Here we go! Enjoy the chapter :)

-Plum

7 – Colors Don’t Matter

As Hector stepped out of the medical recovery room, he glanced at his clock; he still had ten minutes before his “appointment” with Burton, but there was another notification blinking in the corner of his AUI: his aura system was going to complete his Ghost Blade update soon. More importantly, his level-up was due to complete in the next couple of hours, and he was hungry. Even as he had the thought, he realized he had a dull, throbbing ache at the back of his skull. “It’s really not a good time for a workout.”

//I was going to say as much, but I didn’t want to irritate you.//

Hector strode to the elevator. Part of him wanted to have Evie send Burton a message and then refuse his calls, but he felt like he ought to tell the guy to his face. He had a feeling that the old blowhard wanted to put him through some kind of assessment—pretty much the opposite of what his body needed at the moment.

When he walked into the training bay—a space about twenty-five meters deep by fifteen meters wide—Hector was further annoyed to find that Burton wasn’t alone; Gladia Ventress was there chatting with him. They stood near the central part of the gym, where gray mats covered the floor. Burton was facing the entrance, so he saw when Hector strode through the open doors.

“There he is—early, too! I like it!” Burton’s voice rumbled through the space, deep and far too loud for Hector’s taste. Gladia turned to look at Hector, and she smiled, though the expression was a little reserved; maybe she saw the irritation in his eyes.

Hector didn’t speak until he was closer, and then he said, “This isn’t a good time; my system’s going through some updates.”

“That right?” Burton folded his arms. “So you’ve got potentia?”

Hector glanced at Gladia. She must have told him about Lux. She only shrugged slightly, and he wondered if that meant she hadn’t. Turning back to Burton, he said, “Enough for a couple of levels.”

“Well, that’s something at least. I was just talking to Lady Ventress about that. We need to get you ready for the first of the Games, and that means more levels than you’re currently packing.” He tapped his right temple, and his dark, sunken eye suddenly flared with amber light. “Scanned you earlier. You’re hard to read, but I wouldn’t put you past level twenty.”

“Expensive eye,” Hector said; usually the kind of scanner that could evaluate a person’s aura system was a hell of a lot bigger than an eyeball.

“Pays for itself every year.”

The man’s assessment was a testament to how limited such scans were; they were good for a very general gauge of someone’s strength, and that was about it. When it came to a person’s actual aura abilities, or their skill with their usage, the information was worthless. “So,” Hector said, bringing the conversation back around to his earlier statement. “Can we pick this up tomorrow morning?”

“You’re not interested in what we decided?” Gladia asked.

Hector sighed, turning to her.

When he didn’t speak, she realized he was waiting for an explanation and hastily said, “Burton is going to reward you with potentia—bankrolled by me—for your willing participation in his training.”

Hector tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. Had he given them the impression he wouldn’t participate—that he needed incentive? He almost smirked when he realized he may have done just that; he didn’t, though. His face was impassive when he looked at Burton. “My archetype is expensive.”

The man pulled a small comb from his pocket and brushed it through his thick mustache as he regarded Hector. After a moment, he asked, “Elite?”

“Something like that.”

Burton looked at Gladia. “This is what I’m talking about, Lady Ventress. I told Sparling’s daughter, and I’m telling you—I can’t be butting heads with someone I’m supposed to train. I know more about the Games than anyone, and my time is valuable. If you all want this to go as planned, then I need a fighter who will listen.”

Gladia looked at Hector, who remained impassive, and then turned to Burton. “I don’t see how Hector has given you any trouble yet. I’ve given you twelve hundred potentia for use on this voyage as an incentive. I’m sure Hector won’t let you down.”

Burton’s face reddened, and Hector knew it was because Gladia had been a bit more transparent than he’d wanted. The man wasn’t suffering from any sort of delusion when it came to his status with regard to the Royal, though, and he ducked his head, turning back to Hector. “You hear that? Work with me, and I’ll make sure you’ve got some more levels coming your way.”

