Chapter 65
Absolute Circle: Total Commitment
“You are not leaving us here!” Jaime, normally pretty quiet, stood defiantly, arms crossed.
“Yeah!” Belle stood, a small mirror of her mother.
“You think we are just going to sit here, worrying if you are all okay?” Jaime did not relent.
“Yeah!” Neither would Belle.
“It's going to be dangerous out there! With Kim here, she can feed off this stream, and you guys can hold the camp. You will be safe!” Dan pleaded his case on deaf ears.
The impasse stretched on with the silence, both sides standing firm.
Annette, staring through the stone beneath their feet, quietly broke the silence.
"If you fail, we die here alone.”
Dan turned, chest puffing, face getting red.
“We have barely held together and you would think we would be safer split up?”
She resolutely shook her head.
“No. We live, and we die, together.”
Dan silently deflated, having nothing to combat the quietly stated reality.
He looked to his family, “I just want you to be safe..”
Jaime’s eyes softened, “Where are we safer than with you?”
He closed the distance, wrapping her in a hug.
Jimmy suddenly spun, oblivious to the touching moment, gaze landing squarely on the brown and white dog.
“Um, Kim? Since when has Luna had a fucking Core?”
He stared at Luna.
She wagged her tail, staring back.
He crouched down to give Luna vigorous pets, a large smile plastered across his face.
“Who’s a good girl? Who's a good girl with a Core?”
He mentally probed his own seed.
It sat, small and glowing, with a soft ephemeral light.
Hers, on the other hand..
It is amazing..
It basically hums with power.
He studied his fuzzy image.
It was circular, seeming to move as it threw off sharp oscillating waves.
It pulses like a drum..
Strong, steady, mocking their struggling seeds.
Hmm.. wonder what that is.. I will have to get better to make out any more.
Luna replied with a cry of excitement and an increased rate of tail wagging.
“I-I honestly have no idea Jimmy. Little girl, how did you do that?”
Kim got down on the ground to give her belly rubs..
“I've been too busy to pay attention to Luna, unfortunately.. a mistake I won't make again.”
Jimmy stood with a shake of his head and after one final pat.
“To think you formed your Core first..."
Luna whined at the stoppage.
“My Mom is right, Dan. With your new Domain technique you have been working on, and the supporting auras, we may have a solid tactic."
The powerlifter didn't look pleased, pulling his concerned stare from his family, meeting his friends' eyes.
He let off a resigned breath.
“Fine… Let's go through it.”
After a little back and forth, Jimmy finalized their strategy.
“Dan leads the phalanx, with Chris and George supporting his flanks with their spears.”
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The men’s faces were hard.
“Jaime, Annette, Belle: you will be with me in the center, throwing ammo at any and everything.”
Shaken but steady, the three looked determined to fight the mountain itself.
His eyes swung, resting on Kim.
“And you hold the rear, with water and spear.”
Her fierce gaze answered him.
Jimmy nodded.
“Dan will flex his domain.”
He slapped the beefy man on the shoulder, getting a strained smile in return.
“Aura Brigade — George restores, Jaime warms the ring, and Annette steadies us all.”
Jimmy’s eyes narrowed.
“We will be protected, while they will be hampered, as we grind our way through.”
“Bark!”
A smile broke his fierce demeanor, “And you watch Kim's back, little Luna.”
Dan chuckled.
“Well, now that our confidence is high from being outdone by a dog, let's move out.”
The entire group huddled under the cover of the highest, coldest mountain shadows, forming a tight, defensive perimeter.
Dan flexed his domain, projecting a field of crushing density and cold.
Frost formed, and the ground cracked under the weight.
Annette’s aura reached out, steadying Dan's budding domain, stilling his quaking shoulders ever so slightly.
The air stilled, masking what little noise they made.
Dan's face a mask of concentration, he gave Jimmy a small nod.
The attack started with a small strum.
A worg dropped with a yelp.
Two more dropped before a howl announced the location of their hunters.
Worgs poured out of the Den entrance, six, massive and howling.
They boiled across the open broken ground, joining the three remaining on the mountainside.
The wall of humanity gave them pause, their uncertainty slowing their charge.
When they made it about ten feet from the group, a visible weight gripped them, frost creeping along their fur.
Surprised yelps sounded off the rocks.
“Forward!” Dan bellowed, veins bulging on his forehead from the strain.
They could see the struggle written across his corded neck, as one foot followed the next.
The phalanx trudged forward.
Arrows and sticks flew through the night.
A wooden club descended, screaming in the air.
Spear heads thrust, parting fur and flesh.
The formation pushed around the first wave of dead and dying beasts, marching towards the peak
The last four boiled forwards.
Whether stronger, or more prepared, they charged straight into their Domain.
They were only slightly impaired, dodging missiles, ragged snarls throwing clouds of steam.
Two charged straight into the front-line.
Chris drove his spear cleanly between ribs, dropping one almost instantly.
George stuck his through the foreleg, ripping a howl from its throat.
It twisted and bucked, pulling the older man to the ground, then prepared to pounce.
Dan lunged forwards, cracking the wounded beast on the side, toppling it over.
His club rose and fell, ceasing its struggle.
Jimmy saw the other two gather, preparing to leap the front line.
Their movements slowed in his perception.
Knock
Draw.
Aim.
Breathe.
Release.
Thwak.
The arrow pierced through a leaping worg’s eye, driving deep into its brain.
Jimmy side stepped the crashing dead weight.
He swayed, unsteady, blood running from his nose.
The other soaring worg crashed into the center, bowling over Annette and Belle.
It turned, swiping at Jaime, sending her reeling.
Kim glided forwards, stabbing it in the haunch, sending it sprawling to the ground.
Belle and Annette scrambled back up, and stabbed the pinned animal, ending the violent skirmish.
Thundering steps announced the approaching Dan.
Dan growled, staring at the already dead beast.
Jaime cut him off, “I'm OKAY! See? Just a couple of small cuts, nothing George can’t handle.”
She flashed him a thin smile.
Dan’s growl deepened, club trembling in grip, but he nodded.
Jimmy analyzed the growing clouds of Qi lighting up the mountainside.
Smooth, strong, and pure.
“They had not taken on the affinity yet… The real threat will be inside,” he called from the center.
The swirling streams of power converged on the party, as they desperately pulled it in.
Backs straightened, and breathing came easier, as their seeds started to fill.
One last shadow, unnoticed, slunk up from the rear.
Luna spun, bark ringing.
The fanged maw recoiled, shaking its ringing head.
Kim’s spear, water droplets whisking off, pierced easily through its body, blood squirting out the exit wound.
It dropped dead, heart in two, Qi joining the rest.
Dan’s Domain stabilized, breaths coming deeper with the influx of Qi.
They all felt the flicker of hope.
Jimmy nodded at the pale, winded faces, “Good work.”
His eyes traced the cave entrance, there was a strong unnatural line of frost on the ground.
Interesting.
“Pause.” Jimmy hissed to the group.
He worked his way carefully forwards.
After a brief examination, he stepped confidently onto the frozen rock with a crunch.
Congratulations. You have discovered a Tier II Nexus Dungeon.
Natural Treasures, combined with sources of power, will warp the environment around them.
Warning, Nexus Dungeons may be unpredictable.
