Tech Duinn: An Ether Collapse Series (Ether Flows Book 1) Read online

  He reabsorbed the Ether and instantly groaned—of the seventy-five points he had placed in the blow, he only received ten back. That meant the attack had cost him sixty-five points and hadn’t managed to down the boss. He hoped it had done some significant damage, at least.

  Three buzzes rang again, and his colon clenched. He was dripping sweat and wasn’t doing a ton of damage to the boss. At least, not yet.

  The command interrupt sphere pulsed blue, and he managed to trap the Queen on the next dive bomb. He single-charged his blade this time, needing to conserve Ether or risk running out, which would spell death as surely as any of the stingers would. Its trapped body allowed him to glimpse the damage from his triple-stacked strike.

  A deep cut scored the abdomen of the boss and leaked ichor onto the sands. Azrael chose that spot as his target and managed to deepen it infinitesimally in two quick strikes. The Queen escaped into the air again and Azrael grimaced.

  Next time, I’ll try a thrust.

  Two sharp buzzes and his jaw clenched tight. Come on—he could do this!

  The perfume sphere exploded a few feet away this time, and while this left a few Worker Bees close enough to jostle him, they ignored him otherwise. Angry buzz—and dive behind the swarm. He popped up to find the Queen stuck to a Worker it had struck from the air. He attempted a thrust and had some success widening the wound.

  As it abandoned its stinger and fled, Azrael found two snags. His sword was somewhat stuck, and he was forced to pour Ether into the blade, creating a second stack of Phantasmal Blade, to free it. This left him with twenty-nine Ether remaining, and that was the second hitch. The phases were advancing rapidly, and he was now low on Ether. He spat to the side and soon heard the single buzz, which signaled the drain of the fog and the soon to be charging spell.

  His Ether ticked up one point, but a charged attack in this phase would likely hit a new area. Without the compromised inherent Ether, he would probably just waste the blow. He debated about not tossing the Sphere of Silence, but admitted that he had been lucky to avoid damage the first time the spell exploded. He couldn’t hope for the same kind of fortune twice.

  He threw the last silence sphere and struck without his skill coating his blade. It felt like he was trying to cut through a tree with a mace, but at least he connected!

  Small victories may win the day.

  Azrael caught it on each of the next phases but didn’t have enough Ether on the Worker Bee phase to recharge his skill.

  His head throbbed as he surveyed the air for the telltale signs of the Queen’s charging spell. Sweat fell into his eyes, and he bit his lip, trying to jolt himself into full awareness. He was out of spheres and couldn’t see a way to beat the boss—he felt his knee hit the sand unbidden. No! He tried to stand and managed to make it to wobbly feet before falling the entire way back to the ground.

  The moaning he was unconsciously making caused his mind to quiver as he wondered if he had missed a signal.

  How could he dodge the devastating spell from his prone position on the ground? He took a deep breath and got to all fours. He needed to calm down—panic wouldn’t help him. He concentrated on his hearing, keeping his eyes closed as he gained control of his breathing.

  The first thing he noticed was the absence of buzzing. He was either dead, or the bees weren’t flying anymore. He cracked an eyelid and found the bees in a circle around him, the Queen tilting its head back and forth right in front of him.

  He swallowed, attempting to wet his tongue. He strived to stand and made it back to his wobbly feet. Smiling sardonically, he forced out, “If I am to be the first and only challenger of this arena, I wish to die fighting.”

  The Queen didn’t attack, and Azrael slowly regained his senses as his Ether ticked up, point by point. Why wasn’t he dead?

  “Why are you the only challenger I have had?” a windy whisper asked from all around him.

  Azrael fell back to his butt in front of the Queen. In his addled state, he’d forgotten that dungeons could speak. They rarely chose to do so, but this did change things. Maybe he could still make it out of here alive!

  He swallowed and knelt again before attempting a response. “Well, someone did find you and mapped the location. But likely, since you had no level assigned, they didn’t attempt your depths. I bought the only copy of the map. So, unfortunately, your location dies with me.”

  “Could you tell others?” the dungeon asked.

