Rise of the Devourer

Book 2: Chapter 20 — Chain Breaker

Noah made his way through New Heartilia, crossing over the bridge as he walked to the other half of the city. Over the past two weeks, his visits to the Pit had become part of the routine, and he even had a nickname in the arena now.

The guard let him through the gates without question, not that they needed to. The last time he had been stopped, he’d let them know that his teleport was not restricted by whatever wards they may have put upon the place.

The evenings were when the Pit came alive. People of all sorts and places would head here, as crystals would exchange hands, and the gambling would begin, fueled by liquor and poor choices.

Noah wasn’t going to judge them. He’d been in that exact place once. Lost and with nothing to turn to, the desperation had pushed him in all sorts of wrong directions. It just hurt him to play a part in that, even though he knew that should he somehow stop this place from existing, something else would simply take its place.

Heading further in, Noah walked into one of the chambers the participants had. Eyes turned towards him, a few nods of acknowledgment. Normally he would be chatting freely, but here he’d tried to keep to himself. It wouldn’t do if people became too comfortable with him.

A screen, like the one he saw in New Heartilia was setup inside, much more scrappy looking and like a strange sort of box holding a rippling liquid that displayed the view but it was still not something he had expected to be there. Not willing to chat, he simply spent his time watching the fights happen before his own turn came.

The starting events were always slower, lower level fighters, with far too many young kids who had just awakened, thinking they would try out their luck and win a good few crystals to spend.

Some did win, but most were left with broken ribs and a load of regret.

“Another brat. They need to stop letting them in,” a bulky man snorted from neary.

Noah turned sideways to glance at him. The Volt, was his nickname, but Noah had found out that the man was called Gary. He could kind of see why Gary had chosen to not go by his own name in the Pit. Not exactly the most intimidating thing to hear.

“This one looks good. Been a while since a kid with potential came along,” one of the fighters said. A woman with sharp triangular knives tied into her long pony-tail. A strange fighter who wore extremely revealing clothing with a black and purple theme that matched her own eye color.

[Blade Flagellant - level 87]

Noah looked at the screen again, paying a bit more attention now. The kid wore simple garb, and carried a curved blade with runes on it. Noah watched the boy fight, placing him at somewhere about eighteen. His opponent was much taller and more muscular, but also F ranked, so the match wasn’t too overwhelmingly skewed in one direction or the other.

The kid was hanging on pretty well despite the difference in strength against all the flames being thrown at him, but it was nothing too special.

Just as Noah’s attention was about to move away, he saw a flash pass through the arena. The man, that the kid had been fighting suddenly flung himself towards the kid in a ridiculous manner, stumbling forward as if he was being pulled in. The boy’s blade cut through the tall man’s chest, slashing a deep wound, before he kicked him in the knees and put his sword at the man’s neck.

Noah stared, unsure of what just happened.

The Volt whistled. “Nasty,” he said, before glancing sideways. “Guess you’re the one who’s facing him now.”

Noah grunted, standing up, but his mind returned back to what he saw. Some kind of telekinesis ability? Or maybe something else entirely. Taking out his spear, he smiled, adjusting his shackled as he set them at 75% suppression.

Guess he would just have to find out.

Walking through the dark corridors, Noah heard the announcers loud booming voice echo through the dark Pit.

“AFTER AN UNEXPECTED VICTORY, OUR CHALLENGER MUST FACE A MAN WITH A NEAR PERFECT WIN STREAK, AND A DEBT TO PAY. IT IS NONE OTHER THAN, THE CHAINBREAKER!”

Noah grimaced at his moniker, as he walked into the arena. His shackles had quickly come into notice during his fights, especially once people had figured out that he had been fighting with his abilities suppressed. A LOT of fighters had taken it as a challenge to push him far enough to get his shackles off. Though few had managed.

Changing his focus, Noah used Identify on the boy.

[Ra’kathurn Swordsman - level 45]

Noah frowned. He hadn’t seen that language before. Typically, anything he used Identify on came up in English. Did the kid have some kind of artifact? He focused, noticing multiple auras around the kid, and Noah summoned his spear in his hand. The kid had multiple Paths. Maybe even three.

“LET US SEE IF OUR YOUNG WARRIOR CAN GET THE SHACKLES TO COME OFF!”

Guess I’ll find out.

