I dashed back to the veranda, ducked down, and ran along the wall. In the house, as the ‘life detection’ showed, a considerable commotion had begun, and six people were rushing towards the site of the shooting. Fifteen more had started running out of the barn. The rest were dispersed along the territory adjacent to the mansion. In the mansion itself, six had gathered on the second floor and several more were rushing about the building, apparently, searching for the violators. That was exactly where I needed to be.
Running sixteen feet along the wall, I did a 'charge' in the direction of the nearest bush. I found a spot where I stationed myself, and watched who was going to come out to examine the body. Before I could attack the Master, I needed to get the mate of the deceased. It's one thing for an ordinary person to interfere with me, and quite another, for a Veteran to intervene. My main goal was probably sitting on the second floor with the boss, but the Veteran was most likely rushing about looking for the killer. The opposite was also possible, but then I'd have to stealthily make my way to the second floor and quickly kill the second fighter.
While I was sitting in the shadow of the bush in a dark place, spotting me would be highly problematic. Making sure that no-one outside was equipped with tactical helmets with built-in video cameras or optical weapons, I turned on ‘distraction maneuver'.
One of the people emerging proved to be the second Veteran, who used the element of sand. Having said something to one of the men who immediately ran towards the men approaching from the barn, he slowly walked up to the corpse. He dropped to his knees and lifted the head of the deceased. I felt kind of touched and guilty listening to the longing in his howl. I owe you to help you out and have you follow your friend. It's cynical and cruel, but we’re not playing games here. I'm sure you too have more than one corpse on your conscience.
'Charge' is a complex skill that consists of other multiple skills: focus which enables you to subjectively slow the surrounding area; ‘acceleration’ provides the opportunity to catch up to speed with the consciousness of ‘focus’; ‘enhancement’ can make skin, ligaments as well as bone invincible; ‘kickback’ causes minimum damage upon impact, but repels the target three feet away. This includes ‘gravity control’, very rarely used by warlocks. All this is fused into one skill that enables a warlock to move over a long distance. People like me are hard to kill in battle. The only issue is the strain on the body. After doing three or four ‘charges’, a pause for a few seconds is recommended, depending on one’s experience of ‘body control’. This skill, by the way, has an analog called the ‘slide’.
I began my solo performance with the 'charge'. The first Veteran didn't count as nobody saw anything. Appearing behind the man nearest to me, I grabbed him by the throat with my right hand while the left one took out a gun and started firing from under the arm of the hostage. The first shot was meant for the Veteran—just in case; what if?... It did not work.
Three more shots found the heads of the rest of the thugs. One movement of my hand, and the hostage fell with a broken neck, and I found myself alone with the Veteran. Not really though—there were 16 more people hiding about, and they were already pointing their guns at me, pistols and five P90s.
'He's mine! Nobody shoot!' What a fool.
In a couple of moments, the Veteran plunged towards me. Meanwhile, I felt the ground crumble beneath my feet; I ‘charged’ to the left, starting to shoot from the Spittle. From the spot where I stood a moment ago, Sandy Spears flew at me. I ‘charged’ back and slightly to the right, without ceasing fire. The sense of danger pierced my heart, and I rolled away towards the Veteran, having noticed that the earth beneath me turned into sand and that even the grains were moving. I stopped rolling and, without rising up from the ground, hit the opponent in the stomach with my foot, also shooting a couple of times. Perhaps, it's worth noting that in a battle, in a deadly one like this, any of my punches can break through a thick concrete wall. It's also a skillset. Of course, I can withstand similar punches myself, not to mention the use of Bahir and ‘spirit armor'. Therefore, all I achieved with my kick was that the opponent stopped and hinged a little. True, if he was a Master, it wouldn't have worked. At least, not right away.
