The last few hours had been a frantic race to find and “cure” all of the Bereft inside the cities and towns he flew to, so much so that Larek didn’t get a chance to leave any Fusions in the form of staves behind for the ones he left ostensibly defenseless. Still, it made his job easier to follow the particular individual that had originally fled from Zecklent, as they seemed to be leading him to more and more Bereft as time went on. After the first time missing his shot with a thrown Primal Essence projectile at the young man in a town called Gardencleft, only for that obviously frightened Bereft to flee his presence, he instead let the man continue on his way as he located and took care of every other energy distortion in the towns and cities he followed him to.
He even took to just barely getting into the young man’s range when he seemed to slow down, spurring him on to the next batch of Bereft that needed to be cured of their affliction; what he was doing felt slightly cruel, as he was basically using the man’s fear to help him hunt down others like him, but ultimately, it would end up saving dozens or hundreds of those with unlocked potential from being future victims. The incredible speed with which he was able to locate and eliminate the threats he found only increased as he became more adept at identifying his targets. So, by the time he flew into a city that he thought was called Valleyside, his Magical Detection senses had already scouted out and identified dozens of Bereft scattered around.
More than that, though, he could tell that there were still a few pockets of Mages and Martials holed up in various places – a first since he’d arrived in the northwestern part of the Kingdom a short time ago. All of the other cities and towns he passed through had only contained Bereft, as any with potential had already had it consumed by those he found.
But what really caught his attention was the incredibly powerful energy distortion coming from where he detected that his “guide” had gone. In contrast to the other Bereft he detected, this was like a raging bonfire compared to their candles if he were to put a size to it, as hundreds of feet around the source of this distortion were warped. Instead of simply passing around the source like a rock in a stream, such as what he’d noticed with the other Bereft, the distortion was so powerful that it spun around in a wavy vortex of energy that was actually quite worrying.
His instincts cried out at its appearance, as it seemed anathema to the very world itself, as it somewhat reminded him of a Scission or an Aperture. However, even those two dangerous openings in the world were somehow still natural, whereas this seemed more like a twisting or corruption of the fundamental laws that governed how everything worked.
Hmm… corruption… like some sort of Corrupted Aetheric Force? No; even that is relatively natural, and this is something completely different. It’s almost as though there is a formless drive leading these Bereft to consume potential, as if a foreign intelligence is working from within them to snuff out anything or anyone with magical abilities in the world. I’m not sure if that’s really what’s happening, but it sure would explain a lot.
That thought gave him a momentary pause before he went down to confront the source of the massive energy distortion. Back at Copperleaf, Dean Lorraine and Shinpai had once asked him if he would be the one to close the tear in the world that the Gergasi had caused over 1,000 years ago, which had let in both magical potential in people as well as the Scissions that had then plagued the Kingdom. By somehow closing it, they had thought that it could bring an end to the threat that the Scissions brought upon those living in the world, while at the same time it would eventually negate anything magical throughout the world. That was because almost all of the different forms of energy that filled the ambient environment originally came from that tear in the world, which slowly built up over time until the Scissions became nearly impossible to defend against.
But that had all changed when the Apertures started establishing themselves all throughout the world, not only in the Kingdom. There were now likely tens of thousands – or perhaps more – of the openings that could be found everywhere, and each one of them produced the same sort of energy that the original tear did, though to a lesser extent. So, even if he decided to close the tear that the Gergasi caused, if he somehow found a way to do it, then it might not even matter. The world would continue to have magical potential in it, just as it would continue to have the Apertures.
But these Bereft were something else entirely. They consumed magical potential, which would – in the short run – be dangerous because it would stifle the defensive efforts that those with potential were employing to keep everyone safe. But in the long run, such as if everyone in the world with magical potential – or even a spark of it – had it consumed by the Bereft, that might lead to a shutdown of all the Apertures.
Why?
