“Mr. Donner, How do you handle situations where you’re given unclear or incomplete instructions?”

  “You mean like ‘Just be yourself?’”

  “Uh, no, I meant like project requirements. Oh, Mr. Donner, are you all right? Let me find something to clean that up, I’ve never seen one of our pens snap like that.”

  Wally could see the blue bar. It was his blue bar. He'd tried Jett’s band once, only for a matter of seconds. The idea of actually trying to use it, to enhance himself, had seemed ludicrous. He’d yanked it off before even attempting it.

  “Well?” asked Colin.

  “I don't know what I'm supposed to feel,” Wally said, feeling frustrated.

  “Feels like all three are lit,” Fu observed.

  That was true. Two alacrity, one might, all three glowing faintly on the band. That was something. Everyone could use a single rune, but not many could get three to light. That meant he had the potential to be a full sorcerer, at least in theory. If he could find the right artifact.

  “I don’t—I don’t—” Wally patted himself down, as if hoping to find the extra strength and speed in a pocket somewhere. “What do I do? How do I test this?”

  “Sab, heads up!” Fu tossed something. Wally spotted a glint of metal spinning toward his face.

  “Gah!” Wally’s hand moved almost of its own accord, and he just barely caught… a wrench.

  Fu had chucked a freaking wrench at him.

  He just stood there for a moment, frozen, holding the wrench exactly as he’d caught it, almost touching his safety glasses. He breathed rapidly through his mouth, trying to calm himself. His leg servos twitched tentatively, as if confused.

  “Damn it, Fu!” said Colin. “Can you try not to kill the new guy on his first day?”

  “It worked, right? It proves his reflexes are faster?”

  “It also would have proved if they weren’t faster!”

  Fu shrugged. “It was still a success. If he can avoid a wrench, he can avoid a punch. You okay, Wally?”

  “I don’t know.” Wally lowered his hand almost painfully, as if it had frozen in that position.

  Fu sighed. “All right, that’s my bad. I’m sorry Wally. Shoulda at least given you a warning. It was the first idea that popped into my head. Worked though, right? You looked kinda badass, whipping that hand up like a kung fu master. Or at least a ‘Fu’ master. Ha!”

  “Yeah.” Wally looked at his own hands with awe. “I guess that was kind of cool.”

  “What do you have planned for the might test?” Colin asked dryly. “Throw a barbell at him?”

  “Nah, I have something simpler planned.”

  Fu cleared some space on a nearby worktable and scooted a pair of stools over. Then she sat, leaned over, planted her right elbow, and held up her hand. “Let’s go, Sab.”

  “What?” Wally squeaked. She wanted to armwrestle him. She was a Rune Knight, two Might and one Resilience. She wanted to armwrestle him. She…

  She wanted to hold his hand. Technically.

  Wally eased into the stool opposite Fu, feeling it creak and scrape as his cybernetics settled. “I’ve never been good at this kind of thing. Like, at all.”

  Fu tossed that beautiful purple hair. “We’ll send you to Valery for that. I’m doubled up on might and you’re just starting out. I’m not even gonna wrestle you to a win, Wally. I’m just gonna gauge if your strength feels enhanced, is all.”

  “Oh. Yeah, sure.” He set his elbow and raised his hand. When she grasped it, he swore he could feel electricity flowing between them. He could feel calluses on her fingers and palm. But it was also strangely soft. And warm.

  “Ok, go.”

  Oh, right. Wally started to push. Fu just watched him. It was pretty clear her only goal was to hold her hand steady. She matched what he gave effortlessly.

  “Good, but really put yourself into it. Come on, you’re not gonna break me.”

  Wally heaved. He locked eyes with the woman. Those violet eyes. Confident, playful, intriguing—and, yes, just a little bit dangerous.

  Oh right, arm wrestling. He tried to focus on the growing burn in his straining arm.

  “Yeah,” she said. “That’s more like it. I think you’re getting it, Sab.”

  “Th-thanks.” Wally dug in a little deeper, wondering if it would come anywhere close to impressing her.

  “Not bad, Sab! Hell yeah, we gotta get you up to the enhanced gym and see what a few weeks’ training does! We could get those guns looking real shapely.” She chewed playfully on her lip. “I bet the ladies won’t be able to keep their hands off of you!”

  “Y-you think so?” Wally tried to keep his breathing steady. Was she really saying what he thought she was saying?

  “Hey, that reminds me, Wally. I have a question for you.”

  Wally’s mouth went dry. “Yes?”

  “Is Fireman seeing anyone?”

  Wally’s hand slammed into the table as all of his strength, enhanced or otherwise, fled him.

