Limits

While we ran towards the wall of roots, I said "The huge Mordar's weakness is in his roots and branches. The further he extends them, the harder it is for him to retract them. This will allow us to get close. His weak point is the huge eye in the middle. We need to destroy it". Lira asked, "How are we going to get past those roots though?". I replied, "That is something I will take care of… Dodge!". I quickly jumped to the side, while both Crow and Lira jumped to the other. "BOOM!". A root smashed the ground from above.

"I will make an opening! Follow me closely, he can recover and replace those roots quickly!". We sped forwards, while I condensed the Power of Ice in my right hand. Fortunately the power returned, otherwise we would need to use brute force. "Bam!", "Boom!". The roots smashed around us like thick whips, shattering the ground. I threw the ball of mist at one section of the roots, and shouted "Get ready!".

We were around thirty metres away from the wall, and the roots were about to smack us into the ground. But before they could, my ball of mist arrived and froze a whole section. "Shing!". I immediately released my Auras, and shattered the frozen roots. But this was not enough. Ten daggers appeared around me, and I launched myself forwards with a spin. "Art of Hidden Weapons: Aura Rotary Form!". A domain of blades cut through whatever was left of the roots, and we made it past the wall.

One the other side, an army of smaller Mordars awaited us. "Don't mingle with those Mordars too much! We need to take down that monster there!" I shouted while pointing at the huge Mordar. A plethora of roots and branches flew our way, but Crow and Lira could easily dodge them. Their bodies changed to either a shadow or a dark smoke, and moved past the roots. I on the other hand, utilised my Art of Stealth and disappeared too.

Some roots and branches gave us trouble still, mainly due to the sheer number of them. Then the world began warping. 'Eterians are making their move' I thought, and quickly drank Serelis. With my mind calm, I had a better chance of resisting those illusions. Advancing became difficult nevertheless. Some Mordars were hidden by those illusions, Crow seemed alright, but Lira had some difficulties coping.

"Crow, help Lira out a bit, I can manage by myself!". The dark smoke enveloped Lira who appeared outside of a Mordar's shadow. I took out my Razor Sword, and joined them while activating the Formation. "Vooom!", the sword sprung to life. I got in front of Crow and Lira, and said "I'll make way, follow me". While appearing and disappearing, I cut those roots and branches like butter. Screams filled the air, as Mordars were either chopped in half or had their roots trimmed.

We had a few situations where I had to take a hit, as there was no other way around it. I tried blocking as much as I could, but the damage was mounting up. My bones began creaking from the powerful slaps, but we finally made it past the smaller Mordars. "Last stretch! The huge Mordar will try to smash us to pieces, look out for the roots and branches. I can see that the Eterians are starting to move as well" I said.

Crow replied, "I can take care of Eterians, you two can deal with the huge Mordar". I wanted to take him up on that offer, when I noticed something. No, I noticed someone. I stopped in my tracks, and stared ahead. Crow and Lira stopped too, while Crow asked "What's going…?". He saw her too.

"Crow, take the Voltic Orb and go. Destroy the eye with its use. I will join you as soon as I can" I said. He grabbed the Voltic Orb and Lira, while saying "Let's go". She was confused, but didn't ask anything. I sighed and slowly walked towards Fox, while taking off my own mask. "Why are you here? Of all places, you must be here?" I asked. I didn't want to believe it. After all, Eterians were good at illusions. But I was certain it wasn't an illusion, Crow would've said something.

Fox replied, "I'm here to stop you. You've done enough". She then disappeared, and I could feel multiple attacks heading towards me. I utilised my Art of Stealth too while asking, "Why did you join Eterians? Are you under their control?". There was no answer. Instead, a dagger appeared next to me. I sidestepped, and threw a punch to my right. I hit nothing, but I knew Fox was somewhere near me

'No other choice' I thought, and gathered the Power of Ice in my hand. When it was condensed enough, I slammed my hand into the ground. "Freeze!". The area around me froze, while a figure faintly appeared to my left. Fox had her legs stuck in ice, and couldn't move. "Wake up Fox, Eterians are controlling you!" I said while walking towards her. She struggled, "Y..Yes…". I tried grabbing her, but it was just a clone, a puff of smoke that disappeared into nothingness. My instincts screamed at me, but it was too late.

A dagger already struck my back. "Ungh" I grunted. "Die, Dark Traveller", she said with enough killing intent to suffocate some people. I distanced myself from her. The dagger still stuck in my body, I could feel my energy being drained. 'Poison' I thought, and took out some antidote. I wasn't sure how strong that poison would be, and which antidote would work, but I had to take something.

Just as I was about to drink it, my instincts screamed again. I jumped upwards, and quickly gulped down the antidote. Before I could even land, something smashed me from behind, and I crashed into the ground. "Urgh", another grunt left my mouth. I tried picking myself up, yet another strike smashed me back to the ground. 'Shit. The antidote is working, but only a bit. It will slow down the poison from spreading, but didn't remove it' I thought. I quickly used the Blink Formation, and appeared dozens of metres away. With a few taps, I sealed some of my own blood circulation channels. 'My strength will suffer due to this, but at least the poison will not spread' I thought.

I could control my body perfectly, but the poison was weird. It wasn't killing me, it was making me weaker. I took out some medicine, and quickly drank it. Just before another dagger appeared in front of my face. I wanted to release both of my Auras, but then nothing happened. I only had enough time to lean backwards, yet that wasn't enough. "Swoosh!", the dagger ripped through my armour, and wounded me slightly. I stumbled backwards, trying to find my footing. There was a problem though.

'That poison, it sealed my Auras!' I realised. I never heard of such poison, no Human developed such thing, this was developed to fight Humans specifically. Fox appeared in front of me, and said "Your struggle is futile. This will be your grave". Although this might looked like she had an upper hand, she overestimated herself. Just as she was about to deliver the strike, my Blink Formation became usable again. I disappeared for that place, while appearing behind her. With my right hand, I punched her. "Booom!".

Fox grunted and flew through the air, while half of her back froze. I quickly took out another antidote, and then another. But no antidote worked. 'Shit, I have nothing on that. It's a poison I never encountered before' I thought. Fox tried to pick herself up, but I didn't let her. With a strong push, I smashed her back into the ground. I grabbed my back and took out the dagger. I wasn't surprised to see, that it was made by me.

A sudden voice sounded behind me, "It's not nice to treat your friend like this". I didn't turn around to look. Instead, I tapped a few of Fox's pressure points. I needed to make sure she didn't pick herself up again. With Fox taken care of, I said "You got some balls to appear in front of me again, Eterian". The guy wasn't really perturbed at all, he just stood there with a smile. "Did you like my present? I have one or maybe even two more". I heard a loud howl in the distance, and saw Slate running towards us.

The Eterian continued, "You know, that was quite ruthless on your part. Destroying Varent was not nice. We want to pay you back a bit more for such service". I sneered, "You got me with that new poison though. I wonder how you managed to produce it?". He smiled, "It's good, isn't it? Purpose made for you Humans. Without your Auras, you are as weak as you can be. I'm sure you have more questions, but Slate is really happy to play with you. I won't make him wait any longer". He backed off, while Slate stood between us. I could use my Blink Formation, but I knew the Eterian wasn't stupid. He distanced himself just outside of my range. Even if I tried something, I was sure he had a plan B. 'It seems I need to fight Slate then. I hope this poison doesn't last long' I thought.