There are some people who might believe that being able to move five times faster than a person would usually convey an almost overwhelming advantage, when it comes to battle at least, and for the most part those people are very correct. There are however other aspects to a person that can make up for such advantages – experience is one, as is being able to simply absorb most of my blows. Being able to literally wrap yourself around my limbs also kind of sucks. And yes, I’m talking about Darina. The apprentice had not taken my comment about relative sizes well, and had insisted we have a bout of our own, and despite the fact that I was about missing about a third of my reserves, I had agreed, knowing that if I had not, she would have been in a foul temper for at least the day. Apparently, her Exemplar counted as part of her dignity.

Standing with my feet literally inside her legs, and my one good arm now part of her shoulder, I was flailing at her with my stump whilst simultaneously trying to headbutt her. Darina had laid a trap for me, and though I had absolutely no trouble dodging her own attacks at my maximum speed, I did have to close in to attack. While normally I would have darted into to attack and retreated before she could... encase me... the willy, apprentice had driven tendrils into the ground to wait for me, and when I approached, I found myself rooted to the spot, and subsequently to my entirely trapped state. Speed is a fantastic advantage... when you can move.

With a growl as Darina simply accepted my limited attacks with a blood thirsty smirk, I gave up on using my Exemplar and time lurched further into motion. Instead of using my Path, I instead concentrated on where my wrist was locked inside her and with an effort of will, I channelled all the lightning in my body to that point, the coruscating threads of power inside me fighting to escape the vice of my intent, but held in place by the soft white power of the elemental pill Tang had given me. I felt the moment my lightning overwhelmed her defences as the muscles and flesh around my arm began to flex and spasm, but even as the thick bolts of energy fed directly into her, I could see it was not enough, she was healing as fast as I could damage her, her smirk turning into a manic grin as she shrugged off enough power to fry an elephant ten-times. Gritting my teeth, I pulled harder on my Core, taking the energy that I would normally split into my lotus-posed passenger and instead sending it through my Focus, doubling down on the electricity surging down my arm, and with a heave jamming it all down at once.

Then came a flash and a snapping sound, and moments later I found myself laying on my back. Sitting up, I could see small fires in the grass, which Reff and Riffa were already stamping out. A blackened patch of charred earth stood where Darina and I had only a second before, and beyond it the apprentice herself who was sitting up and rubbing at the stump of her own now missing arm.

“Oh shit!”

Climbing to my feet, I ran over to Darina and dropped to my knees, panic and shame rising up inside me like bile as I fumbled for a healing pill.

“I’m so sorry, Darina! I wasn’t thinking, here, take this.”

I pressed the pill to her lips without waiting for a response, but she slapped my hand aside with an irritated look before responding to me.

“What are you talking about, Hunter? It’s my own fault for trapping you like that. I hadn’t considered the fact that a large enough surge of energy could remove my arm when emitted from within it.”

“What? How can you be so calm, you’re missing an arm!”

I knew she could heal, of course, but from experience, I knew that losing a limb as not as easy as repairing something when all the parts were present.

“What? I’m a healer, Hunter. Don’t be an idiot.”

With that the flesh around the burnt stump rippled and flowed like water, her arm reforming in a few breaths, the flesh once again pale and pristine.

I felt my jaw drop at the ease with which she healed the massive wound, blinking like the idiot she thought I was.

“But... how? You said my arm couldn’t be healed. And... it took you way longer to heal your neck.”

“Precisely; your arm. My Exemplar only relates to shaping my flesh. And it is quite hard to concentrate on healing when you can’t feel anything below your neck, Hunter.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense.” I wondered if she could survive major damage to her head, but thought it rude to ask. I did consider buying her a helmet the next time I had chance; though I knew her bone plating could fill that role to a degree, I had no idea about the relative strengths of Path level bone and the various coloured metals I had come across.

“Now, that was fun, and I learned to be cautious when trapping people who emit energy. A good bout. Now, if you’re done being an idiot for the day, maybe we can leave?”

“Uh, actually, I don’t suppose we can delay while I top up my Praxis? I put a lot of energy into those bouts. Sometimes it feels like you guys have all the energy in the world.”

“In gentle advice, I believe we are simply more practiced and efficient with our energy, Hunter. You have only been practicing for a few months, after all.”

“Now jus’ a Void blasted moment, what’dya mean, ‘a few months’? What’re ye, the scion o’some vast clan or sect?”

“No, nothing like that. I’ve just been kind of driven, and I’d experienced so little of the world before that, that everything is more of an Experience for me.”

“And you’re offensively lucky. An idiot like you could never catch up to a prodigy like me without that working in your favour.”

“Yeah, I’ve had some lucky breaks. But I’ve also worked pretty hard; I’ll work on my efficiency.”

I did not take Darina’s comment to heart, she said it with a smile and after all, I had just blasted her arm off.

The five us agreed to wait for a day while I did my best to suck in Experience to replenish my Core; sitting and watching the others spar, I did wonder how I could go about being more efficient in my use of Experience. The tendrils I released were actually not super-effective most of the time, unless I really worked to pump up the power output; maybe I could try to limit the electricity to inside my body, increasing my reflexes and speed without wasting the power, until I needed it? It was something I would have to practice; previously, it had not been an option, as attempting to keep the flow contained would have simply seen the energy overflowing my channels and shocking me. But since I had both more control and some resistance, it might be worth a try.

Still watching the fight in the middle distance, I took out the emerald lock again and began to fidget with it, by that point resigned that nothing would happen. I watched Reff and Cad clash, flecks of molten rock behind flung about by the hammer while Cad dodged frantically in and out of Reff’s reach. My giant friend was not using his megaform, and I knew that any impact from the burning rock would seriously damage the laughing man, so I judged it to be pretty even, though there was no doubt that Cad was holding back.

