Dawn came late to the Brood. The first rays of the sun struggling to make it through the thick canopy and past the massive trees. None of that seemed to matter in regards to the duel though.

I was hardly surprised to find out we would fight in the trees. Rima stood on a thick branch opposite me, Zava stood beside him muttering in his ear. Probably something along the lines of ‘kick him in the balls’. I’ll admit, if he really was whispering that it would piss me off. I don't like people stealing my strategies.

We weren’t allowed to wear any armour and the chill morning air brushed against my bare chest. I silently cursed Sandy for being so bloody attentive when he was working on my sensors.

“Cold?” Nel asked from her place beside me. She held a simple wooden spear, much like the one she had when I first met her, and past it from hand to hand nervously.

I wondered why she was next to me and not her brother but one look at the intensity of Zava's gestures and body language and I had my answer. The Brood Guatdian didn't want anyone interferring with his apprentice's concentration. Other than him that is.

“Nah, I don't really get cold. Just mildly uncomfortable. So tell me again, why are we only wearing pants?”

It was Saza who answered. She stood on my other side, her dress swaying about her frail form. “This is a duel of reparation, not blood, so you are limited to one weapon and the use of your body. It used to be that a duel such as this was performed naked. Now that is a duel I'd be excited to see!”

“The Brood Mother is wise.” Nel said, completely ignoring her mentors leecherous remark. She tilted her head back to look at all the faces that peeked at us from the branches and ledges surrounding Rima and I. A few of the Brood even had their heads stuck through the leaves like some creepy ass fruit. “The fact that she has allowed this duel to take place shows the Brood that she truly views you as Denvii and it will put to rest any doubts they may have. More so if you win.”

“And If I weren’t Denvii?”

“She would likely have killed you for harming one of her children.” Nel said nonchalantly.

The Brood Mothers warning of sucking me dry echoed in my ear again and I suppressed a shiver. And it wasn’t a shiver of arousal, let me tell you that!

“So what’s the deal with Rima’s spear?”

“It is made from the branch of a Living Willow and is tipped with a Bores tusk. Zavanrosiphra gifted it to Rimatrastorama when he chose him as an apprentice.”

“Okay. Now tell me that again, but this time act like I have no idea what any of that means.”

Nel smiled at me, her sharp canines flashing against her full lips. “The shaft of his spear will regrow, even if shattered or broken. The tip of his spear is made from the tusk of a Bores...a wild beast the Denvii Pack hunts. The bones of a Bores are very hard and when filed down, very sharp. The tusks are naturally sharp on one side, and serrated on the other, and make valuable weapons. We often trade silk and threads with the Pack for it.” She said, adding the last part when I looked at her funny.

Done with Rima, Zava sprung across the distance separating Rima’s branch and mine. He was heavy enough that his landing shook the branch.

“You are prepared?” he asked me.

Last night, after I had fallen asleep on the veranda, Nel had appeared and woken me up. She had a basket full of metal scraps and shavings that she offered as a peace offering and I’d let her sit next to me while I munched on the scraps like popcorn. Conversation between us was surprisingly easy. She was funny and interesting and full of questions about Earth and I didn’t mind the company.

By the time I hit the bottom of the basket I was back to full integrity and had a tiny bit left over under my stored mass tab. Nel had left then but not before asking me quietly if I would try not to hurt her brother. I had agreed. Kinda hard not to when she was being really nice to me and just being a good sister. Still gonna kick his ass though.

I took the spear off Nel, testing its heft, and nodded as a smile pulled my lips up.

“The rules are simple,” Zava said, his pale pink eyes locked with mine. “You will both fight until unconscious, disabled, or until one surrenders. At no time are you to seek outside help nor will any be provided to you. Fatal blows will be limited to such a time as both combatants are still able to regenerate, after which if the presiding judge, me, believes that any action taken against one by the other is intentionally fatal I will retaliate with full force. Is this understood?”

