Chapter 55

Beyond the Void

  “Break apart. Return to base! Exercise over!” DI Hopewell shouted.

  There is a moment, a calm before the storm of battle. The moment you realize the enemies are right there, and they have recognized you. That one moment, that is all you must change the course of a battle. This moment is what I mentally call the great equalizer. See after this moment, everything matters, troops, terrain, position. But in this one brief calm before the true storm of combat, that is when the person who reacts first wins, this is the moment that lets one person dictate the flow and speed of battle.

  Don’t let a battle be won on the merits, scope, or speed of your opponents. Instead, take the moment that is presented to you and crush it in your fist. That is my mentality in battle.

  I might have a lot of personal character flaws, but when it comes to combat and adjusting, I am one of the best. At least I tend to think so. Given my deaths, I guess you could say I am something like 126 and 12, that last restart didn’t count as I didn’t lose.

  The problem with Drill Instructor Hopewell’s command, was simple at the sight of us fleeing. We would give up the flow of battle. We would effectively begin the battle with the enemy chasing us, able to fire at our wide-open backsides.

  Even without weapons, I am more than a match for most creatures in a cockpit. As such, while all the other ships began to break apart and head back to the planet. I even saw a rally point just inside the orbit, over top of our Military Academy.

  Rather than going with the herd of fleeing fellow cadets, I instead turned the opposite way and faced my adversaries. The adversaries are distracted, and just as I suspected drawn to the fleeing force of cadets.

  I smile at the sight, as this just means that I am going to catch a bunch of these monsters by surprise. Focusing my mind into a wide arc before me, I call forth my mental energy and unleash my newly empowered Mind Rend.

  “DIIIEEE!” I shout, anger and vitriol fueling my attack as I feel the minds of hundreds of Prolaxian scourge die. One second the wave of monsters is moving forward, the next second their muscles tighten, their bodies go limp, and they begin twisting wildly into space.

  My mind and senses take in the sight of this action, but I don’t have time to react. In fact, it is all I can do to stop applying acceleration to my craft. I don’t want to pull another operation where I plow through the enemy and out the other side to a different universe entirely. Instead, I kill the inertia, and begin focusing on killing everything that comes at me. Soon there is a wall of black dead alien corpses coming forward and stopping. Only to be pushed forward as more and more monsters slam into the wall from behind and push the wall of black bodies forward.

  “Cadet Goldman, get your ass back in formation and get out of here!” DI Hopewell screams at me, but it is too late. The scourge are too quick, even if I turn about now, I would only give the enemy time to catch up to me and kill me slowly. I shake my head, purposefully disobeying a direct order. Something inside me shatters, as I realize this is not what a true soldier should be doing. But at the same time if I am to survive and keep these monsters from establishing a foothold here, in this universe, then I need to act now.

  I double down, focusing on killing everything that comes through. By this point the ever-encroaching wall of dead monsters is moving closer and closer, which is fine, the monsters are dead. At least their first form is dead, I know I will also have a while before their second form reanimates.

  “Cadet Goldman, you are performing admirably. Rest assured; we have it from here.” That is the voice of someone important. Given the way he speaks I assume he is the leader of the giant ship that is moving to an intercepting course for the monsters. Since he hasn’t identified himself, I have plausible deniability.

  More shattering glass in my mind. But again, I can’t focus on why I suddenly feel freer than ever before. Instead, all I can do is turn my full attention towards the monsters that are still coming forth.

  I felt something, no two somethings. Things that were far more powerful than the simple minds I was destroying currently. Imagine crushing grapes. You squeeze and you squeeze, then suddenly you find a melon with a hard casing that you need to crush at the same rapid speed that you were crushing the grapes.

  Shiver.

  I have a bad feeling about these monsters that are now coming through. I’ve felt them, or their kind before. Of course, I am annoyed that only now does my Precognition-X go off letting me know things have changed yet again. Last time there were not any of these types of monsters here, but that was then and while this is technically also then, it is the now-then?

  Anyways, my body is moving on impulse. If things have changed, I need to act quickly. I already know what is causing this portal to be open, and assuming the anchor point hasn’t changed, I should be able to close it rather easily.

  On instinct more than anything I move forward, through the wall of dead bodies of monsters.

  “With all due respect…” I find myself saying, then when I enter the wall of bodies I stop. I know my connection is still fine, but I will use the masking bodies to hide my true thoughts. Also, nothing good ever comes after you say with all due respect to a superior officer. Learned that one the hard way.

  “What are you doing boy, turn around now!” Admiral Lemitov shouted.

  “That won’t close the…” I say, again trailing off my words. Hoping that this will again help sell the fact that I am having faulty comms, despite the base station being within one ring of power. This level of interference should only exist out in the deepest portions of space.

  There.

  I finally move close enough to the portal that I find the mind that I am looking for. I’ve only felt two of these odd gelatinous brains before, but their texture is all too memorable. Think rather than grapes, you are now asked to grab at a grape set inside gelatin. Still the same level of force and exertion, but slightly different at the same time. Also there does seem to be more residue, or psionic resonance, from squashing these amoeba general brains.

