A day of flight and Jack began to slow down, his silver wings retracting as he glided through the airways choked with smog to land within the verdant forest below.
His boots touched the ground, Jack letting out a yawn as he found a large tree to settle in for the night.
Immediately, Ruby came out, the specter preparing for her nightly duties as howls echoed in the distance. From the sound of it, wargs, but nothing Ruby couldn’t deal with.
“I really miss having a bed,” Lilith griped as Jack laid against a tree and shut his eyes.
“You’ll make do,” Jack said as his thoughts began to drift.
[Spiritron Destroyed!]
Suddenly a pain shot through Jack, his system alerting him of Ruby’s destruction just as his entire body lit up with pain.
“Look alive Jack!” Lilith spat with Jack shifting just in time to avoid the blur that took out the tree he'd been laying on.
WHAT THE HELL?!
Jack's eye couldn't track it, didn't feel… whatever it was that passed by meaning one of two things.
Either it was faster than Jack.
Or stronger than Jack.
Neither options sat well, meaning-
[-87HP]
Jack’s head snapped left, the force of the impact releasing a boom as his bones cracked and his neck broke.
What?
Falling on all fours, Jack went wide-eyed, his injuries regenerating fast enough to allow him to conjure a protective dome of mana just before he was sent flying.
Crashing through several trees, Jack finally came to a stop when his body hit a boulder, his eye focusing just enough to see the fist about to slam into his face.
REPULSE!
Jack's body exploded with power, knocking back his assailant, the humanoid blur flying back only to disappear as the familiar sensation of an apostle tickled Jack's skin.
“Fuck, can never get any rest,” Jack muttered before rising to his feet, his body arcing with electricity as he wiped the blood from his mouth.
If Sahaqiel was here he could have probably have detected the apostle, but she wasn't, leaving Jack to try and figure out what he was up against.
Lilith, how's Ruby? Jack sent, his eyes scanning his surroundings as he maintained his barrier of wind and lightning.
“Hurt, but otherwise fine. She'll be back in commission in a day or two.” Lilith reported, the black specter appearing from Jack's shadow to join him.
“What are we dealing with here?” Jack asked, delegating Sahaqiel’s old role to Lilith.
“Speedster, unsure which,” Lilith replied as Jack readied his feathers.
“Great,” Jack muttered as he reached out, the wind mana in the air growing denser as he dropped his mana barrier and spread his particles.
Dealing with speed type enemies was always a pain, besides the obvious outmaneuvering, the only way to directly hurt a speedster was to hit them with an AoE or predict their movements, both of which were hard to do against a being moving at the speed of light.
So, Jack did a third option, he dug his heels in and let his enemy strike him.
[-35 HP]
“Ouuf!” Jack let out, blood flowing from his mouth as he was beset by a series of punches. Left hook, right hook, a blow to his stomach forcing Jack to clench his teeth as he awaited the next blow before springing his trap.
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The next attack took Jack’s right eye, the ocular organ ripped out of his skull before Jack clenched his fist and spread his feathers.
On command, the wind grew denser, a dome of mana solidifying to trap the speedster within a ten-foot circumference around Jack just as his leg was bent backwards.
“Fuck!” Jack growled, clenching his fist and closing the dome, the air growing so dense with mana the earth cracked and the forest kneeled in response.
“There! On your left!”
Jack spun, coming face to face with the black-armored apostle that was struggling under the weight of Jack’s mana.
With the bottom of a mutated deerling, and the upper torso of a black armored man, what ran towards Jack was a hybrid abomination. Something akin to a centaur from Greek mythology if said centaur was covered in writhing tentacles, twisted faces bulging from its body, and black scales covering its flesh.
Hermod.
Jack recognized the angel from Sahaqiel's memories.
Once known as the son of the All-Father, the being known by humanity as an Asgardian was no more than a mutated monster.
And now it was being crushed by Jack's mana with Lilith’s chains siphoning the creature’s energy.
