93. Dungeon Dojo (II)

Zane was feeling quite pleased with this strategy.

Then the first Eaglet hit him like a speeding truck. CLANG-THUMP! And he went flying.

It blasted the wind out of him. It felt like it blasted everything out of him. He crumpled in, hacking and coughing. His whole front side stung head-to-toe.

Then his Chains caught him, yanked him back down. And the real beating began.

An Eaglet struck him from behind. He went flying—right into another wrecking-ball bird. They started playing pinball with his body, whomping him all over the place.

"Hang in there!" cried Evan.

They tossed him like a rag doll, blasting him every which way—CLANG-THUMP! CLANG-THUMP! He had to focus. He had to find his peace. He closed his eyes even as he felt his body twisting, crumpling oddly. He tried to let all that stinging pain go—just feelings, rising and falling…

It was pretty darn hard, even for him. They kept snapping his head back and forth, breaking up his thoughts. It was a little nauseating flipping all over the place. And the sounds—the CLANG-CLANG-CLANGING, the furious screeching, the steel-on-steel raking of those massive talons as they skidded around, the gale winds howling in the background—it was a lot.

You had to have a certain mix of innate calmness, comprehension, and sheer stupidity to try a Law trance while getting the shit beaten out of you. But he knew he had all three of those things. He just had to put them together….

He was getting there. Yes. His body might be flailing all over the place, but his mind was slowly growing still. He could feel himself floating away little by little….

The pain and the sounds were soon like colors in his field of view. Just feelings drifting in the void. And he saw what lay beneath—the Laws weaving it all together.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟝%

It hurt a little more every time the Eaglets hit him. He was bruising pretty badly. The blunt force was seeping through. Echoing Clangor could only do so much.

But he looked past all that. He felt the way Steely Density wove through those feathery forms. He felt it especially sharply as they rammed him. The Law changed the structure of their bodies at the tiniest of levels. It was so clear to him now… the patterns of the steel, the way it all held together, drawn taught with essence…

They struck him over. And over. And over. Until—

𝕃𝕒𝕨 ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕!

𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕌𝕟𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝔹𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕤 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝)

He grinned. Something blasted him in the face and he lost a front tooth. He kept grinning. One down.

His thinking shifted. He focused now on the sheer weight of it—

He had to take a moment to choke out a few mouthfuls of blood.

They were really hitting him hard, weren't they? He seemed to be breaking up a little. Even with all his dampening, he felt the trauma deep inside—jolts of sharp pain lighting up his chest, his belly, every time they hit him.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟝𝟘%

𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝔹𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕!

𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

𝕍𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

Just one more! The notification gave him a jolt of fresh energy. He was getting more excited, getting into it.

Then a bowling ball of a bird struck Zane head-on. It felt like being struck by lightning. They were so close—and he was so high on his feelings, on Law Fruit—in that violent split-second their minds were one. He could feel all its monstrous fury. He could feel its Skill, its Law. He felt the way denseness gave way to mass—the way the Universe gave heaviness to Steel…they pulled apart but the impression shone clear in his mind.

𝕃𝕒𝕨 ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕!

𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕤 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝)

He had all he needed.

It felt like waking from a deep sleep. Usually you'd feel refreshed from that kind of thing. But as he came back all his sensations started feeling real again, close again. Everything hurt.

Burning spheres of pain up his belly, his chest, down his spine, flaring up his face… He seemed to be cartwheeling midair. Then a huge force blasted him up the side, sent him bouncing down the bough like a pebble on the surface of a lake. Straight into another brutal roll.

He spat out another mouthful of blood. He frowned at his arm. It was broken in at least two places. And he wasn't a doctor, but he'd ruptured organs enough times he could tell when he had a few sloshing around in there. There were some telltale signs—when he tried twisting his torso, it felt like hot pokers were stabbing his insides.

Plus Evan was standing on the sidelines over there, hopping foot to foot, and Zane could feel how stressed out the boy was… he felt kind of bad about it. Time to end things.

Zane yanked his Axes out. And sent them spinning all around him, carving into those spinning balls of steel and flesh.

Rising Storm Slash!

It was like slicing a fruit in half. The blade went straight through the nearest ball—tore past the feathers like they weren't there, ripped through the middle, came out the other side stained red tip-to-hilt.

And with a shocked squawk, the fat bird exploded.

Zane grinned as his other axe popped a bird on the other side. They were shaped like balloons and they popped like balloons—popped to big flaming sizzling fireballs. His Axes lurched around in a wild loop. The Monsters were silly enough to bowl at him full speed. He shredded them one by one. POP-POP-POP!

Then something hit him from behind so hard he face-planted into the bough. An angry bird face loomed over him, blotting out the sun. Its beak was like one of those plague doctors' masks. It started stabbing pecks at him. It opened a deep gash down his belly.

His falling Axe caved its head in. The blast of Stormfire was so intense he couldn't even see the rest of its face anymore—just the beak. Whatever held it up must've melted. The thing came sloshing off, clattered to a stop on the bright steel leaves.

