I struggled briefly to free myself from the vicelike grip of the spirit encasing me, but I knew it was useless. Even with my boosted stats, my body felt like it was encased in steel bands. Besides, even if I managed to break free, I’d just get a pair of spears in the back for my efforts.
“You’re right, John,” Sara said in a quiet voice. “I don’t think physical effort is going to work.”
“What if I use Spiritual Empowerment, and powered it with the high spirits?”
“You don’t have enough of their energy left for that. Besides, it still wouldn’t work. The spirit isn’t holding your body; it’s holding your spirit.”
“What?” I asked, confused. “I can feel it pressed against me!”
“That pressure you feel is its spirit holding yours in place. Remember that your spirit powers your body, John. If your spirit is contained, your body is, too.”
That certainly made breaking free more difficult. That didn’t mean I couldn’t do it, just that I couldn’t use brute force. However, my mental stats—well, except for Perception—were all significantly up thanks to my full adaptation into this world, which I assumed was from when I’d taken my spirits more completely into myself. All I had to do was figure out a way to leverage that, and my mind raced for possible solutions.
“What about the severing ritual—is there any way I can cast that without the whole ritual? As a spell in my head?”
“I don’t think so, John,” she sighed, appearing in front of me and looking worried. “Even if you could somehow hold the entire spell in your mind, you don’t have the power for it. You’re down to only four spirits, and three of them are badly drained. It’ll be at least a day or two before any of them have enough power for that ritual, at least at the rate your Draining Aura is refilling them.”
“What if I could get the energy for it? If I could drain the high spirit for some?”
“You’d have to wound it, and while Spiritual Strike might do that, there’s still no guarantee you could actually drain its energy. Even if you did, though, I don’t think you could hold the spell, John. It’s simply too complex.”
And if I tried and failed, I knew, I’d get the same spell backlash that the heltharvis received, only I might not remain conscious from it. If the backlash knocked me out, it was likely I’d wake up without any spirits and with the heltharvis ready to finish whatever she was doing. That felt like an option of last resort, something I’d do if I had no other options. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure if I did.
“Could I dominate the high spirit?” I asked a little desperately. “What about that new chaining ability?”
“Chain Spirit might lock the high spirit down for a bit before it broke free, but it wouldn’t free you,” Sara said. “It traps the spirit wherever it is. If you wanted to chain a spirit to an object, for example, it would have to be touching that object. If you used it, and it worked, you’d simply bind the spirit here, trapping you.
“Dominate Spirit might work,” she added dubiously, “but the spirit’s already controlled by the local valskab—and the Inquisitor. You’d have to fight her for control of it, and her control’s boosted by the energy of the valskab. Even if you won somehow, though, she’d definitely know that you took control of it, and she’d certainly tell the guards behind you.”
Which would result in me getting stabbed. I trusted my ability to fight the guards, but only if I was mobile. If they attacked before I freed myself, there wouldn’t be much that I could do, really. Assuming they crippled me before my paralysis ended, it would be a short fight. The simple fact was, none of my spells or abilities were designed to deal with something as powerful as this spirit. I couldn’t even haul it into spiritual combat; it would rip me to shreds in a heartbeat. I could probably wound it, and maybe even drain it for a bit of energy, but if the attack pulled me into spiritual combat—or warned the heltharvis—I was in trouble.
I took a deep breath to calm my spiraling thoughts, then looked at the problem as analytically as possible. In a way, the spirit was a mark. My job was to take it out, but my usual methods weren’t going to work. That was something I’d dealt with in the past when a mark was ridiculously well protected. After a couple of those, I’d made up a little mind game: how would I kill someone with near-perfect protection? What would I do if my mark was, say, the leader of someplace like the US or Russia? I would never actually take a job like that, obviously, but what if I had no choice? The answer was simple: I would have to be willing to die in the attempt, and I’d have to forego clean, surgical strikes and hit the mark with overwhelming force at once, ignoring collateral damage. Anything else was simply too risky and likely to fail.
“Sara,” I began as an idea formed in my head, but she cut me off instantly.
“Maybe, John,” she said quietly, responding to my thoughts rather than my words. “If you fail, though, you’re going to end up badly injured, maybe too injured to move or think clearly. You’ll be even more helpless than you are now.”
“It’s this or trying to cast the severing ritual mentally,” I replied. “Which do you think has the better chance of success?”
She remained silent for a few moments before answering me. “I think the chance of you being able to cast that ritual as a spell is practically zero, John. I’m sorry, but that’s the simple truth.”
