Jeff, talk to me. Did it work?

Affirmative. However, cohesion is lower than expected.

Albert looked around, having found himself along with Scrappy in an unknown place. He was surrounded by whiteness all around, but with hints of shadows and reds in the air. Humidity that was almost solid shrouded the ground and sky, and light from above shone in golden shafts among barely visible marble columns. In the distance above, a hint of a clear blue.

An angelic view, tainted crimson.

Huh. Gravity is nominal. Air is breathable. Could have gone worse.

It’s not real. Jeff supplied.

Which makes me more powerful, doesn’t it?

It does.

Albert looked around some more. Indeed, he did not have the jitters from overusing his power anymore, and his headache felt far away.

But where are we? He asked.

Unknown. Could be an astral space, or the space of the soul.

You don’t know?

Do you? It was you who Bent reality.

Right. Conceded Albert. High level of abstraction coupled with low levels of reality. Figures. I wonder how a mere power 74 can even do this.

You are around 77 now. You gained three in the transition to here, and keep in mind that those 77 points count at least double while you remain in this space. But yes. It is indeed curious. Perhaps by the time you get back, I might have data to run some experiments.

For now though…

“Scrappy. You okay?”

“Uh-huh.” She nodded. “Where are we?”

Albert sucked his teeth. Scrappy didn’t need to know he had no idea. “Lina’s soulspace. Probably. We are here to find the corruption and destroy it. But look sharp. If you die here… there’s no telling what and if any part of you would make it back to your body out there.”

Scrappy dropped into a low stance. Albert would have preferred her to have some more defensive and offensive options rather than just a dodge skill, but they had to work with what they had.

“I see movement.” Albert said.

Scrappy’s expression cleared until all was left was a blank face, devoid of emotion. No, there was something beneath the surface of calm, a feline shadow of aggression in how she showed a hint of teeth and breathed rapidly. She stared straight into the white mist, transfixed on an invisible point.

Soon what she was sensing was made clear. The sound of footsteps approached, closer and closer, until it resolved itself into something different.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

Not footsteps.

A dark shape cut through the light. A ball of darkness, suspended three feet above the featureless ground of this space, held aloft by the powerful heartbeat of feathered wings. It was red, bloody and polished, a crimson gem emblazoned in an intricate crown of gold and feathers. Above it, for the gem was the heart of the creature and its body as well, two eagle heads made of brass and solid gold screamed mightily.

Albert saw Scrappy visibly recoil, the sound almost overwhelming until he cut it off with a wave of his hand, nullifying the sound waves with waveforms equal and opposite to them. That’s when he noticed the weapons.

Below the gem, two sets of talons belonged to each of the twin heads, and they held each one implements of war, brandishing them with precision and grace. A broadsword encrusted with gems and diamonds; and an aquamarine spear, the weapon a solid crystal multifaceted and enchanting.

Many things happened at the same time. Scrappy hissed. Albert threw himself to the side right as the winged gem charged at him, searing, rending the very air where he stood but a moment before. Then it pivoted and rotated in mid-air, as if pulling on invisible ropes, but Albert was ready. Holding a great hammer of shadow he lunged at the flying ruby, meeting its flight midair and swung, the impact mighty and violent, but only faint cracks spread across the surface of the hostile jewel before retreating backwards, like watching time rewind itself as the cracks crawled in reverse.

Arrested in his momentum, Albert struggled to disentangle himself from the reaching sword and spear, landing on the ground with a thud but regaining his balance quickly. That’s when the gem turned to Scrappy.

Albert’s eyes widened, but he had no momentum, and his Power was too spent to immediately act. He saw it happen in slow motion. The gem strafing in the air, diving towards the not-quite-cat girl, the gleaming tip of the spear aimed for her heart. It dove, the moment frozen in time, as if the universe was holding its breath.

Power +1. Total is 78.

Oh.

It wasn’t the universe. It was Albert. Not even realizing, he dashed forward to bodily displace the great gem. It should have never worked, but here in the space of the soul, where reality had but a tenuous hold on how things were, it did. Albert’s intent was strong enough that the gem was thrown off target, and it slammed on the ground with violence.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Albert grinned. Feels good to have Bullet Time again.

Technically, Albert—

Not now.

Albert hefted his hammer and swung at the crystal again, dodging and weaving through its attacks as soon as he saw them. Jeff was working overtime for him, highlighting attack vectors and dodge patterns, but if there was something Albert could do well was fight. He barely even looked at the green and red lines, at the targeting boxes and variable coordinates. He just fought. Hammer against spear and sword, the impacts resonating through the strange air of the astral space. All the while, he kept a sliver of his attention focused on Scrappy. She too had a role to play in all of this.

Earlier, before the monster had manifested to them, Albert had taken the time to explain this place to his companion.

“There are monsters here. But they are not real, rather a manifestation of Doom, mediated by my Power. They will look strange, eerie even for monsters, drawing from my fantasy and Lina’s mind both… I think. I don’t have much control while I’m this weak. We need to kill them all, however many there are, and cleanse Lina from the rampant Doom energy.”

A shadow hammer then manifested in Albert’s hands. “The plan is simple: I’m the tank and you are the assassin. I’ll keep them busy.” He said. “Here, take this. It’s an enchanted knife. It can only hit astral monsters, will work only once per monster, but if you stab a monster in the back it will deal transcendental damage that cannot be resisted. Be wary though: if the monster sees you attacking him, the dagger will become useless and shatter.”

