Book 5: Chapter 51

Even as he blew them apart, waves of spirits continued to rush out at Aaron. But instead of giving an inch, he drew down on the new power he felt from his expanded anchors and used it to boost his attacks even further, and at the same time used his partitioned anchor expertise to add some void to the mix. As the waves of spirits crashed against him, he fired out at them with fists of mana like shotgun shells, and the energy tore through them in the hundreds.

He wasn’t sure if there was any limit to the well, or if the spirits would just keep coming. But it did seem that Darius had amassed the spirits before trying to overwhelm him with them, and as he blasted them apart, the stream of spirits pouring out at him seemed to thin.

Now’s my chance!

Not wanting to give Darius a chance to recover his resources, Aaron seized the moment, charging toward him. Powering himself up and harnessing the power of his anchors, he blasted away at the spirits, and then immediately followed up with several punches against the necromancer’s barrier. First, he landed with several overcharged haymakers crackling with mana as he forced more energy into them, and then finished up with [ Equal and Opposite ] just as the barrier started to shimmer and waver.

Pouring so much power into so many Skills in such a short time was an energy-expensive combination, but it worked. The moment he canceled the barrier, he heard a scream as thousands of souls screeched in unison, and it was dispelled.

Without pause, Aaron threw a quick mid-fight meal into his mouth, and swung for Darius.

The moment his barrier had been destroyed, Aaron saw a flash of fear in Darius’ eyes, but only for a fraction of a second. Before he could follow up with another strike and hit him, a swell of spirits followed and shot out. He had detonated the spirits themselves, and in an instant, they exploded outward like an EMP, draining the atmosphere and everyone within it of aether and mana.

Aaron immediately felt weak and started eating. But the attack had equally affected Darius. However, it seemed the necromancer was prepared for that, and he took flight, drawing in spirits from his well to recover his drained energy as he flew toward the sky.

Reaching high into the sky, Darius glared down at him. “You may fight well. But you have your mortal limits! I dare you to challenge me up here!”

“You’re on!” Aaron began to follow him, but then Darius stretched out his hands.

With a roar of delight, arcing beams of aether shot out from Darius’ palms and connected him with the obelisks that weren’t yet cleansed, channeling the corrupted aether they had been spewing out into himself. “That’s it! Oh, that feels so good. HAHA! You don’t stand a chance! Can you see it? Look at all the power granted to me by the Death God!”

For a moment, Aaron was worried. But then he realized that the cloud of aether that had hung over the settlement was weakening. Darius was draining that corrupted aether from all around, and funneling it into himself instead. Obviously, that was problematic for killing the necromancer, but it only took one quick glance around to see that the crippling aura it had created was weakening, and the defenders were regaining their strength.

Silver linings, huh?

Aaron felt relief wash over him. Sure, it might have made his fight harder. But he felt less pressure to get it done quickly now. With the aether weakening, it was no longer a direct threat to the others. And not only that, but they would likely have little issue beating back the undead legion now.

The thought made him smile, and he shot up toward the sky. This was a burden he was happy to carry if it meant more survivors at the end of it all.

“You still test me?” Darius sneered. “Fine. Learn the hard way and feel my full power!”

As he neared the necromancer, the stream of spirits strengthened. It was like a tornado of spirits channeled toward him. And it wasn’t just the spirits themselves; they came with a heavy presence of corrupted aether that likely would have crippled anybody else. As it got closer, he could feel hunger radiating from the spirits. Some kind of corrupted madness fueled by the obelisks.

There weren't just more of them, but Aaron had a feeling they were stronger now, too. He had to remain mobile, circling through the sky at great speed, and blasting away the spirits when they got close to him as he looked for an opening.

It was endless. So many of them swarming him from all around. He had felt relieved when the sickening cloud of aether had been lifted, but perhaps he got more than he had wished for. As the expanding well poured out ever more spirits, the sky was starting to clog heavily with the moaning spectres, like locusts.

At first, he had thought there was little point in rushing the fight, and was happy to drag it out. To let Darius summon all his spirits, and relieve the pressure against the defenders below. After all, he still had plenty of food in storage to keep the fight going, and once the tides of battle below had changed, they would have the obvious advantage.

But with every passing second, the cloud of spirits grew thicker. That was bad enough, but then Darius placed his hands against his temples and seemed to meditate.

Within seconds, the spirits seemed to grow more intelligent, as if commanded by Darius. Instead of just chasing Aaron around, the spirits began splitting up into groups, trying to box him in and encircle him.

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If there weren’t so many of them, he could have dealt with it, but it was getting harder and harder as the well continued to spew spirits out into the sky.

Looks like I have no choice!

With a crooked brow, Aaron shot forward, swinging his explosive fists as he did, and blowing a path through the spirits toward Darius. It was destructive on another level, but the spirits cared little, moaning mindlessly as they met his fists.

The moment he reached the necromancer, he leveled his attacks against the barrier as he had before, but this time calling up even more power as he bashed into it.

But this time, the fear in Darius’ eyes was gone, and Aaron felt his heart quicken like something was wrong.

