The switch from non-lethal to lethal force took Albert less than a second. The moment his mind reached the inevitable conclusion that the only way to walk out of this fight alive was to be willing to kill, the whole moral edifice that he had built around the tenet of ‘not killing’ crumbled down into nothingness.

And now, all of a sudden, there were many new strategies he could employ. Telekinesis did not need to be used sparingly, dosing the amount of force. The only limit was mana and the eventual headache that the overuse of Psionics would bring about.

Standing in the middle of the clearing like a turret, Albert reached out with his hands, and Psionic force followed. When they were recalled back to his body the force responded, dragging entire portions of forest along with it, slamming everything to the ground in a deadly blender. The elves were surprisingly fast and resilient, but eventually they were caught in the deadly maelstrom that Albert was unleashing.

Great, towering trees fell down, their trunks shredded at the base. A wide area of destruction spread, the smell of chlorophyll and vegetation filling the air, mixing with the stench of decay coming from the upturned soil and roots of the trees.

Albert grunted. He sensed that an elf was escaping a falling tree, and with a swift movement he caught him mid-air. Without pause, he slammed the foe to the ground repeatedly, but it was not enough to kill him and an arrow coming towards him from behind forced him to let go of his target to shield himself.

His personal shield was long depleted, but a sudden burst of telekinetic force applied with no regard for the safety of others halted the motion of the arrow and then destroyed it completely in a devastating tide of chaos, which then spread to the forest behind and carved a hole dozens of meters deep. The elf, caught in the way, was hurled backwards and disappeared.

Despite this, most enemies were strong enough to resist the crude applications of Telekinesis.

Fireball came to the rescue. The skill could be used to detonate each fifth shot mere millimeters away from the head of one elf a time, and it was impossible to dodge. Any of those who could not be picked off with Telekinesis, too fast or too smart to be intercepted, or perhaps in possession of other means of magical protection or travel, were quickly dispatched with a precise detonation of fire and force too close to their craniums not to deliver serious damage.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Beside Albert, Kainen was a machine of destruction in his own way, picking off the stragglers on the ground before they could rise back to their feet and engaging them in a deadly duel.

The battle continued. Idly, Albert tried to experiment with even better strategies.

Using Firelaser was probably not a good idea, and the same went for Chain Lightning and Earth Shard. Solid-State would need to be tested as well before it could be used effectively. He had new data to supplement his intuitive knowledge of how to use illusions, but it was not enough yet.

Likewise, while Albert could theoretically activate Bullet Time, Dash, Strengthening and go melee using the sword he had, and while it would surely feel quite cathartic, he knew that the risk was not worth the candle.

And of course, if everything else failed, there were enough magically-enhanced explosives and missiles resting in Albert’s inventory to level the whole forest.

Not to mention the nuclear warheads. With the current level of enhancement, which was always improving, the combined force of the nuclear arsenal could probably delete the forest from the map and replace it with a smoldering crater.

Of all the skills he had, Suggestion was the one that could have ended, if not even prevented the fight. And it was the only one Albert did not want to use unless it was really necessary.

***

When the battle was over, only the silence of death remained. The faint crackling of a budding forest fire, and the occasional thunder and crash as shredded branches fell to the ground somewhere among all the destruction, whatever weak string of wood or vine holding them in the air finally giving in.

“Their leader escaped.” Kainen said, staring off into the distance. He crouched, ready to leap off in a mad dash to chase after the elf.

“Let him.” Albert said. “He lives to tell the tale.”

Kainen regarded his companion for a long moment, but the hardness in Albert’s face was enough to make him reluctantly agree to the command. In fact, there was even a hint of surprise, pride and intimidation on his face.

“Hmm.” The man said, pacing around. He prodded some of the bodies lying on the ground with his sword, observing the damage done to them. “Your skills are far crueler than I would have expected.”

“That’s why I didn’t want to use them.” Albert’s voice was flat, now, but there was no fear in it. Nor was there remorse.

Kainen knew that the real reason was vastly different. Perhaps, pushing the boy so much had been a mistake.

“How does your telekinesis work?” He asked, pointing at the hole in the canopy with his chin.

“I move my hands, and far away things follow.” It was not true, of course. Albert only needed his mind. But Kainen didn’t need to know that.