CHAPTER 196

Tom’s muscled trembled, but he didn’t spring to attack.

The only thing that stopped him from exploding into violence was that True Dreaming had effectively prepared him for this situation. His instincts screamed at him to bring vengeful justice upon Keikain. To punish him for sacrificing his friend, but those previous visions they acted like dirt being scattered on a smouldering fire. A safety valve that released just enough pressure for him to reign in his homicidal impulses.

True Dreams were sent to benefit him. If that warning just let him destroy Keikain earlier than otherwise, then where was his profit? The visions he had received let him understand the pressure Keikain had been under regarding his personal madness. That was fine, but they were not needed to uncover the deception. There was never a pathway where Tom would have failed to unravel Sven’s fate. Pre-knowledge of bloodline point restrictions and the timing of the descent into insanity changed nothing.

Tom knew his own personality and he would not have let things lie. There was no reality where he wouldn’t have investigated further. Only Clare and Keikain had been present when Sven sacrificed himself. Nope. Internally, he shook his head. That would have set off his bullshit metre at maximum intensity. He would have asked questions and Keikain would have been compelled by their contract to answer them. Failing that, True Dreaming would have revealed the truth of the matter in short order when he attempted to live the final moments of Sven’s death to see what happened. This was a secret that was always going to be exposed. Tom was a hundred percent certain of that.

It was a simple deduction that the reason for those earlier visions had to be something else.

It was foam retardant thrown over the red hot flames of his fury. The pre-warning suppressed him and stopped him from acting.

Forcefully, Tom released the tight grip on his weapon. He stood and then, with an effort of will, forced the spear to vanish into spatial storage.

Yes, he could have claimed justice now, but he didn’t have to. This was something he could do later and getting contract backlash down here would probably be the death of them all. Tom was comfortably the highest ranked of them and the only one who could fight the monsters in the circular eco system on a one-to-one basis. The rest of the group needed his abilities to escape the underground and after that they had a mission to fulfil.

Tom detested the situation, but lashing out with ill-considered violence was not the best option. Justice could be served cold, even if it took a few years to ferment.

Justice Tom promised himself would be served.

Keikain, despite his outward act looked concerned.

Tom smiled internally. The other man thought he was a mastermind, but he didn’t know how close he had just come to dying in the cave. He was alive, not because of anything he had planned out, but because Tom willed it to continue to be so.

There would be no murder today, but the second question Tom had to ask himself was should he confess to everyone else. Explain the dreams and reveal the farce that Keikain and Clare’s fake grief truly represented. Then they all would understand the anger the bubbled within Tom.

Something warned him away from that path. There was a certainty there that did not belong. A conviction that after a moment of self-reflection could only have arisen from True Dreaming. Those dreams along with being intended to stop him from murdering the bastard immediately were also there to stop him from sabotaging the other man’s position within the group.

There was more to life than faux morality even if it was easy to settle for firm black and whites. There were shades of grey and sometimes evil ignored was a wiser course than evil purged. He had a higher responsibility and despite what Everlyn wanted, the right thing to do was not to indulge in ethics and self sabotaging moral gestures.

What would telling everyone about the remaining killer’s newest transgression achieve?

Everlyn would become more broken. She would seek revenge and she wouldn’t be the only one. Tom could see that when he glanced around. Toni was brawling her eyes out, thinking that her crush had died a hero, at least on some level. If she knew that she had been duped and Sven had instead been killed by the others, then what would she do?

How about Rahmat and Thor?

Tom already knew their views. What would this latest truth do?

He didn’t need a master in psychology to know he sat upon a minefield.

The situation sucked, and there was a pit of despair in his stomach. He should have listened to Everlyn at the start. The allure of the bloodline, particularly once they got ten or twenty sacrifices under their belt and the accelerated fate use had seduced him.

He wanted that power working for humanity and had been willing to hold his nose.

Did this change anything?

Was what Keikain and Clare done even wrong?

They had a deadline. One of them was going to die, and all that changed was who. They had chosen themselves instead of leaving it to chance.

Was that evil?

Tom, if he thought about things logically saw why it all made sense. Sven wasn’t a victim in the usual sense. It had been his plan.

And much as he still wanted to wring Keikain’s neck Tom knew Sven had created this outcome. Yesterday Keikain had been pushing to attack the scientist to avoid the need for Sven to sacrifice himself. That had not been a mistake on the earth mages part. Keikain was competent. He would have known that such an attempt would have had a chance of success in the single digit percentages. Yet he had wanted to do that rather than sacrifice Sven. He had been willing to risk likely death to keep the three of them going.

