The world before them faded into a gray haze, interspersed with spots of blue and green. Jack felt a slight squeeze on his body before blackness surrounded them. A faint sense of weightlessness hit him before his feet found their footing on a disk of mottled purple energy, a disk interwoven with Syraviel's shadows.
“Lisaseron, you're way better at this teleporting stuff than Wanda,” Jack said. “Whatever she was doing hurt like hell.”
“We are traveling at a speed more common for objects in the void, compared to the typical swiftness of spatial travel.” Lisaseron said. “This makes detecting us much more difficult to the Unceasing, and is also much more comfortable. Of course, this slower speed comes with its own dangers... but our unique circumstances allow us to mitigate most of them.”
“Most, but not all,” Syraviel said. “Ready up. The void worms are coming.”
Diana simply nodded. Meanwhile, Alicia took an offensive stance with her sword while Jack bent his legs slightly, looking all around him. Syraviel rolled her eyes, taking the wooden practice sword out of Alicia's hand before replacing it with a real longsword, made of dull silver.
“Alicia,” Syraviel said. “You'll be fighting a worm in single combat. If you don't manage to kill one, I'm going to be disappointed. Jack, no weapons for you right now. You're going to be doing an endurance gauntlet focused on dodging the worms. Pay attention, to how I handle this first one coming in. Having an idea of its speed and the way it moves before you face one will be helpful.”
Jack gave her a thumbs up while Alicia clenched her sword harder.
“As for you, Diana,” Lisaseron said. “Given your excellent progress, I believe you will be up to the task of supporting the Void Disk via harmonic channeling. You can vary the amount you channel and I will adapt the spell but your output should not stop at any time until I tell you. I also expect zero mana residue, understood?”
Diana winced.
“Good to go.”
She placed her hands on the void disk, focusing as runes slowly lit up around her.
Alicia and Jack watched as the void worm came into view. Syraviel rushed it while the humans stood back. The boy could barely believe his eyes. The thickness of the 'worm' was somewhere between that of an large rhino or a small elephant, while being nearly twenty meters long. He shook himself, bringing his mind back. Display level, Jack thought. Analyze. Observe.
Level 40 Void Worm
Innate Unawakened
As the void worm was about to brush against their disk, Syraviel slashed at the worm. Jack held his breath, feeling the raw killing intent explode out from the woman. Syraviel vanished faster than he could blink before her strike landed. A clean three foot gash appeared on the void worm's belly. Alicia and Jack gawked as the worm thrashed in pain before the miniscule woman nearly bisected it with another slash.
Syraviel quickly scanned the surroundings, before walking back to the two stunned humans. Jack watched two spaces on the void disk open up, letting the two halves of the void worm fall through and drift away into the void.
“You're sure we're really necessary for this mission?” Jack asked.
Syraviel nodded.
“I'm still Level one, you know?” Syraviel said. “I can only fight for so long. Even with my Meditation being over three hundred, I'll run out of stamina and mana eventually. This is a mortal form with the needs of a mortal form and my fragmented soul also means I'm less resistant to the excruciating pain, burn out and general weariness that come with constant fighting. Less resistant for a Divinity anyway.”
“Still, you destroyed that worm in two-”
“Three more coming,” Syraviel said. “Focus up, kids! I'm going to let you two dance this time!”
Jack gulped.
“I know you said no weapons, but how about some armor or-”
“Four more coming!” Syraviel said.
Jack let out a deep breath. The Brawler guy doesn't use weapons, he thought. It can't be that hard. It should be easier to dodge without a weapons or armor. Jack's mood didn't improve by thinking about it.
Two worms came from opposite sides of the disk. Alicia readied her sword in a bold high guard, not worried about telegraphing her counterattack at all.
Jack braced himself while still looking out for the remaining five worms. As the worm slid across the disk, its hideous five eyed face locked right on to the boy. Jack gulped. The worm charged the boy.
Jack moved out of its charge but found the worm slowing down to mark him better. It coiled itself in the center of the disk, isolating the boy into a small quarter while its head drew closer to him. It lunged forward. Jack dived out of its attack. He felt his palms grow sweaty. Despite being a worm, the monster could move. His dodging space shrunk as the void worm crawled towards him. The worm stilled before it split aparted.
"Focus a little more, Jack," Syraviel said. "Try not to let yourself be cornered so easily."
He watched through the short purple woman walk away back to the center of the disk through the separated worm halves. Lisaseron once again unmade the parts of the disk holding the deceased worm, letting the carcass float off into the void.
Jack's breath caught just as he was about to relax. He looked down, seeing a massive silhoutte through the slightly transparent Disk. He immediately dove to the side. Two void worms broke through the bottom of the disk, crashing into each other where he was just standing.
In the background, he heard Diana holler in pain but he couldn't focus on her anymore than hoping she was alright.
He felt his tunic billowing as the whooshing air from two worms passed by, just missing the boy. He fumbled his recovery, staring at the massive worms but he still got up quickly. He looked around and swore. He stood at the edge of the disk again.
The disk slowly reformed where the worms crashed through but not quickly enough to be a viable route. There was no room left to run but towards the worms. Jack ran towards the more dazed of the two worms. It followed his path with its head semi-successfully, its movement a bit too wobbly for even a worm. Its head shot down towards Jack, mouth open, baring the multiple rows of black fangs its mouth and throat. Jack sidestepped its attack, watching as the disk opened up. The release of pressure on its sides caused the worm to overshoot beneath the disk. Jack took advantage of its mistake to hurdle over the other half submerged worm. His head whipped around, noticing another three worms circling overhead while his worms pivoted back to face him again.
