They’d been blitzing through tunnel after tunnel for what’d felt like a lifetime.
Until, so suddenly that it was almost surreal, they were freed from those cramped confines altogether. The space around them opening up into an enormous cavern. One so impossibly large that he’d genuinely felt as though every harsh step he took could be heard for several kilometers around.
This was where the third ambush occurred.
The floor was very strange, he’d noticed almost immediately. Smooth in a way that the craggy rock of the tunnels had lacked. Curious, Jun bent down to drag a hand across the flat stone.
How odd. It’s almost as if it’s… manmade? But how can that be?
Shaking his head at the oddity, Jun got back to his feet and continued onward towards… wherever it was they were going.
The illumination from his system screen only lit the darkness for about three or so meters in any given direction. It was a bit of an eye sore to have up all of the time, so he’d tried to position it as far out of the way as possible. As it so happened, that meant positioning it just above his head.
On its own it couldn’t have given him more than a perfunctory warning of imminent danger before spirit beasts came boiling out from the inky blackness, savage bone weapons in tow. Luckily for him, he didn’t need to see them to know they were there.
Not when he had Ivory that was.
If it weren’t for her perch atop his head, giving him silent warning of any incoming threats with sharp tugs on his hair in their respective directions, he’d have likely been caught flatfooted by the attack. And, if it weren’t for his previous combat experiences—all three of them, thank you very much—there was no way he’d have survived the next few seconds.
He felt her small weight vanish from atop his head.
It was for the best, they’d both decided. And even though that meant his effective sight shrank back down to three or so meters, the alternative was far too risky to countenance. Especially given what inevitably came next. From this point onward she’d give what support she could from the air.
A not inconsiderable advantage, as it so happened.
Now knowing to look out for it, he was able to sense the negligible distortions each concept made moments before he saw them. A pincer attack. Five simultaneous strikes from all four cardinal directions. A terrifying prospect under normal circumstances. That said, he’d been no slouch over the past two hours.
He recalled the feelings of helplessness he’d felt having his ace in the hole rebuffed so easily. Since then, he’d adopted a number of steps to minimize the chances of that ever happening again. Step number one, don’t let the enemy dictate the terms.
Instead of taking the brunt of the five-pronged attack, he dashed to his left, spirit empowering his legs—aiming for what he could only hope was a weak link in the chain. He locked eyes with the rat beast, much taller than most, sporting a brick house of a frame. Likely a base requirement to wield the truly massive club it brandished. The thing already swinging downward in a decapitating arc.
Was it still decapitation if his head was turned to mush?
Very important musings aside, while the blow was certainly fast, Jun was clearly faster. His newfound agility—the consolidation of celestial essence empowering his meager frame—unconcerned by a strike as slow as this.
With a step and a pivot, he avoided the vertical blow narrowly. Angling his body so that the swing just barely whistled by.
Definitely intentional, and not at all by the skin of my teeth.
Despite his sick evasion, however, as the club shot past—trailing a dense cloud of silver vapor—Jun could still feel the pressure of the concept trying to crush him.
Just being in the near proximity of the billowing cloud was enough to send his body careening. He knew that much from ample experience. So long as he did nothing to stop it that was. Without missing a beat, Jun raised his right hand and released all the pent-up aura he’d held in reserve.
Sword Slash
Or a modified version of it at any rate. It was a crude and brutal thing. Half a dozen ruby red spikes exploding from his hand at odd angles, turning his upraised fist into a miniature Morningstar.
Crude, though, surprisingly effective.
A wild series of swings—as if to ward away a fly—was all it took to rip to shreds the cloud of crushing force seeking to envelope him. Then, just as the massive club impacted the floor hard enough to crater it, Jun spun on his heel, let his arm go loose, and struck blindly. He nearly lost his balance in the process, but he eventually succeeded in a full three-hundred sixty degree turn.
His elegant and highly specialized ‘spinning top technique’ landing a devastating backhand to the brute in passing by way of calculated repartee—nearly severing the beasts arm at the elbow.
Also very intentional.
Before he could turn again to finish the job, however, a spear tip appeared to his immediate right—glowing with a pale green sheen that hummed with piercing aura.
Meanwhile, from the opposite direction, a long, two-handed blade closed in—aiming for his midsection in a horizontal sweep. Emitting the savage will to cleave him in two, it was trailed by a faint yellow shimmer that left ripples in the air in its wake. Seeing no other option, Jun did the only thing he could think to.
He jumped.
This time, to his great relief, he managed to finely control his ascent. Jun flipped through the air with a modicum of grace—barely cresting the furry crowns of his two combatants.
