Chapter 164: Chapter 164

Far from Blackmist, at the top of a flat topped, snow covered mountain, a bandaged man sat on the shattered remains of a large stone. Before him stood another man wearing a black cloak with a long white scarf flapping in the wind behind him.

“It’s been a few Cycles since I last saw you,” Second said, resting his chin in his hand, his tone casual. “Making moves again, Moon?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Moon replied with a chuckle. “I can say the same for you. You’ve brought the Corruption to bear far sooner than you ever have before. Something catch your eye?”

“Probably the same thing that caught yours.” Second picked up a pebble and tossed it from hand to hand. “This Cycle is going to be different, you know. We have suffered long enough at the hands of the Void.”

“You’ll fail.” Moon’s voice was flat and expressionless, just like his namesake. “And even if you were to succeed, your goals would only bring agony to the planes. Trillions would die.”

“Trillions already suffer in the space between worlds,” Second snarled, rising to his feet. “Your stance helps nobody, Moon. Pick a side already, you coward.”

“The Void is no more in the right than you are,” Moon replied. “But this Cycle will be different. If you and the Void fail to come to an agreement in time, you will find yourself faced with a greater enemy.”

“The Void and my people will never come to an agreement,” Second said. Dark green snakes of energy wrapped around his feet crackling before they disappeared into the air around them. “Your threats will do you nothing. Your only claim to power is evading the Cycle’s restart. Start learning to respect your elders, stupid boy. For all the words you speak, there is no power behind them.”

The air around Moon warped and his eyes grew cold. “You mistake my lack of action for a lack of strength, Second.”

“More words,” Second sneered. “You’re quite keen to keep me away from that boy. For someone who doesn’t take sides, you’re quite desperate to aid the Void. Perhaps I should pay him a visit and finish what I started.”

Moon cocked his head to the side. Second’s leg shattered. Fragments of bone and blood splattered to the ground, acid sizzling against the snow. His second leg followed suite and he fell to the ground before the masked man.

Bands of dark magic wrapped around Second’s mouth, gagging him before he could scream. With a sigh, Moon flipped the man over with his boot and knelt so they were eye to eye.

“You will not show yourself at Blackmist. The Corruption will not so much as show its face beside Damien until the Intramurals begin, Second. Do you understand?”

The bands vanished. Second drew in a ragged gasp. His limbs had already reformed. He stood up, the visible parts of his face pale.

“How did–”

Second’s chest caved in. The man’s eyes bulged and Moon clicked his tongue.

“That was a yes or no question, Second. I’m well aware I can’t kill you – not in this form, and not in your true form. But I can obliterate every single ounce of Corruption aside from yourself on this plane and ensure the Void wins this Cycle. Work with me or don’t work at all. So, I ask you again. Yes? Or no?”

“Yes, damn it,” Second said. “But why–”

Moon was already gone. Second looked around, then spat on the ground. He vanished as well. The only trace that either of them had been there in the first place was the acid that still sizzled upon the snow.

---

“It’s time.” Dredd leaned against his staff before Damien and Sylph, right outside of their room on the mountain plateau. “Delph and I have let everyone have the last week to practice entirely without interference. Have you both been able to manifest your companion in its combat form?”

Damien and Sylph both nodded.

“And what of the full manifestation?”

This time, Sylph was the only one who nodded. Damien shot her a look of surprise before returning his attention to Dredd.

“I don’t quite have a good control over Henry’s normal form yet,” Damien admitted. “But the combat form will be more than I need to handle any other student.”

Dredd grunted. “We’ll see. We’ve got a few strong contenders, and the other schools aren’t slouching either. In any other year, half of these kids would have been strong enough to be at the top of the pack. Now they’re only average. What in the Seven Planes are they putting in your water?”

The question was clearly rhetorical. He tapped the butt of his staff on the ground and traced a circle in the air, creating a red portal. Sparks of energy jumped off it, scattering across the ground.

“Whisp will be overseeing the competition to be the Blackmist Representatives,” Dredd said. “Only students that were able to manifest the battle form of their companion are permitted to enter. You may both step through.”

“How many are going to be allowed to attend the full competition?” Damien asked.

“Good question,” Dredd replied. “They’ve expanded it slightly this year due to the abundance of talent that every school has. There will be four students representing every school.”

“Fun,” Damien said. He and Sylph thanked Dredd, then entered the portal. It spat them out on the sandy arena floor, right beside around a dozen other students. A large stage had been raised several feet off the ground, and Whisp sat on the edge with her feet dangling off.

