Chapter 13:

  They, in fact, could do a lot more than tht. And man did I not expect how far those divine bastards were willing to go to make sure I didn't escape from this moderator damned world.

  As the Fang goblin horde charged the shrine, the Gale Shamans began their counterattack, It seemed that all the surviving shamans had retreated to within the shrine for whatever they were doing with the captured fang goblins. During the vanguards approach, the close range fighters and their mana beasts such as crystal tusk board and onyx wolves, we all heard a ghastly chanting from within as the doors opened and the first retaliation began.

  “Incoming!” The shout from Rukk gave the Gobljns time to duck behind their beasts, but they didn’t have the time to begin shielding as the torrent of wind blades bombarded the frontlines, the howls and cries of animals tugging at the hearts of the Fang tribe as their beasts were lacerated by the mana sharpened wind that attempted to cut to our own ranks.

  The chanting was a never ending omen on the field as our goblins resumed their charge, I could see the rune imbued weapons attacking with their elemental effects even from where I was, hiding with the few stealth oriented goblins we had as an expeditionary force before the Spirit of the Gale made an appearance. Most of the goblins had only been able to utilize weapons imbued with the [Earth Rune] which only stood to fortify the armament with sharp stone fragments, though in the case of the insistent goblin woman, velka’s whip, it caused the weapon of braided beast leather to be lined with sharp, thorn like stone ridges that cut and tore and and she wrapped around her enemies, the gale shaman she had managed to snare screaming as she pulled the weapon back, lacerating wherever the weapon had landed.

  I heard a crazed cackling, the sound scraping against my eardrums as Velka wildly swung her whip around to cut as many of the shamanic bastards as she could. “Die Yamalka Die!” was all she could get out between yells. All I could do was try not to laugh, despite the seriousness of the situation, it was hard to not find the humor in an elderly goblin lady yelling with joy as she flailed a whip around with a goblin still attached to the end. Keeping silent, I replenished the [Stealth Runes] that allowed me and my strike force to remain hidden from the senses of the shamans, lightly touching the runes on the small cloaks that the siblings dawned. While not quite as advanced as my own cloak, lack of time and whatnot, they were still useful bits of equipment.

  Hide Cloak:

  Item Rank: Bronze

  Runes Applied

  [Stealth Rune] — Muffles scent, sound, and presence. Visible to the naked eye.

  [Earth Rune] — Grounds mana signature. Blends user with terrain. Increases resistance to tremor-based detection.

  Despite not having the same material or the added dimensional rune of my own cloak, the items were still classified as Bronze for some reason. A part of me was in shock when I made them, of what that said about my Crystal tusk hide cloak, were the runes imbued into it not strong enough to classify it as a higher grade? My [Rune Etch] skill was Iron ranked when I finished the item though so the whole thing should have been boosted, I must be missing… Maybe the material was the issue? It's hard to take the pelt of a Bronze ranked beast and turn it Iron? That would make sense I suppose.

  As we snuck around the Shrine, the chanting grew louder and louder, overwhelming even the noise of the battlefield despite the howls of beasts, cries of pain, and screams of bloodlusted insanity from Velka. Pouring mana into my eyes to activate Mana Sight, I saw the very mana in the air tremble as an influx of Dimensional mana, it's indigo hues in the form of an uncountable number of tiny orbs, funneled from the sky and beneath the ground into the Shrine, whatever they were doing in there,, it was about to be completed.

  “Abyss Abyss Abyssity Abyssal Spirits! Purdu, Poro, We need to get in there and stop them. Now!” At the sound of my voice, the two Goblin twins hopped onto their respective beasts, the Earth-Eater Ant gnashing it's steel like mandibles as Poro’s Graveldrake rumbled the earth around it, loosening the earth enough for it to get its legs above the surface. I had not taken the time to appreciate the beast before, but in this moment before we charged, it was truly remarkable. The Graveldrake wasn’t a dragon in the sense of most drakes, moreso just a large pony sized lizard which scales like grave, where the name came from, as well as a gaping jaw it used to remove the dirt from the small ditch we were laying in just moments ago. The beast seemed to have a rough temperament, but I had seen how it treated Poro, it was essentially a giant, scaled puppy dog. That all changed as Poro jumped on it's back and it roared before charging the shrine alongside Purdu. Goodness they were fast, Enhancing my body with mana to catch up, we sprinted towards the shrine, not the entrance, but the back wall were we were stationed.