Hector nodded. “Good.”

“One thing, before I dismiss you. I saw a vid of your fights up at Redwick Mine. Sparling swore up and down the footage wasn’t doctored, but I’ve never seen anyone summon a blade that fast. Can you show me?”

Hector held out his hand and did the same thing he’d done thousands—maybe hundreds of thousands—of times over the course of his lives; he summoned his Aura Blade. He felt the aura gather around him as it always did, and he felt it start to flow toward his hand. A spike of pain flared at the center of his skull, though, and the crimson glow that limned his arm sputtered and jumped, flickering into his hand in spurts as he squeezed his eyes shut against the pain.

//Hector, the Ghost Blade propagation is interfering with your Aura Blade’s pathways.//

Hector tried to soldier through it for a moment, pushing the aura into his hand with an effort of will, but the blade came out half-formed, hissing and sparking as the aura bled off too quickly. He shook his hand and let it drop.

“The hell was that?” Burton asked, his barrel of a chest rumbling with an incredulous growl.

Hector shook his head, still squeezing his eyes shut against the headache. “The update—my system’s not right.”

“Well, go on. Get out of here. We’ll start at zero five hundred.”

Hector wasn’t in the mood to butt heads; in fact, the lights in the room pulsated with the throb of his headache as he nodded and turned, grimacing, to walk out of the room. He was halfway to the elevator when he heard Gladia’s heels rapidly approaching on the hard floor.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded. “Just my system.” He stepped into the elevator and scanned the floor selection—the lines blurred and ran together, so he hesitated.

“You want your room?”

He shook his head. “Need food.”

“I’ll have it brought to you.” Gladia touched the controls, and the elevator started moving. “Anything in particular?”

“No…thanks.”

She nodded, then, after a moment’s hesitation, said, “I’m sorry about the potentia, Hector. It must feel like I’m playing games.”

He rubbed his temples and didn’t reply.

“Well, I suppose in a way I am. I have to keep a lot of people happy, and the whole incentives thing came up when I was speaking to Sparling—Iris’s father, I mean—while we were at port; I had a lengthy call with him.”

“Forget it.”

“Well, I won’t—forget it, I mean. If Burton gives you trouble, just let me know, and I’ll figure something out.”

The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. Hector stepped off, nodding down the corridor toward his room. “The food will come soon?”

“Yes. Mae has already dispatched someone.”

“Thanks.” He started walking, and he could feel Gladia’s eyes on him, and he could have sworn he knew she was going to call after him before she did it.

“Thank you, Hector.”

He paused and turned to face her. “For?”

“Not fighting with Burton—not being angry with me.”

He threw her half a smile and then continued to his room. He’d just sat on the edge of his bunk when Evie created a flashing icon on his AUI—one of his updates was done.

//Aura ability propagation successful…Ghost Blade: Create a secondary aura blade that will float nearby. It will derive its technique from your subconscious as it attempts to defend against threats. Cost: 1 aura per 2 seconds.//

It hurt Hector’s head to look at the report, so he scanned it quickly before swiping the window aside. “That’s not bad,” he said, considering the cost of the ability.

//Not nearly as costly as I’d feared.//

Hector concentrated briefly, pushing aura into the pathways for the new ability. He knew he was risking exacerbating his headache, but he hoped that since the ability was finished propagating, he wouldn’t run into the glitch he’d suffered back in the training bay. To his relief, hot aura surged through his pathways without any further discomfort and then, after a few seconds, a crimson point of light appeared in front of him.

Frowning, Hector pushed harder, forcing the aura into the new pathways. The pulsating red star stretched into a line and then, with a final effort, it flared brightly and a crimson blade hung there in the air before him. It looked a lot like his Aura Blade, but longer and more slender—a fifty-centimeter shard of mirrored red glass that slowly swayed left and right, hissing softly as red vapors floated away from it.

“It’s waiting for something to do…” Hector muttered. Just then his door chimed. He’d been so focused on the blade that the sound startled him, and the sword swished through the air, tilting toward the door.

