The Astral soul system

"So Celia?"

Theia asked.

Perhaps. Likely even. Not guaranteed though.

She probably isn’t the only one who isn’t supposed to be here.

This person didn’t seem surprised by his presence here. Like it was uncommon, but not a big deal, and that’s assuming they even knew what she what he was.

He let out a breath of air and put his hand on Iris’s shoulder, the shadow portal opening under them and swallowing them, leaving no trace that anyone was ever here.

******

Axe had already made it halfway to the location, moving as fast as he could with a busted leg.

He was already thinking of how he’d plead his case to the boss once he got there. Sure it would be hard, but he’d be forgiven eventually.

And that asshole that tortured him was nowhere in sight. He was home free.

Just as he was starting to feel a little happy, he suddenly felt his feet become a bit sluggish, like he was waddling through mud.

He suddenly felt a presence behind him and when he turned around to look,he saw the two of them standing behind him like they’d been there all along.

Iris suddenly crouched, throwing up all over the floor,a look of discomfort on her face

"There there" Theia comforted

It seemed shadow tracer required a strong stomach, considering she didn’t have this reaction to flying.

Zen suspected it was partially due to the total sensory deprivation in that place mixed with the sudden erratic movement.

Either way it didn’t matter, they were back.

"Can you hold on for a second? Let her get her bearings"

Theia asked, though it was obvious they really didn’t care for his permission.

Nodding with a forced smile, he stood still, about to break out crying again.

Iris quickly regained her bearings, getting up and wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

"I’m good"

That was good enough for Zen. Facing Axe, he nudged him forward, wordlessly commanding him to go.

"A-are you sure we shouldn’t wait a bit longer. Give her some more -"

Zen’s hand immediately started glowing with energy. He didn’t do anything else but the message was clear.

"Okay"

Axe said, complying

They kept walking for a few minutes, quickly reaching the location on the watch.

Looking at the inconspicuous building that looked just as dilapidated as the rest, but Zen could sense something inside this one.

Wordlessly, Zen pushed Axe forward, the intention clear

Get going .

Shaking like a leaf,Axe slowly started heading for the building, looking around cautiously. He only made it halfway through before turning around.

"Why do I have to do this? I already brought you here"

"Uh,in case it’s a trap. Duh"

Theia said like it was obvious.

"Now hurry "

She said,shooing him.

Groaning, he walked to the building. He knocked on the door and it opened, someone who looked like a bouncer on the other side.

They talked for a few seconds before Axe was let inside, the door slamming behind them.

Things were silent for a bit as Zen, Theia and Iris waited for something.

"Do you think he ran?"

"..."

"What are we waiting for?"

"..."

Before either of them could ask another question,a loud boom suddenly came from inside the building.

"Go time"

Theia said excitedly as a shadow portal appeared beneath them again.

"Wait for me!"

Iris quickly took his hand, falling into the shadow with him.

The shadow on the ground quickly closed in on itself, disappearing, meanwhile inside the building one opened up right beneath Axe as he was about to be crushed.

"Boss! Boss please I didn’t have a choice!"

He exclaimed, bleeding even more profusely now on the ground with a broken arm.

"You fucking rat! You should have just died"

A towering figure yelled, getting closer as Axe crawled away.

Right at that moment, Zen stepped out of the shadow portal with Iris behind him. Luckily she was holding her lunch better currently.

"You’re the punk he talked about!"

Zen raised a brow, though it wasn’t like they could see his face behind the mask.

He ignored the boss entirely, looking to the side to see someone sitting down, looking at this whole show like it was amusing.

Kane.

He looked just as shifty as he remembered him to be. He was dressed expensively, with an insufferable cocky air around him to match.

Standard dark hair with brown eyes,he didn’t look too eye-catching until you noticed the scar across his face right under his eye.

"Well who might you be?"

"Your boss"

Theia’s voice came from behind the mask in a mocking tone.

"I don’t give a shit who you are. You’re going to die"

The boss said, throwing a punch at him.

Zen’s eyes narrowed on his fists, specifically on the brass knuckles covering them and time seemed to slow in his eyes

[Rank 3 intermediate gold knuckles]

[Str+ 10]

[AGI+15]

Active skills

[Create blades of light on the user’s fist using their aether pool that do compounded internal and psychic damage. When active:+5str ,+10 end.]

He moved his head, quickly avoiding that hit, his eyes locked on that fist behind the mask.

Not bad. If used properly, actually pretty dangerous.

He cocked back his hand, throwing a full power punch right at his chest and sending him flying.

That was odd, Zen felt something beneath his fist that didn’t resemble flesh or bone.

Grunting, the boss got up,a hole in his shirt showing something metal underneath.

Gear? Or an ability?

Either way it didn’t matter.

He took a breif look around. For some reason Kane was still sitting there, watching everything with that smug grin.

He dashed forward, using charge to double his stats before throwing another punch to clash with the boss but halfway through he pulled back, revealing it was a feint and went low before striking inside the boss’s elbow, knocking his arm off.

Gritting his teeth the boss shook it off, squeezing his fists as three pairs of glowing spikes appeared over the knuckles.

"Kinda small don’t you think? I thought it’d be bigger"

Theia said from behind his mask.

Yelling, he swung right at him again, this time Zen took it head on, forming a soul blade over his right arm and letting the attack hit.

The resulting clash causes his blade to dissipate, shattered by the spikes.

Pulling back, he formed a shard of energy, throwing it at his leg and cutting right through his defenses and leaving a deep cut.

He’s not armored everywhere. Good.

Zen stepped forward again, dodging a straight punch before getting in close and throwing one of his own right into his shoulder followed by a kick to the knees.

"You bitch!"

He growled, finally landing a punch that informed Zen of just what this skill could do.

He instantly felt like he’d been hit with a flashbang, his ears ringing,eyes looking focus, and on top of that he felt the energy travel into his body, wreaking havoc on his body and soul.

Grunting, the boss wrapped his arms around Zen, running straight into the wall and slamming him into it.

His eyes gained focus barely a second later as he snapped out of it.

Two shards appeared in his hands as he drove them down into the bosses back before slamming his elbows down into his shoulders and neck.

Feeling his grip slip, Zen grabbed onto the wall, kicking him back with both feet and escaping his grip.

Before the boss could recover from the hits he’d just taken, Zen was in front of him again, throwing a full powered punch into his face and sending him flying into the table at the center of the room.

Groaning, he got up from the pile of wood,murder on his face as he breathed heavily, bleeding from his mouth,leg and back.

"You’re fucking dead,you hear me, bitch!"

"..."

"Kane! Kane help me. Let’s get rid of this-"

The boss suddenly gasped, looking at his side and seeing a syringe stuck into him,the contents already in his body.

"You really are pathetic. Maybe this way you’ll stand a chance of winning. The deal is off, you’re of no use to me anymore. Consider this a parting gift"

Kane said, walking away.

"Hold up. You’re not going anywhere"

Theia said as Zen’s voice.

"Oh, I am. Good luck, you’re going to need it"

Kane replied before disappearing in a flash of light.

"I really don’t like that guy"

Their said as she saw him leave.

They both turned back to the boss who was currently beginning to change, his body bulking up and writhing grotesquely.

Zen didn’t really feel like fighting the boss as a Plagueridden,so instead of waiting for the transformation to finish he created a shard, throwing it at him and watching as it struck its neck before being pulled into the body like it was getting absorbed

"Of course it couldn’t be that easy"

"..."