Jason raised his eyes, forcing himself to focus on Thorn. As Jason caught sight of his enemy, his rage reignited and the desire for vengeance filled his mind. The sensation felt almost unnatural – like some outside force was fueling it. He could feel his focus honing to a fine point, the world bleeding away and leaving only him and Thorn. This man had killed Riley. He threatened to destroy everything that they had built.
Jason knew what he wanted.
He wanted to make Thorn suffer.
He wanted to kill him.
Chapter 60 - Treacherous
“What…” Thorn began, his lone eye widening in surprise as he observed Jason’s transformation. His body now glowed darkly, onyx wings of energy cascading from his back. For the first time, Thorn looked nervous.
Jason appeared beside him, spinning his staff so fast that it was almost invisible. Thorn just barely intercepted the attack with his forearm, and he grunted under the force of the blow. His legs buckled as he struggled to stay upright. However, the strike still wasn’t strong enough to break the man’s reinforced limbs. Jason had been testing his newfound strength; needless to say, they were on a more even footing now.
Thorn retaliated and shoved Jason away in a frightening display of strength. Within seconds, Jason was back, his staff darting through the air, and the occasional dark blade of energy flashed into existence as he summoned a Soul Slash. The pair danced across the cobblestones, unable to spare attention to anything else as they traded an explosive flurry of blows. A last-minute dodge by Thorn sent Jason’s next strike wide, his staff clipping the side of a building and the single blow slicing through a support column. The building began to cave in with a frightening rumble, but the pair ignored the debris. Thorn’s fist rushed forward only to be intercepted by Jason’s staff. The force of the strike tossed Jason backward several yards where he landed in a crouch before launching himself forward once more.
The occasional ghoul would stray too close to the pair, managing to slide around Grunt and the Abomination where they fought in the middle of the ruined western barricade. Any feral creature stupid enough to come close was pulverized under the force of Jason’s and Thorn’s attacks. The two didn’t spare the creatures a second glance as they raced through the courtyard, a concussive blast of sound vibrating the air each time they traded blows.
As the fight wore on, Jason still couldn’t land a clean hit on Thorn. He could feel rage curl and coil in his chest, writhing in frustration. He wanted to tear out this man’s heart and feed it to him. He wanted to cut, rend, and destroy – the dark mana in his veins an unrelenting icy torrent. However, no matter how fast Jason moved, Thorn was always one step ahead. The realization that they had reached an impasse – that he still wasn’t strong enough – just fanned the flames of his anger.
I can’t beat him. This nagging thought kept repeating itself in Jason’s mind no matter how forcefully he tried to push it away. He’s too strong.
Thorn’s fist darted forward, and Jason moved to block the blow. However, instead of following through, Thorn used his momentum to spin into a kick. Jason barely managed to shift his weight in time, taking the blow on his shoulder instead of directly to the head. Even so, he felt the bone armor crumble under the force of the attack. He let out a hissing breath as dull pain radiated from his shoulder and he backpedaled quickly to create some space. A red notification flashed in his peripheral vision, indicating that the underlying bone and muscle were damaged and his movements had been slowed. With his enhanced stats, his Willpower was sitting at close to 2,700, dramatically increasing his mana regen. He knew his body would knit itself back together quickly, but it would still cost him several precious seconds.
Seconds he didn’t have.
“For a moment there, you had me worried,” Thorn sneered as Jason backed away, his yellow eye gleaming and flickering with an unnatural light. He barely looked injured, and he stood with his back straight, as though they had just engaged in some light sparring. “And here I thought you would finally put up a challenge, especially with the girl’s dramatic sacrifice. But even now, you are still no match for me.”
Jason didn’t respond. Some part of him knew that Thorn was telling the truth – he had barely hurt the man even with the buff that Riley had given him. Even as this thought drifted through his mind, he could feel frustration well in his chest, and he wanted nothing more to charge Thorn – to make him pay.
Yet he held himself back – if only barely.
