The rain in the Mayan district was always viscous, like waste oil. Aaryan tightened his collar, trying to shield himself from the acidic rain. Ahead of him, Pau nimbly navigated the web of neon signs, his hydraulically reinforced left leg clicking rhythmically on the slippery ground.
'Hey, newbie, stop with the pity,' Pau called out without turning around, his voice echoing in the narrow alleyway. 'In the Mayan district, compassion is cheaper than expired etheric boards. If you want to survive here, you'd better look to the strong for support, not the mud in the gutters.'
Aaryan remained silent, an old pendant hanging from his chest — the only souvenir he had brought from the ruins — now feeling slightly warm. He could feel the etheric concentration in the air fluctuating violently. This fluctuation was unlike the rhythms of nature; it was a tremor filled with violence, greed and bloodlust. They arrived at a rusty, heavy hydraulic door painted with a massive, bloodied tiger's head — the most infamous totem of the Mayan underworld.
"We're here." Pau stopped and turned. The dim red light illuminated the scar across his nose. 'This is the Obsidian Well,' he continued. 'Here, you either win, or you become raw material for a bio-battery.' As the heavy hatch opened, a wave of heat carrying the smells of sweat, clattering metal and frenzied cheering rushed out, causing Aaryan to take a step back involuntarily.
It was a gigantic, funnel-shaped space buried deep underground. The surrounding stands were filled with bizarre creatures: cyborgs with four mechanical arms; ethereal sorcerers, cloaked except for their glowing pupils; and, at the very centre of the bottom, a circular arena enveloped in a deep blue electromagnetic field.
"Look over there." Pau pointed to a floating box directly above the arena.
The box, made of translucent obsidian glass, shimmered with an unsettling glow beneath the countless spotlights. A tall figure could be vaguely seen behind it, elegantly swirling a glass of wine.
'That's Balthazar,' said Pau, a rare hint of awe in his voice. 'The Dark Lord of the Mayan Quarter, the only one who can manipulate ethereal energy as though it were threads. If you're the protagonist of this play, he's the scriptwriter."
Aaryan looked up. In that instant, he felt a gaze from behind the box pierce through the glass and the noisy audience to reach the very depths of his soul. 'Hey! You poor-looking brat, get out of my way!' A rough voice interrupted Aaryan's thoughts. A burly man, over two metres tall and covered in heavy exoskeleton armour, slammed into Aaryan's shoulder. Aaryan stumbled, his pendant inadvertently peeking out from behind his shirt.
The man stopped, his electronic eyes flashing a greedy red light. 'Oh, look at this! An antique? This kind of ethereal carrier would fetch a good price on the black market, wouldn't it?'
He extended his massive mechanical hand, reaching for Aaryan's chest.
'Stay away from it,' said Aaryan, his voice unusually calm. His right hand had already subtly pressed against the vibrating dagger at his waist.
'Oh ho, quite the temper.' The man grinned maliciously and fine steam emanated from the joints of his mechanical arm, instantly doubling its speed.
'Stop, Krog.' A calm yet authoritative voice boomed through the speakers, instantly silencing the noisy corridor.
Everyone turned to look at the VIP box above and saw that its glass had become completely transparent. Balthazar, dressed in a dark gold silk robe, stood up. Intricate, ethereal circuit tattoos were faintly visible on his neck, and a cynical smile played on his pale, perfect face.
'Krog, I don't recall ever training any of my men to behave like uncivilised boars when guests arrive,' Balthazar said slowly.
The burly man named Krog shuddered, his mechanical arm freezing in mid-air as cold sweat trickled down the edge of his helmet. 'Sir, I just thought this kid's stuff was pretty good.'
'It is indeed.' Balthazar's gaze finally settled on Aaryan, a deep, unfathomable smile playing on his lips. 'Especially the person carrying that thing. Let him in, Pau. Bring him to my seat.' Pau's expression instantly became extremely complicated. He muttered to Aaryan, 'I brought you here to broaden your horizons, not to shake hands with the devil. Listen, don't say anything out of line later, unless you want to end up as a decoration in the box.' In the lower levels of the arena, the intensity of the ether usually follows the inverse square law. Phi represents the potential energy of the ether field. The tremors that Aaryan felt were due to the extreme instability of the ether density in the local area, caused by Balthazar's presence. When Aaryan passed through the heavy automatic door into the box, the noise outside disappeared immediately; it was so quiet that only the faint whirring of the ventilation fan could be heard.
