American Isekai - Chapter 85 (Patreon)

My mind worked fast as my front wheel dropped into a crevice.

It was just deep rough to eject me over the front, sending me flying several feet in the air.

My mind worked so fast that I already knew what to do. It was something I had done before. Simply tuck and somersault before popping back up to my feet and running with the momentum.

But before I hit the ground, I felt a strong wall of air pressure cradle my body.

Then, just as I was lowered down by that air, I heard several others scream.

“Shit!”

“Watch out!”

*Crash!*

The crevice acquired more victims, most of those in the front not able to react in time to avoid it.

I jumped to the side to avoid a tumbling bike. Thankfully most of those who crashed were knights, and the warlocks had spells to save them, so they didn’t have a hard time saving themselves.

Well, I was glad I wasn’t the only one.

Just then, Umara slowly rolled to a halt beside me, having crossed the crevice after slowing down.

“Are you okay?”

“Yea, thanks to you.”

I took her hand, pulling myself up before glancing at the others.

Sure enough, all of them were perfectly fine. Nobody even broke a sweat.

And the bikes, being sturdily built, were that damaged. It wasn’t like they had hundreds of moving parts like the vehicles I knew, so they could take much more of a beating.

I walked over to my own bike, lifting it and seeing how it was still on. After seating myself back down though, I pressed the acceleration and felt it jolt forward.

The back wheel spun, but the front wheel snapped off with the pressure, the bike moving on without it.

I jumped off just as it fell.

“Oops.”

“Is everyone alright?”

Mina came around. She had been thrown off as well, but there wasn’t a speck of dust on her dress.

After everyone nodded in confirmation, she sighed.

“Alright, we should continue. Don’t worry about anything that’s broken. Just find a partner to take you. Anything else can be left behind.”

She spoke while lifting her bike, checking and finding that it was okay.

Hearing her, I just shrugged and walked over to Umara.

“Looks like I’m with you.”

“Mm. You want to drive?”

“No, I’ve had enough fun. I’d rather just cruise with you.”

I spoke while taking a seat behind her, putting my hands on her waist before pushing them around her belly, wrapping her in a hug from behind.

She looked away, her ears burning as she tapped the gear switch.

“A-Alright. Let’s go then.”

“Let’s.”

I smiled as she rolled forward, all the others getting themselves situated and following behind Mina.

Four bikes were left behind, but it didn’t seem like Mina cared at all. With so much money, who cared about a few broken toys?

So we continued on our way, and our target thankfully wasn’t far.

Within 5 minutes, we were able to reach a wide open field full of blue grass.

All of us rode up a small hill, peering over a field untouched by farmers.

I looked out, wondering where these Flickers were. I had no idea what they were supposed to be, so I was curious, especially since hunting them was supposed to be so much fun.

However, after a few seconds, I noticed some shifting in the field. The blue grass was close to 3 feet tall, so it could definitely hide a lot within it.

Still, I was able to pick out something splitting the grass as it moved, slithering through like a snake.

It wasn’t all that fast, until I suddenly saw a small flash of light in two places.

My brows raised, and then, I saw Mina pull forward on her bike, her scarlet red hair shifting in the breeze as she smiled out toward the field.

“Whoever catches it first gets to keep it!”

“Really?!”

“Out of my way!”

With her word, everyone suddenly rushed down the hill and stormed into the field, moving as fast as they could.

Umara was right with them, forcing me to clench her torso as she sped off.

“Find the main body, and don’t let it trick you!”

“Okay?”

I answered back confusedly, not sure what she meant.

Still, I looked out and felt for an Aura around us. I felt no danger whatsoever, so these things either weren’t dangerous or just weren’t hostile.

That made them harder to find though. Still, I managed to sense something as a few trails were drawn in the grass by the Flickers.

“There!”

Umara pressed the accelerator as she spotted the closest one, speeding after it.

