A light shudder made Icarus shake off whatever other questions he had in his mind and ask directly,
"Tell me what I need to do."
[Accept me. Accept your power, stay true to it, and then all you will need to know will come automatically into your head.]
"Alright, sure. Whatever you say, now how do I do that?"
After saying this, the ghost entered Icarus, and after a bright shine, Icarus’ eyes opened wide, amazed by the information that rushed into his head.
"I see now… so if I do this…"
He reached out his hand, and after focusing for a bit, he softly spoke,
"Spirit. Appear."
Then, in his hand, a grand golden sword materialized from thin air that was as tall as himself and as wide as his waist. Normally, not even an adult should be able to wield it, but Icarus was able to hold it with one hand up and tall, his eyes shining brightly.
The contrast of a young and thin boy holding up a sword as big as him would make anyone wonder if that sword was made of thin plastic that very realistically imitated heavy metal.
-GRRR~ ROAGH!-
Seeing the sword, the wolves felt some danger, and wanting to take him by surprise, they rushed forward all together.
"Haha~! I had no problem with strays before, so now it should be even less of a problem!"
With a wide grin, Icarus took a striking position and waited for the perfect timing when the monsters were close enough.
-SLASH!-
With a wide slash, he slammed all three wolves at the same time and sent them flying, the closest one being cut in two and wimping for a while, only to die slowly.
There was no goryness as only some type of dark liquid splashed about, everything esle turning into dark smoke and dissapearing. This aspect made Icarus feel as if it wasn’t even real, everything appearing as if out of a game, his fear now dissapearing completely.
"Hahaha~! I’m just getting started! Come on!"
Icarus was the one who rushed at them this time, and with a vertical slash, he halved another wolf in two.
-GROAH!-
Another one pouched at him and wanted to bite at his arm, but Icarus released the sword with one hand and now with his fist he slammed the wolf to the ground. Using this moment, he grabbed the sword again, raised it high, then slammed it to the ground once again, killing it with one strike, the ground around collapsing under the strong impact. His hand that he used to slam the wolf got a cut from one of its fangs, while his clothes got splashed by the black liquid. However, shortly after, his wound healed while the liquid evaporated and the gas was purified by the aura that still surrounded him.
Watching all of this unfold from atop the building, Darius smirked as he found Icarus to be exactly as he remembered.
Just as expected. He’s completely different from any other Spirit Wielder. No wonder he’s the main character of the game.
Icarus Avram was presented in the game as the leader of the heroes, not because he was the strongest, but because he was the one most suited to lead the group of Spirit Wielders and also take the best decisions once he left his desire for battle behind.
Ian might be the strongest and wisest, but his character in taking all the burdens on his shoulders made him unable to lead, be more like a guardian than a leader.
Amanda was smart with a trickster's personality, but she never liked to be in front, preferring to live with no stress. Her main traits were those of a strategist.
Rosy was sensible and able to empathize with others, but most of the time she’ll only end up getting swayed by her feelings, making her unstable and unbefitting to lead.
Sora was like a child in an adult's body with her young purified spirit’ mentality, so she was completely out of the position of a leader. Her and Rosy were best as damage dealers.
While Annabelle, not only did she meet with the five heroes at a later date, but she was also one to take orders rather than give, so it was even more of a reason not to have her as a leader. With her marskmanship, being the damage support was the best role for her.
Icarus, although a battle-crazed person and still a young teenager, he had the born-trait to keep his head cool in any conditions, and, after going through numerous moments that placed his heart to the test, he was the one who went past his desire for revenge, internal conflicts, and corruption from miasma the quickest from everyone else. He showed great mental fortitude with only 16 years on his back, and this only made him more amazing.
However, his moves are still as sloppy as ever.
