Jake wasn’t prone to panic. This trait had recently been acquired through experience rather than having existed in him from birth. In the past few days of surviving in this world, he’d learned how to control his emotions and keep his cool.
However, when he found himself surrounded by dozens of ex-human mutants converging on him from several directions, he almost freaked out. His first reaction was to whip up his shotgun and train the weapon on the quickly approaching mutants. As his index finger instinctively wrapped around the trigger, Jake hesitated, realizing he couldn’t risk firing his weapon and triggering the anomaly. With that option off the table, his only choice was to flee. His plan was to put some distance between himself and the anomaly before engaging the mutants in combat.
Yet by the time he arrived at this realization, it was already too late to take any action.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a huge shambler barreling toward him. Its huge body rammed into Jake, sending him flying backward. He crashed into a bench that happened to be a few feet behind him. A moan of pain escaped his lips. The shambler had collided with him with the force of a freight train. If he somehow made it out of this predicament alive, it seemed likely that he would end up with a nasty bruise on his chest. However, aside from that, the collision with the shambler had left him unharmed, with no broken bones to speak of. His investment in increasing his Constitution attribute had undoubtedly paid off, rendering his body far more resilient and durable than an average human’s.
Ex-human mutants continued to converge on Jake from multiple directions, creating a menacing cacophony of sounds as they closed in on him. They growled like wild animals, their jaws clacking open and shut in a rhythmic pattern, while their clawed feet scraped against the tiled floor. The anomaly above the fountain reacted to the increasing noise, its presence shimmering and distorting the air. As more mutants entered the atrium, the anomaly grew more animated, mirroring the escalating chaos unfolding around it. Jake was acutely aware that it was only a matter of time before the noise level reached a critical point, triggering the volatile magical phenomenon. From the corner of his eye, he could see the stranger still standing near the second-floor railing, watching the chaos unfold below. The stranger should’ve fled a long time ago, but seemingly paralyzed with fear, he was unable to run away from the impending threat.
Jake knew he had to get as far away from the atrium as possible. However, as it turned out, he only had enough time to stand up. As he leaped to his feet, the shambler directed a fierce gaze at him before unleashing a deafening roar. Jake’s gaze shot toward the anomaly as it erupted in a blinding flash of light. He knew what it meant. He had just enough time to turn and grab hold of the upper edge of the nearest bench, bracing himself for the impending effects of the anomaly.
He felt his legs being swept out from under him as some invisible force pulled him backward. In his peripheral vision, he saw mutants fly toward the anomaly as if they were made of iron and were being attracted to a huge powerful magnet. Ditto for the dead bodies of survivors and other mutants. Anything that wasn’t anchored to the floor was affected by the anomaly’s pull. It felt like a decompression scene from a Sci-fi movie where characters and various objects got thrown into the vacuum of space.
Jake clung to the bench’s edge with all his might, his body suspended in midair, relentlessly drawn toward the anomaly. The force he was being pulled with was so powerful that his grip on the bench was gradually weakening. The bench itself wouldn’t yield to the anomaly’s pull, though. The atrium was overgrown with vegetation, and the roots bursting through the floor tightly wrapped around the bench’s legs, anchoring it securely in place. Despite the bench holding firm, Jake felt his grip slipping. He was acutely aware that he wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.
As the mutants were pulled into the anomaly and met their demise with agonizing screams, Jake glanced at the stranger who was also being affected by its force. He was pinned against the railing on the second floor, likely having crouched down in time to avoid being fully ensnared by the anomaly’s pull. If the stranger hadn’t taken that precaution, he would’ve been catapulted over the railing and drawn into the anomaly’s grasp.
Unlike the fortunate stranger, Jake found himself in a more dangerous position with nothing to stop him from being relentlessly drawn toward the anomaly. His fingers, gripping the edge of the bench like a lifeline, were the sole barrier preventing him from being sucked in. But his grip was slipping, and he was running out of strength. He only needed to hold on a little longer, just for a few more seconds, but each moment felt like an eternity in the face of the impending danger.
