Isabella yanked Alanza around as she tried to make her speed match hers in their desperate attempt to evade Tichaona. At level 3, her athleticism was showing in how she ran extremely fast, rampaging any object in her way as she left huge gusts of dust in her trail. Regardless of this effort, her pursue eventually caught up to them by leaping forward towards them whilst in their sprinting momentum. Tichaona elbowed Isabella on the back which propelled her body over a cliff and caused her and Alanza to violently tumble down. If it weren’t for the physique that came with their levels, they would have died on the spot.
Isabella grabbed onto Alanza as they flipped over lumps of rocks on their way down. Many of the stones and corrugated pillars were smashed into by the pair until a giant slab with foliage broke their fall. They had fallen 60feet and as soon as they pulled themselves back together, they noticed Tichaona who was standing on top of the cliff, gazing down at them.
The direction of the sun had cast a shadow on his front side so it was hard for them to tell what he was going to do, but then, without warning, he jumped towards them. Alanza was shaken, frantic to her core as she watched their pursuer. With only their clothes torn up and bodies covered with dust from the rubble, they were hardly wounded with exception to Alanza. As their adrenaline drove them to flee away from Tichaona who was about to land, she noticed that she got a few cuts on her legs and back, but ones that were light. Her level 3 associate’s body didn’t feel a thing and she made sure to carry Alanza in her arms so that she could easily run faster. The sound of Tichaona landing only made her pick up the pace as she dreaded the thought of being captured by him.
“Lanza, can you wish for slime or anything slippery. At the pace this bastard is running, he will probably get us. Plus, he’s really strong. Where he hit me on my back really hurts!” she shouted, as she breathed heavily.
“I will do it big sis, but do you think you can fight him?” she asked, looking frantic as she prepared to perform her request.
“He is a higher level than me and it seems like strength is one of his high stats, considering that not just anyone can hit me and give me pain. I will place you on my back to make your wish. Will you be left with enough mana to wish for more mana?” she asked, talking aloud as she took quick long and quick strides.
“Yes, it will be enough. I am wish for the slime now!” screamed out Alanza.
The pastel goth dressed girl stretched out her hand as she was mounted on the shoulder of the sprinting Isabella. Her left palm glowed and then 5 feet away from her, huge volumes of slippery and gelatinous slime appeared on the rocky terrain. The amount was so much that it was as if a mud slide came out of nowhere. The liquid began to pile on top of each other and due to the inclined nature of the terrain, began to flow downwards, with debris and objects being dragged with it.
Tichaona noticed this unexpected appearance of volumes of slime and unfortunately, due to his speed, went straight right into it. The young man skidded and lost his balance as soon as his feet met with the slippery substance. His momentum drove his body into trees and rocky platforms. Isabella peeked behind as she heard the sound of him colliding with several objects and celebrated. The distance between them was now getting longer with him having been stopped.
Tichaona’s trajectory was halted when he slammed his feet into the ground. He stopped himself and felt irritated by the fact that he fell into their sneak attack. The slime smelt horrible and it felt like large amounts of snort had been smeared on his face. He then used his energy manipulation techniques and hovered over the landslide. The custom goal’s navigation points showered him the distance between him and the two girls, which grew as Isabella fastened her pace. The extraction which was supposed to be a cake walk was now become gross and difficult.
Isabella stopped nearby a cave, panting, as she darted back anxiously. Her shoes were ripped to pieces, by her inhuman speed and parts of her pants got ripped by the flexing of her muscles as she was running. Isabella didn’t think that they were totally in the clear and decided to make quick preparations before having to face him once again. Alanza was told to make several mana plants for both of them to consume.
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She also wished for explosives, turrets and tear gas. Alanza would simply make a wish, replenish her mana and then make another wish, doing it quickly as they quickly heard signs of the enemy closing in. As soon as they could see Tichaona descending from, Isabella through several of the tear gas outside and inside the cave, completely obscuring any form of light. The gas was heavy and thick, but with his poison hardened body, the gas did nothing. Even with his vision impaired he could hear the girls and the navigation point which directed him made her attempt seem futile. He closed in, using instinct and was meet with a lot of fire power. Guns, explosives, cannons and anything that could ignite, were all going off at the same time.
The armour and even Tichaona’s base form could handle the shenanigans of Isabella’s plans. He couldn’t help but feel amazed by the fact that his body was impervious to such attacks. His amazement drove the girls to dread. Isabella tried landing kicks on his thighs and groin, but upon impact she felt as if she had smashed her bones onto a steal surface. His muscles were firm and impenetrable and he didn’t try to dodge due having confidence in their difference of strength. Now at level 5, her strikes were like twigs to him. When she realized that close combat wasn’t an option she then retreated back into the cave. Tichaona then said aloud, “You know, from your attempts, it’s become clear that I am quite a strong adversary and rather than persist, I would advise you guys to surrender. I will even cook you guys a nice meal for all the trouble I have caused you. So ladies, let’s stop.”