  “Theo, Purdu, go behind me, let dirt cover you, Me and Rocco will distract them so they think i got lost!” The resolve in Poro’s eyes caught me by surprise, Purdu even more so as she reached her hand out to her brother, no doubt trying to stop him.

  “Poro no you can’t!” She called out to him as quietly as she could without getting us spotted, “We were supposed to get Peena out of the Shrine together, you can’t do this!” The tears in her eye being covered by the dust Rocco was pushing off of scale and earth, the deafening roar of the graveldrake muting any sound Purdu produced.

  The landscape surrounding me was quickly obstructed by dust, even my Mana sight was quickly obstructed as I could only make out the countless hazy brown mana particles the Graveldrake had produced in using this skill. I knew the path however, straight forward would take us right into the back wall of the shrine. A small flash of golden light appeared along with my chain leaving the soulrune on my arm, its blade manifesting as it coiled around my arm and floated the end no more than an inch away from me. We were charging into the belly of the beast, and that wall was reinforced to the nines with the shamans wards and totems.

  Already, as we approached i could see numerous carved effigies depicting various avian species, all of them with glowing green eyes and inscribed with various shamanistic markings in a deep crimson. The two shaped like falcon type mana beasts eyes flared with green as the wind nearby them rippled, air coalescing and compressing to form 4 wings, 2 heads, a massive feathered body, and 4 talons on matching legs. The beast let out a large screech before launching itself at Purdu and her Earth Eater Ant, the wind propelling that formed it allowing it to move far faster than it should have moved naturally. Purdu let out a panicked whistle and kicked the ant, causing it to burrow and chew at the ground, going underground right before the creature could hit them.

  The bird spirit seemed to be on the beastial side, as it lost it's attention on Purdu and their familiar as soon as they left field of sight. I saw the two heads turn their attention to me, eyes gleaming as they inhaled, a deeply disturbing sight when the creature was made of air itself. With a deafening screech, a wave of compressed air engulfed me and launched me back, right next to the shrine. I could feel a grin forming on my face as I was very aggressively helped to the position I wanted to be in. Sending my chain to puncture the ground and pull me back before I was launched too far away, I slingshotted myself right at the twin effigies.

  I heard the deep inhale come again behind me, the 4 winged elemental was nervous as I approached the effigies with my enhanced speed, already sending mana to my gauntlets to light them aflame. Time seemed to slow as I heard the tell tale screech of the Airblast attack, my instincts pounding at my mind to move out of the way before i was splattered into the wall, I didn't have time to listen to them. My body tingled as mana coursed through it, my arms moving forward to burn the Eagle effigies as my chain went to the middle of the wall, the blade seeming to hum as my mana was poured into its construction and my intent flowed through my formation card. The blastwave hit me just as i got a grip on the effigies, the crackle of their wood being burned and the mana stored within given an easy escape collided with the force of the wind trying to push me away from the statues, a small tempest being driven up as the opposing forces collided with me in between.

  The statues were rapidly absorbing the crimson liquid they were covered in, likely the power source or mana container for them as their reserves rapidly plummeted as the flame spread more and more over the effigies. The wind whipped around me buffeting my body as i tried to hold onto the burning statues and carve my new rune into the wall beneath me, the combination rune was a 50/50 on easy, half of it was a simple elemental rune, the other half a more complex rune. Planting my legs into the wall, easing the burden on my arms a the temperature arround the gauntlets increased by the second, I was able to concentrate on finishing the [Vacuum Rune]. “Remote Rune Activation!” The cry escaped my lips as the other effigies sprang to life, forming elemental attacks of gale around me, lances and claws made purely of compressed air and mana appeared behind me, preparing to skewer and maul my back. Mana flowed from me into the freshly carved rune, as much as I could pump into it without it going Boom right beneath me.

