I glance back at the far off Marauder Champion, right at the edge of my Soul Spark Reclamation range. If Dalib manages to kill it, especially if we’re fighting Marauders at the Settlement, I’ll miss out on those Soul Sparks. As I take off toward the Settlement, I flick through my notifications and call one up.

  Soul Spark reservoir: 68

  Would you like to allocate your Soul Sparks?

  (Y/N)

  I push my will into selecting ‘Y’ and dump all 68 Soul Sparks into Aura, bringing it up to 318. A form of my awareness further expands around me as my Soul Spark Reclamation range extends to 320 meters.

  Wishing I still had my jetpack to rocket up the walls so I could take the fight directly to the Marauders, instead I use both blasters to fire at the lone clawed hand and both feet of each Ripper that’s scaling the wall holding the Brutes. Time after time my beams hit the target or near to it, but the distance is too far and the beams have lost enough power that the Rippers shrug them off. I pull the information for both and wonder what to do.

  Marauder Ripper (Level 81)

  Damage Reduction Index: 2

  Mana: 510/990

  Conditions: Razor Sharp, Hardened Claw, Speed Boost

  Marauder Brute (Level 95)

  Damage Reduction Index: 5

  Mana: 400/400

  Conditions: Mass Driver, Ablative Armor, Epic Regeneration, Death’s Redeemer, more…

  Razor Sharp and Hardened Claw must be what’s allowing the Rippers to ascend the wall, and it gives me an idea. To test I bend my fingers and slam my palm into the wall to drive the tips of my fingers into the surface. With my increased Strength and Constitution my fingers punch into it easily so I launch myself into the air and do the same, but ten meters up, then haul myself up one armed another ten feet, then plant my left hand into the wall and do it again to ascend rapidly toward the Rippers.

  The fact is I’m just not used to my new physical powers and I need to dramatically update my mental model of what I can do.

  “Wait,” I hear Paul say through the comms unit and suddenly the wall itself erupts and pushes all the Rippers off simultaneously, sending them flying away from the surface out into mid air where they plummet down past me to the ground.

  I look down and push out from the wall to drop from where I am, then pull my swords from my back, descending toward the middle of six Rippers and three Brutes. To my right the rock opens up as Paul activates his Power and two of the Rippers drop into a giant hole that closes up to crush them just as I hit the ground. The Rippers are fast, though, and they almost make it out; instead, arms and one head stick up from the crack where the rock has come together to pulp them, and I feel their Soul Sparks form for me to Reclaim.

  A Brute’s heavy attack swings at me and I avoid it easily to dart in and twist while stabbing it with both my swords in its neck through seams in its armor plates. I continue my momentum and cross my arms as my momentum takes me past it and my crossed swords rip across and through its neck. After momentary resistance that I use my Strength to force through, Brute’s head falls to the ground behind me and I Reclaim the Soul Sparks. Clawed Ripper arms come at me from all sides and I spin and duck and weave, my Agility and Perception allowing me to predict the trajectory of the blows early enough to adjust and deflect or avoid them altogether.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  I stab and twist over and over, never standing still. Suddenly thin, strong spears of rock shoot up all around me, thrusting away from my position. Many spears shatter or miss, but others penetrate deep into the Marauders. None are killed; I leap back into the fray to my right and almost stumble as the warmth of a large collection of Soul Sparks appears at the edge of my senses behind me. The distracted half second it takes me to Reclaim them is all it takes for a Brute to smash into my back and for the Rippers to find me. I use all the Strength I have to keep my feet as the sting of Ripper claws blooms across my thigh and side; they’re only shallow cuts past my armor and the toughness of my body.

  With my right leg planted, I spin and with both swords parallel to cut through the Brute’s follow up surge. A Ripper arm flies as I divert one sword slightly and the other sword bites deep in the Brute’s leg, but it’s not sharp enough to slice through its bone and catches, so I yank it out and keep moving.