“And some chance is better than no chance,” I chuckled. “Right?”
“Your logic is impeccable,” she sighed. “However, if you’re going to do this, I suggest using some of your skill points to boost Spirit Channeling—and maybe Meditation. Having them in the Savant ranks will help.”
I quickly spent twenty-five of my banked skill points. I bumped not only Spirit Channeling and Meditation to Savant 1 but Henguki Channeling as well. After all, I did have another potential power source available, and I’d be a fool not to use it. Doing all that flashed some notifications in my vision immediately.
Skill Increase: Meditation
Rank: Savant 1
Benefits: While meditating, your Intuition stat is considered 10% plus 1% per skill level higher for the purposes of gaining or handling magical energy. Ability: Meditative Power
Meditative Power
Active Ability
You can activate a single spell or ability while in a meditative state and receive a bonus to its effectiveness equal to 2% per Meditation skill level. Doing so ends your meditative state immediately.
Cooldown: 1 hour, during which time all other meditation benefits are halved.
Skill increase: Spirit Channeling
Rank: Savant 1
Benefits: Your spirit-based spells and abilities reduce defenses against them by 1% per skill level. Ability: Sudden channeling
Sudden Channeling
Active Ability
Your Spiritual Flow is increased by 100% per rank of Spirit Channeling you possess: +100% for Neophyte, +200% for Initiate, etc. This increased flow rate lasts for the usage of a single instant spell or ability.
Cooldown: 1 hour, during which time your spiritual flow is halved.
Skill Increase: Henguki Channeling
Rank: Savant 1
Benefits: The storage capacity of any henguki crystals you create is increased by 1% per skill level. Spirit-based spells or abilities you power with henguki energy are 1% more effective per skill rank. Ability: Overcharge
Overcharge
Active Ability
You force more energy into a henguki crystal than its maximum capacity. The amount you can safely overcharge a crystal depends on your Skill and Perception stats.
Special: Overcharging a crystal is dangerous and always risks damaging or destroying the crystal. Overcharging it beyond your safe limit risks explosive destruction of the crystal.
“Those abilities are pretty on the nose for what I’m about to try, Sara,” I noted wryly.
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“I know, John. I tried to balance their overall utility with your immediate needs, but I erred on the side of immediacy. After all, if you don’t escape the current situation…”
“Then long-term utility probably won’t matter,” I finished for her. I took a deep breath. “Okay, here goes.”
I closed my eyes, the limit of my ability to move—well, that and breathing—and sent my thoughts inward. I focused on those breaths and sank into my meditation technique, the one Aeld had shown me so long ago. As I did, I tapped my storage and pulled my three most powerful henguki crystals, materializing one in each hand and one inside my closed mouth. It was a bit of a risk, especially if the guards caught the sudden change, but the crystals were small enough to fit inside my massive paws, so I hoped they wouldn’t notice anything except maybe a twitch of my fingers. I touched those crystals and drew on them as hard as I could. At the same time, I reached down into the guard spirit and two high spirits I’d claimed and pulled on their power. Energy flowed into me in a rush, far more swiftly than it had before my skill increases, and I channeled it into a ball of power in my core. I pressed that orb down, forcing it to become denser and thicker until it swirled and roiled like oil or sludge rather than misty energy.
“That’s it, John,” Sara said after what I guessed were a couple minutes. “If you pull any more power from the spirits in you, you’ll risk losing them.”
I stopped drawing power and held the thickly flowing sphere of energy in the grip of my will. I silently crossed my fingers before activating Meditative Power, Sudden Channeling, and Spiritual Strike. On a whim, I activated Heartstrike and Lunge, as well; they were meant to be used with my spear, but technically, the limitation said they would work with any thrusting weapon. Hopefully, what I was about to do would count. I knew that for most things involving magic, intent was far more important than strict technicalities, after all. I hardened my will, focused that intent as tightly as I could, then activated Channeled Strike, driving the orb of energy into it and plunging it into the spirit holding me.
A huge surge of power tore out of me and sank into the spirit, ripping through its defenses and lancing deep inside it. The spirit recoiled instantly, but I wasn’t finished with the strike. I followed the blow, willing myself to flow along behind it and plunge into the wound. The world around me erupted in light and color as I felt myself rush out of my body and surge into the spirit, but those colors vanished into a blinding silver radiance as I ripped open the wound I’d made and tore my way inside the spirit, burying myself in its essence.
