183 Arcane Danger (1/2)
Surgit rose to find the blue lantern again. His alter-self had grown quiet. He'd led him to a stupid death. The hunter couldn't get angry at him though. It was his fault for listening to him. He collected himself and headed for the plaza, outside the observatory. He wasn't going to let the monster inside of him alter his plans. A new death was a new opportunity to retry his training before he got rid of the spider.
He attracted the monsters' attention and led them under the Lunarium. The plan was to fend off the monsters without thinking of the plan, and without getting hit. He avoided all attacks, some by a hair's width, and slaughtered all the enemies, including the stray near the auxiliary entrance.
He was ready.
He walked by Master Willem, who was still rocking on his wooden chair, and jumped into the moon reflection. Water broke under his feet and he found himself standing on top of the shallow lake. Rom stood several paces away from him. No spiders surrounded the beast. Surgit knew that it took only one hit for the vacuous spider to summon its underlings.
So the hunter ran and slashed the gigantic mouse with tiny feet. Rom screeched and curled up, trying to teleport away. Surgit wouldn't have it. He kept swinging his sword until the weapon hit the air. Rom appeared in the spot where Surgit had landed, surrounded by multiple spiders. Their heads were gray and scaly. Hitting them was akin to beating on stone.
Surgit had to avoid that.
'Rom won't attack until I get it to disappear twice,' he thought as he dashed toward the little creatures. 'All I gotta do is kill the spiders, then give it hell once we're all alone.'
The situation was similar to his training. He ran to the beasts, let them surround him. These were faster and deadlier than the flies. Their hardened heads could pierce the ground. One hit would severely damage him and slow him down. Their pointy legs were as sharp as his sword. He couldn't risk taking a hit.
The monsters swarmed him and the hunter danced around them, slashing and thrusting. The trick was to not apply too much strength to his swings. Wasted energy meant that he'd leave himself open for retaliation. He needed to attack, handicap and step back. If Surgit had one thing in abundance, it was time. But he didn't allow himself that either. He didn't want to get sloppy. He needed to be ready for the third teleport.
He'd wait until the spiders were close to pummeling him with their heads to jump away and perform a downward slash. The tactic was effective. If he didn't kill the creature, at least he slowed it down. In two minutes' time, he had eradicated the little pests.
”Now,” he turned to look at the vacuous spider, ”it's time I learnt from my alter-self.”
Surgit threw his sword onto his back and inside the hammer's hilt. He attached the sword to the big slab of stone and held the Kirkhammer in both hands.
”Let's see,” he said to no one in particular. ”How did he do it again?”
The hunter tried to recall the fight against the woman who intercepted them at the observatory. Although Surgit didn't actively take part in the earlier fight, he had a firsthand experience launching that shockwave. He was inside his own body, albeit not in control. Rom stood there, it didn't seem to be bothered by the lack of underlings around it.
”It felt like extending my whole being to the sword,” he murmured. ”The beasts I've encountered since the Forbidden Woods seemed to have something similar, some extraordinary power. Since ”he” did it, that must mean I can.”
Surgit closed his eyes and concentrated on the Kirkhammer in his hands. He tried to mentally picture it, down to its smallest detail. He'd been using this weapon for too long, especially during his training. He knew its weight, how it handled. He knew how much strength was required to knock down, and how much was required to flatten the enemy.
He tightened his grip and loosened it. The leather strips around the hilt were used, tattered. Slowly, a picture started forming.
'Not bad,' the beast inside said.
Surgit didn't answer. He concentrated harder. He needed to have a full picture. He started thinking of the hammer, of the large marble slab attached to his sword. There were some engravings on it. Although he didn't know what they meant, he at least knew what they looked like. His head started throbbing. He didn't expect this action to be so strenuous. But he pushed on and kept forming a mental image, until the Kirkhammer appeared clearly in his mind's eye.
Surgit didn't need to open his eyes. He was using his insight. He could see the ghostly shape of Rom ahead of him. He could see the aura surrounding his weapon. It had a clear blue color; almost as clear as the coating he could apply using the empty Phantasm shells.
The hunter tightened his grip and swung forward. The hammer moved, lighter than ever before. To Surgit's surprise, a light blue color followed the movement and flew sideways. It disappeared two paces away from him.
'You have to direct it toward your enemy stupid,' the beast commented.
Surgit ignored him. His headache suddenly got worse. He felt blood trickling down his ears and nose. He opened his eyes and for a moment, he felt dizzy. The world he could see with his own, physical, eyes was completely different from the one his mind's eye showed.
”I can't use this for long,” he swore under his breath.
The difficulty of the task frustrated and excited him at the same time. On one hand, he knew he could use the attack. On the other, he knew that it required more finesse, technique and knowledge. Knowledge he didn't have. He couldn't use it on Rom yet. But if he could master it, he'd grow in strength exponentially.
”What if?” he said, a nasty grin formed on his face.
He approached the vacuous spider but didn't attack. He was in range to hit the beast with his hammer. He closed his eyes and activated his insight. He fought the headache and urged himself to sustain the bleeding. The hammer gave a bright blue glow.