Chapter 5 ⁠— Bonding with an avaricious girl.
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The [Flame Up] spell drained from the wellspring of spirit⁠—or was it mana?⁠—inside of Luckner’s center. This source of power felt like an intangible place, even if it was highly personal.

Luckner had no idea how such a thing could exist or how it was possible for anything magical that was happening to occur. He simply understood what he was feeling with the aptest description he could give it.

So when the current linking the incredible potential of power to awe-inspiring power made real⁠—the link between his mana and the fire spell that covered his dick and ass⁠—was interrupted, he was a tiny bit concerned at first. Before the flames snuffed out completely, he felt the transfer of energy pour immediately toward the hand that was channeling [Mythic Bond]. At that point, the gobbo leader’s knife was already pressing into Luckner’s back.

Oh wow, he could feel the blade piercing flesh and drawing blood. It was directly behind his heart. His [Zeal] was intense, but the images of another gory death flashed before Luckner’s eyes and nearly staggered him.

He felt that a spell called [Backstab] would produce a horrific effect that was greater than a normal backstab. Maybe he didn’t deserve a second chance at life if he would waste it by getting murdered again.

The blade stopped going any further than flesh-deep. Then it pulled out. Luckner felt his back slicked with sweat that ran with the blood trickling down from the open wound. It was only a little blood, but he knew it could’ve been a lot more, which begged the question. What did [Mythic Bond] do?

Luckner slowly turned around to see.

The gobbo leader’s face twitched, and her ears fanned up and down. She started to snarl a little before transitioning into a mewl. Then she returned to snarling. She went back to mewling seconds later. She shook her head, stomped her feet, and slashed at the air between them.

The bedazzled girl glared at him. “You’re trying to enslave me!”

Luckner flinched. “You were going to kill me.”

“I told you to stay down, and you didn’t. It’s only fair, now!” She hopped up and down. “Now I can feel your magic trying to take me. Stop it, hooman!”

“But… you’re not taken,” Luckner said. “I don’t even know what it’s doing.”

When he had used [Compulsion] on the winged reptilian earlier, Luckner took control almost instantly. This was definitely a different case. Besides, nothing about [Mythic Bond] suggested such heavy-handed control.

Regarding the energy transfer, Luckner felt his mana was blasting out of him way faster than with [Flame Up]. There was a powerful connection between him and the destination, which he surmised to be the goblin girl.

Whatever this spell was doing, it took a lot of energy, and it was kind of thrilling. His [Zeal] was burning hotter, spreading a wide flame inside of his chest. Something about this [Mythic Bond] spell felt right with him, but it wasn’t complete yet.

Still, the idea that he was enslaving her was a little disturbing. But on the same token, he really wanted to see [Mythic Bond] completed.

“It’s… it’s settling down now—the magic. Now there’s a message. The Circle System is asking me if I want to serve you,” she said. “I can say no or yes.”

What’s the Circle System? Luckner wanted to ask, but he figured it wasn’t the right time for it.

More importantly, what would happen if she said no. Would there be a backlash? Would a failure waste his energy and leave him vulnerable? There were so many things Luckner didn’t understand, and he was starting to realize he put himself in an awful position to learn what could be life-threatening.

The other goblins grew closer. Luckner was not blind to being surrounded again. They might jump in at any given moment, and they looked eager to do so.

The goblin leader gestured at the other goblins. They broke the circle that had Luckner pinned and retreated. Huh, maybe the spell was⁠—

“[Dash].”

The goblin girl became a blur again, but not to the side this time. She zoomed straight into Luckner and latched onto him. One hand grabbed behind his neck while she planted her feet on his thighs. Her grip was strong enough to hold her up while she pointed her knife at his eye.

“Why should I serve you?” she snarled.

Luckner blinked between the blade and the goblin’s angry face. He could babble something, anything, just to keep her from stabbing his eye out. He was not as afraid compared to when she had the opportunity to screw his backside. But he was not going to let his [Zeal] act recklessly right now. He had done enough of that.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“Answer my question!”

