Aetherios System: Whirlwind

Chapter 47: Offloading

He prepared to counter my wyvernblood in only a day?

Alex was once again in a pickle. He hadn’t anticipated a fighter having such a counter to his constitution in such a short time. Cards were being shown at an accelerated rate, and he didn’t have much left to play.

“You are a basic brute fighter, worldstrider,” Ulanni finally spoke. Their voice came out strangely clipped, as if they were having trouble speaking the language, which shouldn’t be possible given Alex’s translation ring. “We have prepared for everything you have showed us. But we are not stupid enough to think you don’t have additional secrets.”

Alex’s face curled into a sneer.

Seeing the green aura around his opponent’s body fight back against his blood with such ease was unsettling. The damn voice just made it extra creepy.

“To avoid further upsets, we can just get this fight over with now,” Ulanni said.

A moment after this proclamation, new flashes of light appeared under their clothes. One at each ankle, one on each hand, and one that looked to be a circlet hidden under their hood. The five items created some sort of cycle of connected aether in Ulanni’s body and the green aura around them condensed down against their clothing even as its power jumped by a huge amount.

“Augmentor effect, he’s boosting himself by a crazy amount,” Obby said in his mind while generating a overlay in Alex’s vision to show Ulanni’s estimated stats.

[Strength: 27 → 31

Agility 28 → 32

Vitality 28 → 32]

It was an immense boost, pushing Ulanni into the same stat range as Alex. Even with his [Vita-Surge Cloak], Alex didn’t think he could boost his physical attributes four whole points. It was something he’d never seen before.

“It’s an array spell. Something that would normally take multiple mages to cast together, but he’s using his items to supplement it by himself.” Once again, Obby had the answer before he even asked the question.

What can I do to—

Ulanni blurred forward.

Alex found the large curved blade screaming toward his face, forcing him to abandon strategy and slip back into instinct. He dodged away while blocking with his sword, but Ulanni followed his steps and kept up the offense.

Unlike in the fight against the Aerelith Prince, Alex could feel the massive strength and speed of Ulanni as they fought. Even while in path six of [Demon Asura], his own inflated attributes and his [Vita-Surge Cloak], he didn’t at all feel superior. Ulanni was indeed on a whole other level.

Not unexpected from a prodigy that had been ranked number 2 on the merit boards before the tournament even began.

The problem was, without his stat advantage, Alex’s inexperience with sword combat began to show itself.

Ulanni landed a cut on Alex’s left arm, then a gash on his left calf. Left shoulder, left thigh, upper right torso, lower back; more and more wounds started to pile on as Alex failed to handle Ulanni’s expert swordplay.

Obby tried showing the trajectories, the movement path and blocks. But he was either too slow, or just in a bad position to properly respond. Ulanni was making mincemeat of him.

Death by a thousand cuts.

After only thirty seconds, Alex had a dozen wounds, all bleeding out onto the metal floor. Ulanni still had their aura up, so his blood could do nothing to help. That protective aether even seemed to stop his [Burning Strike] and [Wrathsiphon] martial skills.

Alex had nothing.

His opponent’s blade came in again, and Alex tried to parry, his arms burning, his angle nearly perfect.

Ulanni just barely twisted his blade, the edge catching against the flat of Alex’s weapon and forcing the power out of his attempt. His opponent’s sword slipped passed his guard, and directly into his chest, piercing his sternum.

The blade withdrew just as quickly as it had come and Alex released an [Aether Burst] from in front of him, pushing Ulanni away and himself backward, leaving a trail of blood in the process.

“He missed your heart, just barely. And he didn’t go deep enough to hit your spine. But your bleeding too much Alex, you don’t have time for anything else.”

Alex clutched at his chest, gasping for air through the pain he felt.

I have to try something, anything.

“Dragon-fire?”

The thought had crossed his mind, but Alex knew that was impossible for him. Amnios still slumbered, he hadn’t had any guidance on creating dragon-fire, let alone using it to attack.

I can’t. He admitted.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Ulanni advanced again, moving just as quickly as before, showing no signs of tiring. His sword came at Alex’s neck this time.

He managed to actually block the weapon strike. Only to catch a kick to his chest instead, knocking him off his feet and rolling over the ground multiple times to stop just in front of the platform’s bubble-wall.

Alex sucked in a shaking breath. His, eyes were filled with stars and he couldn’t think at all.

Movement appeared in front of him as he stumbled to his feet. A blow hit his left side, once more sending him across the floor toward the other side of the platform.

Fuck!

He was being brutalized, toyed with. Ulanni had him and there was nothing he could do.

Alex managed to get back to his knees, but that was all.

“Flesh-sack, come on. Come on. Get up.”

He tried, he really did. But he just couldn’t.

“Forfeit. This will be your one chance,” Ulanni said from a few paces away in his stilted tone.

“I—“

A Dragon, does not kneel…

He heard the same voice again. The same phrase. He knew what was speaking, and the confirmation came an instant later as purple draconic energy flooded through his soulgate without his prompting.

His Wyrm-heart had fully awoken once again.

Alex’s vision cleared as his eyes gained their slit-pupil shape. His body felt lighter as the energy filled his tissues and tiny scales began to form over his limbs, shoulders and neck.

He stood.

“Not Wyvern then?” Ulanni sounded far more curious than nervous at his sudden reveal. “Dragon. A true dragon constitution? Oh, how delicious that must feel.”