No matter how amazing he was, Darius couldn’t excuse Icarus’ wide and useless moves. His spirit might’ve materialized into a sword, just like any other Spirit or Demonic Wielder can materialize their spirits into a weapon, but that doesn’t equalize their skills with the said weapons. Even in-game, Icarus’ mechanics were the sloppiest, while his moves were the clumsiest. He was indeed strong and, at times, the most chosen character, but the animation for his skills and abilities showed his lack of technique.
Even in my past life, I couldn’t help but cringe at his swordplay. Back then, I wasn’t proficient with the sword, so I couldn’t teach him, but now… it’s another story.
Darius smirked, excited about the future, but then another loud roar made him turn his head.
-GROWL!-
The half-faced wolf was back and angrier than ever, its eyes shining with a purple glow. Seeing this, Darius was momentarily confused, unable to understand what was happening.
Why is this bastard here so soon? The rescue team's nowhere near yet.
Looking back from atop the building, Darius saw the car still rushing towards their place at incredible speed, but still far away, outside the dark wolves’ territory.
From the game story, Darius knew that this high-ranked monster will appear right when the heroes were embarking into the car. The car would then rush away while the huge wolf would chase them, until one of the mages inside would start bombarding it and take it off their tail. Only later, in the first chapter of the story, would the hero fight this monster again and deal with it for good. Now, it was barely the tutorial part, and although Icarus was ridiculously strong even for a Spirit Wielder, he was still unable to fully control his powers, hence turning into an easy prey for a slightly stronger enemy.
"… That bastard seems stronger."
Icarus’ face turned serious and he prepared to fight, while the wolf started to slowly walk around him, as if waiting for the best opportunity to strike.
At first, Darius found this behavior strange, knowing that normally these wolves would pouch at the second moment. But then he understood why it wasn’t attacking.
His aura is still enveloping him.
No matter if they’re humans, mages, or Spirit Wielders, for about 15 minutes after getting summoned back into this world from inside the Rift, the body will be surrounded by a pure protective barrier called Residual Aura, which will protect its wearer from anything until it disperses and disappears.
He must still have five more minutes. Even so, that car would still find it hard to get here in time…
Darius frowned, but then a sudden idea struck him. He activated his mana glove, and without letting Icarus detect him, he enforced the aura barrier around him, slowing its rate of dissipation and winning a few more minutes.
Phew~ this is more exhausting than I thought...
Even though he was using an intermediary such as the Field-Boss-tier crystal, what truly controlled the mana was still him. And what was worse, that mana was especially pure and hard to control, forcing Darius to focus his whole being just to slow down its dissipation for at least one more minute.
I could easily enchant Icarus’ powers or weaken the monster, but I’m afraid that won’t help him go down the main story as he should; in exchange, he would only end up with a fake sense of fulfillment like in my past life. I won’t make that same mistake again, no matter what!
Back on his first run in this world, Darius assisted the five heroes as directly as possible, interfering with their every mission and causing their growth to slow down in the disguise of helping them. He himself was not aware of how his good will was actually poisoning the heroes' growth, thinking that he was helping everyone and protecting their mental health when, in fact, they had to suffer to grow stronger, both mentally and physically.
Yeah, not gonna happen again.
His veins bulged while his face turned red from concentration. Icarus was able to feel something weird, as if the mana around him tried to stick to him, but it wasn’t something he gave too much thought to because of the danger in front of him.
This thing… it’s dangerous.
Turning into a Spirit Wielder, his senses were greatly enchanted, and all of them were telling him that the wolf in front of him was not something he could handle right after waking up in this new world. He needed more time to become familiar with the new powers—time that, at this moment, he did not have.
Why isn’t he rushing in yet? Does he also think I’m dangerous? In that case, should I go in? But… why do I feel like the moment I step forward, I might seriously lose a limb?
A nervous smirk was etched on his face while he was not sure what to do, turning towards the walking wolf that had circled around him for a while now.
-AWOOO~!-
Just as the two confronted one another, distant howls reverberated through the air, and from behind other boulders, more wolves appeared and surrounded Icarus the next second.
"Shit!"
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Shit!
