[MA] 329. Unthinkable and Humiliating (Patreon)

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[A/N: Chapters this week: 1/3

Next chapter: Thursday]

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Blue Sky's Path had six Laws spread among three Axioms: Water, Fire, and Death. Rayna's had three Laws from three Axioms: Air, Annihilation, and Darkness.

Their auras clashed and suppressed each other as the women got closer; their wills engaged in battle long before their magic or weapons could do anything.

Shen analyzed everything with great interest. Talent was valued by the Alliance as an official organization, while the military cared a lot about potential, but what truly mattered to smaller organizations, races, and nations was usable strength. Talent and potential couldn't help with the countless issues they had to deal with on a daily basis.

Shen had learned the most widespread classification for one's fighting ability. Each rank had ten tiers, from 1 to 10, and then the ultimate tier. The classification didn't worry about future potential or how fast someone progressed, only actual power, including their equipment and any other advantage, and how well they used it.

Liya, who had formed a domain at C-rank and knew how to effectively use it, had been at the C-rank's ultimate tier. There was no growing stronger than that at C-rank. Except for another Guardian with a domain or being cut from mana, nothing at C-rank could threaten her. She even had a slight chance of beating a B-rank who lacked a domain.

Domains at C-rank were very rare. Very, very, very rare. That went to show how Uk'Gaar was also powerful. Even at B-rank, only about one in ten people had domains and usually developed those when they got close to the peak.

Therefore, despite being able to retract their auras, Blue Sky and Rayna should not have domains, just like their files suggested. Unlike what Shen had learned in the Feng Clan and Liya had confirmed, auras could be controlled with the proper technique. It was just that it was a ridiculously rare skill. She hadn't known about it, neither had it been part of the knowledge he had had access to as the Feng Clan's Keeper of Knowledge.

After everything Shen learned in elite combat training, it became obvious that the drow compartmentalized what they taught their people and controlled their interactions to the extreme. Whoever had advanced bits of knowledge rarely, if ever, interacted with those who knew other things. Not unless they had the respective military clearance. On top of that, they weren't supposed to share their knowledge with each other. That way, the drow could teach elite individuals as much military knowledge as possible without breaking the rules. Abbav had been wrong or lying when he said the drow had crossed the line.

Liya had learned what she was supposed to know, according to her superiors' evaluation of her, nothing more, nothing less. That's what had been passed to Shen.

Blue Sky's background check suggested that she had learned the aura-controlling technique from her family, who had high status in her homeworld. Rayna's source, however, was an incognita. Shen suspected the drow but would have to assume her background check was incorrect and she had a domain, as unlikely as it was.

Whatever the case, mana-wielding C-ranks with C+ stats, mastered Laws, and auras were statistically at least tier-5 unless they were lazy or stupid. The two women had been hand-picked to an Exemplary Brigade, so they should be at least tier-6.

Shen was currently barely at tier 8. His low stats and lack of a mastered Law limited his power output despite his fighting ability. Then again, that was an excellent evaluation for someone lacking base strength to build upon. At C-rank, tier 10 meant the very best someone without a domain could be. They were living legends. Tier 9 were skilled elites who made their entire races proud and changed the course of wars—if B-ranks didn't get involved. Tier 8 was good enough for the current Shen.

That was a particularly good evaluation for him because skill alone meant nothing if it couldn't be properly used to fight. Vinamour, for instance, could do something Shen couldn't: open the short spacetime tunnel-ish, but it meant nothing. Of course, if Vinamour's overall fighting ability was similar in other areas, he should be somewhere around mid-tier-7.

Speaking of which, the guy became furious at Blue Sky's betrayal. He decided that he, too, didn't care about agreements anymore. He waited a few moments, then rushed toward Shen.

Shen smiled.

It seemed his time to lazily analyze everything was coming to an end. It would soon be time to work.

He should be strong enough to fight Vinamour while checking the battlefield and taking disqualified people out of the fight. It would be his greatest challenge ever since returning from elite combat training. His missions had been awfully dull after he was forged into an effective weapon.

That is—if Vinamour could even attack Shen, to begin with.

C-ranks were forbidden from hurting D-ranks even by mistake in this exercise, so a minimum engagement distance was preferable. Unfortunately for Vinamour, Shen had learned to use one of his greatest strengths in a special way. The sneaky technique wasn't even limited to being wielded exclusively against the Alliance's enemies because it had multiple drawbacks. But it was a great tool under the right circumstances, like against someone like Vinamour, if Shen's estimates were correct.

