As powerful as the wave of Firmant heading toward us is, it's not focused. It breaks against my barriers like a tide of water breaking against a dam. The damage it does is still imnse enough to shatter all six folds of the Hexfold Barrier, but it can't quite get through the Crystallized Barrier I've set up behind it.
"...Ethan?" There's a note of confusion in Vahrkos's voice, like he's not sure where he is or what he's doing. "Why are you here?"
I glance at Vahrkos. He's confused, but that confusion is quickly being replaced with a sharp focus. "Felt like you needed so help," I say, nodding toward the general.
Vahrkosturns, imdiately bristling at the sight. There's nothing physical to it, but I sense the way his Firmant reacts—it ripples within him, almost like it's urging him to fight, to act. Surging toward his limbs, almost trying to fight its way free of his body. There's the smallest hint of physical change before Vahrkos grunts and forces the Firmant back down, his expression tense. "Anhar."
"...You going to be okay for the fight?" I ask, concerned.
"I will be fine." Vahrkos's reply is short, terse. "I've t Anhar before. He'll be a difficult fight."
He says that, but there's a tension there that has nothing to do with Anhar or with the fight. I vaguely recall what he said in the first loop we t—sothing about not wanting to use his other forms.
I'm not going to question it. Now's not the ti, anyway.
"Ahkelios will give you signals," I say. "Keep an eye on him."
It's going to be the first ti I'm fighting with Vahrkos, and I'm not going to get many—if any—repeated tries to get this right. There's a chance we'll just get in each other's way. But Vahrkos very clearly has a lot more combat experience than I am, and I'm hoping that'll be enough to make this work.
"If you're here to fight and not just get information, then I'm assuming sothing went wrong," Vahrkos says.
I grimace. "Integrators," I mutter. Anhar's approach is slow—he's taking his ti, unconcerned by and by the teorites slamming down into the city. From the intensity of his gaze on Vahrkos, I'm guessing he's barely even registered that I'm here. "It's a long story, but right now we don't have the full advantages of the loop."
"You should make sure Wanders is okay." Vahrkos's reply is nearly imdiate. "He's not a fighter. I can handle myself."
In the distance, Anhar laughs, like he heard what Vahrkos said. Now that I look a little closer at him, he's huge for a morphling. Most of them are six feet tall; Anhar stretches up to at least seven.
"This fight's gonna be hard even for the both of us," I say. It's telling that Vahrkos doesn't have an imdiate response to this. "...I'll do my best to make sure no one on your team dies."
Vahrkos grunts. It's hard for to read what he's thinking. Part of wonders if he'll bla for the situation, but he doesn't seem inclined to.
Instead, he says two words.
"He's coming."
Anhar bursts forward. A cloud of dust kicks up behind him. The rest of the soldiers have long since either retreated or finally realized that the city's under attack; Anhar's the only one left here to deal with us. Vahrkos dodges to the left, and I Accelerate to the right—
Anhar's suddenly between us. There's a blip in Quicken Mind, and before I can react—in that infinitesimal mont when the skill's fla gutters out—a strong hand grips my neck. Vahrkos is caught just as easily as I am. Ahkelios lets out a shout of alarm, and I see him turning into a streak of blue Firmant at the exact sa instant Anhar slams us together.
The impact of an angry, ethereal mantis flying into his face makes Anhar let us go, and both Vahrkos and I collapse to the ground. I'm back on my feet near instantly, calling on the tiniest flicker of Second Wind to—
No. I'm not holding back with Anhar.
Second Wind. Aspect of Regrowth.
This is my first ti actually using the newly-acquired Inspiration. I'm not prepared for the painful sensation of roots digging their way through my flesh—and I can feel sothing similar happening with the core of the skill deep within . The Inspiration is digging its roots into the skill, altering it.
Fueling it. Making it last, at least for now. Hopefully it won't be permanently damaged after this.
"Ethan," Vahrkos grunts. There's a questioning note in his voice.
"I'm okay," I answer. I don't take my eyes off of Anhar, who is currently busy trying to swat away a very persistent mantis. Ahkelios isn't actually succeeding at doing a lot of damage, but in that sa vein, Anhar can't quite seem to hurt him—every ti he does, Ahkelios just gets up again. It's not like the guy has any internal organs. He's just fueled by my Firmant.
Speaking of which, we need to end this before I run out of that Firmant.
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"Does he have any weaknesses?" I ask. Vahrkos seems to know him. The morphling hesitates for a mont before he responds.
"...His left arm was badly injured once," Vahrkos says. "He overcompensates when it cos to defending his left. But it is hard to take advantage of—"
Whatever else Vahrkos plans to say, I don't get to hear, because Anhar chooses this mont to decide he's tired of playing Ahkelios's gas. Another huge wave of Firmant bursts out of him, this ti tuned more for power than range; it's weak enough that by the ti it reaches us, Vahrkos and I can just dig our heels into the dirt and weather it.
Ahkelios, on the other hand, is sent flying. I don't have ti to look for him—the link between us tells that he's fine, if a little disoriented. He'll be back in a mont.
