Chapter 37:

Several hours later, Will was finished with the bulk of the mundane things he'd planned on getting done for the day. He still had plenty of time before he would need to leave to pick up Cierra for their scouting trip, so he decided he would go for a run in the desert. He could use the practice managing his speed, he figured, and it was a good way to keep his mind occupied.

Out in the sagebrush and dirt of the high desert, he found himself quickly acclimating to his strength. He experimented with lengthening his stride, sudden stops, and various tumbles. He found it was a lot of fun, even when the tumbles weren't exactly intentional. Luckily, nothing he rolled over was strong or sharp enough to actually puncture his skin.

One thing he gained a substantial amount of respect for was the power of momentum. When moving at high speeds, he found that redirecting his inertia was something that would require extensive practice to do well. There was a certain technique to it, and while he certainly was getting better, he knew he had a long way to go.

Approaching the ring he used for training from the opposite side he normally would have, he slowed himself to a jog, then a walk. He took a minute to catch his breath. He realized he'd been running for a lot longer than expected, but felt the practice was well worth it.

Just as he was about to cross the berm into his little home away from home, his senses sparked alarmingly. An Operator was incoming from the direction of town. He could tell it wasn't Cierra.

Whoever it was, they were moving FAST, and he realized he had no hope of masking his own energy signature to try and avoid them. Quickly, he dropped to his chest on the rear side of the Berm lining the ring, thinking to see what he was up against before things really got started.

He should've realized that would be a wasted effort.

A figure suddenly slammed into the top of the berm opposite Will's position, sending dirt and rocks flying while launching to within a handful of yards of Will. The entrance momentarily stunned Will, and he stared at the figure that was now rising to its feet where it had landed.

Will realized instantly that something was seriously wrong with the man facing him.

The man was about six feet tall, with patchy facial hair, and straw colored hair that stuck out from his head in all directions. His eyes were glowing brightly, but something about the color bothered Will. It didn't help that the man had visible scarring surrounding those orbs, and even now Will could see the energy leaking from them and causing the skin to burn further.

All of those observations flashed through Will's mind rapidly, but when he saw the stitches holding the man's mouth closed, a cold feeling began to seep into him. Then the man suddenly rushed forward, and only his sparring with Cierra allowed him to shake off the shock and throw his strength into the earth below him.

That action allowed him to absorb some of the force of the kick the man had intended for Will's ribs, but still sent Will tumbling sideways. Luckily, he'd been practicing his tumbles, and was able to use his momentum to get his legs under him.

Again, the man was practically a blur rushing at Will, but this time he was able to redirect the powerful punch heading for him to pass in front of his chest. Reversing the movement of his arm, Will countered by throwing an elbow back into the side of the man's head, sending his attacker into a sideways stumble.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Will shouted at the man, who was already recovering from the elbow to his head.

Remembering the stitches holding the man's mouth closed, he didn’t expect a response would be forthcoming.

Setting himself, Will waited. Everything so far had indicated the man was a berserker, and sure enough, his opponent rushed forward again. Somehow, it seemed like the man was moving even faster than he had been, and Will barely got an arm up in time to redirect another punch.

Again, Will capitalized and grabbed the man's arm as it flew past, this time rotating his body to send the man pounding into the ground. Unfortunately, he was able to retaliate before Will could follow through with another attack.

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Lashing out, the man struck the side of Will's knee, and only barely getting his weight off that leg saved the joint from severe damage. Though it still hurt like a bitch, and sent Will stumbling away.

In a flash the man was back on his feet and rushing Will again. Sensing the rush, Will powered his leg into the ground to send him into a dive and roll that he used to get his legs back under him.

Will's mind raced. It was official, this guy was getting noticeably stronger as time went by, somehow. The growing strength of his aura to Will's energy sense, also highlighted that there was something… twisted about the man's energy. Like, the feel of it was just… off.

