Nobody, not even Cassidy, was aware that Nova had just decided to enter a Blue portal and was now unreachable by anyone.
This time, his sole goal was plunder.
To seize as many resources as possible from every civilization and bring them back to Earth for Nemesis to enjoy.
He hadn’t given the plan much thought, acting mostly on impulse and the guilt he felt toward Cassidy, but something else had put the final nail in the coffin and sealed his decision.
After learning about the changes the portals underwent due to Earth’s astonishingly rapid evolution, he realized that Blue portals now had nearly, or perhaps exactly, the same time difference as Earth.
With his current strength, he didn’t believe it would take long to clear one, and he was ready to tackle as many as necessary to repair the damage he had caused, albeit involuntarily.
And just like that, time passed.
////
A week later.
Erevan’s small village.
Hummm!
Saber Force hummed violently in the training room as Jack swung his saber with all his might against the construct’s halberd.
Clang
Clang
Clang
Sparks flew as the halberd and saber collided, each impact sent a tremor up Jack’s arm that threatened to rip the saber out of his grip and the shockwaves rippled through the room, hitting the walls which withstood them without any effort.
I’m close to my limit. He panted, but his arm never stopped swinging. This is the longest I’ve managed to last against a level 170, but it’s not enough. I’m still too far from beating it.
His eyes narrowed. With a thought, wind wrapped around his feet and he took a step forward, a moment later he appeared at the construct’s flank. It happened so fast he might as well have teleported as it all occurred in the blink of an eye.
At that moment, his face was the perfect definition of calm focus.
His saber-holding hand snapped with a quick movement, producing one of his fastest swings to date.
Jack felt neither pride nor a sense of achievement in that moment, his only thought was to cut down everything in his path and, right now, his eyes were locked on the construct, which had yet to turn around.
The blade glowed with Force as it tore through the air, racing toward the halberd-wielding opponent.
When the saber came within a centimeter of the construct’s back, a distance so close that the Saber Force had already sliced a small portion of its body, the construct moved.
It didn’t turn around as that would take too long, instead, its hands blurred.
The halberd, a weapon usually so heavy and long that it shouldn’t allow for quick movements, was flipped around as if it were a feather. The construct’s movements were smooth, flowing like water, yet lightning fast. In the next instant, it thrust the butt of the halberd backward with no hesitation.
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Bang!
It was too sudden.
Forget about reacting, Jack had only caught a glimpse of the construct’s movements before he felt a heavy object slam into his stomach with a force that nearly knocked him unconscious on the spot.
His body shot backward like a cannon ball, and before he could even formulate a thought, his back collided with the wall.
BANG!
A bang louder than the previous one rang out. The wall, reinforced by the array, remained unscathed, but the same couldn’t be said for Jack. Bones cracked and his head recoiled violently from the impact before he crumpled to the floor with a thud.
The sudden cacophony of noise ceased abruptly as Jack lay on the ground, waves of pain surging through his body, pain that would have made even the toughest of people scream in agony.
Wheehh… hweeh…
Instinctively, he tried to breathe, but each attempt produced a wheeze. Blood seeped from his mouth like a spring. His eyes were cloudy. The blow had been so unexpected and violent that he had no time to put up any sort of defense thus it rattled his mind, leaving him struggling to regain lucidity.
By now, the construct had stopped moving. By design, it was allowed to inflict severe injury, but not to kill and now that Jack was laying flat on the ground it had no reason to act again. It stood silently in the center of the room, back facing Jack. Until he approached again, it would remain still, and from the looks of things, that was the most likely outcome.
Seconds ticked by. With each passing moment, Jack’s eyes regained some clarity, and with it came an increasing wave of pain that his brain had tried to convince itself to ignore and shut down.
His breathing grew erratic. His teeth ground together, nearly to the point of breaking, and his body, riddled with cracks, spasmed uncontrollably.
Right now he didn’t care about anything other than relieving his pain and, If he could’ve screamed, he would have done so already. Despite enduring the grueling torture of refining his body, the thought of opening his mouth now was exhausting. No amount of training had prepared him for such a sudden, devastating attack.
I… spear… nowhere… stepped in… why did I…
Jumbled thoughts scrambled through his mind. The more he thought, the sleepier he felt, as if the energy required just to think was more than his body could muster.
So he tried to stop thinking and fought to stay awake with every fiber of his being. Subconsciously, his hand had yet to release the saber.
But to his body, Jack’s struggles didn’t matter. Now it was in charge, and, after suffering such a major blow, it demanded rest.
The two fell into a tug of war that didn’t look it would last long and, barely seconds later when his last attempt to stay awake failed, he slumped into unconsciousness.
Minutes passed. The door to the training room opened and Erevan strolled in.
The first thing he noticed was the construct, standing motionless in the middle of the room.
“What is it still doing up when no one’s here?” he muttered. “If I’m not mistaken, the last one to enter was Jack. Did he forget to cancel it? Sigh… he should be more careful.”
He was about to approach the construct when his eyes fell on a figure lying still on the ground.
“Jack?” Erevan exclaimed in surprise. “How did you end up like that?”
He waited a few seconds, but no answer came. His surprise slowly shifted into a frown, and his gaze returned to the construct.
“What level is this thing at to reduce Jack to that state?”
Erevan took out the array disc and fiddled with it. A moment later, he sighed once again.
“Why don’t you listen to me and instead try to go against a level 170 construct? Is there really a need to push yourself so hard? I already told you, your progress is astonishing as it is,” he muttered.
He stored the array disc without canceling the construct and, despite knowing a level 170 opponent stood in the way, made a beeline for Jack, his steps as relaxed as possible. His gaze never left Jack, not even once glancing at the mass of energy standing motionless between them.
But Erevan ignoring it didn’t mean the construct would do the same.
The moment it sensed someone entering its range, it activated and dashed toward him.
Its speed was difficult to follow and even harder to react to. One moment it stood perfectly still, the next, it was already upon Erevan, the halberd sweeping in a deadly arc.
It was only then that Erevan finally moved his gaze from Jack and calmly focused on the construct. Anyone who looked closely into his eyes might have noticed flickers of flame hidden within them.
He curled his fingers into a fist and raised his arm. Red flames coiled around it as he swung at the construct.
The punch was too fast that the construct had no time to react.
The two met, and there wasn’t a hint of the explosion one might expect from a clash between experts. There was only a flash, like burning flash paper, and in the next moment, the construct was gone. Slowly, the energy returned back into the array.
Having dealt with the threat, Erevan approached Jack. As he knelt to lift him, he took in Jack’s battered state and said helplessly, “You’re a mess.”
Straightening his back with Jack in his arms, Erevan made his way out of the training room.
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