Malcolm Tent
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Wish upon the Stars chapter 647
🕑 Added 2024-06-13 20:54:55 +0000 UTCThe big man with the hammer smirked down at me. “Not bad.” He said in a rumbling voice. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone just shrug off that blow before, especially not to the skull. That’s a hell of a defensive Skill.” He glanced at the ground behind me. “Don’t bother.” He said lazily. “If I couldn’t crack it, your strike won’t do the job either.”
I looked at the spot he’d glanced at, and sure enough a green haired girl materialized from nothing behind me, or rather, from thin air, as she coalesced from the wind. She scowled at the man. “That’s not how it works you lummox. My wind spirit pierce can punch through armor, and is much more concentrated. Just because your ridiculous mallet couldn’t do the job, doesn’t mean my attack wouldn’t have finished him.”
“You would have attacked while he was dazed if you thought it would work.” He said unapologetically. Then he turned back to me. “You’re pretty tough for Wyndham. I thought you were all supposed to be weaklings who hid behind meat shields.”
The green haired girl smacked her own forehead. “You aren’t supposed to SAY things like that. Have some tact.”
With a shrug, the man dismissed her concerns. “Whatever. You earned my name before I crack that eggshell you’ve got going. I’m Albert Brody, from the Iron Pumping Temple, and the gnat is one of those sneaks from the Spirit Breeze Convocation.”
“My NAME.” She spat. “Is Gwendolyn, you walking bucket of flop sweat. I refuse to be condescended to by one of you pea brained hammer jockeys.”
He just rolled his eyes. “Brains are overrated. People think too much. Anything makes sense if you whack it hard enough. That’s why our Iron Body Sage is considered one of the most powerful physical combatants in S-rank. Now, since we’ve got the introductions out of the way, we should get back to the fight. More people will show up soon, and if I have to crush too many of you at once I might slip up.”
Without waiting for a response, he whirled his giant hammer above his head and began to rain blows down on me. It was…impressive. When I’d commented on his size, I hadn’t mean in comparison to me. I’d meant in general.
Albert Brody was about nine feet tall and probably ten across. His muscles had muscles, and the colossal hammer, whose head was about the size of coffee table, blurred and warped the air, creating explosions of concussive force as it made contact with my reinforced body.
He unleashed a torrent of hammer strikes, hitting me so quickly and brutally that my stone form actually started heating up from the friction, but regardless of how brutally he wailed on me, nothing was able to even budge me.
Mornax didn’t do anything in terms of offense. It had zero use for utility. It was, however, nearly an unbreakable defense at the E-rank. Between my enhanced Impact, Mountain Stance’s blanket increase, and the additional density of the stone form, it would pretty much take a D-ranker to break it, regardless of the sheer amount of Might you were using.
After a few minutes, Albert stumbled back, wheezing, and let the hammer fall to the ground with a thump, glaring at me. “That’s cheating.” He panted. “You’re not even attacking me, you’re just standing there.”
Which was…actually a great point. Turning away from him, I bent over the chest, and ignored his outrage as I started to fit keys into locks.
Sadly, it was bound to be harder than that. “Stop hitting him from above you dunce.” Sniped the acidic assassin. “Notice when he turned he kept one of his feet in contact with the ground at all times? He’s got some sort of earth bond Skill going. His durability is beyond your strength to break, but I bet if you knock him off his feet the Skill will break.”
My eyes widened as I felt my formerly dormant Danger Sense scream at me, signifying he’d taken her advice. I spun, letting Mornax break, and used Double Trouble as I switched to Mephistopheles, appearing behind the assassin.
My staff flashed out, an explosion of black flame consuming the spot she’d just been standing in, but she’d returned to the wind. I heard a tinkling laugh along the breeze. “Sorry, but I don’t want to give up the win either. Why don’t you two focus on each other. I’m sure I’ll be far too scared to try to stab one of you in the back.”
Snarling, I triggered Mephisto’s Waltz, moving myself out of position just as a hammer swept through the spot my ribs had just occupied. I ate the distance, appearing behind Albert, and unleashed a blast at his back.
Which did nothing. At all. The flames just washed over him harmlessly. I cursed, dodging the next attack. I tried to plant my feet for Mornax again, but he’d learned his lesson, and wouldn’t let up, raining down hammer blows again.
“You think fire can harm an initiate of the Iron Pumping Temple?” He guffawed. “Fire forges iron. We have our muscles beaten into shape with the most extreme heat. I felt a bit of a sting, so that must be special flame, but it’s far from enough to hurt me. Now stand still and let me smash you, little man.”
His teeth were bared in a bloodthirsty grin, his red eyes surrounded by rings of white as he stared fixedly around. His hair was pitch black and untamed, wild sideburns leading down to a thick beard. The whole picture presented a terrifying pressure, like some legendary berserker of old.
I ignored it, focusing on my staff as I waltzed. Specifically, on the slowly growing ball of flames. Cosmic Collapse was my next move. I needed to hit him with something that could penetrate his apparently fire tempered muscles. If the normal flame wouldn’t work, I’d have to use my technique.