He could sense, and almost see, how the energy flowed through the man's body, and he realized that it wasn't really integrated with his tissues. It was focused purely in his skeleton, and even now the concentration seemed to be rising.

Judging from the scars around the man's eyes, Will had a feeling that before long the man's own bones would begin cooking him, from the inside out.

"What the hell ARE you…?"

Will's sentence was a whisper. He knew he wouldn't be getting a response. He also knew that he didn't have time to stop and ask questions, or this guy was going to kill him.

Once again, Will threw his strength into the ground, launching himself several feet into the air and avoiding the man's attempt to bodily tackle him into the dirt.

He could feel the strength of his attacker, and he was certain the man was quickly getting stronger. He needed to end this, and soon.

Coming back down to earth, Will went on the offensive.

Lunging forward, he moved to meet his opponent's charge, and he could see the man's intent to bodily spear him again. Slightly redirecting sideways, Will avoided the tackle and managed to grab the outstretched arm as the man charged through space like a missile.

Will clamped down on the arm with all his strength, and twisted his body to absorb the combined momentum of their charges. Spinning in almost a full circle before he got the centrifugal force under control, Will looped his arms overhead and smashed the man like a ragdoll into the ground.

Wasting no time, he reversed his own movement and flung the man back around to smash into one the boulders nearby. Rock shattered, shrapnel flew, dust erupted, and Will watched closely.

He could still feel the growing energy signature, and knew he wasn't done yet.

Then the man changed things up, and a fist sized rock blasted straight for Will's face. He managed to get an arm up, barely, but felt the crack of bones in his forearm as a result.

Cursing, he instinctively dove sideways to avoid being a stationary target, and sure enough, another rock just barely missed smashing into his torso. This time though, the man followed the rock.

When he came in to try grappling, Will got his legs between them and pistoned them into the man's chest like a jackhammer. As his attacker sprawled to the ground behind him, Will again got to his feet. He had a broken arm, probably bruised ribs, and he could taste blood, but he could see he had dished out more than he had taken.

It was like the guy couldn't feel pain, and he was also spinning to his feet already. That was why Will could see one side of the man's face was caked in blood with an eye totally sealed shut. One arm was clearly dislocated at the shoulder, and dangled behind the man like a creepy noodle. He was also breathing heavily, and blood and some bubbles had escaped the stitches holding his mouth closed.

Still the man's eyes burned all the brighter, but Will realized suddenly that the man wasn't healing. Unlike Will.

The shock of that realization tripped the mental switch to bring Will's electricity to bear, and his senses and mental processing suddenly skyrocketed. He suddenly became certain he was right about the man being cooked by his own skeleton.

He also realized the man might be a fucking time bomb, if the energy flooding the man's bones suddenly overwhelmed what his body could contain.

That realization triggered something in his psyche that Will would later have trouble recalling, when trying to explain the fight to his people.

Electricity and aetheric energy exploded from his core, flooding his body, and he raced for his attacker with unbelievable speed.

The man swung his good arm in a backhand to try and interrupt Will's charge, but was stopped cold when Will clamped his left hand like a vice on that wrist. With his other arm, Will slammed his open palm into the back of the elbow in front of him, and could feel the cracks as the joint was utterly destroyed.

Spinning the man so he was facing away, Will seized the man by his hair and scalp with his left hand. The crystalline pattern he had been working to program into himself suddenly bloomed through both of his arms.

Pulling his right fist back, he then blasted it forward with all of the strength he could possibly bring to bear. His fist impacted with terrific force, directly to the man's spine just under where it met the skull, and Will could feel the vertebrae shattering under the man's skin.

The man went totally limp, and Will lost his grip on the man's head.

Focusing, Will made sure the energy was no longer growing in the man, and was already dispersing. He could tell that whatever link the attacker had had to the Aether, it had closed.

Adrenaline finally started to fade, and suddenly Will's vision began to blacken at the edges. He got dizzy and lightheaded, stumbled away and fell to the dirt. Blackness took hold.