Assembling the tablet took half the night, and the morning’s examination of his long project showed Zahn he was missing a piece that fit to a corner. Frustrated at the missing bit and working to smooth out the lumpy mess of a surface he passed the early morning in a grouchy haze despite the usually fantastic news. He’d received two notifications in a row as he’d gotten the hang of melding bits of rock together and the process no longer needed his focus. He could now simply set the Earth-type mana to the task with some focus from his Psychic side and the stones would bond on their own. It was after the third mending without supervision that he got the update about his new spell.

You have unlocked the spell: Earth Seal!

Earth Seal allows you to spend mana to merge two or more bits of rock, stone, sand, dirt, earth, or any other physical representation of the Earth Magic school.

Casting this spell requires contact with either the pieces you wish to merge together or a connection to those pieces via Earth-type elements. This spell may be cast or channeled, cast in sequence, and cast alongside other spells.

Congratulations Player! You have leveled up!

Level gained: 2

+0 Free Stat Points

+1 Free Att Points per Rank: 0

+10 to Mana and Stamina

Continue to rise in power, Ascend!

Dismissing the windows with a grin he’d gathered the rest of the rubble around the partially completed disc he’d made and fused them together, draining most of his mana pool to channel the spell and draw the stones towards the middle as if magnetized. The remaining work looked solvable with enough applications of Shift, but he’d opted to sleep instead so he could -

Zahn snapped back to reality as Ethan’s damned stick lashed out again, taking his left shoulder solidly. “Wake up! Fuck dude, how long were you up last night?” The cocky blond still continued with his smile-and-talk routine, but since he’d spent half the night brooding the lowbie saw a shadow behind the behavior as if the other man were constantly pretending.

“I’m awake,” he grumbled back as he massaged his sore arm. “And you keep targeting the same spots, cut the shit.”

“Ooh, scary,” snarked back the Warlock as he paced a circle around him. “You’ve been sloppy all morning, and now you’re not even focusing on a simple duel. Until the Fodder get here, you’re stuck with me Jimmy-boy.” He cocked another grin before darting in and swinging hard at the other’s leg, sending Zahn skipping away as he laughed at him.

Zahn growled as he rolled his head, trying to keep his thoughts steady. Breathe. Even. Breathe. Looking back at the other Player he felt something begin to grow, a heat in his chest that had nothing to do with magic. The lowbie stepped carefully, gripping the tool handle in a tight fist as he felt the soft wood fibers tense in his grasp. “You know, I’ve come to realize something the past few days.” Taking deep breaths after his announcement, he pushed on his mana source to send energy to each hand, then said fuckit and tried to charge all his limbs with as much power as he could. I’m fucking done with this shit. Feeling the mana pool in his hands, he charged up his Mana Sight to get a better look and watched his glowing inline grow brighter blue as more energy filled his arm and gathered inside his flesh.

Staring up at Ethan his glowing blue eyes gave the other pause and prompted him to clench himself as if passing a hard crap before his own eyes sparked up a blue light.

Seeing the Warlock empower himself sent Zahn’s adrenaline into full drive. The magic filling his body felt hot and right, as if he’d finally begun the work he’d meant to do ages ago. He saw out of the corner of his eye as he raised his weapon that the mana had fully charged the bones in his arms and was rapidly coloring in his entire body bright blue. The force leaving his Core felt slower, sluggish as if he’d begun to sag after a sprint. His mana bar still shone at full despite the ongoing power-up, and his day’s frustrations peaked. I’m not fucking stopping here!

He already stood straight as he faced off against Ethan in a wide stance, but as he pressed against his rage he felt as if he were finally standing tall. His head rushed with chill air as if he rose up, feeling the refreshing breeze pass over his entire body in waves as he rocked upwards. From his peak he realized he was looking up at the sky, and turning to look back at his opponent felt like a giant peering down at some insignificant prey from impossibly high above.

“I’ve come to realize I’m a bit mad.” The anger making his arms shake pounded through his veins, its violent energy making the escrima grip squeak. “I’ve spent a long fucking time working on my anger. It’s ruined relationships, ended projects, it’s ruined my fucking life. I’ve spent the last fifteen years behind a desk, and I’ve been going to therapy. I have anger management, and I am in fucking control. I don’t like angry me! He makes bad choices!” He found himself yelling, gripping the weapon in both hands as Ethan stared on in wide-eyed shock. “But you know fucking what?! I’m a little fucking mad! So you tell me! And you tell me now!”

