149 The Third power. rough draf (1/2)
Every inch of the gloomy landscape was covered in perfect white.
Occasionally the humming wind would sweep by, whipping up the powdered snow in blustery swirls, forming airy trails across the landscape that resembled smoke.
The natural light was already fading, signifying that the end of another short winter's day was fast approaching.
Two human figures stood out like shining bulbs in the endless sea of snow, standing ten meters apart on a hill filled with natural beauty, the environment around them was tranquil and calming.
The frigid wind blew pass their silhouettes, tugging at the hems of their fluttering robes.
Patriarch Zhang smiled, he was short and very thin, with sharp features and silvering hair. He stood straight-backed, white robe and fur coat flapping to the whims of the wind. Looking rather sage-like and regal.
”You're full of yourself, but your confidence is misplaced, you don't know enough to know what you've gotten into.”
The skinny old man's voice held a certain air of authority, as if correcting a youth on the wrong path.
”You, young man, are guilty of doing too much while knowing too little.
There's a reason why a new born calf isn't afraid of a tiger. Now, let's find out how accurate Zhang Yi's report was.”
”And how do you suggest we do that?” Hartley asked casually, borderline mockingly.
”You'll know soon enough, first you'll repay the two limbs you owe to the House of Smiths.”
The skinny old man flashed a vicious look, leering at Hartley with venom, apparently finished with the pretentious pleasantries.
There was a subtle change in the atmosphere immediately.
Hartley knew right away that the old man had engaged his domain.
Dull shadows from the leaf-less trees stretched across the snow like skeletons reaching out.
Patriarch Zhang's figure seemed to distort for a second, flickering in and out like a malfunctioning screen, then he blinked out of sight completely.
All the scattered shadows around seem to come alive. Lengthening, thickening, darkening and joining together, forming a featureless black figure that rose to its feet like a giant human.
The black as midnight humanoid materialised from wispy shapes of darkness, sucking away the shadows and adding it to its six meter frame.
Darkness streamed from its body like water. Instantly weaning away all the light in a one kilometre radius, submerging the entire hill into perpetual darkness.
The velvet-smooth layer of snow underfoot transformed from pearl white to being as black as crude oil.
The thick tsunami of darkness overwhelmed everything in its path as if it was alive.
All Hartley could see was black before his eyes, swallowed in darkness, his feet felt like they were sinking through the earth.
He retained his freedom of movement but the darkness had arrived so fast that it left him a little disoriented, he had completely lost his bearings. He couldn't even tell what direction he was facing, his awareness was being blocked inside this darkness.
There was a simple solution to this. That was his time domain.
The six meter tall humanoid, made from shadows, roared like a dark spectre released from the bowels of hell.
The sound battered Hartley's ears from every direction, further adding to his disorientation.
Hartley wasted no more time, he countered by engaging monochrome.
All sounds faded away, the world went eerily quiet and tranquil around him, the claustrophobic darkness bled away, reverting back to a black and white snapshot of the previous picturesque scene.
Hartley spun around to evaluate the threats around him, the genderless shadow humanoid loomed large above him, frozen in suspended animation like a blotch of blotted ink. Its long shadowy arms reaching down towards Hartley.
A glowing white apparition flew from the humanoid's stationary body.
It was mist-like with smoky wisps trailing its every movement, dashing forward to attack in a blurry streak.
An indistinct fist formed, churning like glowing clouds of billowing smoke, extending to the size of a carriage, blurring as it came down like a meteor and slammed into the ground, creating a ten meter crater.
After-images of the punch floated in the air, aimed at where Hartley's undefended back would have been.
The ghost-like apparition then wriggled and faded away, dissipating like smoke at the end of the simulated attack. The process of the attack restarted again as if on replay. This was a new feature in Hartley's upgraded time domain.
After breaking into the saint realm, whenever he implemented his time domain, the next actions of any hostile combatant would be predicted and demonstrated by white apparitions.
Hartley immediately figured out the trap, this humanoid shadow had a simple independent thought process, meaning it was not the patriarch transformed.
It was most likely something he had trained in his domain, its wispy ghost-like form suggested that it was immune to physical attacks.
Anyone caught in this shadow domain would first struggle with disorientation
The discombobulated victim would either stand his ground and get cut down from the back by the shadow humanoid, or run around frantically trying to evade whatever was lurking in the darkness.
Most likely to end up running around in circles before being picked off.
Anyone who reflexively tried to defend themselves with physical attacks would be doomed.
It was almost a full proof strategy against an inexperienced opponent, no wonder the Patriarch was so confident. He must be watching with glee.
Hartley watched the white apparition again, taking note of the shadow's speed and angle of approach.
He relaxed, smiled and uttered, ”interesting.”
Despite the advice of Kang, Hartley was going to brute force the saint realm into submission.
Four left-handed finger gestures were executed in a single motion, Hartley then waved his right hand with vigour, black energy sizzled to life in front of him, snapping and crackling like frying eggs.
The black energy twisted and roped into a spiral under his control, then he injected his immense blue elemental power that spun in the opposite direction. High density gravity was applied to the mix and boom! The ground shook.
Hartley cracked open a black hole with ease. A small implosion sent crackling black electricity zig zagging at its edges.
The sequence was smooth and practiced.
Hartley's hair billowed wildly around his face, his robe fluttering violently as if he was falling from the sky. Flashes of his blue elemental power reflected in his sapphire eyes.
The raging nucleus of the black hole spun counter clockwise like a tornado, eager to devour anything and everything, sucking at the world like a hungry vacuum cleaner.
He disengaged his time domain immediately, using the black hole as his shield.
Whoosh, time returned to normal.
Everything blinked back to pitch black.
The suffocating darkness returned, the head splitting roar of the shadow humanoid sounded out vociferously.
Just as predicted, the wispy form of the shadow humanoid came flying forward with its attack.
Its defiant roars turned to a screech of anguish in a sudden change of fortune.
The pitch black ground trembled, it sounded like grenades and gunfire was kicking off, the screams of the humanoid shadow raised to a higher octave, it fought desperately to escape the clutches of the portal.
Its six meter frame was being sucked violently through the tennis ball sized black hole.
In a blink, the humanoid shadow was up to its elbow in the black hole, then the shoulders then torso, then with a whoosh...
Everything disappeared, leaving flashes of black sparks contrasting with the white of winter.
The tacky tar of darkness disappeared instantly, the domain was broken with the demise of the humanoid shadow.
Silence!
Muted greys and whites of the winter's evening returned, restoring the calming atmosphere. Snow continued to swirl above the ground, swept up and down the hill by the wind.