Chapter 289

Rathmines Great, Dublin, Ireland - 8:59 AM

Thanks to Winged Messenger, I had covered most of the distance to Jean Hawley before she managed to snap out of her shock at how I dealt with her attack. She was still far out of my awareness aura, but I could see her clearly. Perched on a house’s roof, the Spell Sniper mimed cocking a crossbow.

Ice trailed behind her fingers, creating a twisted, pointed spike. The stone projectile she had sent my way first would have been more powerful if it had struck me, but I had proven I could stop it. I wouldn’t be able to snatch this one out of the air and return it to her. I glanced upwards; my counterattack was still on the right course.

Jean took aim and fired. The icicle flew not towards me, but the pavement in front of me. It impacted hard, and ice spread in a wide area. The road was covered in a split second, and it continued outwards to overtake the cars, buildings, and the bridge ahead. Nothing seemed safe from the encroaching ice age.

A smirk appeared on the woman’s lips as she adjusted her black hair flippantly. Surely, I would be frozen in place if I so much as stepped on the battlefield control spell.

She couldn’t have known, so I wouldn’t blame her for it. I jumped and started flying right over the ice towards the Spell Sniper.

I felt some measure of satisfaction as the smug smile fell off of Jean’s face just as quickly as it came, and she did what I could consider her only real move: she turned around and fled. I flew higher to keep my eyes on her through the trees behind the house she had set up on. It wouldn’t do to let her escape and I knew she had an ability that would let her when unobserved.

The Spell Sniper was much slower than I was, however. She had the advantage in range for the most part—I mentally adjusted the angle of the stone spike she had sent towards me in order to keep it aloft—but I was confident in all other respects. The woman soon entered my awareness aura, and there was no chance for her then.

Moving into position behind the stone projectile, I Pushed it straight towards her, adjusting as necessary. The spike flew silently through the air, and I used Spin to give it a little more tearing power.

Despite the danger she found herself in, Jean’s aura was still rather calm despite being chased down. Her form flickered a few times as she tried to activate an ability, but I knew it wouldn’t work so long as I was observing her.

With a flick of her fingers, mist exploded around her in an attempt to cut off line of sight. Her form flickered again, but the skill didn’t work. Instead of despair, she felt frustration. Jean turned to look at me just in time to see the spike heading her way. In a moment of panic, she dove to the ground, lifting her hand behind her.

The pavement jerked upwards, tearing free with a loud crack. I attempted to Lift the projectile, but it was already moving too fast. It collided with the raised street, exploding into a fog of splinters. Dust and debris went everywhere, which would have further obscured my vision if I had relied on it. Even if I didn’t have the aura, Absolute Awareness would have let me see through it without issue.

<<<>>>

[[Passive]]

Absolute Awareness

Your vision is absolute.

Increase the distance at which you can make out fine details by a magnification of 10. You can see through darkness as if it were daylight, and can see through magical obscurement and weather effects. Items of interest have a high chance of releasing a glow that only you can see.

In addition, you can use your aura to see in a radius as far out as a foot per point of Wisdom. With this, you can see through walls, though some thick, rare, or magical materials may hinder your sight. Abilities, skills, spells, and passives that require line of sight will work through Absolute Awareness.

<<<>>>

As she stood up to start running again, I prepared myself. My shoulder collided with her back, causing her to grunt in pain as she was hit with enough force to slider her across the pavement with a small bounce. I flipped in the air before landing on the ground.

I stood there, hands on my hips, and looked at the woman who was slowly starting to get up. She wasn’t taking her eyes off of me for even a second. The hair she had so flippantly adjusted was covered in dust, and her camouflage combat robes were just as dirty. As I was inspecting her, she drew a wand from its sheath with practiced quickness and swiped it at me, leaving a trail of darkness in its path.

Five black stars formed in the afterimage before firing my way. At this distance, the Starstones would take too long to activate and move. Deciding to put on a show using my enhanced Dexterity, I flicked my wrist, activating In The Palm.