While Icarus voiced it, Darius only thought about it as he found his predicament even more ridiculous. Another 3 minutes passed, and the rescue squad was yet to arrive, making Darius think of a more drastic way.
Seeing the six wolves that just appeared, Icarus’ face turned white, unsure what to do anymore, when suddenly a voice resounded as if beside his ear, making him flinch and turn in a hurry.
Fight…! Now… while you still have an aura!
"W-who are you?!"
He turned confused, but there was nobody around. Using this moment of unawareness, three wolves from nearby rushed forward, and Icarus quickly swung his great sword out of panic, halving one and pushing the other, but getting one to bite at his arm.
"Ugh!"
-WHIMPER!-
Icarus felt a slight pain in his arm, but the wolf quickly retracted as its mouth started melting from the aura that was still surrounding him. Seeing this, Icarus’ mind rushed, and he finally understood what the voice meant by aura.
"So this weird energy stuck to me; it’s aura… It seems to dissipate with time, so… I gotta use it while I still can!"
Rushing forward, Icarus started massacring the wolves around while disregarding any defense, his aura protecting him from any attacks while also damaging the enemies. Happily for Darius, Icarus was a quick thinker.
"…"
Darius observed from a distance how Icarus was getting more and more accustomed to his powers and also kept an eye on the black and white wolf that only observed, waiting for the aura to completely dissipate.
That monster’s really able to judge. Some monsters will be able to build awareness, while others who have observed humans for a longer period of time can even speak the human tongue. It’s crazy how smart these monsters can get as time passes, knowing that otherwise they would be just dumb muts rushing in at any enemy in sight.
Darius continued to focus, and while doing so, he felt his right hand, which was controlling the mana, suddenly turn number and number.
It seems that controlling a string of mana to communicate with the kid and also slowing down the aura dissipation took a bigger tool on me than expected.
It was obvious that not even a field-boss-ranked crystal was able to control such a great amount of pure mana for such a long period of time. Going any further only exhausted his mental fortitude and spirit.
Looking back once again, Darius saw the car now only 5 minutes away, while Icarus had already dealt with the six wolves. After killing the last one, he rushed forward towards the bigger wolf.
"Take that!"
Swinging once, the wolf simply used its front claw to slam the blade away, then opened its mouth and-
-GROAAH!-
A strong miasma breath sent Icarus flying through the wall after he was quick enough to block it with the sword's large blade.
Now’s his chance.
Darius then used his left glove to control the miasma and covered the area around Icarus with it to numb the wolf’s perception of his mana, then quickly whispered to the boy with another string of mana.
Brat, I know you’re fine. Get up! You have to run from that dog. You can’t face it yet.
"You… just who are you…? And stop calling me a brat!"
Slowly getting up from under the boulders and sneaking in the opposite direction as the voice told him, Icarus asked more and more, confused and revolted.
He hated to do as he was told, but he was still able to judge when to take a stand and when to follow orders.
Hearing his whispered question, Darius answered shortly,
For now, just your guide. We’ll meet later. Right now, there’s a rescue car on its way to you. Run in the direction I’m going to tell you, and go with them. They will fill you in on the details you’ll need to know about this world.
"I still don’t know who you are."
Icarus asked again irritated but Darius answered back abruptly.
Patience, brat.
"Stop calling me a brat…!"
After telling him where to go, he broke the connection with Icarus and then focused on the wolf, which, after waiting for a bit at first, finally became aware of the fact that its prey must’ve escaped.
-GRRRAWOOO!-
With a furious cry, the wolf then jumped over the building Darius was inside of and started searching the area.
Icarus was able to hide behind more clouds of miasma Darius made beforehand, informing him not to enter them as they were poisonous.
Searching around, the wolf found nothing and decided to turn back to where Icarus first crashed, thinking he might be around that area.
-VROMM~!-
The car finally arrived, and Icarus ran towards it, dematerializing his sword.