“You’re right stranger. I don’t think I can win. You’re clearly too strong, way too strong. So if you’re not a part of Hive mind’s lackeys then what do want from us?”
“Well I am only here for the higher leveled girl, which must be you. My boss, well, the goddess who sends me wants to train you and make you part of our team. She believes you have special skills that will help her and only wishes to have you join. I apologize for the elbow that caused your fall, though I didn’t think it would kill you.” he said, a bit surprised by how cold some of his delivery sounded.
“Well it fucken hurt! Besides, how do I know you won’t take me to your place and rape me and my friend? You’re stronger than me and this Goshem place has been lawless ever since I got here. Why don’t you send you lady boss. You called her a goddess right? If she comes here, maybe I might believe that you don’t have evil intentions.” she said, as she nudged Alanza to whisper something into her ear.
“Well, I do admit that I didn’t make a good first impression, so I will tell you what, why don’t we calm down, stop fighting and then we talk this over without any violence.” he said, as he trotted towards them. As he took a few nonchalant steps, Isabella whispered into Alanza’s ear.
“Lanza, remember that time when you wished for lightning back at the Hive’s quarters. Well you will have to do it again.” whispered Isabella.
“Yeah, but when I did that, I ran out of all my mana and I couldn’t make any more wishes. You scolded me that day.” she whispered back, shaking as she worried about the approaching Tichaona.
“Well that’s why I told you to wish for a lot of mana plants silly. I am not going to allow that guy to take us like helpless sheep. It’s time I used my abilities against this bastard.” she said as she pressed her hand against Alanza’s shoulder, affirming that all was well with her plan. Alanza quickly glanced at the stock of mana plants that were lying around and she took a bite to reload her mana gauge. As soon as it was 100% full she stretched out her hand once again. The crevices and all the surrounding parts that made up the cave were lit up by the light that was emitted by the lightning rod. Before it fully took form, Isabella glanced at it and said, “Lock on target.”
As Tichaona closed in, he noticed a star shape appear right on his chest. In a matter of moments the lightning rode struck him on the chest and knocked him right out of the entrance of the cave. His body which was hurled out, made the tear gas disperse with the force as he slammed into the trees and terrain outside. Tichaona had not reinforced his body and took the full brunt of the strike.
The voltage hurt and the chest area of the suit was charred. It wasn’t enough to kill him, but the lightning strike hurt quite a lot and made his chest sore. As he picked himself up from the wreckage, he noticed 3 more star shaped marks appear on his body. One was on his forearm, abdomen and the other on his thigh. The marks were glowing, as if highlighting the area of interest. Tichaona decided to not underestimate them anymore because of what she had managed to do to him. However, before he could retaliate, flashes of light quickly came out of the cave like a diagonal lightning strike.
Tichaona acted on Barrier to Entry before the bolts could hit him and the voltage had so much force that it pushed him back a few steps. Unknowing to him, more was coming. With the cheat like ability that Alanza had, she would simply refill her mana from the plants she wished for and make more lightning rods for Isabella. A wave of these kept on coming and it became clear that Isabella wanted to keep at distance between herself and this man. Tichaona got annoyed by this and desisted from using his ability to stop the projectiles. Instead, he used his energy techniques to combat them.
Tichaona strengthened and used detecting to send waves of energy that weighed on the objects around them at the same time reinforcing his body which would occasionally get struck by the bolts, but this time, impervious to the strikes. Isabella felt the gravity weighing down on her and dropped to the ground. Alanza was pushed against the ground, unable to move. Tichaona used the detecting wave to clear the tear gas so that he could see clearly. Once he did so, he could see the girls who were pinned down by his energy. Isabella was resisting and her muscles were throbbing as she tried to get up. The intense muscle spasms that occurred when one was weight lift were visible as she stood her ground. Tichaona was impressed and remarked, “When the goddess used the same technique, I could barely stand up. I guess I am still several levels far from being able to completely make someone remain on the ground. That strike just now hurt a lot, but I am now used to pain.”
“I won’t allow you to take me!” she screamed as she endured the weight of the gravity he placed on her.
“Winners always decide the course of action honey.” he said, as he prepared his right fist. Tichaona got within face to face reach and got a clear look of her. She was pretty exotic in her eyes and beautiful despite the fact that she was glaring at him with intense eyes. He then hissed that he was sorry and punched her in the gut. His punch was reinforced so it immediately dropped her to the ground. The girl enough coughed out blood as Alanza cried out in fear. Tichaona then told the other girl that he wasn’t going to do anything to her, but she then insisted that she didn’t want to leave without Isabella. Tichaona, then punched her in the gut as well, just to be sure that she wouldn’t surprise him. With both girls incapacitated. He carried them by his shoulders and rendezvoused at the location where he would see the portal of the dark figure.