Liam didn’t realize how morbid Exaltation matches were as a kid until he was much older. As a kid, the grisly deaths of those who failed had simply never felt real. It was as if a part of him truly believed that the exalts killed weren’t really dead.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Reality hit like an avalanche when Exaltation came for him years later. He could still remember the nausea and guilt that plowed over him after his first kill.
Killing stray little mobs in the Field was one thing. Killing other exalts—other people—before they killed him was another.
James never thought twice about killing his opponents, it seemed. Nor did James appear to think much of it after. It had been James who, after watching the Lucienne and Cuevas match, decided for the two of them, “We’re gonna be the next Chevaliers!”
Liam often wondered if the realization that death was permanent ever crossed his brother’s mind.
Every kill was just another set of numbers to James—gains in their stats, prestige quantified.
In their first deathmatch battle, James hardly reacted to his opponent freezing to death in front of them.
Maybe it was because they froze so quickly. Maybe it was the way their opponent simply appeared stopped in time, neither living or dead. There was a surreal element to the lack of blood or gore that came with the death of James’s opponents.
Liam often wondered if the ice merely facilitated detachment from the reality that death was an erasure of life. He didn’t like to think about his own first experience.
It had been an accident.
He had tried so damned hard to delay his inevitable first kill. All it took, however, was an underestimated alkali bomb. The result had taken out several exalts at once on the Field.
What remained of those exalts lingered in his nightmares.
James had celebrated him. Libelle’s media machine howled in amusement over a rookie metal exalt who had found a novel way to kill. Only Jove shared silence with him as the bite of carved a sickening hollow in Liam’s chest.
I’m ready for all of this to be over.
“Alright. Lift’s here, Professor.”
James made his way up a flight of stairs at the heart of the foyer. Ornate gates parted to permit their entry into the lift that would take them to the last trial of their Exaltation.
Only the Chevalier remained.
If only it was simply about titles and glory, though.
After what they had seen, after Jove had been killed for what they had stumbled upon… the context of their battle had changed. The day Jove died marked the beginning of the real nightmare from which Liam could not wake.
“You sure you’re ready?” Liam asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
As the elevator doors closed behind them, Liam fixed his helmet back onto his suit. The UI indicated that repairs had mostly completed.
Silence fell over the brothers as their ascent began.
Soft piano music filtered into the lift.
Liam’s mind briefly drifted through memories. He and his brother as children, walking home after school bruised and bloody from a schoolyard fight. Liam held tight to that dreamlike recollection of cool, emerald grass and the scent of earth and sweat. Despite their wounds, they still walked home with proud smiles on their faces.
They had won. Nobody died back then.
Simpler times. Simpler fights. Fights that didn’t end in death.
No matter how hard I wish to go back, to hide in those memories, there will never be enough time for those ephemeral moments.
We may return to them in dreams but dreams never last.
At some point, all dreams must end.
Reality always washes in like a tide, Jove once said.
* * *
08 | Save Point
Nym hummed along to a melody Liam did not recognize. One she likely came across while scouring data online. Oddly enough, whatever that tune was, it blended well with the soft piano track playing in the elevator.
“Where’d you hear that song?” Liam asked.
“Hmm… I didn’t hear it anywhere. I’m just using algorithms to harmonize. Is it a good sound?”
“It is a lovely sound.”
Nym responded with a charming giggle. Nym was absorbed information from her surroundings like a sponge. Her capacity for learning never ceased to impress Liam.
“Hey, Liam?” Nym chimed. “What made you pick ‘Nym’ as my name?”
“It’s short for nymph.”
“Yeah? Like a fairy?”
“Ah… no. Like a dragonfly larvae.”
“Oh… ew.”
* * *ACCESSING EXALT DATA SYSTEM...> PARTY STATUS
* * *| WILLIAM STERLING| RANK 8 ••• LV.81 ••• SAI: 100% ••• LCR: 092% | OFFICIATED FIGHT COUNT: 08| OFFICIATED LOSS COUNT : 01| OFFICIATED KILL COUNT : 39| EXP: 1010029 | EXALT CLASS: TANK | INNATE ELEMENT: METAL | SUIT DES.: A.IMPERATOR VER.3.1 | SUIT MFR.: ODONATACORP | SUIT MODS: | [REGEN]| Draw atmospheric traces of lucidium from | surroundings to restore small amounts of| SAI & LCR while idling.|| [TANK & SPANK]| Adds a 20-30% buff to lucidium output (ATK) | and a 40-50% buff to damage mitigation (DEF)|| [ERROR:AGI-003%, ELE+005%]| Dear Sober Liam: Do not mod your suit | while drunk. I broke this.| - Drunk Liam||----------------------------------------------| ATK: 189 | DEF: 232 | AGI: 176 | LUK: 118 ||+SUIT:+027%| +041%| -003%|+010% ||----------------------------------------------| ELEMENTAL RESISTANCES|| FIRE: -050% | ELECTRIC: +005%|| WIND: +050% | OBSCURA: •000%|| EARTH: -010% |METAL: •000%|| WATER: -030% |ICE: •000%| ----------------------------------------------
* * *| JAMES STERLING| RANK 8 ••• LV.80 ••• SAI: 96% ••• LCR: 091% | OFFICIATED FIGHT COUNT: 08| OFFICIATED LOSS COUNT : 01| OFFICIATED KILL COUNT : 15| EXP: 985321 | EXALT CLASS: DPS| INNATE ELEMENT: ICE | SUIT DES.: A.IMPERATOR VER.3.1 | SUIT MFR.: ODONATACORP | SUIT MODS: | [REGEN]| Draw atmospheric traces of lucidium from | surroundings to restore small amounts of| SAI & LCR while idling.|| [STRIKE]| Adds a 10-20% buff to lucidium output (ATK) | and a 01-05% buff