Anhar isn't planning on giving us that mont, of course. He seems to have decided that I'm the larger threat, because this ti, he's charging toward . I keep a tight hold on Quicken Mind this ti—whatever he did to disrupt it before, I have no intention of allowing it to happen again.
There.
It's barely noticeable, but there's a weak burst of Firmant from him at the exact mont he cos within striking range. It's not designed to hurt. It's designed to disrupt, to break apart Firmant constructs. To break apart internal Firmant constructs, specifically.
Which ans this is a skill developed specifically for fighting against Trialgoers. I guess Whisper's been preparing for for a while.
Phaseslip.
I beco ethereal just long enough for Anhar's swipe to pass straight through . His disruptive Firmant wave strikes like a physical blow, but that's fine—it's a weak pulse to begin with, and I barely feel it as it bounces off of . He doesn't expect to just go immaterial, and the lack of resistance causes him to lose balance.
Sothing that Vahrkos imdiately takes advantage of. The morphling charges in, his Firmant shifting abruptly to form a nexus of power within his fist; he's aiming for Anhar's left side.
He's creating an opening for . He doesn't signal except through the slightest of gestures, a quick flick of his antennae. I'm not sure I'm reading him right, but it's good enough for . I Phaseslip for a second ti and step through Vahrkos, crossing over to Anhar's right even as he focuses all his defenses on his left. His eyes widen in reaction, and he tries desperately to course correct.
Vahrkos's blows are efficient. He's not necessarily powerful, but he strikes at weak points and his form is perfect.
?
I haven't trained nearly as much, so most of my hits are about raw power.
Crystallized Strength. Amplification Gauntlet. Accelerate. Intrinsic Lightning. Void.
It's probably the biggest number of skills I've ever tried to stack into a single hit; I can feel sothing within straining, like a piece of my soul is on the verge of rupturing. Thankfully, it doesn't: the effect of Second Wind keeps everything firmly in place, and the Interface assists in slotting every skill neatly together.
Crystalline Firmant forms within my muscles. The gauntlet that forms on my arm takes that strength and multiplies it tenfold. All that mass is Accelerated, and Intrinsic Lightning gives that tiniest fraction of extra speed and reaction to strike at the point in Anhar's armor that's weakest in Firmant.
And then the Void Inspiration sucks away all that protective Firmant in a single, powerful gulp.
Boom.
I'm not prepared for the punch to generate an actual shockwave, though, nor for Anhar to be sent flying back, tumbling head over heels and crashing into the wall hard enough to form a crater within the concrete. Ahkelios flies back over to , his mandibles splayed open with shock.
"What was that?" he asks.
I'm not sure I know myself. I don't think that combination of skills would have been nearly that powerful before, but whatever Gheraa's given has pushed close enough to the next phase-shift that I think I'm already beginning to benefit from the quality shift in my Firmant.
"He's not dead," Vahrkos says quietly. I turn my attention back to the battlefield, pushing the questions back to the back of my mind.
"How." I'm almost certain he wasn't protected by Firmant when I hit him. Not after the Void sucked it all away.
"With so help," Vahrkos says.
I tense. The dust is beginning to clear, and I see Anhar standing in the debris, his silhouette marked by a faintly glowing, crumbling object held in the palm of his hand.
"Is that..." I begin.
"It's an imbuent stone," Ahkelios says, a small note of frantic panic in his voice. "Whisper's given him skills—"
I dive out of the way before Ahkelios can finish, and beside , Vahrkos does the sa; a massive burst of Firmant beams out toward like a streak of solid energy. I recognize the skill as the sa one Whisper used to kill in one of my previous loops.
Vahrkos won't dodge in ti. I call on Hexfold Shield, and shape the six shields into a triangular, piercing sort of shape; Hueshift allows to alter the color of the Firmant into a reflective yellow instead of the usual defensive blue, and the beam splits apart into six, cutting into the ground and walls around us.
"He's used two stones," Vahrkos says. "One to heal. Another one for that."
"Any idea how many he has in total?" I ask.
Vahrkos stays tense. "...A lot."
That's a non-answer if I've ever heard one, but before I can call him out on it, Anhar pulls out a third stone and crushes it in his fist. A golden spear forms, glowing with power.
"Ten!" Vahrkos calls out suddenly. "Seven left!"
I frown. Did he do sothing to figure that out? I don't have ti to ask, because Anhar throws the spear toward us with a trendous burst of power; it's packed with so much Firmant that I don't even need to see the skill window to know what it does—that spear is going to explode on impact.
Compounded Mind. I need more ti to think than Quicken Mind can give . The small amount of ti I have to empower the skill doesn't allow to boost it as much as I'd like, but any amount helps.
The first thing I notice is the string of Firmant leading from the spear back to Anhar. He's controlling it, even at a distance.
The second thing I notice is a flicker of a vision from both Premonition and Guardian of Fate. He's intending to swerve the spear at the last mont to hit Vahrkos instead of .
The third thing I notice is that Ahkelios shares my accelerated mind through our Temporal Link.
I grin.
Here's what we're going to do.
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