Cyverous had started his day with an abundance of cheer. The day prior, he had successfully saved someone. Waking up to a bright morning, birds singing, and wonderfully medium temperature air was also excellent. He loved every part of this land.
He dreaded that someday he would be forced to leave.
The current spring in his step was spurred on by the knowledge that day had yet to come. As he made his way over to one of the best locations to fish and even bathe, he felt the warm brush of sunlight hitting his hands. Perplexed, he raised his red particle prosthetic arm, holding it in the light as if trying to interrogate it. The feelingless hunk of material lent him no sensory input. It must have been his imagination using the warmth from his real hand and mirroring it to what he should have felt.
In his confusion, Cy walked forward almost into his white and golden flecks. They had formed a replica of his body at 1/3 the scale and held their arms in an X.
Shaking their head back and forth in an exaggerated, no movement, they did not want him to move any further.
The hair on the back of Cyverous's neck stood up as the natural smells of nature and wood gave way to a metallic scent that wafted its way into his nose.
Swearing internally, he dropped down behind the nearest large oak tree. He must have called one of them with his thoughts. Damn his foolish behavior.
Now that he was still, he could hear the rushing waterfall nearby.
Peaking around his hiding place, his fears were confirmed.
Destroyer.
Cy's right hand gripped bark with a white-knuckled fury. He loved this area. It had hardly been a few weeks. If there was only one, possibly he could defeat it. If only he could get the remaining fractal for his researcher class, he would likely have no trouble with the lone twisted being called human.
Cy watched as he softly hummed a command at his red flecks.
At his elbow, they turned into a rifle.
His white flecks had transformed into their orb form, floating nearby and keeping watch.
The destroyer dragged its extended arms along the ground. Its flaking burning flesh reminded Cy of the final stages of a dying fire. Thoroughly black eyes scanned its surroundings.
Dragging its way to the water, the being peered in. A fish jumping for an insect startled it.
Moving its entire body, it swung its right arm around full force as small explosions began flaking off of its fingertips.
Screeching, its voice full of hate and menace, it brought its incendiary appendage to the surface of the water.
Like a chain reaction, the smaller explosions it created fed into the air around it.
With growing intensity and range, the power rippled out and away from its source. Slapping the surface of the water, the twisted man directed its explosions downward.
The water boiled immediately upon touching the burnt flesh of the creature.
Cy did not know how their power worked. No one did.
Those who were strong enough to be a patriarch or matriarch did not let them live long enough to study them, and those less powerful either ran or died.
As if through some sort of fundamental chemical change or reaction, the water caught fire.
Detonations then undulated downward.
The bright flash of energy made Cy take cover behind the tree.
When he looked out again, the body of water was naught but steam and a crater.
As a grand waterfall continued to input fluid, the crater was underwater a few seconds later, and the river continued on.
Seemingly infuriated by nature rejecting its destruction and continuing rather than stop in its place, the destroyer raised its two-meter long arms above its head.
A cacophony of tiny explosions began, proliferating by the second.
Cyverous was furious.
The needless destruction went against everything he was. Scatter remains of dead, and half-dead fish littered the ground. His Vow ached deep in his stomach.
As he was about to step out and take his shot, a man walked out from under the crushing, lowest part of the falls.
Stepping boulder to boulder, the man crouched on a large stone and looked down at the destructive being.
"Young man. I would prefer it if you took your behavior elsewhere."
The older man spoke softly.
Cyverous knew what this man was. Everyone knew of Kinetic monks. One of the most potent neutral classes. That is, if they lived long enough to grow their power.
The old man stared the twisted being down as he waited for a response.
Stopping its explosions, the creature opened its arms wide as if expecting a hug.
Throwing its head up, it released a blood-curdling scream as it began amassing even more power.
Snapping its head down, it grinned wickedly.
This creature must not have much of its mental faculties left. That is usually how it is with malaligned classes and vows. You lose yourself and become nothing more than a beast.
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Cy was fascinated with what would happen next. Kinetic monks lived nomadic lives like most, but they came together in a collective once a year. They called it the marking. He had read about it. It is said that with each circular tattoo they had, they were able to manipulate their power equal to one portion of their body weight. He had no idea what that meant specifically. He assumed it meant they could exert that power on their surroundings. That would be his hypothesis.
Regardless, the monk facing off against the destroyer was covered in rings.
The monk chuckled softly.
As the explosions grew in force, the destroyer brought his arms back. Bending at the waist unnaturally, he twisted himself parallel to the ground.
Snapping his body upright, he threw the explosions forward, only the explosions did not move.
The monk had lifted his sleeve. Black rings carved into each finger, and along his arm now shone with a bright golden light.
Flicking his wrist up, the explosions shrunk and then redispersed upward.
The wind from the blast nearly knocked Cy off of his feet from several paces away. The trees around the valley all bent slightly away from the gale.
The monk's arm continued to glow as he jumped rock to rock.
The destroyer did not budge a muscle as if frozen in time as the man landed on the fine sand lining the water.
Cy was frozen too, but not with some magical power. He was frozen in fear.
Neutral classes and vows shed little information on a man. Was he violent? Would he kill Cyverous on sight?
His parents and grandfather always told him to be warier of neutrals than even malicious classes. At least you knew it was kill or be killed with a poacher, destroyer, or bond breaker.
As the man slowly walked along the beach toward the erroneous being, he slid off his grey robes' top part.
Hundreds of black lines parallel to the ground were traced into his flesh, from his neck to core.
