“Even I didn’t expect him to be this weak,” Grand Marshall Devick complained as she leaned back in the cracked remnants of Commandant Wick’s desk. She flicked her wrist, try to get rid of the coating of blood on her hands. Due to her thorough, hour-long lashing of her opponent, a large portion had dried, but a few drips were still flung across the torn carpet.

She pursed her lips in irritation as she looked at her speckled hands. “Wick? Cut off a portion of his uniform so I can clean my fingers.”

Commandant Wick trembled at her casual tone, but still walked across the destroyed remnants of his office to the whimpering, chained Grand Marshall curled up on the ground. Thick metal spikes protruded from the heavy chain, lodging themselves even more deeply into the flesh of the shark man. After scanning his uniform, Wick could only shake his head. “Unfortunately, Grand Marshal, he has stained his entire uniform with blood; there are no clean portions.”

“This is why fastidious men are the best,” Devick sighed. “Yet I’m surrounded by slobs. No matter. Come here, Wick. Because now it’s time to discuss something important. I hope you understood that this display wasn’t really about foolish Ellios.”

Another tremor ran through Wick’s body. But still he forced himself to walk forward and confront his superior officer. With deliberate slowness, she leaned forward and leveraged herself out of her leaned position using his desk. When she removed her hands, the overstrained desk collapsed into a pile of useless tinder. Then she reached out and pressed her hand against his neck, tightening a single finger at a time. Her red hair cascaded down her back as she stood and lifted Wick off the ground. “You… really decided to throw your lot in with this shit? You endangered the prestige of Military High Command for this man? Heh.”

Grand Marshall Ellios chose that moment to sob quietly, adding weight to her cruel intonation. Commandant Wick closed his eyes, very conscious of the fact that while painful, he didn’t need his air passage to breathe. Damnit, he was supposed to be stronger than you. How the hell are you so powerful when you jumped so quickly through image fulfillment to the Speculum tier?!?

If you don’t get it in a minute, you won’t get it in a lifetime, huh…

Devick’s bloodstained fingers tightened, indicating that the time for Wick considering had passed. Commandant Wick wheezed his words around her grip on his neck. “I considered this issue… beneath your notice… Grand Marshall.”

“Hmph, flattering me now?” Devick lowered Wick back to the ground and batted her eyelashes. Despite her words, Wick would never have survived without flattering her. “There is no way such a method would work. A powerful individual such as I would see right through such attempts to sway me. Ah, well, I suppose I can forgive you on behalf of little Iellaya. You cannot be entirely ineffective to have gathered such a follower… which reminds me. When are you going to devour this… Ghosthound? I assume he’s the one you’ve been grooming for the process?”

Commandant Wick bowed his head. “I am waiting for him to reach his full potential. Based on my observations, he will soon run into a wall. Due to my prior arrangements, I should feature heavily in his thoughts. The longer he obsesses over me, the easier the process will become.”

“Hmmm, well I can’t tell you much more without seeing him in person, and how stingy that you haven’t brought him here to meet me, but…” Grand Marshall Devick tilted her head to the side while looking at Commandant Wick. The pupil in her right eye steadily expanded, past even the limits of her iris, until her entire eye was black. Then she blinked. “There is something odd about your aura. If you don’t strengthen yourself soon, it will be too late.”

You monster. How can your eye see so much? Wick panicked inwardly but kept his face bereft of emotion. He bowed. “Thank you for your advice. I’ll begin making preparations at once.”

“See that you do,” Grand Marshall Devick sat back down, clearly losing interest in the subject. She stifled a yawn and then looked over to the front of your office. “Oh, and get rid of this man. I have a tea date with little Iellaya later.”

*****

Randidly stretched out his hand, throwing a tightly coiled pattern that would spring open upon contact. However-

Buzzzzz!

The whip condensed from the Grand Pattern whirled so quickly that none of Randidly’s own patterns could affect it. Any that neared it were blasted apart by the raw power of the rotation. Randidly’s eyebrows couldn’t help but twitch. As he watched the carefully crafted energy flow blasted to oblivion. Is this… what people feel like when they fight me and my powerful body…?

Randidly rolled sideways and then hopped up to perch on top of a metal pyramid. The Grand Pattern whip sheered past him and lashed out across the platform. The shades were sent flying like blow-up dominos. Randidly knew that he probably could fare better in a confrontation if he unleashed his own gushing natural force, but the impressive point was that the female shade did this just by relying on manipulating the pattern.

Just like he had with all the other guardians, Randidly coveted that special ability. If he learned that, his power would take another step forward.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Randidly planted his feet on the pyramid and narrowed his eyes. The powerful whip roiled and then flashed up to knock him off his perch. Driving his power through the foot planted on the pyramid, Randidly unleashed a palm strike that contained every ounce of insight he possessed into the Grand Pattern. The penetrative pattern benefited from the powerful force of his body. The surrounding air exploded and a miniature hurricane swirled outward.

It was, without a doubt, the most powerful strike that Randidly could unleash by relying on his rapidly evolving understanding.

Congratulations! Your Skill Philosophy within the Boundless Deluge (M) has grown to Level 584!

