Chapter 233 - Squeezing Water From A Rock (Patreon)

An inferno of deadly elemental fire enveloped Jiran, but not before his aspect raced out to meet it. The two opposing forces clashed, releasing a mountain of steam that billowed outward to obscure the battlefield. The nearer tier nine threw his hands up defensively and jumped backward off his aura.

Armament supplied a steady flow of mana to Jiran's tap where it was converted to additional aspect, filling the space around him with blistering cold. Rather than continue to fight the flames head-on, he surrounded himself in a condensed protective layer of aspect, then punched a spike of the frigid energy straight through and to the outside of the blaze. Using that seemingly feeble lance of ice, he transferred a ludicrous quantity of aspect, far more than someone his tier had any right commanding.

He surrounded the flames in a massive egg of ice, trapping them, and simultaneously obscuring what he was about to do. Armament was burning out fast, so Jiran didn’t waste any time flooding the egg, filling it in its entirety. He matched and mixed his elemental fire with the talismans’, Enthralling Touch and Elemental Castigation overwhelming the powerful energy and gaining control, bending it to his will.

Armament: + 2

Enthralling Touch: + 1

Jiran released his inner-shell of ice, nodding in satisfaction at how easily his new skill, aspect, and older skills had combined to overcome what should have been a far superior attack. Mana Omnis allowed him to look through his outer layer of ice, revealing the further of the two tier nines was still pumping a death-dealing amount of elemental lightning through his channels.

Can't let them see my skills and live. Don't want to kill them either, and they’re probably too high-tier for Venom. Damnit, this is annoying. Wait! I can use this!

One of his minds took over the fire’s energy, using it to create an object that he dragged along behind him. The rest of his minds sharpened their intent, digging into his internal mana to form attacks that wouldn't reveal his true capabilities. 

The closer of the two realized the huge egg was purely defensive and charged once more. There hadn’t even been enough time for gravity to begin pulling on the construct when Jiran released his hold on the solidified aspect and the entire thing exploded into misty fog. It melded with the still-escaping steam, using the moisture as a bridge to rapidly expand.

Before either tier nine could react, they were trapped within a cloud of aspect that drastically reduced their speed. Both men found their movements turning sluggish, and even their mana didn't want to cooperate, momentarily resisting their efforts to control it. Jiran took full advantage of their hesitation. He activated Oneness and jumped off his aura, closing on the distant cloaked figure. The other moved to his rear, giving chase at a speed still slightly faster than Jiran’s.

Unlike his target who had to slowly push mana through his channels to avoid hurting himself, Jiran could prepare an attack as quickly as he could will it into being. He accessed Armament’s storage, opening two tiny and invisible holes—one in front of each of his eyes. Elemental Castigation transformed the latent energy into dual beams of framework-devouring darkness. They raced outward, digging a swath through the fabric of reality.

Elemental Castigation: + 1

Predictably, the man dodged, but Jiran was ready. Additional, distant holes opened along the path of the beams, allowing him a real-time connection to reshape their intent. From each hole, purposed mana waited just behind the veil that Armament existed in. When the dark beams struck the holes, they were deflected ever so slightly, making his attacks appear to curve on their own.

The tier nine panicked, unable to properly dodge with the biting chill sapping his strength. With no other option, he released his impressive Channeling early. Both hands pointed toward Jiran and a colossal congregation of lightning blanketed the sky in pure whiteness. Jiran clamped his eyes shut, his darkened visor not nearly enough to compensate. Luckily, he didn't need to see. His aspect felt in exacting detail as the lightning blew apart his weaker beams on its way to him.

Jiran's heart raced with anticipation as he put the final touches on an entirely new creation. He threw the object formed from the talismans’ fiery mana in front of him. By this point, it had grown into a hollow pillar of copper, aluminum, gold, and platinum. He had taken an extra precaution as it formed, picturing the particles combining perfectly into hexagonal super molecular structures, similar to graphene but combining the strengths of each substance. The construct had not only cost every mote of mana from the talismans’ fire, but a sizable chunk from his Armament as well.

After the creation of the first tiny section, Mana Confluence now had something to copy and the rest of the construction happened in an instant. The pillar grew to fifty meters in height and was curved along its entire length, forming a half-moon structure. As his opponent's lightning reached the pillar, it was sucked inside the highly conductive tube. Miraculously, it wasn't immediately annihilated like the ground had been before.

