TARA
I knew something weird happened when I woke up, I felt all kinds of weird pressure waves in the air. My ears started popping and it felt generally uncomfortable. It was similar to the feeling when the snapping turtle came for me, so I got nervous. What if something like that happens again? I can’t always rely on Eli to protect me. I slowly lifted the top of the hideout and looked in the direction of the weird wind.
There I saw Eli, in the air, spinning and laughing like a maniac. I felt a smile creep up my face, as I watched him goof off with his new power. So, the crystal had this skill in it huh? It didn’t look that powerful, but it absolutely seemed like a fun time.
“Oh hey, you’re awake! Sorry, did I wake you?” He shouted down from the canopy he was swimming nearby.
“No, I just felt the pressure waves and got scared that those fish are back or something.”
He started floating down, and he looked so natural like this, like he’s been flying his whole life until now. He plopped down silently next to me and the empty fire pit.
“It’s just yours truly, don’t worry. Oh wow, I am dizzy.” He suddenly leaned back and lay on the ground. “This is an awesome skill. And super versatile as well!” he proclaimed after catching his breath.
“Really? I mean it looks fun, but is it actually useful aside from floating?” I asked, skeptical.
“Well, if you think it’s only about floating, it would probably be boring. But that too, if it altered my weight or something, I could make a weapon out of that as well. This is much better than that though.” I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and waited for him to continue. “Okay one sec, let me get up. Alright. Ready? Try punching my hand with your full force.”
We were standing opposite to each other, and he held up his right hand into a palm, as a target for me to hit. Well, this will be at least good practice for my new arm. I poured a bunch of xin into my arm, bones and muscles to strengthen them and swung it back. In the last moment, I used a bit of fire magic, from my elbow, to propel it and accelerate it even more than my muscles were capable of. It was a solid, brutal hit. I could break his arm if this doesn’t work.
I got a bit scared, but his confident smile gave me silent permission to go all out. My strengthened fist came down like a hammer, but instead of an explosive collision, it decelerated rapidly, as when I got closer and closer to his hand, the air pressure increased drastically. I fought it, but at a point it felt like I was trying to push a solid brick wall. The air completely absorbed all the force of the impact, and I was left with my puny elbow flame thruster desperately trying to push further.
It was all in vain. I couldn’t penetrate it; I didn’t even get to his hand. I was confident in my fighting capabilities, so this was baffling. I knew he was strong, but to have the brains to develop a shield this capable in a single night with a completely random skill? This guy was amazing. I was relieved now; I knew I found a hidden gem. He will be very useful, crucial even.
“This is pretty amazing. How are you doing it?” I asked him, and just noticed the cold sweat dripping down his forehead.
“Well, this skill isn’t about floating, it’s about changing the density of the air around you. If you’re surrounded by dense air, the buoyancy force will simply lift you up. Which is cool, but you can do so much more than that. Unfortunately, the range is very limited, so if you want to fly with me, you’ll have to sit on my back or something.” He changed so much in a single month, his smile was full of confidence somehow, like he finally found his place after a long search.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine.” I returned his smile, and we chatted for a bit. I felt much better now, and my arm was amazing, even if I needed to build those xin veins back up. My crystal was also almost full, thanks to the one he gave me yesterday.
But for some reason I felt a weird pressure, anxiety seeped into me slowly. What is this? Am I afraid of something? There is nothing nearby, I checked recently. Only Eli and I are here, and he couldn’t be… Oh wait. I quickly went into a basic xin sight form and looked at him. It was loke looking at the sun. I winced, closed my eyes quickly, and when that didn’t work, I turned away and started panting. There was an intense pressure radiating from him, and it overwhelmed me, even though it should’ve been impossible.
“Hey… You’re leaking again. Please stop it…” My breathing grew heavy, and my vision darkened. I immediately stopped the xin sight, but the pressure only slowly subsided.
“Huh? Oh yeah, you’re right. Jesus! This much? Sorry!” He started meditating like I showed him what seems like ages ago, and it got almost instantly better. “I guess after I upgraded my crystal it leaks a ton more now. And I was getting good at suppressing it too. Bummer.”
“Yeah, but this pressure was insane.” I answered after finally catching my breath. He eventually got it mostly under control, but he was still leaking more than when we met. Which was a problem. It didn’t affect me now, but any other person in the vicinity would be too shocked to even stand straight. “We need to do something about this, and fast.” I told him finally.
“Do you have something in mind? I’m okay with meditating all day, but it would be a bit boring. But now when I’m not meditating it empties out fast. But somehow it feels like a small amount, which is weird. I’m letting out way too much compared to how much was in the turtle’s crystal.”
“Well, when you’re absorbing it, you get a bit more out than what’s in originally. I guess you got much more. And yes, I do have a plan but… I don’t like it.”
“How come?” He asked with a concerned face.
“We’ll have to visit an old acquaintance, and she’s a bit too intense. But that’s not important. It’s not that bad if you’re willing to pay for her services.” I said, repulsed by the thought of seeing “her” again.
“Price? That sounds ominous.”
“You don’t have to worry, I’ll figure something out. Although we should hurry, with this dense xin in the air here, who knows what kinds of creatures are hunting us already.”
“Alright. Where to?” He started pouring his immense xin into his muscles and they almost crackled with electricity from the wild power.
“Wait… How fast can you run like that?” I asked, a bit worried I actually wouldn’t be able to keep up.
“I don’t know exact numbers. Pretty fast I guess?”
“Alright then. I’ll show the way.” I started augmenting my own body, and I felt the comfortable xin layer creeping into my bones and down my legs. This buzzing feeling of power never gets old. I wonder how it feels for him.
When we got ready, I started running, and recalled the location of where we were going. It wasn’t that far actually, about a week of walking, but we will be there in two if we run augmented like this. The body tires much slower when it consumes xin instead of working the muscles, so we’ll be able to cover more ground. I usually conserve my xin, so I’ll walk instead, but we needed to get there relatively fast. I was a bit concerned, emptying my reserves for this, but it would be much worse if a monster showed up and demolished us.
When I got to full speed, I saw Eli running beside me with a confused look. If you don’t know how to augment your body, this speed will leave you gasping for air, it was hard to follow with the naked eye. But I guess this was still slow for this monster of a man.
“Sorry, this is my max speed!” I shouted to him in the howling wind. His face took on a surprised and apologetic half-smile, knowing I read his mind.
“No, it’s good, a month ago I couldn’t even see where you were going it seemed so fast.” He spoke in a weird, sped up way. Did he accelerate his brain as well? Is there something this man can’t do?
We ran for a couple hours when I saw something in the edge of my eye. I signaled to Eli, and we slid to a sudden stop. We hid behind a boulder, as the terrain was still rocky and mountainous. There, in the distance, there was a fight. it wasn’t uncommon to see beasts go at it, but this one seemed different.
A few hundred meters in front, there was what looked like a group of jellyfish, getting attacked by a massive bear. It had two heads and was at least 8 meters tall. It smacked one of the jellyfish, and it splattered pink translucent goo everywhere. The jellies all floated in the same manner as every fish on land, with a barrier of hardened air around them, which was a natural protective shield for all of them. However, it did not matter to the bear, as he swung his massive paws and killed them one after the other.
“They aren’t even fighting back… He will kill all of them.” Eli whispered next to me.
“Well, jellies usually are friendly and they only eat bugs and things. They are prey.”
“If it looks like I’m losing, start running full speed, I’ll catch up with you.” He said to me with full determination.
“What? Don’t tell me you’re planning on…” But he was already gone, jumped from our cover and ran straight for the bear.
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