He squeezed on the vast well of power he found inside, sending energy into his Psychic Weave. His eyes lit with purple light, discs of magenta behind his irises lighting the socket as he poured his mind-searing gaze at the other man. “Have you been lying to me?”

The Warlock’s thin face jiggled as his head vibrated under the attack, his mouth opening and closing rapidly until words emerged. “N-no, no, no! I haven’t! I’ve been telling you the truth!” He tried to stop, but the spell compelled him to spit out words he couldn’t swallow down. “I really do kind of hate you. Everything, I hate everything about you. Sometimes,” he tried to amend as the spell ended, without his opposite even hearing the muttered word.

Zahn squeezed his eyes shut, giving one last attempt to stop himself before he gave in to his rage after twenty long years. He opened his crying eyes and stared angrily at his opponent, “Yeah, that makes me mad.”

Ethan ducked into his fighting stance, holding his own escrima between them with both hands. “Okay, calm down man. You’re level fucking two!”

The Custom pushed on the mana in his legs, launching him forwards by spending half the power he’d invested. The mana-powered jump ripped at his muscles, tearing pain rippling along his limbs as he landed inches away from his target and body-tackling him away. Ethan caught himself after skidding a few feet, stabbing his weapon at the ground to gain more traction. Zahn spent the second half in his legs immediately, feeling the surging mana in his chest already refilling the spent charge. Reaching closer to his goal on the second attack, he stopped feet away as the other caster braced himself for a tackle. Roaring his anger to the world Zahn slammed his wooden stick down in a double grip, catching the Warlock’s raised defense with a solid crack that echoed around the arena. Striking again and again he tried spending more spurts of mana in each attack as the blocks became weaker. At the fifth strike with a good quarter of his arms’ capacity spent at once he slammed the other backwards, leaving Ethan stumbling as he fell away.

Zahn blitzed in for another strike, charging his throat for the follow-up. The ‘lock gathered his stance and held up a weak block, his face contorted in open-mouthed fear. Zahn slammed his foot into the ground near his opposite’s leading leg, casting the spell he’d braced for. “Shape!” His voice sounded rougher, almost as if he’d breathed through burlap for years. The spell still took, dropping Ethan’s forward leg into a sudden pothole that he pulled the ground out from, leaving an overly-tall crater sinking the Warlock to his knee and wrapping his leg to the thigh in sand that stuck like mud.

Stepping around the falling body, the Custom raised his escrima high and sent as much mana into the wood as he could before spewing a channeled Fire Breath attack at the other man’s back, badly scorching his neck and searing away the top of his shirt immediately. While exhaling his rage, he swung the pole down at the exposed neck with all the power he could, feeling a point of Investiture spent as he discharged most of the mana in his entire body to leverage the attack. The burning strike sounded across the sand, bringing silence in its wake as the lowbie panted and tried to regain his breath after victory.

You have unlocked the Skill: Power Strike!

Power Strike allows you to spend mana to create greater force between you and your weapon, by sending mystical energy between yourself and your tool you can only become stronger.

Use of this Skill requires physical contact with your weapon, the physical ability to carry out the strike itself, and the weapon itself to have more than (1) durability point.

At your current Skill Level, Power Strike’s increased attack power is: 100%

At your current Skill Level, Power Strike’s mana cost is: 100 per strike.

You have unlocked the Ability: Fire Strike!

Fire Strike allows you to spend mana to create greater force between you and your weapon, by sending mystical energy into your sword and converting that energy into Fire you can deal increased damage and inflict a Damage Over Time effect, Burn.

Use of this Ability requires physical contact with your weapon, the physical ability to carry out the strike itself, the weapon itself to have more than (1) durability point, and for there to be a sufficient source of heat available. In the event there is not a sufficient source of heat, the cost in mana will increase until the heat quotient for ignition has been met.

At your current Ability Level, Fire Strike’s increased damage is: 30 Fire.

At your current Ability Level, Fire Strike’s mana cost is: 150 per strike.

