Synexus sat by the fire under the starry night waiting on his hunters to catch up. He knew his friends were all nearby, but they all promised they wouldn’t get involved no matter how the conversation went.

  After a few hours of waiting, two silhouettes against the moonlit sky appeared on the mountain pass. Synexus instantly focused on them.

  Name: Wilton

  Race: Human

  Class: Technomancer LV 46

  Faction: Creation’s Coalition

  He stopped the notification when it started listing off the skills that he could read from the will pathways etched into his soul and quickly went to the next figure.

  Name: Plessa

  Race: Human

  Class: Advanced Druid LV 42

  Faction: Creation’s Coalition

  Synexus sighed. The time had come to finally interact with the dreaded Coalition.

  When they drew closer, he realized just had exhausted they looked. Deep bags under their eyes showed how relentless they had been in their hunt. They weren’t even stopping to rest. Even their steps were lazy. Their feet were barely coming off the ground.

  He quickly brushed away his thoughts and feelings about the Coalition and offered them a place to sit down and rest by the fire while they had their conversation. Of course, he was hoping it turned out peacefully. Violence should always be avoided if possible. He would always live by that. Elder Branch had ingrained that mindset into him ever since he was child. No matter who they were with, they could turn out to be decent people.

  He honestly believed that until his Mana Perception picked up the boiling mana swelling in the two people sitting before him. They didn’t realize it, but their bodies were already acting on pure hatred at the sight of Synexus.

  The conversation quickly devolved into somewhat of an argument as he tried to press their boundaries to see where their feelings towards him and his people stemmed from. Neither of them had told him a story of a Zaxillian acting atrociously towards them or having a family taken from them in the war like he was expecting. Instead, they kept spewing the propaganda of the Coalition. Their thoughts weren’t their own. They had been implanted and beaten into them their whole lives. Brain washed by the very organization they lived their lives for.

  Synexus tried to calm them when their mana started to run rampant, however, his words only seemed to make their anger flare even more. His mere existence was an insult to them, and they were sent to take him to his death. He could not allow that.

  When the one named Plessa jumped up and started forming a skill, Wilton followed instantaneously. Synexus shot up in defense.

  The woman summoned living vines from under her robe that shot out to entrap Synexus. He quickly dodged back and summoned his own vine that bound the two coming at him.

  As soon as he landed, a storm of metal shrapnel came from Wilton’s robes. He grew a stone titan tree in front of him as a shield, but the metal flowed around the tree. Soul reacted and grew into a hard metal armor that deflected most of the shrapnel. Only a few cuts appeared on his left arm.

  Before he could make his next more, the sparse grass on either side of the path came alive. Each blade grew and tried to attack him from both sides. He instantly teleported them into his Progress Garden to the druid’s surprise. Once inside, the grass became inert once more.

  Just then the wind picked up to a dangerous level. Synexus could feel Kumo’s anger and worry floating amongst the gusts. He quickly sent a message over Shell’s mental connection telling her not to worry and reminding the others to stay back.

  He was only level 21. His enemies were both in their forties. However, he had more stats than most at his level due to several factors and his enemies were exhausted. Would his enhanced stats be enough to take down his tired foes? He wasn’t sure, but he wouldn’t put his friends in danger.

  Another volley of metal shrapnel came at him, and he tried to store it in his Progress Garden even though he had a feeling it wouldn’t work. It was metal that he hadn’t logged yet in either of his collection skills. He would need to get a piece of it to hold in his hands. Wilton didn’t waste any of it and would recall the pieces when they clattered to the ground.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  So far, Synexus had only been on the defensive and he knew the fight wouldn’t get anywhere that way. His legs took on the transmutation of the light rabbit as they have many times in the past. With his legs built for speed, he shot forward towards his enemies. Then he cast Body Transmutation one more time to grow the thorns of the paralysis thorn. He hadn’t done it in a while, but success depended on immobilizing his enemies.

  Wilton tried to direct another cloud of shrapnel at him while Plessa shot a flurry of thorns from her hands. Both had been taken back by his speed. Their attacks missed and Synexus was able to stab his left arm into the technomancer’s back. He grunted in pain before activating a defensive skill. Synexus saw the mana build in his back with Mana Perception, but his thorns were slightly too stuck to pull out quickly. A wave of metal shaped like Wilton himself shot out and separated them while pushing Synexus into the mountain.