<<<>>>

[[Skill]]

In The Palm

Hide an item no longer than your forearm in its own extradimensional space with a twist of your wrist. Retrieve it with the same motion. This item is considered equipped while hidden in this space.

Current Item: Scalpel of Angelic Healing

<<<>>>

A small, unassuming scalpel appeared in my hand. Holy energy coursed through both it and me. Shackled as it was without a Demonic presence nearby, it was still an item purified and refined by Sara. I slashed at the black stars in an arc of my own. A slash of light erupted from the blade, cutting down three of the projectiles.

<<<>>>

[[Skill]]

Distant Slice

Attack with a slashing weapon when you activate this skill. A beam of light following the arc of your attack will be fired in a straight line for a distance up to a number of feet equal to half your Dexterity stat. If Distant Slice lands, deal damage as if you had hit them physically. You can use this skill once every minute, or once every five seconds if your hit points are full.

<<<>>>

The last two were problems, but ones I could handle. I took a step back and stabbed, breaking through the next one to come my way. Nothing happened to me, no explosions or anything, it simply disappeared the moment it was punctured. Pulling the scalpel into my inventory from one hand, it reappeared in the other at just the right moment to cut through the last black star. The magic dissipated before it could strike me.

“Who are you?” Jean asked curiously, her voice a light drawl.

“No one of consequence,” I answered, returning the scalpel to In The Palm.

“Ugh, you’re one of those,” she accused, rolling her eyes before pointing her wand in my direction again.

Not at me, according to my aura, but past me.

Jean disappeared a moment later only to reappear on a roof behind me. I started flying backwards before turning to face her as she ran off again. She jumped onto a trio of fields and waggled the wand behind her. Four red, glowing runes appeared underneath me on the ground, following my every step. I jumped into the air, but didn’t make it out unscathed.

Each of the runes erupted in a roaring geyser of flame twenty feet high. They were meant to trap me, keep me from moving freely, but I wasn’t cowed by some flames. Each one followed after me, catching me and the trees I passed through on fire since I couldn’t get enough height in time.

I patted out the flames on my pant leg as I continued flying. The geysers followed after me, leaving behind a path of destruction. The field caught on fire and began spreading, but no one was around for it to be a danger to. Not here, anyway.

Jean’s wand waved again as she looked at me from over her shoulder. The air in front of me glowed in my aura, though I couldn’t see anything with my normal sight. I threw my arms in front of my face before I hit it, protecting myself with Shield.

It seemed like I was flying through invisible razor blades. The sharp wind cut at my Shield as I plowed through, but the field was long. I dove, trying to take the path of least resistance. About halfway there, I had to turn off my defensive ability in order to keep it from going on cooldown. Razor sharp wind buffeted my arms, shoulders, and clothes, but they were pushed away from my face.

I made it through with a bit of damage, but not nearly as much as Jean would have hoped for. Some of the surety in her aura was disappearing, though that’s not why I chased her down like this. There was nothing stopping me from keeping her here, and I wasn’t in it just to terrorize the woman.

To her it probably seemed like I couldn’t catch up, but there was a very specific reason why I was allowing her to flee without so much as a Constructed dagger harrassing her. She jumped over the fence of the final field and through the trees, then started heading into Ranelagh, another suburb of Dublin.

Perhaps it would be more sporting with a warning as something grabbed my attention. Something fast.

“Stop heading north!” I yelled.

“No, you’re just going to attack me again!” Jean shouted back.

“Yeah, but the north will, too!”

Confusion bloomed in her aura, and she jumped onto a stone fence so she could get to the roof of one of the houses. Her plans were foiled as the building’s facade burst outwards in a shower of splinters, bricks, and glass. Jean attempted to jump, but she was caught by something inside the explosion and slammed into the ground.

Standing above her, hand still around her face, was a young man about the same age as Mercury though he was taller than the ninja by a good foot and a half. He was wearing a blue and black wrestling singlet along with ear guards and pads, showing off absurd muscles. He lifted Jean off of the ground, not straining even a little bit, and he grinned at me when I stopped nearby.