With a loud cheer from the audience, the fight began. Noah simply stood where he was, letting the boy make the first move. Spinning his sword around the kid took a stance, as purple mana began to gather on his blade. Then with a spin he leapt up in the air before slamming his blade into the ground.

Noah used blink, teleporting away. His eyes widened in surprise as the kid flew into the air, following him in a swirling tornado, a second blade now appearing in his hand.

He was holding back last round?

Noah didn’t have time to think, as he countered with his spear. The boy had far more control in the air, and Noah teleported once more, returning to the ground. The kid did not relent, moving downwards and Noah jumped back as the ground shook far from the impact of the falling boy.

A moment later, Noah figured out the trick.

Gravity magic.

A smile came upon his face, excitement now generated at the new kind of opponent. Readying his spear he looked at the boy, standing proud and tall with a smug impression and he redused his suppression shackles down to 50%.

“Take those shackles off,” the boy said.

“Make me,” Noah replied.

Leaping ahead, the boy dug his two blades into the ground, as spikes of rock thrust out of the ground. His own weapons were covered in the rocks from the area as he tore pieces out of the ground and began launching them at Noah.

Jumping through the gaps between the rocks, Noah used obliterate to destroy the rocks. The kid had used his attack as a cover to close in but Noah had been expecting the move.

Bleed and Obliterate whirred as Noah thrust his spear, clashing with the boy’s swords. Void, blood and gravity mana melded together in a frenzy before both of them were blasted back by the impact.

Noah felt a burning sensation running up his arms, the gravity mana having cracked his bones just the tiniest bit.

He’s strong.

Noah activated Starforged arms, as the two ghastly spectral limbs appeared. Letting a blade appear in each arm, Noah began to coordinate his attacks. The spectral arms swung their blades as arcs of void mana slashed across the arena. Noah used dimensional pocket, making a chain of invisible portals through which he threw his spear, charging it up with mana.

The spear cut through reality, teleporting around the area as two mana blades continued to slash. A moment later, the spear appeared in front of the kid, when a purple blast of mana twisted it midair, deflecting the weapon.

Noah called his spear back, as he moved in. Charging obliterate. Swinging his spear, Noah let his hand transform and harden as he slashed with his claws. Sparks flew as his hand caught the blade, deflecting the blow. He felt the gravitational push crushing him, but he was stronger, as his spear cut through the boy’s side, leaving a gash.

Using the chance, Noah activated blood drain. With a swing, the boy hit back, his blade far heavier than Noah had anticipated. The impact launched him, Gravity magic throwing him into the wall as he crashed.

Cheers erupted around the arena.

Noah coughed, wiping at his mouth as he felt blood flowing from his cheeks. Through the dust, he saw the boy standing, charging up an attack. Blue mana formed around his blades, the runes glowing on them, as six copies of his weapon formed around him. A moment later, the weapons shot towards Noah in a curving arc. Calling starforged arms, Noah changed his weapon into a shield, blocking the attack. A beam of blue followed right after, curving in a cutting arc, as he felt himself being pulled in by gravity. Noah let the magic pull him, using the momentum to kick off harder.

Rushing closer, he jumped over the attack, before teleporting behind the boy. Charging a throw, he let his spear descend before he teleported closer, grabbing the boy’s face as he slammed him into the ground. The boy’s eyes widened as he felt claws grasped around his throat. For a moment that felt like eternity, Noah watched the kid’s eyes widen as they looked at the spear falling right towards his face, spelling his doom.

Extending his arm, Noah caught the weapon an inch from the kid’s face, as he let go of his throat.

“I…I surrender,” the kid whimpered.

“AND THE VICTOR IS THE CHAIN BREAKER!”

Cheers shook the arena, and Noah soaked in the sound for a moment. “Good match,” he said, extending his hand. The boy looked up in surprise before grasping his hand as Noah pulled the kid back to his feet. “What’s your name?”

“Arkios,” the boy said. “Arkios Ra’kathurn.”

“I’m Noah Brown,” Noah said. “Gravity magic is fun. I didn’t know it existed before now.”

“You knew?” the boy asked.

“I guessed,” Noah replied.

The boy looked at him, before giving a nod as he turned around and walked out. Noah stood for a moment, for the next.

“AND THE NEXT- ah it’s Snow.”

Jeers and boos came from the crowd, shouts and calls coming for him.

