I stood across from Tiller. My arms were outstretched as power crackled between my fingers. He stood in front of a lowering sun, his gun held at the ready. I narrowed my eyes, waiting for the attack.

“Again!”

A cascade of Arcane Missiles launched from my fingers, falling around Tiller like a meteor shower. The missiles were widely spaced and yet each would curve towards their target before impact. They would even follow him for short distances. This made the attack almost impossible to dodge at close range.

Just as the projectiles were about to strike, Tiller dropped down before launching himself into a backflip. The missiles collided with the platform, sending up a cloud of pulverized concrete. Well, they were difficult to dodge unless you were some kind of precog ninja like Tiller.

I lost track of Tiller as he faded into the cloud of debris.

I heard gunfire. Something hard collided with my chest, pushing me backward. Then again. Three more times, a glowing stream of light collided with my Arcane Shield. My mana was getting dangerously low. A few more shots and not only would my defense be gone, I’d have no mana left for offense.

Blue sparks exploded from my shield as winding fissures appeared in the thin membrane. I smiled. I had him now. Tiller thought I couldn’t see him through the cloud of grey dust. He had no way to know that I was able to see the mana that flowed through his hands just before that last shot.

I waited. I just had to time it right. There! A faint spark of blue light signaled when and where the attack was coming from. I charged directly towards it, activating Staff Defense. I spun my weapon in front off me, completely failing to deflect the bullet. It didn’t matter, I had timed the skill just right to absorb almost all of the damage.

I swung, and my staff cut through the empty air. Tiller was just above me, I could see the glow of his gun as it prepared to fire at my exposed head. Gotcha. I cast a single Arcane Bolt followed by a loud grunt as the bolt struck Tiller’s stomach. He crashed into the cracked pavement, gasping for breath as he desperately tried to refill his lungs.

“You doing alright there, old man?” I yelled.

“I seem to remember landing more shots than you did.” He said, pausing between words as he struggled to breathe. “And I’m two years older than you, tops.”

“I just needed to hit you once,” I reached down to offer him my hand. “Besides two years might as well be —"

“Enough! Both of you should save your breath.”

Catayla sat on a railing, one leg hanging loosely over the edge while the other was pulled up to her chest. It looked as if like any casual movement could send her toppling over the rail and into the rocky water below. She was framed by a crimson sun setting beneath fiery orange clouds.

When Tiller and I had approached Catayla for tips on how to increase our skills we had been surprised when she had insisted on training us herself. That was three days ago. Three days of twelve-hour training sessions under a grueling tyrant. If we weren’t sparring with each other, we spent every minute of that time engaging in calisthenics that I was sure could double as “enhanced” integration methods.

“Foundation.” She had called it. “If your body isn’t fit, all the stamina in the world won’t stop you from collapsing from exhaustion halfway through a fight.”

She had claimed stats were more, or less, effective depending on the natural abilities of the user. Fights between warriors of equal stats and skill levels were often one-sided if one combatant had failed to temper their “foundation.” Or so Catayla claimed. The sheer joy she seemed to take in our torment made me somewhat skeptical.

Whatever her motive, I thought, her training has sure as hell been effective.

I helped Tiller to his feet and I couldn’t help but wonder at how much stronger I felt despite having received no recent boost to Might. It seemed that natural gains from good old-fashioned exercise were not additive, but multiplicative with the two points of Might I had gained from Mind Over Body.

Tiller was still breathing heavily but seemed to have mostly recovered by the time he reached his feet. It wasn’t the first time I had knocked the breath out of him. He may have gotten me back once or twice, as well.

“Good,” Catayla said. “Tiller you’ve already got a solid grasp on how to lead your shots but try aiming a little lower when your opponent is evading. The concussive effect of your shots can trip them up even on a miss.”

With a twist, she launched herself from her perch before landing a perfect flip right in front of me. He eyes regarded me coldly.

“Finn, you still need to put in more effort. Never stop moving against an opponent like Tiller. His ranged attacks are quicker than yours and they interrupt your casting, but you refused to close the gap until the last minute. Take him up close and you neutralize one of his only advantages against you.”

We both nodded and walked back to the center of the platform. Tiller took the time to reload his weapon as I cracked my knuckles and shook my sore limbs. I downed a small vial of blue liquid and felt a small portion of my mana begin to regenerate. I smiled and locked eyes with Tiller, waiting for the signal.

