Nexus Games [Chp 47]

Hey peeps!

This one is almost done. 60 chps in total. o.o

—Chapter 47—

—Extra Arcana—

The other members of Team 101 were waiting in the common room of the suite.

Sen and Husker stood next to the coffee table. A pile of supplies sat on top, neatly stacked and organized. Both Sen and Husker wore new clothing—more tactical and sleek, though oddly fitting. Sen clearly had taken some sort of young teen shirt and pants and secured them with a leather belt. The ends of his pants were rolled up several times. Husker sported a hunting jacket and cargo pants. His didn’t fit to his wrists or ankles, however, revealing some of his hex-chains.

Husker looked like a deranged experiment who had escaped from an evil science lab. His red fox fur was matted, and he stood with a slight hunch.

Xiang waited by the front door, her clothing a mix of antiquated and sophisticated. She wore old-world white robes with a giant red cloth belt around her waist and shoulders. It looked complicated, but Kellan suspected illusions were easy to pull on and yank off.

The TV on the far wall continued to play Bitso’s broadcast. More odd drawings and statistics were brought up in the background. A pair of dirty hands could be seen at the edge of the screen, drawing Kellan’s attention. Who was helping Bitso run the broadcast? It clearly wasn’t the Arbiter. Some filthy street urchin?

Mavis walked over to Husker and then glanced at the supplies. “This seems like a lot. We need to move with purpose out there if we’re going to participate in the PvP game.”

Husker snorted and then motioned to the supplies with a clawed hand. “I’m not entirely familiar with the types of items you and Kellan would prefer. I gathered what I thought was useful, and now the two of you can decide for yourselves.”

“Or I can decide for you,” Sen interjected. He crossed his little arms. “We don’t know what the game arena will be yet, so just in case, we should take some survival staples.”

“What do you mean?” Mavis asked.

Then Husker glanced over at Kellan and practically gasped. His ears stood straight as he stomped across the room. Kellan leaned back as the werewolf man got up close, his dog-breath hot.

The lizard in Kellan’s arms hissed and flared its scales.

“Your astra egg hatched,” Husker said, his tail wagging. “And it’s an albino wyvern.”

“A wyvern?” Kellan asked, an eyebrow raised.

The wyverns Kellan was familiar with were the Westland Wyvern, a single-seat strike aircraft for the Royal Navy, and Wyvern Safety, the airplane data survey group. Neither were a bizarre animal that hatched from giant eggs.

Husker made a clicking noise with his tongue, and the white lizard stopped its hissing. Then Husker petted the creature, slow and gentle, his claws scratching the underside of the lizard’s chin.

“Wyverns are relatives to dragons,” he muttered. “They had two wings, and two legs, whereas dragons have two wings and four legs. See your albino wyvern’s front wings? They look like legs when the wings are folded, but they’re much weaker and don’t have much muscle, except for the shoulders.”

“What if I had a lizard with nolegs and two wings?” Kellan sarcastically asked, not expecting any real answer.

“Those are called coatls,” Husker replied with an instructional tone. “Their snake-like body can grow to giant sizes, and their wings are typically feathers.”

Sen rolled his eyes. “We don’t have time to educate our warrior on the basic concepts of wyverns. They’re very common Animals of Pure Magic. He can read about them on his own time.”

“Albino wyverns are much rarer than standard wyverns. They’re rather venomous.”

“Fantastic. He’ll at least have an interesting familiar for all our whimsical romps through death traps. Hurray.”

Mavis stared at the wyvern with a deep frown. She offered nothing to the conversation other than her blatant disapproval.

“How do I bond with it?” Kellan asked. He held the wyvern up and it clicked it at him. “I want a magical half-dragon if I’m about to run through another post-apocalyptic wasteland of skyscrapers and bird monsters.”

Although Kellan wasn’t sure how to train or use a wyvern, he liked the idea of increasing his magical options. Surely he would be able to use this beast for something? Even if it was just an escape device or scout or messenger pigeon. Having some options was better than none.

“Try to push your mana into the creature,” Husker stated. “Similar to how you would use a magical ability.” Then he took a step back and waited, his ears still straight and his tail still wagging.

Xiang glanced over, her keen eyes focused on the wyvern.

Not wanting to waste time, Kellan tried to do as Husker instructed. He “pushed” his mana from his hands into the wyvern, visualizing the process as best he could. He liked to think of his mana as a second bloodstream. It made it easy to picture in his mind’s eye.

A feeling of acceptance and warmth soaked into Kellan’s palms and went through his arms, shoulders, and chest. The sensation caused him to breathe deep, and afterward, the wyvern was no longer a mystery to him.

