Chapter Twenty-Nine: Faith

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Faith

Tom tensed, expecting Lyanna to burst into immediate action, but the brawny woman simply closed her eyes and inclined her head. She intoned a steady stream of prayer under her breath.

“O Goddess, Peerless Warrior, hallowed in name and deed, strengthen my arm as yours is strong so that I may strike down those of little faith. Strengthen my soul as yours is strong…”

And so she continued. And as she prayed Tom felt a concerning surge in the woman’s already massive constitution.

“Fuck…” Tom muttered, but he wasted no time. He cast Misery on her, and followed it with Agony, but if either the thin pink line connecting them, or the pink lightning arcing about her body did her any harm she showed no sign of it. Instead, she simply continued praying, her vitality cresting even higher.

“Here she comes,” he said to Darius, as he felt her vital signs peak. Just as he spoke her catechism rang out with finality. Her eyes snapped open. Then she burst forward.

Lyanna moved with such explosive speed that the first few rows of monks behind her were buffeted as she launched herself at Tom. She crossed the distance between them in an eyeblink. Only his massively boosted reflexes, courtesy of Sweet Suffering, allowed her to track her movements. He brought his axe across and up, aiming to slam it into her side.

He was a hair too slow. An open palm smashed into the centre of his enchanted breastplate. The enchantments flickered, stuttering as they tried to disperse the incredible amount of force imparted into them, and Tom was slammed to the floor like a child.

The enchantments held and the armour threw up its defensive shield, but the ridiculous strength behind the blow had shattered most of his ribs and damaged his lungs. There was some small consolation, though.

Echo activated, and a phantom palm appeared and struck Lyanna. Though it did only a low amount of damage, Tom could still see the brief flicker of surprise on her face. At the same time, Misery pulsed, sharing some of the damage she’d dealt him back to her. Lastly, Whisper Shield left her with an ephemeral, ghostly tag hanging from her arm, draining some of her mana.

Individually, each of the effects were weak, especially compared to the huge amount of damage Tom had just taken. Even taken together, Lyanna was easily able to shake them off. The real value of his three retaliatory passives came when he continued to endure.

A pulse of gentle light crept in at the edges of Tom’s vision and his pain lessened. Darius had cast his burst heal on him. Tom began to struggle to his feet. Lyanna stared down at him impassively then, deciding he was no threat for the moment, turned to Darius. The handsome healer’s eyes were wide, but he clenched his teeth and held his sword steady.

Tom felt a silent surge of satisfaction. If Lyanna thought he’d be put down that easily, she had a rude surprise in store. He gained his feet, feeling the bones in his chest slide back together, his buffed regeneration buttressed by Darius’ healing. He pulled his axe back, infusing it with mana, and swung.

His swing never landed. An upswing of mana from behind him announced a skill, but he had no time to react. A bright, actinic blue beam suddenly sprung from his navel. Tom lost feeling in his legs. He fell forwards, only just managing to catch himself with his arms, ending up on one knee. Lyanna turned to give him an indifferent glance.

Adan, the caster, had used a surge skill. He had punched straight through his armour’s shield, meant to protect his life while his health was low, and hit Tom directly in his spine while his back was turned.

Tom grimaced. He hadn’t forgotten about the man, in fact, the man having a surge skill was even better for his plan, now he just needed…

Lyanna moved to strike Darius down. She did so casually. The healer could do nothing about it. The gap in their physicality was simply too large, and both of them knew it. She cocked a fist, preparing to cave in his chest.

…Grit!

A massive tide of healing swept through Tom’s body as Grit activated. The secondary feature of the skill that he’d chosen when he uplifted it provided him a once-per-day, large heal if his health dropped below a certain percentage in a short space of time.

The wave of healing rolled through his body. Bones cracked, popped and settled. Tissue, muscles and organs squelched as they knitted together. Fire burned as blood pumped through pathways rent apart but a moment before.

Tom rose from a kneel, sending Silence mana thrumming through his axe. He planted his feet, pushed through his legs, pivoted his hips, and swung with all his might.

Darius kept his gaze pinned to Lyanna, his expression never wavering, though he could clearly see Tom healing. Tom was grateful for his composure. If Lyanna had even a second to react he’d be hard pressed to do any serious damage.

