Loch stepped out into the cavern. He didn’t move deep, staying in the opening. He didn’t have Onyx or Bulwark summoned. The Si-Te-Cah was to the left of the stone, a little forward, the light behind him, making it hard to see the full figure. Loch didn’t see any weapons. There was no sign of Abilities being Activated.

  “I can sense your Presence. You are strong and have a Patron already? That is interesting. Most times the Divine Beings,” the Si-Te-Cah said that part with a sneer. “Do not get involved for much longer. My people have been able to take advantage of their inattention. I had hoped this would be one of those times.”

  “What does that mean?”

  The Si-Te-Cah made a motion that looked like a shrug.

  “Just as I said.” He turned his back on Loch, stepping closer to the stone. “We arrive on newly Connected Worlds, looking to claim as many Natural Resources as we can. Unlike many in the Connection, growing their Clans is all they care about. We are not like that.”

  “There are more of you on Earth?”

  The Si-Te-Cah looked at Loch over his shoulder. Even with the light behind him, hiding many details, Loch could see the predatory smile.

  “That is a good question. One you will never know.”

  He turned back to the stone, starting to walk around it.

  He doesn’t fear me, Loch realized. Nothing about the Si-Te-Cah showed worry about anything Loch could do. If the strange humanoid cared about any fighting outside of the cave, he didn’t show it. He was focused entirely on the glowing stone. Loch could feel himself getting angry. He knew there were stronger beings on Earth, but he was the strongest human. He was the same Level as the Si-Te-Cah. How dare this person ignore him. He had come here to fight and stop the giants and Si-Te-Cah. Not be ignored. How dare this creature. This invader. This was Loch’s home, not those creatures.

  He raised a hand, ready to summon Onyx and throw it, but stopped. Loch took a deep breath. A pressure lifted from his mind, something he hadn’t even realized was there.

  YOUR MENTAL RESISTANCE HAS GAINED RANK TWO

  “Interesting,” the Si-Te-Cah said. “Most cannot resist my mind pushing.”

  The 8 foot tall humanoid took a step closer.

  “It is so much funner playing with my prey when they are enraged.”

  “What is that stone?” Loch asked, wanting to keep the Si-Te-Cah talking.

  The more he could learn, the better. Aside from somehow pushing at Loch’s mind, making him angry, he didn’t know what this creature could do. The Si-Te-Cah looked over his shoulder at the stone.

  “My people put that here,” he said. “A long time ago, before we even knew what the Connection was or that it existed. Now it would be called a Natural Resource and surprisingly it even uses Spirit. Interesting that the Connection’s energy existed before the Connection. Almost like it is something that exists everywhere and the Connection only steals it.” He turned back to look at Loch. “That is all the Connection is. A thief. It steals what was already there. You Adapted are just filters for it.”

  “And you’re not?”

  “No,” the Si-Te-Cah laughed. “We have never been.”

  He raised a hand, the robe sliding down revealing pale skin that almost glowed in the light of the stone. He moved his long, thin fingers, tracing different shapes in the air. Trails of faint light followed the fingers, little sparks that fell to the ground.

  “The Connection says it Adapted you but that is not true. None of the so-called Connected Races are Adapted. Adapted for what? To harness and use Spirit? All Adapted were already made to do that. Every world that becomes part of the Connection is a world that already generated Spirit. Maybe not on a grand scale like now, but it was there and all the species and creatures on that world could harness it. In time, thousands of years, with evolution you all would have been able to harness and use Spirit on your own. All the Connection does when it Adapts you is turn you into a filter. It takes Spirit through you and feeds on it, growing stronger. The Connection just pushed your evolution to make itself, not you, stronger.”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Loch didn’t know how much of what the creature was saying was true. Some of it fit with what he had learned. But did it matter? Life was now under the rules of the Connected System. That was their reality. There was nothing they could do to change that. Loch and his family, his people, everyone on Earth, just had to deal with the new world.

  “What is the stone?” Loch asked again.

  “A power source,” the Si-Te-Cah said. “There are more spread around the Earth. All meant to be connected,” he laughed at the use of the word. “Everything is connected one way or the other.”

  He held up his hand, the light still dancing around it, pointing a long finger at Loch.

  “But I tire of your stalling.”

  The light gathered around the finger, twisting along its length. It shot out, streaming toward Loch, still twisting as it cut through the air. Activating Bulwark, he got the shield up, catching the stream of light.

  Loch flew back, knocked off his feet, slamming into the wall behind him. Cracks appeared across the surface of the energy shield. He could feel the energy still crawling across the shield. It didn’t feel like anything he’d felt before. He’d been struck by flames, lightning, water and even shadow energy. They all felt different but there was something that was the same between it all. Loch could feel the Spirit that helped form the different energy types.

  There was no Spirit in the Si-Te-Cah’s attack.

  Using the tunnel wall, Loch pushed himself up, keeping a wary eye on the Si-Te-Cah. The attack hadn’t just been energy but had some pressure and force to it.

  “Your shield is impressive. That was one of my weaker attacks but to still absorb it fully like that is rare. The Connected System does grant some impressive Abilities.”

  He raised his other hand, this one glowing more orange. With a flick of his fingers, a small ball of fire shot out. Loch Activated Windstep, rushing past the attack. He knew a fireball when he saw one. He appeared in front of the Si-Te-Cah, swinging Onyx at the humanoid’s head, the swing angled up. The Si-Te-Cah stepped back, quickly and effortlessly. The axe missed.

  The fireball exploded in the tunnel, bright orange flames shooting out, fire filling the entire opening. The shockwave slammed into Loch, staggering him. It didn’t bother the Si-Te-Cah. Loch could feel the waves of heat. The fireball had only been a couple inches in diameter and it had done that amount of damage. Loch was glad that it had exploded in the tunnel and not outside where the damage would have been immense.

  The two attacks, effortless attacks, had been more than anything Loch had dealt with before. The Si-Te-Cah was scary. Even capped at Level Twenty-Five, the power was beyond anything else. But was the Si-Te-Cah really capped? He had said he was outside the Connection. Were Levels even something that applied to him?

  Loch kept attacking, keeping Onyx swinging, making the Si-Te-Cah stepping back. The arms had returned to clasping behind the back, red hair swaying with each movement. It was just steps, a twist of the waist, each of Loch’s blows barely missing. But they did miss, not even catching the flowing robes. He Activated all of his buffs. Aura Of Attack, Breaker’s Banner and even Offensive Stance. He Activated Precision Strike, wanting to see where the weak areas were.

  The Ability showed nothing. No yellow dots. Nothing like what he was used to seeing. Loch’s swings stopped for a second as the shock rolled through him, but he pushed forward, not wanting to give the monster a chance to cast a spell. How could there be no weaknesses?

  Loch swung Onyx, staggering to a stop as something caught it. The Si-Te-Cah smiled, holding the axe by the shaft, below the head. Loch pushed, trying to drive the axehead down against the monster’s head. The smile grew and with a flick of his wrist, the Si-Te-Cah sent Loch flying.

  Loch landed hard, rolling to a stop and jumping up, holding Bulwark in front of him, Onyx ready to throw. The Si-Te-Cah laughed, a horrible sound that echoed through the cavern.

  “If you are the most powerful this world has to offer, conquering it will be child’s play.”

  He raised both hands, one glowing white and the other red, pointing fingers at Loch. Bracing himself, Loch expanded Bulwark as large as it would go, sacrificing thickness for more protective area. He was up against the wall with nowhere to go.