“Again.”

Tiller was instantly moving.

He ran to the side, his revolver firing out constantly. Several shots exploded into blue sparks as they collided with my shield.

I activated Staff Defense just as he fired another shot and I almost cheered in joy as a glowing blue bullet was deflected by my staff. Two more shots exploded just over my chest, creating a branching network of white cracks in the glowing blue membrane.

Already, I could see Tiller’s gun preparing to shoot. I fell into a roll, just as a bullet tore through concrete creating a shower of debris where my feet had just been. The blast knocked me to the side, but I kept my balance and began charging towards Tiller once more. I cast Arcane Missile twice, forcing Tiller to dodge. This bought me time to close the distance and slightly slowed down his relentless onslaught of bullets.

By now, Tiller’s gun should be empty. Any shots he fired after that point would be made from pure mana. They still packed a punch but didn’t have the stopping power of the real thing. If I kept him moving he’d never have time to reload. I just had to find a way to turn that to my advantage.

I continued my charge but slowed down slightly as I began to cast Arcane Missile. It was a mistake I had made repeatedly during our early spars, and Tiller reflexively reacted. I sped up and fell into a forward rolled. I dismissed my shield at the same moment gathering what mana I could from the dissipating spell into a sphere in my right hand. Tiller had anticipated a slower speed, and his bullets fell behind me.

He was already matching my movements, firing another shot. I stopped completely, throwing my staff like a javelin, just as the ground exploded in front of me. Tiller effortless spun out of the way using an impressive pirouette. He ended the turn with his gun leveled at my chest. Rather than dodge, I released the mana in my hand into a brilliant flash of light. Two shots collided with my chest. I coughed and gasped as I desperately tried to suck in a breath. My entire chest felt like it was on fire.

I ignored it. A half dozen Arcane Missiles sprung from my fingers and flew towards Tiller. My mana was finally exhausted. My entire body felt slow and there was building pressure behind my eyes.

Even half-blind, Tiller did an impressive dodge of evading the tiny orbs of arcane energy. He spun and slid as they flew over his head, but he didn’t dodge them all. A missile struck him in the left thigh causing him to stumble during a flip. He fell to the ground just as the final projectile struck him in the chest.

“You alright, Ebenezer?” I yelled through the ringing in my ears.

“Ugh,” he ground. “Ebenezer? What the … I told you, kid, I’m like two years older tha —"

“Kid? You’re barely …”

“That’s it for the day,” Catayla said interrupting our childish argument. “Do a dozen laps around the camp and then get some grub. I’ll be there myself if you hurry.”

She began walking away before looking back. “Don’t even dare to join me while smelling like a couple of wild tjornacs. That rust bucket still has running water, I suggest you avail yourself of the luxury.”

I walked over to Tiller and offered him my hand, but he waved me away. His chest was still rising and falling in ragged heaps.

“Just kill me now,” he said. “No really, this is insane. Every part of me hurts. My eyes hurt. My fingernails hurt. I feel like my hair is on fire. How is it possible for your hair to hurt?”

“Just part of getting old,” I shrugged, sinking down beside him.

“Well we can’t all be spring chickens,” he laughed. “Seriously though, good job. I didn’t even know you could do that light thing. A new skill?”

“No,” I shook my head, “new use of an old skill.”

“Mana Manipulation? Man, I wish I could get ahold of that. The possibilities for …”

“I just wish I could keep up with that reaction speed of yours,” I said. “Those last two shots nearly knocked me on my ass.”

We bantered for a bit before we both felt strong enough to stand. Every fiber of every muscle ached. I swear I heard my hip pop when I started walking. Catayla was going to work us to death if this continued.

“Alright,” I said. “I’m going to get these laps out of the way. You coming?”

“Give me a minute,” Tiller shook his head. “You go ahead.”

“Alright.”

As I ran, some of the stiffness left my muscles. There was still the constant ache, of course. The pain followed me everywhere these days, and as soon as I got used to it Catayla would increase her demands. Still, I had to admit my gains had been impressive.

The constant need to dodge literal bullets had granted me a Dodge skill. Catayla had also demanded that I purchase Staff Defense when she had found out it was available. Being forced to tank Tiller’s attacks had increased both skills to the third level.