After the kick, I blew carefully dosed gravity impulse behind him, then I took up a vertical position and launched an air strike, aka ‘fist’, consisting of a wave of compressed air. At the highest level, I can use it to crush stones, but in this world, alas. This is one of the few skills, I wasn't able to fully restore. There was no guarantee, anyway, that it would be useful against the armor and other kinds of Bahir protection. So for now, I used the ‘fist’ in place of a contactless charge. This 'charge' sent the Veteran twenty-three feet away from me. Five shots, ‘charge’, left-hand punch to the liver combined with ‘gap’, the only technique that is immune to ‘spirit armor'. This was a punch that could tear apart any common human being. A Veteran is high enough in rank to withstand the hits for a long time depending on their endurance. Blocking his punch with my arm, I shot. Again, blocking with my elbow, I shot twice more. Making my way around him and dodging his wide-handed punches, I managed to shoot three more times. With a half-step to the side, I dodged his reverse kick. I caught him by one leg and kicked the one still on the ground, making him topple over. A couple more shots, of course.
'Ahh...'
It wasn't so much a cry, but a roar, with which the miracle man moved his hand as if shooing me away. A 'charge' backwards firing the whole time, I noticed a wave of sand tearing through the turf and grass with the roots out of the ground on the spot where I'd been standing just a moment ago. A 'charge' to the right, and the wave went past me as I continued to shoot at the roaring man.
He still didn't fully understand that he was in hot waters, so he tried to dodge the punches and bullets by putting a sand shield.
‘Charges’ forward and right, a couple shots. I put the Spittle away and came in close contact with him. Punch, another, ‘gap’. A step aside and a kick to the kneecap that made the Veteran lose his balance. Then ‘gap’ from the top onto the head of the fallen thug. I immediately did a charge back, trying to get away from a ‘sand blade’ that appeared from the guy's elbow. Not bad. I took out PlPU and, once again, started to fire at the confused enemy. After all, ‘spirit armor’ requires significant concentration from the user. In a natural state, this focus is not usually required, but in battle with an enemy like me, who is constantly breaking through your protection with ‘Veteran's killer’, things gets tricky. In fact, he was doing quite well. I thought the Spittle would have taken care of him much earlier.
I took a circular wave of sand on one of my two ‘shields’, the one that was hard. Both could withstand any hit, but each had its weaknesses. For example, ‘the shield’ was harder to hold. One second and the invisible barrier ceased to exist and I could only use it again a couple of seconds later. ‘Flexible shield’ works on the principle of space distortion simply by changing the direction of objects flying at me. Its weakness is that it can't take too many hits. I can only take about six hits. It doesn't matter what they are, bullets or battleship missiles, they’re all the same to me with the ‘flexible shield’. My shrapnel or fragmentation would have a stronger impact. The ‘shield’ then takes six bomblets and disappears leaving me exposed. So the choice of shield is very important, and sometimes, almost always, it is easier to simply dodge or ‘charge’. Here and now, the enemy was confused and exhausted. It would have been easier if I’d used the ‘shield’ and kept shooting. Bang, bang, bang... I removed the Spittle and took out my ‘Five-Seven’. Bang-bang. Two more: one to the heart and one to the head. Done. I spent a lot of money on this, but the speed and convenience were worth it. Okay, what next? Need to trim down the number of extras, who are now pointing their weapons at me. Mustn’t kill all of them—I need witnesses.
I 'charged' twice and now stood next to the person closest to me. I blocked 'Glock 17' with my right hand and sent a hook to the jaw, immediately after
moving to the side. It seemed everyone was so impressed with my victory over the Veteran that they were all determined to take me down, no matter what. The guy who got hit in the jaw fell to the ground, catching no less than ten bullets from the 'Glocks' and P90s. Another ‘charge’ after which another loser turned into a live bullet, shooting towards the rest of them. ‘Charge’ half-step, punch to the lower back, and a paralyzed fighter becomes my shield for a couple of seconds. He was good enough to take down eight guards with my 'Five-Seven.' I rolled, and four more people got shot in the leg. I 'charged' towards a man who raised his gun, picked him up by the scruff of the neck, and put my gun against his shaken chin. I aimed the second gun at the guards who were wounded but still alive. They understood me instantly and started throwing their equipment to the side. I hit the skull of the person standing next to me and headed towards the mansion, on my way, remembering to knock out a guy, who was fidgeting on the ground. I wasn't afraid of them shooting me in the back because I could rely on my ‘sense of eyes on me’ multiplied by the sense of danger. The battle with the Veteran that they had just observed also made a difference.
