173 Riptide

I gave Delilath a bow. She bowed back. As we raised our heads, she snapped her tail towards me. I stomped a foot while condensing my weight. I burrowed downwards, her attack smashing a crater into the arena above my head.

I detonated my charged runes, bursting out from the ground. A cloud of white powder surged out with me. Delilath shifted her head, dodging my assault. She snapped her tail at me again, catching me in flight. I crossed my arms, blocking the blow.

My camouflage caved in, the gray armor crumpling at Delilath's might. As our attacks followed through, her tail bounced back, but I kept going forward. With me behind her, Delilath stepped back. With agility defying her enormous frame, she turned around.

She took a short breath. As her chest swelled, a few of the yellow orbs she formed earlier compacted over me. The dense mana sunk into my skin, rattling my brain. I expected pain. Confusion washed over me along with a sense of bliss.

At that moment, all was right with the world. My mouth tasted sweet. The stuffy air in my helmet smelled of light perfume and delicious food. A calming sensation pervaded me from head to toe. I had no problems. If anything, I was glad to have something to do with all my time.

Delilath's deep roar interrupted my sudden intoxication. Her yellow, piercing fire plumed out toward me. I pulled myself out of my drunkenness, snapping an antigravity well between me and the flames. The well pushed me back, the fire billowing outward and away from me.

Delilath lunged back before she burned herself. I landed on my back, crushing the arena beneath me. Before I sunk down, I pulled myself up, looking at my hands. My armor was red hot. I shook my head. My train of thought was muddled.

I didn't understand why I was so interested in my hands in the middle of a fight. Before I figured it out, Delilath snapped her tail at me again. I tried deflecting, but my body moved like I was in a pit of molten lead. I blocked at the last moment, her tail snapping me sideways.

I gasped, actual damage being done to me. If this continued, Delilath would tear my armor off and expose my identity. I didn't even feel like that was a bad thing though. As I argued with myself about the merits of disguising myself, Delilath took another deep breath.

I frowned at the attack, irritated by it. I stood up and dived into the ground. Delilath's flames melted the rock above me. I dug forward, picking up the pace. She kept her blaze over me, creating a moat of magma. I shot out of the ground, sending a telekinetic kick towards her chin.

One of her yellow spheres concentrated into a point. It dashed towards her chin, nullifying my kinetic wave. As it did, my eyes widened. She could counter my magic, influence my mind, and was a behemoth to boot. If she kept this up, I didn't just have to worry about exposing my identity.

I might lose.

She snapped another attack with her diamond hard tail. I blocked it again, the momentum of her attack slinging me straight into the ground. She stepped up towards me, breathing in. Another tail whip smashed into me from above, cracking my facemask.

I closed my eyes. Delilath's magic didn't work like most mages. People generally incapacitated you with pain or injury. Delilath used euphoria against her enemies, making them dull and dumb. Without any experience facing the magic, I wasn't armed with tools against it. Well, not conventional tools at least.

So, I improvised.

I clenched my fists and ground my teeth. I used Mental Adaptability to its maximum, reminding myself why I was fighting. I wanted the mythical compendium. I needed to get good relations with Giess's leaders. Hell, I just wanted to be the best.

With Delilath's magic muddling my brain, they felt like shitty reasons. Using the logical side of my mind, I envisioned the worst case scenario from here. I could expose my identity. I might end up breaking ties with Giess, remaining unknown and hunted. I would lose, which would suck all around.

Bolstered by both line of logic, I stood up. A tail swipe slammed onto me from above, but I smashed it to the side with a swipe of my forearm. With my armor resembling aluminum foil at this point, I narrowed my eyes and sharpened up.

I was back.

Delilath unleashed her yellow fire, singeing stone. I grasped gravity, bending the trajectory of her fire upward. It clashed against the invisible forcefield, parts of Kiki's suit igniting. I shot a palm out, sending a telekinetic bullet at Delilath's chest.

Another yellow sphere darted to save her. She whipped her long limb at me again while I pushed through the mugginess. With a burst of will, I deflected her strike. Using the opening, I shot a blistering combination of kinetic bullets her way.

Four spheres disintegrated, voiding my magic. This cycle continued, each of us picking up our pace. We battled back and forth, each side vying for dominance. Our tactics evolved.

I kept pads of gravity over my arms, preventing my armor from crumpling anymore. Delilath generated mana orbs, drawing from the mana around her. I pulled from my own reserves, dipping into the sea of mana at my disposal. Tension grew. The arena evaporated around us, our conflict disintegrating it.