The spirit reacted at once, and a massive wave of heat slammed into me, burning my skin and frying my spirit. The spirit squeezed at the same time, trying to clamp down on me like a vice. The pain was incredible, but I pushed it out of my mind and drove my way deeper into the thing. I didn’t lash out or cut wildly; I didn’t carve away chunks of the spirit to absorb. I simply sliced into it, hurtling down into its depths. It would be stronger there, but it would be more vulnerable, as well, and that was what mattered.
As I slid into the spirit, I realized I’d been wrong when I thought about how and why I fought. When I’d fought the elder spirit outside the valskab whose name I’d never learned, I considered myself the kind of fighter who fought to win, at any cost, but that wasn’t really correct. The problem was, I wasn’t a fighter, not really. I was an assassin. I killed those who needed killing, and that was all. Fighting was something I sometimes had to do to accomplish that, but it was something I didn’t want to do and didn’t enjoy. I ended fights quickly because that let me get back to my actual goal: killing. Everything I did held deadly intent; every strike was meant to slaughter whoever was in my way.
The spirit wasn’t my enemy. I didn’t hate it, and there was no point to fighting it. It was an obstacle keeping me from killing, nothing more. I fought it because I had to, no other reason. There was no glory or pride in it. It was something necessary, and if it had to be done, I would do it quickly, effectively, and efficiently as possible. I wasn’t fighting the spirit; I was killing it, nothing more.
The heat around me exploded into actual flames, and the pressure bore down on me, but I ignored it as I plunged downward into the spirit. I sliced away just enough of its essence to heal myself of the worst of the horrific burns, not stopping to do more. If I hesitated, the spirit would be able to bring all its power against me, and I would lose. I drove myself downward, riding the edge of my killing intent. The spirit’s flesh was hard and dense, but it parted easily around me as I sliced my way into its core.
The power around me grew thicker and heavier as I slid deeper into it, until a glowing mass of viscous power hung before me, one that glowed like a shifting ball of silver lava. As I saw it, I understood. This wasn’t just a high spirit; it was the volcano’s spirit, despite what Sara had believed. That was how the rashi kept the volcano from erupting. They controlled its spirit, and through that, they no doubt controlled the volcano itself. The spirit was weak, though, its core heavily depleted somehow, which suggested that the heltharvis had drawn on it heavily, more deeply than Aeld had led me to believe the bindings of a letharvisa allowed. It was no wonder the volcano was unstable; the spirit probably barely had the power to control it, much less to totally pacify it.
I shook off the distracting realization and tensed myself, sharpening my focus and intent. I lashed out, riding the last of my momentum, and plunged through the outer shell of the spirit’s core, down into its heart. The moment my thrust pierced it, I pulled, drawing on it as hard as I could. Power exploded into me, flooding my body and coursing down into the spirits I’d drained so deeply before. The high spirit screeched in silent pain as my attack struck at the heart of it, and it lurched backward, recoiling from me in all directions, freeing me from its grip.
In that moment of freedom, I pushed power into my new shielding spell, this time wrapping it around my spirit rather than the ones I’d claimed. The high spirit slammed back down against me, but I flooded the spell with its own energy, and it shook and withdrew, unable to hold me. I pushed deeper into its core and drew even harder, and the spirit trembled as I sucked away the most vital of its energies. As its power flooded me, I divided it between protecting myself and using it to pierce its heart. I felt a surge of fear flood the thing as it felt the touch of my murderous focus deep inside it, and it recoiled once more, this time vanishing utterly from my sight.
I flashed back into my body, already moving as the paralysis left me. I activated Adrenaline Rush to push through the stiffness in my muscles as I spun to face the guards behind me. Both reacted quickly, leveling their spears and thrusting them at me after only a moment, but that moment was all I needed. My right hand snapped forward, flinging the now-drained crystal into the skull of the guard on my right, while my left hand dropped the other crystal and slapped away the spear stabbing at that side. The rightmost guard’s head snapped back as the crystal caught his brow. My spear appeared in my right hand and darted forward, plunging into his exposed throat.
I slid the spear out in a fan of spraying blood and moved on the other guard. I parried his spear thrust and returned it with one of my own, jabbing low at his thigh, then sliding the weapon back and darting it at his face. My spear danced about, jabbing at his legs, shoulders, and head like a striking snake, putting him entirely on the defensive. His eyes widened as he scrambled to counter my blows, his spear whipping back and forth to block. Finally, he jerked his weapon an inch too high to counter a feint to his eye, and my spear dropped low and plunged into his stomach. He doubled over, and I whipped the weapon up and sliced open his throat.