  I even do a special focus on the general, finding the auxiliary sac and crushing that as well. I know there are others, but I don’t know how long it takes those others to reproduce. I hope that by killing this one I prevent the future invasion to my universe, at least for the time being.

  Clump. Clump. Clump.

  Just like last time, hundreds of bodies are crashing into my ship. Fortunately, I am able to move.

  For a second I wonder why we can move. Then I remember the EMP blast from last time was not present. That EMP blast was enough to take out the fleet of ships, and my own. Was that because I was too close to their opening and set off pre-emptive defensive measure? Or was there something that went wrong for the invading scourge last time that didn’t go wrong this time?

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  So many questions, but right now the only thing I am concerned about are the two minds that are still here, and resistant to my powers.

  Unlike the last time, I can feel these two minds. I don’t know if that is a matter of my increased Power attribute, my improved psionic power, or what. But I can detect the protected minds of two beings that have entered our universe. The only problem is that again while I can feel their minds, I cannot seem to harm the minds.

  So rather than crushing the minds, I do the next best thing. Yep, I crush their bodies. At least I try to crush their bodies.

  I am once again reminded of the shootout at the base of the great tree on Endar. The one where I was impaled by a branch of the great tree. Not my best moment.

  Still, I am reminded that Telekinesis-X wasn’t enough. I also begin moving about in evasive maneuvers. I know the monsters were able to do a lot. The one at the world tree was able to cast all forms of Psionic attacks.

  I half expect that to happen now, but rather than psionic energy being drawn in. I feel the sensation of magical resonance and energy.

  At the feel of magic coming from not one, but both creatures I mentally let out a sigh of relief. Then smiling widely, I realize I’ve got these bastards.

  Fwoom.

  I feel the massive pools of mana they command being called into existence. It is called into existence, then frozen. One after another. Both summon forth power and create a spell, that I seal. I can still only cast one spell or use one magical or psionic ability at a time. That said, since I am a dual caster, I can use one psionic, in this case Telekinesis-X, to hold the monsters in place. While using my Mage Breaking abilities, or Spirit, to hold their spells in place.

  Better still with Mage Breaking, or the term that is commonly applied to higher level practitioners of Spirt, I can alter the focal points of spells, increase their potency, and most importantly, release them when and wherever I want.

  All I need to do is to make sure my Power and control far exceeds the Power and control of my opponents over the spells they are summoning.

  Still smiling, I change the target of the spell to be the other caster. The reason for this is simple, I have never seen this type of spell that is being used before. It feels more primal than other spells I’ve seen to this point. Part of me is curious about what new effects these Prolaxian Mages can wield. Another is curious about the resonant components of the spell and how they fare in space.

  See most magic dissipates in space and will break apart. Fire gest snuffed out without air. Air gets sucked into the vacuum of space. Water, well water and Earth just kind of float. Most elements are seen as useless, but this is a type of magic I have never seen before. That is why I am curious.

  Which is why I let the spells go when the two have created seven spells. That is fourteen total spells that I had to take control of, alter the targeting factor, then increase the amperage and energy output. If I am going to take over your spell and use it, I will make sure you are fully drained of mana by the time I am done. I am a Mage Breaker, after all, not a Mage Taker, as in I take the spell… not kidnapping.

  You know what, I am going to work on that. There is a line in that somewhere. But for now, I will just pretend that I didn’t think of anything that stupid and that I was just a complete badass as I let these two supreme monsters destroy themselves.

  Whoosh!

  Seven purple streaks of primal magical energy shot through space like mini comets and crashed into the opposing monster. Simultaneously, the monster frozen in place also fired seven nearly identical purple comets of magic towards its monster twin.

  Boom!

  There was no sound, space being a vacuum and all. But I saw the bursts of light land, like fireworks that all shot off and somehow landed at the same point in space. It was amazing. Better still the monsters were toast. Their bodies little more than ash in space. The tightly compressed balls that I had been squeezing moments ago, suddenly cracked under my Telekinetic grip.

  I squeezed a little harder, making sure to crush the auxiliary sacs that were in each of these monsters. Then I let out a long slow breath of relief.

  Liquid flowed from my nose down to my lip. Inwardly I groaned at the slimy sensation. Then out of reflex I used my tongue to taste the slime and found warm coppery taste. Blood.

  I had pushed myself too far, well not too far. I was still standing after all, but far enough. I cast Heal and Mind Heal on myself.

  Using Mind Heal, a Psionic power, to heal damage caused by using Psionic powers seemed like a cheat, but I wasn’t going to complain. Well, I was as when I tried to use it, I found that I was too exhausted to use it for more than a cursory heal.

  Clink. Clink. Clink.

  The sound of hundreds of tiny coins crashing and filling my cockpit resounded. I was so surprised that all I could do was stare dumbfounded at the rapidly piling coins. I picked one up to see that it was a cert.

  Groaning at having yet more psychic certs, I was about to curse. But then I noticed a different character on the back.

  Looking at it closely, I realized I had been wrong.

  Magic Cert.

  Flipping the coin shaped object over, I read the back.

  Procured by Kyle Goldman.

  Badump.