A few minutes passed as Dredd collected the remaining students. Damien spotted the Gray siblings, Mark, Loretta, and Cody in the crowd as they waited. Once everyone had arrived, Whisp clapped her gauntleted hands to get their attention.

“Congratulations on making it this far,” Whisp said. “The competition this year was fierce, but so are the rewards for winning the Intramural. For those of you that don’t know, the total number of competitors Blackmist can send for the Year Two competition is four – two more than normal. Even so, I expect you all to show me exactly why I should choose you and not somebody else.”

“What’s the format of the battles?” Mark asked.

“One versus one, until one party is no longer able to continue fighting or surrenders,” Whisp replied. “Healers are on standby, as always.”

Mark nodded his understanding and Whisp scanned over the rest of the students.

“Does anyone else have questions? This isn’t an official competition, so I’m not eager to stand on fanfare. Let’s just get this over with so I can get back to my job.”

Nobody else said anything and Whisp gave them a satisfied nod. “Good. In that case, do we have any volunteers to go first?”

Several students raised their hands. Whisp pointed at Loretta and a dark haired boy that Damien didn’t recognize. “You two, then.”

They hopped onto the stage. Whisp lifted off into the air, floating to the side so she wasn’t in their way. “Right then. Remind me of your names?”

“Loretta.”

“Gavin.”

“Wonderful. Well, go ahead and get started. If I say stop, I expect you to freeze no matter what you’re doing. No exceptions.”

The two blinked, then realized that their fight had started. A bright flash lit the stage up as glowing armor formed around Gavin and a sword materialized in his hand. He’d called on his combat form right off the bat.

He lunged at Loretta, thrusting the sword at her chest. She dodged to the side, water materializing around her and forming a protective bubble. Four octopus-like tentacles shot out from it and swung at Gavin.

A beam of light fell from the sky, enveloping Gavin. The tentacles slammed against it, shattering the spell but losing all of their momentum. He slashed at the water, carving it apart with his glowing sword.

The tendrils splashed to the ground. At the same time, the nubs formed new appendages. Gavin and Loretta paced around the stage, watching each other warily.

This time, Loretta made the first move. She thrust her hands forward and a water bullet shot out towards Gavin. The boy dodged out of the side and darted towards her. Loretta made a pulling motion and the spell that had just missed him froze midair, then shot back towards her.

You are reading story My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror at novel35.com

Gavin managed to twist at the last second and the spell carved a furrow across his side instead of punching clean through his chest. It returned to Loretta’s hands, a few droplets of blood mixed in with it.

“Tricky spell,” Gavin praised. He raised his sword, pointing it at the sky. Golden energy gathered at its top and a dozen arrows formed in the air above Loretta.

They peppered down on her and her tentacles wrapped forward protectively. The arrows pierced clean through both barriers and Loretta was forced to dive out of the way. Even still, several of them hit her. One went clean through her left calve, drawing a cry of pain from her mouth.

Gavin charged at her with a roar. Loretta rolled over, concentration etching itself onto her face, and thrust her hands forward. The water surrounding her surged forward, slamming into the boy. He gritted his teeth as the magic forced him backwards across the stage.

Loretta let out a pained gasp and jerked her hand to the side. A tendril sprung from the water surrounding Gavin, wrapping around his right foot and fastening in a flash. It jerked him to the side, sending the boy tumbling off the stage.

“Loretta wins,” Whisp announced, flicking her hand. Gavin froze midair, then floated back onto the stage where the acting Dean dumped him on the ground unceremoniously. Sean appeared beside them and knelt beside Gavin. Once the boy was healed, he did the same for Loretta.

“Not bad, Gavin,” Sean told the younger boy.

“Thanks.” Gavin nodded, but he couldn’t hide the disappointment in his eyes.

“Find me after the Intramurals,” Sean said. “I’ve got light magic as well. I could give you a few pointers.”

“Too much blabber,” Whisp said, shooing all three of them off the stage. “Next volunteers, please.”

“I’ll go,” Cody volunteered as he hopped onto the stage. Whisp gave him an approving nod. “Anyone else? Or do I have to choose?”

Nolan stepped out from the crowd. He wore the green armor that he’d donned during the Year One ranking battles. Wind magic wrapped around his feet and lifted him into the air, depositing him across from Cody.

“There we go. Get moving, then. Go punch each other.”

The ground rose up around Nolan, forming extra armor as a blade of wind appeared in his hand.