  There was a loud “Slurrrrp” noise as all of the wind in the vicinity behind the rune quickly had a destination, and the destination wanted it with a hunger of a glutton. Falling slightly as the constant force pushing me against the wall vanished, the effigies either burnt out of mana or burnt out of substance as the flames continued to eat at the nearby effigies after spreading from the eagles.

  Before I let myself reunite with the ground, I cut off the [Vacuum Rune], the rushing wind sound fading as ambient wind took the place of the wind vacuum. As my feet touched the ground, I stopped sending mana to my gauntlets and retracted my chain to float slightly around me, trying to obscure as much of my skin as I could. On the off chance a shaman managed to get behind the shrine and attack me, I wanted to be able to constrict the chains to form a sort of makeshift armor wherever the attack would end up. The ground beneath me slightly rumbled as I heard the gnashing of teeth and rock moving, it seemed Purdu was back from hiding. Just as the thought finished forming, the Earth Eater Ant bit through the top layer of soil, rising above the ground with an embarrassed looking Fang goblin on its back. “Hey there Purdu, good dodge.” trying to give the goblin gal a reassuring smile, I raised my closed fists, giving her a double thumbs up for surviving. Purdu looked down at the ground again, likely still embarrassed for not contributing to the fight, “Sorry for hiding…” she mumbled softly. “Don’t worry about it, remember the next step of our plan? I need you to go back underground with the last of the Talismans,” I held out the 4 remaining talismans I had stored in my inventory, each one a rune combination that was untested, my first time incorporating the [Kaboom Rune] with other elemental runes, I didn’t have any spare time to try more esoteric runes with it, but i was sure they would cause enough damage for the rest of the trap to take care of the goblins.

  Still without making eye contact, she quickly grabbed the Talismans from my outstretched hand, tucking them into a small rope bracelet she had. “Remember Purdu, have your bonded beast click 1 time every time you place a seal on the ground. Then come back and I'll activate them all at once. According to my mana sight, there’s only one fang goblin in the middle and she's covered in so much earth affinity mana she should be okay. The rest are huddled in the corner right in front of us, I'll make their escape tunnel right before we have the place go kaboom.” Nodding her head, she patted her ant. I really needed to figure out that thing's name so I can stop calling it “Earth Eater Ant, Ant, the bug.” Etc. With the pat and a sharp whistle from Purdu, the ant made its way back underground, now it was time for me to get to my side of the plan.

  Keeping the chain hovered around me, I moved closer to the wall to allow the blade to manifest and began controlling it to form a veritable wall of runes. On the left side of the wall had [Kaboom Runes] and began imbuing runes of elemental glyphs, primarily [Magma Runes] and [Ice Runes], leaving the mana cost unfulfilled until it was time. Using Mana Sight again, I checked the wall to see if the mana signatures within the room once more to ensure I wasn’t going to kill the trapped Fang goblins.

  Seeing the mana signatures inside were similar, if a bit more intense then they were earlier. The fang tribe members were huddled in the corner i was looking at, the mana levels seeming lower but hard to distinguish amongst the cluster, it seemed they were… missing a few people? That is a bad sign, quickly looking towards the center where the dimensional mana was coalescing, I saw sets of mana signatures. On the left, An immense amount of Gale mana emanating from what had to be Gustav, all of the dimensional mana coming from the sky was split between him and the signature in the middle, which seemed to be his heraldic beast. The beasts mixed affinity core of fang and gale being spread out as mana suffused its whole body with streams of Dimensional mana coming from above and below, connecting it to Gustav and the third goblin, the growing fang mana coming from what had to be Rukk’s daughter being suffused with dimensional mana. I heard 2 clicks from the ground beneath me, she was halfway done with the placement.

  Placing the [Spike Runes] on the wall, filling them with mana to prepare to activate and section away the wall into a defended tunnel of spikes, I reinforced the runes with [Stealth Rune] to hide their mana activation signature. To finish the extraction operation, iliad the ground with [Smoke Runes], [Sand Runes] and [Wind Runes], each of those filled with the bare minimum amount of mana required so i could save some for the fight ahead, already risking more than i should with as many runes as i had created. Another click came from below, one more to go.

