"Sky Vengers?"
Neil murmured as he took few steps back from the cage. His eyes widened in disbelief as he watched the Nightmare Smite drained the life out of the person. He tripped and fell, bottom first, then pushed back near a bush.
" Looks like another has been caught!" Neil heard a crooked voice say with a dastardly laugh at the end.
" Hey Jauge, go get that one." Another said.
Then the ground beneath began to shake. Tremor like footsteps made their way closer and closer to where Neil was. Neil hurriedly crawled into the bush behind him to hide from the goliath's sight.
In front of him was a juggernaut. His veins pulsed in his arms visible to the naked eye. He wore a mask with slit visors letting a red glowing hue from his left eye. He wore brown leather armor , sleeveless, with the mask
cracks at his mouth letting out a fog of his breath .
He proceeded to lift the cage with one hand placing it onto his broad shoulders then walked towards the ship. He walked effortlessly as the ground beneath him shutter from the pure physical weight.
Neil heaved a sigh of relief as he watched the pillar of a man go. His mind was scarce of thought as the events of the day unfolded to quickly for him to encapsulate.
First was the hovering death cloud that encompassed over his village and Sen, the apparent and factual idea that he was not going to find his mother, well not in one piece, then there was the band of misfits just a few meters from him, taking joy as
they watched human game.
" What the heck is wrong with the world?" he asked his body depraved of energy and will.
Suddenly he felt an arm descend on him with a viscous clamp like grip. Behind him a man. He made a crooked smile then shouted.
" Guys , just found some new bait."
The other frolicking members shifted their view towards the man pulling a struggling young boy from the bushes.
Neil was horrorstricken. The smiles on the sky Vengers faces sent chills through his body. They laughed as some came to help hold him down.
The forest clearing smelt of blood and booze as five of the sky Vengers huddled around Neil.
" What's a kid doing here?" someone asked puzzled to see a child inside the second decay ring zone.
" Yeah , he should be dead by now with all the arcane drain from the miasma event. "
Neil was on both his knees. The dagger he had been given by Orion had been taken and thrown next to a pile of bloodied clothes. He faced the ground his breath weak and fading .
" Why did I come? " he thought.
" I should have listened to the vice master and stayed in the town. Now am just going to die and be used like some fish bait."
" What a lame way to go out. " he thought as his thoughts drifted deep into a well of despair.
" Am sorry everyone."
Neil's eyes closed. He had passed judgement onto himself and surrendered his fate to the misfits talking in front of him.
" Whatever he's doing doesn't matter , let's just throw him in the cages with the rest. He'll be useful to the scholar latter." One said as he extended his arm to grab Neil.
Neil's eyes slowly open as the person's words echoed in his
mind.
" … with the others …"
" That means there people in the ship." He thought his heart now pumping hope through his body. He looked up as the scaly hand reached out to him.
Suddenly a plan formulated in Neil's head. No, it wasn't a plan but a gamble.
As the hand drew closer Neil launched his body forward head-butting the man on the nose. The man staggered back and Neil took the opportunity to rush towards the dagger he was given. He grasped it by his tied hands and sawed away as fast as he could
to cut the rope.
" That brat! Am going to kill him." The man said as he turned to face Neil.
Neil had expected this. The gang members were all sited apart from the five. He knew since he was a child they wouldn't have their guards up but rather laugh it of.
" Look, the boy wants to fight." One said followed by a hearty laugh from the members.
" Hey you five , are you going to let a boy make a fool of you." Another near the ship shouted.
The wind had stilled. Too still.
Neil's boots slid slightly on the jagged roots below as five figures moved towards him, forming a crescent. In the middle was the man he had head-butted. They weren't in a rush—wolves didn't run for sheep.
" Oh great, they also degenerates." Neil thought as he watched them circle in. Then he took a deep breath as he readied for his first ever fight.
Neil ducked the first blow, a fist flashing past his cheek. It landed on one the tree behind Neil forming a fist print on it. The second
attacker came , trying to clamp shackles around Neil's arm. He twisted just in
time, slamming his elbow into the man's ribs—but the third was already waiting.