As the destroyer began to thrash, the man activated more of his power. The lines from his elbow to his shoulder lit up in succession.
Cyverous could barely make out his words as he touched the face of his enemy.
A pair of golden glasses appeared on his face. Blue runes of unknown origin fanned out from them. Cy's breath hitched in his chest.
The man stood there for a moment as if reading his trapped opponent's soul.
Softly holding his hand to the once-man's grey cheek, he whispered.
"Is there anything human left in you? I can hold you still as long as you need. Just show me a sign. If there is even a fragment of who you were before, I will release you."
The rings on the monk's pinky finger lost their light as the destroyer's head began to flail around.
It seemed the monk released that part of its body.
As it flailed, Cy wondered how it was not breaking its own neck. Back and forth, it thrashed so violently. Clicking its jaw open and shut, it screamed with an unnatural fury.
A wave of explosives erupted from its mouth directed at the monk in a concentrated beam of firepower.
A deep frown formed on the old man's wrinkled face.
Stealing the force from the blast and redirecting it upward with his free hand, his small fingers resumed their glow, and the destroyer was frozen entirely once again.
Cy watched the scene play out, a mixture of horror and fascination pumped through his veins.
The monstrosity of a man continued to struggle against its invisible bonds. Small twitches were the only indication, but Cy knew it must be ruining its muscles in the struggle because his stomach began to hurt, and his red flecks were buzzing, begging to be used.
The old man slowly, almost with an air of remorse, raised his left hand toward the waterfall as his right remained pointed toward his enemy.
"Take heed these words, young one." The old monk spoke in a soft, almost warm tone. His controlled words made no difference to the ember creature before him, yet he continued on regardless.
"A plethora of choices lead you to this moment. I will not condemn you for that, but I hope you use this experience as a lesson in your next life. You craved power to the point that you gave up your mind. I know somewhere deep down, far inside this bent, burning shell, some semblance of your sanity hears me."
His left arm began to glow as he spoke.
Cy's eyes opened wide as he watched the majority of the waterfall slow to a stop. Bedrock hidden underneath the usually rushing water began to appear as the monk glowed fiercely along his tattoed lines.
As the water subsided entirely, a large cave presented itself.
Likely a dungeon, Cy realized as he witnessed the incredible display of ability.
"May your next life find you peace." The monk whispered as he bowed toward his foe.
Swiftly bringing his blindingly luminescent left arm in a half circle up and down toward the destroyer, he transferred all of the stolen force from the waterfall.
Crumbling in on itself, the destroyer folded. The sound of its bones shattering under pressure made Cyverous feel sick. Cracks formed from the point under its feet that split the land for several meters in every direction.
A squirming mass of flesh and the creature's inner workings was all that resided when the monk finally began to lose his glow.
The waterfall crashed back down as the power holding it dissipated.
Cyverous was gripped with a pain he was all too familiar with. Doubling over, he grasped his stomach.
Using all of his will and concentration, he pointed his red fleck formed rifle at the core of the destroyer.
"Maximum caliber," His voice pushed out through gritted teeth.
While he lined up his shot, the barrel of his rifle expanded.
Firing, the creature was obliterated, removing the pain that had clenched deep in his core.
GP +1 granted for your swift kill. +1 additional points acquired from harvest. Your Vow and connection related to your Gunslinger class have gained another fractal. You are two fractals away from another awakening.
At the release of its icy grip, Cyverous turned to flee. He had little chance against this monk, and he had just stolen the man's kill.
Before he made more than a step away from the scene, the monk rose his hand a froze Cyverous.
As if wrapped in a cocoon of steel, Cy could not even twitch his muscles. As if their momentum was reduced to nothing.
Raising his left hand toward the water, the mysterious old man started to steal from its movement.
Cy fought with everything he had, twitching his hand toward one of his belt boxes. If he could reach one of the scrolls, he had...
The slight movement earned a twitch of the old monk's bushy eyebrow.
In a fraction of a second, the man activated his powers. A small corner of the water stopped moving, and Cy was thrown toward the man. Put to a stop a meter away, the two-faced each other in an appraisal.
The researcher's particles moved without instruction. His white flecks formed a thin tower-shield separating the two men as his red flecks exploded into a cloud of fury and bloodlust. Shaping themselves into a giant greatsword, they swung at the monk.
Cy felt the stored red particles in one of his boxes shaking violently in an attempt to escape.
The monk lit up several of the lines going down his neck and froze the sentient magical powers in response.
"Stop. You did surprise me there with your strength, but you saw how quickly I dispatched that destroyer. It is useless to struggle. Now just.."
The old man was interrupted.
Cy's red flecks exploded into a mist and reformed into a hundred daggers. As they flew at the man, Cy felt the hold on his body lessen. His left hand shot down to his box that held his most valuable items. Flipping it open, he called on its contents. A teleportation scroll would allow him to escape.
"Enough." The man spoke in a deep voice as his entire chest lit up with light along its lines.
A bubble of energy or the lack thereof exploded out him.
He stole the energy potential of sound itself surrounding the two men for at least ten meters.
Seemingly immune to his own power, the man stared at Cy through his golden spectacles.
"God, you have grown boy. Do you not recognize old Ra Nadir?" A smile split the man's wrinkled face as he released Cyverous.
I must admit, that trick with your particles likely could have felled a man lesser than myself. Did your grandfather teach you that?
He released Cy but held onto the power containing his flecks.