Normally, the magically-fueled rage helped bolster him and push him forward, allowing Jason to take risks that he would typically avoid. Right now, however, he knew that the anger was just a distraction, a weakness that Thorn was manipulating to his advantage. Suddenly, a wispy black image of Rex’s face formed in his mind’s eye. He needed to fight smart. What would his teacher do?
The answer came to him a moment later, and he could have sworn he heard Rex whispering it in his ear – although, he suspected this was a product of his adrenaline and mana-addled mind.
“Fight smart,” Rex urged.
His teacher wouldn’t keep smashing his head against a brick wall and hope for the best. He would focus on finding his opponent’s weakness. Jason struggled to tamp down on the power that raged through his body, although it took far more effort than he cared to admit. The rage and frustration and anger were tantalizing – emotions accumulated over the weeks of hardship he had endured. Before, those feelings had driven him forward and given him strength. But they had just been a crutch. They wouldn’t help him now. He needed to be stronger than that.
He raised his eyes to meet Thorn’s, his Perception triggering. Ghostly-blue light illuminated various parts of the one-eyed man’s body. He noted the way Thorn’s chest was moving more rapidly – indicating that he was out of breath, although he was hiding it well. And while Jason’s blows might not have fractured Thorn’s limbs, he could still see the purple bruising across his leathery, scarred skin and his natural regen wasn’t keeping pace. Despite Thorn’s nonchalance, blocking Jason’s strikes was costing him now.
He’s not invincible. Jason focused on that thought, using it to center and calm himself. He just needed to be smart here. He needed to be focused. The man had to have a weakness.
“What? No response?” Thorn said as Jason stared at him. “Then I suppose it’s time to end this.” With an angry snarl, Thorn darted forward.
Jason was moving more slowly now with his injured arm, but he did his best to avoid the flurry of attacks. The occasional strike made it through his defense, and even a glancing blow chipped away at his health and sent him reeling.
He was recovering quickly, though, and his arm was beginning to heal. As the debuff finally disappeared, Jason fought back. Thorn smoothly intercepted and batted aside each swing of his staff. Except that this time, Jason was paying attention, refusing to give himself over to blind rage. His eyes widened imperceptibly as he observed the exchange. With his heightened stats and senses, he could finally see Thorn’s movements – his limbs no longer merely a blur of motion. Something felt off, though. No matter how quickly Jason moved, Thorn was always one step ahead of him.
It took another round of blows for Jason to finally see it. When he did, the realization struck him like a truck. Thorn was moving before Jason swung – as though he could see a blow coming before Jason had even committed to the attack. Once he caught the pattern, he could see it even more clearly. Thorn was like water, bending around each sweep and stab of Jason’s staff, each step carefully planned before Jason struck. This was how he was avoiding Jason’s strikes. This wasn’t superhuman reflexes. Something more was at work here.
The eye. It must be his eye, Jason thought, his gaze training on the glowing yellow gem embedded in Thorn’s ruined socket. He recalled the man’s comment about being able to see Jason’s future. He had discarded that as a meaningless threat, but what if the man had been telling the truth? That seemed to be the only answer for how Thorn was able to anticipate Jason
’s attacks.
If he was right, then that was a terrifying ability. How far ahead could Thorn see? How did Jason counter an opponent that could anticipate his attacks long before he struck? He had been looking for a weakness, only to discover that his opponent had been concealing an incredible ability. A sense of hopelessness suddenly settled on Jason’s shoulders.
How did he fight an opponent that could glimpse the future?
* * *
Grunt and the Abomination were still engaged in an all-out brawl in the middle of the ruined western barricade. The zombie monster tackled him, the two hulking creatures smashing into the ground and causing the earth to tremble under the impact.
The Abomination opened its ruined maw, revealing rows of rotten, jagged teeth, before closing his jaw around Grunt’s shoulder. Glowing green blood streamed from the wound and Grunt let out a pained roar. He gripped one of the Abomination’s arms that clung to his body, ripping and tearing at the limb. As he kicked off the Abomination with his feet, the muscles in his legs bulged powerfully. With a sickening crunch, the arm came free from its socket, ripping open the stitches that bound it to the Abomination. As the limb tore, the monster’s body flew off of Grunt, slamming into a nearby building. A shower of debris filled the air as the structure began to crumble, obscuring their vision.