“Fight till you can’t. Don’t be a bitch and ask for help. Don’t aim to kill. Got it!”

This wasn’t the first time I was fighting in front of a crowd and lets be honest, knowing me, it's not going to be the last. Any nerves I may have felt slid off me as an icy calm settled over my limbs.

“Nelzarastorama, Saza, I will need you both to move away.”

The two women left my side. Saza without a word, Nel whispering "good luck and don’t kill my brother" in my ear.

I took stock of the situation as quickly as I could.

Twelve feet of open space separated my branch from Rima’s and it was a straight drop of about twenty feet to the forest floor. The branch I was standing on was roughly five feet across. I bounced a little to see if it would sway but the wood surprised me with its stability.

Rima was dressed in a pair of pants and was bare chested just like me. I saw more than a few of the female brood swoon a little as he flexed and stretched. My body was always ready to fight so I just stood still, the spear held loosely in my right hand.

I needed the element of surprise.

“Begin!” Zava roared.

Quick as thought I overclocked, not taking any chances. Energy flooded my limbs in lines of orange. I braced with my lead foot and twisting at the waist I launched my spear at Rima. He was running before the wood had crossed half the distance, his spider legs stretching out to help pull him along. My spear thunked into the tree trunk and shattered, splinters flying everywhere like shrapnel. The crowd roared their approval.

I didn’t moan the loss of the spear. I didn’t know how to use it in close quarters and at a distance I doubted I could hit him. I just wanted to distract him and gain momentum for myself. Which I did. Rima was still focused on avoiding me when I crouched down, pushed energy into my legs, and jumped across the distance. Bark sprayed out behind me like a small explosion as I rocketed away.

My biggest fear was that Rima would turn around and throw his spear at me while I was in mid-air and couldn’t dodge but instead he turned and ran back towards me, planning to intercept me when I landed.

I occured to me that this was the point of starting so far apart. It forced us to think carefully about what we wanted to do. I chose to sacrifice my spear and face him weaponless, he chose to retain his weapon rather than risk a throw that might not connect.

I hit the branch hard, all my weight transferring to my feet which dug into the soft bark like soil. The tip of that fucking spear came whistling through the air at me and I had to let my legs fall out from under me so it went over my head instead of into my eye. Not the most graceful of movements but it worked.

Now we were in close quarters and that’s my domain.

Rima twisted his back to me so his spider feet could try and curb stomp me. All six of the limbs flashed towards me in dark brown blurs as I twisted and turned as best I could while still on my back. One hit my stomach hard enough that air exploded out of my mouth. I was just happy it wasn’t out my ass. Another clipped the side of my head.

Fuck! It was like fighting three dudes all at once. As soon as you go down it’s just a hail of feet and all you can do is cover up. I growled, my anger and frustration building. Rima stopped beating at me and turned so he could jab with his spear. The split second pause gave me the much needed break I was looking for.

It’s a lot easier to drag someone down then it is to get yourself up so twisting around the flashing blade of his spear I rolled right up against his human legs. Laying down on his feet I smiled as his eyes widened when he figured out what I was doing. Hooking both my hands behind his knees I pulled. It looked like my evil plan was going to work. He folded at the knee and started to fall back but then just...stopped.

I keep forgetting the spider legs. Those fuckers are going to take some getting used to. They braced him perfectly. Three to a side and all bent and balanced.

Fuck it.

I punched him in the balls.

I was starting to lose my temper and those feet were irritating me and I was stuck on my back so I just went with a low blow. He folded up with a satisfying groan of pain and I shot to my feet like a fucking champion. It took all my self control not to throw both arms in the air.

And because I was still pissed off I wrapped Rima up in a bear hug and head butted him. I got him right on the bridge of his nose and the whole thing just went crack. Greenish/blue blood shot out like a hose, coating his face and mine. Baring my teeth in a false smile I hugged him tighter, flaring more power into my arms and back. He was trying to stab me with the spear he still had but couldn't get the right angle.