“It’s a strange power.” Scrappy said. “That it is. But I will do my best, Sir!”

“Strange power.” Echoed Albert. “My Power is strange. It was this or no cake. Just be careful. You only have Dodge helping you. I won’t be able to intervene.”

With that, he swung the hammer as if to test its weight. He didn’t need to, the shadows and the hammer beneath them perfectly calibrated to his strength, but the action felt cathartic in preparation for the imminent fights.

It’s just a fancy hammer, Albert.

I know. Fun, isn’t it?

You are about to fight monsters that can tear your soul apart with a hammer. You never used a hammer before.

My Power likes when I do strange stuff, you know it.

The monster had already appeared by then. Albert’s own conversation with Jeff happening at the same time as another conversation happened with Scrappy.

Preparing attack vectors. Try to dance around for a while so I can learn its patterns.

If it has any.

“Showtime. You ready?”

Scrappy clutched the dagger tight. “I am.”

Back to the present, Albert tried his best to keep the ruby gem monster from focusing on Scrappy. They only had a shot at this, but it would be so brutally effective to end the fight in one single move. That’s what he was talking about back in the cave, when he had ranted about overwhelming power.

Clang! The ringing of steel and shadow echoed in the echoless plane of existence, displacing the mist and revealing the sky for a split-second before the mist closed back again. Now, disturbed by the sound and pressure wave, the clouds were darker and ominous, heavy with rain. More monsters were going to come out when the light faded.

Albert’s Power was strange enough that he could always gain an edge of overwhelming power if he was willing to sacrifice enough for it. But as all things were, there was also the tyranny of rank, and it was very clear that he was out of his depth here. Every dodge cost him dearly, scratches and cuts appearing on his body only to quickly heal up at the expense of his mental energy. Every block rattled his bones, sending shivers through his body and reigniting his already raging headache.

All the while, Scrappy scurried around the battlefield like a shadow. She didn’t have a stealth skill, but moved as if she did.

Albert’s eyes widened. A momentary lapse in concentration meant that he didn’t see the spear coming at him from the back. The ruby monster had more reach and range than he thought possible, but in this environment of low reality much more was possible than the real world, not to mention the fact that both Mana and Doom laughed in the face of the laws of physics.

He clenched his jaw, expecting the blow to come. He could tank it, but it would disable him for the next fight. Better than death, but it would force them to abort their mission.

The blow never came. When Albert opened his eyes again, after having reflexively closed them once he had figured out he could do no more, he saw the gleaming tip of Scrappy’s dagger sprouting from the body of the ruby monster. A spiderweb of cracks spread rapidly from the point of contact, and the whole gem exploded in a shower of splinters and red smoke.

Albert didn’t hesitate. Even as his eyes were still wide out of their sockets in surprise, he quickly gained control of the red cloud of Doom, waving his hands around while still sprawled on the floor. At the other side of the cloud, as if looking through murky water, was Scrappy. Her face was tight in concentration, the adrenaline not yet flushed from her system mere moments after the fight was over, her brow riddled with sweat and her dark hair wet and glistening in the humid mist.

With but a thought, Albert directed the cloud of Doom, cracking with unspent energy that was malign and ominous, right into her body. She gasped. It was almost too much to absorb, but Albert was there to help, directing the energy to mingle with her own Doom energy, empowering her, making her more, making her better. Gifting her with what they needed to survive, making her more of herself in the process, rendering her more whole.

That’s when she saw the message box. Albert did too, his control over her expression of power total and absolute, Doom recognizing him as the true master.

You have gained a new skill!

Stalk (growth). Stalk your prey, circling it unseen until the right moment comes to pounce and slay it.

Activate the skill enter a Stealth state. While in Stealth, your efforts to remain unseen are more effective, and enemies will not focus unless you are their primary target.

Your next attack will cancel Stealth and gain extra power for every second of combat you spend unseen.

“Hell yeah!” Screamed Scrappy.

“Language.” Albert said sternly,

Scrappy fell silent. Albert stared at her. She stared back in defiance. They held each other’s gaze.

A few seconds.

Some more.

Then they both exploded with laughter at the same time.

“Hell yeah indeed.” Albert beamed at her. “How do you like it?”

“I love it!”

Albert regarded the smile on Scrappy’s small face. This, he figured, would be a moment he remembered for years to come. Albert was not fighting and growing stronger for the sake of himself, he realized, not anymore. He had been, back in Tulebord. And the ruinous consequences had been proof enough of his mistakes.

Not anymore. Now he was fighting for others. To protect and nurture the smile on Scrappy’s face. To save Lina, whom he barely even knew.

And on the grander scale of things, he was struggling against impossible odds to save the world itself. 49 weeks until Doom reached 100% concentration, much less before the world would become uninhabitable.

Had it only been for himself and himself only, he would have faltered. Perhaps not against the ruby monster. Perhaps not even with the Gomm Jabar plagiarized trial. But eventually he would have. A mistake here, a lack of will there. All the way down a spiral leading to nowhere but despair.

Only the invigorating idea that he was fighting for something greater than himself, something worth saving, could give him the strength he needed. Not that he wanted to save the world, of course. The present needed to disappear for the past to come back. But he could take Lina and Scrappy with him back to his original time. He only needed to figure out how.

Power +3 . Total is 81.

“Are you okay?” Scrappy asked.

“I am.” Albert said. With new fervor, he looked in the distance where more clouds of red, evil Doom loomed close. His face tightened, steeled by renewed resolve. “Let’s go.”