Playing with Vinamour would be fun, and if the guy controlled his anger until the end of the free-for-all, he would prove himself valuable to the Brigade. Shen would even see if he could help him become a better defender of Reality. The peak of C-rank, Shen had learned, was where the Alliance started struggling to find good warriors. Merely confirming someone was worthy of further investment would already be considered meritorious service on Shen's part.

More excitingly, if Vinamour didn't do something stupid—as in treason-stupid—until Shen ensured the D-ranks' safety, Shen would fight the man head-on. As much as Shen was confident that he wouldn't get distracted enough by a fight that a D-rank would get seriously injured or killed, he wouldn't risk innocent lives just for a bit of fun.

But Heavens, how he hoped Vinamour would display some temperance!

Their battle would be epic and a great display for everyone involved—even in the unlikely event of Shen's defeat.

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Truth be told, Blue Sky's defiance was good for Vinamour. The battle between D-ranks became absolute chaos, and his victory in overall numbers was all but guaranteed. As for the second point, he could also earn it with minimal effort. He only needed to help the lansier—such a weird race—defeat the drow and find a way to preserve his strength.

Victory would be his.

But how could he accept the humiliation of being betrayed—and then getting indebted to the traitor?!

Vinamour didn't even have to change his Song consciously. The fury of his soul demanded bloody justice. The beats and chords of his Path became fast, furious, loud, and aggressive. After taking command of the Brigade, he would immediately demote Blue Sky for her despicable actions.

For now, however, he would control his Path instead of letting himself get in the flow.

"The Companies are to step back and preserve their strength!" he commanded, yelling over the chaos that suddenly erupted in the room. "Only fight if attacked! Lieutenants, wait with me!"

Vinamour knew he deserved to be placed above the weak races around him, but he despised underhanded methods. Preserving his troops' power in the free-for-all while his adversaries wasted their strength was a primary strategy; he didn't feel dirty for doing so. But winning by merely helping a betrayer defeat Vinamour's sworn foe?

Unthinkable and humiliating.

His race was superior also because of its righteous stance on all matters. They had to prove their superiority when questioned instead of forcing people to accept it out of fear for their overall power and status. Not that they refused submission, no matter the reason it was given, but being questioned changed things. Vinamour himself had to prove Samir's General was stupid. He would accept nothing else.

And there was only one way to prove himself: through an overwhelming victory over the inferior specimen placed above him.

The fact that Shen looked tranquil as he observed everything, as if it was all beneath him, enraged Vinmaour even more. His heart beat furious to the tune of his Music, pumping blood through his body so quickly that it hurt. He took in the pain and used it to push his Song into a greater rage.

Power coursed through his veins.

But he still wouldn't be controlled by his emotions. Not now. Not again. Not ever.

He waited until Blue Sky's two Lieutenants concluded they should help their Battalion Commander. At last, they also attacked Shen's group. Shen's high-elven Lieutenant, arrogant that he was, stepped ahead to stop both fighters.

Finally, it was time for Vinamour to act in person. His people would use basic tactics, which would be their opportunity to display wisdom and strength. He, on the other hand, would hunt more valuable prey.

"Help defeat whichever C-rank is at a disadvantage," he told his Lieutenants.

He left unsaid that they should focus more on defeating Shen's C-ranks. It was a minor test for his Lieutenants if it could even be called that.

"And stay out of the way," he added.

Vinamour had never fought by the two Lieutenants' side. He didn't trust them, primarily because Samir's General had displayed his lack of wisdom in picking Shen as Brigade Commander. More importantly, he would not allow them to dim his glory.

Anticipating Vinamour's movements, his Music blasted into a peak of emotional explosion and fury. He rushed towards Shen. Vinamour specialized in killing his enemies fast, and the Song pushed his speed even further than his agility, Laws, and skills should make possible.

But before using all his advantages, he would give Shen a nod and show everyone he wasn't an idiot. It would be a mix of acknowledgment of Vinamour's mistake and proof that he had learned.

He had messed up the last time he used the spacetime tunnel because he wanted to show off. Now, he connected time and space between him and Shen with a less extreme against Reality. Shen couldn't destroy it as easily this time. That would show everyone how he could control his power and learn from his mistakes.

He went through the tunnel...

...and found empty air where his foe should be.