He felt another soul coming to get a piece of him and lurched out of the way. He slashed as he did. A bird popped not two feet from him. The heat of the blast had his hair streaming; he felt wisps of Stormfire tingling on his skin. This time he shielded his face so only his arm got bloody. He spat out a clump of hard feathers.

Then he looked around, panting, surveying all the little fires burning around him, burning out. That... seemed to be the last of them? And a good thing too. He was getting pretty low on Health, and had just one arm and leg left to work with.

He was pretty happy about how things ended up. He'd pulled through and gotten exactly what he wanted. Now to condense Steely Density and add it to his body. He felt eager just thinking about it.

A shadow loomed over him. Not just him. It blocked out a full third of the bough. He looked up.

That thing kind of looked like one of those giant stealth bomber jets. With feathers like giant knives, long as his body, glinting cruelly in the bright sun. Its eyes were stark yellow with pitch-black pupils. Its beak was one great sleek hook, ending at a glimmering point. Its legs were coated in burnished iron scales, ending at claws big enough to crush small vehicles.

It blotted out the sun, but it felt to Zane like a second sun—a sun of pure feeling. It gave off rage like the sun gave off light.

Huh.

𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔼𝕒𝕘𝕝𝕖 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟡𝟟

𝕃𝕒𝕨𝕤:

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝔻𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕪 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝)

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕄𝕒𝕘𝕟𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕔 ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕕 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝)

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝔽𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕕)

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕋𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕤𝕥'𝕤 𝔽𝕦𝕣𝕪 (𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕕)

𝕄𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕠𝕗 𝔸𝕓𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕖 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕡𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤

𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤:

(!) 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕄𝕒𝕖𝕝𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕞 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]: 𝕌𝕟𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕤 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕞 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 𝕎𝕖𝕒𝕡𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕟 𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔 ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔼𝕒𝕘𝕝𝕖.

𝕋𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔾𝕦𝕤𝕥 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝕌𝕟𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕤 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕠𝕥𝕙 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕔𝕜 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕪.

ℝ𝕦𝕝𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕤 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝔼𝕡𝕚𝕔]

𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕕𝕖𝕩𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕪, 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕝𝕖𝕩𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕖.

It screeched and Zane's ears blew out. For a second all he heard was a high-pitched whine.

Level 97.

That… looked like it could be a serious problem. Not just its Level. That was a lot of Laws…

Why was there an exclamation point on 'Blade Wing Maelstrom'? Something popped up.

𝔸 𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕝𝕖 ! 𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕤 ℍ𝕚𝕘𝕙-𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝. ℍ𝕚𝕘𝕙-𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕍 𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕧𝕖.

Uh. Inferno Cyclone had been a Level V Epic skill. If this was anything like that…

And with how his Health was right now…

Oh boy.

Then the Eagle's wings flared wide, and it unleashed hell on him.

He tried to get out of the way, but his leg—his whole body really—was far too broken. He couldn't move fast enough. He could only watch as sleek lines of shining steel rained down on him.

The sound they made was so subtle—just a sh-sh-sh. Probably because they cut so clean. He didn't realize he'd been cut until he was staring at a footlong wound so deep he could see bone. Then another hit him, and another—he tried throwing up his Chains, tried blocking them out, but it was like there was more steel than air.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘!

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟝%

It pissed him off, honestly. What a bird thing to do. Wait until he was all worn out, then hit him with its strongest shot—while it was still fresh too.

He kept wrapping himself, kept trying to block, but his ribs were getting sliced open, his thighs, his arms, just everywhere; he was being dissected feather by feather. His head felt woozy. This was bad. It really wanted to kill him. It was giving him everything—huge streams of essence were pouring out of it, slicing into him…

He was dropping dangerously close to Critical.

New plan. Time to bail.

He had to get the hell out but that hail of feathers kept pinning him down. He readied a Volt Step—

Then all the pain was gone. In its place he felt a soft gold light. His body surged with new energy—not his own. He felt warm all over. For a second he thought he'd gone to heaven or something—then he saw it was just Fiery Renewal, burning brighter than it ever had. Burning up new flesh, patching up his wounds… what?

Something was helping. Some kind of… soul connection? He looked up.

The steel rain was still falling.

But Evan was there too, standing over him, sword flashing at a blinding pace. And he struck every feather out of the sky. He was blazing with essence and determination and anger. Zane didn't even know he could get angry. His body was literally shining, spilling gold rays everywhere.

"I won't let you hurt my friend!" he cried.

The gold flared brilliantly—and it started shoving back the hail of silver.

Zane felt the Eagle's disbelief. It poured on even more. But Evan kept slashing faster, slashing harder—the Eagle let out a silver tornado, but somehow Evan kept digging deeper.

The Eagle wasn't letting up—by now the air was a silver wall. It was willing to go down to its last drop of essence. Its powers reached a fever pitch… and so did Evan's.

It was almost like it didn't matter what the Eagle threw. Somehow, impossibly, Evan would find a way to match it. And then some.