ManaTech: A System of Magic And Technology

Battle Royale

[If you were going to listen to any advice that I offered I’d probably tell you to run away somewhere and hide,] The AI in my head remarked as the echoing voice of the woman from the screen faded away. 

It was right. My plan wasn’t to run away and hide. 

“That wouldn’t work and you know it,” I said. “Not if I want to come out of this thing as a winner, anyway. I need to get at least one elimination, and my plan is to get a lot more.” 

[Some day that cockiness is going to get the better of you,] The AI said, [Who knows, maybe that day is going to be today.]

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” I grinned. “Maybe I’ll get my ass handed to me, maybe I won’t. I won’t know my own limits until I try though, right?” 

The AI was silent at that, which meant I’d struck a nerve or something. I was pretty sure that I was right on the money with my way of thinking, though. I was going to treat the whole battle royale like a test for my newfound powers. 

Defeating the giant mech had already proven that I was pretty strong and that I’d be able to hold my own against tough opponents, and the woman replaying the video of that happening would have only painted a target on my back. 

[Fine, fine,] The AI said, [Let’s do it your way. It’s not like you would have really been able to hide away anyway.]

That gave me pause. 

“Why not?” I asked, “Is there something you’ve been keeping from me in all of your snarky responses?” 

[Keeping from you? No, not quite. Forgotten myself? That’s a little bit more accurate,] The AI said, [You can’t shield your mana from the view of other beings, both due to the sheer scale of it and because of your lacking skill. Everyone else in this Battle Royale can do that, pretty much, so you’re going to be a bit of a beacon to anyone who wants to try and take down the guy that destroyed the mech.]

That probably should have made me feel a little bit worried. 

It meant that anyone with a grudge against humans, or anyone that truly wanted to make themselves look good in the eyes of whoever was watching, would be trying to take a shot at me.

It didn’t make me worried at all, though. If anything it just made me excited. If people were gunning for me that meant I was bound to get into a fight and it was probably going to end up being sooner rather than later. 

[Dodge to your left, right now!] The AI all but screamed in my mind. 

I let my instincts take over and dived to the left, rolling over my shoulder and springing back up to my feet as if I were some kind of video game character. The area I had been standing in just seconds before erupted into a pool of molten rock. 

I took in my surroundings and instantly locked on to what had attacked me. 

The alien looked human, for the most part, other than its much more vibrant pink skin, pointed ears, and wider eyes. If I had been sent to a fantasy world I would have called it an elf. 

I thrust my palm out and sent out a blast of superheated plasma. It screamed through the air at the alien, who didn’t even seem like he wanted to move out of the way. 

Instead, he cast a series of intricate sigils with his hand and then placed his palm on the ground. 

In the seconds before my attack was set to hit home a big brick of the ground below was torn upward by whatever spell the alien had used. 

My attack ate into the now vertical slab of ground and blew it to pieces. The shield had been nowhere near enough to completely stop my overpowered beam of energy, but it had slowed it enough for the alien to get clear. 

They ran up their own wall and sprang off of it like a free runner, two more clods of dirt in their hand. 

They threw the rocks at me, and while for a second I considered the fact that they may have just been normal rocks, that belief was quickly cast aside when I saw them shifting into a more lava-like molten form. 

Blasting them with my beams would just spread the lava’s area of effect over a wider distance, meaning I’d likely just get sprayed by a bunch of superheated rock. That wouldn’t be ideal. 

Instead, I took off at a run, each step powerful enough to gouge out footstep-shaped holes in the ground beneath me. 

I dipped below the molten rocks and grinned as I heard them explode somewhere behind me. 

The alien was still soaring through the air toward me, but I was ready. Whoever he was his speciality was clearly magic to do with controlling rocks and dirt, something that they had honed to an impressive level. But now they were out of their element. Now it was my turn. 

With a powerful jump I rocketed up into the air and tackled the alien out of the sky. I grabbed them by the throat and with a wild punch across the jaw knocked them out in a single blow. 

When I hit the ground again I made sure to put the alien down gently. They’d only been trying to win at the battle royale, secure a bit of glory for themselves. That warranted respect now the fight had been won. 

As I stepped away from the unconscious form of the alien a beam of light came down from above and consumed his body until nothing was left but motes of light. 

[Teleport beam,] My AI clarified, [Took him to the med bay no doubt, I’m pretty sure you broke his jaw with that punch.]

I didn’t take any pleasure in hurting others, but I couldn’t stop the grin from returning to my face. 

One down, I’d secured my spot in whatever came next. Everything else was just icing on the cake.