Breathing heavily, Grunt struggled back to his feet. His body was covered in his own green blood, and he still clutched the Abomination’s arm in one hand. Even with the limb no longer attached to the creature, the fingers jerked and spasmed. Grunt gave the limb a disgusted look before he squared off with the ruined building – waiting patiently.
The Abomination came hurtling through the cloud of dirt and dust, its limbs flailing at the air and its maw gaping widely. Without hesitation, Grunt rushed to meet it, using its ruined arm like a club. He beat the Abomination aside, the blow fracturing the monster’s decayed flesh and sending the beast hurtling into yet another building.
Within only seconds, the Abomination was back on its feet. Despite the gashes in its decayed flesh and its missing limbs, the monster just kept coming – the injuries barely slowing its movements. Yet Grunt’s gaze was still defiant as he faced off against the Abomination – the unholy creature shuffling out of the ruined remains of the building.
Then the two charged each other once again, their feet pounding the earth of the courtyard.
* * *
“You want to bet on the outcome? My money is on Grunt,” Jerry quipped, appearing several yards behind Morgan and gesturing at the pair of giants lazily. He spared little attention to the mage’s two sets of hands as they wound through a complicated series of gestures. Dense orbs of dark mana were forming in front of Morgan, rotating in the air around her.
One of the orbs abruptly condensed and a beam of dark energy immediately rocketed toward Jerry, only to splash harmlessly across the area where the thief had stood a moment before. The unholy energy ate into the cobblestones at an alarming rate, hungrily tearing through the stone with ease.
“What do you say? 10 gold on the outcome?” Jerry asked, appearing a few yards away, this time leaning against the ruined remains of a wagon. He seemed unperturbed by his close brush with death.
“Stand still,” Morgan hissed through gritted teeth, already firing off another barrage of dark energy at Jerry.
“Spoiled sport. You really need to learn to relax; life is too short to be so serious all the time. You are likely to make yourself ill,” the thief remarked, a frown creasing his lips before he disappeared again in a flash of movement.
This time, Jerry retaliated. Three throwing knives raced through the air behind the mage, even as Jerry reappeared in front of her. One set of the mage’s hands shifted into a new pattern without skipping a beat. A nova of dark energy erupted from her body in a ring. The corrupt energy forced Jerry to retreat and destroyed the throwing knives that hurtled toward Morgan’s position. The metal rusted away until only a cloud of fine powder lingered in the air around the dark mage.
“Besides. If I just let you hit me, that would take all of the fun out of it, wouldn’t you say?” Jerry asked, a lopsided grin on his face as he now sat on the roof of one of the nearby buildings. A thin crimson aura coated his body, and he seemed relaxed, kicking his feet playfully.
“Although I have to say, your aim seems to be getting better. A few more minutes of practice and you might even be able to hit me!” Jerry added, gesturing to the errant droplet of mana that had eaten a hole in his leather armor. This just earned him an angry grunt from Morgan as she continued to whisper arcane words and launch spells at him. The dark mana crashed against the side of the building, carving a hole in the structure. As the debris began to settle, it was clear that she had missed – again.
“You know, something about this whole encounter has been bothering me,” the thief remarked as he darted around Morgan, appearing and reappearing as she tried to track his movements, dark mana spraying the ground and nearby buildings. The thief made little effort to fight back, simply dancing around the mage and nimbly avoiding her attacks.
“If you came up with this dastardly plan of yours to work with Thorn, why just march through the western barricade? I mean, I understand the idea of making a grand entrance – don’t get me wrong. I’m certainly a fan of a little theatrics, and it was suitably impressive. Really, it gave me chills.”
Morgan blasted the area where he had been standing, but the thief was already gone. She ground her teeth together in frustration.