The thing finally showcased its speed, shooting off just as fast and putting some distance with its agility. Umara was forced to make some sharp turns, but with the magic of the bike, so long as we didn’t hit a crevice and could hang on, it wouldn’t lose traction.

I pressed against her body, shifting my weight with hers as we turned with the Flicker. We managed to cover some ground, getting close behind it. That’s when I finally saw what it was.

It was a wolf, but also not a wolf. The body was wolf like, but it had wings on tis back, six legs instead of four, and horns that pointed backward similar to a goat’s.

Its fur was a bright blue, perhaps closer to white than blue as it was whiter than sky blue. It gave off a cold feeling, especially its eyes.

It glanced back at us with forward facing eyes, and I was able to glimpse its crystal azure irises.

It was a beautiful creature, despite being some odd chimera of an arctic wolf with eagle wings and goat horns.

I also felt an amazing power coming from its Aura. As we started to approach, and the instant Umara tried to cast magic, the creature suddenly flashed.

And then, a few other identical images of that creature appeared, as if it had cloned itself.

They all ran off in different directions, each one looking like the original. It was impossible to differentiate them.

Not only that, but from those clones came some other creatures that spawned from their bodies.

Little birds, rabbits, deer, and other prey animals appeared and started running toward the bike.

Still, I felt no threat from any of them. They were merely distractions, and as soon as we ran into the first one, I realized that it wasn’t actually tangible.

But what they did do was inhibit my Aura. When it collided with the bike, and my body, I felt my Aura get compromised by the creature, unable to sense anything beyond the animal that hit us and flickered away.

The feeling went away quick enough, but there were more than enough of those animals to keep the distraction constant.

They were illusions, and I started to feel some familiarity with how they were being used.

After all, this had been done to me once before. Except back then, I almost died from it.

And yet I had learned to see through it. My Aura, which had merely been an intangible and immature mess, was actually able to pierce through the veil.

Or, attempt to. Apocryon’s Aura was so vast that I had barely made a scratch. But I felt that doing even that was commendable.

He had taught me a lot from a single exchange. The man was a genius.

And this creature, this Flicker, wasn’t on that level.

So I pulled out my 1911 and fired.

*Bang!*

The bullet sailed through one of the oncoming animals, shattering its body and destroying the illusion.

The same thing happened as I emptied the magazine, all of the illusions in front of us vanishing with flickers of light.

“Amazing!”

Umara brightened up, driving faster without worry about the disorienting powers of the illusions.

She turned, following one of the clones of the original creature.

“The other bodies can’t go far from its main one! Attack the body and check! If it dies easily, then its a fake! Just make sure to keep your attacks light! We can’t hurt it if it’s actually the main body!”

“Alright!”

I nodded before sending away the pistol, taking out a Trench Gun.

I aimed at the body we were following, firing only when we got within 30 meters.

*BOOM*

*Splat!*

The pellets turned the creature into a bloody mess, its body instantly collapsing.

But I hadn’t even empowered that shot, so it was definitely too easy.

“That’s not it!”

“Damn. Next then!”

Umara turned to find the next one. As she did so, I looked back and saw the corpse disappear with a flash of light.

These things were tricky, weren't they?

Still, why would everyone be so excited to hunt them? Sure, they were difficult yet harmless, so it would make for a relaxed yet competitive activity.

But everyone’s excitement told me there was something else to this game. Not to mention the power of the creature. I had a feeling they were valuable. Umara did tell me to keep my attacks light. That meant we shouldn’t injure it.

I pondered as she found the second body. This time, I didn’t hesitate to simply dire off some regular shots.

And its body was immediately riddled with wounds, prompting Umara to turn yet again to find the next body.

However, after looking around between the three remaining clones, I pat her shoulder and pointed.

“Go after that one!”

“Alright!”

She didn’t hesitate to follow my direction. It didn’t matter either way, but she knew that my Aura was sharp.

I was just trusting my senses, which I did implicitly.

So we rolled up to one of the bodies, and after reloading a few shells, I aimed and fired.

*BOOM*

The pellets went flying, and this time, the body didn’t show the slightest sign of blood.

