Johann yelped as soon as the tide of Anima spread out from Yuriko. The woman had touched the portal plinth, froze, then spread her Anima. He felt it wash over him at its fullness. Not the shallow touch that was often used to scout, but the full weight one used when one fought. Or used in displays of juvenile dominance.

It washed over him and pressed down on his Anima, and now, he felt what someone at a level above him, could do when they weren’t holding back.

Oddly, the Anima density wasn’t above what a freshly awakened had, but it was oppressive even so. There was a weight to it that forced his own Anima to pull back all the way into his skin, and then, it was like he bore the weight of several boulders all over his body.

“Lady…Davar…!” he managed to grunt, but she wasn’t moving, eyes unseeing. Her Anima continued to roll out over the rest of the fortress and the chamber, worryingly, it reached the ceiling easily where the surface of the chamber had not been completely covered by concrete and steel. How far did her reach go? It was well beyond what was needed to advance to the next stage!

But why wasn’t it dense? A technique or skill that allowed her to manipulate her Anima density? Most Ancients couldn’t do more than thin their Anima for discreet probing. Most had to train to form a layer of armour, too, but many didn’t bother beyond basic defences. He could feel that her Anima was nearly a hundred times denser than everything else, and yet she could envelop the entire base. That was awe-inspiring, and more than a little frightening. Her faction, organisation, or secret club must be one of those who knew old knowledge or forbidden techniques. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know, honestly, but he was curious.

While Johann didn’t crave martial might, the lure of new techniques, new technologies, and ways to combine them had always been his weakness. He was a curious young man, and he couldn’t help himself.

But there was something more important at the moment.

Her Anima touched the ceiling, the bare rock of the mountain, and while the base commander had assured him that they scoured the stone of the crystalline circuitry that absorbed energies, her Anima went right through the surface layer. He could tell because the rock started glowing gold. What was her Ennoia, anyway? It couldn’t just be the weapon she was holding.

That long cleaver was an inelegant weapon that contrasted sharply with the woman’s easy and mesmerising grace. She did say she was in training, and perhaps she was broadening her horizons. A problem for those who advanced too quickly as he could attest to.

It was easy to touch an Ennoia and form a Truth, using an insight that was specialised, focused, and narrow. But once the insight crystalised into the Ennoia, it was harder to increase its scope than if one focused on broadening it before touching the Ennoia. Sure it took longer, and was much more difficult, but it was three or more times harder to do it after the fact.

His Ennoia of Electromagnetism was much narrower in scope than the two Ennoias he had before. Harnessed Lightning and Shaped Metal. The former allowed him to power items that ran on electricity, and electrify knives and other metal objects if he had a mind to. The latter allowed him to, well, shape metals as he desired. His Ennoia now only allowed him to manipulate electric and magnetic fields, or more often than not, both since the two types intersected well when it came to varied technologies. Modern, non-Intent-based tech, anyway. Spellcasters, like most of the people in the Arcadia Region, mixed Elemental spells with their tech and glued it all together with Intent. In other words, the things worked because they wanted it to.

Someone at the top proved it worked because he made it work, and the confidence the people beneath had that the gadget would work, made it work. A self-reinforcing branch of magitech.

That wasn’t what he liked. He wanted Intent to have a minimal effect on the tech he played with, though he was aware of some hypocrisy on his part, since his best stuff needed that glue to make it work.

Ah.

His mind was going in circles and tangents. What in the Abyss was happening? Yuriko Davar’s Anima spread out too much, and it touched the ceiling and the bare ground beyond the chamber. And now, the ground was shaking.

Antibodies and whatever else the Dragon’s corpse could throw at them was coming. He could feel it.

And no sooner had he thought that when the chain guns on all three tunnel entrances went off.

Ratatatatat! Ratatatatatat! Ratatatatat!

The sounds of gunfire layered over each other and it all sounded like a single burst to him. He tried to get closer to Yuriko, but she was in the middle of the portal circle and he had been caught just outside it.

“Lady Davar! Your Excellency! Yuriko!”

No good. She didn’t respond. He looked at the plinth and the circle start to glow with energies. The portal was starting? But—two weeks!

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No, something she did started it up. Was it because she was in Transformation? When had someone at that Stage made the attempt? The Eternal Tower’s trials were varied and unique to each individual, but he heard that the places one got sent to were real. Just far enough away that anything he knew, and maybe even the underlying laws of the world were just a bit different.

The plinth was probably in the process of analysing Lady Davar, and it was checking which of its worlds would suit her needs. He should be doing the same. What did he want?

His Ennoia was messed up. Powerful but narrow in scope. He needed to expand it, or as an alternative, touch upon a different one that he would bring to Colligia.

His Will was weaker, too. It was why his reach was stuck at ten paces. But all the meditative techniques—the purification rituals, the applied use of Anaflexio—needed time to work. How long it took, he didn’t know, but then again, he could make the choice to advance to Transformation with what he had. That was if he wanted to stay in that Stage for conceivably the rest of his life and stay at the bottom levels of capability and power.

