CHAPTER 58 - Ahead of schedule II
My plans for the morning have just been busted. It’s not really something bad since the thing that I will be doing was something I was planning for a while now, but it’s still time consuming.
Maria and Sera came to me early in the morning asking me to teach them how to use my powers. More especially my magic, as they don’t know how to tell apart when I use qi and manna.
I want the group to be able to defend on its own and both sisters have shown me enough trust till now, so I think I should answer in kind.
Not to mention that showing them how to use manna will help me too, as it will show me the differences between learning mana or qi first.
I am unable to use the full potential of mana due to my whole body feeding of qi already. I have come to know that you can only have one energy cycling through your body at a time, so it’s time to see how does it work with mana.
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A few hours later
After explaining over launch all the variables I am aware of, and telling them both that I have no way of knowing just how much of an impact their new powers will have on their life, they both still agree to follow my guidance in the way of magic.
I am still too inexperienced in magic and the fact that it is the second energy/power I am able to wield and that I can’t even cycle it through my body speaks volumes about it, yet I am not one to shy away from a challenge.
Neither do seem to be both sisters as we lay still in a corner of the base, sitting on three wooden platforms that I have just made.
I use a whole hour to explain and show them both the way I tend to visualize my hold over manna, coupled with a practical lesson where I show the sisters how I have been using my powers as of now. To end the first class I ask Bruma to shoot a couple of lighting bolts into the sky, showing them both just how much room for improvement there is for all of us.
However, I leave the more complicated stuff for another time, focusing on the basics and the core aspects that then branch out when you get better at it.
Needless to say, our first lesson ends without any visual progress as expected. If controlling or even feeling these energies was easy to start with, the whole invasion thing wouldn’t have taken so many casualties to start with.
Once the lesson is finished I get back to doing my things, starting by getting a better efficiency rate when infusing armor or weapons with qi. So far these practices have been successful.
The improved durability of the qi infused materials have saved me in a variety of situations, and improving on my defenses could never be a wrong move, better to be able to get out alive of deadly situations and get to fight another day.
I have yet to find a suitable ore or hide to use as armor, yet just infusing normal metal or even my normal clothes helps a lot. Not to mention the exorbitant increase in durability and damage output I have been squishing out of my knives just with it.
The issue with my search for armor is that I need something that will let me space to freely move around. My fighting style is based on footh techniques, feints and so on that helps me dodge, prevent or redirect the attacks aimed at me, so trading armor for my edge on speed is out of the equation.
That said, I could always make good use of a small shield of something similar if need be, yet I would prefer not to. I am confident in my abilities, yet only as far as my current setup goes.
I am learning new things and getting better with time, yet a good melee brawl where I can play around the attacks that my opponent throws at me with my various skills and a fast paced rhythm works best.
Hours pass as I engross myself into my practice and I lose track of time. I don't even trouble myself with having dinner, only taking a few minutes to give some more pointers to Sera before they go to sleep.
Now I realize just how much is the use of qi helping me to stay healthy and nourished. It has been a few days since the last time that I slept and only now do I start to feel tired.
Feeling like it’s about time to get some well deserved rest, I tell the guards to be extra cautious tonight before going to bed, it's not like it will hurt to be cautious.
On the next day I choose to get better at shaping qi into weapons after another lesson with Maria and Sera about magic and manna. Maybe in the future I will be able to create some kind of armor out of it, who knows, for now though, any armor that I create is as durable and tough as it is hard to maintain and stiff.
For now though, even the smallest and simplest of weapons proves to be a challenge to maintain for even as short as a couple minutes.
I have tried the same with manna, shaping it into other forms, but even if it is easier to do and maintain than with qi, it lacks durability. It does have a lot more damage than the qi version, but it is all useless if it all breaks apart at the smallest of touches.
Not to mention that I can’t cycle manna constantly in a fight to maintain its form as I would need to use qi to reinforce my own body and not die while I clash with my enemies. I could only create one before the fight and let it disperse once it breaks.
