Cyril Sarnath
patreon
Chapter 180
🕑 Added 2023-08-11 18:28:46 +0000 UTCKeynes slammed the guardian with spiritual energy. The guardian vanished and for a second Keynes thought he won but pain in the right side disabused him of this notion.
Keynes turned the fall into a roll and reoriented his body to face the guardian. But the guardian wasn’t nowhere to be seen.
Watch my back, he said.
But master, I cannot sense its spiritual energy and I can only see through your eyes, she replied.
“So you like to hide,” Keynes said as he slowly turned around.
“No. I’m merely employing your tactics against you.”It replied but Keynes couldn’t pinpoint the source of the voice. “I’m disappointed that you are unable to recognise [Spiritual Wraith].”
It was, Keynes admitted, frustrating to not be able to sense the spiritual energy of his opponent but it wasn’t the only tool at his disposal. He activated [Telekinesis] and used it to ‘feel’ around him. It wasn’t something Keynes had tried before but it should work, given the mechanism of the spell.
“Oh, that’s smart,” the guardian said. It reappeared several feet from Keynes, pointing a staff made out of roots and branches entangled together at him. At the topmost end of the staff, was embedded rough cut green crystal that shone with dim light. As the guardian slowly twisted his wrist moving the staff around its axis, Keynes blasted him with another wave of spiritual energy.
A green shield appeared in front of the guardian and the energy was redirected into blackness without causing him any damage.
“This, less smart,” the guardian said as the shield dispersed.
Once again, Keynes didn’t wait and shot toward the guardian. This time he wanted to see how physically he measured against the creature. The guardian understood the intent and moved toward Keynes. In an instant, Keynes found himself on the ground. He didn’t even see the guardian’s attack.
How?!
Must be a spell, Alice said. Some sort of sudden movement burst.
“Slow. Unprepared. Lazy.”
Keynes shot to his feet but didn’t take a bait and let himself get enraged. The guardian was mocking him and another ascender would get angry but the Pure Body buff wasn’t just for show. It protected Keynes’s mind as well as body. And though the guardian didn’t use any overt debuff on him, Keynes’s buff recognised an attempt at manipulation.
“What Level are you?”
“Seven.”
That shouldn’t be possible. Nothing in the dominion was higher than Level 5. Either the guardian was lying or there was more to this dominion than they had thought.
The guardian returned to a relaxed stance as he judged Keynes.
“I can feel the shock in your aura and I’m shocked in turn that you expected an easy path ahead. You are not—”
Keynes used [Chaos Aura] and spiritual aura, creating a whip-like tendril and hitting the guardian before he could finish the sentence.
The guardian’s eyes lit up and Keynes heard a faint word, “[Counter].”
Instantly the attack reverted its course and slammed into Keynes.
“Foolish child. To use such a dangerous spell…” the guardian trailed off when he saw Keynes undamaged.
“You were saying something?” Keynes asked.
“Immunity to chaos. Hmm. That’s rare. But neither [Chaos Aura] nor the chaos immunity makes you worthy of entering the Inner Sanctuary.”
“All I have to do is to defeat you. It doesn’t matter what spell I will use.”
“Indeed.” The guardian nodded pensively. “But you have never asked where we are and where the female ascender is. There is no guarantee that your [Chaos Aura] won’t damage her.”
***
Kora was breathing heavily. She landed several good blows but the guardian was elusive. Each time she got it figured out, it vanished. She realised that it was subject to two limiters: mana and cooldowns. Once she figured them out, the fight should get easier.
“I’m surprised,” the guardian said. “You’re smart. You’re capable, and yet, there is such an obvious flaw in your reasoning.”
Without a warning, the guardian’s staff caught Kora’s sheens and brought her down. She didn’t let it pin her down and rolled away but the guardian was always a step ahead. The staff, she thought, is the problem.
But how could she take it away from the guardian?
The easiest way was to overwhelm the guardian physically. Not only Kora had Talent-enhanced [Empower] at her disposal but also attribute gear should swap with her current attire. These many attributes should give her an edge.