  “Not if I’m dead!”

  Chapter Nine

  “So, if I don’t kill you, you promise to ensure more people will challenge my depths?” the dungeon asked Azrael.

  He nodded his head and a pragmatic pause later the dungeon, Apep, continued, “I will admit I learned quite a bit from your single attempt. With more participants, I am sure I could grow and evolve!”

  Azrael swallowed his nerves. He was still surrounded by bees and sat on the sand to regenerate resources faster. This could still turn bad and he needed to be ready. Unfortunately, the time had also regenerated the Boss and he didn’t have a single sphere remaining.

  This has to work!

  He spoke to the Queen Bee, preferring to have an object to address. “I mean, you may have to adjust that final encounter, though. People won’t want to challenge this place if you kill everyone.”

  The Queen Bee’s mandibles clacked together. Was it laughing? Azrael shivered.

  “I gave you everything you needed. You failed to use all your tools. How is that my fault?” Apep retorted haughtily.

  What was it talking about? He had used all the spheres. What other tools did it bestow?

  He slapped his forehead. “The shield and sword?”

  “That’s correct. The Queen has a severe allergy to Wasp venom, and the shield deflects one hundred percent of her charges into the sand, which stuns her for five seconds. I will admit that you surprised me by forcing her to attack the Drones and Workers. I hadn’t considered that option.”

  Azrael shuddered, his face burned, and his fists clenched. He was better than this! He should have figured out the drops were needed, especially after the spheres had proven so effective. If he had died here, he could only have blamed his stupidity.

  He hadn’t placed his free stat points either. He’d gotten cocky. Even some extra points in intelligence would have given him a final round of combat.

  If I survive this. I won’t make that mistake again.

  “I will let you go if you return the sword and shield. You don’t deserve any loot if you failed to complete my challenges. In exchange, I will expect someone to challenge my depths within seven days. Agreed?”

  Binding Agreement

  System Binding

  Ultimatum of the Apep Dungeon

  ● Apep has offered for you to leave its depth to spread its location and existence to the world. Apep wants back all items but otherwise has made the requirements pitifully small at one new person in the next seven days. We guess that one challenger in 155 days of isolation has made it drop its standards. Lucky you!

  Rewards:

  Variable Etherience

  Your Life

  Consequences:

  Removal of all Etherience gained in Apep’s depths

  Do you agree with the terms?

  | No

  Saying no would mean he would have to fight the Queen again. And likely die.

  So, Azrael chose yes. He quickly placed the items onto the floor before standing. He dusted off his butt and smiled hesitantly at the Queen. It tilted its head then buzzed four times.

  The familiar buzz that had signaled the change of phases caused him to flinch. All the bees filed back into the still-open holes around the arena. The Queen stayed, regarding him for a long period. Azrael tilted his head and the Queen juked forward a step.

  He jumped backward and landed back on his butt in the sand. The Queen Bee swaggered away from him.

  Azrael’s face turned crimson. “When I come back, I am going to stab you with
the Stinger Sword—tough girl!”

  The abdomen of the Queen Bee waved back and forth, while its two back legs grabbed its butt!

  His cheeks got hotter and he forced himself to take a deep calming breath.

  No one is here to see this. You can deny it ever happened.

  The holes in the sand began to grind and slide closed after the Queen disappeared. Stairs formed, in what he believed was the opposite direction of the entrance he had discovered.

  He pointed, as a door at the top opened, and asked, “These lead to the surface?”

  No response came. Azrael walked up the stairs which continued to climb straight through the doorway. He came out on the leeward side of a large boulder. He recalled the large black boulder. He had been training in this clearing and could even see the marks left by his testing of Phantasmal Blades. He glanced at the sun to determine how long he had been underground—maybe two hours. He should have checked his interface clock before he started...

  He hoped his trainers hadn’t gotten too worried. He began walking back to the truck. Together they could run the dungeon. That would clear the depths and Apep’s quest, simultaneously. He couldn’t wait to stick that Queen with the Wasp sword.