Because the Apertures needed Pure Aetheric Energy in order to function. And Pure AF came from people, as the Corrupted AF they encountered as a natural part of the world was filtered through their bodies. Everyone produced it, even those without unlocked potential, though normal people produced it at a much smaller rate than those with partial or fully unlocked potential. Pure AF was what led to the formation of Scissions near towns and cities, as the buildup of so much purified AF in an area made them naturally form. While Larek thought Apertures had been formed slightly differently, they still relied on Pure AF to operate fully, and if there were no people in the world able to purify Corrupted AF, then the Apertures would eventually “starve”, and potentially even disappear. Of course, by that time, there would be so much Corrupted AF in the world that he couldn’t imagine that it would be good for the environment.
I wonder if that’s what happened in the world where the Corruption comes from? There was just so much Corrupted AF there that it completely overwhelmed everything else, so that is why it spills out into our world so easily?
He didn’t really know the answers to any of that, but as those thoughts took a few seconds to filter through his mind, he came to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to take a chance that letting the Bereft continue what they were doing would be a good thing. While it might eventually snuff out the Apertures throughout the world, thereby ending their threat against people everywhere, the complete overtaking of the world by Corruption was enough of a possibility that he didn’t contemplate letting it happen.
If he was going to find a way to save the people of the world from the Apertures, he would do it on his own terms. Which meant that he needed to eliminate the threat of the Bereft, before tackling his other objectives.
Sending the Pattern platform under his feet forward, Larek shot toward the concentrated distortion, his height above the city allowing him to see precisely where he was headed. As he looked down, he wasn’t surprised to notice that actually seeing anyone within the warped energy field was almost impossible from so far away, but it wasn’t until he floated down into the distortion and felt the strange sensation of the energy within it that he considered that this might be a bit more difficult than the other Bereft he’d encountered. In short, the area he flew into was weird.
It was almost as if the very environment was attempting to consume his magical potential by itself, and he could feel himself weakening a slight bit as it pulled at him. He was able to shrug off the feeling and didn’t let it affect him, but even keeping the Pattern platform stable under his feet began to become more difficult the further into the distortion he went, as it felt like something was trying to rip it away from his control every second.
When he ultimately descended far enough, he could finally make out what appeared to be a little more than a dozen people down below, including the one he’d been following this whole time, who appeared to be ready to collapse. The others drew his attention, however, as he could feel how strong they were when compared to the other Bereft he’d encountered, and he mentally adjusted how much Primal Essence he’d have to condense to clear the inverse potential inside of them. The amount he would need would be considerably more than he’d used on any other Bereft, and was nearly at the limit of what he could handle without losing control, but his manipulation of the combined energy had improved over the last few hours as he’d been confronting other Bereft. If he was to gauge how strong they were in comparison to himself, given his Boost Fusion, he would say that they were approximately half as strong as he was; not a huge threat, but there were also a dozen of them.
But what caught his full attention was the man in nondescript clothing in the center of them all. While his clothing and demeanor didn’t necessarily grab his focus, it was the sheer strength of the distortion around him that drew the eye, as it was the source of the warped feeling in the ambient energy. Once Larek stopped and was close enough to estimate how strong he really was, he estimated that the man was as, powerful or even more powerful than, the Fusionist.
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That could be a problem. I don’t think I can form a large enough compressed Primal Essence projectile to fix him.
That was perfectly fine with Larek, however, because while he didn’t necessarily recognize the man, the arrogant way he stood told Larek all he needed to know.
The man was an assassin from the Unspoken Response.
The appearance of the powerful individual was the final piece of evidence the killer needed to confirm that it was, indeed, the Fusionist’s fault that all this had happened. His Transfer Potential Fusion had been used on the assassin, and it had eventually led to all of this.