Thinking about that, it may be even risky to use it like that, I haven’t tried to hold anything made of manna while being boosted by qi, so I don’t know if it would cause an explosion or not.
‘I should avoid doing that until I have some countermeasures for an actual explosion happening head-on.’ I think and push the thought aside.
After all that thinking I get to training again. Focusing on creating a better weapon with each try.
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“...”
“...”
*step* *step*
I hear rushed steps toward me, so I turn around to face the new arrival. A man in his forties drenched in sweat.
“Leo, we are in trouble!” He shouts the moment I face him.
I recognise him as one of the scouts stationed on the vampire's base.
“The vampires have made some kind of agreement with the guy you are chasing! They gave him a group of 8 people, mostly teenagers, and there is one girl who matches your description for your sister too.” He says amidst pants.
‘Leyla? I need to go there and stop him now!’
“Where to!” I ask.
And he answers.
“To where he created the last storm.”
“Okay, thanks, warn everyone to get close to the area but maintain a safe distance, only approach once things calm down. I am rushing there.”
“Wait!? Once things calm down? What do you mean? What are you planning to do?” He shouts behind me, but I am already far gone, my sister just appeared after so much time and I am not letting go again.
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I run full speed to where the guy was last time doing all those rituals, from storm brewing to disintegrating living beings or opening rifts that rip space apart.
I am eager to get there and get done with everything for once and for all, but I take my time, not using anything else that my actual body improved strength and stamina to get there. I am preparing something, something big enough to get rid of the man with the sigils once and for all.
As I get near the designated spot my whole hair stands on end. I can feel an weary and ominous atmosphere set in, as if something that shouldn’t happen was bound to occur. The sensation creeps in me like a contagious virus, sending shivers down my spine.
Upon arrival, I spot the only thing that I was expecting not to find here. The flying beast… call it dragon, call it wyvern, call it whatever name you want to from one of those fictional worlds, but this one is pretty much alive and breathing.
Perched on top of the rubble of the same building that it made collapse on top of me. My grip on the concretated orb of energy I am holding tightens as I see it guarding seven cowering silhouettes below its wings to make sure they don’t escape.
Even from this distance I can make out enough of them to see my sister Leyla in between the group of scared teenagers. One of them is already on the chopping board. Restrained by the circle of sigils and weird gibberish in my eyes he is held in place, completely still. So much in fact that I can see him having difficulty breathing.
The man, uncaring of the fates of those of his kind, keeps drawing something on the floor, probably another type of circle to do something detrimental to us at the cost of the eight lives of their captives.
I bid my time, waiting for what the pair have in store for me. I am no savior, as long as I can save my sister I don’t mind waiting, overseeing their ongoing plan spur into action as my own plan grows in my hands, pulsing with power.
The current situation is far from ideal, having two enemies instead of one and both stronger than me. I have to take them by surprise to have a chance at succeeding, yet even then I may actually need to choose to save only my sister and run.
Facing the two of them is nigh impossible, but I may have other options, so I wait, increasing the energy contained on the orb of my right hand as time goes on. The energy is slowly growing in size with mine and Bruma’s cooperation. She is obviously with me as always, ready to confront anything on our path.
The orb matches in size the one we used against the vampires yet it is far below it in strength. We got a lot better in the time that passsed since then, yet time does wonders, and time is something we currently lack.
The man drawing the circles finishes his job soon enough, and then he goes to the center of the circle, activating it. It starts to shine and when the light is as bright as it gets he smashes down the rod he always carries with him into the ground, sending a shockwave of pulsing bright energy into the circle of sigils.
His golden rod, brighter than ever, dims as he pours its energy into the ground. He maintains the position and keeps sending energy till the light is so dim that is hardly noticeable, that's when the beast holding the hostages pushes the first one of the group ahead, forcing the poor girl who’s next to advance into her demise.