As I spectated, my mind drifted, caught up in recalling my bouts in an attempt to mine them for all they were worth. That is, until my fingers froze where they were upon the lock and with a start I realised that I could not move any part of me. My gaze stuck dead ahead, I felt myself lift int the air and move backwards. Starting to panic, having no idea what was happening, I saw my friends notice my hovering state and start towards me, only for them to vanish behind a plane of ever-changing light.

*

***

*

The void I had experienced once before rushed past me in a blur, distant dots of light, each representing a world reaching out into infinity like the night sky. I could feel the same pressure I had felt during my last transit, like the weight of creation pressing down on me. Still unable to move, I watched it all from the corner of my eye, fright giving way to awe and understanding as I recalled my short visit with Lucas, and his ability to freeze me in place.

I had mostly given up on his coming to visit, and it seemed like that had been a good call, as he was instead – by all appearances – bringing me to him. By the time I found myself being drawn once more through that rainbow gate, the press of the void was close to cracking me, or so it felt. Its absence felt like bliss by comparison, a soft welcome as a world once more gathered me in its protective embrace.

The gate vanished, and I took in what I could as I began to rotate – the room I was in was unlike the one in which I had last seen the Paragon; rather than a vast carved black opal, the walls seemed to be constructed from some pastel yellow metal that flowed and swept around shining crystals of pale purple, like amethysts. The rotation stopped as Lucas came into view, his childlike face and the glowing lines on his skin more than striking enough to remember. Next to him stood what looked like a robot, constructed of flowing metal, wood and stone, or so it seemed. Standing at about my own height - six feet and three inches – but startlingly thin, the robot gazed at me from two burning yellow orbs set where you would expect its eyes to be.

As I looked at the pair as best I could, the came a lurch and the force that had held me dissipated; falling, I managed to catch myself on my feet before I hit the ground; my natural reflexes may not have been able to stand up to cultivators on their own, but they were more than sufficient to prevent a bruised ass. Straightening, I was about to speak when Lucas beat me to it, his voice as sharp as it had been at our last meeting.

“Hunter, I have been waiting for you to take out the lock for a while now; I had almost given up on you.”

“It took me a while to finish up what I was doing, but then I took it out. I’d pretty much given up on you, too. Honoured Paragon.”

“Well, it seems we were both busy. Let us waste no more time. This is Dee Yu See Three, a Construct.”

“Uh, nice to meet you, Dee.”

“I am Dee Yu Kay Three, Construct Designation: ‘Swarm’. It is not unpleasant to coincide with you, Hunter.”

“You should use their whole name.”

“Uh, sorry, Dee Us See Three. Do I need to include the designation bit?”

“Dee Yu Kay Three will be sufficient, Hunter.”

I looked at Lucas for some kind of indication of what was going on, beyond him bringing me there, but he simply looked on imperiously.

“So... what’re we doing? This doesn’t look like your house?”

“This facility is was constructed, and is occupied by myself, and those of my branch, Hunter.”

“Dee Yu Kay Three is a Construct, this world’s Paragon – or Apex, I suppose - equivalent.”

That got my attention; I had recently made yet another promise to myself to be more polite to Apex level anythings, and while this being may look like a fantasy C3PO, I should have guessed that the Paragon would not be simply hanging out with a random robot.

“Apologies, Dee Yu Kay three, I wasn’t aware of that. It’s my honour to meet you.” I dropped a bow, but saw DUK3 tilt its head as I did, apparently not recognising the gesture. That was the moment when the rest of what Lucas had said hit me, and I spoke again, my voice maybe a touch sharper than I intended.

“Wait, this world? We’re not on your world, Lucas?”

“We are not. I located you at an opportune time; I had been telling Dee Yu Kay Three about you, a being that had not achieved our... progress, but was nonetheless capable of walking the worlds. They were curious, and so I brought you to us both.”

“You’re not going to... experiment on me or anything, are you?” Ispoke with a smile and a slightly forced laugh, but when neither laughed with me – I did not even know if DUK3 could laugh – I came to an abrupt stop, looking around for a door, though I knew I had no actual means of escape should they actually decide to experiment on me.

“We would like to run a series of tests on you, in order to determine how it is you are able to walk the worlds without leave of the gods, or the protection of a Domain.”

“We would be pleased to offer you an exchange of services. It is understood that is often the case that ‘trade’ is a necessity.”

I looked back and forth between them; neither had the look of a mad scientist, though one looking like a droid did not help.

“I’m kind of on a timer... it’s not as short as it could be, but I can’t afford to waste time. I don’t think. If I agree – what do you offer in trade, and... could you return me to a specific place in the world I came from? My friends are probably heading there already.”

“We had thought to each teach you an aspect of our energy systems – a Sigil from myself, and... Something more solid from Dee Yu Kay Three. As for returning you to a specific place on your world, that will not be possible, as I have no idea where your world is.”

“Wait, what? You just pulled me from my world, how can you not know where it is?”

“I simply searched for my beacon – the lock I gave you. There are an uncountable number of worlds, as your hopefully saw on your passage between them; it is virtually impossible to locate one twice without some kind of beacon.”

“H-how could you just pull me here, if you had no way of getting me home?”

“I assumed your Apex would retrieve you, eventually. Did you not say you travelled with him?”

“He’s not with me – wasn't with me. It’ll take at least a month for my friends to reach him, if he’s even there.”

“Then it seems, we have plenty of time to experiment.”