Svartalfars were tricky bastards.

By nature, they were excellent at melee-combat and perfectionists at wielding their chosen weapons. From the calluses Lukas could spot on both hands, he had no doubt that Roffulfet was no stranger to wielding heavy axes in both hands, indicating ambidexterity. Further inspection indicated no lopsided muscles, implying that he may even be proficient in dual wielding.

And that was without getting into the ground-manipulation mojo the species was known for.

ANALYZE [LEVEL 3]

SPECIES

SVARTALFAR

Total Soul Capacity

1443

Used Soul Capacity

1389

Total Lifeforce Capacity

845

Lifeforce Production Rate

343/hour

That was… odd.

There was no mention of mana usage or capacity whatsoever, even though that ground-phasing thing was eerily similar to how Banksi had trapped him into the earthen floor of the anomaly. The Phasing ability didn’t seem like a lifeforce function, but if it didn’t count as mana manipulation either, then how did they do it?

Lukas shook his head. The easiest option was to just kill this ruffian and absorb his soul into his Prototype Array. If he did that, all his questions would be answered. Hell, he’d even be able to replicate the feat himself. Being able to phase through solid objects felt like a useful skill to have, especially for all the troublesome situations he would undoubtedly get himself into in the future.

But that was for later.

Because at the moment, Roffulfet was charging at him, madly swinging his axe like a faithful imitation of Kratos from God Of War. And there he was, standing empty-handed, with a whole host of monster prototypes to select and a body to take the brunt of the svartalfar’s blows.

Truly, there was no rest for the wicked.

Somewhere in the middle of his swing, the axe barely inches away from Lukas’s head, the svartalfar switched tracks and swung it laterally. With lifeforce-augmented hands, Lukas grabbed its shaft and held his ground, using his palms to release a burst—

Only to be pulled into an unexpected somersault as Roffulfet sank into the floor effortlessly. Before he could even understand what was happening, the svartalfar moved through the ground, pulling him down into the earth along with him.

Immediately, Lukas let go of the axe. The svartalfar resurfaced and grinned, before slamming it downwards and releasing a wave of power intense enough to shatter bone. As Lukas barely dodged the technique, Roffulfet moved again, perfectly in sync with his axe to use the full force of his unthinkably powerful body, and flung it parallel to the ground like the blade of a lawnmower.

“Oh, you absolute motherfucker!”

Lukas narrowed his eyes at the hard, sharp, burning metal whirling towards his face. He knew he couldn’t stop it. Not with his current power level. He could put every inch of power he had into a Burst, and it still wouldn’t be enough to blunt the axe’s edge.

…

But, he could probably deflect it.

And so, he did.

As the giant axe slammed against his hastily generated attack in an explosion of light and energy, the world went white. Lukas found himself flung back a good fifteen feet across the ground, driving him straight back. His back throbbed, but he’d somehow managed to turn the momentum into a roll, saving himself from the worst of the fallout. He staggered to his feet, leaning hard against one leg as stars swirled around in his vision and angry bells rang in his ears.

By the time he’d righted himself, the panic slowly set in. No one had ever thrown power like that at him before. Not even Inanna during their practices.

No… that couldn’t be right. The khorkhoi he’d fought was magnitudes stronger than this svartalfar, at least in terms of physical strength. Then what was it? Why was he being so affected by this creature’s attacks?

“Hah!” Roffulfet let out a belly laugh. “You were willing to face a warrior of Svartalfheim in a fist fight. I admire your determination and applaud your foolhardy conviction. But blame your gods, Asukan, for this fight shall be your last!”

Lukas rubbed his temples. It was getting hard to think. His head was constantly throbbing and his heart hammered against his ears and neck. He’d dished out far greaters attacks than this in the past, yet he could barely stand up now.

There was only one possible explanation.

My own lack of power.

Even though he could use his skills again, he was still well below optimal fighting capacity. If he wanted to win, he’d need to bolster his strength. And for that, he needed power.

