Adept of Chaos Ch. 29

Next week it should be live! I'm super-excited!

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Chapter 29

Evelyn sat down at the booth and flicked a switch to keep anyone from listening in, assuming they didn’t hack the system or use magic. She set things up, then accepted the call from Rhett.

A moment later a hologram of the human sprang to life, and he smiled, his gaze focusing on Evelyn as he nodded. “Evelyn, I’m glad you were available! Are things going well for you?”

“For the most part, yes.” Evelyn said, smiling back at him. “I did have a minor issue come up a few minutes ago, but that’s mostly because of my assistant. Djinni are… temperamental and unpredictable.”

“Hm, nothing too bad, I hope?” Rhett asked, his smile turning to worry. “I think I have a match set up for you, but it isn’t official yet, so we can move things around if needed.”

“Oh no, nothing like that. Fya just decided to track down a model who cosplayed as me, then brought her aboard the ship.” Evelyn said, letting out an aggravated sigh. “I just wish she’d warned me beforehand.”

A snort of laughter came from outside the view of the hologram, and Evelyn raised an eyebrow. Rhett suppressed a smile, looking slightly chagrined.

“Sorry, but I brought a couple of other people in for the conversation. Since it’s come this far…” Rhett said, and the viewpoint of the hologram moved back to show his office, as well as two other people, and he spoke calmly. “May I introduce you to the current champion of the phoenix tier, Everburning Magnus, and his longtime rival, Azure Wave? And this, of course, is Evelyn Esendria Tarth, better known as the Crimson Tornado.”

On the left was a handsome orc man who was heavily built, but not as large as many of the orcs Evelyn had seen in the arena. Oh, he was muscular, but she also could see that he wasn’t so overbuilt that he couldn’t move quickly. He didn’t have the tusks common to many of his people, and his skin was a darker, almost brown hue with a faint green tinge. That just made his orange eyes and short hair that’d been shaped into flaming orange spikes stand out more. Especially when combined with his simple white t-shirt and the leather trousers he wore.

To the right was a senne woman who was taller than Magnus, with broad shoulders and toned, muscular arms. She wore a black armored vest that left her arms exposed to the shoulder, had a black tribal tattoo on her left arm that Evelyn thought looked magical, and wore armored trousers as well. Her skin was azure blue, while her hair was a much darker blue that was gathered back in a ponytail. She was more severe-looking than beautiful in Evelyn’s opinion, but her eyes were a bright, almost star-like yellow, and she was watching Evelyn closely.

To Evelyn, it looked like Magnus had been the one to laugh, which didn’t surprise her. The two were the highest-ranking gladiators currently on Skaloth aside from Evelyn, after all. They’d been alternating who was the champion for the past five years, with Azure having taken three of the championships.

“A pleasure to meet you, Tornado. I’ve seen vids of you, and tried out a few sims of your matches, you’re damned impressive.” Magnus said, leaning back in his chair as he grinned. His voice was an almost-surprising tenor, which amused Evelyn.

“Indeed, though I thought you’d retired for good.” Azure added, her voice a soothing, well-controlled contralto.

“My talents aren’t the best for the arena, unfortunately, and I didn’t have many options. While there was an arena in Rakal, it’s unaccredited, and they did more matches that were to the death with slaves or against beasts. Not really my sort of thing.” Evelyn said, shrugging, then smiled. “It’s good to meet both of you. I’ve seen recordings of your matches, and you’ve been pushing each other to get even better over the years. I wish I had a rivalry like yours.”

The two looked at each other, seeming almost… uneasy about her comment. It made Evelyn smile, since she was just telling the truth. Without someone to push her or a goal, she’d ended up stalling at her current strength. Only having a crew was making her think about pushing further again, assuming she could improve more.

“Thanks for the compliment.” Magnus said after a minute, studying her, then asked. “Are you really planning to forgo most magic for the match you’re requesting? It seems a little much to me.”

“Yes, in part because I think it’s the only way for me to legitimately compete on the level of the phoenix tier.” Evelyn said bluntly, and raised a finger as Rhett inhaled. “Uh-uh, Rhett. I’m about to be brutally honest.”

Rhett let out his breath, giving her a chagrined smile, and she smirked in response, watching how Azure gave him a cold look. Only when she was sure they weren’t going to interrupt did she continue.

“The truth is that I always hold back in the arena. My magic is perfect for mass destruction, so most of the time it’s more of an effort to avoid shredding the entire arena than it is to win. Not killing makes it even trickier, but beyond that my magic boosts my baseline physical abilities massively. To the point that part of the reason I came to Skaloth was to get custom gym equipment from Mountainback Athletics so I could have something that could push me.” Evelyn said, shaking her head. “And that’s without having any physical augments. They wouldn’t do anything for me, anyway. Now, if I chose to forgo all magic with one of you in the arena, I suspect it would be very difficult. Against both of you, I’d probably lose. But I don’t intend to give up all magic.”

“Then why are you participating in the match? For the prize money?” Azure asked, looking distinctly unhappy.

“No, I’m doing it because despite everything, I enjoy it.” Evelyn replied, watching as they looked at her in surprise. She smiled at them as she shrugged. “It pushes me in different ways, to control myself and to allow me to do things that I can’t do normally. It’s relatively safe, and there’s no true ill will between me and you. My biggest question is, are the two of you interested taking me on in a match?”

“That’s right. I thought about grabbing another gladiator, but Tremor is on bad terms with Magnus and Azure, so I thought it best to avoid him.” Rhett interjected.