Umara’s back straightened in excitement.

“That’s it! Suppress it! We need to capture it!”

“I’ll try.”

I mumbled back. I wasn’t exactly good at not killing things. It was either a lot of damage or little damage.

But I had a trick up my sleeve. I remembered my time within Apocryon’s illusion.

I didn’t know if anyone else saw it, but there was one important detail I noticed when I had fought back.

I had raised and fired my gun straight at him, and yet, it hadn’t made it to him.

If everything really had been an illusion back then, my bullet would have landed. So that either meant it hadn’t been an illusion and his Aura could bend reality, or I didn’t actually fire a physical bullet.

And the conclusion was the latter. I had in fact fired a bullet, but in that illusive world, neither the gun nor the bullet fired had manifested in reality.

What I brought out was the spirit of the gun, and what I fired was the spirit of the bullet.

I had attacked his Aura with my own using my summons as the medium to deliver its power.

Apocryon, as a warlock, used odd spells to create those black spikes that attacked me. They were illusions, but still magic.

I simply did the same thing, except using my summons since I didn’t have magic.

The result?

I could attack with my Aura. It wasn’t even a fraction to the degree of Apocryon, but I had opened that door.

So now, against this Aura creature, I decided to do the same thing.

*BOOM*

*Flash!*

After I fired my shotgun, I saw a flash as an illusory shield appeared around its body. It almost stumbled as well.

Its Aura flickered. I could sense its surprise and panic. It probably wasn’t expecting to encounter someone who could directly affect it.

So having finally realized that it was being threatened, it flickered.

Its body disappeared entirely, and what appeared in its place was yet another set of clones.

Two of them ran off in opposite directions while the third turned around to fight.

With a quick thought though, I pointed to the right.

“That one!”

“Okay!”

Umara jerked the bike, causing it to drift and turn toward the running creature.

At the same time, I pointed my trench gun at the clone that turned to fight, firing and scattering the illusion.

After that, the clone that ran to the left also dissipated, leaving only the one that I had pointed toward.

Umara caught back up to it with ease. Her skill on a bike impressed me. Then again, she had done this before, probably several times throughout her life.

The creature continued to run, even flapping its wings to flip directions with incredible agility. Umara almost skid out a few times, barely able to keep up.

But it couldn’t escape us, especially as I suppressed it with my gun. I constantly let off shots with my Aura, nothing that affected the physical world yet scrambled Aura very effectively.

It still utilized as much energy as firing normal shots. I still had to empower it with my Psyka and still had to conjure spirits from my dimension. It was combat as I had always known it, except every shell I fired let out illusions that only I and the target could see and hear.

Well, Umara could also see it since she was within proximity. But all the others running around chasing their own targets couldn’t.

And because it couldn’t escape us, not even when it tried to fly away, I knew we were bound to win.

Sure enough, after I let off enough shells, the beast slowed down to a halt unable to continue. Its Aura flickered out of control, barely able to maintain itself as its six legs stumbled unsteadily.

We slowed down not far from it. I jumped off right then with my gun raised, Umara staying on the bike just in case it wanted to try and run off again.

“So what do we do with this thing? Is there a way to capture it?”

“Mina has the collar, but I can bind it.”

She spoke and took out her staff, casting a large, complex spell.

The wind was kicked up a bit, the blue grass around us swaying with her magic until the streams of air compressed and wrapped around the creature. I could see the vapor of her magic coalesce around its body, binding it and holding its figure in place.

It could no longer flicker and release clones, even when it tried. Although Umara wasn’t doing the same as I was and launching Aura attacks, Mana was still able to affect it.

She walked up to me, the spell continuing to operate after having been cast.

She had a huge smile, barely containing her excitement as her focus started to ease.

“We did it! You made that battle far easier.”

“I can see why they would be difficult to hunt. I attacked its Aura, so someone who doesn’t know how to do that would have to expend a lot more energy to whittle it down.”

