“It’s time,” Latresekt said.

“I feel him,” Ranvir’s reply was lost in the storm, but the spirit could understand him so long as they registered within his Flesh.

There was little activity from the mercenary camp. Most of them seemed holed up in their tents, probably monitoring the aperture. Only a single source of energy was moving in the fold, running towards Ranvir. The only one that mattered in this situation.

Ranvir’d known Sabas was a high-tier braced. The man had confirmed his Tier 15 status himself. Yet, it was something else to view it. Ranvir’d sensed plenty of tethered and braced going all out. Even his experience with the two systems of power, Ranvir wasn’t sure how to compare them.

Most of the time, Sabas barely measured as powerful at all. Only a stone-certain underlying strength of Concept hinted at anything else. Ranvir’d seen plenty of second-stage tethered back at the academy who registered as strong as Sabas, even though they were just sitting at the cafeteria or walking between classes.

But once the captain started moving, things changed. He didn’t suddenly feel much stronger, no. He felt dangerous. Parts of his system usually relaxed, to allow the braced to interface with everyday objects, came awake. And Sabas was on fire with it. Ranvir doubted the man could’ve picked up a fork without ruining it, let alone a glass.

A sun of silver and iron mana shooting through the fold, blasting through the storm like it had no hold on him. An arrow ripping through the air. And it was headed straight for Ranvir.

Ranvir looked down at his hands. They were shaking. Frowning, he knitted his fingers together. Hold strong, he told himself. Space twisted and writhed. The uncontrolled heaving of a dying world. Stone shattered. The pillar shifted and groaned, slipping into the water. He turned his head towards the silver light.

“Sentinel.”

Ranvir couldn’t hear his words, but Sabas spoke with the whole of his being. Body, spirit, and mind.

“Mercenary,” Ranvir replied in kind.

Sabas lunged. Only the stone shattering, dispersing the warrior’s force, saved Ranvir from that first attack. The wind didn’t whistle as it was cut by his fist. It screamed. As Ranvir leapt away, fueled by Sandstorm Rage and his space powers. Sabas didn’t slow down quickly, following up with a combo of strikes.

Ranvir’s Perception barely allowed him to keep up, parrying and deflecting the blows.

Ranvir pushed Sabas’ fist to the side, like shoving a fallen tree off the path. The blow missed by too narrow a margin. Groaning, Ranvir caught the next in the palm of his hand and redirected it. Even through the anesthetic, his arms ached, each blow reverberating through his body.

Ranvir fell off balance and he could already see the captain’s follow up. Diverting mana to defense, Sandstorm Rage shifted. Ranvir pulled on the fabric of space, increasing the distance between himself and Sabas, even as he enforced his Flesh.

Sabas struck him in the jaw and he made his mercenaries look like swaddled teenagers. The blow sent Ranvir right back to his first-year at the academy, as he threw a fit against Dovar.

Ranvir came awake in mid-air. The water slapped against him, nearly as hard as solid stone. Only the rolling waves softening the impact. He blasted against the water until he rammed into a pillar. Compared to the punch, the pillar didn’t even make him cough up what air he’d saved. Space twisted in his grip. He struggled for a moment before wrapping himself, then reappearing on top of the pillar.

Water splashed onto the stone, vanishing in moments into the puddles created by rain and wave. Ranvir worked his jaw. It didn’t feel broken, but such a punch was difficult to dismiss.

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“You did well on that,” Latresekt said. “But let’s avoid direct combat with the living weapon for as long as possible, okay?”

Ranvir nodded. Sabas had neither drawn his spear nor put mana into that attack. It wasn’t as devastating as Ranvir’s fully charged Sand Strike, but even Ranvir’s best haymaker wouldn’t compare.

“Your Sandstorm Rage allows you to be nearly as strong as him, or even tougher, but you’re not at the point of matching him, so don’t even think about it.”

Ranvir nodded. In the distance, he could vaguely make out the light moving towards him. Enforcing his strength with Rage, Ranvir leapt away, prolonging his lead as long as possible. Gathering speed was tricky when you were stronger than your environment. If you simply set off at full power, it would be like the floor vanished from under you. The power would definitely send you forwards, but a lot was lost in the shattered stone.