Being shot repeatedly over the last few days had also leveled Arcane Shield to its fourth level. The repeated mana exhaustion was leaving me with migraines, but I had also noticed that Arcane Shield had become more mana efficient. A fair tradeoff, I suppose.

I’d also been able to increase Arcane Missile, Staff Fighting (Basic), and Mana Manipulation by a single level each. That left me with enough FP to purchase both the Hedge-Mage and Autodidact feats.

Hedge-Mage granted me three new spells: Tanglefoot, Wild Growth, and Barkskin. None of them had seemed particularly powerful, but I was able to quickly level each skill to its second level. If nothing else, they were a welcome source of new FP.

Autodidact granted no skills but did grant two points to intellect and a slight increase in learning speed. This would prove useful in breaking through the soft cap on many of my skills. At least I hoped.

Additionally, I had opened three new feats available in the ‘store’- Illusionist (0/25), Circle Mage (0/25), and Erudite (0/25). Each was an obvious continuation of an earlier feat. It also seemed that the cost of feats would significantly increase between tiers.

I put every new FP into erudite as I gained them, but it had yet to produce any results. I took a last look at my stats, just as I finished the final lap.

Augustus Finn

Class: N/A

Level: 3

Stamina (r/ per second): 23/23 (0.192)

Mana (r/ per minute): 66/66 (2.20)

Might: 11

Agility: 6

Reaction: 6

Intellect: 30

Perception: 10

Focus: 5

Phys. Resist: 2

Mag. Resist: 1

My Intellect was impressive, and my magic had certainly gotten stronger as a result, but I felt like a bit of a one trick pony. I’d been alone for nearly all of my fights up to this point, and I’d learned you couldn’t rely on anyone else to survive. Perhaps a glass cannon was not the way to go.

Rather than focusing on a single stat, Tiller had split his gains between perception and reaction. The combination gave him an impressive boost to reflexes and an almost preternatural ability to judge where his shots would land. This, combined with the area-of-effect nature of his attacks, had let him juggle me almost at will until I had adapted my tactics. Even then I would have been unable to compete with him at all without the use of Arcane Shield.

It was humbling as I had started to believe that my gains were unique. The truth was, many of the survivors had experienced much more combat than I had over the last few weeks. Some of them, including Tiller, even had combat training from their prior lives. This was a gap I was still trying to close.

After finishing our run, Tiller and I agreed to meet at his office after getting cleaned up and finding something to eat. I stayed behind for a moment, enjoying the final moments of the sunset.

I took a long drink from a plastic water bottle as I sat on the railing overlooking the waters of the Cooper River. The water was splendid in reflected oranges that grew darker as they reached the harbor.

On the other side of the water had once stood a city, proof of human’s dominance over the environment. Now thick jungle grew above the concrete, and jagged cliffs dominated the horizon. The only testament to mankind that remained, was the Ravenel Bridge that still stretched across the river, dividing the skyline.

Once the sun finally disappeared I decided to take a quick walk around the water to clear my head. Evening walks had become a habit of mine, one of my only remaining vices in a world that tolerated no weakness. The air was beginning to grow cool as the last traces of color faded from the sky.

I heard thunder, and clouds rolled over the moon leaving behind only a faint corona. The slight drizzle that followed was welcome and cooled me as I walked. I heard laughing and shouting as children ran from the rain, back towards their tents and families. This wasn’t perfect, but it was enough.

I ended my walk back at the training platform. The rain was finally starting to slow, and I could feel a few pangs of hunger. I would wait just a moment longer. I looked back over the river just as a line of light shot into the sky. It was far away but growing larger and brighter.

I stepped back and threw my hands over my face. A shockwave pushed me back as a purple light exploded in the sky. My ears rang, and my eyes were watery and nearly blind. It had been like looking directly into an atomic blast.

“My god,” I said.

I could hear screams of shock and pain coming from the camp. A woman’s wail rose over everything else and for a few moments, it was all I heard. My eyes were still mostly blind, as I rubbed at my eyes.

When my vision cleared, it was meant by a pillar of violet light rising into the sky. Above the pillar was a swirling vortex of dark clouds.

I just watched, I don’t know for how long. The screams had settled into silence, and I noticed hundreds of people standing along the water, all staring in horror at what was happening. It reminded them of the flaming sky that preceded Eldritch Night, I realized.

They were terrified and in shock. So was I.