“He’s stealing my move,” Mark muttered from the crowd.

Cody didn’t draw on any Ether at all. Nolan cocked his head to the side, then flicked his wind blade at the other boy. A curve of churning white energy shot out from it, slicing through the air.

The other boy ducked to the side, allowing the spell to just barely pass over his head before dashing towards Nolan.

Nolan rose high into the air, sending two more strikes flying at Cody. A few students muttered in annoyance at the unfair advantage, but nobody said anything beyond that. Cody avoided each of Nolan’s strikes, arriving directly below him.

He grabbed a rock from the ground and lobbed it at Nolan. The noble flicked his hand and a shield of wind formed, deflecting the strike.

“You’re going to actually have to use your Ether if you want to fight,” Nolan observed. “I can only assume you’re trying to hide your secrets, but you can’t think you can win a fight at this level without actually using magic, can you?”

Cody grunted. “I suppose not.”

He picked up another rock and bounced it in his hand before lobbing it Nolan once again. Nolan flitted a short distance to the side, allowing it to sail harmlessly over his shoulder. Damien’s eyes widened as he spotted a whisp of Ether trailing off the stone.

It shattered, transforming into a ball of fire and throwing Nolan through the air. The force sent cracks through his armor but didn’t break it. He righted himself, then glanced down with an impressed expression.

“Runes?”

“No,” Cody replied, picking up several more stones. “Good dodge, though.”

“Enough chitchat!” Whisp snapped. “More punching. I don’t have all day.”

Cody shrugged and put all the rocks into his right hand. He then lobbed them at Nolan. A series of explosions tore through the sky as it lit up with brilliant orange and yellow flames. No matter the size of the rock, each seemed to make an equally devastating fireball.

Nolan dove out from within the fire, fragments of his armor falling in the air around him as he shot towards Cody. The bald boy ducked as a wind blade carved through the spot where he’d been standing and scored the floor of the Arena.

With a grunt, Nolan slammed one hand into the ground and used it to spin himself without losing momentum. He shot towards Cody again and drove his shoulder into the boy’s stomach as hard as he could.

Cody tumbled across the ground, but he came back with several rocks in his hands once more. He hurled them at Nolan, who hastily erected a wind barrier before him. The arena lit up once again.

When the flames faded, Nolan’s stone armor had been completely destroyed and the boy was covered with thin cuts and gashes. He gritted his teeth, then clenched his hand. The arena floor bulged as a large hilt punched out from within it.

Nolan dismissed his wind blade and reached down to grab it, pulling the blade free from the ground. The weapon was easily as tall as he was, with a thin white blade that hissed with Ether. Even though it was just a sword, the Ether around it bent and warped to Damien’s eyes.

“That’s more than a combat form,” Cody observed. “Full manifestation?”

“This is Rockbreaker, my companion,” Nolan said, pointing the blade at Cody. “A simple name, but I think it fits me.”

Flames licked up Cody’s back and down his arms, forming into a heavy mace. “What a coincidence. Mine is called Firestarter, but I’ve unfortunately only got a combat form. Let’s see which one is stronger, shall we?”

Nolan gave the other boy a nod. They dashed towards each other and swung their weapons with all their might. As Nolan swung the sword, it seemed to darken. Wind howled around the boy with such strength that it buffeted Cody back.

It was only an instant, but that was all the time Nolan needed. His blade flared a brilliant white, doubling in speed and darting for Cody’s side. A golden shield popped into being between the two and Nolan’s strike slammed into it.

What sounded like a massive church bell rang out. Cracks spread through the shield, but it didn’t fall. Nolan staggered back and his huge sword faded away, crumbling into rock.

“Nolan wins,” Whisp declared. “That strike would have chopped you in half.”

“I could have blocked it!” Cody protested. “That’s not fair.”

“You shouldn’t have let it get that close to you, then,” Sean said, appearing on the arena and waving his hand to dismiss his shield. He healed Nolan, but there weren’t any wounds on Cody.

“I would have been fine,” the boy insisted.

“I’ll consider it,” Whisp said, flicking her hand. “Just get off the stage. I have a lot of you buggers to get through.”

Nolan and Cody exchanged a glance, then both followed her orders. It didn’t look like either of them were particularly happy with the way the fight had ended.

“So, who’s next?” Whisp asked, hiding a yawn.

You can find story with these keywords: My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror, Read My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror, My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror novel, My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror book, My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror story, My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror full, My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror Latest Chapter