WHOOSH.
A large, heavy figure dropped from the ceiling rafters with a dull thud, landing squarely between Elias and the advancing Votaries. With a casual, almost insulting flick of a wrist, massive arms shot out and grabbed both Todd and Chad by their collars, flinging them bodily across the chamber where they slammed hard into opposite pillars.
The sudden intrusion sent Elias tumbling forward over his own feet, sprawling hard onto the stone dust. He coughed, blinking up through the haze of sulfur and smoke. Standing over him, clad in a filthy, grease-stained white tarp that doubled as a tattered cloak, was a figure whose mere presence smelled in need of an urgent shower.
Elias blinked in sheer disbelief. "Blackwave? What the hell are you doing here?"
Blackwave looked at him.
"You saved me."
Elias frowned.
"What?"
"You saved me from the inquisition."
Elias blinked. "I didn't save you. I was trying to escape."
"Same difference."
Chad lunged again, his whip cracking through the air. Blackwave caught it without looking, twisting the leather around his arm and pulling Chad toward him. The man stumbled forward, and Blackwave drove his fist into his face striking him square in the jaw and sending him flying back into a pillar.
"Are these guys bothering you?" the pirate asked, his tone almost casual.
Elias stared at the pirate, his brain spinning through a dozen logical contradictions.
'Accepting help from a notorious sea criminal isn't a good idea. But then again, staying here to fight two elite Votaries alone isn't also a good idea either.'
Elias let out a long, exhausted sigh, rubbing his throbbing temples.
"The fact that you're here makes zero sense, but honestly? This entire ordeal has been a bizarre nightmare." He looked up at the pirate with deadpan seriousness.
"Can you keep them busy?" Elias asked.
Blackwave shrugged. "I just followed you here. Might as well make myself useful."
Elias hesitated. Accepting help from a known pirate wasn't the smartest move. But neither was fighting the prince and his attendants alone.
"Fine," he said. "Keep them off me. You can bully them a little if you want."
Blackwave blinked, genuinely amused. "Bully them? Uh, OK then?"
He tossed an attacking Todd over his shoulder with one hand as she tried to leap kick him, sending her crashing directly into Chad's path as he too tried to lunge and calmly walked towards them.
Elias's chest heaved.
Channeling the absolute last dregs of his depleted internal reserves, Elias engaged a low-level Flow circulation, reaching out with an invisible tether of wind to grip Raileigh's collar and drag the semi-conscious prince backward across the shattered stone toward the safety of the nearest massive pillar.