-AWOOO~!!!-
Being able to hear the engine, the wolf quickly came back, and after seeing the boy, its eyes flashed once as its jaws opened wide to shoot another beam when-
"Not so quick, bastard."
A foreign pressure made the wolf choke and annul its own attack, feeling the miasma around not listening to it. At first confused, seeing the boy get away, it became enraged again, and this time decided to just chase it down.
From here on, everything went according to the story: the mages inside the car defended themselves from the monsters’ attacks while also striking back and making it momentarily stop chasing.
Finally… they got him…
Darius, who was more than just worn out, collapsed on his back and made the decision to briefly close his eyes, but not before encasing himself in miasma to hide from monsters.
.
Back inside the Southern City’s HQ, after finishing getting tested for his powers, the documents with his data were now on Darius’ phone, examining them and learning more in detail about Icarus’ strength.
As expected from one of the heroes, his defense and offense are more equilibrated than any other Wielder’s.
[So you suddenly contacted me just to ask about a Spirit Wielder that appeared last week?]
On the phone he looked through for the data, Lola’s voice resounded, as she was still mid-call.
She sounded annoyed at being disturbed only for this while she was working, but nevertheless, she still offered him the information he asked for.
"I appreciate it, by the way."
[If that’s all, I’m closing.]
"Actually, remember that one training session I did with the sword? This brat seems to be proficient with the great sword. See if he’ll be interested in trying it out. Maybe he’ll be able to learn a few things."
[Are you so confident that a superhuman will need the techniques of a human?]
"Yes."
Darius answered plainly, then smiled and said some more before ending the call.
"I remember you weren’t all that impressed with my sword techniques, so no wonder you’re uninterested. But just show it to him. While at it, advise him to train in the VR in his free time rather than look around at firearms."
[That sounds oddly specific…]
"Just do it. I will talk to you later. I’m closing."
[Sure. Next time, maybe contact me for something more interesting, will you? Bye.]
"I’ll try."
Darius made a short smile as he left the HQ base and closed the call. Just as he did so, a rather distinct group entered the base, passing him by.
The group was composed of the support mage Bella Hart, the strongest mage so far, Joshua Bluestone, and finally the newly arrived Icarus Avram. As they entered, Bella and Joshua explained to Icarus about the base and how they prepared him for further examinations. However, the moment Icarus saw Darius, the two of them made eye contact for a short moment, only for Darius to end it by looking forward, not minding the kid as the door closed behind him.
That guy… gives off an odd feeling.
Icarus’ senses told him that Darius wasn’t normal for some reasons, but he quickly brushed that thought off as he tried to dig in all the information he received from the two by his side, focusing on the subject.
.
Later that same day, a black armored bike speeded down a deserted highway inside the Danger Zone, deserted cars still visible here and there while the road itself had large cracks or holes along the street. The one riding it had a large black mask on his face, wearing a black combat armor made of a field-ranked boss, a big rucksack on his back, and an even bigger sniper attached to the motorbike's side.
Darius had been driving for about 5 hours and his speed fluctuated between 100km/h at lowest, and 200km/h at its fastest, the bike being heavy enough to not crash at the many road denivelations. When he finally arrived at the South-Eastern deserted city, he observed it from a distance how it was completely overwhelmed by miasma, the buildings appearing as if after an earthquake of 12 magnitute.
So that’s the Dead City… Befitting name.
After he jumped off the broken highway, he stopped on top of a hill, where he was able to see the city he had to conquer in the distance.
The sight was mortifying. It was as if after a war, with buildings partially destroyed, debris all over the streets, destroyed and deserted cars all around, trash flying around, and overall, a gray color that now had a purple tent to it thanks to all the miasma around.
Perfect home for golems…
-BZZT! BZZT!-
A message was sent to him that signaled that all his subordinates had arrived at the designated destination. Together with it, another smaller report was made:
[General Daniel. King Arson has instructed you to accept another squadron of mages sent by the Main Army to assist you in reconquering the Dead City. Their leader is Captain Aria. They are not part of the cult, but they were sent there so as not to raise any suspicion. We request that you convert the ones who can be converted and annihilate the ones who don’t seem to agree to the cults’ conduct throughout your mission of regaining control over the city and spreading the cults’ authority.
