Kyle felt the goblins in the rear concentrating mana as the front line moved to attack him, spears aiming for his vitals. He batted each attack out of the way as he advanced into their line, tendrils of Parasitic Resonance connecting to the Mage-types. He disrupted the flow of their mana, but was careful to do little else. Until he had a better grasp on exactly how the skill interacted with his Core of the Parasitic Devourer, he didn’t want to risk the core getting a taste for goblin.
One of the trolls snarled and attempted to grapple him, to which Kyle responded with a partially-charged strike with his forcehammer baton, the shockwave knocking the attacking troll and several others back even further. It also caused the spiderweb cracks on the floor beneath to spread.
“I had nothing to do with the explosion!” Kyle yelled, parrying another spear attack as he advanced several more steps. “There are still people trapped inside the tower, people who need your help! We need to evacuate, now!”
A nearby goblin shrieked, attempting to channel a bst of wind-affinity mana. “We caught you leaving the scene of the crime!”
For the first time, C.H.A.D.D. spoke up. [RECORDS OF ALL TRAVELS THROUGH ER’MITHREN CAN BE PROVIDED. DR. MAYHEW’S ARRIVAL WAS WELL-DOCUMENTED, AND HE PROCEEDED TO COME STRAIGHT HERE. THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO TIME TO PRODUCE AN ATTACK OF THIS MAGNITUDE.]
The drone’s words appeared to give Kyle’s pursuers pause, until a familiar voice came through a still-active communication crystal. “He clearly smuggled a bomb into the city! Likely hidden among documents and deliverables intended for the Council! Do not be fooled by his words, this man is dangerous! Reinforcements are on the way, hold him as long as you can!”
Pall’Eth’s voice was hasty, tinged with desperation, but his lies were enough to motivate the force in front of Kyle. They each carried a resolve he recognized, ready to y down their lives in defense of their home. To them, he was little more than a terrorist who attacked them in the seat of their power. In their shoes, Kyle probably would have felt the same.
Dammit, he thought. Kyle knew that they were just following orders, in the wrong pce at the wrong time. In any other circumstance, he would have simply run away, leaving them behind. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be an option. C.H.A.D.D. expanded its scans, and it looked as though over a hundred guards were heading his way. Worse, Auric Perception informed Kyle of a handful of auras far more powerful than those he was fighting now. D Grades, and likely the elites of Er’Mithren, were coming.
If it weren’t for the narrow stairwells and deadly elevation, Kyle still would have felt confident attempting an escape. Even if some of the elites could keep up, he’d be able to outpace the weaker guards, allowing him to put his full attention on the biggest threats. Instead, he was well and truly trapped. The only path of descent avaible to him was through a veritable army of goblinoid guards. If he didn’t find an alternative, his escape would be a bloody one.
Making a decision, Kyle activated Ignition, shoving past several of the goblins and trolls until he got to the next nding. More guards were pouring out of a door, a couple of lower-tier D Grades among them. He swung his forcehammer baton, this time at full force. The shockwaves created space, and he dashed through the opening and into the tower proper.
Kyle ran through a narrow, arched hallway, which opened up into Er’Mithren’s center. What he saw when he entered was utter chaos. The central portion of this tower reminded Kyle of a stadium; each level of the tower had its own offices, but there was a central hollow that looked all the way down to the bottom, where a rge sculpture stood, coming nearly halfway to the top floor. Huge crowds of unawakened were cramming into the stairwells as the tower continued to shake. Large chunks of white and gray stone littered the otherwise pristine floor below, and Kyle could see goblin and troll bodies pinned beneath. Cracks crossed the span of the ceiling. Kyle suspected that this floor would be exposed to the open air before long.
Below, he could hear the angry shouts of the guards above the din of panicked voices. They were trying to fight their way up toward him, through the crowds forcing their way down. Kyle still had pursuers chasing him down the hallway behind him, but he had a moment to breathe.
“C.H.A.D.D., any ideas?” Kyle asked.
[I THOUGHT THAT YOU HAD A PLAN, DR. MAYHEW.]
“My pn was to buy us time, I haven’t figured out much beyond that.”
[I CAN TELL. AS INTERESTING AS IT MIGHT BE TO BE BURIED UNDER TONS OF RUBBLE, I WOULD MUCH PREFER WE FIND AN ALTERNATIVE.]
Kyle was about to respond to the drone, when Auric Perception warned of a powerful gathering of mana. He swayed to the right, just as a bolt of crimson lightning smashed into the wall behind him. Across the open center, and 2 tiers down, Kyle saw a goblin looking up at him, electricity arcing across the length of a long wooden staff.
Another bolt flew toward him, and a falling block of stone prevented Kyle from dodging perfectly. The bolt seared his right shoulder, and to Kyle’s surprise, the lightning appeared to linger on his skin, continuing to both shock and burn at the same time.
“What is it with goblins and lightning-affinity?” Kyle grumbled, channeling a Healing Impetus alongside Adaptive Regeneration to counteract the damage.
[IT IS RATHER INTERESTING, NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT. YOU SHOULD CONSIDER CONDUCTING A STUDY.]
“Later, C.H.A.D.D.!” Kyle snapped, attention on the goblin below, who was channeling a different skill. This goblin was the most powerful of the capitol guards he’d seen so far, though he detected 4 other presences at a simir level making their way toward the center. Kyle’s hope was that the presence of the civilians would get them to calm down, but that hope was dwindling rapidly as the goblin’s attacks only hastened the tower’s destruction.