She swapped the gear with the one in her dimensional pouch and activated [Empower] then used her Talent on it. The boost in strength and dexterity was almost disorienting but with the empty surroundings, she was able to focus her attention on her body to a greater degree.
She moved with unbelievable speed but the guardian was somehow ready and parried her attacks with ease. Impossible! She thought.
The speed of his movement suggests correlation with your speed, her spiritual companion said.
Is this possible? Kora asked.
Unclear, the spiritual companion replied automatically.
Seeing that her physical attributes might not be enough, Kora used [Light Bomb] , blinding the guardian.
He blocked his eyes with his hand, for the first time, giving her an opening.
***
Keynes whipped [Chaos Aura] with greater precision than ever. Using it together with spiritual aura drained his mana and spiritual energy but the only other options were [Mana Shot] and [Mind Illusion]. The former was unlikely to pass through the shield or could be [Counter]ed, which Keynes didn’t like. The latter was difficult due to the elusive nature of the guardian. Each time Keynes got close, the guardian retreated sensing danger.
It left Keynes with [Chaos Aura]. Despite the guardian’s warning, Keynes was going to rely on the spell. He had a plan, something he had never tried or even considered but it sounded like a good idea in his mind. Alice agreed.
He was going to use [Chaos Aura] as a shield. Now that he could precisely control the chaotic nature of the aura, he hoped to be able to use it on enemy’s attacks.
The first blows felt like a hammer hitting Keynes in the head. He was too slow in using [Chaos Aura] on them or the attacks were too fast to be affected.
The guardian always used the staff to hit him, remaining outside of Keynes’s reach.
“Interesting development,” the guardian said, knocking Keynes to the ground. Keynes’s head rang and his vision swam a little. “You’re hoping my mercy would see you through?”
The guardian smiled mockingly but once again Keynes didn’t take the bait. Instead, he released [Mana Shot], which the guardian [Counter]ed. The blast of pure mana shot back and Keynes was forced to evade, but he wasn’t fast enough the attack cut through his side.
“Shit!”
“It looks like pounding the head has loosened some roots there.”
“Hardly,” Keynes replied after he downed a healing potion. The wound started to close. “I just wanted to test something.”
“Well, good for you, child.”
“Not so good for you, old… tree.”
The attack didn’t come as Keynes expected. The guardian regarded Keynes with a dose of suspicion…
A surge of spiritual energy was all the warning Keynes received before roots exploded out of the ground. Using [Flight] Keynes got off the ground and remained in the air. He was sure he could shred the roots but he didn’t lose the element of surprise.
“You’re too slow, old bark,” Keynes said while Alice hissed in his head. Master, what are you doing?! The guardian has a clear advantage you should…
Hush, Keynes sent to Alice, refocusing on his enemy.
This time the guardian took the bait and jumped up into the air. Darkness morphed into feet and the feet dropped on a massive leaf, which had appeared a second later. The guardian positioned himself at the same level as Keynes.
While Keynes waited he made sure to prepare countermeasures. Using [Chaos Aura] and spiritual aura simultaneously was much easier and natural now that he had the trait and Chaos debuff but he still lacked the correct aura techniques. He knew it was only a matter of time now that he understood the process of forming an innate technique…
The guardian attacked and Keynes instantly knew he had made the right decision to move up into the air. The guardian was now handicapped by the speed and manoeuvrability of the leaf, which turned out to be not great.
Still, Keynes allowed his opponent to keep the advantage while he waited for the right moment.
It came eventually and Keynes used [Chaos Aura] on the staff. Because at the Superior stage spiritual energy was capable of interacting with the physical world, Keynes did use it to slow down the attack and subsequent retreat, while at the same time liquifying the staff. It was the fastest conversion he could use. Turning it solid or into an air required more effort than Keynes could whip in such a short time.
As the guardian pulled the staff away, one-third of it had become brown sludge.
“Crude but effective,” the guardian admitted as he floated to the ground. The staff immediately reformed to its prior state. “I like that. You passed the test. You’re granted the entrance to the Inner Sanctuary.”