  “Hello, Fulgen,” said Dante Katsuro. He was holding a pair of tonfa.

  The other fire sorcerer said my last name with particular bile. That was interesting. I knew my dad had done some adjacent work in the area of cataloguing artifacts and determining their function. Marin had introduced me as the “son of Alex Fulgen” on that first crazy day. And as Jessie had pointed out, my old man probably had something to do with this amulet around my neck, disguised as a locket for over a decade, waiting like a ticking timebomb.

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  Squid’s instincts were right, as always. There was a lot going on here. And I was watching it all through a gap in a fence.

  “Hey, Dante,” I said with mock casualness. “This is probably a stupid question, but you know I’m immune to fire, right?”

  He sneered, taking a bluntsab vial from the container. “We’ll see about that.”

  ?Two questions, Habby. What are the odds he's also immune to fire? And what the hell is he hinting at??

  [Immune? Basically none, especially to the point of absorbing fire to strengthen himself. Practically immune? It’s possible. Sorcerers get some intrinsic resistance to any domain they use. Elemental purists even more. And if he’s leaned into it with his training and modifiers? Yeah. He might be pretty resilient to fire. Especially with the bluntsab in the mix.

  [Your other question is tougher. There are skills and skill variants that are technically of the fire element, but that have effects that would bypass your absorption. He could also have a second element in his back pocket, though I would expect a multi-elemental sorcerer to be poorer at physical combat.]

  Habby paused then, as if debating whether to add what he said next. [Or perhaps he’s just a dick.]

  I grinned at that, which caused Dante’s scowl to deepen.

  ?I’ll corrupt you yet, Habby.?

  “All right boys,” said Valery. “Drink vials, move to center. Decide if you use weapons or not.”

  Dante shrugged, downed his vial, and gestured for me to make the call.

  I drank my vial. It tasted like bitterness itself refined and distilled. It also left the inside of my mouth feeling numb, like I’d just been to a half-ass dentist or eaten that uber-expensive blowfish people sometimes talked about.

  “Weapons,” I said, withdrawing Bullet Train from the air. I already knew Dante was a skilled martial artist. I had three karate lessons at the age of five and a couple of fistfights for training, and I’d passed on Unarmed Combat aptitude during my Starter Pack selection. Probably something else to bring up to Valery if she wasn’t already thinking about it. I loved my skidstick, but it was a weapon with a long reach. Difficult to use in tight quarters or against someone who got close with a smaller weapon.

  Like, say, a small club. Dante twirled his tonfa, looking quite satisfied with himself. “Are you ready to get your ass beat?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said, without hesitation.

  He clearly wasn’t expecting that.

  I shrugged. Normally I would’ve clapped back. In fact, I would’v aimed to piss Dante off enough to make a mistake. It was a technique that had worked well for me in the past. But Squid had advised me, in a situation like this, to use one of the most insidious smartass techniques known to man.

  Honesty.

  “I’m not a total dumbass,” I said. “I know my artifact is special, and I’m good at the fighting style I’m used to. But I’m at the very bottom rung here. Plus, I have no formal training in these kinds of fights. So my first sparring match was only ever going to go one of two ways. The other guy was going to go easy on me so I could learn the ropes, or he was going to wipe the floor with me to teach me some Shones-damned humility. Sound about right?”

  Dante’s Adam’s apple shifted on his throat, and he glared at me with the unbridled fury of a man who had a really good joke to tell, but someone else beat him to it.

  “Begin!” said Valery.

  Dante immolated both of his weapons and charged at me.

  I switched my shoes on and aimed Bullet Train at him, shooting a concussive fireball. Dante dodged to the side, and I used a quick burst of thrust to send myself toward the opposite wall of the room, trying to get an idea what he was doing.

  The fire on his batons was blue. Not blue like a super hot, clean burning flame. More like it had been deliberately colored, like something from a firework. There was something else going on.

  [Definitely a special fire aether variant,] Habby confirmed. [You’ll still absorb its heat without injury, but it probably has a nasty surprise.]

  Not having anything further to go on, I shot forward and swung my stick horizontally, meaning to take him across the chest in a classic skid jousting takedown. He rolled with the strike, hooked, struck, and drove a baton into my ribs at the same time I knocked him aside.

  The hit stung, but the fire didn’t burn, much as I’d expected. In fact, my Fire Absorption skill ticked up to Tier 1 Level 4. However, I did feel something else, something strange and wrong. I puzzled over the sensation as I turned to face Dante again.

  [Jett! Your aethervoir!]

  It was slowly going down, despite minimal usage on my part. I watched the blue gauge drift down by nearly 10% before the drain slowed to a stop.

