Thundering through the deserts of lbinia was a steam train with an important cargo. Within one of the wagons was a wooden crate that was chained shut with eight locks. Within this crate was a short, feminine looking humanoid with short black hair and purple eyes.
They may look human, but in fact this was Echo: an assassin class automaton made by a scientist within Nova Ordo. Once news reached the branch of Nova Ordo Echo belonged to, the leader and vice leader decided Echo would be the best contestant. This resulted in Echo being locked in a wooden crate, which was promptly smuggled onto a train travelling near the designated combat zone.
As the train thundered closer to the designated location, two smugglers walked into the wagon. One of them walked over to the crate that Echo was in and knocked on it.
“Is this the one?”
“I believe it is” The other man replied while he walked to the other side of the crate.
“We are nearly there. Open the door.”
One of the men walked over to the door and with a rattle it slid open. The warm desert air and sand flooded into the wagon, this caused the men to look away and cover their faces.
“Lets get this done quickly.”
“Agreed.”
As they approached their destination, they each picked up an end of the crate and moved it towards the open door.
“Ready?”
“Ready.”
“3, 2 ,1.”
"'Heave-ho!""
After the countdown, the two men threw the crate containing Echo out the door of the wagon into the desert. The crate crashed with a thud onto the sand embankment and started to slide down. The crate slid down the embankment stopping a few feet from it.
Echo waited. They were informed that someone would arrive to take Echo to the arena. All Echo had to do now was wait.
Hours passed until Echo heard footsteps. Outside the crate was a man who was sent by the organizers. He was tall with brown short hair, green eyes and a short beard. He walked over to the crate and knocked on it, asking a question.
“Many have heard me, yet nobody has seen me. I won’t speak back unless spoken to. What am I?”
Echo was informed of this before leaving. This was to make sure that they were in the right place.
“Answer - An echo.”
As soon as he had heard the correct answer he started to unlock the crate. One by one, he unlocked each padlock. Once it was unlocked he opened the crate allowing light to flood in. This was the first light Echo had seen in days. After adjusting to the light, they climbed out of the crate readjusting their uniform.
“You are the contestant Echo?”
“Confirmation – I am the contestant Echo.”
“Good, follow me.”
He turned around and started walking into the desert a few seconds later, Echo followed behind. They both walked through the desert under the blazing sun for hours, only stopping briefly for Echo's guide to rest. To them the man looked tired but also scared, however Echo’s inexperience with emotions prevented them from fully knowing. Echo understood why he might have been tired as he had probably been walking all day, but why was he scared? Was he scared of Echo or the possible outcome of this tournament? Was the aftermath political or physical?
As they walked through the desert the shape of a city came into view. Most of the buildings were short and made of what looked like sandstone. A few of them were taller, instead made of what looked to be brick. However, these larger buildings were unfinished. As they got closer Echo began to see people within the buildings, they did not look like the usual townsfolk; they looked more like soldiers or warriors. They all were carrying weapons of some type whether it be a sword, musket or more exotic ones - they all had at least one. As they approached the people within the town raised their weapons towards Echo and the guide.
“WHO GOES THERE?”
“I HAVE BROUGHT THE OTHER CONTESTANT FOR THE COMPETITION BETWEEN ARC TRADING AND NOVA ORDO.”
As Echo's guide replied the people within the city lowered their weapons and the guide continued on. As they walked through the city, Echo looked around at all of the people who they assumed were some sort of gang. The entire time they walked through the city, Echo kept their guard up in case anything happened. At one point Echo questioned if they were actually there for a competition and not to be robbed.
They continued to make their way into the depths of the city; Echo noticed many things but what stood out was the poverty and the half-completed state of the city. Many of the smaller buildings had been completed but a lot of the larger ones had yet be completed, as if they were abandoned
Everywhere that Echo looked they saw people on the streets who did not look like they belonged to the gang. They all sat on the sides of the street in dirty, worn-out clothes. The people's eyes followed Echo as they walked through the city. Echo stared back and took note of their expressions.