  The seconds seemed to pass by the hour as the battlefield on the other side of the shrine escalated in volume and magnitude, I could hear and even see the shamans spells go into the air as the cumulative roar of dozens of beasts clashed against spellcasting green goblins. I could even faintly hear Velka and her almost, but not quite, evil laugh as she whipped and sliced “Yamalka Scum” as she called them.

  *Click*, the signal came from below. Activating mana sight and gazing down, i saw the mana of Purdu and her ant rapidly going the other way to return to the main battlefield. It was time to act.

  “[Remote Rune Activation]” I let out a soft murmur as I visualized the circle of [Spike Runes] I had laid out on the wall where the goblins were huddling behind, making sure to activate their neighboring [Stealth Runes] to ensure the mana signature wouldn't alert any of the mana sensitive Shamans.

  It was a beautiful piece of Runecraft. The wall distorted as the material was siphoned off of it, turning into spikes that released from it, the amount of mana imbued led to the spikes protruding to produce their own spikes and siphon even more material from the surrounding wall. As the spikes pierced into adjacent ones, a makeshift tunnel was formed using a cacophony of spikes, giving shielding to the goblins before they ran into the wilderness.

  The first of the fang goblin captives made eye contact with me, an elderly goblin, being supported by two younger ones, he had a look of terror in his eye. Pointing a shriveled index at me, he croaked “It’s you, the one who’s killed our tribesman.” Shit, I thought to myself, none of these goblins know what's happened since Me and Rukk invaded camp and started the revolution, they must still think I’m the enemy. I didn’t have time to explain the whole situation, “Come with me, your brothers and sisters await.” Beckoning them to come closer, I saw a few of the children reach out, only to be held by their parents away. The face of the elder grew stricken, “He threatens us!” He hissed to his compatriots. “No wait, it wasn't a threat!” I tried to keep my voice low, but the frustration at the goblins wasn’t helping, “You guys have missed a whole lot since you got moved to the shrine, The place is riddled with explosives, and my fingers on the boom boom button so to say. Get out, come join those of us fighting in the revolution, stay alive while I stop whatever he’s doing in there.”

  I could see in their faces they wanted to believe me, their eyes darting to each other and small micro movements as some edged closer to me and the tunnel of spikes. I could even hear a faint child’s voice cough as it asked its mother if they could go. In the end however, since the elder didn’t budge, none of them were leaving. Looks like i have to do it the hard way, hopefully this is the last time I see these people anyway. With a mental command, I sent the Mana Blade Chain to wrap around as many people as I could, 4 in total, and yanked them out of the tunnel. The yelps of surprise and anger were muffled as they remembered the shamans, the elder particularly angry to be removed against his will. Repeating the process, I yanked and pulled the goblins out while trying to get them as far away as possible without damaging them from the fall, my combat logs showing me I wasn’t the most successful as small damage markers appeared on the later goblins, my haste lending its hand into recklessness.

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  As the last of the goblins were removed from the tunnel, I heard the voice of the elder once more, cursing me in the goblin tongue. My faint time with the Fang Tribe letting me know he was being exceptionally colorful in his insults. No matter, I needed to stop the influx of dimensional mana, my senses screaming at me even now that it was almost too late and to run as fast as I could in the other direction. I didn’t have time to redo this trial, it has to be now. Snapping my fingers, [Remote Rune Activation] sent mana signals to the 4 Talismans Purdu had laid beneath the shrine, and the world flared with their combined force.

  THe glyphs of [kaboom Rune] were mixed with a combination glyph on themselves, creating 4 beautiful combinations never before seen in the tutorial world. Indigo flares of lightning, ice, magma and sand storms erupted from beneath the earth of the shrine, plumes of Indigo sand swirling in biting gusts as spires of Indigo ice pierced the roof, meeting with the bolts of Indigo lightning arcing around the shrine to form a circuit with the ice spire as the peak. The magma of the [Dimensional Kaboom Magma Rune] seemed to melt the floor of the shrine as it bubbled and burst from beneath the ground. The shrine crumbled, notifications of damage and slain enemies bombarded me as cheers arose from the other side with the fang tribe, proud to see the shrine gone, so completely annihilated. The only issue being the sphere of Multicolored mana in the middle.