  Still shaking off the pain from smashing into the mountain, Synexus almost didn’t see the roots growing beneath him attempting to be a sneak attack. He deployed his own roots to block them using Progress Garden to summon the seeds needed in the ground beneath his feet. Plessa attempted to take control of them, but he quickly unsummoned them back into the garden while kicking off the stone behind him and shooting straight at her.

  His hand came into contact with her body, and he used Enemy Transmutation to give her right arm and leg the density of mana infused osmium. She instantly fell to the ground, not being able to move either of her limbs due to the weight.

  She still wasn’t giving up and sharp thorns shot out of her left-hand point blank into Synexus body. Soul was able to mitigate some of the damage, but he still was left with several bloody holes in his chest. He reeled back from the pain. Silver blood ran warm down his body and into his hands. She laughed and then pressed her hand to the ground to summon dozens of vines.

  Synexus reacted quickly even with the burning pain in his chest. Several explosive liing seeds exploded into the mess of vines instantly lighting them on fire and severing quite a few. The force and fire reached Plessa and she screamed.

  He attempted to mute them in his mind, but the smell of burnt flesh immediately filled the air. Trying to take his mind off her, he looked over at Wilton who was lying on the ground barely able to move. The paralysis that kicked in during his fight with Plessa and now both of his enemies were incapacitated.

  Acting quickly, he put the fire out on Plessa’s skin and wrapped her in a fabric that he manipulated to become dense like her limbs. Soon she could only move her head. For Wilton he grew binding vines around him and then manipulated them into stone.

  “What are you?” Wilton spit out in disgust.

  “You already know that. I’m a Zaxillian. I’m a Progress Architect. What I didn’t have to be was your enemy.”

  “You were always our enemy. This was going to end with you dead in the Coalition’s King’s throne room or us dead on this backwater world.”

  “That is a bleak view of life. I’m sorry you both were led down this dark path. You both could have been skilled class chosen that could do good in this universe.”

  “Please, spare us your holier than thou bullshit. You are no better than our records suggest.”

  “You never had records on me. That’s what you don’t understand. We could have been better than our ancestors. History didn’t have to repeat itself.”

  “Just stop. Kill us, but don’t torture us with your lies.”

  Synexus shook his head and a silver tear fell down his cheek.

  “HA! You can’t! You’re weak!”

  “Taking a life should never be easy.”

  “You hear this Plessa? He can’t kill us. We found the weakest cockroach of them all!”

  “Shut up, Wilton!” Plessa yelled.

  “Kid, you’ll be sorry. We will get out of this, and we will report your existence. The Coalition will find you and kill you, but not before they kill your friends by wiping out this planet to ensure you didn’t spread your filthy lineage. I’ll be there when it happens.”

  Synexus’ fists clenched at his sides. His jaw was shaking at how hard he had his teeth grinding against each other. A war was raging inside him. Part of him was hoping, no wishing that they would turn out to be decent people who were simply mistaken. People he could talk to and make a deal with. People who he could save. Now he would have to take their lives for the safety of his friends and his home.

  His hand moved to the hilt of Progress and grasped it tightly. More tears of frustration fell down his face.

  His Mana Perception picked up a cloud blade shooting from Kumo’s position going straight towards the man’s head and he drew his katana to stop it. In his mental connection, he only said one word.

  “Stop.”

  Wilton laughed and laughed. Plessa pleaded with him to shut up.

  Synexus walked over to Wilton and stood over him.

  “Any last words?”

  “Quit bluffing kid! It’s clear you can’t do this.”

  Synexus kneeled and held his sensors to the man’s head.

  Wilton: 100%

  “Those are poor last words.”

  Progress’ blade flashed out and pierced the man’s brain.

  He died instantly.

  Synexus walked over to Plessa and kneeled once more.

  Plessa: 100%

  “How about you?”

  Her eyes widened and her anger disappeared. Tears rolled down her face muddying the path they were on.

  “No please. Don’t! I didn’t ask for this!”

  He stood and prepared to strike with Progress.

  “Please! I have a family!”

  The blade pierced through her skull and into her brain.

  “So did I.”

  He fell to his knees in between the two corpses. Progress fell from his grasp into the dirt. His fists hit the ground. Something had broken inside him even though he knew it was necessary.

  Nothing mattered to him at that moment. His bleeding chest. The burning pain he felt. Even his friends attempting to speak to him. Everything was muted in a world of grey.