With a sigh, and a bit of frustration and relief at this final evidence, he shook his head in annoyance as he said, “Ah, finally. I was wondering if I would ever find the one who started all of this, and I have to thank my little friend down there who unknowingly led me right to you. Though, technically, I guess you could say that this was mostly my fault, so it’s only right that I clean up my mess.”
The following conversation was eye-opening, as he hadn’t realized that the assassin still knew who he was, though he supposed it shouldn’t have surprised him – given that Larek had been the one to do this whole thing to him. Still, he wasn’t necessarily prepared for what happened next, as the Bereft suddenly attacked him as a group. If that was all, it wouldn’t have been that bad, as he had already formed a Primal Essence projectile and shot it unerringly at one of the strong Bereft jumping almost straight up at him; unfortunately, even as the projectile impacted the woman, knocking her unconscious while in mid-air, the energy around him seemed to twist, and he felt his control over his Pattern platform evaporate – along with the platform a split-second later.
Falling, and somehow unable to project his internal Pattern outside of his body again, one of the other Bereft slammed into him with force, sending both of them rocketing almost straight upwards. He immediately felt a powerful pull on his potential, but despite the abrupt cessation of his Pattern control outside of his body, he was more than able to fight back.
Looking at the face of the man who had his hands around Larek’s neck, attempting to suck the potential out of him, he saw the eyes widen in surprise as the Fusionist not only fought back, but crushed the hungering intent coming from the Bereft. Larek slammed his hand into the chest of the man and projected Primal Essence through the contact, completely overwhelming the hungering emptiness inside. Limp fingers around his neck were the first indication that he’d succeeded, and he let the man fall, pushing him toward a nearby roof so that he wouldn’t instantly die upon impact.
Larek barely had a chance to breathe, however, as he witnessed another Bereft kicking off the wall of a different building, flinging herself up at him when she missed the first time. With his peripheral vision, he vaguely saw that the others had also missed hitting him at first, likely not expecting his Pattern platform to fail so spectacularly, including the assassin, though the latter had missed by shooting too high, and was coming back down to land on him at some point.
Alright; enough playing around.
Larek’s fist met the face of the incoming woman as he punched her with only about half of his strength, but it was more than enough to send her back down faster than she had ascended. The strength of her Body stat was enough that he was pretty sure he hadn’t killed her, but she probably wasn’t feeling very good, especially considering that the flagstones marking the area of that part of the city cracked under her impact.
He pulled out his halberd even as he hit the apex of his own ascent, and he was just barely able to swing it in time to hit the assassin that was almost upon him, but the blow didn’t do more than knock him slightly askew. He could tell right away that while his Fusions were still intact, they didn’t do anything to the man; while his Martial stats were likely as higher or higher than Larek’s own, which might have been a reason for that, it was more that effects like Sharpen Edge were completely negated by the strange energy field around the assassin.
Fortunately, even hitting him with his weapon was enough to knock the man off his angle of approach from above, though a sharp pain spiked through his upper left arm before Pain Immunity pushed it away. He looked at it briefly as he began to fall, and he saw a deep slice in his skin that hadn’t been there before; glancing downward, he could see the angry face of the assassin glaring back at him as he brandished a long dagger, which had apparently been sharp enough – or had been wielded with enough strength – to cut through his own powerful Body stat.
He activated his Healing Surge Fusion to heal it and was relieved when it worked, as he wasn’t sure it would after his Pattern platform collapsed. As he fell, he used his Halberd to try to target himself with a Portable Lifter so that he could potentially slow himself down before he hit the ground, but nothing happened. Another few attempts to use Fusions at a distance proved that anything that wasn’t in direct contact with his body was being negated by the field around him. Anything that moved outside of it seemed to disappear, just as it did when it got close to the field around one of the Bereft; in this case, that field happened to be much, much larger.
Well, that’s not good.
Shifting his body to look down as he fell, and unable to form anything outside of his body with his internal pattern, he adjusted the halberd in his hands as he saw 10 of the Bereft – as well as the assassin – waiting for him below. While his weapon might not necessarily be working with its Fusions active against them all, it was still a weapon that he could use against them.