At your current Ability Level, Fire Strike’s chance of inflicting a Burn is: 15%

The Player grinned as he tried to breathe normally again, dismissing the windows with blinks. He stabbed his broken stick into the ground, feeling its snap splinter further as he leaned on the pole and looked down at the loser. His rush of wrath and mana had passed, taking his anger with it as he considered the ember of grudge he still held for the asshole who fed him.

Ethan lay face-down in the dirt, his leg propping him up from behind as his head smoldered on the sand. Blond hair crisped all across the back of his head, the man’s skull sat cracked and blood seeped along the wound through the tears in his skin. The fire attack combo scorched his skin and left a nasty burn, black like overcooked cheese and bubbling in a struggle to mitigate the heat damage.

Focusing on the mostly translucent health bar above his fallen foe’s head, Zahn admired the half-empty health bar as it continued to steadily tick downwards, and saw the debuffs publicly listed included first- and second-degree burns on top of a ‘serious concussion’ that drained five health per second. The Warlock was completely out and his eyes flickered against the scattering sands as his brain tried to function normally again.

A fighter Zahn didn’t recognize scooted into view from the left, drawing his gaze. The chubby man raised a finger as if asking in class, “So, can you teach me that?”

The Custom grinned and panted back, “You gotta eat a Fire Pepper.”

From somewhere far behind in the silence of the Collisae, a single man clapping began to sound. For several seconds it almost seemed as if another fighter were giving him appreciation, but turning to see only showed a very calm Ringmaster standing twenty feet away flanked by both One and Burnato. The red-robed man studied his Gladiators calmly, observing the fallen Warlock and victorious Custom with equally bored eyes.

“That was almost impressive. Tell me, how did you Rank jump?”

Zahn stared back in silence for a second before his higher brain functions kicked in. “You mean, how did I hurt him?”

One spoke up, angry in a cold voice. “Rank jumping is when you hurt someone you can’t. Rank zero, level two defeated Rank two, level eight. How.”

The Custom straightened up and rolled his neck, feeling something close to the rush of rising again. “I spent mana in my limbs, and my weapon.” He tossed the broken escrima aside, its handle compressed and the middle nearly broken off. “And I breathed fire out of my mouth, which I’m pretty sure everyone already knew about.”

Burnato stepped forward with a growl. “You watch your fuckin-!”

“Can you do it again?” The Ringmaster still held his bored drawl, but his fifth position fighter silenced immediately. “You don’t have any specific requirements?”

Zahn considered a moment, finally opting for honesty. “Depends on my level, what I’m armed with. I can punch with mana but it’s stronger with a force multiplier. It would probably work with any of the swords I’ve trained with so far.”

“Master, no,” One made her stance clear.

The manager turned and left without a reply, leaving his attendants to keep up and leaving with a final backwards glare. Zahn looked after them, not trusting either numbered Gladiators for a second when he felt someone’s hand land on his shoulder. He jumped and spun, nearly tripping over himself and found Two waiting for him.

“Hello,” gave the gray-wrapped roge with a cheerful wave. “I saw your fight. Nicely done, if I may say so.” He stepped around the fallen Warlock, careful to keep his feet away from the growing blood pool. Ethan’s health continued to dip and the strange sneak didn’t seem to leave footprints anywhere near the stain. “Impressive indeed, punching up two whole Ranks like that. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that you decided to finally stop playing around.” Two crouched to poke at the fallen Ethan, leaving Zahn a moment to process.

“Wait, playing around? What?” The lowbie gestured between himself and his opponent, “My physical stats are already tier two and I spent a lot of mana to do that, I don’t know if it’s a matter of taking things seriously or not.”

Two glanced at him from his crouch, “Oh? Why aren’t you always breathing that fire attack? Missiles or stream, everything burns and everyone is afraid of fire. I heard you compel and answer out of him, so you clearly have some level of control over your mental magic. Why don’t you use it to make your opponents miss, fight one another, or perhaps even simply dominate their minds?”

Zahn opened his mouth to answer, finding nothing there. He tried to think of a good reason not to simply make every battle into a magic fight, and found his reasons small. “It’d be harder to breathe, constantly spitting flames like that.” He sounded small, and Two’s unbreaking stare reinforced his growing sense of foolishness. “And it’s not so easy to control this thing, I’ve already destroyed one person’s mind completely. If I start permanently hurting his fighters, the Ringmaster would probably go back to keeping me killed on repeat.”