[Alex   Kellan] bonded with an Animal of Pure Magic (rank 1).

His analytical sight even gave him more information.

Name: Vlaze

Race: Animal of Pure Magic [Albino Wyvern]

Magics: Eclipse, Body

Rank: ---

Armor Rating: 1 [Scales]

Health: 4/4

Stats:

Strength—1 [Baby]

Dexterity—1 [Baby]

Fortitude—1 [Baby]

Charisma—1

Manipulation—3 [Scary]

Intelligence—1 [Baby]

Perception—3

Wisdom—1

Willpower—2

Abilities:

Hidden—This Animal of Pure Magic hides its magical nature from divination abilities (or A rank or lower). It does not appear magical until it chooses to reveal its nature.

The wyvern stared at him for a long moment, its red eyes a little unsettling, but somehow more friendly than Kellan had first seen them. And for some reason, Kellan could swear he felt the creature’s heart beating, even though he hadn’t been able to before.

Kellan smirked. “Its name is Vlaze?”

“He’s a boy,” Husker stated. “You can tell by the spine on the tail. Females are slightly smaller.”

“His name is Vlaze?” Kellan said again. “Interesting.”

“I’m glad the blender named itself,” Mavis muttered.

Kellan examined his wyvern all over. The creature was surprisingly docile as he turned it up and around. “And this thing gets bigger?”

“Yes, it gets bigger,” Sen practically shouted, disturbing the whole room. He waved his hands around, and then continued, “We don’t have time for this! Do you see the TV?”

Bitso pointed to a paper on the back wall with various numbers. “Last game, mages betting on the outcomes gained five hundred and thirty-seven arcana.” He chuckled and scratched at his chin. “Apparently, the biggest winners were those betting on who would and wouldn’t die. Which means the second game will be even more entertaining, given that we’re playing Infection. Most players try to avoid each other—but some teams make a concentrated effort to cull the infected, limiting the number of keys gained. And who starts as an infected person is completely random chance.”

“We need to discuss our plan,” Sen said.

Kellan nodded once. “I agree.”

Sen opened his mouth like he would protest, but then he quickly shut it. After a short moment, he lifted a finger. “Good. I’m glad to see you’re practical.”

“Brenner’s team will be in the PvP match,” Xiang said from the door, no emotion in her voice—no worry, anxiety or fear.

“To nobody’s surprise,” Kellan muttered.

“My plan is to ignore him, but if we get a chance, to kill him when he’s least expecting it.” She leaned against the wall and then turned her gaze to the ceiling. “I don’t know what game arena we’ll be given, but it doesn’t matter. Once we’re in the game, I’m going to give us all illusions—my most powerful, especially.”

“What kind of illusions?” Mavis asked, her eyes narrowing.

“I’m going to disguise our identities. Instead of Team 101, we’re all going to look like Team 42.”

It took Kellan only a second to piece together her plan. He half-laughed as he said, “Wait, you’re going to make us look like Brenner’s team?”

Xiang glanced over. “Correct. I’ll play the part of Brenner, Mavis will play the part of Ysa, Sen will play the part of HR-8, Husker will be Viniss, and you’ll… You’ll be yourself.”

“Why?” Mavis asked before anyone could add any commentary.

“Team 42 has already made a name for themselves. They’re killing the competition, which means most other times will avoid them at all costs. If the other teams think we’re them, then they’ll avoid us as well. We can focus on finding someone who is infected and leave the rest to slaughter each other.”

Kellan nodded along with her words. It made sense. Xiang had made a lot of enemies—many of the contestants didn’t seem to like her, and if they found Xiang in the middle of a PvP match, Kellan was certain they would be dragged into a fight. But if they looked like Brenner and his team of goons, then their fighting would be limited.

Then again…

“If someone does fight us, we’re going to have a rough time,” Kellan stated. “They’ll be pulling out tricks meant for high-ranking mages. Stuff we can’t handle.”

His wyvern made a clicking noise as if agreeing.

“That’s why my plan involves avoiding the other competitors, even disguised as Team 42.” Xiang brushed back her black hair. “I didn’t want to have to use this tactic this early in the games… I hadn’t wanted to save it for a competition later… but I don’t think we’ll make it to later games unless we use this now.” Xiang turned her attention to the door. “Which is why I need you all to focus on gathering arcana. Our low magical ranks will hinder us in the long run.”

“How will people figure out we’re illusioned?” Mavis asked with a shrug. “It seems to me like we’ll get away with it so long as we’re not caught red-handed.”