Balthazar sat in a large leather swivel chair, toying with an ether core that pulsed with purple light.
'Aaryan,' Balthazar softly called his name. 'It's been a long time since the Mayan district has seen someone with your aura, that stale, sun-kissed smell that belongs "on the ground".'
'You know me?' Aaryan clenched his fists, trying to appear neither servile nor arrogant.
"I don't know you, but I recognise the stone around your neck. Its previous owner owed me a debt — a debt that can only be repaid with a soul." Balthazar stood up and slowly walked towards Aaryan. They were very close; Aaryan could smell the chilling fir-like aura emanating from him.
"So, little one," said Balthazar, extending a finger and gently lifting the pendant. "Are you here to pay your debt, or to die?"
Aaryan slapped his hand away with a flash of anger in his eyes. 'I'm here to find answers about this city and about myself.'
Balthazar paused, then burst into an ecstatic, wild-abandon laugh.
"Find answers? Find answers in the 'Obsidian Well'? Excellent!" He waved his hand sharply, pointing to the arena below. "Next match, it's your turn." "If you live, I'll give you the 'answer' you want. If you die, that stone will be mine as interest."
Pau's face paled. 'My lord! He's still a..."
'He's a seed, Pau,' Balthazar interrupted, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism. 'And a seed can only sprout in blood.'
The metal elevator doors screeched painfully as the lift plummeted downwards. Balthazar's pale, mocking face in the upper compartment blurred and was replaced by the suffocating blue electromagnetic walls surrounding the arena.
'Listen, kid!' Pau leaned halfway up and shouted hoarsely, 'Forget the answer! That's 'Meat Grinder' Rafe! His nervous system is directly connected to a Level 2 Overdrive engine. Don't let him get within five metres of you!'
Boom!
The lift slammed into the lower level and the doors swung open. A wave of heat and the pungent smell of rust instantly engulfed Aaryan.
In the centre of the ring, a colossal figure slowly rose, barely recognisable as 'human': Rafe's lower body had been replaced by four spider-like hydraulic legs, each step leaving deep dents in the alloy floor, and his arms had been modified into massive hydraulic shears with red-flashing ends from high-frequency vibrations.
'A new sacrifice?' Rafe's voice boomed through the megaphone, accompanied by the hiss of electricity. 'Looks so skinny it wouldn't even fill a tooth gap.'
The cheers from the stands erupted like a tsunami. This frenzied roar echoed repeatedly in the enclosed space, even causing Aaryan's eardrums to ache. There was no referee and no countdown.
Rafe's hydraulic actuators emitted a sharp, explosive roar and he transformed into a grey afterimage. His massive hydraulic shears traced two crimson arcs through the air, aimed straight for Aaryan's waist.
Aaryan's pupils contracted sharply. The etheric energy within the pendant on his chest sensed an immense threat to his survival at the last moment and an icy chill instantly spread from his spine to his limbs.
Rafe's movements slowed through his etheric senses. Aaryan could see the steam trails from the pistons in Rafe's mechanical legs. At that level of impact energy, a head-on collision would be tantamount to suicide. He rolled abruptly to the side and backwards, the crimson hydraulic shears scraping the edge of his cloak and carving two three-metre-long gashes in the ground. Sparks splattered onto his face, causing a distinct burning sensation.
'Oh? You dodged pretty quickly.' Rafe turned around, his four mechanical legs adjusting his centre of gravity nimbly. 'But how long can your "reactive boost" last?' Aaryan realised that if he relied solely on the pendant's passive reaction, he would eventually be worn down — he had to actively guide this power. He closed his eyes and attempted to communicate with the nebula-like energy within the pendant.
"Help me..." he murmured.
Just then, Balthazar in the stands smiled with satisfaction. He snapped his fingers and the etheric booster pillars around the arena suddenly activated at full power.
*Whoosh!*
The etheric concentration in the air instantly exceeded the critical value. This artificially created 'etheric storm' sent a violent energy surge through the two in the ring.
Reif let out a painful yet exhilarating roar. The overload engine on his back spewed purple flames, its power soaring to 150%. His eyes completely lost their lustre, leaving only a pure killing intent.