Echo thought to themselves wondering if these are the emotions caused by oppression. Echo had had these motions explained to them but they did not fully understand it. As they walked through the city Echo was constantly questioning themselves about the negative emotions of those around them. Why are they caused? How does it feel? How do the ones who caused these emotions feel? Echo kept thinking about these sorts of questions until their guide stopped.
“We are here. The boss will be here to see you soon.”
Echo was guided to a room inside one of the small, completed buildings. Inside was simply a table and chair to rest upon and wait. While waiting, Echo took the time to clean and prepare their weapons. Echo disassembled, cleaned and reassembled their guns before a woman entered the room. She was tall with long blonde hair, blue eyes and wearing clothing suitable for a desert. She walked over to Echo and introduced herself.
“Hello, I am the leader's representative of our small group here.”
“Reply – I am Echo.”
“Yes, you are. You are also the representative of Nova Ordo for this competition. I wonder why they chose you? You don’t look like you would be a good fighter.”
“Reply – As an automaton I am repairable and expendable. I do also possess adequate combat capabilities for both offensive and defensive actions.”
“Is that so? I guess I will see what you are capable of in the competition. You have an hour until it starts.”
While Echo was preparing for the competition, on the other side of the city were two young girls. One of them had long grey hair tied upwards, complementing her red eyes. She wore a non-restrictive, black-grey formal dress. The other girl who was standing slightly in front of the former had golden hair that stretched to her back and marine blue eyes with pale skin. She was wearing a formal dress that reflected her noble status.
Both of them were standing in a similar building to Echo a small sandstone house. In front of them was a bearded man with green eyes and grey hair. Like the woman with Echo, he was also a representative of the leader of the gang that managed the city. The man looked towards the golden-haired girl to ask a question.
“You must be N? The lackey Arc Trading sent for this competition.”
“Unfortunately, I am not. It will be my friend here, N.”
The girl gestured towards N who was standing behind her. The man looked at her trying to get a reading of the hooded girl but had no luck.
“Are you here to observe, then?”
“That is correct.”
“Both of you wait here for the match to start. You have half an hour."
With that the man left. The girl named N and the golden-haired girl stood alone inside the room. The golden-haired girl turned towards N.
“Are you ready Ena?”
“Of course, master.”
“Now remember Ena, your opponent will be more formidable than the other members of Nova Ordo you have fought.”
“I will do my best to win this competition for you, master.”
“I told you before not to call me master when in private.”
“But we are not in private, master. People can hear us.”
“No one is in the room. Besides, what are a few bandits going to do?”
At this moment the man returned. He walked over to the two girls and gave them an announcement.
“The tournament is about to start, please follow me.”
“Oh! Is it that time already?”
As the man left the room N and the golden haired girl followed behind. They left the building they were in and headed towards the tallest building in the city. In the center of the city was a unfinished tower, from where they stood it looked like it reached into the sky, seemingly never-ending. Little did they know, the top of the tower was left unfinished, being exposed to the elements.
Once they reached the bottom of the tower the man stopped and turned towards the golden-haired girl.
“Only contestants and representatives can enter the tower. Wait here and someone will take you to the observation room.”
“That is unfortunate. Good luck, Ena.”
The representative and N Continued on into the tower.
------
While N was being taken to the bottom of the tower, Echo was being lead by the representative to the top of the same tower. she used some sort of earth magic to get them to the top so that Echo does not see the inside of the tower. Once at the top they both stepped onto the top pf the tower.
“Please wait here for the tournament to start.”
“Confirmation – I will not move from this spot until the tournament begins.”
Ten minutes later the representatives explained the rules to both constants to confirm they understand.
“Contestant Echo do you understand the rule of the contest and agree to them?”
“Reply – I agree to the rules of the competition.”
The woman stood in place for a second, appearing to wait for communications.
“Your opponent has also agreed. The tournament will begin in 10 seconds.”
The entire time they were on the roof Echo was scanning the top of the tower for anything that could be used to their advantage. Unfortunately for Echo, all they could see was some stairs and exposed wooden beams.
“!0, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...”
