Space buckled as Jackson Daniels launched a volley of fireballs. For every one he created, another would appear before he loosed each set. Eli's artillery of Lumengust-Imbued stones clashed with each fireball in a chain of explosions. Wallpaper and furniture lit ablaze from the flash of heat. Gusts of hot air blasted across the living room and kitchen, shattering all the windows.
Eli stood unbothered and safe in his voidspace armor. Hairline fractures scored the surface of every segment, but Rapid Recovery and Voidspace Mastery worked together to restore the damage.
"You've come a long way from the sniveling boy that asked me if you should have a lawyer present." Daniels chuckled as globes of red fire churned at the end of his fingertips. Flame licked up the walls into the ceiling while they stared each other down. Everyone else had disappeared from the salvo.
Did they escape? Did Sandra teleport them, if she even could, or...
Ten fireballs streaked toward him. Air boiled until it screamed in their wake. Eli drained all the surrounding light until the room darkened. He created a voidspace bubble, then flipped it inside out and smiled as the room froze as the gloom darkened. Frost spread in plumes of mist from the charred surroundings.
"Fuck, that's cold!" Daniels hissed as sparks spat from his fingertips, but every spark he started only fueled Eli's void. Eli teleported forward in a rip through space as he condensed all the void back until into a dot in front of his fist that he flipped back around. He drove his fist into Daniels's spine. Space unfolded and expanded with a roar of thunder as the void ripped through him into an explosion that vaporized the wall of the living room that led to the entryway.
Eli panted with leaden exhaustion as he whirled around to search the extinguished rooms, charred black and white from the flash fire. Rapid Recovery sang through his nerves and veins with a new rush of energy.
"You're more exciting than your parents," growled the gray-eyed woman as she appeared in-between blinks on the threshold of the front door. Eli narrowed his eyes at her sudden appearance. He hadn't felt space move or react at all to her appearance. She pounced in a flurry of claws shrouded in gray light that sundered the air.
He created a flattened voidspace bubble behind him and her before he linked them together and teleported up on the roof. Discs of voidspace crashed together in a spray of blood and bone—
Vanished.
Eli's spatial field poured out of him where it swept down his house into the street and into the nearby houses. Several silhouettes stood with phones held up to their face while they stared at his house. Except for the soccer mom van full of five people veiled in a different kind of spatial field then his across the street. He reduced his glow before he blipped inside the van in the trunk as silently as he could. His voidspace armor tensed from the sudden pressure, but it seemed to veil him from scrutiny for the moment.
"He's tearing through my projections left and right! If you want to deal with him, you'll have to fucking fight him yourself!" Daniels screamed with a flash of red light and heat.
"What's with this kid? I thought you said he was a pushover, Jack?" asked the woman with the claws.
"He was. What kind of training hell did his parents put him through?" Jack scoffed. "He would have cut my arm off!"
"Quiet. We have work to do." Dave commanded from the front seat. "Is your projection working right? I don't see him in the house, Jackson."
"He disappeared!"
"If you all let him escape to go crying back to his parents..." Sandra said in a scathing warning. Eli siphoned Strength into Perception and Stamina. His clothes scratched at his skin as the world slowed down around him. He prepared to teleport to where Daniels was so he could take him out.
If he had some sort of projection power and he was only sending out doubles, then he had to go out first. Otherwise, they’d be able to wear him down without consequence.
Eli ripped through space and appeared in the middle of a van where Jack sat with his head resting against the window. His electric blue eyes widened as Eli's appearance ripped the roof of the van off around his body. Daniels gaped as Eli's arm turned into a radiant blade edged with hardened voidspace that sliced toward his head.
In the backseat, the gray-eyed woman followed his sped-up movements with ease. Claws grew from her fingertips as she put her hands on Jack and Daniels's car seats. She pulled herself forward with a loud rip of torn upholstery. Eli's radiant arm-blade pricked Daniels's face with a spray of sizzling blood. His features changed as a crimson hued orange fire kindled in both of his eyes.
Daniel's fist punched out and caught Eli right on his solar plexus. Beads of crackling red-orange flame burrowed in his voidspace armor before exploding in a series of small pops that drove them in like daggers. Agony pierced through Eli's chest as the flame seared into his skin. His radiant arm-blade curved across Daniel's eye before he blasted out as much light as he could spare.
Shadows writhed all around him. Foreign space prepared to lock him in its grasp. Arcs of electricity droned. Glowing claws lunged towards him.
Eli teleported out of there with a howl of wind and orange flame as rolled in a skid on the pavement. He wanted to scream at how the orange fire dug and burned its way into his nerves before it fizzed out. Terror desperately tried to thaw the chokehold of peace Rapid Recovery kept him in. Glowing claws sliced out a gash in space where he had teleported through revealing the woman with gray eyes and a long dress.
