Enoch's Gamble

“Good morning Mortius! How was your morning prayer?” Clive asked cheerfully, stopping Mortius in his tracks as if he appeared out of nowhere.

“I don’t want to talk about it…”, Mortius scoffed as he held up his bandaged arm, trying his best not to touch or rub it. Clive frowned and patted him on the back, attempting to be reassuring, but it didn’t help much. As they were about to enter the compartment, a shaking tremor made the gears grind a bit in the railing.

“Oh come on, what now?!”, Mortius asked, feeling alarmed again at the power of the tremor.

“Oh, that would be the Gamble again, in the Nether Level. Likely Saminha again”, Clive responded, looking sickly after saying the name. Mortius immediately felt a tingle of interest as he heard of the Gamble again. Mortus had taken the time to read about this game in his sessions in the library, though his knowledge was limited. As far as he knew, Enoch’s Gamble was the school’s bloody sport, and something played all across the world for many reasons. Here, it was used as a way for the students to practice and try to control spells that they really weren’t ready for, but the Institute held tournaments and yearly stats to crown Gamble Champions each year. It was highly prestigious and gave plenty of students the opportunity to earn bragging rights, something Mortius was very interested in, despite not knowing how to fully play the Gamble yet. He’d never really been one for sport, but a chance to boast his strength and capability was always something he’d take an opportunity for, especially to prove he was better than others.

“Let’s go check it out”, he suggested, standing still as the door opened to the Atrium floor. Clive looked a bit apprehensive but stood still while everyone else departed. Grinning, for the first time in a while, Mortius turned back with Clive in tow and headed into the archway and down into the Nether Level. Opening the door, Mortius was back in the central area. The two took a right, remembering where Henning had said the Arena was, and went through another large wood door. This area was filled with students, all with their weapons in hand and cheering loudly at a platform in the centre of the huge room.

“So this is the game arena then?”, Mortius asked as he looked around. Clive nodded and pointed at two students, standing on the platform surrounded by fire.

“That’s the current champion, Saminha Creele. Nobody can beat her so far, but… that’s probably because of her… background,'' Clive said as he pointed the slightly shaky finger at her. Mortius wasn’t surprised at all. The girl he looked at was most definitely not Fél. She had long blonde hair and regular Fél features thanks to the Veil, but contrasting the normality was a long black tail with a curved end like a butcher’s hook, and when she opened her mouth, nothing but sharp teeth could be seen, like tiny daggers within her mouth. Her eyes were also different, as she had glowing yellow catte-like eyes that were fixated on her opponent, and matching her eyes for the D�"mon look was a large pair of curved horns protruding from the sides of her head, coming out through her blonde hair. Across from her was a student with features exactly matching a Warlock. He was struggling greatly, and almost on the verge of tears with a collection of pins stuck in his shoulders, visible burn marks on his hands, and a black eye. Mortius wondered what got him in that mess, but Saminha’s body was untouched. On the floor where both of them stood were markings engraved into every one of the stepping stones, some looking similar to others. Mortius watched as Saminha knelt down and pressed her hand on the stone with an X on it, raising a visual marking in midair that burned bright yellow. She smirked as she gripped her weapon, a long staff with a curved blade at the end of it, covered in runes.

“Thra’er ahsku woulth!” she yelled as she pointed the blade at the warlock boy. Like a sudden torrent of wind, a blast of invisible force flew toward the unfortunate warlock. He was sent flying across the room, smacking against the wall and crumpling on the floor unconscious.

“Davin is down. The winner, and still champion, is Saminha Creele!” a voice echoed.

“What’s her deal then?”, Mortius asked.

“Well… she’s a champion of Enoch’s Gamble, top of her class in spellweaving, and she’s a D�"mon”, Clive said casually. Mortius stood still for a moment, scanning Saminha up and down very carefully. Mortius continued to stare, thinking about how great it would be to knock her down off her high horse. But the more he looked, the less interested he became. Eventually, his interest was quickly lost and Mortius motioned for Clive to turn around and retreat, until he heard a voice behind him.

“Got a problem with D�"mons, new meat?” she yelled at them. Mortius stopped in his tracks, feeling some bravado rise up in him. Clive attempted to grip his arm and pull him out of there, but he couldn’t stop Mortius from turning around slowly, and arrogantly.

“And what if I do? Mustn’t be much for you to do around here if all you can think of to pass the time is throwing around little children!”, Mortius shouted back. Clive gripped Mortius’ arm tighter and pulled subtly, indicating he wanted to leave. It wasn’t surprising. Anglas and D�"monas generally disliked being in the same room as each other, let alone interacting, and it seemed this one in particular gave Clive some severe shakes. Nonetheless, Mortius stood his ground and stayed in the Arena, staring down Saminha as she looked between him and Clive.

“Hmm, alright then. If you’re so tough. Why don’t you step in the ring with me? And no help from your feathered friend over there”, she said as she stood solid in her position. Looking around, he saw the precious Warlock being carried away on a floating stretcher, mumbling madly and trembling terribly.