“Shit’s too small.” I growled in his ear, meaning the branch we were on. I don’t know if he got what I was saying but it didn’t matter. I threw us both over the edge.

He was screaming, I was screaming, the wind was screaming, then we hit the ground. There were all sorts of weird crunching sounds that may have indicated I just broke half of Rima, and I sort of bounced/rolled/flopped off him. I winced at the thought of Nel berating me.

I think I was fine. I wasn’t overlocking that hard so I hoped my energy was ok and I was running enough power to dull my nerves so I wasn’t in any pain. Okay, there was minor pain but for the most part I was fine so I just lay there, getting my breath back. I could feel the moist soil at my back and when I opened my eyes all I saw was the tree trunks stretching up, up, up into the sky.

Heads were popping out here and there as the Brood tried to look down at us. I raised a hand and waved because I’m a bit of an asshole like that. With grace not befitting his large size Zava slid down a nearby trunk to land on the ground. I expected him to call the match but he just stood there, watching us.

Did I need to pin Rima to the ground? I turned to Rima to do just that and swore.

He was sitting up, his handsome face twisted into a scowl. The depression that I had left in his chest slowly inflated back to its original shape with a sickening popping grinding noise that made even me wince. His spider legs twitched behind him, two of them hung down useless, the joints twisted at strange angles and rivers of blue/green blood ran down the carapace. He looked all kinds of fucked up, but he was healing. Holy crap was he healing! He had regeneration on steroids!

“Champion-Thank-You!” He gasped out between gritted teeth.

“You do realise I just fucked your shit up, right?” I asked, completely confused.

“Yes, That is why. Even my Master is not as ruthless as you in combat and my training has begun to stagnate. This is the first real fight I have experienced and already I am learning so much. I need to experience real battles to grow. To have learnt this lesson from the chosen of Aeris...Thank you!”

Well, creepy hero worship aside I guess I kind of understood the guy. You could study fighting all your life, dedicate yourself to the forms, the techniques, the ideas, but as soon as the first fist was thrown it all changes. I was great at fighting because I was doing it before I could even walk. Seriously. I fought a puppy once for some scraps. I lost but I learnt a lesson. Thats what was happening to Rima now.

“You bout done with your regen?” I asked.

“I will be completely healed in two minutes, Champion. The third gift I received from Aeris was that of Transference. I am transferring my mana to health, as I have very little talent in magic and have no use for it.”

Oh for fuck sake. Now there’s magic?! What next? A pixie riding a unicorn farting rainbows? The unicorn farts the rainbows, FYI, not the pixie...You know what?Fuck it, the pixie can fart rainbows to.

Why didn’t I have magic? I wanted magic.

I decided to think about it later. There was too much talking going on in the duel for my taste. I got to my feet, dusting leaves and twigs and mud off me in the process. Rima’s spear was lying between us and he watched me walk over to it. I saw him tense as I picked the weapon up.

“What say you and I have a good ol’ fashion brawl?” I asked. A tad bit eager.

Rima nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving the weapon in my hand.

“Cool.” I threw the spear away so he wouldn’t be able to pick it up mid fight. Surprisingly (and by complete coincidance) the projectile narrowly missed Zava’s head.

Squaring my stance and raising my arms I tucked my chin down and looked at Rima from between my forearms. He got to his feet, fully healed but a little slow, and took a stance of his own. His spider feet fanned out behind him and waved slowly in the air. I had to remind myself to keep an eye on them.

“Come on then.” I growled.

Rima was fast. Really fast. His footsteps were quick and light as he sprung towards me, his spider legs helping to pull him along. I overlocked like a beast and ground the balls of my feet into the ground, leaning forward slightly to better receive his charge.