Sandra opened her door to call out, "Gut him, Camille."
"Gladly." She dashed toward him in a blink of an eye. He teleported backward then screamed as her claws raked through his teleportation point across his chest. Scarlet light splashed on the ground as he stumbled back. "Not only will I get your powers, but I'll go stronger from the hunt. Thank you, prey."
His light faded.
The sole of her boot towered above his face as she brought her leg up. Space bent at his will, but before he could teleport away or blast her with voidspace, her claws shredded it apart. Car doors slammed shut. Cooldown messages popped up in front of his eyes as he tried to equip Lumengust or Imbue. Imbue would've been a long shot, but maybe he could've done something.
Hydrokinesis equipped in Dynamic Vitality's stead. His eyes flicked to the side of his menu with a smile at the realization that they were both capped. He could switch them back and forth as needed.
Camille's boot descended.
Eli reached out with Hydrokinesis as far as he could. Fire hydrants built up with pressure before they exploded in a geyser. The storm drain and sewer beneath the road churned at his command. A void bubble full of radiant water boiled. Space twisted as he folded and condensed all the water together with a honed blade of ice at the front. Her claws flashed out again, but before she could, he narrowed the bubble further before he launched the water.
Radiant murky water slammed into the back of her leg with a crack of fractured bone and shattered ice. She lifted in the air as she flipped back with a spray of water and dark blood. He teleported to stand up as he wobbled.
Arcs of lightning bolted towards him alongside jets of orange fire. Shadows twitched behind Eli as they turned into metal blades.
He teleported above Camille while he stuffed all of his water back into a voidspace bubble along with a light and Lumengust Imbued stone.
At the peak of her ascent, he appeared.
Space folded in a corridor around her as water blasted out of his voidspace bubble with the stone. He commanded, "Gust!" transforming the stone into an incandescent explosion of air and water that rammed her down into the street below with a bang. Before the water swept out of control, he vanished into his voidspace again.
Primal Savagery Ev. 3/Lv. 12 Predator's Consumption Ev. 3/Lv. 7 Huntress's Might Ev. 3/Lv. 10> Before he could do more than skim, he teleported himself higher into the sky to land on a platform of hardened voidspace. Primal Savagery enhanced everything about her, Predator's Consumption strengthened her whenever she... ate her kills, and Huntress's Might made her even stronger while she was on the hunt. No wonder she was so fucking durable. Light and Lumengust Imbued stones appeared around him as he devoured the light from them to restore his flagging stores of light. Vast amounts of air vanished into a new voidspace bubble. Camille rose slowly on unsteady legs. Everyone's attacks were aborted except for Dave's shadowy spikes of metal that streaked toward Camille, who caught them with ease. Fear buzzed up and down his quivering legs. It bucked against the pacification of Rapid Recovery as he watched Camille stare straight up at him despite his height and the night. He wanted to run. Escape. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. But he couldn't. If he let up for even a moment then they could strike at his family. This was an ambush. It was only a matter of time before they descended on them. Horror squirmed in his gut at the thought of them attacking his parents or Lyra when they were all as durable as pre-System people. Only him and Dad had powers capable of dishing out enough damage, but… his dad’s powers were too devastating. Too impractical to control and restrain. Only Eli could handle this here. Eli popped out more voidspace bolts and blades and new voidspace armor as he telep— Darkness glimmered with a malevolent edge as Dave rose on an ascending column of shadowy metal. The night grayed and began to lighten around them as Dave drew closer. Eli slipped into the void before he fell limp as a tremendous amount of pressure cleaved through his shoulder. Hot blood gushed down his metal arm in rivulets before the prosthetic shot off his shoulder entirely. Tendrils of metallic shadow thrashed with jagged edges as they gouged their way out of his shoulder. Edged tendrils of shadow scoured his shoulder and chest like the blades of a blender. Dave landed on Eli's voidspace platform with his sword held high. Dynamic Vitality swapped with Hydrokinesis. Power instantly plugged into each and every nerve, muscle fiber, and grain of bone as Eli supercharged Dynamic Vitality, Rapid Recovery, and Voidspace Mastery with all of his stored light. Time slowed to a stop as Perception blazed bright. Something clicked in Eli's mind as he supercharged Perception as much as possible. They weren't trying to kill him. Not yet. They were holding back. How many chances had they had at the mall to do something on top of their obvious monitoring of his family, and with how many times he'd been alone with Daniels? Eli glanced up at the blade that plunged toward his stomach. No. Right now they were taking an opportunity. They still thought he was helpless. Weak. Eli willed a blade of radiant Voidspace to chop through the stump of his left arm above the shadowy scar. Blood, flesh, and a