The blade of his axe thumped into the monk’s back with a resounding thunk. Tom heard a sharp intake of breath, and Lyanna stumbled forwards. Darius capitalised on the opportunity and thrust his sword, stabbing her in the chest.

It was a well-executed manoeuvre, but Tom was still worried. His swing was performed flawlessly, imbued with Silence mana, which should cut through any mana-charged defences like butter. He had still dealt her a grievous blow, but it had not ended the fight like he had hoped.

As it happened, it was not even close.

With a wet rip, Lyanna pivoted, twirling, both the axe blade and sword ripping free of her body. Red dots sprinkled into the air with the movement.

Tom was already swinging again, the axe blade brimming with so much Silence mana that the cutting edge shivered and hummed. Lyanna immediately stepped away with a burst of speed.

All according to plan. Tom continued his movement, tracking Lyanna, taking a second to cast Agony on her once again, then at the last second he janked and threw the axe with both hands.

It turned end over end, little more than a blur as it streaked through the air. Lyanna’s eyes widened fractionally as she tracked its path. Straight towards Adan.

The caster almost reacted too late. He had not moved much from where he had started, simply shuffling a little to the side so that his incredibly strong surge skill wouldn’t also hit his partner. It was the reason he had been chosen, Tom guessed; to use his single, potent skill to knock Tom or Darius out of the fight immediately while they were distracted dealing with Lyanna. He didn’t need to do anything else.

Still, the axe had a decent distance to travel, and even if he was playing sniper, the monk was no slouch. No bloody monks were. He began to dodge.

Tom had expected him too, of course. He would not simply throw away his axe on a chance. At the last moment, he cast Wild Eagle Strike.

Adan froze, the low duration Fear debuff pinning him in place. It only lasted a moment, but a moment might as well have been an eternity with a Silence-infused axe spinning towards him.

The axe froze a fraction of an inch before the man’s chest. A hand grasped it, stopping it dead in its tracks. Abbess Sunrise had intervened personally to stop the man from being injured. She disappeared again, and Adan with her. Tom was vaguely aware of him reappearing near her seat, Sunrise appearing on it once more, looking as though she had never moved. She gave Tom’s axe a curious glance, but made no move to return it to him.

Ah well, Tom thought, summoning his spear from storage. He spun it, refocusing on Lyanna, and repositioning himself between her and Darius. The woman had begun another catechism.

“O Goddess, turn your loving hand to me. Lift me up so that I may stand strong in your benevolent eyes…”

Tom watched as mana flowed in smooth, looping patterns through her body, healing the wounds she’d taken in moments. Darius had mentioned she had a cycle skill, and it was proving to be impressive. From the looks of it it was a channelled skill, the cycle aspect of it allowing her to swap between different modes.

It was similar to Wild Strike, although rarer, with Wild Strike being a standard active skill. Her catechisms had two cycles that he had seen, the general boosting and healing ones. All cycle skills were manifested with at least two functions though, and she could potentially have another two or three functions for it depending on what tier the skill was at.

The ability to boost her already prodigious constitution was already bad enough, but being able to heal herself in seconds was far more dangerous. The only downside was that the skill was still a channelled skill, and channelling it was costly in mana.

Tom could feel the amount it was taking her to channel it, and it was not insignificant. Though, from what Darius had said, it could very well be the only thing she had to spend mana on.

Lyanna finished healing and immediately began beseeching Goddess for strength again. Tom braced himself for another assault as he felt her strength spike. Sure enough, she launched herself at him once more.

This time, Tom had a better idea of just how strong and fast she was. With his buffs from Sweet Suffering, and having all of his familiars subsumed, he was still lagging behind her. But he was not completely helpless.

As she charged, he cast Agony again. He thrust forward with his spear, deliberately off her centreline to force a dodge.

She stepped so quickly and smoothly he almost couldn’t believe it. She flowed around his spear point like water, menacing him. Tom snapped the butt of the spear towards her, but she slapped it down and struck out.

Her open palm cracked into his chest again. This time, Tom was fast enough to move with the blow, softening it just a little. Softer was still not soft, however. Once more, many of his ribs broke.

Lyanna pursued him relentlessly. It seemed that this time she was unwilling to let up until she was absolutely certain she had taken him out of the fight. Tom drew his spear in as he stumbled back, dragging his hand up its length, shortening his grip. Again, Lyanna stepped into him and punched.