Looking for a threat.

Hector dismissed the Ghost Blade, and it broke apart into a cloud of crimson vapor. “Come in,” he called, and Evie opened the door.

Thirty minutes later, after stuffing himself with roast chicken, stewed carrots, and two slices of apple pie, Hector found it nearly impossible to keep his eyes open. It wasn’t even 1600, but he knew his system was about to knock him out for the count. As he lay back, kicking his boots off, he muttered, “Evie, don’t let me oversleep.”

//I won’t.//

Hector had wild dreams that night. Sometimes he dreamed of his past, but this time the battlefields were strange and foreign to him. He fought at sea using a metal sword, and when he fell from the deck into the icy, storm-tossed water, he found himself inside a metal corridor. Red lights flashed, a klaxon howled, and the ground shuddered. He ran, and as sometimes happens in dreams, he felt clumsy. His legs were half numb, and each step was awkward and slow.

When he burst out of the corridor, he was on the slope of a red-tinted hillside, and down below, he saw men and women wearing House Ventress colors fighting against a tide of writhing black insects. A rift hung in the sky, bathing the battlefield in its red and purple glow. Hector stared, suffocated by a dread so heavy that it made his bones and muscles feel like lead. He couldn’t breathe, and he couldn’t blink. Something began to emerge from the rift—a giant, glistening black claw, then another, and another…

//Hector…//

He heard Evie’s voice, but the thing coming through the rift still had his attention. The claws were attached to a long, powerful limb—black as night and glistening with a damp sheen—

//Hector…//

He stared, refusing to look away; he had to see what it was…what was coming through…

//Hector!//

He jerked awake, inhaling sharply and staring wide-eyed into the dimness of his bunk. A glance at his AUI told him it was 0440—twenty minutes before he had to be down in the training bay. A system icon flashed, and he knew his level-up had completed. Rather than face the strangeness of his dream—nightmare?—he focused on the icon and read the report:

//Corpus vivum conditioning complete and level 13 advancement has been applied. Nascent pathways have broadened, leading to new avenues of advancement and novel aura abilities. Level results are as follows:

·       Strengthened aura pathways, increasing maximum load—use caution when exploring this limit to avoid aura overload

·       Aura Pool increased from 90 to 104

·       Strength increased from 26 to 27

·       Speed increased from 29 to 31

·       Vitality increased from 54 to 55

·       Cognition rate enhanced, boosting Perception from 26 to 27

Aura Potentia Available: 562

End Report.//

Hector sighed, stretching his neck until it popped. The gains were good overall, but the standout was his aura pool. He’d made tremendous improvements in that department. Ever since the similite.

//Without the similite enhancing your aura pathways, I doubt I would have found this archetype. So, in a sense, the similite has helped you in several ways.//

Not for the first time, Hector considered what Evie had done and wondered how close some of the esoteric researchers employed by the Empire had come to doing the same thing. Maybe they had. Maybe they knew a better method—or a less ideal one—to enhance a person through similite.

//You know they do. Gladia’s arm is probably mostly similite.//

“Yeah, true.” Cybernetics made of rift materials, when done properly by a skilled augmentation specialist, were well known to enhance a person’s aura capabilities—the polar opposite of standard cybernetics.

He pushed himself into a sitting position and swung his legs over the side of the bunk. “What kinds of advancements?” As Evie opened a new window on his AUI, he silently hoped there wouldn’t be anything too tempting; he just wanted to buy levels.

//Available Advancement Opportunities:

·       Level Advance 13 -> 14. Cost: 209 aura potentia.

·       Veilborn Senses 2: Improve cognitive processing of sensory input, effectively boosting your Perception attribute. Results will vary based on individual and baseline Perception. Repeatable. Purchase Cost: 75 aura potentia.

·       Skill merger opportunity detected: Shadow Stalk + Ghost Reaver -> Unknown hybrid. Purchase Cost: 126 aura potentia.

