On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Eight

I immediately responded, concentrating on my aether and shifting the course of the oncoming arrow so that it would miss me. I felt aether flow from me, and then I felt searing cold pain as the arrow impacted low in my chest, hammering into a rib.

Damn, not fast enough. It seemed my thoughts weren’t quick enough to outpace an arrow. The giant rodent let loose a dirty chuckle and began stringing another shaft. I had to act fast or else I'd be overwhelmed. Moving towards the archer rodent I concentrated aether down to my feet, trying to accelerate. The world seemed to blur and I felt a pain in my legs, matched only by the feeling of aether draining from me. I was then right in the face of the rodent, watching surprise form in its eyes as it tried to raise the bow it held.

“Too late…” I croaked, stabbing down with the kitchen knife in my hand, jamming it into its eye socket and wrenching it about until the rodent fell with a pained grunt. Ether escaped its corpse, quite an amount, more than a standard zombie was giving, and I quickly processed it into aether to stem my losses. The arrow tumbled free as aether expelled it, hitting the ground with a thump.

As I turned away, exhausted, my heart sank. Two more of the giant rodents were coming from the other direction, and one had picked up the iron fence railing I had left against the wall of my apartment block, and was swinging it with pleased vigour.

Damn, what a blunder. Glancing down at the bow that remained after the rodent had turned to ether, I briefly considered it before shaking my head. I wasn’t an archer, and my sister had told me how hard it was to accurately hit targets when she was just beginning, so I had no chance.

Clutching the now bloody knife, I considered my options. I only really needed to hang on until the Anchor was finished, and then hopefully the power of the Territory would be enough to repel them. Still, at the noticeable rate my aether was draining I might not be able to last long enough without defeating a few more for their ether.

“Take-take him down.” One of the large rodents chittered, thrashing his tail impatiently. “A new-new threat to our princess we cannot allow, our troubles are already too great.”

“Oh well, no choice then.” I muttered. At least if I wasn’t instantly killed then Exposition-san would step in. I’d have failed at the last hurdle, but at least I’d still have my life. I raced towards the unarmed rodent, spending a little aether to arrive there faster, leaping off the ground.

The rodent seemed surprised as I came flying down at him, but still managed to dodge the thrust of my knife. I kicked out but his tail slammed into my leg as a counter, numbing it. I barely managed to avoid his jaws as he tried to bite out my throat in return. Backing up I used the extra reach the knife gave me to slash at his arms, until his fur was matted with blood, silver and red steaming.

The efforts seemed futile, but as the second giant rodent came up behind me and swung down the iron bar I was already moving, ignoring the wrenching pain in my head and the sick feeling in my guts. Sidestepping the blow I watched as it slammed down onto the upraised arms of the other rodent, shattering his already bloodied limbs.

There was a pained, incoherent scream. “Why-why did you do that?” the rodent chittered in agony. Before his companion could answer I had already darted past and slashed out his throat, and he staggered, blood pouring from his slit neck. Grabbing the falling iron railing I swung it, and it connected with the other large rodent's skull with a satisfying crunch, bending a little. As the rodent fell I thrust down with the knife, piercing flesh. Both rodents flared into a surge of ether and I absorbed it, replenishing my aether supply, the warmth dampening down my nausea.

“Very clever. You widened your angle of vision so that you could observe the approach of the enemy from behind you and make your move with perfect timing.”

“That’s Exposition-san for you, always on the money.” I managed a smile as the nausea and headache faded away. Even so, despite all the aether I had absorbed from the fallen rodents, I was still feeling like my supply was running away, faster and faster. “I don’t think the human mind is supposed to process such expanded views, it really hurt!”

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“Even so, it was ingenious. Such smaller uses of aether can often overpower larger, more destructive ones. I am pleased you have learned this lesson early. Of course, there are also many times when sheer destructive force is the only way to achieve victory.”

Wiping blood off the knife I winced as the sharp edge nicked my finger. It was a good knife to still be so sharp after all the hard use I had put it through. Still, I really wanted something with a bit more range… hang on a minute… I suddenly turned and sprinted towards the fallen bow that the first giant rodent had left behind in death. Just as I reached it another huge rodent came around the wall on all fours, eyeing the bow. My foot sailed up and hammered into its jaw, sending shards of broken fangs flying.

I nearly made the same mistake again. I’m not taking another arrow, those things hurt. As the rodent scrambled away I chased it down, knife striking again and again until it lay still. Panting from the effort, I again extracted the ether and converted it. The rate of drain was still increasing, and I estimated that I had perhaps only half of my capacity judging by the warmth I felt within. Surely it can't take much longer for the Anchor to form?

Picking up the bow and a tattered quiver of arrows containing a half-dozen shafts, I scanned the surroundings cautiously. There was no-one in sight as far as I could tell. Popping the bow over my shoulder and making sure I had a tight grip on my knife, I made ready to move when suddenly a great weight knocked me to the ground. Frozen pain savaged my shoulder as fangs chewed away at it, and claws were gouging into my lower legs.