“Alex, you know how this works already. Your body can move, but its still broken. Get to fighting before this Dragon goes back to sleep.”

Alex nodded and looked at his now scaled hands, his nails now twice their normal length. He had only a minute or so, but that should be enough.

I can maybe try…

He coaxed the dragon essence in his body to action, trying to pull it towards his lungs and into a pattern like that of [Aether Burst]. As soon as he started he lost control, the essence unraveled itself and moved back through his body instead.

Okay, still no Dragon-fire. That’s fine.

His gaze returned to Ulanni.

“No forfeit,” he said. “Not for me.”

Ulanni’s dark eyes seemed to shine in response, as if he was happy to hear Alex say those words.

“Very well. Then we both go all out to the end.”

Before Alex could stop them, a new set of items began to glow under their clothes. A large runic wheel took shape behind Ulanni’s back, like a magic glyph structure in the air. It spun one full rotation, then released a pulse into their body.

Instantly, Ulanni’s aura changed once again. The green energy left their clothing and sank into their body where it began to almost vibrate and undulate under their skin. Like Alex’s eyes, Ulanni’s changed, turned from dark black to a shimmering green.

The aether that Alex saw moved as if it were free ambient energy, Ulanni’s body showing absolutely no resistance to its passage. It was as though their body was the naturally designed container for the perfectly matched aether.

“Alex…” Obby didn’t finish talking, and showed him a pop-up instead.

[Strength: 27 → 35

Agility 28 → 36

Vitality 28 → 36]

That’s, insane. That’s impossible.

A boost like that, something pushing a body that far, it should have just killed them outright. Splattered their insides, destroyed their bones. But, somehow, Ulanni looked perfectly fine, more than fine, really.

“Are you ready?” Ulanni asked, raising their sword.

Alex felt himself begin to hyperventilate as he looked at his opponent now. Even with the draconic essence coursing through them and his [Vita-Surge Cloak] still active, his hands shook against his will. He was feeling… fear? He must have been. It was something that seemed so alien now, having not felt it in so long. At least not like this.

He was afraid.

How his opponent had managed something like that, he couldn’t wrap his brain around it.

His [Aether Sight] showed him what was happening. The aether flow, the cycle pattern of movement hidden beneath what first appeared to be free chaos contained inside flesh. A synergy of physical and magical that Alex had only ever seen a few times.

Master Sionna had showed him something like that. Her’s had been far, far more refined, but it was similar.

Then there was himself, with his [Descending Demon Fist], a martial skill so close to a technique that it was tantalizing.

He had tried many times to do something so similar, and he had failed. But Ulanni, with their array and their items, had managed it. By offloading some of the process, they had created their own [Technique] while still in Adept Tier.

A sign of an absolute prodigy of their generation.

Offload… to an item…

Alex’s mind looked inward, to his memories of all his failed attempts before this, and where he went wrong. He remembered how difficult it was to mange handling so many detailed uses of his aether and keeping control of his body perfect at the same time. But was there a way for him to not have to do it all himself?

Could he entrust that to someone else? Someone that has already proved wildly capable of manipulating aether. Someone who may, or may not, have been created by the greatest mage, the God of Magic, himself?

Obby? If I give you control, can you do it?

“Yes, if you trust me.” Obby said.

Then let’s do it. Alex entered the final path of the [Demon Asura Style], raising his arms as the dark aura began to collect at his back. I’m going to trust you. Evil little river rock or no. Don’t let me down.

“Never, flesh-sack. I’m with you until the very end.”

Alex mentally connected to the bond in soulspace, the one connecting to Obby, then connected to his soulgate. Like a mental handshake, he passed off his aether control to the sentient rock, letting him focus entirely on his body.

Two large demonic arms formed behind his shoulders as he conjured up his [Dual Descending Demon Fist]. In the same instant, he felt his aether rush through him as if of its own accord. [Vita-Surge Cloak] undulated, changing and warping inside his body. The aether pattern, which was tied to his aether channels, wasn’t perfect, and he knew that, but Obby began moving it in complex ways that Alex had only theorized about.

Within moments, Alex felt the change. His martial skill and his augmentor spell merged through his body, and connected to his aether channels, into his soulgate. The Wyrm-heart responded to this, changing the draconic essence within his body as well.

When it was all complete, he was practically a new person.

Foot long horns grew from his brow. His slit-pupil eyes burned a reddish-purple. The scales on his skin darkened to a near black. But most important of all, the arms of his martial skill and the aura of his [Vita-Surge Cloak] mixed. The giant demonic arms condensed and further overlapped his own, and the dark aura of his martial style became streaked with the azure blue of his spell, covering his entire form like a second skin. Behind him, a long spiked tail formed, and he felt he could control it at a whim.

The outer appearance wasn’t the only thing that changed. Inside, he felt a tsunami wave of power fill every bit of his body. It was nearly intoxicating. Beyond just his spell, his constitution, his martial style, beyond any boost he’d received from Peter’s light spells.

He was… unstoppable. Unbreakable. Inevitable.

Alex’s eyes fell on Ulanni, and he smiled.

“I’m ready,” he said.

Alex stepped forward, and the world blurred. His fist shot forward, the air bursting into heat from the speed of it.

Ulanni moved to block Alex’s blow, trying to catch his punch on the flat of their blade. The two fo them connected—

—and Ulanni was gone.