  ?Well, great. That happened.?

  “What do you call that?” I grunted.

  “Leeching Flame.” Dante sneered. “Want to experience it again?”

  Without waiting for an answer, he blasted me with a blue fire beam.

  I yelped as it struck me, and I hit the floor to get out of its path. I quickly rolled back to my feet as the beam tracked me, made as if to skid toward Dante, and instead hurled a focused Concussive.

  It was a lucky shot, catching him in the shoulder and sending him spinning through the air like a top. He hit the floor hard, but he only remained there for a moment. He glared at me as he got warily to his feet.

  I’d lost about 5% more aethervoir in that blast. It was less than the strike from his weapon, but I imagined if he locked that beam onto me for multiple seconds the cumulative effect would be devastating. Rekindled Flame was already working overtime to fill my blue bar back up. I considered trying for my pouch of peppers, but I doubted Dante would give me the opportunity. Plus, I hadn’t thought to ask if such aid would be considered cheating.

  Dante tried another beam, which I dodged, and then he charged in again, his two batons wreathed in blue light.

  I was screwed, and we both knew it. I wasn’t sure just how the aether draining effect worked, but I suspected even glancing blows would quickly add up. He could afford to take a few more whacks from my stick if it meant he could land more draining attacks on me, making a perfect defense against his pair of weapons almost impossible. Once I was tapped dry my physical enhancement would shut off, and he could shove me to the ground like a child.

  Hit and fade. Try to overwhelm your opponent. That had been some of Habby’s early advice regarding the Rekindled Flame skill, and I realized it was my only chance here. Sometimes the best defense was a good offense.

  I activated the burst modifier on my physical enhancement and came in with a flurry of strikes. I didn’t bother immolating my own weapon. I pressed Dante, and it worked. A savage barrage with my larger, heavier weapon required him to use both of his own weapons to block. I landed a kick to his knee, pivoted, and delivered a thruster-enhanced jab to his side.

  Not wanting to give him another chance to fire that beam, I leapt and brought Bullet Train down in an overhead arc. Dante actually looked afraid as he rolled from side to side, raising his tonfa to block, desperately trying to avoid my attacks.

  I struck the side of his head, his stomach, his wrist. That attack knocked one of his tonfa out of his hand and sent it sliding across the floor.

  When my aethervoir dropped below 25% I stepped back, still holding my stick threateningly. That burst effect was powerful, but expensive.

  “You give up?” I asked. “Who’s getting their ass kicked now?”

  Dante wiped a bit of blood off his brow, but he looked smugly up at me from the floor. “You are.”

  That’s when I stumbled. Everything suddenly felt heavy. Fatigue washed over me like a wave. How?

  My aethervoir was completely drained.

  I looked down. Dante had immolated his foot. While I’d been focused on his upper body, he’d pressed the blue leeching flame against my ankle, sucking me dry like a mosquito when I hadn’t even felt it happening. I felt the tingle now, the almost pleasant sensation that masked the aethervoir drain. I’d been undone by my own immunity.

  Dante casually swept his foot to the side, easily taking my own feet out from under me and putting me on my back.

  I laid there for a moment, the wind completely knocked out of me. I heard Dante get to his feet. He stood over me, his face upside down in my vision, his smile so damn punchable I wished I had a smugness absorption skill.

  Then he bowed to my prone form, because of course he did.

  “Good match, Fulgen,” he said. “And hey. I hope I was able to teach you some Shones-damned humility.”

  He walked away, and a moment later I heard the door slide open and shut.

  I laid there a minute longer, waiting for my aethervoir gauge to stutter back up a few points. Then I pulled myself shakily to my feet, using Bullet Train as a support, before I let the weapon dissipate.

  “Well,” said Valery. “I was thinking a second match, but is getting late. Maybe we call it a day, eh? ‘Specially if your aethervoir just zeroed out.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Let’s do that.”

  Then, though every fiber of my being wanted to withdraw and not talk to anyone for the rest of the day, I added, “Thank you for the training, Valery.”

  “You… you are welcome. Dismissed, Mr. Fulgen.”

  The microphone clicked off, and this time it didn’t click back on.

  “Relationships,” I muttered to myself as I dragged my tired feet toward the door. “I’m trying it your way, Squid. Does it always suck this much starting out?”

  Everysekai

  by Bluesycobalt

  > Female Lead with cast of developed side-characters

  > A lot of poking at Isekai tropes

  > Rational and Underpowered Protagonist fighting for her life

  > 1500-2500 Word Chapters

  Updates MWF at 7:10pm EST