“Fight her, coward!” a man shouted.

Noah glared at the man, putting the intensity of his aura into his vision. The balding man shrunk back at his look, and Noah turned away.

“Hi Snow,” he said, waving his hand.

“H-hi Noah,” Snow replied, clutching her simply white shirt nervously.

“Had anything good happen today?”

The girl stood for a moment, before giving a nod.

Noah smiled, before turning around as he looked at the referee and raised his hand. “I surrender.”

The man sighed, and then announced the match. “And the victory goes toSnow,” then in a rare show he added. “We need to stop putting you two against each other.”

Noah laughed, as he walked around, and made his way back inside. Lifeblood had already healed the scratches, cuts and little injuries he had gotten, including the small fracture near his wrist.

As Noah began preparing to leave the Pit, a man’s voice called.

“Vix is calling you.”

Noah looked at the guard, before giving a nod as he walked out, making his way upstairs to where Vix sat.

Walking to the door, Noah decided to simply teleport inside. The man that remained with Vix, Vros, as he’d learned his name was, jumped in surprise. “Hellion’s tits, you need to stop teleporting everywhere.”

“Maybe you should get an anti-teleportion ward if you dislike it so much,” Noah said with a shrug.

“Shut up Vros, your aura sensing is getting sloppy,” Vix said, laughing.

“You know it’s not. This guy has somehow learned how to hide his aura this well in just two weeks. Don’t start blaming me when you keep picking all the monsters up.”

Vix chuckled as she drank from her wine glass, waving the man out. Noah watched Vros leave, before he turned towards the woman.

“What do you want?”

“Noah, Noah Noah. So aggressive. You should relax a little more,” Vix said, pointing at the sofa.

Noah glanced at the sofa, thinking over it for a moment, before he sat down.

“Good, now, here’s your reward for being a good source of entertainment for me,” the woman said, waving her hand. Mist flowed around and a moment later, Noah saw two tomes appear in front of him.

He picked them up, using identify.

[Tome of Harvest (Rare)]

[Tome of Perception (Rare)]

Noah put the tomes in his inventory. He’d look at them later.

“Now, I need you to stop throwing every match you have against Snow. She’s our show runner, and you’re our newest rising star. The people are paying heavy crystals to bet on you two. We can’t have you ruining that,” Vix said, leaning back against her chair.

“I won’t fight a child,” Noah replied. “Especially an enslaved child forced to fight against her wishes.”

“Is she? Or does she enjoy it? The human side of her may say something, but the beast? It loves the violence. It craves it. I’ve had her for almost a year now, and if I don’t let her lose, she goes mad.”

Noah stared at Vix, frowning. He couldn’t tell if she was lying to manipulate him or not. He knew very well that Tony had this strange unending hunger to him, so if the void fiend had an impulse to fight as well… he could see her words being true.

“That still doesn’t change my stance,” Noah replied.

“I thought you would say that,” Vix said, licking her lips. “Afterall, an outerworlder who’s working for Lord Krios would have to be someone special.”

Noah stared at Vix as the woman got up, walking next to him and leaning near his ear.

“See, I'm starting to wonder if you really are who you say you are. There's two kinds of adventurers afterall,” she said, almost in a whisper.

"The kind who know how the world works,” she said, before leaning over as she grabbed Noah’s chin. "And the kind who willfully ignores it.”

Leaning away, Vix let go of Noah’s chin. “Do you know why this Pit exists?”

“Because people like you do,” Noah replied.

“You’re not wrong,” she said, taking a sip. “But we wouldn’t exist, if no one came here. This is a business afterall. You cannot sell something no one buys.”

“What are you selling me then?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Vix laughed.

“It depends. Have you heard of the Astral Rift that has opened? There’s a vault inside, one found in an Abyssal cult. I want you to go in there and retrieve something for me.”

Noah found his surprise rising. “What do I get, if I do that.”

Vix turned, looking at Noah as she finished her wine glass, before it evaporated into smoke.

“If you succeed. I’ll give you Snow.”

Noah stared, eyes wide in surprise.

“Keep her, free her, toy with her. It will not be of any concern to me,” Vix said. “But only if you can bring me what I want.”

“And what is it that you want from this place?” Noah asked.

The woman smiled, her eyes infinite swirls of orange as Noah noticed the two sharp canines peeking from below her lips.

“The Shard of a dead god.”