No, he wasn’t willing. He wanted a Grand Ennoia that encompassed the concept of Technology. And he needed to sample every iteration he could find. He needed to expand his Ennoia, since it was already on the right path. It just needed to be…more.

He wondered where she would be sent, and what challenges she would face. A trial never lasted for longer than a year before events in the world forced change on it. The chance to climb the Tower was sought after because of how well it could help Ancients hone their path. Well, others that weren’t on the Ancient’s Way would gain something too, but with their Animas unawakened, the bulk of the benefits would be useless.

He took a step closer. The portal will open, he was sure. Ahead of time. But he didn’t know how long it would remain open. Maybe for a few minutes, maybe for an hour. And maybe, only long enough to transfer a single person.

Ah, but what about her companions? Well, it was a pity they weren’t here, much like it was a pity Lord Silva and Lord Erser weren’t here. Johann was the one who chose to stay. Then again, those two might not care. Certainly, the branch leader already had his hands full with his business. But Erser was probably bored playing Conclave muscle in this backward place.

The pressure wave of Yuriko’s Anima was intense enough that when he took a step towards the circle, he lost his footing and slipped. He yelped and used his kinesis to grab onto a table, which then promptly toppled over. He fell on his knees as he clawed at the concrete. He forced himself up, leaned forward, as though fighting against a powerful wind, then took step, after slow step. He had tumbled more than twenty paces back, and returning to the portal circle took longer than he expected.

“Your Grace! Hunter-killers!” someone yelled at him. Ah, the sergeant from before. He still couldn’t remember the man’s name and was one of his failings. The man introduced himself when they met, but the name…it was gone a minute later.

Either way, the sergeant wasn’t hampered by Yuriko’s Anima, strangely enough. He could see it flow around the soldier…ah, the ‘chronian gear? He had not been foolish enough to replace his limbs or any part of himself with metal and Ossifrum, but almost everyone in the city, in the desert of Elemental energy, has.

Sergeant looked at Yuriko oddly for a long moment, then gasped at the lit-up runescript lines. “The gate opens?”

“Yes,” Johann said, still leaning over. Sergeant tried to assist, but his strength wasn’t enough help. And the moment they came close to the circle, the density of Yuriko’s Anima raised high enough to ignore the ‘chronian’s resistance.

“Are they a problem?” Johann asked.

“There were two reported,” Sergeant said, “both in the northern tunnel. They’ll go through the walls easily if we don’t bring out the big guns.”

Johann frowned. Bringing out the big guns meant the spillover energy would exceed what the mountain lost from creating its minions. “I’ll handle it.”

He turned around and oriented himself towards the north tunnel. “Lady Davar, please!” he growled as he tried to push his Anima out of his body. There was a brief resistance, but perhaps she was able to subconsciously read his Intent. The pressure around him eased up and he was able to use his skills. The chain guns continued firing down the tunnel, but then…

Boom!

The wall shook. Something powerful must have slammed into it. Hunter-killers. He hadn’t had a chance to see the things in person, but he had been briefed. Those things cost so much energy to make, according to researchers, that the mountain corpse rarely made them. Not unless there was something worth the investment. Johann didn’t look back. He didn’t have to. Yuriko and possibly the portal were the reasons why. There was a reason for the fortress after all, and every time the challenge gate opened, it basically came under siege.

There was another shock, but then, thick tendrils rose above the wall and grabbed the crenellations. The gunners turned their weapons towards the thing, but soon enough, it was became too dangerous to shoot at it since they were more than likely to hit each other than the monster.

Johann pulled out a thick metal rod from his hip. It was about nine inches long and about an inch thick. He created several tendrils from his Anima and wrapped it around the cylinder then he pulled out another three, doing the same for each. He arranged the four cylinders into a diamond shape, then placed it in front of his eye, though he was careful to keep some distance. Then, he ran lightning and magnetic force along the cylinders, carefully balancing it so that they didn’t repel each other, or pull towards the centre. From his other hip, he pulled out several smaller cylinders, just an inch long and an eighth wide.

The Hunter-killer pulled itself over the wall, revealing a bulky body that looked like the antibodies before they shifted to other forms. An amorphous blob that was bigger than a hauler.

As soon as it climbed over the walls, the soldiers manning the chain guns bailed. They had no choice as the thing would have slurped them up and drained them of heat and vital energies. And as soon as the Hunter-killer got over the wall, it rushed to the portal faster than the eye could blink.

Johann absently noted that Yuriko’s Anima had retracted when the Hunter-killer arrived, preventing the thing from siphoning her.

It took less than an instant to fill his projectile with Lightning Elemental energy, then he shoved it at the base of his four-point accelerator, and it shot out the other end in less than a second.

Boom!

The Hunter-killer shattered to a million tiny, electrified pieces. And Johann prepared his second bullet.

It was then that the portal behind him opened.