-- Aster --

Fleeing through the streets at my top speed, I found every step seemed to almost teleport me to the next, with every step pushing forward almost twenty meters. I didn't know a human could even move this fast. I quickly had to slow down as the wind was pelting me making it hard to keep a straight route, to a surprising degree, but even slowed I felt an incredible sense of freedom, and elation, letting out a loud laugh. I could almost forget I was being hunted by an entire city.

The wind was screaming in my ears when I reached a massive crossroads, a place that hundreds of people could gather and still have room. On a whim, I stopped to take in this massive area I had never been to. It had large screens, and advertisements all around and plenty of little restaurants, and a few hotels. The buildings right around here were some of the tallest in the city reaching around fifty stories, any higher and they might hit the city shield.

I could only smile as I decided to do something I always wanted to do. I jumped and began to run up one of the buildings. I reached the top of one of the screens and stopped to look down only to find multiple spells flying at me.

Maybe I shouldn't climb the towers.

I jumped to another building as I heard the loud explosion of the screen behind me. I couldn't help myself, as I laughed again. All this property damage and I haven't done any of it. I couldn't believe how free I felt without falling away from myself.

Oh sure. I was being chased, and below I could see plenty of people chasing me, enough to look like a kicked ants nest, and I was sure there were plenty of people waiting, hidden within the city, patiently holding their position ready to take me out when I passed by. None of that mattered to me as I danced my way through the city.

My dance partner was the city and she had a fiery temper, and she was angry at me. Her people kept trying to slam her feet on my toes with fire. Forced me to spin and twist through sword swings, and arrows. A slide and bend across ice walls. A yank and tear ripped every arrow that hit home, leaving a small trail of blood. Leading the city on our dance of death.

Finally, a trap was sprung and I completely missed a step. I found myself in a small crossroads, surrounded on all sides by people, working in tandem to create a wall of sand, trapping me within the eye of the storm. For the first time, I could reach the tops without worrying about snipers. I took the chance to get a better view of what was happening, running up the side of the building. Reaching the tops I found the storm even higher than I could jump from here.

How many people are working together to create a storm this high?

Looking from the top of the buildings I could see my pursuers and dozens working together concentrating on the storm. With what looked to be their teammates inside the storm slowly pulled in to capture me.

I wonder what they would get if they win? It must be big if so many people are willing to almost destroy the city to stop me.

Letting out a long laugh the working began to pull in shrinking the open area. I did what they least expected. I dived towards the core of the magic because I could see all the threads of power feeding into the spell. I pulled my dagger and extended the edge of power twenty meters and spun cutting all the threads. The storm ended with sand raining down, and mages falling to the ground from the backlash. The warriors inside the storm were blinded by the sand falling in their eyes. My mask was keeping the debris out of my eyes. Though that didn't matter as when the spell fell another magic work went off.

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An implosion pulling everything appeared behind me yanking me, the casters, and everything else within ten meters out of the air and into it. I had no time to react and could only let it pull me in. I felt my organs churn from the pull, as I saw the stone spikes at the center and the massive of people and assorted death fly towards me.

This is going to hurt.

I was right as I hit this spike it penetrated my side. I was lucky it missed anything important but the flying debris was heading to me to finish me off. Thankfully the pull was only one massive yank, so once I was impaled I could move and rip myself free. "Change" I funneled power into my dagger having it morph into a thin shield I reinforced it by coating it in power. It formed just in time for me to deflect the debris, and some of the people caught in the pull. If they were able to react I might have been in trouble with them. The spells that were pulled were much more dangerous as they hit the shield the fire nearly wrapped around the shield. I felt my face burn, as impact after impact pushed me back.

"Fuck!"

I lost control over the shield for a moment lifting it just too high as a spike of ice hit me in my thigh. I could feel the ice sapping my heat. I moved the shield down onto the thread cutting off the flow of power. The icicle melted but I still felt ice in my leg. Some of my blood had frozen. I was so occupied with the ice I failed to see the giant piece of the wall falling above me. I barely got my shield up in time to keep it from completely crushing me.

I feel like a cockroach.

I finally had a second to breathe, even though I was under a big piece of a building. I could hear the people yelling.

"Don't let him get away."

"He's stuck. There is no way he can even get up."

"If he's even alive." Another person commented.

The first voice yelled again, "Of course he is still alive. The city-wide quest is still active."

I took that as my queue, flooding my body with power, and shoving the wall off of me aiming it at the trio of voices. I didn't wait to see the result I only heard a couple of quick screams. I made my way to one of the exits only to find it blocked off by two guards standing ready for me.

"Hello." Instead of backing off, I charged.

The two officer's eyes widen in surprise, but they were too well trained as one of them lifted his ax, and the other held his staff casting a spell. Suddenly, a wall of earth appeared in front of me. It appeared too close for me to react, so I tucked my shoulder and rammed through it.

I regretted doing that immediately. My body rammed through it but I felt like deep damage in my shoulder, almost dislocating it. I didn't even get a second as another wall appeared in front of me. This time I tried to jump over it, only to be met by a blade of wind right into my chest right as I crested the wall.

The moment the blade hit me I instinctively moved power in the area to cushion the strike. Thankfully my reactions had increased to the point that I could keep it from bisecting me. Leaving only a half-inch slice across my chest. Now I was bleeding, my shoulder hurt, not to mention the other burns and punctures all across my body. I was accumulating a large number of wounds and didn't know how much more my body could take.

I was annoyed, but more at myself. I formed a tag for one of the guards and spoke a single word "FASTER".

One moment I was still twenty feet away from the next I was right behind the two, and I took the chance to stab the ax holding guard in the shoulder. I paused to take the second it takes to make another tag when the man I just stab spun around swinging his ax right at my legs. Almost at the same time, an earth spike shot from the ground. I was still affected by my word and simply jumped over the ax man landing on the flat of the axes head.

Always wanted to do that.

Both men's jaws dropped giving me the distraction I needed to shove my knife into the side of the caster

"That's three."

For the first time my mind could keep up with the speed I moved while using faster. With my ability still active, I shocked the guards again I ran. Moving almost instantly three blocks away, as I weaved through the streets.

Turning a corner I suddenly saw a flash of steel swing towards my face. I used all of my speed to pull my knife up to block the strike. Somehow I succeeded but was thrown back and across the street. Somehow I kept my footing as I looked up to see who stopped me.

A woman in an owl mask stood with her sword ready, I could almost feel her animosity when I remembered a warning.

Owls hunt shadows, and when they hunt there never alone.

I looked around and found the expected owls on all the surrounding buildings. Each of them was ready to kill me.

I let out one word. "Fuck!"