I can only keep myself still seeing that Leyla is bound to be one of their last picks if their actual order is to go by.
The sigils of the man are all lit, showing that he must be using all his card into this, and his maneuver just reinforces that fact. He is not even able to bring himself the “sacrifices”, being at the mercy of the beast, which is the one restraining them and sending them into the circle.
By the time the third youngster's life is snuffed out of existence the space starts to tear in the air, just the same as last time. This time though it seems to be slower and even more unstable.
The whole thing seems to be done taking a hasty approach seeing that he is recollecting the energy from the living beings and feeding it directly at the bigger thing instead of doing it separately, which may be our hope to get out of this in one piece.
When Leyla’s turn arrives as the 6th one, she shakily gets up and starts walking to its impending end. It is when she is about to enter the circle, just out of reach of the beast, that I move, betting on the man not moving as to maintain the rift.
I create a copy of the orb I have on my right hand on my left one too, but just made of qi, and I send them both flying at their respective targets. The last second craft is sent the beast way while the big deal is in its way to end the man’s life with a two second delay that I purposely create.
The fake orb reaches the beast’s face at the same time I reach my sister, and it explodes at the same time I escape with my sister in my arms, fleeing the scene. Or at least that was what both my enemies saw.
The fake qi ball I sent can’t explode, at least not in the literal sense, instead, I make it shine to simulate the compression of the energy to make the beast protect itself from danger and at the same time buying us time to escape.
The explosion however, never arrives, the qi ball doesn’t stop shining as it turns into a durable ball of light that basically smashes into the snout of my huge foe.
The beasts become enraged as it takes flight after us, and even the man seems to be seething with anger as he sees the other “bluff” get to his face. He just faces the ball with one of the sides of his face, ready to gloss over the distraction and keep doing his thing.
‘So sad that he expects another bowling ball, cause that one is gonna hurt.’
He seems to sense something wrong as the orb flying to its face gets to an even brighter hue before imploding in on itself and then exploding outward, sending shockwaves that even reach me while fleeing.
Once the flashing light of the explosion dissipates I can see him lying on the floor, half death.
Yes… only half… he is still breathing and I need to fix that. But I already got the lizard on my tail, shortening the distance too fast for comfort.
“Hold on tight Leyla!” I tell my sister as I start dribbling in between buildings and ruins, still slower than our pursuer.
She holds onto me, yet seems too surprised by the sudden turns of events to answer.
I do a couple circles around the block and the next one, yet the difference in speed between me and the beast is stark even after fully boosting myself. It smashes through everything in its path with no care at all. The chunks of broken buildings don't even put a dent into its defenses, not even a scratch. It's only visible wound is the one I inflicted in its eye last time.
“Leyla you need to hide, we will meet again, trust me.” I tell her as I go under the ruins of a bridge from a destroyed highway. Not leaving her time to answer back.
“Leo, what do you m-” Her words fall in deaf ears as I leave her under the cover of the bridge and continue running, keeping my pursuer close behind.
“Talk with Sera!” I say in a last attempt to guide her somehow, as I already made arrangements with Sera in case anything were to happen to me at any point.
‘I just hope she keeps the end of our deal. Fuck!’ I nearly trip with all the obstacles that come into view faster that I can sense.
Closing in, the beast is a few seconds away from swallowing me when I re-enter the square, knives at the ready in my hand, infused with qi and mana on the tip. First thing I do once I enter the square again is to remind myself real quick that my mind didn’t play tricks on me as I look at the rift and see a forest on the other side.
‘I can’t outrun or defeat this thing, there is no other way.’
I jump with all my strength through the rift, sending all my now explosive knives at the man laying on the ground, barely hanging to dear life.
With no time to turn back, I gather the small amount of qi that remains inside me to create a barrier around me to fend off against whatever enemy awaits on the other side of the rift, hoping for the best.