However, as Ranvir gathered momentum, so could he push off harder and harder. Under different circumstances, Ranvir might’ve tried to rely on this fact, but Sabas was no doubt even more experienced with his strength than Ranvir was.

Ranvir’s lead slowly dwindled as he rushed across the platforms. He tried his best to avoid getting too far away from the entrance, but Sabas cut him off whenever he tried closing in. Instead, they were forcing this cat-and-mouse chase where Sabas nearly caught him, only to detour to cut Ranvir off from the camp.

Ranvir jumped from the edge of the platform as hard as he could. Even at speed, the rock cracked. The wind rushing against his back, Ranvir skimmed across the next pillar, intentionally aiming to skip this one entirely. Sabas, seeing and sensing his intent, repeated the feat, but better.

Ranvir barely blasted away enough sand to get out of the way as Sabas flew by. Grinning, Ranvir stretched space, immediately slowing down. Landing on the pillar, he leapt towards the camp, shortening space between leaps and hardening it beneath his feet.

Introducing space mana into their chase caught Sabas off guard for a moment. Ranvir quickly built his speed. Instead of leaping off the stone, he leapt off hardened space that wouldn’t give as easily. Though the effort strained his tether, Ranvir quickly built a comfortable lead. Sabas’ lapse was only momentary, however, and Ranvir was still new to this method.

Ranvir’s senses alerted him to the danger, with moments to spare. Ranvir froze his Flesh, instantly seizing all movement. Groaning, the world darkened at the corners as he stopped in mid-air. A spear sliced through the air in front of him.

Ranvir barely kept his consciousness as the technique layered into his Discipline failed. Dropping out of the air, Ranvir saw the glowing form of Sabas land on the pillar his spear had impaled. With straightened fingers, he punched into the stone down to his elbow and pulled the weapon out by its butt.

Growling, Ranvir tucked his feet and twisted slightly. He hardened space and pushed off, launching with all of his power directly over the head of the mercenary captain. Sabas had barely retrieved his weapon when Ranvir whipped past, nowhere near ready to strike.

Even as he twisted about, the leap having sent him spiraling, Ranvir sought a platform to land and re-orient on. With slight taps on space, he corrected his trajectory towards a wider pillar.

Mana rose sharply behind Ranvir. Shear mana was largely unfamiliar to Ranvir. He’d heard about it and recognized it as warp. At least, until he’d seen it. Warp mana was colorless except for the light splitting along its edge, or unless you submerged it in water. Shear was silver in color, and to Ranvir’s understanding didn’t follow the same philosophies as warp did. At least, not exactly.

Sabas’ main stat was, as Ranvir’d experienced, Physique: Strength, his two secondary stats, likely being Physique: Durability and a Source Stat. Ranvir would’ve been perfectly happy fighting Sabas if his Source Stat was Draw, because then they would’ve been on the same foot regarding control.

But Sabas hadn’t been that ill-minded. He’d picked one that gave him a mana pool. Mana: Harvesting and Mana: Generating sacrificed longevity in combat for power and control. Latresekt had calculated that Sabas had perhaps four or five good hits in his mana pool before he ran out. Four or five hits, each of which would be enough to take Ranvir down. Each of which could match Ranvir’s Sand Strike.

Sabas timed his movement Ability perfectly, following Ranvir’s trajectory and launching at speed. Ranvir, traveling in a beautiful arc over his enemy, turned as he sensed the mana spike already wrapping space around himself. Shear was powerful, but it wasn’t as fast as warp.

Instead of finding a cleaving slash of mana, Ranvir’s glance revealed Sabas nearly on top of him, a silver light emanating from his feet. The hem of his clothing ripping in the wind resistance. Ranvir heaved on his mana, redirecting with all of his might. Latresekt heaved right alongside him, nothing subtle, nothing contained about it. Red fury blazed within Ranvir, the spirit holding nothing back. Insects emerged from the storm by the thousands, equally so from Ranvir’s arm as Loce gave up all the power it had restrained.

Sabas’ perfectly timed shoulder smashed into Ranvir as mana exploded all around them.