James watched as the cultivators leaped down to the street below, their cloaks billowing out like wings. They weren’t subtle about their approach, the thugs loitering in front of the building jumping to their feet as the cultivators descended. However, they were no match for the four cultivators.
The woman—the one who saved James—lead the charge with a conjured ball of water. Liquid blasted outward from the impact, forming a small twister that sent the nearby thugs flying. The stone-faced cultivator followed, landing with stomp that cracked the floor beneath him. James winced as cracks spidered out from the impact. He hoped the floors were strong enough to hold the buildings up.
The cultivators darted into the building, the thugs outside on the ground in pain. James tried to make himself comfortable as he waited, but the ground refused to cooperate. So instead James tried to make out the origami barrier he rested on.
He’d never seen anything like it. Paper was common enough, sure, but nothing at the Tower resembled the perfect pearlescent color of this paper. James pressed a finger on the paper, a strange vibration moving through his finger. It felt like power, more power than anything in the Tower, and James couldn’t help but feel envy at how easily the cultivator used it.
A cracking sound made James jerk his away from the paper. For a moment, he thought he’d harmed the thing in some way. The second cracking sound, easily discernible, quelled those fears but brought in new ones. The sound came from the Viper’s hideout.
James looked over just in time to see an explosion of rock and metal erupt out of the building. The new volcano shook, spewing out five figures into the sky. A secondary eruption spat a cloud of smoke, remnants of some machinery no doubt.
The cloud sparked with energy, transfixing James’s eyes. Then, a twist of wind sent the smoke hurtling away, once again revealing the five figures. This time, James could get a better look.
Four of the five were the cultivators James had lead to the hideout. The stone-faced cultivator was clutching their shoulder, his figure hunched and strange. James staggered at the sight, realizing the cultivator was now missing an arm. The two siblings heaved in exhaustion, their pristine clothes now tattered and ragged. It was as if a series of blades had carved at them.
The only two that looked somewhat healthy were the woman cultivator and the fifth person—who James now gathered had to be a cultivator as well. There was no other way the man would be able to deal with his attackers otherwise.
This new cultivator looked like a mix between young and old. His body was hunched in the way an elderly scholar’s body looked while reading, but his face and body couldn’t have been more than a young adult's. His face had a charming look, nothing like the overly muscled thugs in the Viper gang, and his blond hair flowed like silk down to his shoulders. His eyes were a clear brown but were pinched together in a look of malice.
James could make out the snarl on his lips as he and the other cultivators landed on the street below. He struck with anger, wildly lashing out without rhyme or reason. Gouges carved into the earth as if the air was a whip he controlled. It lashed with abandon, making its way on course to the four cultivators.
The woman in front steeled her face and stepped before the gale. Water started to flow from her sleeves, two waterfalls splashing to the ground. With dancing grace the woman twisted, sending the waterfalls crashing into the gale.
What James had expected to happen was an explosion of elements. Instead, he watched in awe as the woman danced, somehow collecting the gale in her hands and condensing it. The enemy stomped with rage, the blow kicking rocks into the sky. He followed up with a leap, kicking each rock toward the woman as he moved.
The rocks shot out like bullets, but the woman simply released the gale in her hands to blow it away. The enemy cultivator, seeing his assault blunted, clapped his hands to send a wave of force toward the cultivators. The woman jumped, spinning like a drill and letting the waterfalls on her sleeves surround her. The move pierced through the wall of force, letting her and her wounded comrade behind through safely. The two siblings worked together to meet force with force, crafting a large shield of paper that held off the assault but crumpled immediately.
The enemy struck again as they landed, clapping madly like a petulant child. Wave after wave of force assaulted the cultivators. James stared as the woman again twisted in the air, piercing through the attack with her water shield. The two siblings moved behind her, working in tandem as they procured what looked to be a ball of string. On closer inspection, James noticed it was again some form of paper product, similar to the string on packages. The siblings’ hands worked at impossible speeds, the string changing from a blob to triangles, then tetrahedrons that stacked on top of each other. Energy started to coalesce in the center of the three-dimensional shapes, electricity arcing off the sides to form pinpricks of light and heat.
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Noticing the formation being created, the enemy cultivator stood tall, their back straightening in segments. James could almost hear the horrible popping noises from each movement, and he almost recoiled in revulsion. The only thing that stopped him was the display of power down below.
Now at full height, James could make out another set of arms below the first. They gruesomely tore themselves off the man’s torso. A sticky mess of something dripped from the arms before they twitched. The dripping fluid halted on its path to the ground, hovering in midair before forming into needles that the cultivator sent at the others.
