ALL NOVEL 36: Stars fall
Kai barely noticed the luxurious confines within the tent. His eyes were drawn to Saurkar, her face marred from acid, easy to recognise. She sat comfortably at a war table while a yellow Lizardfolk stood beside her, his sunlit blade biting against Matt’s neck.
“You coward!” Kai ground out between clenched teeth.
A thin smile formed on Saurkar’s lips while she examined crudely drawn maps on the table. “I see you got my invitation. I ensured the bloody trail was easy enough for even a simpleton to follow. Do anything brash and Thruslik will execute the softpaw.” She said, looking up at Kai for the first time, then gestured with a sharp claw towards Matthias. “I’m not sure why you would want to save this… useless softpaw again, but I suspected you would follow. Although I was expecting a fight and you just handed yourself over, thanks for that,” she said, raising a single scaled eyebrow.
“Why don’t you fight me one on one then? If I yield then then I will join you, but if I win, you let everyone go?” Kai said in a firm voice while his heart thumped in his chest. She’s faster than me, but I’m sure I can tear this piece of filth apart in close-quarters combat.
Saurkar laughed, the sound coarse like sandpaper. “No. I make the rules, and I went through all this trouble to force you to join us on my terms. But I suppose I can sweeten the deal with crystals and put in a good word to my sponsor,” she said, pushing herself up from the war table.
Kai assumed there was a limit to how many crystals one could start with, perhaps the starting bonus allocation you set for gear, otherwise he’d never be able to catch up to these rich invaders. Right now he had no need for extra crystals thanks to Kura. However he’d seen almost no-one else with any aura crystals, so this could be very tempting for others.
“Why the interest in me?” Kai said slowly, while his thoughts raced, racking his brain for a way to get Matt and everyone else out of this situation.
“You are clearly strong, and competition drives evolution, plus as a disciple I am bound by duty to win every trial and either recruit, train, poach or kill anyone with potential who can help me, and by extension my sponsor, reach the final trial.”
Saurkar sneered, “So how about you beg for mercy? I’m losing patience here.” Her scaled finger stabbed the air as she pointed towards the trembling black and white Rakin. “Come now, make the smart choice, flesh bag. Just a little soul signature and you’re done. Then this mangy softpaw can go free.”
She didn’t mention the rest of the people in the cages. Kai never wanted to swear a vow again — let alone whatever a soul signature implied. However Matt was here because he had told him it was safer to stay behind. The only reason he kept calm despite the simmering rage crashing inside him — was Matt’s situation. His heart was racing, he doubted she would keep her word. I have to risk that she’s bluffing, snap my bindings, and swiftly grab the sword at Matt’s throat.
Aura rippled through Kai’s hands. “If being smart means joining you so you can prey on the weak, then I'll remain a fool for life,” Kai said as he exerted all his force to break the bindings, expecting them to snap easily.
Saurkar snorted derisively at him. “Those aren’t normal bindings like last time.” She crossed her arms and tilted her head.
“You humans are so fragile, born believing you are the apex of creation, that you are invincible, that no problem exists that you cannot solve. But you will inevitably die with all your beliefs broken.” She made a motion to her guards to take him away as Kai withdrew the mushroom to his palms in a small burst of light.
***
Matthias watched the exchange, unable to speak with Thruslik’s sharp blade pressed so close to his throat. He was afraid when they took him, confused when they kept him alive. Now he trembled with anger. Anger at his own weakness. Anger that he was being used. The failure is my own, I am weak. He’d been saved by Kai twice already. He would not save his life to condemn another. Matt wondered if this was what bravery felt like as he lunged forward, the sharp blade biting deep into his neck.
***
Kai watched in horror as Matt lunged forward. The sunlit blade instantly slitting his throat, blood spurting from the gash. Garbled words tumbled from Matt’s mouth. The room was silent apart from the sound of Matt’s body hitting the floor. Kai stood there stunned, mushroom in cupped hands. No… no, no! Matt must have acted thinking he had no other options. Kai’s gut squirmed with regret like maggots.
He noticed Saurkar flick her eyes in annoyance at Thruslik ruining her negotiations. Kai brought the yellow mushroom to his lips as rage saturated the air around him, almost palpable. His dead eyes bore into Saurkar, her cocky annoyance flickering to concern when she turned to him and recognised the mushroom disappearing into his mouth.
Saurkar snapped into action and formed her bowstring bubble between her hands instantly, melon-sized bubbles swirling with ominous red mist zipped towards him.