Another mistake. I didn’t think of checking above me. These giant humanoid rodents were definitely smarter than the lesser spirits and zombies, only the female zombie whom I had taken the knife from seemed comparable. I tried to direct my aether to create a solution to my woes but the pain of being chewed and clawed caused me to lose concentration and the aether scattered away, wasted. The knife had skittered away from my grasp, and it was lying just out of reach.

“Damn… is this it?” I whispered. I could see Exposition-san out of the corner of my eye, head tilted in an expectant manner. Waiting for me to throw in the towel I expect. I probably should, this really hurts. I think I’m dying…

I strained with all my might trying to throw off the foe and managed to raise myself a few inches. It was then I saw the bent fencepost below me. With one last desperate surge I grabbed it and hammered the pointed end into the mouth of the rodent that had jumped on top of me from the nearby building. It squealed in pain as metal penetrated its jaw, and as it rocked back I levered it up and thrust hard, watching as the spike tore through flesh and bone. As it rolled away I retrieved the knife once more and finished it off, taking the ether just as my stock was about to run dry.

“Are we not done yet?” I complained, as the glowing lights around my apartment building had intensified, spreading out onto the street around it.

“I fear not.” Exposition-san gestured. I followed the motion and saw three more of the giant rodents coming, the middle one larger than me, topping six feet tall, with sleeker black fur. His claws were wickedly sharp, glinting silver in the light.

“Damn, and I’m just about done…” My legs wobbled, fatigue flooding me. I had certainly done my best, far more than I thought I would be able to do. Luckily they hadn’t all attacked at once, or I’d have been overwhelmed and torn to pieces in seconds.

“I estimate it is only a few minutes until the Territory is complete. If you can marshal your will and hold on, you will be victorious!” Exposition-san stated.

Easier said than done. I am at my limit… Gathering up the bow that had spilled from my grasp I retreated back to my apartment building, hiding within the radiant aura of light surrounding it. Raising the bow I fitted an arrow to it, causing the rodents to slow.

I guess they don’t know I have no idea how to shoot this thing… I dragged out the motion as long as I could and then loosed the arrow, watching in dismay as it went a few yards to the left before hitting the ground. Shit, my sister makes this look so easy.

At my lame attempt at an attack, the three rodents burst out laughing, the big black one snickering in a very annoying fashion. “Kill-kill him for the princess and our slain-slain brethren.” It said, raising one of his clawed hands and licking the talons suggestively. They then charged, coming towards me alarmingly quickly. I hastily loosed another arrow, and this one at least went in the right direction, but it lacked power and was swatted aside.

If I only have a minute or so left before completion then it doesn’t matter if I run dry of aether and am kicked back to the Material plane. If I stall them enough then I win! it would really gall me to lose now. There had been times I had almost given up, but at the last minute had pulled through, so surely I could do it one last time?

Concentrating, I released a chunk of the little aether I had left and the arrow that was swatted aside suddenly sprang off the ground and went for the eye of the black-furred rodent. At the last minute it ducked aside so I expended just a bit more and the arrow changed direction once again, plunging into the neck of another behind him. It staggered and fell, gore spilling from its shredded throat. As it died ether spilled out and I quickly absorbed it, straining to pull it in at a distance.

You have gained in strength. Your Level has increased from Two to Three.

A welcome notice scrolled into my vision, but it was not important right now. Taking the last of my aether I concentrated as hard as I could on the image of an explosion throwing back the approaching rodents. The heat within me died down to mere embers, but a roaring burst of pale red flames flared into existence and a wave of explosive force threw them back. It was all sound and fury, my aether too low to make it actually amount to any damage, but they were shaken by the noise and flames, halting for a moment. This gave me time to put another arrow to my bow, pointing it at them with what I hoped was a confident expression. For a long moment there was a stalemate, but then they began to move, splitting up to flank me. I loosed an arrow at the big black-furred one, causing him to duck back, wary of it changing direction once more.

Dropping the bow from my exhausted hands I channelled the last of my aether at the smaller one, striking his legs with a small explosion, knocking him down. As I did so, the black rodent covered the last of the distance and reached out for me, malice in its beady eyes.

It was at this moment when there was a blinding flash of prismatic light and a message began to run through my vision, which was already starting to fade. I could feel my consciousness leaving my Astral form, returning down to the Material. As my vision went dark I could faintly see the rodent scuttling backwards, annoyance on its face…

The Territory Anchor has finished solidifying your grasp on this Territory. Your Territory has reached Rank 1. Basic defence wards have now been established. Due to your ownership level…

The words faded from my vision. As the last of my vision failed, pitch darkness all I could see, I could hear several sets of words overlapping in my ears.

“Damn-damn. Another enemy has arrived. The princess will not be pleased, not at all.”

“Well done. This is farewell for now. You will have to forge your own destiny from here, without my assistance. Learn and grow strong, and if you do we shall meet again in the future. Many fall here at the first hurdle, and your hurdle will be towering indeed, but the second is just as high…”

I felt some warmth towards Exposition-san. They had helped me to reach this point, but it was up to me to see how far I could go in the future. With that my consciousness cut off, and I knew no more…