Team Alvric instantly went into defense formation. They formed a perimeter around their scouts and long-range weapon users, putting up a domed air shield in the process.
The stronger members of team Baelor instantly broke through their restraints as they roared into the air. Berj Baelor took out his great ax and cut through the strings pinning the rest of his teammates down. The Baelors were earth essence wielders, so they quickly formed earthen armors to protect their bodies even as they were pinned to the ground.
Jerome had no intention of getting into a fight with the Baelors. So, he had loosened his strings a little and made them thicker in width to prevent them from cutting through the Baelors. There was no need to create enmity between himself and another great family. One was enough. But he had succeeded in doing what he intended — separating the two teams!
“Leave now. My fight is with Hedon Alvric. The same goes for other Alvric clan members,” Jerome spoke in a loud voice.
“Who’s there?!” Hedon yelled out.
Jerome’s voice had come from all around them, so they had no way of pinpointing their assailant. He walked out from a thicket in front of them, looking like a sickly old man, or probably a thousand year old mummy. His nice charcoal-colored robe was a huge contrast to his sickly and decayed looks. And although he looked sickly, his gait was anything but. Jerome stopped about a dozen feet away from the Alvrics and Hedon looked him up and down before bursting into laughter. The Alvric heir laughed hard at what he was seeing, and the rest of his teammates joined him.
Jerome was not uncomfortable with them laughing at him. If anything, he was indifferent. The heavy laughter continued for a while longer than necessary as the Alvrics attempted to rile him up but every attempt failed.
“I thought you chickened out or had died somewhere in Terra Praeta,” Hedon said, after calming down. “I can see you’re not too far from death, though. Who knew you were such a fool that you would dare to attack me in the midst of my team, plus another great clan’s team.” He looked around for a bit, his perception scanning the surroundings for a moment before he asked, “You’re alone, are you not?”
Jerome snorted, “Final chance to leave, else don’t blame me for whatever happens to you.” He looked coldly at Hedon’s teammates as he spoke.
They all snickered and started pulling out different artifacts from their storage rings. With his face as cold as ice, Jerome brought out his new spear. The moment the spear materialized in his hand, Hedon’s eyes filled with greed. The same went for most of his teammates. They eyed his spear like it was a delicious steak on a platter set in front of them.
"This looks like a personal feud,” Berj Baelor said, “So if you don’t mind brother Hedon, we won’t be joining you.” He took his teammates and moved away from the Alvrics.
A shrewd fellow, Jerome thought. At worst he’ll be called a coward for not helping out. But it was reasonable not to join the Alvrics as he had made it known that this was a personal grudge being settled. Plus their assailant was just one boy.
“Though, if you hurt Arkesha, I’ll kill you.” Berj said before walking off. The giants were peace-loving creatures, but that didn’t mean they were easily walked all over.
“Don’t make threats when you’re unsure of your opponent’s strength, Young Lord,” Jerome called to him. “You just may regret it.”
Berj Baelor looked back to glare hatred at him before walking off with his team.
Seeing that the Baelors had made their stance known, Jerome attacked. He shot forward with such great momentum that the thicket behind him exploded backward. In a split second, he struck Alvrics’ windshield with his spear. The force of his strike was so great that it destroyed the shield, blasting them all apart.
Hedon’s eyes bulged out in surprise. He had underestimated how much Jerome had grown. Again. The Alvrics were all elites however and they quickly recovered. But their defense had been breached.
Jerome was a blur to their senses. He lunged for Hedon with his spear, brutalizing everyone in his path. He remembered how Hedon held his sword to Doti’s throat, how he sliced through Doti’s throat like he was killing a chicken. Rage filled him and he saw red. This was the murderer of his family, and he was just a few feet away from the blade of his spear.
Arkesha came at him like a blur, but a whip with a sizzling tip lashed at her. She had to abort her offense to escape certain death. Jerome’s whip hit the ground with a boom and those around it were thrown off balance. Arkesha cursed.
“What the fuck is it with you and explosions?!” someone yelled.
The Alvrics decided to attack with their long-range artifacts, firing energy beams at Jerome but he was doubly protected by his robes, and a dome of invisible energy surrounded him. Different balls of energy hit the spherical dome combusting on contact and the dome absorbed them the next moment.