True battles between D Grades often took a toll on the surrounding environment, and with the damage the tower had already taken, it didn’t have much chance at surviving. Still, Kyle wasn’t out of options. Just as the guards behind him came through the tunnel, Kyle took in a deep breath, then jumped off the balcony into the open space between the floors.
He could hear a cry of arm from above him, and saw the goblin Mage realigning the trajectory of his staff. Too te, Kyle thought, a fierce grin on his face. As he fell to the same level as the goblin, he activated Repel, giving himself an explosion of forward momentum. The goblin’s eyes widened as Kyle crashed into him at breakneck speed.
He still had a lot to learn about making the ndings work, but with a goblin to help cushion his fall, Kyle was up and moving in a matter of moments. The same couldn’t be said for the mage, who had broken at least a few bones. And that was before Kyle nded a solid punch to its nose, for good measure. It wouldn’t keep the D Grade down for long, but it should buy him some time.
At least, he hoped it would. An ogre turned the corner, wearing 2 bded gauntlets. As soon as she saw Kyle, she started activating multiple boosting skills. Identify showed dramatic spikes in Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, and Perception, and he knew that trying to match the ogre in raw physical might would be a bad idea.
As she approached down the narrow hallway, she was met by a directed shot of Repel, then another, then a third. The hallways on this level were holding up much better than those on the higher floors, so he didn’t hold back. The narrow space helped Kyle to shape the bst, and by the third the ogre had been knocked clean off her feet and sent flying all the way to the end of the hallway, where she crashed into another D Grade goblin who was coming to assist.
[DR. MAYHEW, I MAY HAVE AN IDEA.]
“I’m all ears, C.H.A.D.D.!” Kyle shouted in reply. “Just tell me quickly!”
[YOU WILL NEED TO DESCEND 2 MORE LEVELS, AND THEN FOLLOW THE PATH I AM SETTING. SCANS INDICATE THE PRESENCE OF ANOTHER TELEPORTATION FORMATION, AND I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN ACTIVATE IT.]
Kyle activated Storm Shelter as a swarm of metal shards flew down the hallway, coupled with another bst of crimson lightning.
“Where does it lead?” Kyle asked.
[UNFORTUNATELY, I HAVE NO IDEA. HOWEVER, I FIND IT DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE THAT IT WOULD LEAD TO WORSE CIRCUMSTANCES THAN THOSE YOU ARE CURRENTLY FACING, DR. MAYHEW.]
Kyle dropped his skill the moment the attacks were done, narrowly avoiding the ogre who had returned to press the attack. Her punches sliced through the air as her boosting skills stayed active, leaning into the natural physical prowess her species shared. No other option.
With a surge of Willpower, Kyle disrupted her skills using Parasitic Resonance, again careful to avoid draining much of her mana. She looked visibly surprised as her movements slowed, just in time to be blown back by a direct hit to the chest from Kyle’s forcehammer baton. Taking advantage of the momentary opening, he closed on the recovering goblin mage, who still stood by the edge of this yer. He threw the dazed goblin toward the backup that was arriving, and then leapt off the balcony again.
Another use of Repel brought him crashing into the yer C.H.A.D.D. marked for him, though the nding hurt a lot more this time. He was burning through his mana quickly, even with the constant inflow from Ignition, something that he wasn’t used to. Part of it was his more moderated use of Parasitic Resonance, though the lion’s share of the difference came from Repel. The skill’s mana expenditure was high enough that Kyle was no longer guaranteed to outst his opponents, something that made him uncomfortable.
Not the time, Kyle. Move! He admonished himself as he took off down the hallway ahead, following C.H.A.D.D.’s map. An E Grade guard was stationed at the entrance to what looked like a records room, and Kyle burst past him without a second thought. The civilians had long abandoned their stations, with desks left cluttered, drinks spilling in some cases over piles of documents.
Kyle rounded a hallway and came to another door, which was locked. Kyle jiggled the handle furiously for a moment before taking a step back.
[LET ME TRY TO FIND ANOTHER ROUTE, JUST A MOMENT, DR. MAYHEW.]
Before the drone could continue, Kyle stepped forward, kicking the door dead center, and activating a bst of Repel from the bottom of his foot. The heavy wooden door splintered, shards of wood flying into the room beyond.
[NEVER MIND, THAT WORKS, TOO.]
The room beyond was abandoned. Judging by the amount of dust that had accumuted, it had been for a while. Documents and journals were strewn about, but Kyle’s eyes were drawn to the center of the room, where the teleportation formation was inscribed into the stone.
While he still had a lot to learn from Jarberry, he’d picked up enough to understand that this was fundamentally different than many of the various formations and arrays he’d previously studied. Rather than facilitating any type of 2-way transport, this one was designed to take a one-way trip.
Kyle paused at that, but the sound of screaming in the hallway behind him, and the feeling of powerful presences approaching snapped him back to the task at hand. He frantically looked over the runic formation, searching for the correct rune to infuse in order to activate the teleportation.
The guards were getting closer, and Kyle swore as he redoubled his search. Just as the head of the ogre crossed the threshold of the room, he found it. There! He pced his hand upon the rune, and began infusing energy. The formation greedily pped it up, but it needed more. The ogre dashed toward Kyle, and he mouthed a silent plea of forgiveness as tendrils of Parasitic Resonance reached out, draining her mana in a moment and pouring into the formation.
In doing so, he also tried to inflict some swelling around the spinal column to put her down quickly, but non-lethally. She fell, but he wasn’t sure if she’d be able to recover without medical attention. A D Grade troll and the E Grade guard from out front both came in next, but they were too te. The mana from the ogre, coupled with Kyle’s own, proved to be enough. He felt the world around him swirl and twist, and then there was silence.