“You’re not really gonna go up against her, are you?” Clive asked worriedly. Mortius looked back at the cocky D�"mon and knew he wouldn’t be ready to reject her challenge. Vigorously removing himself from Clive’s grip, he walked to the platform where the last warlock stood. Saminha similarly motioned her arms to one he’d seen before, and the flamed circle appeared again.

“The stakes? If I win… I get your staff”, she said confidently. There was a sudden silence as the room turned around to see the two in their circle. Clive started shaking his head vigorously, telling Mortius to quit while he was ahead.

“Alright. But if I win, I want your title. I’ll be the new reigning champion”, Mortius replied.

Saminha’s face turned sour upon hearing this. She glared at Mortius but eventually smirked again and nodded in agreement. Now, everyone gathered to watch the battle, and some even placed bets.

“New fight, Saminha Creele versus Mortius Maleos. Begin!” the Echo said again as the symbols on the floor glowed white. Saminha let out a battle cry and leapt toward Mortius, striking immediately with the sword on her staff. Being quick enough, Mortius held up his staff and blocked the blow. This was going to be a tough battle since, out of all his classes, Combat was the one he was least efficient with.

“USE THE RUNES!!” Clive screamed to Mortius.

“HEY! No helping!”, Saminha screeched at him, shooting him a deadly glare. Pushing her off the struggle and dashing to the corner of the battlefield where Saminha previously stood, Mortius quickly knelt down to the symbols on the floor and randomly, but with all haste, chose the infinity symbol on the floor. Raising the symbol, Mortius was stunned as, in between the symbols, he could see letters forming slowly into words.

“Aardt dius!”, Saminha said as she held her hand out and pointed directly at Mortius, causing long spines to shoot from her hand and fly towards him. They were similar to the ones that were on the other kids' shoulders, and Mortius had to think quickly.

“Ehm… Naur ahsku!” he said with his hand still outstretched. Nothing happened, and he wondered what to do, but before he could figure it out, the spines had hit him right in the shoulder and near his chest. Mortius fell to one knee and tried to pull them out, but they wouldn’t budge.

“Hah! Don’t even bother. They won’t come out until this is over!” she yelled defiantly, followed by a sickening cackle. Mortius growled but got back up to his feet. Watching Saminha closely, he saw her kneel and press her hand on the stone. ‘I got that bit right, but what did I miss after that?’ he thought as he watched. Then his eyes widened when he noticed her next move. She didn’t immediately throw the spell, but she placed her hand on the blade of her glaive. A giant green eye in the centre of the blade sprouted tentacles upon her hand’s contact. The tentacles closed around her hand and began to pulsate with a purple aura-like colour around it. Then she slowly dragged her hand away from the glaive, and the aura was in her hand, gradually separating from the staff.

‘Damn! Of course, touch the core and then use the spell,’ he thought again. Mortius had to act fast and knelt down, selecting the circle symbol. The spell symbol was on his hand, and he read it as quickly as possible, noticing Saminha was almost ready to cast her spell.

“Fe’ore ra’ir asergh!” she yelled as a torrent of fire burst from her hand. Mortius quickly gripped the top of the jewel on his staff and felt the weirdest pulsing in his fingertips and hand from the jewel. After pulling away, he felt electricity slowly going down his arm and his body to his stomach, the same feeling he felt when he first touched the staff back at home.

“Asir’in ahsku!”, Mortius yelled back as he threw his hand out and the electric pulse shot from his lower abdomen, quickly through his body and up his arm, where his hand felt like it was on fire and the spell was cast. The flames stopped in midair and flew right back to Saminha, going into her staff’s eye and disappearing.

“Time magic?! How did you manage to cast that successfully?!” she screeched, glaring at Mortius with extreme fury. Mortius smirked at her, revelling in his victory, despite the spines in his shoulder. Saminha growled and charged at Mortius, engaging him in a block-and-thrust competition with their weapons. Clearly Saminha was the better match in this contest and Mortius needed a good plan. Ducking down, Mortius kicked her in the back of the leg to bring her down and widened the gap between the two again. Angered further, Saminha retreated slightly, pressing down on the circular symbol that looked slightly different from the other circle, and picked up another spell. Her symbols were odd as they were a dark purple, and Mortius didn't like the look of them. Thinking quickly, he pressed his hand on the plate with waves inscribed on it and read the spell.

“Naur!” she yelled as she aimed both her hand and the tip of her staff at him. A great black cloud of smoke rose before her, clouding and blinding them both. Mortius looked around and saw different little clouds from all corners immediately shoot towards him. Looking close enough, the clouds had, what looked like, little skulls inside, screaming and staring right at him. Hoping his spell would help, he read the incantation, “Aardt baim ra’ir”,  and roots and leaves from the floor rose and covered him completely. The skulls were blocked and, thankfully, couldn’t get in. Meanwhile, he felt a warm sensation surge throughout his body, and the spines in his shoulder fell out, along with the wounds healing.

“Hm, this must be a healing spell generator…” he murmured as he looked at the symbol again. The smoke disappeared, and so did the roots. Saminha’s grin quickly changed to a furious scowl, not only seeing him unharmed but also at the fact that the spines were gone and he was fully healed.