"START!"
As soon as the countdown finished Echo darted towards the stairs. Echo ran down the stairs while they also looked for a good spot for an ambush. As Echo did not know anything about their opponent, they decided that an ambush was the best tactic to start with.
After Echo had ran down seven flights of stairs they took up position opposite of it, rifle at the ready. Echo assumed that If they started at the top of the tower then their opponent must have started at the bottom.
Echo waited in complete silence, never once taking their eyes of the top of the stairs. As time passed, they started to hear footsteps that slowly got louder and louder. Echo waited with perfect stillness as the footsteps got louder and louder. As the sound of the footsteps reached their peak, a grey blur jumped through the top of the stairs.
BANG
Echo fired at the blur but missed, hitting the wall behind. Echo opened the chamber and ejected the cartridge, they then reached into their ammo pouch to take out another round. However, before they could do this they were struck on the chest by a sword causing them to fall on their back.
Looking at their opponent Echo saw a familiar robed figure wearing a formal black and grey dress. They could not see much of her face hidden under the clock, but what Echo was able to see was a few grey hairs and a hint of red in her eyes.
Echo drew their dagger, blocked and deflected their opponent’s next strike. Echo moved back while they blocked multiple strikes from their opponent, trying to find an opening. Echo was able to keep up with their opponent, but they were too skilled with the sword to let Echo have an opening.
Echo caught the next strike with both daggers crossed. With all their strength Echo pushed their opponent back.
As the competition started, En began to run up the stairs and formed a claymore. She ran and ran trying to find her opponent, constantly looking around at each floor as they passed while also trying to listen for her opponent. Eventually, she heard footsteps a few floors above her, footsteps which stopped a few seconds later. En approached the floor where the sounds originated from while also expecting an ambush.
When En reached the floor that she thought she heard the footsteps coming from, she used a spell to increase her speed. She dashed up the last steps of stairs as a loud bang echoed through the building. A small piece of concrete exploded within the floor from a bullet fired by her opponent.
En turned to run towards her opponent, taking advantage of the fact that they had to reload. En raised her sword and swung at her opponent, hitting them on the chest when they were unprepared. The other combatant was thrown back, she went to strike again but it was blocked by a dagger.
This was the first chance En had to look at her opponent. In front of her was a person who looked to be a young girl, but also not at the same time. They had short black hair, purple eyes and a military uniform with a cocked hat. En retreated a few steps from her opponent but immediately went to strike again, not giving her foe any chance to recover or strike back.
En continued to strike as fast as she could however her assault was continuously blocked. One of En's last strikes were blocked with two daggers. Her opponent pushed with all their might, which eventually pushed her back.
As En was pushed back, Echo got back to their feet while they drew their pistol. Echo had a dagger in their right hand and a revolver in the left.
As Echo was getting back to their feet, En had recovered from being pushed back and was preparing for another attack. However, Echo was more agile. They raised the revolver towards En and fired the one-shot shotgun that was attached to it.
The fragments of metal flew down the corridor, hitting stone and causing shrapnel to fly down the corridor, cutting into En. One of the fragments from projectile was able to hit En in the stomach, causeing her to stagger back again. However, almost immediately she started to heal but Echo took advantage of the time that En was injured and ran towards her.
Echo stabbed the dagger towards En. En raised her claymore and blocked the attack, pushing through to strike Echo. En hit Echo on the side with all her strength, heavily denting the metal that Echo was made of. Seeing that cutting strikes would not work against the opponent, En took a few steps back and transformed her claymore into a rapier.
En ran towards Echo who had their guard up. She activated a spell to increase her speed and strength yet again, then lunged forward, thrusting the rapier into Echo who could not react in time. The rapier pierced Echo’s armour into their internal clockwork, gears shattered and screws snapped.
Echo staggered back from this injury and then ran. They ran away from En down the corridor who followed close behind.
As they ran, En disassembled her rapier and reformed it. Down the corridor was another set of stairs. When Echo reached, they jumped over the banister and darted up the stairs. Not wanting to fall behind, En did the same. However what she did not expect was a torrent of flame that came rushing down the stairs.
