My last enemy had enough presence of mind to swing his blade in my direction. My connection with Nestor allowed me to sense the blow and duck just enough for the attack to clip my qi barrier, catching only the tip of my shoulder itself and avoiding any permanent damage beyond what would turn out to be a nasty bruise—and only if my recovery qi let the injury remain after a few minutes.
As he stumbled about, I rolled under another wild swing to land behind him. When I stood back up, I stabbed into his back and drove him into the wall of green fire he had raised behind me earlier, then stabbed him in the back of the knee. He proved to be vulnerable to his own fire, and as he collapsed he screamed a final time before finally growing still and expelling Source energy.
The one I had stabbed in the mouth finally expired as well, releasing his own Source cloud.
I dashed out of my own private battlefield to try and find Nova and see if she needed help. I arrived just in time to see her activate her Soulscape, flaring her two massive, beautiful wings outward as she fired a beam of burning energy out of both of her weapons. Each blast was burning into an eater's torso, holding them both in place with sheer destructive power. Sweat dripped down her face as she melted and cooked them right before my very eyes, until the center of both of their bodies each had a hole the size of my fist running through them. Then they fell over silently, releasing clouds of Source energy that drifted into my beautiful, powerful friend.
She deactivated her attack as soon as her enemies fell, dismissing her Soulscape the very next moment. Then she sheathed her weapons and leaned forward, panting heavily as she gripped her knees for balance.
"Jas," she panted, "are you alright?"
"Fine," I said, as a wave of my own fatigue just hit me. Grandmother had helped me design that technique, and we had designed it well. It was immensely powerful, and it would hopefully scale well throughout my Advancement. And, though it took time to execute, it did not restrict me in combat while my Sources were crafting it. But it took a massive amount of all three of my Source energies to use, especially to do as much damage as I did with it just now. Using it at the wrong time of a fight would leave me vulnerable, so I would have to be careful with its execution in the future.
Especially if this skill ever became common knowledge.
"We should close that portal," I panted, "before any more of them come through."
"Right," my blonde friend panted back, "go for it."
I walked over to the massive archway, and looked for the same deactivation sequence its ancient predecessor had along the side, and couldn't find it. So I limped over to check the other archway pillar, still trying to catch my breath, and found a script.
It was written in Glorious State Script, just like the last sequence had been.
Only, this one said it required me to speak the passcode in order for the deactivation button to work.
"Passcode," I said out loud, before hitting the button on the side.
Nothing happened.
"It was worth a shot," I mumbled, as Nova walked over.
"Is this one different?" she asked, looking it over herself. Instead of answering her, I hefted my spear and began striking the side of the archway, but the weapon bounded off without leaving a scratch. I could probably disable the device if I were stronger, or had more spare Source energy, but right now I was completely ineffective at damaging it.
That's correct, it's different, Vessa said in both of our minds. And I didn't realize it because my sensors and external eyes aren't as good as I thought they were, yet. I am sorry, both of you, she seemed to sigh, then continued speaking. Okay, okay. No plan survives first contact with the enemy anyway, not completely. Get to the prisoners, and get them as far away from the portal as possible. Head to the extraction point I had mentioned before.
We agreed immediately, because that was the right mindset to have and because there was no point in blaming Vessa for not being able to read the fine print on the side of a short pillar all the way from outer space that none of us were expecting to exist to begin with. We immediately rushed to the prisoners, with Nestor leading the way.
Vessa had been right. They were a colorfully dressed people, who had striking appearances even in this sorry state. They had finely shaped facial features, with hair done in colorful braids of yellow, red, and purple. Their skin ranged in tone from light brown all the way to a tone so dark it was almost blue.
Their ages ran wide, but most of them were either very young, or very old and infirm. The youngest of them was a little girl with colorful braids, and big brown eyes. She looked to be roughly the same age Nova was when I found her on the streets that fateful day, and her face had the same lost, terrified expression Nova had on that day.
When I saw her like that, in that fenced-in enclosure that resembled an ancient animal pen, my teeth gritted together, and I felt less comfortable with rendering so many of her captors merely unconscious.
But Nova stepped right among them, and opened her Soulscape.
"Listen to me, people of Qarm," she intoned, as her wings unfurled. The young, old, and wounded flinched fearfully away for a moment, before relaxing in awed wonder. I could tell by the way her voice amplified that she was using some sort of translation magic. "Knowledge of your injustice has reached the rest of the night sky. My armsman and I are here to return you to safety. You are not to be slaughtered today. You are not to be enslaved. You are to be free, and with your families. Come to me if you are wounded, so that we may set out as soon as possible, and be far from this place."
She spoke with such calm confidence that even I wasn't able to be cynical about our chances of escape. I chose to believe that we would get these people to safety, even if the portal nearby continued to spit out super-elite monsters.
But Nova was not content to wait for the sick and injured to walk to her. She stepped forward purposefully, flapping her massive glowing wings, making feathers float off from their ends. As she stepped into the prisoners' midst the floated feathers settled over the wounded, sick, and crippled, who gasped as their injuries glowed and mended before their very eyes.