There were several factors for Jiran’s success. First, Elemental Castigation maintained several advantages over Channeling, the most notable being the ability to command the element long after release, something thought impossible in the empire. Also, while elements created with mana carried many properties outside particle physics, at their core, they functioned similarly enough. In this case, Jiran’s ability to connect with the entirety of his created column allowed him to reinforce it with additional mana on the fly. He also split his focus, attacking the intent buried inside the lightning, convincing enough of it to follow his directions that the rest followed obediently.

The lightning tore through the metal tube and shot from the other end, right in the direction of the closer tier nine. Like his ally, the man panicked, Teleporting away at the last moment. He appeared next to the other, puking blood, most of his clothes and skin melted together. The two tier nines shared a look, then grasped hands. The healthier of the two smashed a fist into his chest, shattering a talisman buried beneath his skin. In a blink, the two vanished into a nearby synapse.

Jiran held his breath, his heart racing as he closed one eye. Gaze of Pediamus connected him with the two men, revealing their new location was far enough away that he couldn’t spot any of the devastation from their short yet brutal battle.

That was too close. He was bone-dry after healing himself. Not sure how he teleported again so quickly but it clearly cost him a ton of mana. Aspect maybe? Whatever, Just glad he lived. He had a brand in the shape of a thirteen. Does that mean there are at least three full parties of tier nines working for the church? Well, minus one. Still, fourteen of them… How am I going to get through this without starting another timer?

Jiran was pulled from his unpleasant thoughts as his column of metal crashed into the ground with a hefty thud. He dropped back to the teleportation platform. It appeared no worse for wear, despite all the firepower thrown in its direction. His wall of ice was less than pristine, yet had held enough to protect his friends had they been foolish enough to step through. His remaining aspect connected with the wall and absorbed it. The moment he saw them on the far side, he knew he'd made a mistake.

They charged through, arms raised and ready for a fight. Though they quickly came to their senses upon seeing the destruction in every direction that stretched further than the eye could see.

Surprisingly, Niya was the first to talk, Mayalyn simply glaring daggers at him, “I just told you to communicate when you're planning to run off alone and you did it again! It hasn’t even been an hour!” She threw up her hands, turning to storm off but then spun toward him again, “You know, Jiran, I can handle it. I thought you were dead for half my life, so you running off to die is just the usual. But watching Mayalyn suffer because you're too foolish for a simple explanation? No way. Not again. If you don't fix this habit, I'm leaving.”

“You're right. I wanted to seize the advantage of surprise, but it wouldn’t have taken me even a second to make a message,” Jiran’s brows furrowed and he nodded. Niya narrowed her eyes but didn’t interrupt him. “In just a few weeks, I got used to being on my own and forgot I'm only one member of the best party in the empire. I made a mistake and didn’t consider beyond protecting you physically, which isn’t nearly enough. It won't happen again. I’m sorry.”

Niya whistled, nodding with an impressed frown, “Not sure I've ever heard those words from his mouth. I'm actually tempted to believe him.” Without another word, she hopped into the air, flying slowly to the southeast, observing the wasteland that was once the People’s Cavern.

Mayalyn marched to stand in front of him. She took off her helmet and scented deeply. With an explosive huff, she grabbed his chin and pulled him into the roughest kiss they had ever shared. Then, she pushed him away just as suddenly, “Never again.” She snarled and leaped into the air, activating her boosters to quickly catch Niya.

Jiran released a relieved sigh, knowing he'd dodged a much scarier lightning bolt than any tier nine could throw. Cameron patted him on the back consolingly, “Ahh, it's good to have you back. So nice to not be the center of every glower these girls get up to.”

“Har har. Very funny.”

Looking around, Cameron whistled, “So, what happened? This place looks like my old man had a spar with Dominus.”

“Couple tier nines waiting in ambush. I managed to scare them off without accidentally killing them. Went pretty well, honestly. Had it been two beasts, yeah, I'm not ready for that just yet.”

Jiran didn't miss the wince that Niya and Mayalyn shared. Cameron stared hard at him, trying to figure out how much of what he said was the truth. Eventually, he settled on brushing off the incident like it never happened, and Jiran was all too glad to let him, “Better catch up before they get too far. Those tier nines still around?”

Jiran shook his head, moving to follow the girls, “I saw them Teleport away, but they aren’t alone. Help me keep an eye out? Your visor is nearly as good as my skill and has its own built-in mana source. If it runs out, I'll refill it.”

Cameron flew next to him, easily keeping up with Jiran’s slow pace, “Oh, wow. Yeah, course I’ll help. Did you realize you've changed again? Almost feels like you’re a completely different person.”