“Y’all dragged your fight into the wrong neighborhood!” Grant Dooley, the MVP of Tennessee announced with hostile glee. He was a Heavy Bruiser, a class that gave him a higher Strength and Constitution maximum and the size to go with it. “You sit tight right there while I deal with the lady. Won’t take too—”

A blast of acid erupted from the tip of Jean’s wand, splashing over the man. She had expected him to let go, but his hand clenched as the liquid boiled his skin, causing her to scream as well. The high Constitution afforded to him by his class gave him some manner of pain mitigation; he certainly felt it, given his reaction, but he wasn’t going to be cowed by this much.

Grant raised Jean further so they were at eye level, and she tried to stab his wrist with her wand. Black marks appeared where she hit him, but she couldn’t pierce his skin. The Heavy Bruiser knew better than to brush off the acid with his hand, and instead used the Spell Sniper to wipe it off of him. She started cursing at him for using her robe like a towel while she was still in it, and I sprung into motion to hopefully catch him while he was distracted.

Retrieving the Vague Stick from my inventory for the first time in a while, I changed its shape into that of a sword. Surging downwards at an angle, I hit the pavement on my Heelies and closed the distance quickly. My movement caught his attention, and he held Jean up in front of him.

<<<>>>

[[Item]]

Vague Stick

(Amorphous item; +5 Strength, +5 Dexterity)

<<<>>>

I twisted, skating to the side to avoid the woman. Grant’s size worked against him here as I jumped, planting my foot in his chest in a place where there was no more acid. There was more than enough room for me to squeeze between them, Vague Sword held high. I swung with two applications of Orbit to give me the best cutting power. There was still a lot of resistance, but nothing I needed to pull Asi for.

Grant stumbled backwards as Jean fell to the ground, landing next to the puddle of acid before stumbling backwards. The arm I had just cut off splashed some on her, and it sizzled. Blood dripped from the man’s new stump.

“You asshole!” the Heavy Bruiser yelled, leaning down and thrusting his hand into the ground.

A giant chunk of pavement was torn out of the ground without a struggle from the MVP, and he raised it so that he could swat me with it. I spun, lunging towards Jean since she was going to be caught in the act. I tackled her out of the way. Her Constitution wasn’t that high as a mage, and there was little resistance as I protected her. The pavement shattered against the ground, causing it to shake.

Jean blinked up at me over her before her eyes flicked to Grant. “Look out!” she warned before flicking her wand.

I threw myself to the side and rolled as a wave of water flew from the tip of the wooden stick. The Heavy Bruiser attempted to power through. He was used to having the Strength to do whatever he wanted, after all. More waves came, slowing him down as Jean flooded the street, but he was still advancing.

She looked at me. “Why are you just standing there!?” the Spell Sniper asked frantically. “Get him!”

“You forget that we’re not friends?” I asked, and the look of anger on her face was priceless. Grinning, I waggled my eyebrows at her. “Killing each other will have to come second, I suppose.”

“Hurry up!” she snapped.

I walked around the waves. Since Jean was occupied keeping the spell going, Grant kept his eyes on me the whole time. I raised the Vague Sword, readying an attack, when the water stopped.

The Heavy Bruiser turned on a dime, shooting like a rubber band as he came towards me. I constructed a Force Field to slow him down, and it shattered immediately on contact. His body slammed into mine, sending me flying backwards into a brick wall. It fell apart, putting me in someone’s yard on the other side.

I switched out the Vague Sword for the Staff of Raphael, and then I just laid there, listening to the yells of a very angry strongman and the spell slinging of someone who just couldn’t get enough personal space. Jean had to be getting pretty low on magic with all the casting she was doing. The wand would have helped reduce the cost, but she was throwing out pretty much everything she could.

Grant pushed through the razor wind, his skin becoming lacerated at several points. That had been bad when I went through it. I went through knowing I could heal anything that didn’t kill me, but he pushed through like it wasn’t anything. The kid was running on pure adrenaline at this point.