He’d learned from the last few bouts how much of an easy target being airborne made you and didn’t relish being vulnerable like that for any longer than he had to be. The sword and the spear streaked by underneath him—crude weapons practically singing with the speed of their passage—only to collide with a brilliant flash that was only partially visual.
Clearly the less strength-oriented fighter of the two, the spear wielder was the only one to lose their weapon in the exchange. A fact which Jun didn’t fail to capitalize on. Landing adroitly—he only staggered twice this time, a new record—he only spared a brief glance in the sword wielder’s direction before he acted. Jun locked eyes with the now spear-less warrior, sped up his circulation, and pounced.
Before the rat-kin in a flash, the beast was, in turn, scarily fast to recover.
It swiftly righted its stance, then, with a shrill, feral cry, thrust its arm forward to meet his charge—its steepled claws radiating the piercing force of the spear.
Without thinking, Jun met the beast’s challenge with a slash of his own. A contemptuous sneer plastered on his face. He aimed for where the beasts neck met its shoulder, and, with a thought, contorted his [Sword Slash] into a more traditional claw shape. Delivering a savage swipe which streamed ribbons of crimson smoke in its wake, like twining trails of looping, etherial braids.
Then, in the split second before contact, the world around him slowed and was leeched of color. The experience far milder than it had been the first time. Instead of lasting for what felt like long seconds, it merely served as a brief warning that he’d missed something crucial. After a second of disorientation, Jun recognized the problem.
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Without him realizing it, the beast’s thrust had been subtly drifting towards his heart. Mind heightened beyond anything he’d ever thought possible, and aura making him feel as though he could do the impossible, he didn’t even hesitate to shift his center of gravity so that, when the strike inevitably did land, it would take him just above the collarbone instead.
Then, as an added layer of precaution, just as the beast’s extended claws were inches from his skin, he reached up and snatched the hairy thing by the wrist—moving so fast he felt muscles tear—and released a rapid burst of sword slashes.
Most of his blades broke on the focused cone of piercing aura that coated the arm, but that was basically to be expected. In the same way stopping the strike outright, through main force alone, had likewise been out of the question.
He’d already come to realize that these beasts were ridiculously strong. Knowing that, he’d never intended for his weak hold to impede its claws. Merely to disrupt and chip away at the stubborn piercing force surrounding them—lessening their potential damage by half.
In the next second, color returned to the world, the beast’s claws neatly punched through his shoulder, and his own clawed hand reached its intended destination: the creature’s unprotected throat. The burst of pain was nearly enough to spoil his aim. Gritting his teeth, he let his aura flare even brighter—eliciting a blessed wave of calm—even as he repaid the filthy rodent in kind. Splitting it all the way from collar bone to groin.
Blood, and much worse, splattered Jun all down his front. It was a testament to how far he’d been pushed in recent hours that all he felt in that moment was grateful none had gotten in his eyes.
With a look of surprise, the rat-kin stumbled back in shock—slipping on its own blood and pulling its paw from his shoulder with a wet shlock.
Even through his aura, Jun nearly fainted from the pain. His body swayed drunkenly, vision turned blurry, sounds as distant as the far horizon. Despite his resolve, despite his aura, he found himself fading in and out of consciousness. Until, that was, the faint pad of approaching footsteps snapped him back to awareness as if a bucket of water had been poured over his head.
….right… mortal danger. Really can’t keep forgetting about things like that. It’s bad for my health.
With an effort, Jun turned to see three furry figures racing towards him. The sword wielder in front, and two other spear wielders behind.
Well, it worked once. Who's to say it can’t work again?
Jun snatched up the tail of the spear wielder before it could slide out of range. It didn’t resist. He didn’t know whether the beast was dead, or if it was simply too shocked to react, but either way, with a full torque and flex of his body, he flung the dying rat-kin with pinpoint accuracy.
Man, I’ve gotten good at that. Must be all the practice.
With an audible crack, the two spear wielders fell under the weight of their comrade. Which only left the sword wielder for him to deal with. The very same rat with its feet firmly planted, and a mighty diagonal cleave already on its way.
This time, Jun didn’t even attempt to dodge.
After all, what was he expending all this effort for? He already knew that he could nullify their concepts with his own. Why waste the energy? And so, instead of dodging around the swing this time, Jun merely raised his hand to meet it head on.
He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw a glint of triumph in the rat-kin’s eyes at what could only be, from its perspective, a sign of surrender. More fool him. Jun almost wanted to laugh.
At the last second a brief leech of color pierced through the haze, reminding him that he should probably lean out of the way of the swing, even if he intended to take it head on.
Otherwise I’d be taking it head off, if you know what I mean.