Unfortunately, I could tell it would take a LOT. Not a normal Cosmic Collapse, but a supercharged version of my finisher, and extra charge meant extra time. I kept an eye out for Gwendolyn too. The second I struck she would jump on me, so I had to make sure not to overcommit.
The problem was, Albert’s Might was MUCH higher than mine. His strikes were firing off at absurd speeds, and I suspected if that hammer wasn’t heavier than most BUILDINGS I’d lived in, I’d already be a fly on a windshield.
Mephisto’s Waltz was barely letting me keep ahead, and only because I was cheating terribly. The waltz was more like teleportation than a movement skill, and having a Solid Path made my techniques exponentially more effective and flexible than someone at my rank should be capable of. Everything had limits though, and I was approaching mine.
Albert’s smile became annoyed. “This is getting boring.” I watched in fear as an image of a titanic peak appeared behind him, condensing down around him. Then another, and another. I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to be able to see what he was doing, but my Eye of Revelation made it visible. Combined with the terrified shriek of my Danger Sense, I realized that I needed to MOVE. Now.
As the images of the mountains flashed faster, he raised his weapon and bellowed. “HUNDRED MOUNTAIN HAMMER!” And then brought it down like a headsman’s axe on the mountain top where we stood.
I was already off the ground, my waltz carrying me up an ascending staircase of Ripple Running platforms. I pushed the technique as hard as I could, trying to get high enough to avoid the impact that was definitely coming. I managed to get a few hundred feet up, and I let State of Grace take me as the hammer impacted the ground, and a cacophonous boom shook the whole mountain as the big man’s strike SPLIT the fucking mountain in HALF.
Or it seemed like that. In reality he’d just cracked off a big chunk that fell down the side, tearing a huge furrow down the slope as it slid towards the bottom. Still, it had been a building sized chunk of an E-rank mountain. I was suitably terrified.
Gwendolyn, however. was not. She appeared behind the swaying giant and drove a pair of green steel daggers into the base of his spine, near his kidneys. Albert roared and lashed out at her, but she dissolved and flashed out of reach. The giant of a man toppled forward, into the massive wake left by his boulder attack, and just slid down the furrow after it, sucked along in the stream of still collapsing dirt.
Looking at her handiwork, Gwendolyn grinned in satisfaction… until I triggered Double Trouble again and appeared right behind her, executing the still condensing Cosmic Collapse I’d been building up since this started.
I saw her body shift partially to air before it detonated, but it wasn’t fast enough, she screamed, blasted off the peak and hitting the ground in the same furrow she’d just pushed Albert into, her semi corporeal form swept into the dirt wake MUCH faster than his has been. Using Eye of Revelation, I checked for any stragglers, then, with a grin, strolled over to the chest.
The circular chunk of mountain under the chest was sticking out of the cliff formed by Alberts attack. I had to whistle at its effectiveness. It had been a technique, not a Skill, based on those images I’d seen. It made sense a peak E-ranker from an S-rank faction would have a path, even if it seemed to be an Illusionary one.
I inserted the keys, still wary of backstabs, but none came. I was pretty sure I’d seriously injured Gwendolyn, but she would be fine. It was tough to kill an E-ranker if you didn’t end them in one shot, and worst case I would offer to use Zagan to fix her up and collect a favor from her faction.
Finishing my insertion of the last key, I twisted it sharply, and the lid of the box sprung open. There was a massive shudder in the ground, and a booming voice echoed out over the mountain, calling the end of the games. I reached into the chest, lifting out a tiny, stuffed version of me in full costume, and rolled my eyes at the game masters as I put it away. I was sure Callie would love it.
Turning, I found a doorway hanging in the air next to me, and I shrugged, stepping through it and out of the arena. To my surprise, I came out into the box where my family waited, most likely interference on my grandfather’s part, and I was mobbed by excited shouts and congratulations.
I laughed and accepted the kudos, even Benny seemed thrilled for me, though he’d been a bit distant since my ultimatum.
“Well.” Said my mother with a brilliant smile. “That was exciting. You made quite an impression down there. I’d expect some serious gains in terms of stats over the next few months. Well done, Shane.”
My grandfather hooted with laughter. “I wish I could’ve seen the look on Iron Body’s face when his brat got shivved in the back. And that pompous twit Mariana from the convocation never shuts up about her grandaughter’s Wind Spirit Transformation. I’m glad none of ours were up there with you.”
My mother glared at him half-heartedly, but I saw a small smile on her lips. I just laughed hugging my fiancee as the others started babbling on about all the moves I’d used. I was exhausted, even after Callie took that first soul strain away. My head hurt, my body hurt, my Path hurt somehow. I’d pushed myself further in this fight than I ever had before. But still, looking down into the arena at the towering mountain we’d been placed on, I couldn’t be anything but proud. I’d stood with the most powerful E-rankers in some of the most elite factions in the universe. Slowly but surely, I was finding my way to the top.
Comments
JJB4345_80_815
Thank you for the chappy! I enjoyed Albert Brody and Gwendolyn! They weren't evil, but still very fun foils.
Matt w Lichens
Thanks for the chapter! Love to see Shane getting stronger.