“Bitso will be more than happy to point out our tactics in the recounts,” Xiang stated. “The Arbiter wants competitors to know the tactics of other teams—it prevents the same strategies being used over and over for every game.”

That made sense, and Kellan was almost sad that Xiang would have to use such an intriguing tactic. It did seem like more of a trump card maneuver… Or did she have other strategies up her sleeve?

Xiang stepped into her bedroom. She returned moments later holding a wooden box with the picture of a mechanical dragon burned onto the top. Without a word, she walked over to Sen, unlatched the box, and then opened it for him.

A red glow emanated from the inside of the container.

“Take three,” Xiang said.

Arcana.

Sen took three crimson crystals and absorbed them through his hand.

Then Xiang walked over to Husker. “Take two.”

Husker nodded as he reached into the box and absorbed two arcana.

When it came time for Mavis, Xiang held the box out a litter further. “Take five,” she commanded. “You need to grow a lot more than the others. You’re behind—a liability.”

Mavis clenched her jaw as she reached into the box. Once she had absorbed her arcana, Xiang pulled the container away and then turned on her heel.

She walked over to Kellan and offered the entire box to him. “Take the remaining. Perhaps you’ll use it for travel magic if you ever find the courage to develop it.” The instant Kellan took the box, Xiang strode back to the front door, leaving him with an icy silence.

Obviously, she was upset with his decision to leave the other night. Kellan didn’t care. He wasn’t about to be pressured into learning the magic when it was obviously going to mess with him. Perhaps, if he had long enough with the rulebook, he could find something about the unknowable magics that would explain what he had felt.

Or perhaps he could find someone to teach him meta magic.

Either way, he wasn’t questioning his previous decision.

After a short exhale, Kellan reached into the box and picked up the arcana.

[Alex Kellan] absorbed 5 arcana.

That brought his total up to twenty-two.

Sitting on it seemed like a waste, however. Wouldn’t he need powerful abilities for the next game? Perhaps I should just learn something to help me get around. There were so many abilities in body and metal I could take…

Kellan shook his head and decided to wait until the game started. What if the new game arena was filled with specific hazards he had no current way to do with? He could learn a magical ability to help then.

“The second game is about to begin,” Bitso said, drawing everyone’s attention.

They only had five more minutes before 9am.

Kellan’s wyvern wiggled in his arms. He released the creature and the wyvern dragged himself up onto Kellan’s shoulder. The beast sat there like a parrot on a pirate’s shoulder, his tail wrapped around the back of Kellan’s neck to better steady himself.

Kellan dashed into his bedroom. He quickly grabbed his rifle and backpack. Before he slung everything onto his shoulder, he examined the contents of his pack. He still had the Perfume of the Damned and a bunch of hane cigarettes. Would those be useful? He didn’t know. And Kellan no longer had magical blankets in order to barter with.

He ran out of the room and then went straight to the coffee table. Husker’s supplies were definitely varied. They had rope, duct tape, a lighter, a few knifes—and some feminine products. How considerate of the wolf-man.

There were also a few bottles of water, and some snack bars, the named and list of ingredients in language Kellan didn’t know. He packed away at least one of everything, though he ignored the extra sets of clothing, blankets, and flashlights. If he needed clothing, he could likely find it among the abandoned buildings, right? And his ability to cause things to light up—along with his ability to see in the dark—negated his need for a flashlight.

Mavis grabbed a duffle bag and filled it with supplies. Husker pocketed a few more items, but for the most part, his tactical coat was always filled.

Sen and Xiang didn’t seem to care about the items. They carried nothing, and waited in silence.

“Are we going to split up to look for keys this time?” Kellan asked. “I guess we’ll be looking for someone infected this time around…”

“We’ll stay together until we find the person,” Xiang said, her tone all business. “Then we’ll incapacitate them, hide them away, and wait until the key emerges from their corpse. During the wait, we’ll gather arcana for ourselves—perhaps in smaller groups.”

Mavis placed a hand on her hip. “What if we run into someone from Team 42?”

Xiang turned to Husker. “You’ll deal with it.”

He nodded.

“What if the Kuji finds us?” Kellan asked, a shiver running up his spine. He still couldn’t believe what it looked like. The monster would plague his nightmares for the rest of his life.

“Husker will also deal with it.”

It seemed a lot to demand of someone who had a hex that killed members of his family, but Kellan wasn’t going to argue. It seemed Husker had decided on this path and was willing to follow it. Plus, what other choices did they have?

“It’s time!” shouted Bitso from the TV.

Kellan’s insides felt like they were being tugged as he teleported out of the suite.