This time, when her fist impacted his chest, an incandescent light edged her knuckles. Tom grinned. It was not one of her skills, but one of Darius’.

Damage Reversal was the very first skill he’d manifested under Damage. For an instant, it turned any damage the target received into Healing. Instead of crippling him, the power of the strike poured into Tom, washing away residual aches and niggles. He took the opportunity to attack.

A Silence infused speartip struck out, stabbing into the monk’s side below her ribs. Tom cast Agony for a fourth time. He knew this battle would not be won quickly, and every bit of damage he could pile on counted.

Lyanna growled, her first concession to frustration during the bout. But instead of retreating, she redoubled her assault. Tom watched as her eyes narrowed, and knew it was time to pull out all the stops.

He pulled two of the wax balls from between his teeth and bit into them. For a brief instant, his vision doubled.

Then his body exploded with power.

Lyanna came at him in a furious tempest of blows. Punches, kicks, elbows, and sweeps all rained down on him. They were absurdly fast. Tom was certain that most of the audience would not be able to even perceive what was happening, so blinding fast were her attacks.

Tom met each one as an equal.

The two wax balls contained the culmination of Harvey Bubbles esoteric ideas for him. An incredibly potent poison was safely encapsulated in each. Individually, they were strong enough to knock out a drake. When combined, they catalysed, and the amount contained in the little wax balls would be enough to kill one.

Tom overflowed with power. His eyes felt like they were on fire. His skull was buzzing. The buffs that Sweet Suffering translated the poisons into were quite nearly too much for him to handle. But handle them he did. It was his only option.

He batted aside punches, checked leg sweeps and elbows, all coming at him with enough strength to smash walls. He saw Lyanna’s surprise, which quickly changed to furious concentration. She was not going to give up this assault.

Tom knew he had to end this quickly. The super-poisons were the only thing allowing him to keep up, and their trade off for their potency was a very short timer. So he met a hook with a sturdy block, and then went on the offensive himself.

Tom snapped his foot out, catching the monk in her stomach and forcing her back, creating room for himself. Then he whipped his spear in a glittering arc, and became a tempest himself.

Lyanna was no slouch. Most Idealists, given access to her extreme skillset, would become lazy, arrogant, and lean on their overwhelming physicality and neglect their skill. As Tom assaulted her, it became clear that Lyanna was at the pinnacle of fighting technique.

Thrusts, sweeps and slashes were turned aside with perfect form. Her footwork was impeccable. Even as she endured his assault, she still managed to pepper him with blows.

And it was to be her undoing.

Misery, Echo and Whisper Shield had all been hard at work while they fought. Even as Lyanna hurt him, the skills were slowly feeding damage back to her. Tom had cast Agony as soon as the cooldown allowed too.

He might not have been her equal in combat, but he was wearing her down. Slowly, but surely, the damage was adding up. Tom saw it in her face when she realised. He grinned at her.

The stout monk kicked at his hip, attempting to push him back. Her foot impacted a blue shield and shattered it, which in turn bathed Tom in white light. Healing flowed through him as Darius cast a skill on him. Just in time too. The buff from the super poisons ran out, leaving Tom feeling ragged.

Lyanna, for once, did not press her advantage. Instead, she took distance, and immediately began another catechism.

Tom could feel her mana ebbing. Her constant use of her boosting for so long had left her almost empty. In this way, Whisper Shield had proved more effective than his other retributive skills, as every tag that attached to her hand drained a little of her mana before exploding and damaging her. As her cycle skill ramped up though, he felt her mana regeneration surge, striving to refill her reserves.

Tom was shocked. Her cycle skill was insanely strong! All-round boosting, potent healing, and incredibly fast mana regeneration. And she could still have more functions left! She was physically weaker while using it to recover her health or mana, but that only meant she was much stronger than him, rather than far stronger.

Luckily, Tom had one last gambit. He pulled the last two wax pills and bit down on them, knowing he would pay a price later for overtaxing his body. He shoved the concern to the side. It was worth it. He needed to win.

Once again, his body, his mind, came alight with power. A bonfire raged in him.

He slid forward, liquid, and said a single word.

Hush.

The catechism faltered. Lyanna’s mana regeneration guttered.

He thrust, and his spear tip came to rest on Abbess Sunrise’s fingertip, an inch from spearing Lyanna through her neck.

“Well,” said Sunrise. “That was certainly… demonstrative.”