As he died, I knelt beside the first guard and placed a hand on his chest. I could feel his spirit fading as it struggled to leave his body, but just as I had the other guard earlier, I pulled it from him and took it into myself. I did the same with the second guard, melding both of their spirits into mine.
Spirit Melding: You have Melded a Menskallin Spirit!
Class M Mortal Spirit
Spiritual Power: 93
Benefits: Celerity +3, Skill +2, Prowess +1, Swift Spirit
Swift Spirit
Passive Ability
Your Celerity stat is improved by 25% of your Intuition stat in spiritual combat.
Spirit Melding: You have Melded a Menskallin Spirit!
Class M Mortal Spirit
Spiritual Power: 95
Benefits: Vigor +2, Skill +2, Vigor +1, Skilled Spiritualist
Skilled Spiritualist
Passive Ability
Your Prowess stat is improved by 15% of your Intuition stat in spiritual combat.
As the adrenaline rush of battle faded, I stopped and took a deep, shuddering breath. Another notification awaited me, and I read this one with a smile.
Skill Increase: Unarmed Combat
Rank: Master 1
Benefits: You can use any weapon-based ability with unarmed attacks, even those requiring a specific weapon or weapon type. You gain 25% of your unarmed combat skill bonuses to any form of melee combat if you have the appropriate Weapon Focus skill. Death’s Touch Ability.
Death’s Touch
Active Ability
Your next unarmed strike is automatically a critical hit that has a chance to kill the target instantly. This chance depends on your Prowess, Skill, and Perception stats, your Unarmed Combat skill level, and the target’s Vigor stat and profession levels.
Master Rank Achieved!
You have reached the Master ranks of the skill: Unarmed Combat.
As a Master of this skill, you automatically gain a 25% bonus to all unarmed attacks, defenses, and damage.
Note that advancing a Master-ranked skill is much harder than reaching the master ranks, requiring the skill to be pushed to its limits and beyond.
“You did it, John!” Sara said enthusiastically. “You reached the Master rank in Unarmed Combat!”
“We can celebrate later,” I thought with a grin. “How much damage did I take doing that?”
“Not much, John. You healed most of it.”
“Good.” I looked around the room, shaking my head at what I saw. Blood lay thickly on the floor and splattered the walls, and the stench of it filled the air with a coppery tang. The heltharvis’ bed was soaked in the fluid and would probably have to be tossed, not that I much cared. The point was that there was no way I was going to be able to hide the fact that I’d killed the guards and escaped from the woman when she returned—and for all I knew, she was on her way right then, rushing back as she realized that her tame high spirit had been badly damaged.
“Do you think she knows, Sara?” I asked silently.
“I would know, so I have to assume that her SARA does, as well, and told her. And once she tries to check in with these guards, she’ll certainly know that you’ve escaped.”
“Then, we need to get moving,” I said. I paused for a moment as I saw the droplets of blood splattering the floor where the heltharvis had been standing, then crouched and collected what I could into my spear. After that, it only took a moment for me to claim the earth spirit within the door, but rather than melding it, I channeled it into one of the drained henguki crystals. I no longer cared if the heltharvis sensed my stealing the spirit since she had to know I’d broken free, and the crystals were a resource that she didn’t know about. If she caught me again, I might be able to use them to break free once more.
I opened the door and activated the shroud Sara had created earlier, powering it with energy from one of the guards. The shroud hadn’t totally protected me before, but it had given me a little time before the high spirit found me. Now that it was wounded, hopefully, I’d have even more.
“What if I drew power from more than one guard spirit, Sara? Would that make it more effective?”
“Honestly, John? I don’t know. As far as I can tell, it should have worked the first time. I’m not entirely sure how the Inquisitor found you. You didn’t breach the ward in Aeld’s room, and I didn’t sense the high spirit penetrating the shroud until it grabbed you. She must have sensed you some other way.”
I froze as I considered her words, my mind suddenly whirling. A dozen tiny things that nagged at me suddenly crystallized in my mind. I considered the idea from different sides, and no matter how I looked at it, it made sense. I still didn’t know exactly what was happening here, but I thought I had a much better idea, and if I was right, then I had some work to do—and the first step was getting the hell out of here before the heltharvis returned.
Then—well, then, hopefully I could get out of this with my ass more or less intact.