The 'life detection' showed that the rest of the guards had run away; the second floor of the mansion was occupied by just two people. The rest were scattered around the house as if inviting me to take them out one by one. Idiots. Well, I'll have to deal with them too. Akemi mentioned something about Warriors. It'd be quite unpleasant if one of them interrupted my 'conversation' with the Master, although it was unlikely that they were all Warriors.
I approached the first using the ‘distraction maneuver'. The fighter sat in the corner of the living room behind a huge armchair. I hit his temple as I reached him. He was a Warrior. I stepped on his Kalash and dropped on his chest with my knee. Straight punch to the face and right to the liver. One more to the liver and a blow to the head. I hit his larynx and followed by breaking his neck. How am I supposed to treat Warriors after seeing how easily they die off? It might have been cool to be a Warrior, even better to be a Master, but my enemy had to be no weaker than a Master.
The next one was standing in the bathroom leaning against the wall. It was a good spot for me to jump into. Right, left to the liver—this was not a Warrior. The ‘wave’ to the right side, left elbow to the temple. It was habit, nothing more. The ‘wave’ was a completely useless technique in this world. It's common knowledge that people consist of 75-80% water, and forcing that water to do a wave would, most likely, incapacitate even an inexperienced Warlock. It could also paralyze them for a while. It distracts even an experienced warlock for a couple of seconds. A regular person might go into a coma for a couple days. The technique is not lethal but it is super useful; however, in this world, it was completely inapplicable, although it still worked on regular people. Fighters who use ‘spirit armor’ won't even feel it as the ‘wave’ requires direct contact with the body. Using this technique with regular people is not worth it either because I can achieve the same result by hitting them in the jaw, using the most common punch.
The third was sitting under the staircase in the dark. His location wasn't that good because the cameras were in the way. Hoping that he wasn't a Warrior, I shot him with the pistol a couple times. That was enough for him. I found the last one in the kitchen. The first two bullets were stopped by ‘spirit armor’ but then, a series of strikes, combined with ‘gap’, which this species was not able to survive.
'Life detection' showed that the house was clean, not counting the two people upstairs. Well, Max, here we go — let’s go get the main target.
Opening the door, I was prepared for every eventuality: withstanding a shower of bullets or finding servants there, the target already on his way to a safer location. I was also prepared to see them sitting there waiting for me.
'Hmm, you're smaller than you looked from the window. Are you a girl?'
An Indian. He was standing in front of the window and preaching that stealing and murder did not suit a lady. The boss (with nerves of steel) sat in the chair with a bored expression looking up at the ceiling.
'Enough, Arjun,' he interrupted the Master and addressed me: 'Go ahead and introduce yourself. What are you looking for?'
I seriously doubted that an authority like him would be foolish enough to ask rhetorical questions. I glanced around and, not seeing the figurine, I looked at the Master. He was a little taller than me, dark-skinned, and wearing blue lipstick. He appeared relaxed but I knew better. It was easy to fake. The annoying fact was that Indians are considered to be the best fighters. With equality in the ranks, an Indian usually wins. To the same extent that their country is weaker in technical development, it is stronger in the preparation of individual fighters. The only person who managed to completely subdue India was Alexander the Great. The conquered people themselves everywhere claim that the Commander was outstanding, and his army, great and strong. Officially, Indian invincibility was linked to the antiquity of their nation and culture. Now, one of those advanced fighters was standing in front of me, playing coy. I had to kill him fast.