Echo had used their flame thrower in the narrow space in hope that it will at least slow their enemy down.
When the flames engulfed En, she tried to get away but the flames were too fast. En was covered by the flames, every part of her was set on fire. Her regeneration kicked in, attempting to heal the burns. However, the regeneration was slower than usual - a combination of the amount of power she had used and the nature of her wounds.
Echo ran down the corridor and upon reaching the end, they turned around and kneeled with rifle at the ready. Inside the chamber of the rifle was one of the three magically infused bullets they had.
Echo waited for En to come up the stairs. As soon as they saw movement, they fired the bullet flew down the corridor; the bullet crashed through the stone wall behind. The wall cracked and fell, all that was left was a large hole behind where En was standing.
En was still injured from the fire and unable to use much magic, but she still charged towards Echo with her rapier raised. As she ran Echo was able to fire another of their magic rounds. This time it hit En in the shoulder.
En’s body tried to heal the wound but as it was a magic infused bullet, En’s regeneration was slowed down further. En ran into one of the rooms that had the door open.
Echo followed cautiously behind. They had expected En to be further into the room, but as soon as they entered the room; En with all her strength stabbed Echo in the side. Much like the last time, it pierced through Echo’s armour.
En pushed the rapier as far as she could with it almost damaging Echo’s core. The latter who was caught unexpected didn’t have time to stop and kept running with the rapier wedged into their side.
However, the strike from En had damaged something important in Echo’s internals and Echo found it harder to stand up. Echo fell to the ground unable to get up. En took the opportunity and rushed at Echo. En formed a poleaxe while running and pointed the spike at Echo. The spike was about to pierce Echo but they blocked it with their rifle.
“Inquiry – Why do you fight?”
En stared into Echo’s purple eyes.
“I fight for my master.”
Echo tilted their head to the side, signalling their confusion.
“Further inquiry – Why do you fight for your master? What emotions are there?”
En replied with conviction
“I am her maid. It is natural that I fight for her.”
However, the next part En whispered in a hushed tone.
“I also care for her - she is a friend as well as my master. I want to get closer to her, but I am scared.”
“Statement – The obtained information about master-servant relationship is interesting. Data will be stored for future reference.”
Echo saw that En was faltering under their questioning. Despite wanting to find out more about these emotions. Echo took the chance and let go of the rifle with their right hand and activated the flame thrower again. Flame bellowed from Echo’s arm as once again En was covered in flames. However, this time En was able to push the poleaxe forwards to stab at Echo.
When this was done, En ran from the fire through the closest exit. She ran towards the window, grabbed it from the top, swung out, then started to climb the outside wall. Echo tried to follow but was only able to make it far enough to fire a few rounds at En that went astray.
Echo decided to use the stairs. They used the last of their strength to walk to and climb up the stairs. They climbed and climbed and climbed to the highest point of the tower where they started.
To get up the stairs Echo used a power surge to increase their physical abilities for about ten minutes.
Unknown to Echo, En used the time to activate her most powerful ability: imperfect image. Once Echo had reached the top the tower they fired their last magic infused round as soon as they found En.
The bullet missed as at this time she had already finished activating imperfect image. When it activated, En’s form changed into a long chain that flew into the sky. A red liquid, much like blood dripped from the chain and formed a poleaxe. As soon as it had formed it fell from the sky, it was fast, it was a missile heading straight for Echo.
BOOOOOOM
The magical construct broke the sound barrier and raced towards Echo. Echo tried to run but was not fast enough. The construct impacted Echo, split their armour and shattered their internals.
CRACK
The spike of the poleaxe shattered Echo’s core and obliterated the stone below. With Echo’s power source destroyed all life left them as their body ceased to function. Within them all of the compressed mana became unstable and the pressure within built up until it could no longer be contained.
BOOOOOOOM
The core had exploded, taking the top of the tower and with it stone, wood and metal flew in all directions destroying the surrounding buildings.
At the bottom of tower stood En alone, returning to her master victorious.