End Report.//

“Dammit, Evie!”

//I’m sorry—I can try to avoid finding new pathways in the future.//

“Very nice,” Hector said, chuckling a little ruefully. “Your humor is improving.”

//On a serious note, I’m not sure the new ability will be what you want. My instincts tell me it will be an ability similar to Ghost Reaver, but with greater utility, considering it’s cannibalizing the pathways of Shadow Stalk.//

Hector stood and walked over to his dresser, digging out one of his new, gi-style practice outfits. “I’ll hold off for now. Just start the next level.”

//Please confirm that you’d like me to spend 209 aura potentia on level 14.//

“Confirmed.”

//209 potentia applied. Corpus vivum conditioning has begun. Approximately 10 hours to complete level advancement. Disorientation, weakness, and even fleeting incapacitation may occur. Extra caloric intake is recommended.

353 aura potentia remaining.//

Hector got dressed, went to the bathroom, cleaned his teeth, and then glanced at the food tray left over from the night before. Gladia had sent him a handful of protein bars, and he took them, stuffing them into his gi. On the way to the elevator, he ate one.

While he descended to the training bay deck, he said, “Message Lemon and ask her to arrange for drinks and snacks to be brought to the training bay. I mean, for when the others arrive.”

//Done.//

As he stepped off the elevator, he said, “Any word on Sass?”

//Mae says she woke to eat a few times and is currently sleeping soundly.//

“Good.”

When Hector stepped into the training bay, he wasn’t surprised to see Burton there; he wondered if he even slept.

“There he is,” the big man rumbled, and Hector saw he was wearing his Mars-patterned camouflage fatigues again. “Okay. Let’s warm up with some light sparring—no aura boosts. I want to see what you’ve got.” With that, he kicked off his boots, stepped onto the mat, and beckoned Hector.

“Right.” Hector sighed and set his extra protein bars on the floor near the wall. He hadn’t worn shoes, figuring he’d spend most of the morning on the mat, so he padded out to face Burton. The big man was faster than he looked, snapping out a kick that might have connected if Hector weren’t so experienced. As it was, he shifted his weight and leaned back, letting Burton’s foot swipe through the air.

From there, things rapidly progressed to a full-on brawl, one that Hector found a hell of a lot more entertaining than he’d banked on. Burton was a good fighter, and it became clear that some of his limbs were augmented by cybernetics; his right foot blurred through the air when he kicked hard, and his left arm was similarly fast. Overall, he was exceedingly sturdy, too, and Hector stopped pulling his punches after the “coach” shrugged off half a dozen decent strikes.

After several more minutes of sparring, when Burton failed to land a single solid hit, he began to pick up the pace, illustrating that he, too, had been holding back. They went at it, faster and faster, harder and harder, until Hector connected a kick to Burton’s ribs that sent the air whooshing out of his mouth. Hector started to apologize, but the big man locked up his leg and then fell to the mat, gracefully sweeping Hector’s other leg.

From there, they grappled for another ten minutes, all-out, each trying to submit the other. After a while, Hector began to understand something; Burton didn’t simply have some cybernetic limbs; he was also a high-level aura user—maybe higher than Flint. His endurance was on par with Hector’s, and if it weren’t for Hector’s experience—his fighting ability—he felt like he would have had to submit more than once.

As it was, Hector had fun. He felt like there were a couple of moments where, if he wanted to go no-holds-barred and pull a rather dirty move—a punch to the throat or a thumb in the eye—he could have ended things, but he didn’t; he was enjoying the workout too much.

After another ten minutes, though, Burton slammed his palm on the mat and said, “Enough! I’m loose. How about you?”

“I am, too,” Hector said, rolling away and sitting on his knees. “I feel good.”

“Hell, boy, that’s an understatement. I’m goddamn relieved. You’re a hell of a lot tougher than I thought.”