Regenerating his broken leg, Jack stood up and walked over to the creature beginning to vibrate in place.
To bad for you that won't work on me again.
Hermod was attempting to displace Jack's mana, to shake free the shackles that bound him. But Gehenna’s authority was absolute, and after months of being on the run, Jack was no stranger to dealing with speedsters.
“Where… is … Sahaqiel?” Hermod asked as Jack placed boths hands around the Apostle's throat.
“Safe,” Jack said, increasing his grip.
“Good,” Hermod closed his eyes before Jack crushed the Apostle’s throat and drained the creature.
[+50 Mana Reservoir!]
****
Jack sighed, sitting down in the middle of the now destroyed forest and taking a moment before he opened his system as his vision restored itself.
Angel System Status Level 10
TITLE: Angel [Regeneration++ Mana Synthesis++]
User: Jack Tanjihiro Chae-wong
Total Class Level: 20
HP 387/750
CLASS: Key Holder Level 5
CLASS: White Mage Level 5*
CLASS: Wind Aesir Level 10*
MP 120/350[050/750] [Reservoir]
Free Points: 0
AFFINITIES
LIGHT[80]
WIND[65]
FIRE[25]
ABYSSAL[15]
STATS:
STRENGTH: 85
VITALITY: 75
SENSE: 52
AGILITY: 48
ARCANA: 200
POTENTIAL: 10
SOUL STRENGTH: 2
Spiritrons Available: 2(View list)
Spiritron Slotted: Ruby Viole Lamprouge(Loyal)/Incapacitated
Summon Class: Soulfire Shielder(70MP)
[BUFFS]: Partial Rune of Atalanta(Left+Right Leg+10 Agility modifier) Sigil of Gehenna(STR+10),Fractional Blessing of Sahaqiel(+20 Wind Affinity+10 Light Affinity) Skill Siphoning. Pain Tolerance LvL 5. Sense of Bodily Self(Detect bodily belongings) Mental Fortitude LvL 3, Fire Resistance LvL 3, Mana Control LvL 5, Master of the Wind(+15 Wind Affinity) Mana Recovery LvL 5(Passive Recovery+8 MP/s), Elemental Resistance LvL2, Streamline LvL2.(Reduce mana cost of skills), Ride the Lightning, Lightweight+, Aesir constitution. Angelic Constitution. Mana Resistance LvL 2. Blessed(+1 Potential).
[DEBUFFS]: [?1h^&a)o3”] Soul Binding -20MP, Soul Fracture.
[RESISTANCES]: +5 Radiation +175 Anti-Curse, +105 Anti-Corruption. +10 Inertia +25 Fire Resistance +25 Mental resistance, +15 Paralytic Resistance, +10 Freeze Resistance, +15 Poison Resistance, +15 Light resistance, +15 Void Resistance, +15 Wind resistance, +15 Life Resistance.
Jack seldom had a use for his system since that day 6 months ago. After the trauma of the battlefield forced his evolution, he found himself capable of doing more than just imitating magic. Rather, he was now a full fledged angel, a being who didn’t require the crutch of Eve’s curse known as The System.
Still, it was a handy tool to have, with it, he could eye his status in real time, allowing him to track his strength growths, skills, health, mana, and Ruby’s condition. So it wasn’t totally useless.
“You should rest,” Lilith said, materializing beside Jack. “If you keep going like this you will burn yourself out.”
“That's rich, coming from you,” Jack replied.
“Tsk, I'm just protecting my investment,” Lilith hissed, fading away with a swear.
Sitting there, Jack knew the woman’s words to be true. Despite his injuries regenerating at a rapid pace, he was losing HP at an astonishing rate in return. Another fight like this and he’d probably be dead.
Or worse… corrupted.
Jack eyed his chronogear, Selfia’s raid team was waiting on him and at this rate he'd be late.
With a sigh, Jack rose to his feet, he was still a day out from the staging area, another hundred miles give or take.
“Thanks for your concern, but I'll be fine,” Jack replied as yet another tingle touched his skin.