"Hurry," Nova said, her voice amplifying. "We must get you to safety soon. Follow me. My armsman will bring up the rear."
She kept moving forward, knocking down the remains of the shoddy fence with her wings and moving in the direction Vessa had instructed us to go for dropping off the rescued captives. The people of Qarm hurried after her, desperate to leave this place and convinced by her healing and freeing them.
I motioned for the little girl I saw earlier to hurry along, giving her to a girl that looked to be her cousin or older sister.
The pretty child smiled shyly at me, and I finally decided I was fine with being called an "armsman" by Nova.
At least it wasn't 'valet' or 'bellhop,' I told myself.
By the way, Vessa spoke up, Nova told me the reason that she said armsman, was because her language spell suggested these people may not understand the word 'knight.'
That… was something.
Glorious State education censored most of our actual history.
Nova shouldn't have even known what a knight was.
Much less decided that the title applied to me.
We began moving quickly, as the Source energy circulated through my body. Vessa had wanted us to avoid harvesting too much of it through bloodshed, but combat was one of the few exercises that all three of the Sources favored, so some growth was unavoidable, especially with as much as we had done today.
Killing the eaters had been equally unavoidable. Despite the fact that they had all been two full stages above me.
All four of them.
Another wisp floated through my mana. Another roar bellowed out of my essence. And my qi pool expanded by another depth.
When I looked at Nova, her body shuddered ever so briefly, and I knew she was undergoing a similar growth.
Knew this would probably happen, Vessa grumbled in my mind. I mean, good job you two. Keep growing.
/> The rescued prisoners moved quickly. None of them were even at the second stage of Advancement, but they were essence users, with naturally fit bodies, and so they made great strides through the grass as we passed into the jungle, following the light from Nova's wings. The Beacon had tucked them in tight as we entered the foliage, but the growth was not that thick, and her wings were only partially corporeal. They clipped through the trees and brush, still lighting the way as the sun began to dip in the sky.
The strongest adult Qarm folk were careful to scoop up the young children and elderly, so that none of the people could get lost in the trek through the jungle. I worried that we would be attacked by predators, but the rest of the wildlife was apparently content to leave such a large group of humanoids alone, except for a few birds that squawked indignantly as we passed under them.
We went at a quick pace, and the jungle was not deep. We soon passed out of it, into plains full of golden grass under a darkening sky.
This being my fourth or fifth world, however, I was able to just quickly notice it was beautiful, and concentrate on running, and making sure none of the rescued prisoners fell behind.
The girl holding the small child that had reminded me of Nova started to lag behind, however. I quickly ran up next to them, and sent a trickle of wood qi and breath essence into them. They both breathed deep in surprise, and the taller girl sent me a quick smile before she hit her second wind and ran forward.
I started to lag behind a bit, however. Until I heard a massive roar come from within the jungle, shaking the limbs and leaves.
The rescued villagers shrieked when they heard the noise.
"Faster!" I shouted, and probably in the wrong language. "Run faster!"
Facts clicked into place, and I realized that these people had been assigned a fate far worse than slavery.
I should have realized it sooner. They were all too young or too old for performing any of the crafts their people were famous for. They wouldn't even be good for unskilled labor. In fact, if they were after any kind of slaves, they would have killed the elderly to begin with.
I yelled again for the people to run faster, but the truth of the matter was that they could not run fast enough.
Not with a bloodbeast after them.
Grandmother, I whined through my soul, this isn't fair.
I know, grandson, the old dragon said to me, raising her head to look outside my soul, as if she expected to do battle with yet another of these creatures. But the night sky has forgotten how to be fair. We are fortunate that larger powers have not chosen to crush you until now.
Those words made me stop running altogether.
The two young girl children stumbled as they looked back at me. I saw worry and fear dance around the edges of their dark-brown eyes.
I gave them the biggest smile I had, waved at them reassuringly, readied my stolen spear and turned back toward the jungle.
Grandson, what are you doing? the ancient dragon asked me worriedly.
Jas, what are you doing? Vessa messaged me worriedly.
Realizing something, I told both women, as another roar sounded out from much closer in the jungle. A cacophony of barks and howls rang out along with it. I haven't been fortunate at all when it came to avoiding the more powerful. In fact, they've always found me, no matter where I've chosen to hide. I've never escaped them by being lucky.
Grandson, that doesn't explain why you shouldn't run away right now.
On the contrary, honored grandmother, I replied with genuine respect, it means that our best chance of survival comes from Nova reaching help soon, and me standing my ground and buying her as much time as possible.
Jas, that's one hundred percent valid, Vessa told me patiently, still hearing the conversation, but it's not that necessary. If it comes to it, I've got some weapons back. I can just launch an orbital strike onto your enemies, now that you've gotten the prisoners out.