Jerome watched everything happening around him with a critical eye. It was like time had slowed down before him. He watched as the Alvrics shot energy beams at him from their artifacts; as the beams of energy traveled through the sky and hit his shield in slow motion. He saw Murray at the periphery of his vision, as he balanced on the balls of his feet, ready to push forward.
This is amazing! He thought.
“Yes, it is, Xerae,” Achilles answered.
How am I seeing them like this?
“Your mind is a lot faster than it was before, Xerae.”
But this didn’t happen during the training with the nanite puppets.
Achilles snorted. “Please do not compare these sloths to my creation, Xerae. It is an affront to my person.”
Jerome smiled bashfully. Then he moved.
In the eyes of the Alvrics, he must have looked like he vanished from view and appeared beside Murray who was about to attack him. With a downward chop of his hand, he hit the Alvric at the trapezius — the muscle between the neck and the shoulder. Murray collapsed, passing out from the blow. That was one down who could give him trouble. He vanished again. Jerome knew he wasn’t teleporting, but was moving so fast it was like he was.
Arkesha, knowing she was next, swung her sword wide but to her astonishment, another of her teammates was hurled at her.
Jerome hit the ground with the butt of his spear as he ran and it was like a meteor fell to the earth. The earth spread out in waves with a booming sound as an unknown force blasted all the Alvrics into the air, separating every member of their team.
What?! Achilles is that what I think it is?!
Achilles chuckled. “Gravity. A concept unknown in your world — or at least unknown by most of the populace. Even those that know of it are like ducklings waddling in the dark when it comes to such knowledge.”
Hedon quickly raised a shield around him and took off, not knowing where Jerome was. The rest of the Alvrics flew after him. His sword glowed with essence — a sky-blue color — and he slashed out behind him, sending out a thin wave of air sharp enough to cut through trees.
Four huge trees behind them toppled over as they flew off. Metal strings erupted behind the trees and chased Hedon through the forest like whips, almost separating him from the rest of his teammates.
“Arkesha, how is Murray?” He turned to ask and saw Murray passed out in Arkesha’s hand. “Fuck!” he increased his speed as did the others.
Something hit him from above and he hurtled downward, crashing through trees before hitting the ground hard. Jerome landed next to him with a thud.
“I have thought many times about what to say when I finally have the chance to do this,” Jerome said, kicking him in the gut. “But nothing always sounds right.”
The kick sent Hedon a few feet into the air and he crashed into a few branches before a whip-like string wrapped around him, preventing him from flying away. The moment he hit the ground Jerome stepped on his right knee, shattering it completely. Hedon screamed. Beams of energy blasted Jerome from above but he did nothing and the invisible dome activated around him once again, siphoning the essence in the attacks, causing Hedon’s jaw to drop. Hedon tried to get away as his teammates dropped from the sky.
“Brilliant,” Jerome said with a sigh as he looked into the distance to his right. Their fight had woken the magical beasts that live in these parts of the forest.
Hedon’s sword glowed with essence and with a wave, another wind blade pulsed out, aimed at Jerome — this one, weaker than the previous one. With the wave of a hand, Jerome countered the attack coming at him like a blade.
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“No Sword Force? How do you think you can defeat me with just wind, Hedon?” Jerome asked with a chuckle. If it had been imbued with sword force, it would have taken him at least half a second to deal with. Which meant the heir to the Alvric clan hadn’t learned to use sword force.
“Stay away from me, you monster!” Hedon roared in fury, shuffling backward on his ass.
Jerome attacked and Hedon raised a shield between them. His teammates also lunged for Jerome, all at once. Jerome speared through Hedon's shield like it didn't exist, causing ripples to spread out from the spear and the point of contact with the shield before it lost its essence and disappeared.
With a slight twist of his hand, he sent a pulse of Sword Force out the sides of the blade to prevent Hedon's teammates from hitting his spear away from his target. The spear transformed into a naginata, all the while spinning forward. The naginata gave off a sharp metallic ringing sound that affected all those attempting to assault him from all sides. They dropped down to the floor, holding their ears in pain. All except for one Sprout. Arkesha ran through the resonating barrier of sword force and vibration like it was nothing. Jerome had to use Suzzie to counter a strike of her sword which gave Hedon the chance to slip away.
Duran, Hedon's nephew, pulled Hedon back and fled through the forest with Jerome hot on their tail. “Who the fuck is this monster, Hedon?” he asked.