“Try to dodge a bit quicker, Jack.” Lisaseron said. “Having the worms break parts of my spatial disk burns more mana and is quite disorienting to Diana. You must understand, I cannot make parts disappear if you are walking on them.”
Jack gave the tall woman an incredulous look, as she effortlessly dodged three void worms while chiding him. Lisaseron met his gaze.
“It seems I was not clear enough again,” she said. “Jack, I am not casting Light Campfire or Fill Canteen. Advanced Spatial Disk is considered a taxing spell for most mortal spatial magicians below Level one hundred. I am casting it at Level one. You are going to dodge faster.”
Jack blinked twice.
“Yes, Ma'am.”
She gave him a smile.
“Good boy. Now apologize to Diana. Harmonic channeling requires harmony, meaning the spell must not be disrupted while she is channeling.”
Jack dodged another void worm.
“Sorry Diana!”
Diana groaned in response, finally stabilizing herself before putting her hands back on the disk.
"Just don't do it again!" she yelled. "That fucking hurt! Like getting your head smashed by a slice of lemon wrapped around a gold brick!"
"What? You know what, forget I asked!"
Alicia looked towards Lisaseron with admiration. Alicia wondered what she did to make the boy act right. She'd never seen the boy apologize sincerely before. The girl wondered if the Goddess could give her a few tips. She sighed, putting her fantasies aside.
Her situation wasn't good. She'd come in too hard with her counterattack with the first worm. She realized a bit too late that she needed to respect the power differential more; fighting monsters was something completely different than facing a skilled opponent with similar size and strength. A valuable lesson that cost her a dislocated shoulder to learn. She still continued to fight, able to draw blood after stacking up her Innate's defense negation on the same spot of the worm's flank.
She used her superior agility to buy breathing room from the worm's relentless pursuit. The girl steadied her shaking hands, bracing for a wave of pain as she popped her shoulder back in. The girl grit her teeth. Even if she could barely do anything to the worms compared to Syraviel, she would still take a worm's life today.
The void worm zoomed towards Alicia. Alicia dodged, striking the worm's sides with an uncomfortably close slash. Even with this adaptation, she felt like she was striking a passing car but she persisted. Alicia leapt sideways, avoiding the monster's odd wriggling charge. She lashed out with a downward slash, managing to draw a trace of blood.
Blade Mastery Lvl 4→Blade Mastery Lvl 6
She licked her lips, her eyes glowing with excitement. Her pain seemed to vanish when she saw that message. Progress with her swordsmanship on Earth was often halting, uncertain, two steps forward and one step back. Here she had confirmation: Every level of Blade Mastery was a rush. Alicia whirled around, preparing for the void worm to charge again. Instead, she found Syraviel annihilating the monster.
“How am I supposed to kill one if you're killing it for me?” Alicia asked.
The small purple woman tilted her head at Alicia.
“You're going to kill a void worm with your shoulder like that?” Syraviel asked. “Nothing wrong with you being hurt but its clearly affecting your power. I asked you to kill a worm, not give it a back rub.
“I put my shoulder back in,” Alicia said.
“Barely. Your version of 'Back in' isn't enough to let you use your full power. For pure offense types like us, we can never let anything hamper our offensive power. Got it?”
Syraviel killed another void worm before walking over to the girl, poking at the torn tendons in Alicia's shoulder. Alicia winced. Syraviel healed the girl's shoulder.
“Alright,”Syraviel said. “All better. Try not to suffer too many massive, life threatening injuries. I'm not made of mana, like Void.”
“What is a Goddess made of?”
Syraviel smirked.
“If you're so curious, you can get a closer look later,” she said.
Alicia pursed her lips at the woman. Syraviel laughed.
“Alright kid,” she said. “You don't want to play adult games? In that case, go play with worms.”
Alicia eyed an upcoming void worm while Syraviel watched Jack struggle to evade three of them in amusement.
***
Jack panted as he wove in between the void worms.
“Tired already, Jack?”Syraviel said, sitting on top of one of the void worms attacking Jack. “Don't think just because you're huffing and puffing a little, we'll let you off easy. This is supposed to push you to your limits. Then once you're at your limits, we'll push you even harder.”
Jack shook his head in disbelief at the Goddess, before swearing and ducking underneath an errant segment of void worm.
“Don't worry,” Syraviel said. “You're safe with me watching over you. Probably. There is a chance you get instantly crushed before I can step in. Small chance. Don't worry about it.”
The Goddess went to the other side of the disk to kill four more void worms, then stopped by Alicia to critique the girl's form.
Jack swore, clambering onto a void worm that just missed him to avoid being crushed by another worm charging headlong towards him. The worm he rode reared its body upward, nearly throwing off his balance. He leaned back, sliding down the worm's dorsal thorax like he was back on the playground. Another worm mounted the worm he was on, jaws stretched abnormally wide. He clenched his jaw, eyes wide looking for another escape.
Jack pushed himself off the worm's body, falling with a roll.
New Skill gained! Footwork Lvl 1!
Feet weren't just made to be stepped on.
Slightly increased maneuverability and speed when utilizing your feet for movement per level.
Jack chuckled. Footwork wasn't exactly the mystical power up he was hoping for , but at this point he'd take any scraps that came his way. Jack rolled his arms as the three worms came again.
“Dig deeper, young man,” Lisaseron said. “Show me what strength you have buried deep within. Show me what you can do.”
“Yes, Jack,” Syraviel said. “Show us how impressive you are.”
Jack's face twitched. There were four void worms surrounding him now.
Thanks for the chapter