Therus, Jalon, and Xiaobo were holding back the wolves. Aaron was sending flashes of wind at spirits that broke the encirclement. Too many flashes of wind for Seth's liking. Activating his qi sight, he saw the problem with the array, and adjusted the barrier to counter the spirits better. With another bound spirit he fired a wave of polarized ice shards at the advancing spirits, shredding the attackers.
A pained cry came from Seth's right. A wolf was crunching down on Jalon's arm, blood flowing from the wound. Seth leapt with his good leg and slammed his brass knuckles into the wolf with as much force and qi as he could muster. Bones crunched, and the wolf let go. A lance of pain shot up his leg as he landed, dropping him to the ground. He had forgotten he had been stabbed earlier. He pulled another bound spirit and activated his iron arms, trying to adjust it on the fly to work with his legs. The technique resisted, but worked. Barely. It was just enough to stop the bleeding and allow him to stand.
The summoner thrust his spear once more. Too slow, Seth tried to dodge to the right but braced for another wave of pain. Pain that never came. A roar of frustration filled the night sky.
"You curse me, even now?! No matter..."
A step, and once more he was just feet above them. The spear blurred, but Seth was barely able to dodge. Another thrust. Seth threw himself to the right. A lance of pain shot up his right arm, along with a wave of nausea that shot up from his stomach. Seth held it down and focused on the summoner.
Therus leapt in and thrust his staff toward the summoner's throat, but their spear blurred to catch the thrust mid-motion. The spear blurred, and Therus dodged while stepping in. His staff shrank, and he slammed it into the summoner's stomach. The summoner's weight shifted, and Seth moved to intercept what he thought the summoner was trying.
The prediction was spot on, but he was only halfway through his move when the summoner blinked to a new location, thrusting his spear at Therus. He did his best to fend off the attack, but it still took a chunk out of his side. The small delay gave Seth a chance to slam his fist into the summoner's side. The summoner grunted as if merely annoyed, but the look in his eyes had Seth curious, and he activated his qi sight technique.
A powerful kick blasted him backward, but he saw the man's qi polarizing, just like a spirit. It wasn't there yet, but they'd have their chance in a matter of seconds. Another effect of the curse? Seth didn't know but pushed the question out of his mind. For the first time in this fight, Seth saw a path to victory.
He landed, and saw the summoner had retreated a step from Therus, who was still recovering. With his fading qi sight, he could see the summoner's polarization was slowing down.
"Aaron, keep the pressure on that fucker!"
"Fuck off..." Despite his muttering, Aaron didn't hesitate and charged in. Therus was back up and charging into the fray.
Seth started charging the summoner.
The summoner's spear blurred as he thrust at Aaron. He managed to block, but the force of the blow knocked him back. The summoner's spear blurred, just in time—
Step.
—to block Therus' thrust with his staff. A crunch came from the right, and a canine whine followed. A sound like an electrical spark cracked along the limits of their array. Good, it was still holding off spirits.
Step.
Aaron fired a wind blade at a couple spirits that slipped through the barrier as he started swinging his hammer at the summoner. The summoner punched Therus with his off hand, knocking the man into a wooden barricade. The air was thick with blood, sweat, and ozone. The sound of his heart beating drowned out the sounds of battle. Seth gathered qi into his arms.
Step.
The summoner stopped Aaron's hammer with a kick. A cry of pain came from the left, from Jalon. There wasn't any time to make sure he was OK, though. Seth started humming, polarizing the qi of his strike. The wailing of spirits started to drown out the heartbeat. The summoner's spear thrust toward Aaron. Seth's fist started to move.
Step.
Aaron dropped his hammer, dodged, and grabbed the summoner's spear. The summoner's eyes went wide but flung Aaron to the side with a casual swipe. It was enough, as his eyes were still on Aaron as Seth's fist landed. Seth felt his punch land and heard the same annoyed grunt.
Oh fuck...
Seth's mind spun, unable to process what was happening. He started to throw himself backward in a desperate attempt to save himself from the attack he knew was coming. From the attack that never came. The summoner was just floating above them, glaring. It seemed...less than it was before. At the start, it was a domineering spirit god, but now, it felt just like any other spirit.
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Seth activated his sight and smiled. The summoner no longer had a polarity but had a structure Seth knew how to bind.
"Buy me twenty seconds," said Seth.
"Got it," said Therus. Aaron joined him without a word.
"I am going to enjoy your screams tonight," the spirit said. His voice was loud but no longer shook the sky. The spirit thrust its spear at Aaron, who dodged with a comfortable margin. He turned away from the fight, leaving it to his companions, and pulled all the supplies he needed for one more spirit binding ritual. That included his last two bound spirits.
The setup ended up taking thirty seconds. A stray spirit had slipped through, distracting him. He looked up. Therus and Aaron were flanking the summoner, keeping him in one place. Keeping him in range. They each sported some new cuts and holes, but none were life threatening. Seth activated the ritual, bracing himself for his fight.
Pain slammed into his mind and soul as the summoner's spirit struggled. The sounds of the battle faded as he was pulled into his own mind. He was aware of a wet cough and the taste of iron for a moment, before that too faded into the struggle. The pain exploding through his body focused his mind to a single intent. This spirit would fall.