The invisible shield around us rippled as dynamic forces dispersed out in massive shockwaves. We matched each other, firing off efficient, savage strikes. We gained a flow of each other's patterns, making adjustments throughout the fight.

I burst through my mana, deflecting her with gravitational waves alone. She discovered that I was protecting my armor. She aimed her strikes to cleave it off should I miscalculate. This extended my mana reserves, hundreds of thousands of mana burning each second.

Kiki kept his hands up, sweat pouring down his forehead. He struggled to contain the fight, the monumental forces we generated challenging to deal with. The crowd roared out, amazed at the exhibition of both our strengths.

The struggle stretched on, each of us finding our own rhythm. It was a game of endurance now, each of us fatiguing the other. Beads of cold sweat poured down Delilath's face, a toothy grin spread over her maw. I grinned back, enjoying the intensity of the bout. I hadn't fought like this in months. For her, it might've been years.

After two hours of raging intensity, she ran out of yellow spheres. Without her protection, she blasted through her reserves. She sliced her tail, echoing out a sonic boom as it shot at me from above. The heat from the attack caused my ears to pop from the pressure change of the air.

Before it landed, I dipped into my health pool, sending out a dense, powerful wave of magic. As magic and might clashed, a shockwave ebbed outward. The invisible forcefield wobbled before collapsing, the arena quaking under Delilath's onslaught.

With sweat pouring down my own face, I retaliated with fury. She lunged towards me, snapping her jaw at me from above. I met her charge, firing off a punch with my heels planted. My fist connected just shy of her chest. My hand bounced back, Force of Nature activating in all its fury.

I'd thrown the same punch tens of thousands of times. my body just went through the motions, muscle memory guiding me through the act. Telekinetic augments generated around my fists and feet. The ground around me sinking from my telekinetic extensions. My augments converted the surface area of my punch.

Instead of being spread out over my large fist, it pierced Delilath's chest like needle. This gave my attack tremendous piercing power. The impact punched a hole through her torso, my shoulders creaking under the stress. The energy dispersed from her back, her plate mail ripping out.

Delilath stood there, her eyes and mouth wide open. She glanced down, blood spurting from the wound. She gurgled, blood leaking out of her jaws. She fell sideways, but I caught her before her head clunked on stone. Two gialgathens swung in from the crowd.

A waterfall of blood gushed from Delilath's chest. My heart raced in my chest. I overdid it, big time. At this rate, she'd die. I ran up to her, one of her friend gialgathens hissing at me. Ignoring her, I looked at the tunnel through Delilath.

Blood spurted out each time her heart beat, several arteries ruptured. The medics weren't in a hurry to aid her either. Using several small gravity wells, I pinched the ends of a dozen of her arteries. As I did, the bleeding dropped by over half. It was still more than enough to kill her in minutes.

I turned, shouting at Kiki, "Know any healing?"

Kiki shivered, gasping for breath. He shook his head, "I'd love to help, but...I'm...I'm experiencing mana deprivation...Give me a second to recover."

I dragged my hand down my helmet, "Fuck. Medics?"

The two medics stumbled up. The doctors pulled out two health potions apiece. I growled, "What the fuck are you doing with two potions? Use all the potions you have."

They jittered through their bags, dropping a few vials and patches. With shaking hands, each medic poured healing solution onto the wound. It wasn't anywhere near enough. I opened my dimensional storage, pulling out green health potions from Torix.

These were the kind you dumped directly onto an open wound. Delilath was choking on her own blood. She couldn't exactly swallow. With that in mind, I pulled the elixirs out, handing them to the medics. They poured several of the potions onto the would, which healed it at a surface level. The wounds inside her chest were still raw, internal bleeding running rampant.

Getting desperate, I set several dozen of the green bottles onto the ground without their caps on. The healing mixture gushed from each of them. I lifted the collecting pool of liquid with gravity. There was a bit of dirt in it, but I didn't have time to filter the tonic.

With a blob of green potion, I whipped it around to the other side of Delilath. I forced the healing tonic deep into Delilath's chest, saturating her wounds with the healing liquid. Delilath stuttered, unable to breathe. While maintaining the other wells, I created another one over her mouth.

Blood siphoned out of her mouth, stopping her from drowning. She gasped, coughing in agony. I looked at Delilath and shouted, "Stay with me, ok? Stay with me. Don't go to sleep, alright?"