“Some worthless cur of the Royals.”
Some other members of team Alvric who were not within the field generated by the spear were not affected by the resonance of Jerome’s spear. They joined hands with Arkesha to stop Jerome, but he was like a one-man army. They fought as they flew through the air, landing on branches from time to time. Dark red metal blades the length of a man’s forearm were shooting out of Jerome’s hand, spinning in the air and intercepting their attacks. Some would twist in the air like snakes to avoid being hit out of the way by the Alvrics, but enough to still hinder them.
Jerome had no intention of harming the other Alvrics, however, so he had to work a little to get them off his back. Using his gauntlets, he shot bullets off concentrated ice at the branches they were standing on. But many of them escaped the encasing of ice before it trapped them.
He parried Arkesha’s blows like it was from a child. Dodging under one of her strikes, he closed the distance between them and hit her with a palm in the gut, sending a pulse of mutated essence into her body to disrupt the flow of essence.
Arkesha fell from the sky and all hell broke loose. The magical beasts that had been disturbed in the forest attacked from all angles. Jerome, having expected them, weaved in and out of their way. He dodges claws and maws, broke bones and shattered skulls as they came at him. It was like a seamless dance in a sea of fur, claws, teeth. Somehow, these magical beasts had evolved to work well together. They were organized — even high in the trees, attacking from all angles. A Storm-Winged Eagle flew over them blocking out the sun and the temperature of the atmosphere dropped in an instant. The gigantic gray eagle snapped up an unfortunate beast and swallowed it whole.
“We should run,” someone said. “Now!”
A storm picked up around them and lightning struck out from the Storm-Winged Eagle. Jerome shot downward to the ground in the direction Hedon went, killing magical beasts as he went. Arkesha and her team were hot on his tail. Essence spiked behind him and he turned around, only to see a gigantic armored warrior made of wind chasing after him.
“That’s the Argonaut,” Achilles said. “At least a fragment of it.”
“Hmmm. It’s not as powerful as I thought it would be,” Jerome said, scanning the nearly fifty feet tall wind giant as he flew away from the enclosure of beasts. The Argonaut was just behind him, hot on his heels.
“This is just something the young Alvrics are powerful enough to wield. The real thing is a lot more powerful.”
“Hmm. Where’s Hedon?” Jerome was asking when a mighty sword came at him from above.
“Watch out,” Achilles said and Jerome twisted midair. A blade of wind and Sword Force passed only a hair’s breadth away from his chin.
The trees in its way were destroyed with that single swing, the ground carved up and thrown into the air. Jerome danced around the Argonaut a few more times, cursing in frustration.
“You could just use the Dragon’s Wrath, Xerae. That’ll even things out.”
“I don’t wanna give away the knowledge of such a powerful technique,” Jerome said, shooting a lance of blue laser at the Argonaut. It slapped it away like it was swatting a fly. “You saw the look in their eyes when they saw the spear.”
The Argonaut was fast. Every swipe of its sword was a blur cutting everything in its path. Since it was made of wind and not a physical material, it was harder to defend against. A bolt of lightning split the sky and separated them, announcing the Storm-Winged Eagle’s arrival. Team Alvric disregarded the beast and struck at Jerome.
Unprepared, Jerome saw the sword coming at him and spun his spear around to guide the blade of wind off course — a feat he was sure was impossible, given the fact that the wind blade wasn’t a physical material. What happened next knocked that thought right out of his head. The Argonaut’s sword was redirected slightly by the spear, as if it had substance.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Arkesha growled her frustration from inside the Argonaut. She was equally as astonished, as well as her teammates.
The Storm-Winged Eagle looked down at them in annoyance as if pissed off for being disregarded and flapped its wings hard. A storm was born in an instant as dark clouds formed above them. Visibility decreased as dust plumes and debris lifted off the ground creating cover. Jerome took that opportunity to slip away. Shooting backward to put some distance between them and vanishing from sight. The Argonaut moved, closing the distance in an instant again, and swiped at Jerome but he was gone.
~~~
Murray
Murray Alvric was a well-trained Sprout who was also close to advancing to the Spirit Realm. He may not be as powerful as Lang of House Fei, but he was still one of the most powerful Sprouts in Vorthe. There were very few in his Realm who could beat him in combat and they’d have to work their asses off to defeat him, maybe lose a few chunks of flesh too. Jerome, however, had topped that list — effortlessly.