Vinamour looked back to find Shen had moved way too quickly. In the instant between Vinamour's eyes entering the spatial tunnel and instantly coming on the other side, the First Lieutenant had disappeared from his position and was now...

...disqualifying mere D-ranks?!

He dared to disregard Vinamour like that?!

The humiliation ran through Vinamour's soul as he left the tunnel. Vinamour could no longer deny the truth: Shen could counter his tunnel in different ways. But it was alright. Vinamour wasn't perfect, and the tunnel was meant to look fancy, nothing else.

It was time to put his true abilities to use.

The cultivator was bringing thirty-seven D-ranks with him back to the corner of the room, all held afloat by his Laws. He didn't even look as he took thirteen other D-ranks that were mid-battle on the opposite side of the room and brought them to him. Instead of protecting the D-ranks with Law shields, he juggled them around to avoid the countless attacks in the room. He didn't want to get in the way of the weaklings' battles. That alone was an impressive display of skill and awareness—for a subrace.

As Shen moved, he looked surprised at noticing Vinamour was where he had just been. He nodded as if acquaintances meeting each other on the street and kept approaching slowly.

Vinamour locked his eyes on his target and rushed with all his speed—

He stopped midway through when Shen simply disappeared again. Shen and the D-ranks had just vanished...

No.

No!

He hadn't disappeared!

Vinamour looked back at where he had been, and Shen was there, lazily looking at the combatants. But Vinamour had been looking at the battlefield this time instead of exclusively obsessing with Shen. It wasn't just Shen who had suddenly moved. Everyone had.

Vinamour had been stopped in time! But how?! He felt no Law from the Axioms of Time in Shen's Path! Was it a special artifact? But to affect him without his notice, how powerful was it? B+ rank? A-rank? S-rank?!

He refused to believe such an artifact could be used repeatedly without consequence and ran toward Shen again.

He failed once more. But this time, he noticed the slightest of headaches. It had already been there before but had gone unnoticed because he was using his physical pain to fuel his rage. Yet, Vinamour never got headaches. Ever. Not unless he lost a battle of wills.

He had heard cultivators with strong willpower could temporarily daze an adversary without the latter's notice. It was a sneaky willpower attack meant for infiltration or crowd control. On top of requiring great willpower and other things—which Vinamour had been told he didn't have enough clearance to know—it had multiple limitations, including that the target wouldn't be affected if they felt endangered. If they did, the attacker and victim would engage in an actual, conscious battle of wills.

A seed of admiration found unwilling soil in Vinamour's mind.

Shen had quickly gotten rid of Vinamour's tunnel, but while it had been somewhat unusual, it could've been luck or previous experience dealing with a foe with a similar ability. However, few people would trap Vinamour like this.

Shen had assessed Vinamour's self-confidence could be used against him. Vinamour didn't fear Shen at all, not in a frontal assault, so he wouldn't feel threatened, and the mind trick could work. Moreover, Vinamour's Song strengthened even his overall willpower, yet his frustration also created a specific crack for Shen to exploit, which few would notice or risk targeting. Shen had detected it, bet on his own resolve being stronger than Vinamour's, and acted swiftly. If not for Vinamour's unique mental constitution that prevented most psychic pain, he would have been trapped in a loop of humiliation and frustration until this battle ended. The more frustrated he felt, the better Shen's ability would work.

"Very well," he said as he stopped moving. "I concede I must fight seriously."

He released his aura and made his immediate surroundings stable. Qi could be indirectly stimulated, which was how his mind was affected even when he didn't use any mana to form a bridge for a proper willpower battle. Now, however, all qi inside his aura refused to be indirectly controlled.

Vinamour didn't have to do that to protect himself. Merely purposefully willing the mana in his body to protect his mind would be enough to foil the mental trick. The sneaky ability had that many weaknesses. But as he had said, he would do Shen the honor of treating him as a worthy foe.

Inside his aura, all unenchanted matter vibrated—air, the ground, even people. The entire room shook as his aura brought his Song to the world.

Loudly. Violently.

He had to control it, or the E-ranks would get injured.

Many D-ranks were surprised, and even a couple of C-ranks hesitated in their fight, but soon, they were all back to fight. His Music became a fitting soundtrack for the chaotic battlefield. It fueled and boosted violence and frenzy.

Vinamour, too, at long last, simultaneously focused and let loose his mind.

Everything he was, body, soul and mind, Laws and beliefs, weapon and goals, danced in sync with the marvelously destructive tune of his Path.

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[A/N: I liked this chapter.]

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