Risks

Ra’azel unleashed his attack, a black and red lightning born out of the rune of Obliteration. It was one of the most powerful offensives tools in his arsenal. One that few things could counter. Runes were very simple tools, they didn’t create something out of nothing. When he created the wall of water to quench the woman’s flames, he cast a sequence of runes: Ook-Nem-Saviu-Lom-Wass-Shi—search, bend, space, gather, water, transport—a sequence that would search his surrounding for water, by infusing it with his will and soul he gave the sequence a direction, an order to draw water and transport it to his location. It had taken the moisture from the air, but also from the bodies of water on the mountain around him, from the town and the storage of the people living down there. At the end of that sequence, he added another string: Ulm-Ka-Ha—shape, force and forward direction—to form the wall and send it forward.

A simple use of runes, and obvious to even a child proficient in Runecraft. Runes were the building blocks, only imagination and will decided the limits of the craft.

And so it followed that Vish, the Obliteration rune, was the same. It was simple, and easy to use. A small touch of a Soul, was required to charge the rune that worked on the principle of demolishing Essence. It didn’t create anything out of nothing, it simply used will and Soul to destroy Essence, to pull it apart.

That would’ve been hard to do against most beings that possessed a Soul, because a Soul naturally held some protections. Which was why the Vish rune was more dangerous the longer it traveled, the longer it existed. It feed itself on the Essence it destroyed as it traveled, as it carved a lightning like line through the Air Essence in most cases. That was why it appeared that way, because it jumped from a cluster of Essence to cluster. And with every Essence it obliterated, it got stronger, building up the idea of Obliteration until it could overcome even the innate protections of a Soul.

Which was why Ra’azel could never really shake his surprise when it was countered. A white light intercepted his attack, his armor detected the source as four plates with glowing symbols—arrays or formations—he assumed.

His helmet designated the white light as being mostly made out of Soul Essence, and it stopped his attack in its tracks.

It showed the difference between his power and what this Framework allowed these people. He had seen it, he even knew it intimately now that he had finally managed to graft a piece of that power to himself. Their power was just more… more.

They grew in different ways, quicker, and were allowed levels of power that Ra’azel had taken thousands of years to gain. What he had to do through runes, through careful craft and tireless hours of work, they could do with a thought, and almost no resources spent other than that.

Ra’azel envied that. He was no great warrior, he had prevailed because he prepared. Because he used his resources and his mind to account for all the possibilities that he could think of.

That’s why he didn’t like fighting against the unknown. It was a risk. Like fighting the two beings that now opposed him. The woman and the man who wore a body like a vessel. If he faced his old friend, Zacharia, it would’ve been different. He had prepared for him, he knew what he could do. These two, he knew nothing about.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

And yet… all that he saw in front of him was resources that he could use. How their power called to him, and how he craved to make it his. Ordinarily, he would’ve retreated by now, but this situation was different. Kaeliss was here with his people, they provided a sufficient distraction, enough that he might be able to overcome and gain something.

If he could capture even one of these two, then he would have another resource to take apart. His last one was spent, and he had refined the process.

But, what interested him now was the vessel. He was studying it as they fought. He could tell that the Soul within the body didn’t fit right, that it wasn’t anchored properly. It wasn’t utilizing the body in the way that it could be.

He could tell that it was covered in formations, the mutated version of runes. The body was more like a suit of armor, the soul within it was just wearing it. He could even see that it had something like a harness, a container that linked the Soul to the body. It was flawed, poorly made. Ra’azel had dissected enough beings to understand how their Souls were connected to their bodies and the Framework.

If he had to guess, Ra’azel would say that the creator of that harness was more concerned with protecting the Soul than taking full advantage of the body he wore. There were things in there that he didn’t understand, but he assumed were meant to be additional safeguards. The Soul didn’t fit the body, and with the way the body was enhanced, and obviously dead, it meant that this being wore different vessels often.

Ra’azel couldn’t wait to get his hands on it and study it. He just knew that he would learn a lot. And if his ideas were right, before him just might be the key that would allow him to touch the Framework.

His own body was completely different, it wasn’t connected to the Framework at all. He couldn’t upgrade it in the same ways that they did. Just growing their power made them better. Ra’azel was the same as he had been since the day his body stopped maturing, long ago.

As his attack was nullified, Ra’azel was forced to fly back, try and make more room. The woman was hounding him, her spear constantly flashing across the distance intent to pierce him. He was throwing out constructs, but while they were all powerful, they just weren’t enough.

He finished evaluating his two opponents, gauging their power, and came to the conclusion that he would have to spend his more powerful cards.

He focused on his vambrace, and as the woman charged at him he pushed his will and tugged on the threads of his Soul connected to it.

He noticed the Death Essence around them diminish and a black energy form around her spear. With a thrust, she sent out a wave of Death Essence.

Ra’azel drew the Qi from the core held within the flesh of his construct and triggered the technique bound in his tool—{Empty Dominion} met her attack, Bond Qi washing over the Death Essence and dismantling it into nothing.

She paused, a frown on her face, and Ra’azel acted. He triggered the next technique, aiming it inside of her body.

{Empty Detonation} filled with Bond Qi, exploded, just behind her. He missed, targeting was still not perfect—he made a mental note to adjust it later.

She noticed the attack, something in her eyes told him that she both felt and recognized it. He didn’t know much about Cultivation and how Cultivators could sense things like Qi. He had no time to make any measures that would keep what he was doing hidden. The moment he used his vambrace, it was revealed to anyone who could sense it.

The technique caught her wings, breaking apart the power that manifested her wings and sent her falling to the ground.

Ra’azel laughed from behind his visor and pulled out another of his new constructs. A fist size orb, he forced a thread of his Soul and will inside and took control of the piece harvested Soul within. Anchored with his runes, and guided by his will it manifested.

With |Mine Are The Winds, And The Sky| he sent a current at her, hastening her trip to the ground.

The wind picked him up and aided his runes, carrying him higher and higher. And then he pulled out more constructs, and reigned fire down on his opponents.

He would break them, and then take what was left. They would fuel his growth, their power would be just another resource for him to use to achieve his goal.

He couldn’t wait.