  “Those sick bastards…” fell off my tongue as the horror before me settled in. The sources and movement of the mana now made full sense. In the middle of the sphere stood the Heraldic Beast, it's body twitching and mouth frothing as the markings drawn into it's fur flared with green and brown light as it channeled the mana of the spirits. I could see Gustav, the leader of the tribe with markings of blood all over him flaring green as he linked with the beast. And, panning my head to the right, I saw who Rukk wanted to save so desperately.

  Black, greasy hair tumbled onto her shoulders, her body covered in blooddrawn marks of the shamans, each of them filled with a brown and amber light as she twitched and convulsed. She looked very similar to her father, but some features had to be from her other parent, the bone structure and hair were a dead shift from her father.

  A creaky voice came from her, between screams of agony and pain, “Kill me first-” another gasp as the mana surged and the symbols flared, She gasped for air before continuing. “Kill e before it can assimilate!” She yelled at me, her eyes pleading with a hard steel behind them, she was ready to die. The spirits were coming into them, they were doing a ritual to summon them as the vessels from the quest description, I needed to kill these 3, and I needed to do it before the spirits could inhabit their bodies.

  Time seemed to slow as the Dimensional mana around me increased, the dual affinity of Time and Space that made up the mana creaking as it warped reality in what remained of the shrine. I could see them, the spirits. The very ground seemed to bare it's fangs at me as I could sense the Spirit of the Fang focus it's attention on me, the sky seemed to grow eyes as the Spirit of the Gale peered at me. Bloodlust poured from the two spirits, Paralyzing me on the spot, “it's- It's almost like one of the Harbingers is gazing at me.” The killing intent of the two divine spirits almost rivaled that of a harbinger from the old timeline, flashes of memories flooded my brain, making it hard to breathe as i saw the past again, what I thought I had forgotten since being stuck in this trial. My comrades screaming as spears of blood pierced them, smokey whirlwinds of glass and metal shredding others, others I was supposed to protect with my life. Before I could react, I heard a slump from the three in the sphere, a silent scream on Rukk’s Daughters face, a face of joy on Gustav’s, and the dying breath of the beast as it was disassembled before my eyes. The organs flying almost in slow motion towards the two vessels. Cursing, I thought about how I should've moved faster, they were just biding time for the ritual to be complete!

  The beast’s organs lay on the ground as it's parts and pieces moved towards the two vessels, wings of the great beast, 2 large green furred wings flew to the back of gustav, melding with him and becoming part of him as the marks on him blazed furiously and his eyes took on a green glow, the spirit of the Gale fully assimilating with its vessel. The gale winds around the former goblin knocking me back as the earth rumbled from the Spirit of the Fang assimilating with Gustavs daughter, her screams cut out as they turned to snarls. Looking over as i was tossed through the air, I saw what was once a normal goblin child, turned into a brown furred werewolf like beast with glowing and boiling symbols across it's body, her-it's eyes turned a fierce amber as the beast glared at me.

  Landing with a thud and rolling along the ground, I saw the other Fang goblins who were raiding alongside me, the awe and fear in their eyes as they saw what would be considered a god to them, the mortal vessels of two divine spirits that they had worshipped as far back as they could remember. That worship turned to rage over the past several days, maybe festering before hand over generations, but the tipping point was that Rukk had seen his daughter before she assimilated, he saw as his child was turned into a living host for a divine spirit, and most importantly, he saw as her very essence was snuffed out and replaced by the being he once worshipped. The world shook at the collective cries and yells, mixes of rage and anguish as the Fang Goblins saw what they were being used for, the sacrifices along the ground still leaking blood. The world itself seemed to cry out alongside the horde, their earth mana clashing with their former deity in a cataclysm of raw emotion and fury.