He laid down gently on the ground, supporting himself with a rock and kneaded his neck muscles as the pain died down. One of his teammates was giving him a briefing on what happened after he passed out. Murray had a bad feeling about Jerome. The moment Jerome hit him, he felt the weight of a blow that far exceeded his own.
How did Hedon make an enemy of someone like this? Scratch that. Hedon is the kind of person to make an enemy of someone who’s more powerful than himself. Murray thought as he replayed the brief but powerful fight in his mind. Now that I think about it, the boy seems to be a lot more powerful than he was the last time we saw him. Which means he had some fortuitous encounters. The spear…
Murray sighed as he thought about the spear Jerome wielded during the fight. Though he was just a boy, the spear he carried was more than ten times heavier than a normal spear. Anyone who got hit by the spear would suffer serious injuries. With a weapon like that they’d probably be hard pressed to subdue him, talk less kill him.
“He’s here!” Someone shouted and everyone scrambled up, weapons drawn.
A powerful heat wave blasted them all from the direction the call came from. The Sprouts around Murray drew in labored breaths, some of them cursing out loud.
“How the fuck is he doing this?” someone said.
Jerome strode out of the trees and the Alvrics attacked. With every blow, the sound of bones breaking and screaming could be heard. Murray rushed forward, wondering what happened to Arkesha and the Sprouts with her. He had to slow down this monster, or else none of his teammates would live to tell the tale.
Getting closer to Jerome was like running head-first into an erupting volcano. The heat multiplied ten folds, causing Murray to blink frequently as the moisture dried in his eyes. The both of them clashed and Murray was pushed backward over a dozen steps. He looked down at his shaking hands gripping his sword, and back at the sickly-looking Sprout. For the first time, he felt fear facing another in his Realm. The kid was like an impassable mountain.
“Did you sell your soul to attain such power?” he asked, wondering what unholy being must have taken his vitality and soul to grant him such power.
There were whispers about the church to the west and the creatures of darkness they battled. Maybe such a creature existed here too.
His other teammates attacked, but Jerome dispatched them quickly, his steps never slowing. Murray looked around at his teammates. Jerome was only hurting them; none of them were dead. He pushed his fear down and attacked again. His sword blurred as he blended sword force with wind, attacking with all his might. His attack seemed to move sideways anytime it got close to the spear, as if some unknown force bent space around it. The spear blurred and hit him in the ribs. With a cracking sound, Murray felt pain shoot up his spine. He went down gritting his teeth. The last thing he saw was Jerome walking up to him and hitting him with the butt of his spear in the head before he passed out again.
~~~
Jerome didn’t have to look around to find Hedon. The Alvric heir stood on the other side of the clearing, radiating power.
Epos. Jerome thought with a smile. This was going to be a showdown.
The Argonaut took that moment to break into the clearing, surprising everyone of the Alvrics. Jerome grunted in frustration. Not bothering to turn around, flowing steel bled out of his body and robes and a big chunk of dark red shiny metal dropped from him.
“Ooh, impressive, Xerae,” Achilles said as the huge chunk of mithril—mixed with living steel— morphed into an armored warrior wielding a broadsword.
“You will have to supply me with the formation, Achilles,” Jerome said walking forward. “I’d do it myself but it’ll be exhausting.”
Hedon stood where he was stupefied as he watched the metal behind Jerome morph into a giant that was almost as tall as the Argonaut.
“For that, you will have to give me control of your, er… ‘mithril x flowing steel’ puppet warrior, ahah!—see what I did there?”
Jerome snorted at that, not bothering to respond.
“You could have just asked and I’ll teleport the nanites here, though,” Achilles said.
“Bad idea,” Jerome said as he thought about giving Achilles control of the living metal. He wasn’t actively controlling the metal — not anymore. Now that he knew this happened because of the mithril, it was quite easy to accept that he was a freak of nature. Before absorbing the mithril, he had to actively control Suzie. But this wasn’t the time to contemplate such things so he shrugged inwardly and passed his intent for the metal to obey Achilles.
“Perfect!” Achilles exclaimed and the Argonaut shot toward Jerome.
Jerome didn’t bother looking back. With a loud boom, a shockwave spread everywhere as the two giants crashed into each other.