“Okay, now you’re really starting to annoy me”, she said through her growling as she placed her hand down on the X mark to fire off another spell. ‘Right, time to cause some damage’, Mortius thought as he pressed his hand on the X symbol and picked up a spell. He placed his hand on the jewel at the same time as Saminha, and they both cast their spells.

“Fe’ore ra’ir asergh!” she yelled as the familiar fire torrent reappeared. Mortius had no way of blocking it, but, at the very least, he could send some damage her way as well.

“Aardt geita oare!”, Mortius yelled back, and a circular plate of metal rose from the floor. It reformed into a spike, shooting through the flames and toward Saminha. The fire engulfed the entire arena, and everyone shielded their eyes. Soon the fire cleared, and everyone was shocked by what was seen. Both competitors were still standing, but Mortius had severe burns on his face, arms, legs and body. Meanwhile, Saminha was breathing heavily, gasping for air as a giant metal spike was sticking out of both sides of her body in the lower left of her belly. Both stared at each other and eventually collapsed to the floor. The next moment Mortius opened his eyes, he was in an entirely white room with lines of beds and a woman wearing a medical robe, trailing in between the beds. Looking around, he could see some others with all kinds of injuries. One girl with what looked like another eyeball on her forehead and an older student with an arm slowly growing back. Looking at the bed beside him, Mortius saw Saminha lying down and glaring at the ceiling.

“What happened?”, Mortius asked in no specific direction. Saminha simply huffed and turned over to her side, facing away from him. Mortius grinned and said, “I guess I won the gamble then?”

“Wrong, idiot. You lost. We both did. The match was a draw”, she hissed from her bed and trembled angrily. Mortius sat up and thought about this for a moment. If they both lost, did they not get their bets fulfilled? He looked around the bed and saw his staff safely leaning against the bedside table. He took a deep breath and lay back comfortably. Even though it was terrifying, the thrill of feeling so powerful and dominating and overwhelming the poor soul before you was something he didn’t want to miss, but he needed help. He doubted Clive would offer much help since he was as pacifist as they got. Then, he had an idea as he turned to the silent bed next to him. It was a idiotic idea, but it may be a start.

“Your name is Saminha, right?”, Mortius asked. There was silence from the bed across, but eventually, she said, “Yeah, what’s it to you, meatbag?”

“I feel like I could use some work on my combat skills, and you look like you have plenty of experience. Do you want to teach me?” he asked again. There was dead silence, and Mortius sighed and rolled his eyes after a while, lying back in the bed again. He knew she wouldn’t teach him, especially after their match today. He picked up his staff to ensure it wasn’t damaged when he heard laughing from the bed next to him. Saminha had rolled over and was looking at the ceiling again, but this time laughing quite a bit.

“When an inferno arises in Abarys, then I’ll teach you how to fight”, she laughed as she finally turned to look at Mortius. Saminha got up and sat on the bed with the blanket falling, causing Mortius to turn red and look away.

“What’s the problem, freak?” she asked.

“You’re not wearing a shirt…”, Mortius muttered as he looked awkwardly at the bed in front of him.

“Pfft, I’m still wearing my undercover”, she replied as she reached over to the side of her bed and pulled out a simple shirt to put on. 

“Might wanna get a good look if this is the first time you’ve seen a semi-naked girl?” she said with a smirk as she put the shirt on. He’d read about the promiscuity of the D�"monas, especially her classification. They were supposed to be the D�"monas that used their bodies for advantage in battle and warfare, but it seemed she was quite different from the rest.

“So, how come you didn’t try to flirt your way to victory? Or do you sleep with all of the entrants beforehand to ensure you win?” he asked somewhat casually, being sure to taunt her well. Saminha glared at him and seemed interested in picking up her glaive again.

“Watch it, Warlock. I’ll have you know that I prove myself in battles better than anyone…”, she said as she showed off her tail, pointing the end towards him like a sort of threatening display.

“Oh yeah, and yet you clearly don’t know enough to train up a simpleton like me…” Saminha went silent for a moment and then grinned.

“You’re tough,  I’ll give you that. And brave, or stupid. Tell you what, I won’t train you but I’ll give you a free lesson. Enter the mini-tournament next month, and learn on the job. I’ll be in the corner and evaluating you from there”, Saminha scoffed, slinging her bag over her shoulder and departing. 

“Are you planning on cheering for me from the sidelines?”

“More like laughing at you when you get beaten down…” Saminha grinned evilly and walked out, leaving Mortius to think on this. After seeing what he could do and feeling the power of controlled magic, he knew he wanted to explore more and his spellweaving lessons certainly wouldn’t offer him that. Truth be told, Mortius missed the respected position he had back in Oxilian among the school children. Drower being the only exception. This woman was a good means to an end and climbing over her to get to a well respected position like the one he was in before was a better ambition than wasting away in the Library day after day. Laying back down for a bit, Mortius thought about how he could better prepare for the tournament and fight properly.