29: Dead Men Should Be Buried

Galen began to yell as he swung his sword about, combatting invisible opposition.

'What's wrong with him?'

Pluto stood confused seeing Galen acting in such an unbelievable manner, but before he knew it Lily and Larry followed suit and started fighting the air.

'Have they gone mad?'

Pluto couldn't fathom what was transpiring before his eyes and completely forgot about the presence of the caster himself.

"How it's been years since someone was able to resist deadman circus, the District Champ Office recruited a good one hahaha."

Pluto turned around with a jump, Loki had casually approached him from behind without being noticed.

"Gravitas Gefa!"

Swinging his palm in Loki's direction a massive invisible force swatted Loki and sent him flying back down the path and crashing into a tree.

"I let my guard down, had he chose to I would have been dead."

Pluto rebuked himself for being so careless and letting an enemy sneak up on him.

Looking at his squad members and colleague Galen, he tried to figure out how to stop this technique.

'If my attack had killed him the technique would have dispelled, looks like I didn't use enough force.'

Pluto was an Elementalist with a rare attribute, gravity! He was able to manipulate gravity for both offense and defense, and the technique he had just used on Loki used a gravitation push to swat him away.

He debated whether or not to pursue the strange man and finish him off, or take the hallucinating trainees to a safe location.

Before he was able to come to a decision, the decision was made for him.

Walking down the path unscathed was Loki, his hands were in his robe pockets and he was whistling merrily.

"Hey, that was pretty rude, if I wanted to kill you would have been dead."

"Sorry, not a big fan of surprises."

"Hahaha, I like you, for a DC trainee you're not bad."

Pluto regarded the green-haired man carefully, his attire made it obvious he was part of a religious group and it seemed his Nova affected the mind somehow.

'He's definitely a caster, but to be able to withstand Gravitas with little to no damage he has to have at least some augmenting skills.'

Novites possess unique abilities that fall into three categories: augmenting, casting, and hybrid. 

Among the three paths available, hybrids were the most frequented one. These individuals possessed the advantage of being able to achieve a respectable level without having to invest significantly in either casting or augmenting. Nonetheless, reaching grade 3 remained a challenge for them, as their progression was often hindered by a lack of depth.

Castors were one of the two most common types of novites, with most grade 3 novites belonging to this category. Becoming a grade 3 castor required having a large enough pool of nova, along with a compatible technique and training method for their nova. This made it almost guaranteed for skilled novites to rise to the top of their caste. 

Castors were unique in that they relied solely on casting techniques, making their offensive output unparalleled. They could cast powerful spells that could take down even the strongest opponents in a single blow. However, the downside of this specialization was that all their training went into enlarging their nova center, resulting in physical consequences such as weak bodies. Castors were often considered glass cannons, meaning they had high offensive capabilities but were fragile and could be easily defeated if not protected. 

Because of their fragile nature, castors were usually accompanied by augmenters who could provide them with the protection they needed to use their spells to their fullest potential. Overall, castors were an essential part of the novite society, and their unique abilities made them a force to be reckoned with.

Among them, Augmenters stands out as the most fearsome combatants. They have the power to channel their Nova energy to enhance their bodily functions beyond normal novite capabilities. This allows them to deliver swift and powerful strikes, move with incredible speed and agility, and withstand even the harshest of environments. With their unparalleled physical prowess, Augmenters are a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

"Are you a hybrid?"

"Hahaha, attack first and ask questions later, I'm pretty sure it's the other way around kid."

There wasn't a trace of fear or nervousness in Loki's green eyes, and it was clear to Pluto that the man thought he could finish him off and leave whenever he pleased.

'He's dragging this along because he finds it amusing, I am nothing more than a plaything in this man's eyes!'

Anyone else would have been infuriated by this, but not Pluto. He understood that only the powerful could act in such a manner and if he tried to deal with this man with rage clouded judgment he would die.

"Spare my colleagues' life and let's both go our separate ways."

Coming to the conclusion he was in an unfavourable position he decided that retreat was the best option available.

All he had to do was convince Loki.

"Hahaha, first you strike me, then question me, and now you give me orders! The youth these days really are misguided. First off, I don't intend to kill your colleagues, but I am going to take them with me. Secondly, I am taking you as well."

Loki dashed forward and engaged Pluto in hand-to-hand combat. He threw a flurry of punches that Pluto was able to block, but as soon as his attention had gone to blocking punches Loki dropped down and swept Pluto's legs out from under him.

Falling onto his back, he braced as Loki began slamming his fists into him from a mounted position.

'Though he has skill in hand-to-hand combat he is not at the level of an augmenter, that's a relief. I need to make space to use Gravitas somehow.'

Pluto blocked and swayed on the ground, defending himself from Loki's downpour of punches. Timing his next punch, Pluto caught Loki's arm and threw him off.

Quickly creating space Pluto raised his hands and prepared his technique.

Loki regained his footing and prepared to close in again when he felt the same invisible force from earlier press down on him from above.

"Gravitas Gefa Dulo!"

Clasping his right wrist with his left hand, he brought both arms downwards. This caused the energy above Loki to press him down into the dirt and a large palm print could be seen on the ground.

"Deadmen should be buried."

Having squashed the green-haired man into a pulp and flattened him in the dirt Pluto believed he had vanquished Loki.

Turning to head back to his downed colleagues, Pluto wholly expected them to be back to normal, but what awaited him was something else entirely.

Loki had piled up the bodies of Galen, Larry, and Lily and was comfortably seated upon them.

"Hey, buddy! What took you so long!"

Pluto was dumbfounded, he had defeated this man, and he was sure of it.

"I know, I know, you are confused. Look let my friend explain everything to you."

Loki pointed to his right and Pluto followed his finger.

Turning his face to the left he was greeted with another Loki!

"Huh?"

The second Loki cocked his fist back and nova began to gather around it.

"I believe you called this 'Gravitas Gefa'?" The first Loki called out from his perch of bodies.

Before Pluto could react he was struck in the head by a devasting blow that sent him flying into the nearby tree.

He hit the tree head-first and slammed onto the ground, as his consciousness began to fade the last thing he saw was a boy with snow-white hair come out from the forest on the side of the path grab his leg, and drag him off.

The boy dragged him to where Loki was seated and tossed the limp body to Loki's feet.

"Been awhile since I've seen you use house of mirrors, Chief."

"Didn't have a choice, deadman circus didn't affect him."

"Wow, he must have a strong mind."

"Either that or he's already faced what scares him most."

Loki's technique deadman circus would affect the brains of its victims and show them visions of what scares them most. Once trapped in the hallucination any damage taken becomes real, and if one were to die in the hallucination they would die for real.

Only those who have faced and overcome their fears were impervious to this technique. 

Having been countered Loki used a different technique, house of mirrors.

House of Mirrors created a physical manifestation of Loki that was able to imitate any technique Loki had been hit with once. Loki didn't use it often as deadman circus was usually sufficient and house of mirrors required him to take an attack which he wasn't a fan of.

"Asura, take our sleeping beauties here over to Horus."

The boy nodded and began dragging them to a cart hidden in the forest by the road.

"Oh, and Asura."

"Yes, Chief?"

"Do not let the High Priest see you, it is not time for you to join the cult yet."

"Yes, Chief."