  He was already trying to calculate how much Etherience, and what level he might achieve, when he arrived in the clearing. The truck was on its side, and all of Mark’s belongings were strewn haphazardly around it. Azrael saw the bucket staff, the buckets, broken crates, and so much more. He jumped back into the trees and circled the clearing, using his forestry training to stay hidden.

  The clearing was empty and after an hour of searching he hadn’t discovered any lingering guards or monitoring devices. He stayed cautious and moved towards the truck. He found signs of a struggle, broken arrows, and even a few patches of blood on fallen leaves. His trainers had put up a fight this time, it seemed.

  Once inside the truck, he discovered that it had been thoroughly tossed. Even the safe was cracked open and emptied. He exited and took a look at the tracks and signs of fighting more closely. It would appear the attackers came in some sort of hover vehicle themselves. They had exited and spread out, standing in one place. That was a tactic only used by law enforcement or the military.

  How had they found them way out here?

  The fighting must have started sometime after an ultimatum was offered. A few of the footprints had handprints and blood in front of them. An arrow to a limb or non-lethal area, dropping the lawmen to the ground. From there, it became chaotic. A true battle. No way of telling the order of events; just that the lawmen or military had won.

  A small piece of clothing was snagged on the metal of the truck and Azrael inspected it. King Oberan’s colors. Was this attack under order of the King?

  Azrael felt his stomach lurch. Had King Oberan been looking for him?

  He considered trying to track the hover vehicle and liberate his trainers but knew he had no real idea of where the vehicle had gone. Some broken branches indicated they had headed back to the road, but once on the road they could have turned either way, with no sign. His stomach grew more knotted, and his chest hurt. He felt heat suffuse his eyes. He was alone.

  For the first time in his life, he was without a trainer near at hand. He had trained for this exact situation. Why was his body reacting this way? He had always thought this would be exhilarating. Not sad. He wasn’t a kid anymore! They were just his trainers and his other teachers would scold him if they saw his emotional reaction. He took some deep breaths and managed to regain control.

  He walked through the scene with fresh eyes and noticed a few leaves in a strange pattern on the ground. They stood out starkly as they were clearly picked off the nearby bush. Each leaf was then torn in half and placed on the ground to form an arrow. At the tip of the arrow, the word “Ogma” was spelled. Someone had knelt in the grass here and Azrael assumed it was Mark. His trainers had fought, but Mark had left a message. Why should Azrael go to Lord Ogma?

  Another inspection confirmed the Ether Converter and Battery Banks were torn out of the truck. That made the truck just a pile of scrap metal. There was no point staying around here, either. He collected what pieces of gear or equipment might come in handy. His practice sword, a water bucket, a bow, the two bundles of arrows, sleeping bag, mobile tent, and a few sets of spare clothing. Azrael changed out of his current rags and into a plain black set. He even scored a pair of boots that were pretty close to fitting him. Nothing enchanted, but all of it was serviceable.

  That patrol was likely to come back through this area and he needed to be away from here before they did. He jogged off into the woods and set up his camp for the night. He dug a deep pit, got a fire going and fetched water from a nearby stream. It was easy to find some animal tracks and follow them to the water source. He shot two rabbits and began cooking them as the sun began to set.

  He took a sip of the water first and was going to wait an hour. This way he could see if he reacted poorly to the stream water, but then smacked his forehead. He had an interface now! Checking his debuff list, and then adding it to his interface, was the work of a few mental clicks. The water didn’t need to be boiled and was potable.

  With some sand from near the shore, he cleaned off the dried insect ichor and patches of sticky sand that still clung to him from Apep’s arena.

  The next decision—should he go find Lord Ogma? The arrow on the ground and the map lined up with the crudely drawn cabin. But with just a rough bearing, he could miss the location by miles depending on how far away it was. His trainers, or their captors, likely had the real map they had followed to the dungeon.

  He figured it was a good option but then considered the problems with that plan. Mark’s reaction to his last name was the biggest issue. But there was also a relatively easy solution at hand. Using Obfuscate, he removed his last name and even changed his sword’s name. If he ran into anyone strong, it might not pass inspection but it also might. Most people didn’t dig deeper into their Analyze skill unless they had reason to be suspicious.