She looked me in the eye. Seconds later, her irises relaxed. All tension left her body. The sputtering stopped. The gialgathen that hissed at me earlier was crying, large tears pouring down her face. I stood up, grabbing the sides of my helmet.

I heaved several breaths. I looked at my hands, blood all over them. I peered back down at Delilath. I raised my hands, not knowing what to do with myself. My eyes widened with horror as both gialgathens now wept over her. Like a lost child, I stood there not knowing what to do.

My mind raced. I killed so many things before. Hell, I've killed innocent people without meaning too. Seeing the impact of death was different. The two gialgathens looked like her family. Their chests quivered. Their racking cries loudened. Delilath was a great fighter. She helped Lehesion free millions of slaves. She didn't deserve to die like this.

As that dawned on me, I reached out a hand to the gialgathens. I tried saying something, but they growled at me before I could think of something to say. One of them looked at me, the gialgathen's face crinkled up. With snot and tears pouring down its face, her glare pierced right through me.

I took a step back and shook my head. Something about the way she looked at me was terrifying. Before it sunk in, Kiki chugged several mana potions from his dimensional storage. He wiped off his forehead with a handkerchief,

"And here is the victor everybody! He's the first person to ever defeat Delilath, the Lady of Yellow...At least in Yildraza. He's definitely the first to end her reign for good. Come on everybody, let's hear it for Daniel Hillside!"

The crowd had been silenced by the carnage from earlier. The horde revitalized, cheering for me. I looked around, astonished that anyone could clap for what felt like murder.

I caught glimpses of concerned espens. Some of them teared up and cried even. The vast majority cheered with elation, however. It caught me off guard. Kiki clapped his hands, "And that concludes Yildraza's tournament in dramatic fashion. Do have a good day everybody, and enjoy yourselves!"

I found myself staring at the weeping gialgathens. Kiki floated right beside me, his hoverboard humming,

"As part of tournament policy, you're not guilty of anything! Plenty of people have died in the tournament despite a Speaker's protection. It's inevitable. Delilath's death is my responsibility."

He grinned at me, "So I'll be the one to take the fall for your mistake! Isn't that just great!"

I glanced up at him. "But...she's so frail? Her level is high? How did she die? I don't understand."

Kiki scoffed, "Gialgathens aren't integrated into Schema's system. You may not know this, but creatures without access to the system have stunted healing capabilities. When they bleed, they die!"

I blinked. Kiki's explanation was so obvious but I didn't even remember it. Gialgathens weren't like eldritch or like system goers. They were more like bears or sharks. If something crushed a hole through their chests, the animal died.

That's why I was able to make it out of my first dungeon, BloodHollow, in the first place. Schema's system helped me heal through the grievous wounds that hit me. Otherwise, I'd have died a few minutes after being integrated into Schema's system. The gialgathens didn't have that. This kind of blow was death.

Kiki patted my shoulder, "Surprising, isn't it? You probably have never experienced the world without Schema's system, but this is the reality of it. Don't take it to heart."

I centered myself, getting myself out of my mental fog,

"I'm fine. I didn't want to kill her. That's all."

Kiki nodded, "It won't hurt your fame or how the people are behind you."

I frowned, "I couldn't care less."

Kiki grinned, "Now that's a rugged hero! I hope you're ready for the final portion of the tournament! Good luck there. Considering Delilath took hours for you to take down, you're going to need it!"

I ripped my gaze away from Delilath's corpse, walking away from the scene. I gripped my hands, letting out some nervous energy. Kiki was right in a way. Each combatant put their lives on the line every time they fought. Referees protected competitors, but they weren't perfect.

That was an excuse though. No matter how I rationalized the situation, I killed someone without meaning too. Delilath might not be the last one I murdered either. If I made another mistake, I'd end Kessiah, Torix, maybe even Althea.

That's what scared me. In that sober state of mind, I found myself walking out to the stadium's lobby. People swarmed me, asking for autographs, photos, and answers. I raised a hand and shouted,

"I'm tired. Fuck off."

I used several of my skills to enhance my voice's impact. A wave of silence rippled over the amassing crowd, my words commanding them. The mob let me walk out in peace. Right before I walked out of the stadium, a hand gripped my arm.

I glanced over, my voice hard as stone, "Who is it?"

Thisbey grinned at me, patting my arm, "Why, I'm just here to congratulate the victor. I wanted to invite you to lunch with me if you wouldn't mind."