His lashed out, a quick hook aimed at my jaw. I slipped it, letting the blow slide over my shoulder as I stepped inside. Using his forward momentum against him, I drilled a sharp clean jab straight to his sternum. He took it surprisingly well, only coughing lightly. He retaliated by stepping back and stomping at my knee with his foot. I let the blow land, trusting my bones of iron to hold together, but the force behind the kick still pushed my foot back and out, throwing my lower body back and my upper body forward. That was fine, I wanted to go forward anyway. I just used the movement to propel my fist all the harder as it swung down from over my head.

There was a crack as my fist came down on Rima’s clavicle and he sagged under the weight of the blow, one of his arms dropping limp to his side. I righted myself and grabbed at his head only to stagger as his spider legs came into play. They made wild swinging arcs that resembled haymakers and came at me from both sides and several different angles.

I was stronger and faster. He had more limbs to attack and defend with.

I slid punches and spider legs. I dodged and ducked and weaved between limbs. I laughed like a madman when I was forced to punch his fist head on. He hissed with pain, his fist crumpling up like a tin can under the strength of my blow. I just used the recoil from the shot to spin me around, my footwork light like a dancers as I torqued at the waist to drive more power into my next blow: a backhand that shattered his jaw. Before I could complete my twirl and capitalise on the moment I had to jump over another spider leg.

He hit me in the nose. The cartilage was a lot weaker than my bones and snapped. Blood flowed sluggishly over my lips to stain my lower face and cover my teeth. I grinned in exhilaration. I was used to the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.

This is what I love.This is what I live for.

I grew stronger by the second, more deadly. My blows began blending together in intricate patterns as I started to figure out Rima’s movements. Even as I burnt through my energy supply at what I’m sure was a scary rate I moved faster, my hands blurring, by body swaying between blows with an almost unnatural grace. Rima on the other hand was slowing down, his movements turning sluggish as the constant abuse to his body wore on him. I broke him and he healed and I broke him again. When he broke me I laughed in his face and hit back all the harder.

I caught a spider leg and rammed a fist straight into the knee joint. The shell like exterior broke and fresh blood spilled out. He staggered back, the limb hanging useless behind him. I noticed he wasn’t healing aymore.

Kid had a lot of heart though. His hands never dropped and he didn’t call it quits. I could respect that.

I smiled blood stained teeth at him then spat my own blood in his eyes.

He was blinded for a second and I fell on him like a fucking avalanche. The orange lines glowing along my body seemed to streak through the air as I moved fast enough that had I been human my body would have fallen apart. I threw punches that were all power and no finesse. Wild, clumsy things that were devastatingly effective. All I knew was I had to end this now. My energy was fading and he was exhausted.

Still wiping at his eyes, Rima’s spider feet smacked against my side and back as he tried to push me off. I let them land, much as I had with the Forgotten, I took the abuse and dealt back more. His body shook and he fell back step by step as I worked him over in an unrelenting barrage. I ducked under a spider’s leg and since I was down there I punched out with my right fist at the side of his right knee. The limb buckled and he fell forward to kneel. I stood, my left hand dragging behind me, till it connected with his jaw and his head snapped back.

Suddenly there was a spear held across my chest. Zava pushed me back from Rima. I didn’t fight it, instead letting the energy go and sighing as the usual euphoric rush disappeared. Rima slowly toppled forward, unconscious.

“The Victor. Denvii Alexander of Earth. Champion of Aeris!” Zava roared out to the branches above us. He had my hand in his and raised it above our heads.

I looked up and nearly pulled power again at the sight. The Brood crowded the branches. There must have been hundreds, all as different as the last, and all of them cheering. Nel slid down a tree trunk like it was a a gentle slope, her spider legs doing all the work as she held Saza to her. Once on the ground they seperated. Saza made her way towards me while Nel rushed over to check on her brother.

He didn’t look great. The blueish green blood covered most of his body and a few cuts still bled slowly. For the most part though, he would be fine. Especially considering the way I saw him heal earlier.

“I will check on my apprentice now. Champion...good fight.” Zava said, looking like he was eating a lemon.