  If he ran into someone who had a high enough Perception skill, they still had to find a reason to use it...

  He ate his rabbit and climbed a tree to sleep, because he didn’t feel comfortable sleeping on the ground without a lookout.

  He lay awake for hours, each noise the forest made somehow louder than it had ever been before.

  ***

  Azrael woke up the next morning just as the sun rose over the horizon. He coaxed the banked coals back to life and pulled the second rabbit carcass from his ring. He set it on a spit to cook before beginning his sword katas.

  After each one, he turned the spit and continued until he had finished all ten. He fetched water again, filling up the two buckets like his training dictated. He would use the second to clean off his sweat.

  Then he ate his breakfast and even gathered some nearby greens to satisfy his internal Dara. “You need to eat your vegetables!” he muttered to himself in mimicry. He needed to stay healthy, to survive, and that was why he continued to follow her advice. There wasn’t any other reason. He shoved down all thoughts he had to the contrary.

  He packed everything back up onto the portable tent and turned on its auto follow feature. Now was the moment. Should he go find Lord Ogma? It was likely the only chance he had to save Mark, Dara, and Verimy. Would Lord Ogma even care, or was Azrael walking into the hands of a potential enemy? He chose to find the cabin first and then make a decision on approaching it.

  He killed any wildlife he came across, skinned the corpses and parceled some of the meat for later meals. On the fourth kill, a shell-backed rodent half the size of Azrael, he realized he was avoiding continuing onwards. Did he fear Lord Ogma? Yes, he definitely feared meeting a powerful person he had never met before. On a whim, the man could kill him. But for some reason Verimy, Dara, and Mark were going to see this possible enemy.

  His musings were interrupted.

  “Don’t let it get away! We have been t
racking it for months, and we won’t get another chance at it.” Shouting echoed through the long grass and trees in front of him.

  Tracking what?

  He sprinted to the edge of the forest and clambered up a tree. Through the long grass he made out five people running after something large and white. Sun glinted off the pure white fur, highlighting the bloody places arrows protruded. A rainbow patina struck Azrael in the eyes, and he jerked back. The rainbow had reflected off of a pearl protrusion from the horse’s forehead.

  A unicorn?

  The five men ran after the mythical, nearly unheard-of creature. The unicorn was stuck out in a kill zone. Two more arrows sunk home into its hind legs. It wouldn’t make it to the tree line.

  The men reminded him of the bandits that had robbed the transport truck. He dropped the tent’s tracking beacon to the ground and charged into the clearing.

  He activated his En and infused his sword with a single Phantasmal Blade.

  He Analyzed the Unicorn as he ran by.

  Dagda’s Unicorn

  Apprentice-Catalyst

  Level 39

  Once past the unicorn, the closest pursuer noticed the strange pattern he was causing in the long grass. “What the? Something is counterattacking!”

  Azrael was now committed, and he quickly analyzed the humanoid who had yelled.

  Ulec Westin

  Apprentice-Tracker

  Level 19

  Ulec was a beastkin and had the head of a wolf. So, Azrael made a logical deduction that it was from the wolf tribe. The wolfman was likely the reason they had been able to track a unicorn down. Azrael lunged forward, trying to pierce the heart of the tracker and end this fight quickly. Ulec reacted and batted his sword blade aside with its claws. The coating of Phantasmal Blade sheared off quite a bit of those claws, though. And Ulec pulled its hand back with a growl.

  “Why do you attack us, cub?” Ulec asked as it assumed a battle stance.

  Azrael could hear the four others converging on his position and knew that talking was just a distraction method. He entered Bull Rush and attacked Ulec with everything he had. The fact that Ulec had no weapon gave Azrael the advantage, and he planned to capitalize on it. The wolfman dodged the blade to the left, not wanting to risk parrying again after the last deflection cost its claws. He expected the move and paused his downward chop and slashed at his opponent. He released the double stacked Phantasmal Blade and heard a whine before he was liberally coated in blood.