  With that my heart began to race, as I realized I finally killed monsters with Magic. Meaning, rather than earning psionic, or psychic certs like normal. This time I earned magic certs. I was about to wonder why they were filling my cockpit, and why I just started earning them. When I remembered this ship had a breakaway hull that was designed to capture certs. The fact that I generated so many from this battle showed just how tough this was supposed to be.

  I didn’t quite understand how killing creatures generated certs, or Certified Experience Report Transcriptions, but I realized there were a lot of things about this universe that I didn’t understand.

  I tried to move the controls. Clink. Swish.

  There were so many certs that I literally couldn’t move my controls. Well, I could, but I was going to use that as an excuse. For a moment I felt like that old gold loving duck that had been revamped to love swimming in his bank of certs. While this was nothing compared to the pile of certs achieved by some. I still felt a warm tingling sensation.

  Then realizing what I needed to do, to get back. You know, bad access to my flight controls and impaired movements. I started applying the certs. I wanted to apply the forty-nine needed to change my Mage class to Omega. I was shocked when I was stopped at forty-eight. Then I realized I had originally had one in there all that time from my charity work with Professor Astria.

  As I was applying my certs, I hoped for two things. First, I hoped for my class to change from support, anything but support. Then I gave up a special little prayer that I didn’t become an Enchanter Mage Class of some type. Say what you will, but I did not want to be the magical equivalent of a stripper, you know always covered in glitter. Not saying anything about their low morals or the fact they will show you everything they have for a cred.

  You know what, I won’t cast stones and all that. Instead, I will just cast certs. And to my credit my class did change. Not once, not twice, but four times. Yep, and I was not happy about the changes.

  So again, there are seven chances to change when improving the rarity of your class from Common to Omega. During this time if you max out the number of certs you apply, you can potentially change your class entirely. In this case I did four times. Something that I should be proud of, but for some reason I couldn’t appreciate the changes. In fact, I felt as if the Gods were punishing me for something. I went from Support Mage to Advanced support mage. Then from Advanced to Enhanced Support. Then from Enhanced to Supreme Support. Then from a Supreme, I went to Prime Support.

  Yep, my Omega class, Prime Support.

  To be honest it felt like I was now the number one choice for cosmic jock strap. You know, I’m there to hold the junk of the true heroes, while they save the universe. You know, not just support, but the first and most comfortable form of support you could ask for.

  Anyways, I was not liking the title. Though it appeared that my Magical Affinities also improved.

Magic Aptitudes:

Spirit-X: 99+% (Spell Breaking, Unweaving, Negation, Dampening, Rendering) Healing-X: 99+% (Mend, Cleanse, Purge, Heal) Air-X: 99+% (Cleanse, Create) Water-X: 99+% (Cleanse, Create)

  I wondered if I would now be able to create tornadoes and tidal waves. Somehow even with the increased potency of my class, I somehow doubted I would be able to use these powers in many meaningful ways on the battlefield. But that was just a hunch, and we all know hunches from Precogs, shit this is going to suck.

  The forty-eight certs were barely a drop in the bucket. So, I had to instead continue to get rid of more. Remembering the trick, I learned about trying to apply the certs to my Magic Aptitude section, I soon found the certs quickly disappearing from around me. Simultaneously, I felt a new power come into existence. This was when I knew the universe was fucking with me.

New Magical Aptitude unlocked: Healing Aura 99+%.

  The percentage was not surprising, as I had never heard of anyone else having a Healing Aura. The fact that I now had one, meant two things. First, I was well and truly slated to be nothing more than ground support as a Mage. Worse, I felt that I would receive a slight leveling imbalance between my two classes. It was a lot easier to kill scourge with my mind, than it was to try to use my limited magical capacity to kill scourge. Maybe I could heal them to death?

  Regardless, I could now finally move my controls as most of the certs were now gone. There were still quite a few on the ground, and likely the whole hull underneath was still filled with them. But for the moment I could fly and move as needed. It was time to rejoin the fleet and take my lumps for not following orders. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad?

  “Gods damn it Cadet Goldman, if you do not come out of that pile of bodies and get here this instant I swear!”

  “Coming.” I admitted, as I flew out of the piles of bodies. Even now I was giving the monsters a second slash with my Mind Rend, hoping to get any that were close to reanimating.

  Phew.

  There was an audible relieved sigh coming from the comms. That was enough to let me know that DI Hopewell truly had my safety in mind.

  “Good. Now get back here and prepare to have your ass…aspirations handed to you cadet. You thought you would get certs from flying, think again.”

  Laughing.

  “Huh!” Hopewell shouted.

  It took me a moment to realize I had laughed at the situation. I was so beyond caring about the pittance of certs that would have been offered for becoming certified to fly. That was what? Five? Five measly psionic certs? I had grown far beyond that.

  No, I was back to my original plan for this life. I needed to get out of the military. Especially if I was going to be subject to such minor incentives. Especially when I was clearly earning more than just five certs.

  As I moved, I looked down to see my trusty violin case by my side. Patting the case, I mentally comforted the case. You are all I need, girl.

  I felt the case, and then I had to feel it again as I realized, something was off about the case.