Then a kick sending Neil crushing into the pile of clothes. He clenched to his dagger and started to run to the side. Laughter roared as the members spectated the handicap. Neil's eyes darted around ignoring the roars as he surveyed the surrounding. Then.
" There!" he thought looking deeper in the forest. He halted then faced his five assailants.
" I can only do this once … make it count!" he said as he charged towards them. The roars got louder as he started running towards them. Then his dagger started to glow. Small gushes of wind gather and compressed
around it. It's color changed to a luster of green as more and more gushes
thinned.
On seeing this the roars settled. It was replaced by and air of confusion and awe.
"Wait, is he using … ?"
" Is he really using his arcane inside the decay rings!" another added as amazement shifted to curious worry.
" I guess it's over, huh." Another said disappointed as their eyes followed the raging boy throw the dagger towards the five men.
Weave. Neil missed.
The guy ,Neil had head-butted, tilted his head slightly as the glowing dagger whooshed passed him. In front of him was Neil clutching his hand as the arcane drain started.
Neil clenched his teeth, lips trembling. Energy sipping out of his body by the Decay Ring's drain. The siphoning had already begun. He could feel the hunger of the rings—the invisible mouth pulling at the veins in
his hands, at the center of his chest.
" So you are a soul arctype user huh. No wonder you gathered that wind arcane so fast. " the guy said looking down on Neil.
In the world , Arcane was the primal source of power enabling beings to manifest and use elements and abilities they had affinity for. All beings that could use arcane had theoretical gates called Arcs. Arcs acted as the link between beings and Arcane giving them the power to manifest elements. Arcs were then divided based on how the user
manifested and used their powers. These were called Arctypes. There were three
primal arctypes : soul , incant and rune. These three were the first to be
observed and any other variation was built of them.
Neil's arctype was Soul. These meant he didn't need to chant nor write runes to use his abilities.
The five men drew closer to the groaning Neil. He clenched his hand fighting the urge to cr y as he glared at the five. The members shouts had died as they awaited the finishing blow.
Neil shut his eyes. His fear crawled up his spine like ice water, but it was met with something hotter. Older. It had been there all
along, coiled around a single truth:
This was it. He couldn't mess things up.
He raised his hand.
The five Sky Vengers tensed—too late.
His voice was steady.
"Release."
There was no warning crackle. No glowing spell-circle.
There was only pressure.
The air imploded around him, arcs of wind coiling inward then detonating outward in a hollow roar. A burst of compressed atmosphere blasted outward, point blank, in a perfect sphere, throwing the five into the
air as Neil was pushed back crushing into the ship.
Then came screaming. Not from Neil but from the five.
Mist like vapor rose from their skin as it dried away. Veins became etched on their faces as they continued to groan. Their Arcane
signatures pulsed once, then began to wither. One by one, they convulsed,
screamed, and turned to husks—their power and essence siphoned by the world
itself. A moment later they fell to the ground motionless as the last of their life
essence was drained away.
Their bodies had passed the invisible threshold and we're now in the first decay ring zone. The zone's effects were immediate as the Sky Vengers were late to act. They stood agape as they watched the five wither away.
In the wreckage of the ship was Neil. His back ached but his heart raced with elation. He lay among broken wood as he
looked through the hole through the ship he had came in through. His plan had
worked but the gamble was not done. The drain on his hand had stopped , just as
he had thought it might inside the ship. On the outside the members tried to salvage to bodies of the five but couldn't. There was nothing to save.
" Where's that kid!" one cursed as he turned and angrily made his way to the ship.
Suddenly he halted. His eyes glued to a figure on the ship's helm.
The figure landed beside the hole Neil had carved, his descent deceptively graceful for such a towering build. Arms crossed, he radiated dominance—an air that demanded reverence. Without hesitation, the surrounding members dropped to one knee, their heads bowed as the man's scornful gaze fixed on Neil.
"You have my gratitude, boy," he said, his voice low and resonant, laced with venomous amusement. "Thinning out the weak… saves me the trouble of culling them myself."
He let the silence hang, watching Neil sway on his feet.
Then, with a flick of his hand, his tone sharpened.
"As for the rest of you—rise. Face him. Let's see if any of you are worth keeping."