Seth fought tooth and nail against both the spirit, and the exhaustion threatening to drag him into unconsciousness. A spurt of qi he didn't realize he had flowed into his system, reenergizing him. More exhaustion, then another spurt. Then another. It almost wasn't enough. Only raw fury at the summoner kept him conscious. The summoner would be his. Crashing against Seth's will over and over again, the summoner's spirit grew weaker. And weaker.
Pain returned to Seth's body as the struggle stopped. Opening his eyes, his vision was blurry, and his head spun. He tried to stand, but a force kept him in place. A hand. There was pressure on his leg. A bandage. He heard voices, though they sounded a hundred miles away. He shook his head, and another wet cough racked his body. A few minutes, or maybe seconds, passed before Seth's senses started to return to normal.
"You gonna live?" Therus asked.
"Unfortunately. What—ghhhhhhh." More pain flashed through Seth's body as the adrenaline wore off, taking away his ability to speak.
"How are you still breathing after overdrawing your qi like that?" Aaron asked, looking Seth in the eye. Seth looked back, but the haze in his mind made it difficult to remember exactly what happened.
The pain faded after some time. A rush of panic flooded his body as he tried to jump. Where were the wolves? The spirits? A firm, calm hand kept him down.
"Enemies, where—"
"Gone. Most of the spirits left once you got the big guy, along with the wolves. How did you know to do that, by the way?" Jalon was looking at Seth with a curiosity he hadn't shown before.
"It was a standard puzzle boss."
"...Puzzle...Boss?" Jalon looked thoroughly confused. Looks shared by the rest of the group.
"Phrase from back home. The enemy was restricted, giving it weaknesses to exploit. It's what made the fight winnable. Just...had to find the weaknesses."
Seth took a deep breath to calm his nerves. The pain was fading, and he was starting to feel somewhat human again. He wanted to stand but couldn't force the strength to do so out of his arms and legs. He turned on his qi sight and looked down. His body looked like a hollowed-out husk. Hell, his cancer cells looked spent.
That's where those bursts of qi came from? I'd love to be able to repeat that without having to almost die first.
He spent the next three hours cultivating while the others kept watch. He didn't know whether to be annoyed or relieved that the trial was still going on. Despite the caution, the rest of the night ended up being rather boring. A few more wolves attacked their encampment, and were easily dispatched. He tried to offer to help, but Aaron of all people was the fastest to shoot him down.
"Don't need to be babysitting someone useless," were the actual words he used. Instead of the normal scorn though, they just sounded sad and confused.
The mysterious black portal showed up as the sun crested the horizon. Seth had finally regained enough qi to be able to stand. Without a word, they all trudged through the door.
Well done in conquering a peak. You will be taken to your prize in thirty seconds.
The writing was already on the wall when they entered. With any luck, he'd get something useful this time. Not that the advice had been useless; it had just saved all their lives. He couldn't shake the feeling he was falling behind, however.
"Is conquering peaks always this dangerous?" Xiaobo was still smiling, though this smile looked somewhat forced. "If so, I may have to bow out of trying more of these. Unless the rewards are good."
"Unfortunately for you, the rewards are excellent," said Therus. "Seth disagrees, but the—" Therus' voice cut out. Apparently, the trial wasn't a fan of talking about peak rewards. Which seemed silly here, given the others in the room were seconds away from receiving them.
"So good they've left you speechless?" Xiaobo laughed.
Before Therus could respond, Seth was in the middle of another stone room. In front of Seth were two stone pedestals. The first one had a ring on it; the second one had a scroll with indecipherable glyphs. The room was lit by an overhead globe of light that floated in space. The air was so still his breathing felt like an intrusion.
He walked over to the ring and picked it up. A small spark ran from the ring, and he felt its presence in his mind. He intuitively knew that there was a space he could put items into and take them out of. There were things already in the space; some ritual ingredients.
Looking at the scroll, he was pulled into its instructional world as soon as he focused on the glyphs. The customary pain came and went and then shadow-Seth was demonstrating. The hand gestures were a precise dance through space, combined with a chanting vocalization that combined into a globe of energy in the shadow's palm. The palm then moved to a now-injured part of the shadow's body and began closing the wound. To be more precise, it was just accelerating the body's natural healing process.
As he imitated the shadow's movements and vocalizations, he could feel the limits of the technique. He wouldn't be regrowing limbs or healing life threatening injuries. The amount of qi taken up by the technique was also massive, and he didn't have any good ideas for reducing the cost. He barely understood how the technique worked. An oversight he planned on fixing as soon as he had time.
He practiced the technique three more times with the shadow, and as he came out of the vision, he knew he could perform the technique. Activating it took him thirty seconds now. Not super useful for combat situations. But for him and any of his allies, mere injuries wouldn't be enough to knock them out of commission for extended periods of time. A smile crept across Seth's face.
The smile was still there when he appeared at the trial entrance with the rest of his group. It lasted another couple of seconds, until the technique keeping his leg steady ran out of energy, dumping him to the floor.