Finally the Rogue stood, nodding and brushing nothing off his clean pants. “I suppose you’re right, I’m not living in your body and all that. But, if I might speak plainly between us?” His sudden shift landed the sneak directly at Zahn’s side, holding the Player in a sideways grip under his arm. “You aren’t the first Custom I’ve met, you know.” Zahn swiveled at the whisper, staring at the side of Two’s face in shock. “How old are you, little Player?”

He felt his throat dry, and Zahn swallowed before he could speak. “I’m thirty-eight in November.”

Two nodded, his plain face unmoving as he stared out to the middle distance. “I’m also older than I look, though I cannot claim the same immortality that you can. I, too, once knew of a Custom long ago. She was very powerful, and those who crossed her swiftly learned why such a thing was foolish indeed. She made many enemies, and long-lasting friends.” He stopped speaking for a moment, collecting himself with a breath. Zahn didn’t dare even move. “I know what it is, for a Custom to visit their wrath upon a place. I am fully aware you will only grow in power, here at level two you’re far stronger than you were when you arrived at nine. Barring religious involvement you are nigh-but immortal, and when you grow even stronger your memory will be long indeed. The Collisae is not an evil place, it is just a place. It was built long ago, the remnants of an Empire.”

Zahn sucked in a breath as he connected the dots, “The Minotaurs.”

Two nodded, favoring his student with a glance before he looked out again over the twitching body of Ethan. “That’s right. Once, this place was filled every week. The stands would be packed, the people would roar, and oh what a world could have been seen. The mighty minotaur were a proud people, and a powerful one. They exclusively lived and staffed this great place, which is why the commons and their rooms so resemble circular stables. We have been graced eight of the Hearths of Resurrection, as this mighty building is Rank eight itself.”

Zahn nodded at hearing the proper nouns, filing the knowledge away. “For a while I just thought my respawns were altars or cooking hearths, I was going to try and find out what made them alike.”

Two’s face twisted into a smile he banished before flicking the side of the Player’s head. “Enough interruptions. No, but I suppose something granted by the Gods with eternal heat and light could also be used to cook. The long tale of might and grace seen by these walls ended prematurely, the very city that once housed this amazing building was destroyed when the plateau rose. Some mad or vengeful wizard lifted this and the south lands together, creating a several thousand meter cliff cutting us off from the city that once ruled north of here. And then, seemingly in the same year, disaster struck the Empire. A generation of only males and the discovery of the great enemy that rose with the people.”

“The Correlosang Wurm,” Zahn whispered with wide eyes before Two gave him an angry side-eye.

“I said, shut up. Yes, the wurms. Drove the people away, leaving only a scattered few still living in the great Collisae. With our own teleport node intact we still receive visitors, customers, even competitors, but the days of greatness have long since passed. When those remaining among the mighty minotaur began to die out, they instituted a change within their ranks. Instead of merely killing off humans captured during Fodder raids, they chose to train the willing to become new Gladiators. Before this, only the mighty horned ones were allowed to compete, but with the introduction of slave fighters a new breed of Gladiators were born. Now, we have our own contracts that permit freedom if we win. In your case, as you are immortal, that is a when you win.”

“I said before, you aren’t the first I’ve known. You can learn anything that another is willing to teach, even if you cannot use that knowledge now. Rumor states you are even able to learn something you witness, if you are proficient enough at similar attacks. And I understand you’ve recently been given access to Earth magic. Our great Collisae is made mostly of rock and stone, with little wood and metal.” Two finally released Zahn, holding his shoulders at an arm’s length and staring in his eyes. “Please, Custom, remember that this place is not evil. You have already grown stronger here, as many other have for generations beyond count. Our lives can be made better here, please do not destroy this place when it is the owner who deserves your anger. Just, remember the history here, and remember it can be great.”

Before he could reply, Two released him and vanished. The tan form disappeared from sight and even his mana-sensitive eyes couldn’t detect the sneak’s internal mana system anywhere over the sands. He once again stood alone with Ethan, and looking down at the defeated he saw his health slipping close to empty.

“Ah, is anyone supposed to help him? I legit don’t know any healing spells.”