Power he could get from—

Lukas wheezed as a sharp pain shot up his unmoving left leg. Had he broken too many bones during his fall? He looked down at his leg and froze.

Half of his leg, up to the knee, was sunk into the earth. It reminded him of the Quicksand spell that Banksi loved to use so much. A concentrated Burst could take care of it, but that would only exhaust him further.

No, he needed something smarter. Something like—

The ground shook.

Lukas looked up.

Roffulfet was standing barely twenty yards away from him, scowling down at him. He tilted his oddly triangular head and studied Lukas for a few seconds. Then, in his characteristic deep and gravelly voice, he spoke again. “Are you willing to admit to your transgressions, Asukan? If you do, I shall grant you the mercy of a clean death!”

Lukas looked down at his feet. He allowed a passing glance at Tanya’s pallid features, idly wondering whether she would go all Frosty the Snowman on these creatures if things went south.

“I have nothing to declare but my genius,” he smiled.

The svartalfar lifted his hand. As if naturally attracted to him like a magnet, the unnaturally large axe came spinning back. He caught it deftly in his meaty palm. “Then I will kill you,” the creature replied, with the casual air of a man talking about the weather.

“You’ll try.”

Roffulfet snorted, and then came at him, axe swinging wildly once more.

But this time, Lukas was ready.

“TERRITORY CREATION!”

And the world changed.

Territory Creation.

It was perhaps the signature tool available to all anomalies that sought to grow and evolve, letting an Omphalos extend Anomalous Energy outward and morph the surrounding environment to its tastes. The concept of ‘morphing’ allowed for a very wide window, one that included almost anything for the Omphalos to establish an anomaly in that zone or expand an existing one.

The Omphalos of Lostbelt [Earth] had nowhere near the power to pull off something like that. It was why it was sticking to using Lukas’s physical body as the ‘zone’ covered by the anomaly. Lukas Aguilar, as far as the Omphalos was concerned, was the anomaly.

Fortunately, what he was trying to do was not expand the physical boundary of his anomaly, but simply morph the area around him to suit his own requirements. Namely, absorbing energy, both lifeforce and mana, from the floor beneath him and the wardstones that kept his arena isolated from the outside.

The universe yawed slightly in his direction as he did. A subtle bending of light, a minor wobble of gravity, a shudder in the ground, as Lukas Aguilar drank power from the earth itself. He felt every hair on his neck rise up, gooseflesh erupting over his arms as something stormy rushed and shifted and tore inside of him.

The Screen blinked into existence.

Territory Creation: Active

Territory Radius — 15 feet

Current Energy Level — 33%

It flickered.

Current Energy Level — 34%

It flickered again.

Current Energy Level — 35%

Lukas suppressed a grin. He could work with this.

“What did you do?” the svartalfar growled.

He shot the creature his most condescending smile. “It’s pretty fascinating how you can get into the ground and get out without so much as a scratch. Even better that you can do so without a mana skill of your own.”

“And what of it?”

Clearly, whatever he was saying was making Roffulfet angry for some reason. Anger was an excellent thing, Inanna always said. An angry foe was predictable, and predictable enemies were easily manipulated.

“Oh it just got me thinking, that’s all,” Lukas replied. “If you aren’t the one doing it, then there must be something else around responsible for all the action.”

The svartalfar’s mouth twisted into a vicious snarl.

Just a little more.

Current Energy Level — 39%

“I decided I liked it, you know, just like the wardstone above. So I took it. Finders keepers, as they say. Isn’t it an awesome demonstration of my skills, Roffulfet?”

Current Energy Level — 40%

Roffulfet let out a subsonic rumble that shook his chest as he leapt for Lukas, axe in hand. A fifteen foot radius was hardly a large area, but it didn’t matter.

All he needed was for the svartalfar to step into it.

He tensed and crouched slightly, his bland features relaxed and amused. The svartalfar dropped his right foot onto the ground, followed by the other. The axe went up. Lifeforce flared.

And Lukas could no longer hold back the manic grin that had been struggling to get loose.

“Game over.”

The floor beneath Roffulfet’s feet exploded.