As his body swelled in size he raised his bound wrists to intercept. The unnaturally fast bubbles popped like cannon fire as they splashed into his crossed arms. Kai grunted in pain as the concussive force from the explosions blasted him outside the tent. Between the explosions and his increased strength and size, the bindings frayed and he ripped them apart with a scream, snapping his bracelet in the process. Wood beads scattered over the ground.
He heard Saurkar bellow for her soldiers and watched as they swarmed out of tents to surround him like angry ants whose hive had just been kicked.
Kai wiped blood from his mouth with singed hands as soldiers charged towards him, a kaleidoscope of auras flaring. He was now three times bigger and felt multiple times stronger.
Judge each one individually? — I will burden my heart and rain judgement equally on the just and the unjust who stand in my way. I will forge new principles to live by. But right now, death.
The earth cracked beneath Kai as he leapt into the night sky. Five massive boulders black as sin materialised beneath him while he coated his giant hands with stardust aura.
Second form; Waterfall Smash, Increase.
Kai shrugged off attacks, ignoring the pain as he slammed each boulder down like an angry god. The gargantuan rocks thundered into the ground with such immense force that they exploded outward with sonic booms. Sharp rocks tore through flesh, blitzing the army into perforated slabs of meat.
Kai felt waves of vital aura seep into his body and this time, no bile rose in his throat. He had no regrets as he realised it wasn’t system rules holding him back, but rather vows that had been forced upon him by teachers in a world that no longer existed. He had to be true to himself and let his rage flow; it was part of him, and he could use it. He was not a calm river, but a raging waterfall.
You have broken a vow of mercy; this may influence your discoveries. This action cannot be undone.
If an old part of me has to die in order to be reborn and rise again, then so be it.
***
Milah yawned, scratching her butterfly tattoo as she exited her crummy tent last. What’s the rush? Her eyes widened as she peered up into the night sky where a giant human silhouette obscured the moon. Recognition dawned on her face when she noticed stardust water ripple over the tattoo on the roaring man’s back.
She gasped as a gargantuan boulder blazed down like a meteor shower. Her senses whirled to life as she reflexively manifested every copper and karner blue butterfly she’d ever collected. Her long scarlet hair whipped across her horrified face as the shockwave from the first boulder struck her. In that same second, rocks tore soldiers apart like her ginger cat used to shred tissue paper. Shit, I can’t block that, what the hell! The next circle of soldiers collapsed when another boulder exploded. She watched a hurricane of red vital aura stain the sky as it swirled around Kai.
Shit shit shit. Milah fused an inferno of aura into large butterfly wings on her back and with a mighty beat fluttered away from the carnage.
Did I pick the wrong side? Was that really the stuttering human covered in grime from before? There were few things more sudden and terrifying than a nice guy losing his patience.
Milah briefly hesitated before sending a blizzard of butterflies into the back lines of the order. Screw these guys. Coppers sliced through flesh and bone while tiny karner blues pincushioned soldiers like needles mounting butterflies to cork.
She zipped towards the cages, intending to free her sister and flee from all these crazy assholes, including the giant human.
***
Kai thrust the final boulder down and bellowed like a wounded animal, “Saurkar!” Spittle flew from his mouth. His momentum spent, he crashed down into the ground littered with circles of pulped bodies and rubble. He sucked in air hungrily, this giant body is demanding. His head pounded from aura expenditure, and the notifications pinging in his mind like gunfire did not help. In his carbonated rage, he narrowed his attention to one.
Witch’s Butter (Giant Tremella Mesenterica) - 14 seconds remaining.
Kai’s ocean-blue eyes seethed with hunger as they snapped onto his prey. Saurkar stood by her tent, unscathed, to his dismay. Thruslik stood protectively in front of her, sword glistening with sunlight aura, grim determination on his face. Large rocks cut cleanly in half around him; however, blood poured freely from dozens of holes perforating his body. While clearly a skilled swordsman, he was unable to avoid the bullet-sized rock shrapnel. In any other situation this opponent would have had Kai’s admiration.
Matt’s death flickered through Kai’s mind as he bull rushed the swordsman. Hope flickered within his carbonated rage; perhaps if he could reach Matt in time, he could try to use the Preservation Amber. Thruslik’s aura was focussed solely on his treasured sword, leaving the rest of his body unprotected. He slashed towards Kai with everything he had left, the light from his sword piercing the night in defiance as the metal blazed downward. Kai knew it would be difficult to dodge given his size, and from the immense pressure it emitted he was certain the aura-infused sword would slice through his flesh if it struck true.