It was this slimy fucker again. I shook my head,

"Yeah, not hungry. Just saw someone bleed out."

He raised his palms, "If you aren't hungry, perhaps we could meet in a place where you could clear your mind? I know a spot two blocks away that should serve as a quiet place to rest and unwind after such a brutal bout."

He waved his arms, "After all, I'm certain you'd like to collect yourself after an experience like that. As always, you're more than welcome to walk away. I don't hold hostages when I'm conversating."

I weighed my options. On the one hand, I wanted to talk to my friends back in the hotel room. On the other, Thisbey was giving me an opportunity. Even if he was piece of garbage, he was a knowledgeable piece of garbage. If I played my cards right, I could learn a lot from him, like maybe who to make ties with on Giess.

I sighed, "Alright, fine." I pointed at him, "Understand this. I don't like you, and I sure as hell don't like how you do things."

He gave me a warm grin, walking ahead of me, "Well perhaps you can think it over. I know just the place for you to ponder."

We walked past the group of silent onlookers. I stared down, finding myself wearing armor that looked like a crushed aluminum can. I glanced back up, "Yeah, I need another suit of armor."

Thisbey waved a hand, "I'm not one to judge a man on his appearance. I stick strictly to their character. That be'in said, where I'm taking you has somewhere for you to change at if you feel so obliged."

We paced out of the stadium and onto Giess's streets. Aliens and espens alike gawked at me, blood covering my crushed armor. I couldn't blame them. Some aliens even called the police, giving them my description.

Thisbey raised his eyebrows, "I'll handle the law enforcement, don't you worry. I'm sure you have plenty to worry about already."

Thisbey picked up the pace, weaving between crowds of people. He turned into an alleyway, pacing through the dark, dirty street. In the middle of the alley was a reinforced, steel doorway. Thisbey walked up to it, leaning towards the side of the door.

A sensor scanned his eyes. He talked as it happened,

"This is one of my many warehouses spread throughout the city. I figured you'd take kindly to the peace and quiet here."

The door swung open, air hissing out of the building. We walked inside, finding a cozy room with several bookshelves lining it. A warm fire burned from a pit of orange opals at the center of the room. Several leather lounging chairs spread out beside it. I took a deep breath.

Yup, gialgathen leather as usual. The guy was psychotic.

The door closed behind us as I followed Thisbey inside. I glanced around, finding several desks covered in notebooks. Thisbey pointed at them,

"Those contain some of my business dealings. I enjoy spending quite a bit of time here whenever I need somewhere to focus. You're welcome here anytime you please."

I breathed in, the smell of stone and fire letting me relax. As I walked further in, books and leather mixed with those scents. Crisp, fresh air flowed past me. As slimy as Thisbey was, he had a good taste. I couldn't deny it. His choice in fabrics was fucked though.

With a hearty laugh, Thisbey grabbed the collar of his gialgathen skin suit,

"I'm glad to see you're taken by it."

I nodded, "Yeah, it is a nice place to just sit and think."

He gave me a signature Thisbey grin, walking over to his desk. He pulled out two glasses and a bottle. I rolled my eyes,

"Trying to worm information out of me?"

He nodded, "If I may be so frank, yes. Of course I am. You're the talk of the town, and everyone is curious as to who you are. I aim to keep them guessing."

I raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

He poured me a glass, "You're no espen. I know that. You're far too tall and broad. Your armor lacks a humidifier as well, meaning dry air doesn't bother you. However, if they don't see your face, the masses assume you're espen. I'm quite all right with that, as you may imagine."

He brought over the glasses to a set of chairs overlooking the fire. He set the glasses on a table between the chairs. Thisbey sat down onto the chair, sighing with relief. He pointed at the other chair. I frowned at him,

"It's not exactly smart to tell me that kind of thing. I can expose my identity any second."

He tapped the chair, "It's quite comfortable if you'd to take a seat."

I walked over, sitting down. He smirked at me, "You won't expose who you are. Your identity means a lot to you. I could tell in the fight you were protecting your gray disguise. It's obviously not as tough as you are, so why else would you wear it?"

I glared down at him. I towered over Thisbey, a head taller than him even sitting down. It didn't phase him one bit as he leaned back in his chair. He glanced back at the fire, crossing his fingers. He waited, giving me time to think.

I took a deep breath, remembering the fight with the Skyburners. I needed to flush my mind of all the bullshit going through it and perform. I fucked up in the tournament. I couldn't afford to do the same against the Skyburners.