“Part of answering your question is answering mine,” Luckner said calmly. “You said the Circle System is giving you the option to say no. I got no freaking clue what a system entails with all the hocus pocus, but it sounds like you don’t have to serve me.”

So, what was keeping her from saying no?

The goblin leader licked her lips. The anger in her eyes faded, and a glint of hunger revealed itself.

“Can you give me what I want?” she asked. “I don’t care if you’re pretty for a dum-dum hooman. Your prettiness is nice, but it’s not everything. Will there be riches to take? Can I take power? Will serving you allow me to take more so I can grow?”

She moved the knife out of the way and pulled herself closer, their noses touching. Then, with a husky rasp, “You're a low adept now, but I can tell you'll be strong. If I let you take me, will you take me to the top with you?”

Ah, ambition. Maybe it wasn’t just her appearance and fighting ability that made her cut above the rest. She might be the type of goblin that hungered for more than the others who had settled with their lot in life. In a sense, that was entirely human. It was almost too human.

It made Luckner think of the times he was in bed with⁠—that bitch⁠—speaking aloud their dreams and aspirations. That… his ex had always been a big dreamer. She had always wanted more than they could have at the moment, and no matter how much he worked to give, it was never enough. Maybe, in the end, he wasn’t enough.

Luckner’s body cooled suddenly. His [Zeal] dimmed. The flashes of memories spent with that traitorous woman held onto him like glue. Before he could free himself, he suffered the consequence of his hesitancy and plummeted mood.

The goblin leader’s face sagged with disappointment. “I thought you would be special.”

“I…” Luckner clenched his jaw, struggling to say something.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck fuck. Why couldn’t he shake his ex’s influence? This was a new opportunity, wasn’t it? This was his new life! But half his heart was still human. And he was still hurting.

The goblin leader kicked off of him and dropped among her own. “My answer is no to you. I won’t let you take me now.”

The power streaming to feed [Mythic Bond] snapped. Part of it felt like a bridge crumbling from collapse. The other part felt like precious resources fizzling into the nothingness, wasted on a failed attempt. When the wellspring of power sealed, Luckner felt how very empty it was, and that took a bite out of his stamina and his morale.

[Zeal] dimmed further. The sore spots along his head started to hurt more. It made Luckner lean against the wall to help hold himself up.

“Shit,” he said. “I fucked that up. I didn’t mean to.”

The goblins started down the alley with his stuff, the leader at the front. He wasn’t even mad about his clothes anymore. That was small. The failed bond, however…

“What’s your name?” Luckner asked.

One of the female gobbo mooks turned to reply.

“Not you, her! Your leader.”

The bedazzled princess paused. She didn’t turn to look at him.

“I am Gixzha.” She flicked her hair. “Don’t let me see you again, or I’ll take your big-big man-spear.”

“Be careful, Gixzha,” he said, his chest heating a little. “You might get what you wish for.”

Gixzha snorted. She was giving him her backside, but he almost wanted to believe that she was smiling. Then the goblins departed and left Luckner beat up and bleeding in a dirty alley. His boxers were gone, too, a sacrifice to [Flame Up].

Naked as the day he was born, Luckner planted his fists on his hips and scowled at the dirty alley ground.

“Fuck!” he yelled.

“Fuck!” he yelled again.

Then he yelled it a third time and a fourth. His [Zeal] flared up a little, but it simmered down just as quickly when he caught his breath in between his boisterous cusses. Then, finally, he fell silent. The fire in his chest died down into a tiny ember. Without that raging inferno, he felt intensely cold.

Maybe he wasn’t freezing. But in comparison to how he was boiling with enthusiasm and rage earlier, this sucked. His human half sucked. Perhaps he should’ve told Lylyth to take all of it and replace it with pure fire. But he figured he wouldn’t be human, or he wouldn’t have much of a will. He needed that weak part of him to exist like this.

“Great, I’m starting to think again.”

He had run after the goblins and got into this fantasy street fight because he hadn’t been thinking. It didn't matter if he had thought things through. He had been in the moment, burning with a second life, enthused by the passion for just doing. Just going. Whatever the fuck was really happening didn’t matter as long as he had gone after what he wanted, like a hungry dog getting after a juicy piece of steak. With that over with, he had to deal with the consequences. And the implications of… well… everything.