Congratulations! Your Skill Tempest Drill (A) has grown to Level 495!

BOOOM!

Randidly grimaced when he was easily smacked away and his lower back crunched onto one of the floating pyramids. He tumbled to the ground and twisted to land on his feet like a cat. Leaping sideways, he avoided a follow-up strike with the powerful whip. His expression was aggrieved as he watched the shade regarding him with a smirk. Ah, Helen, I’ve learned empathy. Even when you improve your Skill, the other side can just knock you aside with raw power…

...this is such bullshit…

Congratulations! Your Skill Dodge has grown to Level 425!

The shade watched Randidly bouncing between the pyramids as he avoided her attacks. “You know, one of the benefits of this strange body is that I don’t tire. You will run out of steam before I do, if you continue. Why not give up? As you can see, many have failed to make it past me.”

“I’m just developing my strategy,” Randidly ground his teeth as a glancing blow from the whip send him drifting sideways into an area without any pyramids. He reached out and twisted his hand in the air, seizing upon the nearby flows. He rapidly worked his will on the air and created a platform that he could kick-off to avoid a massive slam from the wind whip. However, the passage of the whip obliterated all the minute flows that Randidly had managed to gather to himself, putting him back to square one.

Her pattern takes on such an aggressive motion that just its passage destroys anything I make. Randidly bit his lip as he bounced backward on the balls of his feet. I could forcefully resist if I used more energy… but is there no way to create a pattern that can resist her…? Should I also try increasing the speed of my patterns?

He wracked his brain and couldn’t think of an option. But Randidly wasn’t willing to give up easily. He looked down at his weapons and chuckled. “Sorry guys. Looks like this one might take a while.”

Sulfur hummed, pleased at the prospect of absorbing kinetic force. Despite the fact that it evolved into a complete left arm, it still desired thorough bludgeonings in order for it to strengthen its essence. Meanwhile, Acri was consumed by a deep frustration that it hadn’t yet figured out how to evolve, even after accumulating so much experience. Seeing Sulfur make that step first left it positively spitting with aggression.

Even without Randidly’s urging, his spear was ready to fight until it shattered into pieces.

“Since we are all agreed,” Randidly spoke lightly as he planted his feet and adjusted his stance. He raised Acri and stopped thinking so deeply about how the patterns interacted with one another. Instead, he felt himself sliding back to a simpler time, trained by Shal, just trying to earn the ability to defend himself. At the same time, his subconscious adjusted his stance once more, bringing to life his implicit understanding of how movements could impact the surroundings. He rubbed his thumb against Acri’s shaft.

Like all things, he would overcome this pattern one step at a time.

The shade waved her hand again and the wind whip flopped and smashed like a blind kraken. Randidly moved lightly, following his instincts. He leapt forward and unleashed a thrust. Acri whistled through the air and cut a chunk out of the side of the whip before Randidly’s momentum carried him past it. He didn’t slow down at all, building up some swirling patterns around himself as he glided across the ground and then bounced up over a wide sweep of the ground.

Synchronicity detected…

He sucked in a breath and licked his lips. Although his body had only a fraction of its normal power, the sense of speed Randidly experienced curled the edges of his mouth up. He leaned on his right leg and then rapidly redirected himself avoiding the wind whip. He squeaked by the shade’s weapon but again lost his patterns.

But watching his patterns being chewed to pieces got Randidly thinking.

Patterns don’t just have to be some esoteric shape, my body is the crux. Darkness swirled in one eye, emerald fire in the other. Put another way, everything I do physically can be expressed in a pattern. I don’t just need to rely on these small tricks-

His torso began to weave as he leapt up amongst the pyramids and bounded forward. His body began to overheat, even with the physical suppression. Part of it was the natural heat of his body’s engine, but part of it was his excitement, too. Under the constant pressure radiating out from the shade’s patterns, Randidly began to understand something. His bare feet kicked off the strange metal of the pyramids, making his movements abrupt and unpredictable.

In the end, the more powerful patterns can’t escape resembling images. Her power stems from the rotation of the whip. Suddenly the arrangement resembles a concrete object. Which brings power, but it’s also why she's only here, the tenth guardian. Because she ‘cheated’.

Fickle energy cannot clash against her directly. But my body can. And my body is part of my pattern. It becomes the keystone. The medium through which all the energy must pass. A constant amidst the infinite shifts-

Congratulations! You are creating a Skillset!

Warning, Your Skill Absolute Timing (Ru) is being absorbed into your Skillset. As this is a Class related Skill, some damage might result-

Warning-

Recalculating…

Congratulations! You have created the Skillset Moirae of Ripples (P)! Your Skill Cutting Tides of Amenonuhoko (T) has been added. Your Skill Philosophy within the Boundless Deluge (M) has been added. Your Skill Tempest Drill (A) has been added.

Congratulations! Your Skill Dodge has evolved into Unpredictable Eddy (L)! Skill Level has been maintained! Skill has been added to your Skillset Moirae of Ripples (P)!

Recalculating…

Your Skill Absolute Timing is resonating with your new Skillset!

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Timing (Ru) is experiencing an unusual evolution!

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Timing (Ru) has evolved into Motif of the Hungry Deep (P)!