sliver of bone all squelched into his void. Stamina strobed like flickers of electricity as his wounds sealed shut. A nodule of exposed bone grew from where the scar had been before torment seared through his newly created nerves. He chopped it off again. Dave's blade lowered an inch. Eli opened part of his voidspace platform and watched Dave sink into it. Eli teleported behind Dave on a new platform as he willed the old one to rise to his knees before turning solid again. Bone crunched as the voidspace caught and twisted on his legs. Dave howled. Brilliant celestial might transformed Eli's right arm into a radiant blade once again. It brightened to a blinding white. He rammed it through the center of Dave's back. Shadows bled gray and white as his flesh melted and boiled. Smoke plumed from the wound like grease that fell in a grill fire. Eli teleported in place again and again while he waited for a kill notification to appear. Each teleport shook Dave's body violently. Blood vaporized into steam. Bones seethed as Dave drooped down Eli's radiant swordarm. Space ruptured as someone appeared to reach for Dave. Crackling orange fireballs blitzed up from below. Eli created and placed a tiny spatial bubble into the empty space that yawned in Dave’s joints. Hopefully, it would act as a teleportation anchor again. He teleported away, then hissed as something shattered his voidspace entirely. All of his light blazed out now that his voidspace armor broke. Leaden exhaustion plagued him as each of his Dynamic Vitality pools dimmed and emptied. Eli tumbled through the screaming air. Dots smeared across his vision as his consciousness fuzzed. Rapid Recovery started and stopped like a car with a dead battery. Houses whipped past his vision along with his street full of cars. He tried to teleport with a grunt as his spatial field broke around him again. "No! Dave!" Sandra roared from a tremendous distance somewhere above him. Gloommetal Armament Ev. 3/Lv. 11 Elemental Alacitry Ev. 1/Lv. 7 Stats: Body of Night (Umbramancer) You may now select from one of the following options: Siphon Power Experience Gain a Power Perk Obtain Power from the Conquered > Wind whistled in Eli's ears. He spun in another flip and saw the roof of what he believed was his house was dozens of feet away. He didn't need a new power. With a push of his intent, he slammed his will into Siphon Power Experience. Screens flickered in front of his face faster than he could read, but he kept his intention firm. Level up Imbue so it'd hit the cap and free up Hydrokinesis, then max out Lumengust. More experience beckoned, so he shoved it into Voidspace Mastery. Eli merged Hydrokinesis, Lumengust, and Dynamic Vitality all together and pushed on the new power with all of his might. Vibrant clouds burst from his every pore with a tumultuous scream of power. Shingles flapped and ripped off into the localized tornado that flowed from him as he smacked into the roof with a rolling bounce. Pain and weakness overcame him as the cloud dimmed. He wheezed. Power flooded in from his lungs into the rest of his body with countless strands of energy that plugged into his every cell. Light streamed from Eli as he pushed himself up awkwardly with one arm onto his knees. He glanced at his status as he processed all the light that now thrummed throughout his body into his internal store. Another breath sent another tide of power zipping into his flesh. Panes and segments of voidspace warped and solidified from his left shoulder into a new arm of incandescent purple voidspace. He reread through his system logs and grinned at the changes. [Stats: Body: Light (Photon Shot) Mind: None Will: None ] [Equipped Power List: Slot One -- Voidspace Mastery Ev. 1/Lv. 5 Slot Two -- Lumencloud Invigoration Ev. 0/Lv. 1 Slot Three -- Rapid Recovery Ev. 1/Lv. 9 ] [Unequipped Powers: Imbue Ev. 0/Lv.5 (Maxed) ] Eli glanced up at the falling forms of Dave and Sandra before space ruptured again and they appeared by the van. Sirens blared in the distance along with flashes of red and blue. "Camille, Jack, kill him. Don't hold back." Sandra said before she, Daniels, and Dave vanished with the van in a clap of thunder. Electricity flashed then exploded as lightning struck Eli on his voidspace armor. Cracks spider-webbed across it before Rapid Recovery smoothed it close. Jack held his hands aloft as bolts of electricty arched off telephone poles and cars right into him. Camille pounced up in a single bound with a boom of broken concrete. She flew toward him in a rush as lightning flickered again. Eli reached out with Voidspace Mastery as he linked the space between the lightning and Camille together. Shadows twisted and fluttered across her skeleton as electricity wreaked havoc across her body. Eli stepped in as he teleported closer. He grabbed her by the shoulder. Purple voidspace fingers dug in through the skin as tried to push his spatial field into the joints of her body. He breathed in and smiled as the rush of power fueled his Strength further. Bone cracked as her shoulder snapped in his grip. Glowing claws gouged scratches into his voidspace armor even as he willed space to twist around so she harmed herself instead. His fist jabbed into her solar plexus with a grating crunch of breaking bones. A push out with Lumencloud Invigoration siphoned all the power from his body into the billowing cloud that blasted