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As Jake cast a fearful glance over his shoulder at the ominous phenomenon behind him, he was chilled to the core by what he witnessed. Every mutant pulled into the confined space above the fountain was suspended in midair, gripped by the unseen power of the anomaly. Their limbs were twisted and bent at all the wrong angles, the bones snapping as easily as dry twigs. The flesh was being ripped from the bones as if being torn by huge claws. The sight was so terrifying Jake quickly looked away, not willing to make out all the gruesome details of the mutants being killed. The horrifying realization that he could suffer a similar fate if pulled toward the anomaly only fueled his determination, causing his grasp on the bench to tighten.
Suddenly, the pull of the anomaly disappeared, and he fell to the floor with a resounding thud. A second later, something landed next to him with a wet smack. He glanced at it and saw it was a piece of flesh. Still lying on his stomach, Jake looked over his shoulder at the anomaly. The phenomenon was disgorging what was left of the mutants, pulpy lumps of torn flesh raining down all around the atrium.
As a metallic clank echoed nearby, Jake shifted his gaze to discover his shotgun lying on the floor nearby where it had just landed. Unlike the mangled remains of the mutants, the weapon had not been shredded but twisted into a contorted shape, rendering it irreparable. However, his trusty assault rifle remained slung over his shoulder.
As Jake rose to his feet, the sharp report of gunfire shattered the air. The anomaly remained inert, still in a state of recharge, unresponsive to the deafening shots. For the next minute or so, it would be harmless. The bullets hailed from above, unmistakably aimed at him. In a heartbeat, Jake recognized the identity of the shooter.
He turned and looked up. Sure enough, the stranger still stood at the railing on the second floor, the weapon held in his hands and pointed down at Jake. He must have decided to seize the opportunity to kill him while the anomaly was temporarily dormant. Only the bullets the stranger had just fired never reached their target. Jake had a passive spell protecting him against enemy gunfire. The mystical barrier intercepted the bullets within a few inches of him, suspending them in mid-air through the power of magic, effectively creating an invisible shield that enveloped him from all directions.
Jake took a few steps to the side, and the invisible magical field followed his movement. However, the bullets remained suspended in their original spots. Once Jake had distanced himself sufficiently from the suspended bullets, the magical field ceased its influence on them. The bullets instantly resumed their trajectory, streaking forward and ripping into the tiled floor. The Protection spell had been automatically activated when Jake had read the scroll earlier that day. With the spell now triggered, it would remain effective for approximately one more minute. Once the time elapsed, the invisible magical field safeguarding Jake would dissipate, leaving him vulnerable to any incoming bullets once again.
The stranger readjusted his aim and unleashed another barrage of bullets toward him. Just like the previous ones, they halted inches from his face due to his protective spell. Jake stepped aside so as not to stand in their path before aiming his own assault rifle at the stranger above. In that tense moment, the realization struck the man that, unlike Jake, he lacked any form of protection.
He half-turned and made to run out of sight, but before he could save himself, Jake squeezed the trigger, stitching his enemy across his torso. Crying out in pain, the stranger dropped his weapon and grabbed the railing to support himself. Losing his balance anyway, he swung over the railing and plummeted to the tiled floor below. The echoing sound of impact reverberated through the empty space, marking the abrupt end of the confrontation. The stranger seemed dead, but Jake fired another burst of bullets at the body just for good measure.
He then looked around. There were no more mutants anywhere in the vicinity; otherwise, they would already have been drawn by the sounds of gunfire. With a cautious sigh, he allowed himself to relax just a little bit. Sliding the rifle over his shoulder, he turned to face the anomaly. The enigmatic entity was currently dormant, devoid of any telltale signs of being active such as sparkling or warping the air. While it currently posed no immediate threat and displayed no observable effects, it was still there, quietly hovering above the fountain, biding its time until the cooldown period ended.
Jake cast another cautious glance around the atrium to make sure he was indeed alone. Stepping closer to the invisible entity hovering above the basin, he cast the closing spell on it, eager to neutralize the deadly anomaly for good and finally complete his mission.