“It’s more like he’s on bad terms with everyone. Because he’s an ass, just like Phasma.” Magnus retorted, rolling his eyes.

“Ah, I wasn’t aware of that.” Evelyn murmured, pausing to think for a moment. Tremor was the third-ranked gladiator on the planet, though there was a decent gap between him and the two in front of her. After a moment she continued. “In any case, I had a request, Rhett. Assuming I win in a match against these, I’d like the prize money to be split equally between us. If I lose, the split doesn’t matter to me.”

That seemed to catch both of the gladiators off-guard, and Azure stared at Evelyn for a moment. Then Magnus laughed, grinning as he murmured. “You really aren’t that concerned about the money, are you?”

“It’d be nice, but it isn’t that important to me, no.” Evelyn replied, looking at Rhett and settling back in her chair. “Is that acceptable, Rhett?”

“It isn’t an unknown request, so I can arrange it, yes. I’m not necessarily happy that you’re dropping more paperwork in my lap, along with the waivers, but I’ll deal with it.” Rhett replied dryly, looking at the two gladiators in the room with him. “So? You two willing to take up her challenge?”

“I don’t see why not. Even if we get beaten, she’s from a tier above us and is known for her power. It isn’t like it’ll wreck our reputation. I’m in.” Magnus said, chuckling as he added. “Just try not to end things too fast, yeah?”

“I never go all-out from the beginning in the arena.” Evelyn assured him. “Unless my opponent does, and is a significant threat. I doubt this will qualify as a second Crusher incident.”

Azure cracked a smile at that, nodding slightly as she spoke, just a hint of amusement in her voice. “A mech might help even the odds from what you’ve said, but neither of us has one. I’m willing to take you on… and if I can wipe that smug confidence off your face, it’ll just make it better.”

“If you can manage it, I’ll be delighted.” Evelyn told her, prompting looks of surprise from all of them. She laughed, shaking her head, then explained. “I wasn’t joking before, about wishing I’d had a rivalry like yours. That sort of thing pushes people to get stronger and stronger, which helps keep you from reaching a certain level of power and getting stuck. That’s the point I’m at, it’s incredibly hard for me to improve because there’s not much that truly challenges me anymore. If you can beat me, it’ll give me impetus to improve. So please, give me the best you’ve got.”

“Sounds good to me.” Magnus said, slowly smiling as he looked at Azure, who returned his gaze with a nod. Then the two reached out to bump fists.

“Then… timeline?” Rhett asked, looking at Evelyn.

“Within a week.” Evelyn replied immediately. “My gear’s been recertified and updated in the arena systems, but I expect to be moving on pretty soon. Besides, I’d rather not give more time for that fan club to figure out which ship is mine.”

“A bit tight, but I think I can manage it. Azure, Magnus? Is that good for you?” Rhett asked.

“Can do, Director.” Magnus agreed.

“Um, it’ll have to wait at least two days, preferably three. My armor is undergoing a refit and will need to be recertified afterward.” Azure said, frowning.

“Not a problem, I’m betting it’s going to take at least five days. Ticketing is going to be insane.” Rhett said, grimacing, then looked at Evelyn. “I’ll send you the contract later today. Let me know how many tickets you want beforehand, though.”

“I can do that.” Evelyn said, smiling again. “I look forward to seeing your skills in person, you two.”

“We’ll try to surprise you, Tornado.” Magnus replied.

The next moment the hologram shut down, and Evelyn stretched, shutting down the privacy field with a thought.

Not much had changed during the call, she noticed, and she stood up, nodding to Zelirana as she spoke. “It sounds like I’m going to get my match within the week. I assume you want to attend?”

“Of course!” the succubus said, grinning broadly. “While we’ve seen some of your skills, I don’t think any of us have seen much of them in person. The closest probably was when Lyra and Ryth watched you fight the mercenaries on that ice planet.”

“And that was through my implants, so it didn’t really give a good view of what happened.” Evelyn murmured, nodding in agreement. She hadn’t realized that was the case, but it was certainly true… and Evelyn even knew why she hadn’t let any of the others watch.

Only Fya and Zelirana were strong enough that she thought they might be able to survive the sort of fights that she got into, and she didn’t want to get any of her crew killed. Oh, the others were improving, but that took time. High-powered armor and equipment helped, but they didn’t make up for a lack of combat experience.

“Exactly.” Zelirana agreed, smiling. “I want to see what you can do with my own eyes. Even if you’re probably going to be holding back, it should show another dimension to your strength.”

“True enough.” Evelyn admitted, moving to where she could see into the room.

Bian was laughing, while Fya was making exaggerated gestures as she told a story of some type. Ilyra was blushing furiously, which caused Evelyn’s amusement to turn to concern. She really hoped that the story wasn’t too untoward. With a thought, she summoned her mage-sight again, and an eyebrow rose as she looked at Bian.

The woman’s magic had continued to change while Evelyn had been on the call, and now it was closer to a network of neon green veins shot through with a handful of threads of more subdued green, with a hint of brown here and there. The brown wouldn’t last much longer, though.

More interesting to her was that Bian’s mana seemed to have a greater density than it had before, which meant she wasn’t using her full mana capacity. It made Evelyn wonder how far she’d go… but then Evelyn shrugged to herself. It really didn’t matter, since she was quite certain that she hadn’t given the woman anywhere near her own magical starting point.

Throwing off the concerns, Evelyn entered the room and spoke brightly. “Alright, since it looks like things are going fine, who’s up for lunch?”