  The two spirits seemed to have anticipated this, and they looked to already have a plan for when they descended. With a nod from the Spirit of the Gale, It’s counterpart let out a world shaking roar and charged at those who once followed it, it's mana surging and reaching out as invisible tendrils to the beasts of the Fang Tribe, accessing their mana core and using it against them as their progenitor. It was a gore tornado. The wills of the beasts overridden as their atoms and bodis tore themselves apart to reassemble with others, turning a mass of different beasts into multiple gaping sets of jaws coming from beneath the ground, all the parts and pieces of the various beasts, whether it be crystal, carapace, bone, flesh, fur. All amalgamated into various chimeric maws to devour the tribe. I could see the look of shock and horror on the Tribe members faces as their mana bonds violently were shattered, a part of them gone and utterly changed on such a fundamental level it could never be seen as the same, the whole while a darkness surrounding them as the massive jaws closed around them with ear shattering *Snaps!*

  “Rukk!” I cried out from where I was on the ground, one of my ribs most definitely being out of place as the cry came out as a gasping wheeze. My memories felt like they were overlapping reality, scenes of blood and dead allies alike laid out in front of me again. I could hear each of them again, the memories I had with each of the goblins, brief as they were, Velka with her inane requirements, Rukk and the rabbits, even Burnice’s nephew and his Embear were in the flash of memories. I needed to hold the floodgate closed, I couldn't afford to stop now, to slow down and be lost in the joys of yesterday. I had to get out of here, to protect the lives of tomorrow.

  “Are you done struggling, invader?” The wispy, feminine voice coming from the Spirit of the Gale seeming unusual from the mouth of Gustav, the flapping of wings growing nearer as it approached me. “Done resisting, done with your attempt to infect the rest of the world, done trying to end us all?” the voice grew more spiteful the longer it went on, clearly angry at my existence in this world. A burst of mana came from the spirit, a green gust of wind infused with it's divine mana launching me into the air, bouncing me and throwing me around like a ragdoll in the sky as bursts of gale moved me like a needle in a tornado before tossing me back to the ground, only the last second reinforcement of mana keeping my life intact. I didn’t have time to talk to her, I can’t fail this time, I have to get out of here.

  Almost like a mantra through my head, the words of my comrades both old and new urged me forward, telling me to fight, to fight, “To win!” The last words left my throat as my Mana Blade Chain whipped out to carve runes of Vacuum into the ground, my gauntlets turning ablaze as my anger manifested itself as a movement of mana to the gauntlets. After 4 of the Runes of Vacuum were drawn around me, I began carving runes of all kinds into the rocks, the ground, anything I could reach until everywhere was covered by a glowing mana signature of various affinities, glyphs and effects.

  Snapping me out of my battle haze, I heard an air rattling howl as the Spirit of the Fang and it's vessel, it's body morphed into a horror of flesh and chitin as the parts of the beasts used to form the maws were now melded into it, creating a large 3 headed world of various parts, with a head of insects, Serpents and crystal, another all the herbivores of the fang tribe, and the final seeming to be its main head, the one formed entirely of wolf flesh and crystal teeth, it's fangs made of hard bone and minerals. The monstrosity rushed towards me, heads snapping and claws lashing at the ground where I stood. The world felt as if it froze as my adrenaline spiked, my mana reserves rapidly dropping as I channeled mana into the various runes around me, activating and overcharging as many as I could while leaving enough for the vacuum runes and my own bodily reinforcements. A scene similar to the frist trial played out before me, with the world turning white and a shockwave as the conglomeration of runes melded with the central [Kaboom Runes], the last thing before my eyes being the large claw of the abomination closing in on me, my chain rushing forward to deflect or pierce it, and to my horror something I hadn’t told it to do…

  The shockwave and shifting of the earth sent me far into the woods as massive spikes pierced the Vessel, the elemental and dimensional effects impacting its sending shockwaves and electrical currents coursing through it. Scorch and frost covered the beast as sand tried desperately to twist into scathing whirls, another burst of mana from the Spirit of the gale canceling the Smoke, sand, and air aligned mana bursts. Leaving only those aligned with more substantial elements to hit the beast.