Was Keikain truly wicked? Was he still a villain when you went beyond the obvious truths and assessed the entire situation?

Especially when you considered Sven’s mental state. He had been truly distraught over what the bloodline had forced him to do. This sacrifice was an opportunity for the spellsword to escape the curse and boost humanity at the same time.

The messy inner motivations complicated everything. Yes, Clare and Keikain were misleading them all, but they weren’t lying about the most important thing. Sven had chosen this course.

“What’s up?” Michael patted his shoulder. “Tom? Your emotions… what’s troubling you.”

“I wish I’d been there to say goodbye.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Keikain sag in relief. For all the earth mages’ evilness, he was very capable. He had noticed that Tom was reacting to more than Sven being missing. With Tom’s True Dreaming skill, and the contract between them Keikain must recognise the risks. He would have to be terrified that Tom would choose to dig further and if he did, they would be exposed.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Not today, Tom told himself. For now, he would use them. Together they would do what they could to save humanity and then he would come down like an avalanche on top of the other man. Crush him, destroy him utterly and make him pay for this travesty of an outcome. Sven was the best person out of the three of them and he was dead as a result of Keikain prioritising his own life, potentially by deliberately escalating the feelings of guilt in the spell sword.

There would be justice, but now that he had calmed down it would have to wait till later.

“I wish we’d been able to find a suitable sapient in order to have avoided the situation completely.”

Michael frowned at that. “A terror one.”

“Exactly.” Tom didn’t smile. His eyes pinned the earth mage and wondered how much time he had. Had he extended the counter by days or weeks? He couldn’t ask here because people would overhear, but once they were moving again, there would be an opportunity and Tom would ensure he got the details.

Toni continued to cry in the corner. Tom forced his eyes away and studied the ritual display that Harry had created. It looked like some eight-legged cat like monstrosity was the latest joinee, to the melee. They were the size of hippopotamus, however; they moved with all the savage grace of the terrestrial cats.

All that physical prowess, and they were still being butchered by the entrenched monsters.

It was boring, and he turned his attention away from that and went through his exercise forms.

Sven was dead, and he was doing nothing to stop it. He thrust savagely.

It felt like a betrayal.

“Tom.”

He stopped mid spin and faced Rahmat.

“Would you like to spar?”

Tom hesitated for a moment worried that his fury might result him hitting the other man too hard. Then he decided that they had extra healers and he could trust himself not to kill. “I’ll try not to hurt you too badly.”

Rahmat laughed. “We have healers. Just avoid head blows.”

“Agreed.”

They clashed in a violent explosion of force. Tom focused on his form and making sure his higher attributes did not carry the fight. He forced himself to slow down. Dodge kicked in and out as Rahmat ran through his various skills to steal time and space away from him. It left a couple of minor scratches on him.

Harry, Thor and Michael all stood on the sidelines with their weapons drawn. They looked hopeful.

Tom grinned. “Fine, all at once. Don’t hold back.”

They attacked.

Suddenly, he was dodging in earnest. They knew about his teleport ability and sought to frustrate it by blocking the surrounding space. Time slowed down to the maximum amount. Tom mentally assessed the situation. They had him caged.

A thrown spear, two daggers and the primary weapons acting to stop a teleport while Thor’s hammer swung at his midriff.

If his teleport let him twist his body slightly…

There was a click as something gave way, and the teleport occurred. He was used to his perception changing, but this time his body orientation shifted as well.

The hammer missed. He parried a spear strike and leapt back to create space. “Take that. That’s a teleport level.”

Everyone looked like he had two heads.

“Are you sure?” Michael asked. “It’s tier four, and it’s only been a few days.”

Tom, with a blink was in his system room with the skill displayed up on the board.

Skill: Battle Teleport (1) (tier 4)

This skill allows the user to teleport in any direction by exactly five centimetres every three seconds.

The entire body is affected and the base skill provides a minimal capacity to adjust the positioning.

Levels will unlock extra flexibility.

He read the details and returned to the real world once more. “You’re right, there has been no leveling and no sideways evolution.”

“Okay,” Michael said, with a confused expression.

“But the skill has changed.”

“It’s name?”

“No, the description has shifted slightly. It used to state explicitly that there was no ability to re-position, but now there is minimal capacity to do so.”

“That doesn’t seem particularly material.” Michael said doubtfully.

“That’s because you’re not a fighter like us,” Harry interrupted. “It’s a game changer.”