Very true, I replied, spinning my Soulscape and beginning to Draw. I felt my near-empty reserves gradually begin to refresh at a quicker and quicker rate. But if you fire directly at the portal, it will destroy the camp and all the evidence you wished the Qarm tribes to find. Even if they decide to kill all of the bandits we knocked unconscious, they won't be able to dispose of the bodies and chase us at the same time. My delaying them here gives you the chance to destroy them while still preserving as much evidence as possible regarding their activities.
I looked out at the jungle. We had run enough to where there was still a good bit of distance between us and the camp by now. If Vessa launched a strike similar to what she had killed the last bloodbeast with anywhere within this vicinity, she had more than enough room to avoid hitting either me or the bandit camp.
Ugh, Vessa said, that's actually a decent plan, Jas. But if anything stronger than the eaters comes out after you, I'm vaporizing it. I don't care how close it is to the camp, we can live without completing that objective.
I appreciate that, I chose to say, and waited for the first figure to emerge from the underbrush in the distance.
In fact, I'm going to go ahead and keep giving you tactical intelligence. The bloodbeast hasn't left camp yet. This one looks to be some kind of boar, and it's not quite on the level of the one your grandmother battled. So I should be able to kill it easily. But it's sending… men, essence practitioners, and Sourcebeasts after you. It's the main totem creature of a tribe apparently, like the last bloodbeast was. They actually look like they're the remnants of that other you faced on Qarm 3. Which would make me both wonder and worry about why they had found a second bloodbeast so fast, if we hadn't found such Glorious fingerprints over this entire operation. So instead, I'm worried about just what resources Koram's family has up its sleeves. But enough of that. You've got a large crowd of first and second-stage idiots heading your way. This, you're cleaning up on your own. Don't go easy on them.
Understood, I replied, and I happened to agree with Vessa on this assessment. The former bloodbeast's tribe had a solid opportunity to turn away from genocide and torture after the death of their first chief totembeast. There were plenty of other creatures they could have chosen, none of which required their tribes to murder or mutilate.
I was not interested in them having a third chance to rethink their lives.
By now, I had Drawn enough to refill half of my reserves. I sent a small bit of fire qi into my spearhead to ignite the red metal. The weapon blazed brightly, and I raised it high in the air, making myself as obvious a target as possible.
Vessa informed me that our enemies were heading toward my position. She would let me know if any of them began to veer for the caravan of prisoners instead, but my goal was to kill and delay as many of these creatures as possible, until either the prisoners made it to safety or Vessa had an opportunity to blast the bloodbeast from orbit.
I planned to give her that opportunity by killing as many of its servants as I could.
The first wolf ran out of the woods, a small dot off in the distance. It paused as if it were just noticing me, then it let out a loud bark and rushed toward my direction.
A moment later, it was joined by a second wolf, and then a third. They all raced toward me heedlessly, as if they saw me as a target instead of a threat.
They have gone fully mad, Grandmother Mara said in my mind. In choosing their new totem, they have replaced the madness they lost with even more madness, and it has finally driven them over the edge. This battle will be both easy and hard for you, grandson.
I already possessed a great deal of practice in putting down depraved beasts, but I decided not to argue with her right now. Another three wolves appeared at the edge of the jungle and began charging after me as well.
As they ran, I idly reflected on the fact that wolves were out of place in a jungle environment, and began preparing for my next encounter.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I didn't have to plan much. They came straight for me, almost in a line, trying to overpower me with shee
r number and weight.
It was nothing like the natural behavior of wolves, or even the half-crazed creatures we had battled on Qarm 2. But I could tell that they were significantly stronger than the first-stage beasts Nova and I slew that short time ago. Unfortunately for them, so was I.
My first thrust practically crunched the first Sourcebeast's chest apart, and I still had time to tear my weapon free and stab out the throat of the next beast. Then I swung the blunt end of my weapon around and struck the final wolf in the skull. The blow sounded more like a crunch instead of a crack, and Source energy streamed from the beast as soon as it crumpled to the floor.
The next three didn't even pause, and died in almost the exact same fashion.
Grandmother, I said as I stared at the Source-leaking bodies all around me. Why…
I suspect the criminals here are desperate to avoid discovery, and are throwing away the closest resources they have available. You happen to be the closest loose end, and these are what they have to work with, or at least until they can move some more resources.
Why isn't the bloodbeast moving yet? I asked, as more figures exited the edge of the jungle. They're already risking much by releasing wolves in their nonnative environment. Why not use a creature actually strong enough to deal with me?
I do not know, dear, my grandmother said as a few more creatures charged after me.
The wolves were followed by larger, stronger wolves, all frothing red foam at the mouth. These were actually in the later part of the wailing stage, but they were still charging me headlong, without using strategy or charms, while I was at their same level, braced for the attack, wielding a Sourceweapon and with my own Source skills active.
By the time the practitioners came, I had already lost track of how many blood-crazed animals had died. But the men also came like ancient Norse berserkers, wielding axes and spears, and pretending not to feel pain when my attacks ruptured through their weak Source charms and their torsos.
Every now and then, an enemy would be smart enough to try and run around me, to head in the direction of Nova's caravan. A bolt of fire was enough to drop them, each time, thanks to the difference in power.
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