He did so. The maneuver just barely enough for him to slip beneath the blade as it whistled past. Even still, he’d managed it. And, just as he’d intended, when the fleshy edge of his palm met the sharpened stone of the broadsword, it sliced cleanly through as if the sword were made of cobweb. The wind of its passage ruffling his hair ever so slightly, though accomplishing little more.
He honestly doubted he could’ve achieved anything of the sort without the beast’s prodigious strength lending such a helping hand. As it was, his hand hadn’t even needed to move in the exchange. He’d merely sheared apart the beast’s cleaving force with a blinding series of ruby red slashes, reenforced a final blade with all the aura he could pack into it, then let the rodent beast’s momentum do the rest.
Coincidentally, the suddenly freed tip managed to imbed itself deeply in the club wielder’s chest. The very same he’d gone after at the beginning of the fight.
Convenient.
Putting an end to the subtle sneak attack it’d likely been preparing.
The sword wielder looked down at his now much shorter blade—incredulous—before he too fell to the floor in several pieces. The glowing crimson arc of Jun’s slash leaving after images in the air.
Jun staggered, stumbled, then nearly fell onto his face. Shakily, he swallowed yet another series of mending pills. At the rate he was going through these things, he’d have to restock soon. It probably wasn’t the healthiest thing to be doing either.
He highly doubted they were intended to be gobbled down like candy. Holding a hand to his shoulder, he tried to slow the bleeding as best he knew how. Although, considering his total lack of knowledge on the subject of healing, he was basically just guessing at this point.
Banking on the philosophy that ‘more pressure equals good.’ On the bright side, at least it hadn’t let him down this far.
Your body has transcended its natural limits.
62 CELESTIAL ESSENCE CONSOLIDATED.
Your mind has transcended its natural limits.
62 CELESTIAL ESSENCE CONSOLIDATED.
Your spirit has transcended its natural limits.
62 CELESTIAL ESSENCE CONSOLIDATED.
Despite the sudden surge of revitalizing energy, truthfully, all he wanted to do in that moment was lie down and sleep. Unfortunately, he knew this fight wasn’t over just yet.
Feeling Ivory alight on his head and then go still, he tried not to jostle her too much while he moved, as she was no doubt nursing her own strange injuries. He’d still yet to get the truth out of her regarding her newest ability, but he supposed that would come with time.
Jun staggered over to where he’d last seen the spear wielders fall, only to frown in consternation when he finally reached them.
Where there had once been two downed enemies, now there was only one. Quickly, Jun slit the throat of the first, then looked around, in growing concern, for the second. This wasn’t the first time one of the ambushers had gotten away. And if it was still out there in the dark, waiting for him to let his guard down…? Jun squinted, trying to pierce the murky gloom, but to no avail.
A chill ran down his spine, only serving to agitate his injuries further. Once again, he found himself with no time to properly extract each beast core. And so, feeling a bit queasy at the prospect—before a flare of his aura rid him of such weak emotions entirely—he quickly went to work.
He decapitated each head not already relieved of their occupancy, then stuffed them into his dimensional bag with great speed. Within a minute the job was done, and his hands were that much messier.
Idly, he recognized that he’d have to take care of the growing number of heads soon, before the contents in his dimensional bag began to rot. For now, though, what he really needed was to disappear for a while. Maybe find a safe place to rest and recover.
Unfortunately, he had this sinking suspicion that anything of the sort was still a long, long ways away.
No matter how much it pained him, Jun dropped his cutting aura—thinking to preserve his energy. Instantly, the full weight of his accumulated injuries fell upon him, nearly buckling his knees and making him seriously rethink his decision.
But, he reminded himself, bad as this was, it still didn’t hold a candle to his second breathing form. He could persevere. Would persevere, he decided. Even as every fiber of his being practically screamed for him to re-summon the sweet sweet release of his aura.
He managed to resist the temptation, though only barely.
“What was that?”
Jun paused to listen, but the mumbled words were just as indecipherable as they had been the first time. He understood them of course, the individual sentences, it was just that their meaning was entirely lost on him.
Gently, he reached up a hand to stroke Ivory’s back, careful not to jostle her head in the process. Thinking them the delirious murmurs of a fevered mind, he picked up the pace with renewed urgency—a deepening concern quickening his steps.
Thinking on her ramblings, however, a rare smile tugged at his lips. He decided a gift was in order after this whole ordeal was over. After all, if she liked the books so much, there were plenty more where those first five came from.
“Liang Xin was never this sticky. Usually only takes a page or two. What did I do to become so unlucky? Let him be Li Minghua for a change. See how he likes it. Then I’ll be the one that gets to be very stupid and always hitting the books. I doubt he’d even last a day.”