Chapter 12: Arkana

Maerik stared between the both of them, confusion filling him as he wondered what was with the sudden change in attitude, Why the sudden Hostility from Rylan and the Sickening vibe he felt from Vrey.

“He killed them, The other players, they didn't die cause they couldn't “cut it” He killed them.” Rylan explained, dejection dripping form every word that left his mouth, the contempt deepening his voice as he spoke. Maerik's eyes widened and immediately snapped to Vrey.

“Tell me this isn't true.” He pleaded, hoping to God that Rylan had gotten it wrong, that he was mistaken and getting agitated for nothing but Vrey did no such thing instead the smile of his face widened like that of a clown near insanity.

“Weak people don't deserve to exist.” Vrey said, Even Rylan flinched as he heard those words like he hasn't completely believed it until now. “All I did was finalize the inevitable.” He continued like he truly believed the words that were coming out of his mouth, like he truly believed he had done nothing wrong. “They were going to die regardless so why waste time and get nothing when their lives could—” the sphere that he had taken out of the yeti suddenly appeared from thin air. “make me stronger.”

Immediately they saw it a notification popped into their view.

\[Grey Yeti Arkana Core\]

“Arkana Core?” They echoed simultaneously, According to the rules of axiom online, A played cannot see the name of an item another player hold unless said players wills it. Which meant he had been hiding the name till now But that wasn't what bothered Rylan, his over calculating mind fixated on one word.

“ARKANA.” through out the database, Wikipedia pages and every piece of information he had gotten his hands on, he had never come across that word, So what the fuck was it.

Vrey's grip on the sphere tightened, the sound of glass cracking filled the cave as he added more and more pressure until it shattered with a deafening crash, releasing a vortex of color and power, Vrey closed his eyes and the power began to flow into him till he had completely absorbed it.

They could feel the change, right in front of their eyes he had gotten stronger.

“Let me give you two a little goodbye lesson.” Vrey said as he took a few steps back and sat down. “We all have one of those cores inside us, they produce and circulate the energy inside us. Who can tell me what the name of this energy is?” He asked with a playful grin

“Arkana energy.” Rylan answered quietly.

“Ding ding ding ding. Our winner is Mr Rylan.” Vrey laughed hysterically. “Arkana energy is the energy around us, the energy that flows within us and the Arkana core is—Do you wanna answer this one?” He asked pointing at Maerik.

“Fuck you.”

“Sad, some people don't have manners.” Vrey sighed, shaking his head in mock disappoinment. “Anyway, The Arkana core is the Center of that energy, The bridge that allows use of the latent energy within us and absorbs the dormant energy around us.”

“So absorbing cores improved yours.” Rylan asked wanting to get as much information from Vrey as he could while he was still in this chatty mood.

“Yes but, they are Pros and cons. The energy inside the core doesn't immediately turn to mine when I absorb it, it's not addition, instead it strengthens my core, allowing me to absorb more dormant energy from the world but like you've probably figured out, every core has a unique signature, even the core of beast, Which means anytime I absorb one it blends with mine and changes it, but unlike beast cores which blend completely player cores linger.”

“If every core is unique then they has to be a price for absorbing others. If that signature is like a personality means absorbing will taint yours, No matter how beautiful the colors, if you mix too many together it just becomes trash, Which means the price is—madness.”

Vrey tilted his head and his smile widened. “Damn, you're impressive Rylan.”

“Why do you keep saying absorb, can't the cores create energy on their own.”

“Unfortunately, No, all the core does is absorb, retain and Circulate. The world is the only thing capable of creating Arkana energy and it creates it to an infinite degree.”

“If it's infinite then why do you need to increase how much you can hold, that's like using a cup while you're inside drinkable water.”

“Wrong, there are two types of Arkana energy; Dormant and latent, Dormant is the energy around us while latent is the energy inside us, the ones our core has refined for use But here's the flaw, every core has a limit to the amount of dormant energy it can absorb and the ratio of loss to gain is 100 to 1. Which means—”

“The stronger your core, the more energy you can absorb the more energy at your disposal.” Ryan completed. “Why are you telling us this?”

“Cause I couldn't feel your core—”

Time slowed and Rylan immediately realized their mistake as he remembered that……Resonance increased through Acknowledgement of Arkana before the thought even completely formed a notification popped into his view.

\[+3 Resonance\]

“—Until now.” Vrey screamed as he lunged at Rylan. He was insanely fast but before he could get to Rylan, Maerik pulled him out of the way and to his side.

“What's your number?” Maerik worriedly asked, his eyes fixed on Vrey who was standing straightening up after crashing into the floor.

“Twelve. Yours?”

“Eight. have you gotten a message?”

“No.”

“Then let's hope you haven't passed the threshold.” Maerik replied, they words weighted as he spoke. Rylan nodded and took in a deep calming breath.

A gentle chuckle sounded from Vrey then got louder and louder till it was a full on maniacal cackle then he abruptly stopped and s

tared them dead in the eyes.

“You're not leaving here alive.”