With two arms launching metallic needles and two more attacking with walls of force, the woman below was hard pressed to continue the defense. Her whirling dance moved faster and faster, each movement catching or dispersing the incoming attacks. Needles sunk into the torrents of water and were thrown back with impossible precision toward other incoming needles to halt their momentum. The throw would turn into another drilling spin as she pierced an incoming wall of force before using the rotation to whip water out at more needles.
The dance captivated James so much he didn’t realize how close the group had gotten to his position. The course of the fight had seen everyone inching away from the rubble of the destroyed building into the more open streets. The stone-faced cultivator was still clutching his arm in pain, unable to do anything but sit by. The two siblings stared intensely at their creation, beads of sweat dripping around their eyes as they started to weave the electrified string.
It was apparent the siblings were building up to a powerful attack, and the enemy knew it as well. The man’s attacks came faster and faster, forcing more and more from the woman as she defended. Then, the stalemate broke. The siblings stepped out from behind the woman’s shadow with a shout. The woman ducked low, her legs extending into a split as she leaned forward. The siblings lifted their formation over her and stood behind it.
The four-armed cultivator snarled and whipped needles at the net, only for them to blunt as electricity arched out in return. The man made another attempt, following it up with a wall of force. Both fell to the defenses of the formation.
The woman stood back up, now behind the formation, a look of concentration plastered on her face. The waterfalls of liquid from her sleeves halted as she collected them into her palms. She punched out with quick jabs, the water shooting from her palms. It passed through the net in splatters to become an electric shotgun.
For the first time in the fight the four-armed cultivator was on the defensive. Any stray water droplets that struck sent convulsions down his body, slowing him. He was forced to use the wall of force attack to halt the droplets, but it was obvious he was starting to tire.
The siblings, while panting with exertion, still looked healthy enough to continue the barrage, and the woman still showed no signs of tiring. Eventually, a strike would get through.
It still took an agonizingly long amount of time, at least in James’s eyes. With no new techniques being unleashed between each party the fight was like watching someone strike a wall with a hammer. Sometimes a chip of stone might fly from the wall in an interesting direction but on the whole the sight was a bit of a bore.
Finally, a full blast of water struck the man in the chest, sending his arms thrashing wildly. A second hit took his legs, throwing the man into the dirt as he convulsed. From there it was a simple matter of the siblings laying their formation on top of the cultivator, preventing him from moving.
With the fight over, the three cultivators turned to their companion. One of the siblings, the brother from the look of it, removed a set of bandages from his bag. The material unfurled on its own, binding itself to the stone-faced cultivator’s arm to stop the bleeding. Another bandage followed, this one covered in a blue colored gel that instantly seeped into the wound. The injured man sighed in relief, the advanced technology doing its work.
Once he was treated, the group wrapped the enemy cultivator in the net, the injured man swinging him over his shoulder easily. Somehow the electricity wasn’t effecting him, and James wondered if it was from the man’s physiology or the formation’s power.
The cultivators jumped back onto the roof. “Our task is complete,” the woman said.
“Wow. That was just— wow,” James said. “I can’t believe people are capable of that.”
The siblings turned their noses high at the praise. The woman just smiled.
“Now I believe we must work out your payment, correct?” she said.
James nodded.
The woman reached into a pouch hanging from her, pulling a series of microchips that would make any mechanic in Tower Ten gaze in wonder.
“I would usually pay you in credits,” the woman said. “But something tells me you would have no way to collect the money. Instead, these are controllers from outdated medical technology. They should be worth more than enough for your help.”
James gingerly took the materials, his mind already envisioning what he could get in return. A mechanic would easily let him apprentice for just one of these controllers. With two, he could maybe rope an agriscientist into agreeing that he needed an assistant.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“It is only right,” the woman said. “Your knowledge of hidden paths let us surprise our quarry.”
“I won’t waste this,” James said. “I promise I’ll put it to—look out!”
James pointed toward the captured cultivator. The man had somehow dislodged his head from his body and had sent it flying. With James’s warning, the others had enough time to dash out of the way, but it was too late for them to see that they weren’t his target.
The head crashed against the barrier protecting James, cracking instantly as worm-like, writhing tendrils of energy launched from the head’s mouth. It was just enough time for James to throw himself to the side. The barrier broke, the energy lashing out to catch a single wayward finger. Something surged up James’ arm, sending him spasming. He watched in pain as his payment flew out of his hands, his appendages no longer working.
Then, he blacked out.