“Don’t worry, Champion. Rimatrastorama has a remarkable gift that will allow him to heal rapidly. His sister will look after him till then. She is a good healer.” Saza said.

“Nel is a healer?” I asked, surprised. “She’s never mentioned it.”

“She is many things. She is my apprentice after all.” Saza said with pride.

I watched the group clustered around Rima for a second before turning back to Saza.

“So what now?”

“Now,” Saza’s smile grew. “Well, now I have a request."

“But food first.” I added.

“But food first.” she agreed. Suddenly her face twisted into a scowl and she yelled out "Zavanrosiphra! you stop poking your apprentice right this instant! He needs to heal, not have your trunk like finger in his face."

I tried containing a laugh as Saza huffed in annoyance and went to join the group.

Curious I opened up my stats and overlaying the table was a whole bunch of boxes. I read through them quickly, using my pinky finger to flick between them when I was done.

I thought yes and when nothing happened I pressed the box feeling foolish. The box disappeared, which was awesome, but I was still left with quite a few. Oh well, lets see whats up.

Sure, why the fuck not.

 

With that done, whatever it did, my stat table opened back up and I had a quick look see and groaned. I was never going to stay at 100% integrity at this rate.

So looks like I now regenerate or convert mass or whatever during combat, though it was slower than normal. I wondered if it was a byproduct of my standard MCR increasing or if it was part of the Gift of Advanced Mass Conversion. Saza did say regeneration gifts were the most common.

I also noticed I had met a term for Micro-Evolution. Though I think that had more to do with the Brood Mother’s recognition of me than punching Rima in the face. The last change was my Hand-to-Hand skill becoming Bloodied Brawler. I made a note to ask Saza or Nel what the letters next to the skill meant.

“Alexander...Alexander! Alex!” It took me a second to respond. It’s one thing to say your names Alexander, it’s another one completely to react when someone calls you that.

Nel was hopping up and down in front of me, Impatient for me to finish with my stat screen, so I closed my fist, cancelling the screen, and turned my attention to her.

“What?”

“Saza said for you to make your way to her nest. She needs to speak with Zavanrosiphra but will meet you there.” She looked around at the rest of the Brood that was slowly making their way down to the forest floor. “It would be wise for you to leave or you may get swarmed.”

I looked at the onrushing crowd and nodded. I did not want to get mixed up in that mess. Not only did the sheer number freak me out a little...I had no clue how to interact with someone with a spiders head. Did they even speak? Could they? And what about the one with th...holy shit! One spider chick just flashed me I think! Maybe I could stay a bit, they did come out to see me after all. The Brood, not the chicks tits.

Nel slapped the back of my head and scowled at me. She obviously knew where I was looking.

“Sharmavastroma is the Brood blanket,” Nel blushed when I asked what that was. “It means she will lay on top of any man at night. Do not get any ideas Alexander, you will catch a disease.”

I decided not to point out the fact that I couldn’t. I didn’t have enough of a biological system for it and if the parts of me that were still human did get infected or damaged, the nanobots running through me normally fixed it using compounds and shit they collected when I ate. Sanderson explained it to me once but I was too busy freaking out to make sense of it.

As I turned to go Nel reached out, her talon tipped fingers circling around my bicep gently. “And thank you for not killing my brother. I know, if you wished, you could have driven your hand through his body like you did the Forgotten.”

I smiled down at her. When she stood on her human legs she only reached my chin. “Don’t worry about it. I think the idiot’s growing on me. Now, if I don’t make a hasty retreat now, I may get swarmed. Are you willing to save me then?”

“I may just join the swarm.” She said playfully before blushing and looking away.

“Fuck it. I’m staying right here then. Come at me women. Swarm me!” I had to duck her slap but she didn’t put much power in the blow anyway. “Fine! I’m going.”

“Alexander!” She called as I started to run away from the Brood.

“What?” I called over my shoulder.

“That’s the wrong direction.”

Well, fuck.