He violently slapped the blade’s momentum away with overwhelming power instead of taking it head on. He winced as his stardust palm seared against the flat side of the blade, sparks grinding against the black scales of his hand as Hotplates triggered. The glistening sword stabbed the ground.
Kai followed up the deflection with an uppercut from his other hand. Reverse waterfall, increase. His giant hand surged towards Thruslik’s jaw, but a scaled tail wrapped around Kai’s wrist trying to restrain his strike. However the momentum of his waterfall would not be denied. This is for killing Matt. His palm crunched into Thruslik’s jaw and the yellow Lizardfolk’s eyes exploded into his skull before his entire body rocketed skyward, a flesh bag of broken bones.
Saurkar had not been sitting idle behind Thruslik. Kai’s eyes grew wide as she unleashed a volley of large but slow-moving bubbles filled with green mist. There was no time or room to dodge; he was simply too big.
“You’re ruining everything! I should have killed you when we first met!” Saurkar shrieked with draconic fury as her aura exploded.
Screw you and your plans! Kai suppressed his fear of her overwhelming aura as acidic bubbles splattered against his chest. Pain scorched through him as the mist inside the bubble sizzled hungrily through his thin black scales to start melting his skin. He bit his lip to resist the urge to inhale, scream, and claw at his chest. His Ironblood Will helped him focus and he dashed backwards, ejecting himself from the ravenous cloud. He skidded to a stop on his knees then coughed up mouthfuls of blood from his scalded lungs. There goes Foxfire. He flooded his lungs with aura to quash the acid, then tried to figure out what was going on, wincing as his vision blurred.
Poison? Perhaps some sort of chemical reaction? Red is explosive, green melts… is the trigger when they pop or when the contents are exposed to oxygen? Noticing the mist fading, Kai disregarded trying to figure out more; he knew nothing about poison, chemicals, or gas. Avoid the bubbles, get close, pummel her.
Kai groaned when Saurkar vaulted backwards to create more distance between them. Then breathed into her bubble bowstring to create a volley of shimmering green bubbles that fell towards him like a collapsing building. The thought of retreat never crossed his mind as he flowed around the minefield of bubbles like a river, darting between the large slow greens to close the gap between himself and Saurkar.
A malevolent grin sprawled across Saurkar’s face as she fired a volley of fast red bubbles. Kai cursed, realising she had lured him in with bubbles he could dodge even with his large body. He withdrew an item as the small reds popped into the greens. The battlefield exploded as fire arced like chain lightning between the bubbles as they ignited into consecutive explosions that shook the air and made the earth tremble.
Fortunately Kai had absorbed the E-grade fire resistance crystal Kura created from the Magma Wyrm just in time. It was the only reason he wasn’t incinerated on the spot. His dry throat blistered as he held his breath inside the inferno. He then charged blindly in the direction of where he’d last seen her, his entire body flashing with scales as fire and acid sparked against his skin. Kai’s bloodshot eyes tore open as he burst from the fire like a raging river and surged towards a shocked Saurkar. Both his palms shot towards her like twin hydras. Dual Water Slap, increase. This was his last shot; his aura was spent and his time was up.
Witch’s Butter (Giant Tremella Mesenterica) - 1 second remaining
Kai’s twin palms rushed to cave in her chest but Saurkar reflexively blocked with her bowstring bubble itself. The density of the elongated bubble surprised him as it resisted his strike like an elastic cushion. Saurkar poured yellow mist into half the bubble bowstring between her hands before the sheer force of his strike caused it to burst — in his direction, altering the path of his fists just enough that they slammed into her side, avoiding a fatal collision with her sternum that would have crushed her lungs. Blood flew from her serpentine mouth as the strike sent her spinning through the air. She haphazardly wrapped herself in a cushioning bubble which popped as she crashed to the ground.
Kai staggered as his body returned painfully to its normal size. He had tried not to inhale whatever the yellow mist was but had ingested some. His eyes drooped; he was sleepy, as if he had not slept in days. Sleeping gas?
Saurkar clutched her bleeding side with one hand as she made an o-shape with her other hand and blew lemon-sized yellow bubbles towards him faster than any of the other bubbles. He spun, managing to avoid some, but the rest splashed into his skin and he grew even more sleepy. His Ironblood Will and the mental resistance from ranking up his mind the only reason he remained conscious.
Kai stumbled, landing on his knee. The drowsiness did have one benefit; his rage had subsided allowing him to think more clearly.
His bleary eyes glared at Saurkar defiantly as she blew forth a towering wall of shimmering death. It would crumble on top of him without mercy and his fire resistance had worn off.
He had one desperate idea left.