“It is.” Tom admitted, giving Harry a wry glance. Harry was an academic at heart, but Tom remembered how he fought against the goats. While his natural inclinations made him better as a support person, Tom got the feeling that he had a warrior heart and was happiest when fighting. He obviously considered himself to be more of a fighter than Michael. “You guys had me pinned so that Thor’s blow was going to hit, but I was able to turn my shoulders slightly when teleporting and slip into a gap that wouldn’t otherwise be there.”

“Also going to be vital during skirmishes.” Harry pointed out. “Once you get used to it, you’ll be able to teleport and not lose your footing.”

“I’m well aware of that.” Tom agreed. “Come on. Let’s see if it makes a difference.”

They attacked as one and given his proven ability to dodge they coordinated their strikes. Everyone but Harry went for space, which meant if he dodged he risked running into their blows. A teleport took him to the left and back. Thor’s hammer swept through the air just missing his shoulder. Harry’s spear flashed through the gap next to him.

Tom smiled as he immediately pivoted off both feet. The improved teleport having allowed both feet to remain pressed on the uneven ground. For once, he had not had to wait for gravity to give him a grip with one of his feet. With a smile, he threw himself into the routine. In the first engagement, he had been forced to counterattack to create space. This time, there was no need. All he did was dodge, parry the occasional attack and teleport as required.

They pulled back, gasping for breath.

“Verdict?” Michael asked.

“I think I can move about five percent of my mass to a new location… maybe ten percent if I push, but that gives me a longer cooldown.”

“So basically you have to keep your general position each time.” Harry said.

“Yes, but ten percent lets me turn my shoulders slightly, or extend a leg, or duck my head, or reposition a hand. In the heat of battle, they’re pretty large changes not to mention that I’m moving five centimetres from where I was before.”

“It must be nice being a Tom.” Michael said dryly. “All these overpowered upgrades coming so easily.”

“You weren’t saying that when I was being stung by a thousand wasps.”

They all laughed at that.

“No, you’re right. I was happy being the protected healer then.”

“Again?” Tom suggested.

“Jingyi, girls, any of you want to join in?” Michael asked with a grin.

Toni and the scout stood and came over.

“If you give me a spare spear?” Everlyn proposed holding out a hand.

“I don’t think seven on one is fair.”

“Don’t worry about it Tom,” Michael said, laughing. “You’ll probably improve your teleport again.”

Tom produced his second weapon and tossed it to Everlyn, and they all circled around him.

Then they attacked at once. Everlyn must have coordinated them all with her party chat.

Black Dodge kicked in immediately. Teleport saved him, but instantly they closed in again. They might not be used to group tactics, but they all knew how to fight, even Michael.

The attacks came impossibly quickly. He endured. Touch Heal flared constantly to heal the wounds they left. A hammer hit his shoulder and sent him crashing into the disgusting mess of kobolds. Thor laughed in glee, and Tom had to roll frantically to the side as multiple weapons thrust at him.

Fate crashed around him, a small tsunami. All of it was his own, as none of them were wasting fate on something as trivial as a spar. The fate affected the battlefield as the build up got converted into action.

Everlyn slipped on a smear of kobold juice despite her attributes. She tumbled to the ground right in front of him. He had the option of slamming the base of his spear into her face and knocking her out, but that was a step too far. Instead, he directed the blow at the last moment and gave her a stinger on her biceps. Thor crashed into Michael and Tom already leaning forward went with an impromptu forward roll and thrust his spear out to tangle Rahmat’s feet, which sent him sprawling into Toni and Harry. As a trio, they toppled over.

He rolled under a pair of Jingyi knives and lashed out with a punch instinctively. The scout collapsed gasping for breath.

Tom stood in the middle cave. Everyone else in the bout was on the floor.

“Fuck, that fate build up is deadly when it goes off.” Harry said from where he lay on the ground, panting.

“It’s his black dodge.” Everlyn said, picking herself up. “That thing effectively doubles or triples his attributes. The fate help is nothing against that raw boost in speed.”

“I think it’s the integrated teleport.” Rahmat said. “I’m going to save for something similar. It totally changes the angles in the battle.”

“It’s all of it,” Thor said. “His enemies are going to be in for a shock. If they don’t overwhelm him immediately, they’re going to be in for a terrible surprise, because you think you’re winning, you see the blood and assume you’re sapping his strength, but you’re not. His healing keeps him at peak physical strength and the fate continually builds. The longer it goes the less chance you have and eventually…” Thor hit the rock under him. “Your environment betrays you and you fall when you shouldn’t and then it is over.”