Despite himself, perhaps because of the endorphins, Hector smiled. He was about to ask what was next when movement caught his eye, and he turned to see Sass walking through the open doors. He checked the time: 0603. She was dressed in a red warmup suit and looked good—well-rested.

When she saw him looking, her skull tattoo darkened under his—and Burton’s—scrutiny. “Hey,” she said, waving quickly.

Hector sprang to his feet and padded over. “How do you feel? Everything good?”

“I feel great, actually.” She rubbed her fingers through her short, dark hair. “Um, don’t be mad, okay?”

He tilted his head. “About?”

“Yesterday, after you left, I woke up again for dinner, and I…well, I couldn’t wait any longer. I took the Duelist archetype.”

Hector laughed, glancing at Burton, who was being surprisingly patient, still sitting on the mat, watching them. “I would have done the same thing.”

Sass’s tattoo faded a little as she smiled along with him. “Oh, good. Anyway, it finished a little while ago.”

“Yeah?” Suddenly everything clicked, and he laughed again. “No wonder you came down here. Wanted to see your aura, didn’t you?”

She laughed, nodding. “I almost did it alone, but I got scared!”

“What’s this?” Burton asked, walking over. “First time aura reveal?”

Hector nodded.

“Got any abilities?” the coach asked.

Sass grinned, and with her skull tattoo faded, Hector saw her cheeks redden. “I can make an Aura Blade.”

“You know how?” Hector asked.

She nodded. “I think so—from online guides. I can feel my aura pool, so that part’s going right…”

Burton stepped closer, nodding. “Now you just push some aura into the ability pathways. You should feel those, too.”

Sass glanced at Hector, and he nodded. “Go on. Nothing bad will happen.”

She locked eyes with him for a moment, then nodded quickly. She held out her hand, and then Hector saw her eyes lose focus as she turned her attention inward, concentrating, he presumed, on her aura. He felt it before he saw it—a slight surge that tugged at the pool of aura at the center of his being. Then a wispy white smoke-like substance began to curl up from Sass’s shoulders, swirling and flowing with a pale glimmer as it gathered and flowed toward her hand.

Sass’s eyes widened, her violet irises huge in her astonishment as the pale, shimmery, fog-like aura flowed into her hand and stretched into the air. When it grew to half a meter, and then longer than a meter, Hector’s eyes also grew wide. Eventually, the pale white aura stretched to nearly a meter and a half, and then it slowly began to solidify, hardening as it hissed and popped, forming a gleaming white blade that almost looked like ice.

Sass tightened her grip, then hastily added her free hand to the round hilt, supporting the enormous blade as she panted, wide-eyed with shock and surprise. It took her nearly twenty seconds to finish forming the blade. When it was done, and they all stared, the thing broke apart into a cloud of white mist after only two or three seconds.

“Damn, girl!” Burton said, chuckling. “I haven’t seen a brand new aura user with a blade that long in…well, ever!”

Hector ignored him and stepped close to Sass, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her gently. “A white aura, Sass. Just like Aiko Resolva.”

Tears sprang into her eyes as she looked at him, clearly overwhelmed. Still, she managed to ask, “Is it good—a white aura? Who’s Aiko Resolva?”

Hector wanted to tell her about Aiko, one of his oldest friends from the Invicti. She’d been an Imperial Praetorian before she’d “retired” and joined him at House Conti. He knew better than to talk that way in front of Burton, though. Instead, he said, “Come on, you know colors don’t matter. Anyway, Aiko was a Praetorian a long time ago.” He shrugged. “I enjoy studying the old heroes.”

“Well,” Burton said. “This was amusing, but we’ve got work to do. Girl—”

“Sass,” Hector said, staring at him flatly.

Burton chuckled. “Right. Sass, you need to get a hell of a lot faster summoning that blade. Wait for your aura to return and then do it again—and again.”

“And again,” Hector added. As he and Burton went back onto the mat, he turned and, grinning, said, “And again.”

“Right,” Burton said. “And again.”

Hector nodded. “And—”

“Again!” Sass said with a laugh. “I get it!”