He had to wake up to reality.

So, what was reality?

Luckner rubbed at his face and massaged his temples. This was a lot to take in. Where should he even start? He could remember the date with Lylyth clearly. How he had died was a little sketchy, but he got the gist. He remembered the deal, and he remembered the fiery pain that greeted him as part of his rebirth. The goblins happened after that, and then his stupid fucking failure to complete the bond.

“Fuck!” Luckner belted. He didn’t know what was happening when he used [Mythic Bond] on Gixzha, but he had felt something good would come out of it. He was excited about it. But then the goblin met his spell with her demands. She wasn’t something that he could just take over. She was a living, breathing creature. An ambitious creature. And that was fine.

But then his weaker half had to remind him of his weakness⁠—his ex.

What if he had ignored it and said yes? Would the goblin complete the bond? What would it lead to next?

“Do I even know what I agree to if I bond with a goblin?” he asked. Maybe the goblin girl would gain more out of the deal than he would. For a moment, Gixzha sounded like the classical gold digger older men would warn young brothers about. Anyone could make a strong case for his freaking (that bitch) ex being one. But if that were the case with the goblin, Gixzha would have agreed to the bond without question.

“She was testing me,” Luckner said bitterly. “And I failed the test.”

He failed to fight the flying reptile and got killed. He was unable to make a convincing argument with the goblin girl⁠—who was freaking badass. He had to admit the fight had been scary but exhilarating. She not only tricked him a couple of times and laid on the beatdown with spinning kicks and more ninja shit, but she did so while holding back.

“And she called me pretty.” Luckner rubbed at the back of his neck, not sure how to feel. He did think that the goblin was attractive in return.

Damn, did that mean he wanted to get with her? Would that be the extent of bonding with Mythics? Just to screw them?

“Don’t you dare.” He pointed at his crotch. “I’m not in the mood for this right now. So don’t you dare budge.”

It budged a little, which startled Luckner some. He had really grown. “Do I even have enough blood for this?”

He wondered if this was part of the [Incubus] singularity. Combine that with his [Zeal] and his [Mythic Bond], and they all made it sound like he had turned into a monster-lusting pervert. Most of the fight was about getting his stuff back and the fun of dishing out some hurt… but Luckner sensed the brawl became something different when Gixzha appeared and showed off.

His upgraded friend budged a little more.

“Fuck off,” Luckner grumbled. “I should ignore you.”

He should get going, too. It was getting late now, and the city was darkening around him. He should avoid any more trouble and head back home.

It sucked that this whole misadventure cost him his clothes, his dignity, and time. Following those goblins took him out of Midrun, the middle section of the city, and left him in Westridge, the more inland part of the city. By the look of the graffiti on the walls, he was in the ghetto parts of Westridge. If he dug around a little, he might be able to find some rags to cover himself.

“Nah, I don’t care enough.” Luckner went down the direction Gixzha’s crew went. He was almost hoping to run into them even though he had nothing to say to her request yet. All that she wanted was a lot to take in for him. But the alleys were clear of her presence, which left him with nothing else to do but make his exit.

Luckner halted once he was out on the streets again. The tone of his worldview seemed to have shifted. While he was in that alley acting like a blaxploitation character ripped out of an 80s action drama, nothing else mattered to him. He had been a rocket of thrills, and the fiery side of his heart fueled his flight into the absurd occasion. But now, the real world was settling in, and whatever the hell was happening across the city was not as thrilled as him.

The air was thick with smoke. Random pedestrians were running in panic or walking briskly with fear apparent on their faces. A staccato of gunfire sounded off across the city. More followed after the first burst, which Luckner found a little worrying because the second set of gunfire came from elsewhere in the city. More gunfire from various spots of the city echoed far and wide enough to reach his minute position.

“Shit’s going down,” Luckner said.

“Boy, what are you doing out here naked!” yelled a woman from her second-floor window.

“I got robbed by goblins,” Luckner said.