  From above, powerful rifle fire drills into the remaining Brute as the Settlement defence forces and emplacements orient on helping us. On the ground, Paul seems unstoppable. Every time he gestures the ground does his bidding, but then the tide of his battles changes as he runs out of Mana again. I dart in between him and a Ripper to hold my ground. My swords flash and stab faster than the Ripper and within two seconds I’ve incapacitated it. Paul cries out behind me and I spin to help. A Ripper claw is lodged in his back and he’s using his enhanced Strength to hold off its other arm and savage teeth.

  The Ripper’s head explodes and the ground near Paul shatters as Bobby lands. I can feel Bobby’s healing Power flare while I’m pivoting to the last Ripper, but there’s no need as three shots from the wall tear it up. I Reclaim the Soul Sparks all around me and my body feels suffused with warmth, or maybe it’s just the glow I feel from the intensity of the combat.

  It’s oddly calm except for Dalib arriving back covered in the guts of the Evolved Marauder. He glances at Bobby with a hard look, but there’s nothing amiss and I watch Paul for a second to make sure he’s ok. His expression isn’t pained despite the way he’s holding his arm over where the scythe-like claws of the Ripper pierced him.

  “Area’s clear,” says Dalib. “Aoife’s back on her feet and leading a few of them to mop up roaming Marauders.”

  I nod and wipe off my swords before returning them to their magnetic harness. Kate and Brad don’t appear so I assume they’re part of the cleanup team.

  “A word, Calrik?” asks Dalib, and motions to his left. People on top of the Settlement wall are cheering and raising their weapons in thanks. I nod to Dalib and he sprints away, me following close behind. A couple hundred meters later we’re far enough away that it’s unlikely we will be overheard. Dalib gives me a sign to kill my communicator and takes off his helmet. I follow his lead.

  After one more look around, he looks back at me.

  “How are you… feeling?”

  I tense up, wondering if he’s asking because he’s seen something that’s changed his mind about me being infected.

  “Normal,” I say.

  “I’m not talking about the infection,” Dalib says and waves my concern away. “The ambient Mana is very high here. How are you feeling? Can you feel it thrum through your body when you use it? Can it help you to break through in replicating my Power?”

  It’s clear from the glint in his eye that he can feel something on this planet that’s different, and I appreciate that he’s keeping the nature of our experiments as something that’s my right to disclose, or not.

  “I figured it out, actually,” I tell him, although when I consider it I realize we might already have been in or near this higher ambient Mana environment when I managed to make the breakthrough. “I haven’t perfected it or anything, but I’ve figured out how to do it.”

  Dalib nods. “Good. Look, when we return I need to take a neutral stance for reporting back, but for what it’s worth I’ve seen you fight and how you’ve handled all this shit, and I’m rooting for you.”

  I’m not really sure what to say to that. It means something, for sure, to me. Life has been one hell of a whirlwind lately.

  “If you’ve managed to replicate one of my Powers, maybe you can figure out the other one too. I’ve trained and hardened my cells to resist any kind of damage, including from Mana. I have complete control over my cells - how they shape themselves, how they move, even how they connect and interact. How fast they heal. My reactions and strength, all of it. I’ve integrated different minerals and hardening into my cellular structures. My bones are practically unbreakable even though I can manipulate them. It takes a lot of discipline, but I’ve even been able to increase the number and speed of neural connections in my brain.”

  I really focus on Dalib and try to understand what’s going on inside him, but whatever he’s doing is beyond me, so I shake my head and smile. I also wonder if eventually I’ll be able to replicate the outcomes he’s created. I can’t train my cells, but I can add to my Attributes and train my body. How high does my Constitution have to be to make my bones practically unbreakable? Could I use my Mana to unravel Mana-based damage as it hits me like his cells resist it?

  “Thanks Dalib. I can’t replicate your Power, but you’ve given me something to think deeply about as mine grows stronger.”

  I glance up. The Birchcombe is roughly above our position. We return to the others where Paul is finishing what he started, moving Earth on a massive scale with his Power. As he finishes and a troop transport descends to pick us all up, I decide to open up my notifications and see how far this battle has moved my needle.