"Die!" Reif's hydraulic shears spun wildly through the air, forming an impenetrable whirlwind of blades that cut through the reinforced steel bars at the edge of the ring as though they were noodles.
Aaryan felt the energy within the pendant surge wildly. It wasn't just protection; it was a craving to devour the chaotic energy around it.
'This is your true nature, little one,' Balthazar's voice echoed in Aaryan's mind via the mental link. 'Don't suppress it; become a part of it.' Rafe's deadly whirlwind was closing in on Aaryan, who had nowhere to retreat to with his back pressed against the high-voltage electromagnetic barrier.
'Since you're going to absorb, then absorb as much as you want!'
Aaryan no longer resisted the pendant's pull; instead, he opened his consciousness. The wildly surging, impure ethereal currents around him converged into a spiral shape along his arm, as if drawn by a black hole.
A blinding white light overflowed from his right palm. This light carried a sacred yet absurd silence, completely out of place in the filthy, bloody arena.
'Ethereal Construction: Shattered Fang!"
Just as Rafe's hydraulic shears were about to close, Aaryan stepped forward instead of dodging. The white light solidified into an irregularly shaped, long blade made of pure energy.
Clang!
The energy blade clashed head-on with the alloy shears.
The deafening sound of metal twisting filled the air and a shocking scene unfolded. Rafe's hydraulic shears, which were powerful enough to cut through tank armour, began to undergo a massive molecular collapse the instant they touched the white light. Due to the extremely high concentration of etheric collapse, the arrangement of the metal atoms became instantly disordered. Rafe's prized mechanical arm turned to ashes before everyone's eyes, dissipating into the air like weathered rock. A hush fell over the arena.
Rafe's massive body crashed heavily to the ground with a dull thud; his remaining life force was filled with terror.
Aaryan stood there, panting heavily. The white light on his right hand was fading, but the violent power still surged through his veins, making him want to destroy everything in sight.
'Brilliant... absolutely brilliant.'
Baltazar's applause echoed through the silent arena. He slowly emerged from the private room and leapt from a height of tens of metres, landing lightly in front of Aaryan.
"Did you see that, Pau? This is awakening.' He approached, ignoring the groaning Rafe on the ground completely, and looked directly into Aaryan's eyes. His once clear, boyish eyes now shimmered with an eerie, purplish-white light.
'You... what did you do to me?' Aaryan clenched his fists, his voice hoarse.
'I just opened the window a crack to let the sunlight in.' Balthazar reached out to touch Aaryan's cheek, but he pulled away instinctively.
Balthazar didn't mind. He turned around with his arms outstretched to welcome the frenzied screams of the audience around him: "Ladies and gentlemen, today's entertainment is over, but believe me, you have witnessed the birth of a new era!"
He looked back at Aaryan, his eyes filled with greed and judgement. 'That little scuffle was just an appetiser. Now, since you survived, come with me. I'll show you the true face of this world and reveal the location of the 'legacy' of your pendant's former owner."
Just as Balthazar led Aaryan away from the arena, a petite figure in a grey cloak slowly lowered a miniature recorder from the darkest corner of the stands.
'Target detected. Aetheric resonance level:
Aaryan stood there, panting heavily. The white light on his right hand was fading, but the violent power still surged through his veins, making him want to destroy everything in sight.
'Brilliant... absolutely brilliant.'
Baltazar's applause pierced the silent arena. He slowly walked out of the private room, then leapt from a height of tens of metres and landed as Li.
Balthazar led Aaryan through a deep, force-field-supported tunnel at the bottom of the arena. Here, the walls were no longer rough industrial concrete, but smooth black obsidian with dark red energy veins flowing through them.
"You think you're so great just because you beat Rafe?" Balthazar walked ahead, the sound of his boots echoing hollowly in the deathly silence of the passage. "That's just primitive dismantling. True etheric art is reshaping."
They entered a vast, domed hall. In the centre, a huge, broken mechanical sphere floated, with countless shimmering conduits extending from it and into the surrounding walls.
"What… is that?" Aaryan felt his pendant vibrating wildly, causing a sharp pain in his chest.
His pendant vibrated wildly, causing a sharp pain in his chest.
"What is that?" Balthazar whirled around, his eyes gleaming with chilling fanaticism.