***
Kora ripped the staff out of the guardian’s hands. The lack of shock on his face was unsettling but in the heat of the moment, Kora didn’t consider it. She instantly put the staff into her dimensional pouch—or rather she tried but the staff refused.
“What?”
The item appears to be bonded, the spiritual companion informed her and to give credence to her words, the staff vanished from Kora’s hands and reappeared in the guardian’s.
He opened his mouth but Kora gently pressed one of the conjured blades into the back of his neck.
“You lost,” she said, knowing the fight was never to death. The guardian was stronger than her even though she outsmarted him, he could have killed her several times throughout the fight.
“I admit defeat,” the guardian said. “You passed the test. You’re granted the entrance to the Inner Sanctuary.”
Everything vanished.
***
Keynes dropped on soft ground.
Grass? Alert, he looked around absorbing the scenery. Where the hell was he? The rainforest was gone and its place replaced by an idyllic valley with streams and orchards. Fields were full of flowers with occasional animals moving here or there.
The climate resembled Keynes more of Western Europe than South America.
The oppressive heat and humidity were also gone. In their place was a soft, pleasant breeze that made Keynes relaxed.
Before a question formulated in his mind, Kora appeared next to him. Behind her stood a large tree that hadn’t been there when Keynes had looked around. It resembled an oversized cherry tree.
“Kora! You’re alright?”
“Yes, I am…”she noticed the scenery. “Is this the Inner Sanctuary?”
“Indeed,” said the voice behind them. They spun, finding the guardian, leaning against the tree. “Relax, you’re safe here.”
“Safe… as if in a safe zone?”
The guardian pushed himself away from the tree.
“The Inner Sanctuary has three rules. No violence. No destruction. No leaving until the competition is over.”
Kora and Keynes instantly perked up. They didn’t like the sound of it.
“What do you mean until the competition is over?” Keynes’s voice grew cold.
“By entering the Inner Sanctuary, you have entered the final competition of this dominion. The first ten ascenders who reach this place would compete with each other across various challenges to gather the most points and win.”
“And how long will it take?” Kora asked.
“Time in this place is relative so there is no precise answer to that,” the guardian replied. He walked by them and after a few steps halted. “Follow me while I explain things to you.”
They exchanged glances. Neither of them said anything. Lem Solaris asked them to reach this place. Of course, the ancient child knew about the Inner Sanctuary.
“Come,” the guardian said and both of them felt the power in the word. They reluctantly followed. “I will answer your questions while we are going to meet the rest of the competitors.”
“Already?”Keynes asked.
“Are we the last ones?”Kora added.
“No,” the guardian replied. “Keynes Kid was third while you were fourth.”
“Then…”
“Time is relative here. To avoid waiting months for the ten to gather, time here was slowed down for that period.”
“How much time did we lose?”Keynes asked sharply.
“Only five months have passed since you have entered the Inner Sanctuary.”
Unbelievable.
“We wasted five months?”Keynes stopped in place, thinking about forcing his way out this place.
“Wasted?” the guardian asked, sounding curious. “I hardly think so. Start with checking your System message.”
Keynes and Kora did while their spiritual companions kept watch. He dismissed the initial congratulations and ‘you have entered this and that’ and moved to the reward.
You have received the Seed of Dream Tree
*
You have received the Trait of Nature
*
You have received 10 essence stones (nature affinity)
“You were so distracted you failed to ask the important questions,” the guardian broke them out of the trance but Keynes barely heard him. Another trait? Holy shit.
Luckily for the two ascenders, Kora had the clarity of the mind.
“Our fight. Was it inside a dream tree, wasn’t it?”
The guardian nodded.
“Additionally, to these obvious rewards, you have received an insight during the fight. You have embraced some new concepts, haven’t you?”
“I guess,” Kora agreed.
“Let’s get to the rest of the competitors,” the guardian happily resumed the walk along the beaten path with scattered flat rocks.
Comments
Cyril Sarnath
I am planning to drop a bonus chapter at some point in the next week. Meant to be this week but didn't work out.
vdv9
Tyftc. Can't wait for more chapters.