Jiran’s expression showed how confused he was, “Really? Doesn't feel like it. What's different?”

“Hard to say. More mature, maybe?” Cameron tilted his head in a rare display of thoughtfulness. “You probably, no, definitely should have died a minute ago, yet you're calm as can be. Yup, that's it. You're more in control of yourself, confident. Seems that way, anyhow.”

“Thanks, I think. Nearly dying a dozen times over a couple weeks is bound to cause some changes. You ever find it interesting how people don't lose their minds more often with how much danger we have to face just to survive and ascend?”

It was Cameron’s turn to adopt a confused frown, “Why would people lose their minds to anything other than going wild?” He shrugged, his easy smile returning, “Well, at least you're just as strange as you used to be." They shared a chuckle and Cameron clapped him on the shoulder much harder than before, “Good to have you back, Jiran. Glad you survived whatever it was you went through.”

“Me too! Appreciate you keeping your cool while I was gone so the girls didn't freak out even more.”

The corners of Cameron’s mouth pulled down in a cringe, “You could tell?”

“It's the skill. I can see the tremors in your muscles,” Jiran pointed at Cameron’s neck and shoulders, “Those ones are new, and a few others, not to mention your mana is a mess. We'll get her back, Cammy. Even if I have to bring the entire church to its knees.”

For a fleeting moment, Cameron allowed his fear, so well hidden for days, to be open for Jiran to see, “What about Palo and Loro? We can't stop them.”

Jiran clapped his friend on the shoulder, giving better than he got, “You remember that Remalon who showed up at Mortan?” Cameron gave him a look that screamed ‘duh,’ causing Jiran to chuckle. “He did something to me that makes it dangerous for even the emperors to mess with me. It's not much to go on, but unless Dominus shows up, it's all we've got.”

They caught up to the girls, and Cameron’s brave front was back in place like it never slipped. Niya narrowed one eye at him, lifting the opposite brow but he merely shook his head subtly and she let whatever she was going to say drop. Flying backwards, she faced Jiran, “So, what's the plan now?”

“Outlands, summon the army, then hopefully convince every tier nine in the church to ambush me at the same time.”

She faltered, dipping several meters before catching herself, “You want them to-nevermind! I don't know why I bother asking you questions. Might as well try squeezing water from a rock for all the good it does me. Let me know when you feel like talking sense.” Her aura flexed, pulling her forward in a powerful lunge.

Jiran and Cameron glanced at each other, nodded, and then Cameron raced to catch her. Mana flowed smoothly through his visor as he looked left and right, keeping a watchful eye on the horizon. Jiran joined Mayalyn and she gave him a look that made it clear she wanted to talk. He scooped her into his aura and she settled right in, relaxing with a sigh he'd never grow tired of hearing.

To Jiran’s great relief, she cut straight to the heart of her issue, “The gap in our strength is growing larger. I… do not enjoy it. It is one thing for you to leave, another entirely that I cannot help you in any meaningful way.”

Jiran nodded, having known since he ascended that this conversation was inevitable, “If I had it my way, I'd stay at this tier for a long time. More than long enough for you to catch up.”

She stared into the distance, lines of worry and pain etched into her features, “Things never go the way we wish though, do they?”

Jiran pushed on his emotions, making sure she could feel the well of reassurance and eagerness laying dormant in his heart, “There’s so much I have to tell you about this last arena, and what came after. I learned a lot. More than I imagined I would, and especially more about density. Maybe enough to make a difference with how quickly it can be absorbed.”

“Really?” Her expression brightened, and Jiran's heart skipped a beat from how beautiful she was. 

“Yup. If I try really hard, I can even see it. Before I tier up, I should be able to watch as you absorb density so we can figure out exactly where the hold-up is.”

She took a deep breath, her eyes lighting up as she tasted his emotions, “Very well then. I will permit you to grow slightly stronger. But no timer, which means no more ‘you know what.’”

Jiran nodded emphatically, “Couldn't agree more. One of my new skills should help with that. It lets me… actually, I better not say it out here. I always assumed my aura was enough to block eavesdroppers, but I met a-someone, named Gheratross. I don't think my aura could ever stop her, or anyone like her.”

“Another woman? Really Jiran?”

“Pretty sure you don't have to worry about an eyeball the size of a moon stealing me away.”

“Of course not. Eyeballs are squishy. She would not survive my wrath!” Mayalyn giggled at her own joke and Jiran laughed right alongside her.