“But it does seem rather…. well, stupid I suppose is the right word. Especially for someone of your esteemed intellect,” Jerry continued. At this comment, Morgan huffed angrily and released another wave of dark energy, blowing a massive hole in a nearby building. Yet Jerry just reappeared behind her a moment later, completely unharmed.
“None of us were aware that you were working with Thorn. If you had come to the courtyard ahead of the ghouls, you might have taken out at least one of us. You might have even slain our Dark Lord and Savior himself!” He stepped around Morgan, avoiding a series of blasts effortlessly as he tapped his lips in thought.
“Thorn wanted a chance to face the boy,” Morgan grunted in between spells, keeping up her barrage.
“See, I thought of that!” Jerry said. “He seems rather infatuated with our unholy protégé. Maybe just a bit too interested, if you catch my drift. However, that doesn’t change the fact that you could just as easily have taken out or incapacitated Riley or my illustrious self. Or you could have wiped out the defenders at one of the barricades.”
Jerry waved a hand at the remains of the nearby fortification where Grunt and the Abomination grappled. “As it stands, you actually harmed very few of the Kin protecting the western line. Also, Grunt and your ugly friend seem to be positioned rather favorably for our defenders. Or, at least, it seems rather serendipitous that they are blocking the western barricade.”
“What are you trying to say?” Morgan grunted in between spells.
“Well… I’m not exactly sure,” Jerry answered, now standing in front of her again and looking somewhat confused. “It could be that age and resentment has addled your mind. Although, that doesn’t seem quite right. You actually seem rather spry for your age,” he remarked, gesturing at her hands where they wound through another intricate series of gestures. “I imagine it requires a fair bit of focus to keep that up with two sets of hands.
“Perhaps the answer is more personal.” His eyes widened in mock surprise. “Is this a Stockholm syndrome sort of situation – you fell in love with old cyclops over there after he kidnapped you? Oh my, you poor dear! Show me on the Abomination where the bad man touched you,” he added with mock seriousness.
Morgan fumed silently, unable to muster a retort as arcane words spilled from her lips. Instead, another barrage of dark mana raced through the air, but Jerry simply sidestepped the bolts in a single, fluid movement. Then he abruptly vanished in a blur of motion. This time, he didn’t
immediately reappear, and Morgan’s eyes darted around, searching for the rogue. She froze as she felt a cold blade press against the side of her neck and Jerry’s mustache tickled her ear.
“Although, there is another possible answer,” the thief whispered playfully. “Perhaps this is all a ruse. I notice how you have been watching the fight between the boy and our thorny friend. Perhaps you are simply biding your time.”
A blast of energy erupted from Morgan’s body, interrupting Jerry. However, the thief was already gone, his blade having retreated with him. His message, however, had been clear. He had been toying with her. Without her Abomination to cover her in melee, Morgan was more vulnerable – there was a limit to how well her dark magic could protect her. The corrupt energy was good at destroying things, but it was only passable in terms of defensive spells.
Jerry reappeared a moment later, flipping a dagger end over end with a lazy twitch of his wrist. “Anyway, this is just pure speculation on my part,” he added glibly. “I could be wildly off base, I suppose.”
Morgan’s hands hesitated for a fraction of a second, her eyes darting to the interior courtyard, where Jason and Thorn clashed in a frantic blur of motion, each blow causing the air to ripple with kinetic energy. Jason was slowly losing. That was abundantly clear to both of them. Their Regent’s ivory armor was now a figment of its former glory, and obsidian blood stained his pale skin. At the same time, Morgan’s gaze fixed on the yellow gem embedded in the ruined socket of Thorn’s eye, the telltale glow still visible even at this distance. Morgan’s furtive glance wasn’t missed by the undead innkeeper and the smile that lingered on his face widened.
“Or perhaps I’m not too far off the mark,” he said before gesturing at the ruined courtyard around them, the area pockmarked with small craters. “So, shall we continue our lovely little dance, my lady?” Jerry asked with a short bow and offering an arm as though asking to twirl her around a ballroom. The gesture looked more than a little out place amid the craters and corpses that littered the courtyard.
Awaken Online: Dominion Page 64