“Of course. I mean, look at those guys.”

She pointed, causing me to turn to all the other bikes flying through the blue field.

All of the others were casting dozens of spells while the knights were using their insane speed to try and slice at it with swords and spears. None of them were having an easy time, or they were outright failing since they couldn't track the main body as well as I could.

The key to this game was Aura. Without that, you couldn’t win unless you used overwhelming power.

These Flickers didn’t seem amazingly powerful beyond their Aura. This one didn’t fight back with magic or its body. After I dispersed its Aura, it was too weakened to do anything.

After chuckling at the hilarious figures of everyone fighting to capture those Flickers, I turned back to my own prey and walked over to it.

I didn’t feel any danger from it, only warning. It was scared of me, but I could feel intelligence behind those crystal blue eyes.

It observed me as I squatted down in front of it. Umara also silently strengthened her magic, worried that it might try to hurt me.

I reached out with my hand, slowly and without malicious intent. If this was so in tune with Aura, it could no doubt feel my intentions, especially when I made it obvious.

So it didn’t try to stop me, only apprehensive as I touched its shoulder.

Its fur was incredibly soft, and yet its body was rigid. It was definitely as strong as a knight of its level.

From its shoulder I moved my hand to the base of its wings, feeling them flinch a bit. I ignored that though and ran my fingers through its feathers.

The hairs of each feather were stringy. They were strong like metal threads, yet retaining their flexibility. The shaft of each feather was even stronger, like metal pens.

After the wings I felt the horns. They weren’t metallic, but they may as well have been. I couldn’t really test it, but I could tell they were impossibly hard to damage. They were also pitch black, contrasting against its snowy blue fur.

I stood with a sigh, admiring it like a piece of art.

“What an amazing creature. Are they all like this?”

“Every Flicker is unique. They’re all hybrids of various animals. Snakes with feathered wings, turtles with the head of an eagle, lions with the tails of a scorpion. No two are the same, however, these also aren’t normal animals. They’re spirits.”

“Spirits? Like summoned spirits?”

“I believe that’s the consensus, yes.”

Umara nodded, walking closer to the creature.

“From the legends, Flickers start out as little wisps, aimless spirits that spawn from other dimensions. And once they come to our world, they see all the creatures within it and create their body in their own image. This is why all Flickers are unique. They aren’t born from parents, at least not that we know of, so each one is its own entity and chooses its own form. The body of a Flicker represents its personality.”

“Hmm.”

I tilted my head, scanning the creature before me.

“I guess this one likes strength. It’s also agile.”

“Yea, it's slippery. The only reason we had a chance at capturing this thing was because you took it down. Speaking of, how’d you do that?”

“Just used my Aura. I’ll tell you about it later.”

Explaining such a thing would be better done during a discussion, so I brushed off the topic and continued looking at the creature.

Suddenly though, I frowned with a thought.

“Do these things ever take on the form of a human?”

“Actually, no. I’m not sure why they don’t, but I’ve never heard of a humanoid Flicker. Some people say that they’re not intelligent enough to mimic us. Others say that there’s another power that stops them. Perhaps there’s something special about the human form. Regardless, everyone seems to agree that there’s no such thing as a Flicker taking on human characteristics.”

“Curious.”

I rubbed my chin in thought. From my perspective, there wasn’t any reason why they shouldn’t be able to take on human form. Beyond the intelligence and whatnot, humans were animals too. We had organic bodies just like every other creature on the planet. Or, at least from the perspective of Earth. I wasn’t so sure that was the case here.

Regardless, the form shouldn’t matter. Humans walked on two legs and used two arms to carry out tasks. And if they could mimic the organ design of animals, they could do it for humans.

So I wondered. Was there something else there? Maybe there was something special about the human form, just not in the way people thought. Instead of Flickers being unable to mimic humans, perhaps the smart ones did it and something special happened to them.

It was an interesting hypothesis that couldn’t be answered anytime soon. Nonetheless, the very existence of a creature like this was fascinating.