into her with a gale of radiance. Eli controlled the oscillating cloud that twisted into her. He willed each gust to sharpen into hard light. A breath and more strength washed over Eli before it flowed into his cloud. Electricity flashed from the street. Lightning speared through the night as Jack leaped onto the roof. Electricity wreathed around him as he lashed out and decked Eli across the face. Voltage seared through his nervous system as he fell limp on his side. Eli teleported back as Jack stomped down where his head had been with a splintering crash. Sparks caught on the roof as flames flickered. Camille fell into a heap before Eli could resume control of his cloud. Eli took a breath in before he telepor— Jack whooshed over to Eli with another peal of thunder that rattled his bones. He lifted his arms to block as his roundhouse kick barreled straight through his voidspace arm into his now open side. Lightning knocked Eli back. He flipped through the air to crash in the backyard. Blood coated his tongue with a coppery tang. Tears dripped from his eyes as he tried to stand before collapsing. Vitality slowly trickled into his body as it healed from Lumencloud Invigoration, Body of Light, and Rapid Recovery all working together. Lightning cracked as Jack blurred through the air. Camille vaulted over the fence with a rattle of chain links. Eli had to do something. Had to win. Jack crackled as he drew closer, Camille hot on his heels. Eli pushed out with Voidspace Mastery and smiled as he felt his anchor in Dave's body to the southwest toward New Faram. He had to handle this first though. Voidspace yawned in a corona all around him as he felt their super durable bodies charge blindly through his spatial field. He tried to teleport them into the ground, into the sky, into each other. Space flickered and bent as air screamed and thrashed. Clods of earth and grass spiked up as parts of their clothes, hair, or even their shoes teleported around with as much force as he could muster. He pushed harder. Layers of voidspace wrapped around them as Jack's galvanic fist closed in. Eli pushed right as his fist sparked into Eli's face. Space shuddered and cracked as Jack’s own fist flashed out from Eli’s voidspace armor to ram into his chest before his voidspace armor stabilized and sheared it off. Jack wailed with agony. His bones flickered from the inside as his lightning thrashed and sparked all around him as he cradled the stump of his wrist. Eli popped out a spatial bubble that he flipped inside out as it inverted, submerging Jack in a new spatial field. A yank of his will buried him far underground. Eli blanched as the rest of Jack’s arms sloughed to the ground with a plop. Sirens and flashing lights blared outside on their street. Camille closed in. Eli repeated his new trick, but her claws shredded through the inverted bubble’s spatial field with ease. Every time he teleported away, she would dive straight through his teleportation point to nip at him inch by inch. He channeled all of his light into his fists before folding space along his knuckles as he lashed out. Her claws flashed and snagged against one of the spatial bubbles. A shockwave lifted him up as it carried him back through the hedges in their fence into their neighbor’s yard straight into their house with a splat. As if he were an overripe tomato. Consciousness returned to him as the air revitalized him with a fresh surge of vitality and Rapid Recovery did the rest. Bones creaked and popped as they realigned then snapped into place. Pulped organs stitched themselves back together then restored themselves to their new peak condition. He pushed himself back up with both arms as Voidspace Mastery erupted from his left shoulder with his violet construct arm. He glanced up and blinked as blood and sweat stung his eyes. He teleported it away. Camille streaked toward him. Relentless. Unstoppable. He couldn’t teleport her away, couldn’t carve into her with voidspace, Lumencloud did nothing, and he was no match for her physical strength. Another trick would have to do. He tottered forward as he chained a series of teleports straight up while teleporting off to the side to dodge her raking claws. When her claws pierced through to follow him, he pushed her through the chain instead. Each teleport launched her upward with far more force than the last. Torment scraped, ground, and slashed as she flailed through his voidspace tunnels, but he persisted. Until he sent her out of the atmosphere. Eli collapsed to his knees in a slump. Car doors banged out on the street in front of his home as police barged their way into the backyard. Guns pointed right at him as they shouted nonsense. He felt his neighbors cower away from their devastated wall and porch. It was time to leave. He teleported away in a flash of violet light. He vanished as he teleported up through the air in another chain of teleports until he slipped into his voidspace above the school. Primal Savagery Ev. 3/Lv. 12 Predator's Consumption Ev. 3/Lv. 7 Huntress's Might Ev. 3/Lv. 10 You may now select from one of the following options: Siphon Power Experience Gain a Power Perk Obtain Power from the Conquered > Aspect of Lightning Ev. 3/Lv. 6 Stats: Body of Lightning (Galvanic Beacon) You may now select from one of the following options: Siphon Power Experience Gain a Power Perk Obtain Power from the Conquered>