Most of a car was flipped over the wall, and I raised my hand. I caught it with Lift before it could land on me, and I sighed. I was glad I was powerful enough to raise a midsize sedan off the ground, but I didn’t have enough Willpower to Push it away. Standing up from my pile of debris, I walked out of the vehicle’s shadow and let it fall to the ground.

I brushed myself off, threw the staff back into my inventory, and Constructed a blade that looked just like the one I had borrowed from Coyote. Curved, serrated, and a little heavy.

An errant blast of fire from Jean had me ducking back into the wall, but the moment it stopped I rejoined the fight. Grant had his back turned to me, focused completely on the Spell Sniper. I could tell that he was starting to feel the pain of losing his arm. His movements were frantic as that kind of thing was hard to get over, but the shock and chemicals in his body kept him going.

I felt a little bad despite being the one to disarm him; Grant was just a kid and this was supposed to be a relatively safe event. Still, he knew what he was signing up for.

Ready to end this now that both targets had worn each other out, I flew over the ground so I couldn’t alert the Heavy Bruiser with my footsteps. He went still for a moment, and I saw his eyes scan something in front of him. Grant’s Patron was warning him.

His hand became a fist and he swung backwards, putting his whole body into it. I dodged to the side with practiced ease, twisting to do so, and sliced his side with the blade. The cut was shallow, but Construct dealt psychic damage equal to my Willpower with every attack. He might have been dealing with the regular pain well enough, but the mental stuff was something different.

Grant groaned in pain as his hand went to cover his cut. He stomped his feet, causing small earthquakes, but I wasn’t on the ground. Jean, however, had to crouch in order to keep herself from falling over. His eyes met mine, and I could see his fear clearly. He turned and started running back to where I knew his obelisk was.

The Heavy Bruiser ran straight into my Constructed razors, which embedded themselves deep in his chest due to his own momentum. He gasped in pain, and I put him out of his misery. My psychic sword made it an inch into the back of his neck before he disappeared completely, leaving a skill book behind. In the distance, a light appeared over the Tennessee obelisk.

I placed the book in my inventory and turned to Jean. Her eyes took me in, noting how I was no longer injured, and raised her hand. “I think we should go our own separate ways from here, stranger,” she said, and I knew she was out of magic. Or, close enough that she knew she couldn’t kill me.

“Sorry, lady, but you knew what you were signing up for when you sniped me,” I replied with a shrug, walking her way.

“Yeah, but I know better now. How was I supposed to know you were some immortal… thing?” Jean asked, looking me over. She tried to back up, but stumbled in one of the craters that Grant had made, falling down. “You’re not even injured after everything you just went through, for god’s sake! How's that even fair?”

“There is no such thing as fair anymore, just strength.” I offered her an apologetic smile. “No hard feelings, right?”

“Oh, there’s plenty of hard feelings, assho—”

The same as before, Jean disappeared as I stabbed her, leaving nothing behind but a book. Further away, another pillar of light appeared. I was going to ignore that one, though. It wasn’t close to my destination, which was far more important than actually winning the Star Spangled Shadow Invasion.

I closed the text boxes telling me that I received the Magic Rifle Turret and Crash-Proof Barricade upgrades and turned northward. “Anyone encroaching on our turf?” I asked the sky.

<<<>>>

[[Patron Message]]

No. You have smooth sailing all the way to Kentucky. They’re dealing with Ohio and Indiana right now, so you can probably expect someone to come visit by the time you make it there.

Congrats on the two victories, by the way. So far, the northeast from New York up has been a bit of a bloodbath, along with Delaware and New Jersey, but the majority seem to be content with fortifying their obelisks. I suspect they’ll start testing out other MVP’s turfs pretty soon.

<<<>>>

“Yeah, that sounds about right. Thanks, Sara,” I replied as I wheeled down the street. “Time to get myself another obelisk.”