Wait, what’s this? He infused the barrier with souls?

“Fuck!” Aaron shouted.

Passing through the barrier itself, spirits gripped hold of his hands, clinging to him as they climbed up his arms and onto his body. Like spectral concretionists, they wrapped themselves around him, hugging him tightly as they groaned.

“Get off!” Aaron swung around, but it did little. They clung to him tightly, weighing him down and drawing his energy.

As powerful as he was, he couldn’t keep this up. If he kept attacking the barrier, it would just invite more spirits onto him, and eventually it would become too much. Before he could be overwhelmed, he used a burst of mana to break away, flying as fast as he could as literally thousands of spirits chased him through the sky.

“Get off me, dammit!”

The spirits didn’t just possess a strong grip, it was as if they had some special power to bind themselves to him, and no matter what he did, he could get them off.

He ate through some food as he flew. But his situation was bad. Dealing with Darius’ spirit well was already a big enough problem, and if he couldn’t get rid of the draining spirits, he was done for.

Mana anchors. That’s right!

Embracing his void mana, he shifted gears on his anchors, combining diffusion with void to spread its energy, and used them to sucked up the spirits that had clung to him, freeing himself from their embrace as they wailed into the void’s dark embrace. That was one problem solved, but the fight was far from over, and his void shift anchors weren’t enough to counter the spirit well alone.

I need to deal with that damn spirit well. As long as he can keep summoning up spirits and recovering energy, finishing Darius is going to be impossible.

His technique for taking out his barrier was effective, but it would just keep coming back as long as he had the well. Aaron snorted with rage. He should have known the other strongest of their world wouldn’t go down so easily, not to mention the holder of a True Blessing.

But before he could think of a solution, he gasped as a huge wave of spirits cut him off, and then another fell upon him from above. He looked down just in time to see thousands more flooding up toward him.

He had been completely encircled, and there were more spirits than he had ever seen before. Even for his eyes, they were hard to track as the spirits delved in and out of the mortal plane. Not only that, but with the tremendous number of spirits all around him, it created far too much noise to make fate reading useful.

But none of that mattered in the face of Aaron’s stubborn determination.

“Oh no you don’t!” Aaron roared.

There was no time for evasion. No. He had no choice but to meet power with power, and hope he had more of it.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed his core to cycle at an ever greater speed, pouring energy through his anchors, and reveling in the power as he sent it out toward the endless sea of souls.

Within seconds, cracks had formed across his soul as he became a blur, fists and kicks flying out at every second, explosions rippling all around, destroying entire chunks of spirits by the second.

But even then, it didn’t seem to be enough. The spirits didn’t care for themselves, and Darius was channeling extraordinary power with the help of the obelisks. If he was going to overcome so many at once, he was going to need to push himself further, a challenge he embraced.

Aaron used [ Bombardier Fist ], [ Soul Shattering Strike ], haymakers, and void-powered strikes to both destroy and drag the souls into the abyss. But he couldn’t stop there, and he didn’t. He expanded his anchors, pulling on more power than he even knew he had. Simultaneously, he detached them, firing off fists powered with obscene levels of mana that ripped through the souls around him. He imbued his gauntlets as he threw strikes, powering them further, and switched gears again to call on the power of combined anchors. But that wasn’t his limit. As the spirits exploded into aether and mana all around him, he reversed their corruption, converting it into mana for his own use, and drawing it into his core to power himself.

And yet, despite it all, more spirits descended upon him, forcing him to new limits even as soul-mending foods struggled to keep his splitting soul, as ethereal light started to pierce its edges, and oblivion edged nearer.

It was madness. Any sane person would have seen the death wish waiting to happen, but Aaron was no normal person, and he did not stop; instead, he embraced the madness.

And soon, even the well began to struggle as Darius forced more spirits from it. The obelisks trembled, pushed to their own limits to keep the suffocating power pouring down upon Aaron.

It was a true test of wills, and Aaron Dober’s willpower was something of legend.

You have gained supreme insight, Mana Anchors. Current discovered upgrade paths:

Streamlined Mana Anchors 35% → 40%

Reverse Mana Anchors 40% → 45%

Elemental Shift (Void) 25% → 30%

Expanded Mana Anchors 40% → 45%

Imbuing Mana Anchors 40% → 45%

Detached Mana Anchors 25% → 30%

Combined Mana Anchors 35% → 40%

Focused Mana Anchors 55% → 60%

Diffusive Mana Anchors 20% → 25%

Partitioned Mana Anchors 95% → 100%

Mana Anchor [ Partitioned ] has reached completion; stand by as Mana Anchors evolve!

Title upgraded: Mana Control Adept

The master controls and anchors their mana and, through their anchors, gains superior control over their mana and how they can use it.

Rewarded for successfully upgrading your mana anchors prior to reaching C grade.

Reward: +30% Willpower, increased mana regeneration

Immediately, Aaron felt the most tremendous pain of his life as power flooded into his anchors, and he screamed as he clutched at his head, losing control of his body.