Nyxia: List 2

by Scott Reintgen
Desperate for money to fund his mother's medical treatment, Emmett Atwater accepts an offer from Babel Communications to compete for the right to mine a valuable commodity on the hidden planet of Eden. This book is the first volume of the Nyxia Triad.

This list covers Part I: Day 7, 8:38 A.M.–Day 19, 7:58 A.M.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5
40 words 21 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. fray
    cause friction
    It will be the day that frays at our forced friendships and formed alliances.
  2. testament
    strong evidence for something
    But every day that passes is a reminder, a testament.
  3. avatar
    a new personification of a familiar idea or person
    The digital faces of their avatars gaze out at us. I have to squint, but I can make out a health bar above their heads and vitals listed.
  4. wield
    handle effectively
    Isadora's been quiet so far, but there's nothing quiet about the way she wields a blade.
  5. downcast
    filled with melancholy and despondency
    I should feel horrible, but I remember Roathy's face at the start of the fight. If he could have, he would have done the same to me. Destroy or be destroyed. I look up at the other challengers, and their faces are downcast.
  6. flank
    the side of military or naval formation
    It sprints along our left flank, whipping under branches and over stone rises in pursuit. Kaya slides our team as far to the right as possible, but we're struggling to run and keep an eye on the wolf at the same time.
  7. elixir
    a substance believed to cure all ills
    Defoe directs me out of the room. I'm guessing whichever rabbit hole he's leading me down won't come with magical elixirs.
  8. orientation
    a course introducing a new situation or environment
    The orientation labeled this wing as off-limits, but I need to see Roathy.
  9. predominant
    most frequent or common
    He aces our quiz on the predominant mammals in Eden.
  10. sash
    a band of material worn around the waist or across the chest
    Today her hair's in a thick braid that drapes over one shoulder like a sash.
  11. distraught
    deeply agitated especially from emotion
    A glance shows that Azima is distraught.
  12. sentient
    consciously perceiving
    Up close, I hear electrodes firing and feel a strange warmth beneath the sentient cords.
  13. synapse
    the junction between two neurons
    And when the last one lands, my synapses all fire at once and I lurch into the unknown realities of elsewhere.
  14. strew
    spread by scattering
    My eyes drag across a landscape of barren hills and rock-strewn barrows.
  15. rig
    a truck consisting of a tractor and trailer together
    As the driver pulls around, I see that the huge rig is broken up into three parts. The front end features a driver's hatch and an intricate nest of high-tech panels and switches.
  16. roost
    sit, rest, or settle, as on a branch or perch
    A miniature rover roosts there, loaded down with its own mechanical goodies.
  17. initiate
    set in motion, start an event or prepare the way for
    "All functions require a three-second activation as a protection against accidents. This button initiates the surveying process."
  18. siphon
    convey, draw off, or empty by or as if by a tube
    Some of the smaller ones can be siphoned, but the computer indicates pockets that are too dangerous to get close to.
  19. lucrative
    producing a sizeable profit
    If your engineer sees a way around the gas pockets that will be more lucrative, that decision is up to him to make.
  20. deviate
    be out of line with
    As long as you don't endanger the lives of your team, you can deviate from the computer's decisions.
  21. lurch
    move abruptly
    When his final finger ticks off, the truck lurches to life.
  22. ominously
    in a manner suggesting something bad will happen
    Thirty seconds later, our drill hovers above the soil ominously.
  23. gait
    an animal's manner of moving
    They are monsters. They move on all fours, their gait shuffling and drunken.
  24. lope
    run easily
    I slide the weapons on as the animals lope toward our drill.
  25. sever
    cut off from a whole
    Jazzy screams and slashes her short sword down, severing the beast's outstretched hand.
  26. writhe
    move in a twisting or contorted motion
    He reaches out, closes his eyes, and collapses. He twists onto his back and starts to writhe like someone has him hooked up to a transformer.
  27. marionette
    a figure operated from above with strings by a puppeteer
    Even if I don't like Longwei, it's hard to watch his body get pulled around on marionette strings.
  28. shroud
    cover as if with a burial garment
    Dead silence shrouds the room.
  29. threshold
    a region marking a boundary
    "Nyxia is an interactive element. You can manipulate it using your thoughts and intent. Every person is capable of manipulating the substance, but there are thresholds. We've discovered that if you try to manipulate too much, nyxia reverses the manipulation process. It's as if the substance is trying to take your skin and blood and bones and make...something else."
  30. tutorial
    a session of intensive instruction
    Babel's been running us through a series of mining tutorials.
  31. parry
    impede the movement of
    I parry his first testing blow and jab at his rib cage.
  32. riposte
    a counterattack made immediately after successfully parrying
    I crunch down my off hand on his wrist, sidestep his riposte, and rake claws across his shoulder.
  33. banter
    light teasing repartee
    He doesn't usually sweep in to break up competitive banter.
  34. outfox
    beat through cleverness and wit
    I set my weapons down and watch the last two fights with the others. Kaya outfoxes Katsu, and Bilal lands a great killing blow on Jazzy.
  35. console
    a scientific instrument with displays and an input device
    "As you've noticed, sometimes drilling attracts the tars. You may have also noticed they hit like hammers. Just make sure you activate the defense system on the console whenever you have approaching bogeys. Good luck, soldiers."
  36. turret
    a self-contained weapons platform housing guns
    Metal screeches as two turrets unfold atop our truck. It happens as fast and unrealistically as it does in video games. In KillCall, you can set down a gun turret and it just pops to life and starts shooting.
  37. shaft
    a long vertical passage sunk into the earth, as for a mine
    On my monitor, I can see the tip of the drill moving into the shaft and my side drills a few meters from first contact.
  38. nomadic
    relating to persons or groups who travel in search of food or work
    "A reminder. My people were the last nomadic group in Africa. We stopped our wandering, but I wear the beads as a reminder that we are a people born for motion. The beads tell my story. A girl also wears them to attract a worthy man."
  39. officiate
    perform a ceremony or religious ritual
    We all laugh when Katsu offers to officiate the ceremony.
  40. leech
    draw blood
    His avatar bleeds. I could just step away and let the wound leech away his health bar.
Created on Thu May 16 12:17:41 EDT 2019 (updated Fri May 17 16:50:55 EDT 2019)

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