  A look of horror seemed painted across the three heads of the beast as earth shaking heartbeats, plural, started to slow one by one, the damage across the body too much to sustain the vessel. Cracks appeared on the stone, rips came from limbs as they broke or sloughed off, the mana that kept them in such an unnatural position fading alongside the spirits presence in the physical world.

  As blood and sweat poured off of me, the triumph of seeing a Vessel destroyed filled me. I had done it, I managed to remove the vessel and spirit of the fang! An exhausted roar let loose from me, adrenaline and excitement overwhelming me for the moment as the amalgamation of monsters crumbled in front of me, the skin and blood seeming to slough away from the intact corpse of Rukk’s daughter, the glow fading from around her as the symbols turned to ash and flew scattered with the wind. She was free, and half of the spirits trying to keep me here were gone, even if for the moment.

  This feeling of triumph felt like being on cloud nine, like I could get out of here and get to the world again, see the family I had finally been reunited with after all those years. The world seems so real at this moment, the grass is greener, despite being covered in blood and bone, the trees are still, and yet feel more at peace. But in this paradise of adrenaline and dopamine, there was no natural movement, the ground laid flat as there were no insects, the trees swayed only with the wind, it itself was unnatural as it rushed past me. This area, this trial, was now devoid of beasts, all that remained was the Spirit of the Gale and whatever it was coming to bear behind me.

  “You fool!” I could hear a tempest of voices from behind me as the winged figure of Gustav floated higher and higher, the winds circling the spirits wings and elevating it rapidly, the piercing glare of it's eyes not leaving me. “You’ve banished a Divine spirit bak to the heavens! You’ve robbed this world of his influence, all beasts, all life aligned with his image wont be able to come back until you leave! You evil interloper, do you bring nothing but chaos?!” The voice coming out as a shriek of rage, akin to an old hag not getting free things from a merchant.

  The wind around the spirit howled and twirled, the term “Gale force wind” never seeming so accurate until the very spirit of the gale was trying to kill you. An omminous chatning filled the sky as orbs of compressed air formed, the very one Gustav had used earlier when chasing me through the woods, the explosive decompression caused by them a nightmare. Without warning, the air around me felt still, before i heard multiple small *Pops* coming from above.

  “Clever, clever.” I murmured as orbs came from the spirit of the gale and gale spirits akin to those summoned by the shamans rained down from above me, birds, slashes, all manner of compressed air rushing at me from above. I didn’t have enough time or mana to draw more of these so I need to be conservative of them. Sending mana to one of the [Vacuum Runes] around me, it began to violently redirect and siphon off the wind from the gale constructs, using the mana of the enemy to power itself and sustain until the onslaught was over.

  Not wanting to waste the opportunity, I sent mana into the fibers of my legs, enhancing them and leaping towards the Spirit of the Gale, fists aflame as the gauntlets of this vessel’s sibling came for another of Bob’s children. My fist met a wall of air, a feeling of rushing wind pushing at me and dousing the flames as the wall quickly got siphoned into the vacuum beneath me.

  “You will perish for your insolence, and I will bring Fang back in the next round! We will keep you here for the rest of time until you end it all yourself!” Gnashing at the air with every word, I could see the contempt in it's eyes as the air around it compressed and turned into bird shapes and creatures, their own eyes flaring with the same shade of green as the Vessel.

  A golden aura manifested lightly around my skin as i protected myself from the various blasts and pops surrounding me as the onslaught of gale spells and slashes of wind pressure coming from the thing in front of me, barely reaching me before being siphoned off to power the rune on the ground.

  Thinking to myself, berating honestly, for forgetting I was going to be up against a mage build enemy, one who could fly of all things! I dashed towards the avian beasts, using them as footholds to jump to the next before they could be absorbed by the rune, one time a bird actively turning to wisps as my foot left it, giving me the panicked breath of a man close to losing his standing.

  My hair whipped furiously as the winds blustered with more strength, more mana and gales being sucked to the ground, turning into a veritable tornado around me and the vessel, the air was growing thin as the lifegiving oxygen was being absorbed by the rune beneath me as well. “I need to finish this quickly, I need to go faster!” Gritting my teeth, I extended my linked chain to it's full length, using my formation card to stab and sash from as many angles as I could. The clang of metal and jingle of chains managed to peirce the cacophony of spells filling the air. I could see barriers put up as fast as my attacks would rain down, each blow meeting a sliver of compressed air, just big enough to stop it from connecting.