He contemplated forming another ball of condensed Primal Essence to hit another one of the Bereft, but decided against it. For one, he didn’t have nearly enough time to form one properly before he’d be within their reach; and two, they were moving around constantly, as if knowing that he was planning on hitting another one of them. He wasn’t sure if he could actually hit one with how they were moving around randomly.
A fight it is. And if I have to kill some of them, I will. He would prefer keeping the rest of the Bereft alive, though he was fairly sure that the assassin would have to be removed… permanently.
As soon as Larek landed with a crunch of the flagstones under his feet, his Agility allowing him to keep his balance, they were upon him. Swinging his halberd around in a circle to keep them back, he noticed that the assassin was hanging back, letting the others attack him for some reason, which was perfectly fine with him. It would allow him to take them out, one way or another, without hopefully doing too much harm.
The Bereft were bold, as well as being strong and quick, and they didn’t allow something like a swinging halberd to stop them for long. Just as they rushed him, uncaring of being hit by the weapon, the Fusionist threw himself at the nearest one, taking the man by surprise, and he punched the Bereft so hard in the chest that he went flying into the stone wall of a nearby building, where he cracked the material enough that there was a possibility it might collapse.
Whoops.
He didn’t mean to hit the man that hard, but it was difficult to pull his punches in the current scenario. He landed and was immediately on the back foot as he was surrounded again, and three of the Bereft managed to touch him somewhere, forcing their hunger toward his potential. Growling, he swatted them away, sending them all flying as he barely defended himself, and then he smacked two other Bereft so hard with his halberd that they crumpled and rolled to his left with his follow-through swing.
Shifting the shaft of his weapon in his hands, he smacked someone behind him in the knee with the butt of his halberd, causing them to crumple to the ground in pain as their leg bent backwards. He punched out to his left as another Bereft managed to throw themselves at his leg to try to eat his potential while he was distracted, and his strike was so powerful that he heard the man’s neck crack as his head was smashed backwards. Crap – another not likely to survive.
He felt bad, but he was also fighting for his life at that point, so there wasn’t much more that he could do while still keeping them alive. With how many he’d already incapacitated or inadvertently killed, it was only a matter of time before he took out the rest as they came against him, and as the last few faced him, he was able to pull his punches enough that they lived. The last one got a helping of Primal Essence through her chest when Larek punched her away, sending her rolling bonelessly over 50 feet away.
What confused him the most, when all of the other Bereft had been taken care of, was that the assassin hadn’t chosen to attack at any point. That confusion was slightly cleared up when the man strode up to him, stopping about 20 feet away, and said, “Disappointing, but I suppose that this is what I wanted,” he said succinctly, waving toward the other Bereft. “When you took everything from me, all I wanted to do was run and hide because of how weak I was. When I discovered I could take some of that power back, I was simply consumed with the need to get strong enough that no one would be able to hurt me again like you did.
“But now,” the assassin said, with a small smile on his face, “I’m strong enough that I’m not scared of you anymore. I’ve seen you fight, now, and it’s pathetic; without your Fusions, spells, or Battle Arts, you’re nothing but a mediocre warrior who can only swing around a stick like a blind man trying to find his way. You have no skill, no finesse, and it almost physically hurts to see you move like you do, unable to take advantage of what I can only assume are high stats – and yet I can barely even tell that much.”
Larek bristled at the assassin’s mention of his fighting ability, as he’d worked hard with Instructor Torge at Fort Hilltower to become better than he was. He thought that he’d actually improved immensely since that time, but apparently the assassin thought differently. “I doubt you could be much better; I’d like to see if you can back up those words,” he declared, before beckoning the other man forward with his left hand, while he readied his halberd in his right.
With another, even wider smile, the assassin said, “It would be my pleasure,” before he suddenly disappeared.