May the Great Eye watch over you.]
Nasty bastards.
He frowned, irritated at the message, and then turned on an application that showed him where other cultists were positioned. Or, better said, where his subordinates were.
Shortly after, he was able to detect more red dots right in front of the great city, with about 25 armored vehicles and 2 hybrid aircraft, all of which were parked in a circular way to fend off any possible incoming monsters.
Obviously, for Darius, there were no monsters approaching them because of the AM-sonars inside the cars.
Time to make my people aware of my presence.
He took out his phone and sent out a message to all his underlings, driving down the hill and towards the armored vehicles.
"HALT! Identify yourself!"
As he drove closer and closer to the group, a loud voice boomed, and after he heard his words, Darius frowned, confused. But after seeing the respective person glow with a soft blue hue, he immediately understood that he was a mage and was unaware of his appearance.
"I said halt!"
The voice boomed once again as Darius already approached closer than 50 meters.The man glowed stronger, and from the ground, large rocks started levitating, being sent flying towards Darius.
"Moron."
Darius’ eyes turned sharp, and after making multiple maneuvers, he was able to dodge pretty much all of them, with the exception of one large rock that was as big as a car.
-BZZT!-
Suddenly, all over his body, blue sparks appeared that quickly concentrated on top of his palm. Darius made the motion of pushing with his palm and releasing forth an invisible force that completely crushed the boulder and sent back pebbles flying at the speed of a shotgun’s bullets.
"Agh!"
The mage quickly made a force field that froze all the pebbles mid-air and stared baffled at the incoming bike that was already about 10 meters away from him.
"Bastard!"
Furiously, he concentrated a large amount of mana inside his fist and prepared to punch the ground when-
Enough.
A ridiculous pressure completely dissipated all the mana he focused on his fist, making him freeze in place, baffled, staring at his fist that just punched the ground, now filled with slight cuts after punching the rocky ground.
S-simple rocks harmed my skin? Me? A mage?? J-just how…? Is like… all the mana left my body…!
"?!"
Hearing a bike’s engine in front of him, the mage stared baffled in front as the wheels of the bike were but a few cm away from his face. Looking up, he saw a dangerous glow in the eyes of the masked man who gazed at him from above.
"That’s one heck of a welcome, Main Army."
-TZUN!-
This time an energy beam that had the form of an arrow barely brushed his head, slightly grazing his helmet, and then exploded the ground behind him, Darius still remaining unfazed as he glanced at the incoming group of people.
"Enough! You, identify yourself!"
This time, a feminine voice resounded. Turning to her, Darius quickly found himself surrounded by about 20 mages, their numbers rising as more and more appeared from behind the hybrid aircraft. A group of 50 mages completely surrounded Darius in less than 10 seconds, and then about 100 soldiers stepped forward behind them, brandishing their weapons as they did so, expanding the area around him.
"…………"
Darius observed this, and with a simple move, he waved his hand while getting off the bike, indifference in his voice.
"Enough, lower your weapons."
The mages frowned, and the woman who materialized an energy bow pinned on another arrow, contempt evident in her voice.
"Who do you think you are to command us?"
However, just as she did so, a light click resounded beside her, and she saw a soldier aiming his gun not at the intruder but at a mage. Before she could ask anything, another click resounded behind her, her face turning white as she understood that she was in the same spot, with the muse of a gun aimed at her head.
Darius once again turned to her and, irritated, firmly stated,
"I did not speak with you. And I told you all to put down your weapons. Why is it necessary to repeat myself to an elite?"
""………""
Some of the mages that were yet to become aware of what was happening became startled to find out that a gun was aimed at their heads, only for the guns to be lowered and still be stared at with a sharp glare.