“If the world weren’t going all to hell, I would think you’re on something. Wait right there.” The woman disappeared into her apartment unit. Then she returned and tossed down some stuff. “Used to be my grandson's, but he doesn't come around here no more.”

Luckner put on the basketball shorts. They were a little tight, but they would do. Then he slipped into the sandals. Another tight fit, but again, they would do. It was all way better than nothing. Hell, he was in luck that she was so kind to him.

Heart-fire flaring, Luckner appreciated the older woman’s gifts as much as he appreciated the first time his ex had sex with him. An extreme comparison, yeah, but that was how badly he appreciated the handout.

But damn, now that he thought about it, he could see how his ex was dangling sex like a carrot to a donkey back when they first got together. Back when he could’ve left that relationship because she wasn’t a good girlfriend.

Shit. The writing had been on the wall this whole time.

“You okay, boy?” she asked.

“The world might be going down the dumps, but I’m still hung up on a girl that cheated on me,” Luckner said.

“Shoot, boy, these hussies come and go.” The grandma shook her head. “Move on. Get you another girl. Lord knows I need to get on up and find myself another man. I don’t know when the end will happen, but it could be soon.”

Luckner, who had some experience with the great beyond, was a little shaken by the idea of returning there again. That onset of fear didn’t rile up his [Zeal], so it stayed inside of him like a heavy stone.

“Thank you,” he said, waving her goodbye. “When I come around this way again, I’ll treat you to some coffee or whatever you like. It’s on me.”

He meant it. She didn’t have to give him anything. He seriously felt touched by her kindness. It balanced the weight of dread inside of him.

“Don’t let no hussie do you dirty, you hear me!” she yelled after him. “You’re a good-looking young man, I’ll tell you. Oh, if I was fifty years younger...”

The rest of what she had to say fell in the background as Luckner made his way home. His mind was a buzz of considerations. He pushed those aside, for now, to pay attention to his surroundings. Westridge had always been dangerous, even before the Mythics. Now it felt like he was in a warzone. The damage wasn’t heavy. Yet. But he could see multiple growing fires that brightened the night sky with orange light.

People were going to start looting soon if they hadn’t already. Maybe not tonight if everyone was aware of the National Guard being active, but it would happen quickly. That would lead to violence, he figured, and not just between humans and Mythics. People were all sorts of violent on their own. He would know since his Dad had been violent on occasions.

Luckner stopped on the sidewalk across from the ritzy cafe Lylyth had taken him to. It was one giant ball of fire like the others burning away across the city. Shit had to be bad if first responders had ignored this. At least the building had the corner to itself while in one of the gentrified spots of Westridge. It was a few blocks away from his place on the borders of Midrun. His neighborhood was alright economic-wise, not too impoverished, but not that fancy like the rest of the muddled communities in Midrun.

“If I want to find Gixzha again, I guess I’ll have to search through Westridge’s ghettos.”

Luckner grimaced. Did he really want to find that goblin again? He would have to if he wanted to correct that failed attempt to bond with her. But did he genuinely care to? Or more importantly, could he get past the wounded half of his heart and do as the elderly woman suggested: move on and get another girl.

“Wait… would [Mythic Bond] lock me in with just one Mythic?” Luckner wondered. “What are the benefits to it? Would it make me stronger?”

There was so much about him, this so-called Circle System, and what that all meant to the wider world that he needed to examine. Hell, he really should look at [Flame Up] closely to see the range and limits of that spell’s ability. Maybe he could’ve used it better than as a cheap gimmick⁠—as effective as it was at that moment. 

Before he could ponder any further, a blast of gunfire sounded around the corner. Men were screaming unintelligibly. Luckner couldn’t see what was happening, but he imagined people were dying right now.

What he did hear that was telling were the sounds of something heavy clomping across the asphalt. Like hooves. Then he heard a noise that was the mix of a man’s battle cry and something feral. That was followed by meaty crunches, more death screams, and fewer rounds spent.

Eventually, the gunfire and death screams fell silent. The monstrous clomping continued. It started to sound closer.

Luckner hurried the rest of the way into Midrun and left Westridge behind him. He had brushed against death too many times today; it was time to get indoors.

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