My pulses were working overtime. As soon as one ended the next started. My energy was limited, but at that moment I had to know what was coming for me.

And it became evident quite quickly. At first it seemed a blur, a cloud of haziness around the [Oracle]. Immediately after it formed, I saw that same fog condense and group into only a few spots around him.

As his skill flew over to me, I knew what was happening. I had felt exactly that before, when I couldn’t move an inch even when using all my strength. I hadn’t been able to see why before, but now I did.

My new class was able to pierce into his magic, break down what the system was doing, and communicate that to me effectively. It wasn’t an omnipresent force that pushed against all of me. Rather, only a few localized pressure points.

A few for now, at least. I didn’t doubt that he could use more if he wanted.

I dashed straight to him, attempting to distract him from what I believed was the obvious target; Yasmin. I was closing into him. My energy solidified into a new arm, and I aimed it slightly to the right of his head.

“Hah! What are you trying boy?”

It passed right his side, whistling on his ear; exactly as I wanted. I waited until it on his back, and then I forced it to turn. I was as soft as I could, which was not much, and kicked Yasmin to her side.

I couldn’t fight and protect her at the same time, so I did the next best thing; kick her out of the picture.

[You have lost 34 energy]

His attacks impacted on me. He was not only trying to stop me from moving, like last time. At the same time, though, it didn’t feel like he was serious. It hurt, but not as much as I would expect of someone at his level.

He still has plans for me? He was all worked up on me being a Saint, which I supposed required me alive. Good, he’s handicapping himself.

My legs froze as his skill started pressing on them. I pushed, threatening to burrow deep below my skin. But I was not about to let that happen.

I created a thin blade of energy and swiftly aimed it to the magic attacking me. As soon as I cut through it, the pressure was gone. As long as I saw his magic, he wouldn’t be able to completely restrain me.

Five strikes later I was free of his influence. Rage filled his eyes, his body shaking from the sheer frustration of seeing his skills being useless on me.

“You weren’t expecting this, were you?”

I taunted as I invoked a massive chunk of solid energy and shot it to his face. I flew at frightening speeds and crashed against him in a show of lights. But I knew that it had accomplished nothing.

His foggy magic was back, encircling his face and protecting it from any damage. My attack had failed to pierce it. It went inside the cloud of energy and dissolved into nothingness.

“[Absolute]!” The [Oracle] cried out the name of a skill.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It became immediately obvious what absolute meant. The fog condensed around him into a bubble of energy dense enough that I could barely see its interior. He had surrounded himself in a protective layer.

“[Crush]” his finger pointed at me, firing an enormous amount of magic into my direction.

The massive amount of magic coming my way and the fact that he shouted the skill name was telling enough. I could not take that head on.

I send a few compressed arms out and jumped the hell out of there. I didn’t have to turn my head for my pulses to confirm that moving out was not enough. The attack was still locked on me and tracking perfectly.

I sent two energy blades, crashing in quick succession into the attack, to no avail. It was very much still there. If it was any smaller, I could not tell.

The attack was moving fast enough to catch up with me. I wouldn’t be able to outrun it. It was going to hit.

Maybe, probably, I should have tried to protect myself. All I could think of, however, was that I would not go down alone. I dropped to the platform in search of a clean line of aim.

It wouldn’t happen. The cloud of energy from [Crush] was rapidly filling the hole. It would reach me in less than 5 seconds.

I had already compacted 400 energy with [Fusion]—more than I had ever tried. The energy ball lost the characteristic white colour of my own energy. It first took a greyish tone, and it was becoming black as more and more energy was dumped into it.

Barely one second after I landed, the 600 worth attack had become pitch black. That wouldn’t be enough. I needed more. More.

I am corruption. You are corruption. Go spread it!

I sent a pulse directed to my own attack, to the ball of energy that was bursting with power. The wind around it became chaotic. It began spiraling out of control, swirling and rotating in all directions without order nor purpose.

It was unstable. Corrupted. And I fired it against the [Oracle].

It first met the cloud of energy. It touched it, the bugs of corruption caressed its magic, and I saw it crumpling. The invisible magic became burning strands of dust, charred strings falling from the sky. It shivered and blurred until suddenly it was no more.

The [Oracle] realized too late that something was wrong. His hands moved, attempting to cover his face. He took a ready position. I felt magic condensing around him, thickening the shield that protected him. I could not see inside, but I was not worried.

My attack reached the hardened shell of magic around him. It briefly stopped in place, never fully pausing from spinning in random directions and spitting corruption where ever it splattered. It dented the shield, weakened its structure, corrupted its very essence and functionality.

And it broke. Like glass, it shattered and collapsed onto the platform.

That’s when, free, my attack continue to meet its target.

The [Oracle] screamed. His face contorted in pain. His hands, and even his teeth, clenched as his body tensed and straightened. Blood poured out of his mouth and he crashed onto the floor.

I wanted to claim my victory, yet I knew that hew as not down for good.

A shock-wave reached me as his closed hand punched the wooden structure we were standing on.

“You want me dead?” He was looking at me without blinking. “I want you dead. Monster!”