Thisbey took a sip of the herbal tonic, interrupting my thoughts,

"Would it bother you if I asked a tentative question?"

I shrugged, "I thought you were here to give me some peace and quiet?"

He shrugged, "Well, I aim to give you food for thought. That should help ease your transition."

I scoffed, "Sure, why not."

He raised a hand, "As I understand it, you've been rather busy as of late with the tournament and all. I sympathize if you've been preoccupied with other matters, but have you given my proposition any thought?"

I shook my head, "Eh, not really. Don't know if it's worth giving thought."

He laughed, "Good. When a man thinks too hard, it muddles his mind. Best to keep it clear and follow your gut. It's worked for me. It'll likely work for you as well."

He turned to me, "Excuse me if this feels like an interrogation, but there are reports of someone clearing out the silvers nearby. Would that happen to be you perchance?"

I nodded. Thisbey picked up his glass again,

"You saved several of my boys when you did that. I'll let the media know about your deeds. It should help smooth over today's...incident."

I shrugged, "I don't care too much about fame to be honest with you. If anything, it just gets in the way."

Thisbey raised an eyebrow, "Now Daniel, fame is simply a tool, and like any other tool, it can be misused." He raised a hand, accentuating his next point,

"It's much like a hammer. It can be used to both build and destroy depending on where you swing it. Your fame is much the same way."

He swung his hand one way, "On the one hand, you built the confidence of the espen people." He swung his hand in the other direction, "On the other, you've destroyed some of the gialgathen's arrogance."

He accentuated his next point, grasping his fingers together, "I consider both tremendous feats in their own right." He gestured a palm to me, "All I ask is you swing that hammer of yours one last time."

I rolled my eyes, "Really now? Sounds like you want me to swing a hammer through a gialgathen's skull. If you ask me, you're a damn lunatic."

He shook his head, turning back to the fire, "You've seen and felt what they can do. They're more than merely powerful. They feed on the natural mana that saturates Giess. Think of it. Trillions of creatures thrive on mana. Predators eat those creatures, and mana collects in their flesh and blood."

He raised a fist, "The gialgathens are the densest collections of mana on this planet. That's why they defy a normal planet's biological limits. I've never seen a non-eldritch match their might. Their overwhelming capacities come at a cost, however."

I raised an eyebrow, "Alright. Sureeee. Let's hear your pitch."

He kept on going, ignoring my sarcasm, "Mana pollution." Thisbey shook his head,

"Scientists still don't quite understand the mechanism behind it. Signs of it lie everywhere around us, however, even beneath our very feet."

He took a sip of his drink, "You may not be aware, but there's a vast ocean of pollution beneath the surface of giess. The silver's feed on that mana pollution. That's why they came here. That's why they've spread out."

I knew this part of his bullshit was true. I dove miles beneath the surface of Giess early on after coming here. He turned to me,

"The animals here, they evolved around the mana. They use it like water or air. The difference is that mana is a resource with consequences. You can use internal mana all you want. It's the will of your own mind. It regenerates if you give your mind some time to rest."

He shook his head, "Drawing from nature is different. It's like sapping the will of the world, and it leaves a toxic, inhospitable mush behind."

I frowned, "Wait, you're telling me all that muck is from animals?"

He nodded, "And the espens, our technology, even our entertainment. It all draws from a well that's about to dry up. Very few people understand this. A few select individuals are even combating it."

I remembered Thisbey's silver mining business. He looked at my facemask, a smirk growing on his,

"You guessed right. I'm leading the charge, funding the farming of the silvers. We can't eliminate them. We need them even more than they need us."

He looked back at the fire, his brow creasing, "But the mana pollution has run its course already. We've walled in vast seas of the sludge, but our time is running out. If it weren't for the silvers, we'd already be done for."

I cupped my chin, diving deep into thought. Thisbey calculated his every word. Taking it at face value was foolish. At the same time, not all of it was lies. When I first arrived on Giess, I carried my friends and I over one of those seas of walled in sludge. I even explored one of the oceans, finding a follower of Eonoth. That scientist was trying to create espens that lived off the muck.

This was why.

Thisbey frowned, "Now that you understand a few of the intricacies of Giess's climate let's present a question. If you guessed who contributed the most to mana pollution, who would it be?"

I sighed, "The creatures that used the most mana."

Thisbey's gaze turned hard like iron, "Let me divulge another deduction from you. What species do you believe does this the most?"

I frowned,

"The gialgathens."