'Well, your answer was predictable. Why don't you tell us what you came here for? If it's an object that has no relevance to my business and politics, I could exchange it for my peace of mind and a house left intact.’
'A girl who likes to fight and ki...'
That was when I decided to strike. For sure, Arjun watched my fight with the Veteran, so he knew the speed of my ‘charge’. He had also probably taken into account the fact that I hadn’t been using my potential to the maximum. Seriously, I wasn't going to show everything I was capable of in front of the windows and cameras. They definitely expected me to use ‘charges’. Despite that, he received a 'lightening' 4 inches wide. The weakness of ‘lightning’, like the majority of other warlock skills, is that it's short-lasting. My personal (and world) record was 7.3 of a second. However, half a second was enough for the Master, who hit the window sill. That was good for a ‘charge’.
I approached him and hit him in the torso with my foot. It was the same technique that I used on the veranda. It was called 'mae gary kekomi' which was a straight hit with a heel in the chest. Again, I combined it with a ‘charge’, but this time, put into it all I could. 'Lightning', 'jerked,' 'kick-push'—that was enough to send the Indian Master flying onto the street, his body knocking against the lower part of the window and along with the wall. The element of ice, as well as some others, like water, is traditionally considered uncomfortable for a fight in an enclosed space. 'Ice spikes' and 'spears' sticking out everywhere just is not cool. The fact that he was standing in front of the window meant that I would have thrown him out anyway.
Coming up to the hole in the wall, I 'charged' and came out of it rolling on the ground. I took out the Spittle and fired at the Indian, quickly coming closer. I dodged the ice arrows turning 360 degrees. Jump, step and kick, and there I was behind the enemy, shooting non-stop. Blocking his knee kick with my elbow, I responded with a 'gap' to the temple. I lowered my raised leg onto the Master's ankle pushing his trunk with the Spittle, while my knee kicked the falling soldier in the belly. I applied a light 'charge' so that he wouldn't be blown too far. In the meantime, I sent ‘lightning' after him and put the Spittle in the holster. So, when the fighter landed, two electric arcs rested on him. The three seconds, which it took him to get up from the ground, covering himself with his hands, looked pretty miserable, after all, ‘lightning’ is nice! Even Masters feel it in the guts; it's too bad it took so much energy. I moved to the side, letting out more bolts of ‘lightning’ and trying to avoid a series of ice arrows. I also wanted to use electric charges, but the Indian figured that out. A ‘frost shield’ appeared before him, completely protecting him from me. I ran directly up to the shield, jumped up on top of the 3-feet tall barrier, and then leaving it with a 'charge', instantly approached the enemy and rolled behind his back. The Indian lifted his leg, stepped back, and was able to dodge a hit. Danger! An'Air Fist' forward and 'charge' backwards sav
ed me from the 'ice spikes' that appeared on the spot where I'd been standing a moment before. Another 'charge' to the right, and some blue luminous garbage the size of a fist, spreading waves of cold, flew past me. I felt danger again, so I 'charged' to the left. Something exploded to the right and slightly behind me, and the islet with a radius of 20 feet turned into an icy wilderness.
I turned my head towards him and made eye contact. His legs were shoulder-width apart, he was standing straight up, and I noticed how serious his eyes were. He must have appreciated my ‘lightning’. He didn't know that I couldn't hold it for too long. Looking into my eyes, the Indian started clapping, which signaled that I had to move away. From the corner of my eye, I noticed that in the spot, where I had just been standing, a 10-feet ice cage had raised up from the ground. That's better. I thought they just wanted to kill, but no—he was playing.
He clapped again, and I came even closer with another ‘charge’. Behind my back, another cage appeared, and in front of me, stood the extremely surprised Master. He obviously did not expect me to be able to move such distances. Being convinced by my hoax that I could only move up to 50 feet, he walked 65 feet away, assuming that to be beyond my limit. How could he have known that my limit was 100 feet?
Changing Masks Page 22