'That's a fragment of the "core", the very source of your pendant. Twenty years ago, your father — that madman who called himself the 'Builder' — tried to use it to purify the etheric pollution of the Maya district. And what happened? He detonated it, turning this area into a permanent slum and himself turning to ashes."
Aaryan was stunned, his steps faltering. In the depths of his memory, fragments of images of fire and wailing began to come together.
'No... this can't be true.'
"The truth is not kind, little one," said Balthazar, taking a step closer. His body was surrounded by countless tiny black crystals. "I collected these fragments, trying to complete his unfinished work. Only I'm not doing it for purification, but for domination." Suddenly, Balthazar attacked, his right hand instantly turning into a black obsidian claw that reached for Aaryan's heart.
'Give me that pendant; you can't bear the consequences!'
Aaryan
He jerked his head up and his eyes were completely filled with a purplish-white light. The etheric circuits within him ignited instantly. Instead of backing down, he swung his fist to meet the claw.
BOOM!
The obsidian claw collided with the fist emitting white light, and the resulting shockwave shattered all the glassware in the hall instantly. Due to extreme compression, the etheric particles in the air produced strange Cherenkov radiation, and the entire hall was enveloped in an eerie blue light. The immense energy pressure caused the load-bearing pillars to crack. Aaryan felt his consciousness being devoured by the pendant and seemed to see countless vengeful spirits wailing in the etheric flow.
'Get out of my way!' Aaryan roared, the white light within him erupting instantly and forming a massive pillar of light that blasted Balthazar away.
Balthazar crashed into the obsidian wall and slid to the ground. He wiped the blood from his mouth and let out a low laugh, showing no anger. 'This is it... this pure will to destroy... you truly are the best vessel.' Just as he prepared to attack again, the entire Obsidian Well Arena shook violently.
This was no ordinary earthquake.
A muffled, ancient and savage roar emanated from the deepest part of the arena — the abandoned mine that not even Balthazar dared to venture into easily.
'Damn it...' Balthazar's expression changed for the first time. 'How could those bastards have woken up now?'
'What is it?' Aaryan, who was barely able to steady himself, could feel an extreme fear emanating from the pendant.
'The Malevolent.' Pau stumbled into the hall, his face filled with terror. 'My lord! They've broken through the lower defences! Those monsters, corrupted completely by etheric radiation, have smelled this awakening!'
Boom!
The hall floor suddenly collapsed, revealing a massive, black, keratin-covered claw. A twisted figure then leapt into the hall. It had a humanoid torso and six sharp compound eyes, and its entire body reeked of a nauseating, rotting ether.
It was the Bonebreaker, the vanguard of the Demon Clan.
Its target was not Balthazar, but Aaryan. Or rather, the pendant on Aaryan's chest that shone with a holy white light. 'Retreat! This place is collapsing!' Pau rushed forward to pull the exhausted Aaryan to safety. Balthazar glanced coldly at the crack in the floor, then at Aaryan. He knew today's plan had failed, but the greater hunt had only just begun. "Let's go, little guy." Balthazar's obsidian mechanical wings unfolded from his back and he hovered in mid-air. 'The wrath of the Demon Clan will turn this arena into hell. If you survive tonight, we'll meet again at the 'Neon Altar'." With that, Balthazar transformed into a streak of black light and shot towards the dome. "Hey! You damned lord!" Pau cursed, dragging Aaryan towards the secret escape route. Behind them, countless blood-red compound eyes rose from the depths of the earth. The roars of the Demon Clan drowned out the remaining alarms in the arena. Aaryan turned around and saw the Bonebreaker staring intently at him. On the verge of losing consciousness, he heard a hoarse voice whisper in his mind:
'Return... our... hearts...' The arena was no longer a place of competition, but a slaughterhouse. The Demon Clan had launched a massive invasion of the Maya District and the dormant underground threat had erupted fully.
Amidst the ruins, Aaryan and Pau narrowly escaped death, only to unexpectedly encounter a mysterious white-haired girl on a 'clean-up mission'.
'Will you choose to die in the monster's mouth?' The girl's ethereal longsword gleamed coldly. 'Or will you choose to die by my sword and prevent yourself from becoming an even more terrifying monster?'
Aaryan must find the lost Builder's Blueprints in the collapsed city — this is the only way to quell the Demon Clan's wrath.