  Faster, stronger, more! The thoughts repeated in my head as staccato like blows rained down, taking all my mental power to dodge the onslaught of magic the spirit was sending my way. But the fatigue was mounting, my muscles screamed in protest with every move, my vision closing in as oxygen deprivation ate at my lungs. My mana reserves tanking as i sent more to my weapon and it's attacking, more to my skin to protect me from the spells I couldn’t dodge, more to my legs and eyes to allow me to dodge and weave better. All these factors led to what seemed like a hopeless battle of attrition against this divine spirit.

  “You’re finished!” The vessel called out in it's wispy voice, the air itself parting for the words to reach true. It was right, I knew in my heart this trial would be another failure, I’d need to restart and try again, all those bonds and deaths, all those tribulations would be reset for another try.

  As I was about to let the thoughts swallow me, to allow myself to die and reset, I heard them. The voice of my little brother, asking me questions about cards and magic. Of my mother and father, their reassurances and hope in me. Of my fallen comrades, the days and nights we spent in combat and mirth together, the comrades who I needed to save this time. The voice of my best friend, Terry, as we talked about the cards in our souldecks and the ones we most wanted to have and find as Mythical Recruits in the Training quarters of the Capital. And finally, a voice I had never heard before. It sounded of age and felt clear and hard as a freshly sharpened sword, cutting through the fog of my head. “Don't stop now, I can’t lose this bet.”

  Mana poured from my core, the last I could spare, channeled through my skill [Remote Rune Activation] to the 3 unused [Vacuum Runes] I had remaining. This would take the oxygen out of the air for sure, but I had to end this. Redirecting the Mana from my skin to my legs, I forced myself to leap as high as i could to before all the constructs were sucked into the vortex that was siphoned off into the runes. With my enhanced eyesight I could see the look of panic on the Vessels face as it's magic was siphoned away from the atmosphere before it could use it, the shields turned to wisps of air faster and faster, taking longer to form and compress as well.

  “What have you done, the precious air is being taken! Stop ------!” The spirit cried out, it's words falling on deaf ears as blood dribbled from my ears, the sudden pressure change bursting my ear drums form within, the world dulled as one of my senses vanished. The calmness of silence is something few experience in a battle like this, most can only hear the chaos around them, the cries of the dying or the wails of the enemy. I could only hear an erratic beating within my chest, my mana core and heart pulsing and sending life throughout me. The golden mana that took hours to focus and gather dispersed itself from my core, reinforcing my chain and skin as the golden sheen encapsulated the links of the weapon.

  At that moment, gravity took hold once more. Both me and the spirit plunged towards the ground, faster and faster as the runes took away all air resistance between us and the battlefield of corpses and blood. Tears fell from my eyes as the wind blew my face, dust flying throughout, clouding my vision. I had to time this right, Or all this would be for naught.

  Sending my chain to pierce the falling goblin, I saw a splatter of blood coat the mana-turned-blade as it shot through the vessel. Another mental thought, each one harder than the last, to have the links wrap around the vessel and pull it closer to me. Angling myself as I fell towards it to catch up and put my legs atop it.

  From the outside I'm sure it was a ridiculous sight, one that would haunt me and cause random bursts of laughter for the rest of my (hopefully long) life. Of a human boy, no older than 18, covered in blood and injuries, A magical chain coming from a rune in his arm, hide cloak and now singed gauntlets. With the chain wrapped around the goblin, I was surfing the now corpse through a tornado.

  *Thud* *Splatter* *Crack*

  A whine filled my ears as the world faded out, seeming to disappear chunk by chunk as a white void replaced it. I heard the trademark *DING* of the system alert, urging me to open my notifications. Right now I wanted to, I truly did, but exhaustion took a firm hold of me, and would not take refusal lightly. Keeping myself conscious until the world faded to the tutorial space, I finally let my mind drift off to sleep, the sweet sweet embrace of sleep.