Sell you a Bridge chapter 320

June 22nd 2016 Mysterious Tower, 12:00 PM EDT

I  stayed in the Outer Body Trance longer than expected. Once I managed to  regulate the power of my spells, I had to do it AGAIN with my armor  out, since the damn thing augmented magic. It took me about a thousand  plus tries to get it done. When I finally managed, it actually ended up  blowing up the simulation in my spirit by accident because I got so  excited I lost my grip on the spell. Still, once I accomplished the  trick once my perfect recall let me repeat it, and by the time I opened  my eyes at noon after being jarred by another five thousand points, I  had it down.

Master Yen Sid sat off to one side in an  overstuffed red armchair, sipping a cup of tea from gods knew where as  he waited patiently for me to finish. The girls had left, presumably  bored and able to learn through the bond, so it was just the two of us  on the plateau. When he saw my eyes land on him, he gave a small, grim  smile. "Ah." He said in that resonant baritone. "The student awakens. I  thought it best to allow your training to continue, as Zatanna assured  me that your growth continued apace. Tell me, young one. What have you  learned?"

"That I can save fifteen percent or more on car  insurance by switching to Geico?" I quipped reflexively. At his blank  look I just sighed. "Sorry, I meant magic. I learned all the spells you  demonstrated. I wouldn't say I mastered them or anything, hell, I'm  still apprentice in even the ones I could already use, but I have enough  of a feel to use them properly and control them, which I think was the  point of all this. I assume that means I'm ready for your obstacle  course?"

His smile stayed grim, but expanded a bit, taking  on a bit of a malicious edge. "Ah yes, the obstacle course. An  interesting predicament. You see, you are quite powerful. No mere  illusions would suffice. I was unable to arrange for live training  partners mind you, but I achieved some bit of inspiration from the  experiences of a few of my students and their own companions."

Reaching  out, he flicked his fingers, and a trio of suits of armor faded into  existence. They looked...fancy. Gilt and stylish designs, but still  sturdy and based on the aura generating as much magic as a damn nuclear  reactor...if a nuclear reactor generated magic. Whatever analogy you  wanted to use, these things were DENSE with energy, but had nearly no  personality to speak of from what I can see. They looked almost  possessed, just a remnant consciousness animating the mass of magical  armor of each suit.

"These." Master Yen Sid said proudly.  "Are the Enduring Wills. They are based on a suit of naturally occurring  Keyblade Armor animated by the will of a fallen master. These are, of  course, much more humane, created from fragments of willing spirits, but  they are nonetheless mighty foes. It took all of my skill and power to  acquire and animate these armor suits, and they are, without a doubt,  the finest of all my creations, despite my actual contribution to their  forms being quite small. Tell me, can you deduce what these are,  exactly?"

I glanced at them closely, and it only took me a  minute to figure it out. "You already said it. Keyblade Armor. That  isn't a euphemism, these are literal Keyblades formed into suits or  armor. How fascinating. This would be an amazing way for my friends to  protect themselves, even the more mortal ones. Will this be among the  things you'll be teaching them how to do after we leave?"

He  nodded. "One of many. I suspect your wives and daughter will pick up  this particular trick rather quickly as well, even without my guidance.  You, of course, don't need it. Your own armor is much more entwined with  you than a normal suit of Keyblade Armor. It is, quite literally, a  part of you. Which is, of course, why I must ask you not to use it  during this sparring match. It somewhat defeats the purpose."

That  wasn't too big of an ask. He was right. The armors were animated by  remnant spirits. They would be at a huge disadvantage against an evenly  matched opponent because of that lack of agency. The armors would all be  just slightly weaker than me in my own suit, which meant they would  pose a serious threat to me without it. Still, it was a chance to test  out my divine combat abilities without the armor to lean on, and I  figured a sparring match was as good a time as any to do that.

"Sure  boss." Said easily as I popped to my feet. "No problem. So what skills  can I use here? I'm thinking you want me focusing on my native physical  abilities and the magic you taught me. Avoid the rest of my tricks  unless I need them?" It was a bit of a handicap, but I didn't hate the  challenge.

At his gesture of agreement I sighed and  chucked my chin off to one side. "We can go ahead and start right?" I  asked casually. "I'm positive this is going to be kind of messy. If you  want to clear out I can wait." The last thing I wanted was to  accidentally kill the old man with a shockwave or something.

For  the first time since I got here, Master Yen Sid gave me a look that  wasn't wise or mysterious or even creepy. He just looked at me like an  idiot. Raising one eyebrow he flicked a finger, and a sphere  of...defense, appeared around him. I had no other word for it. There was  a flash of light that faded, but I could see the aura, and the magic he  used was basically conceptual protection at a base level, completely  surrounding and defending him. I was pretty sure I might have been able  to at least damage it if I went all out on it for a few minutes, but it  should definitely be more than enough to stop spillover from the fight.

I  chuckled wryly, turning away in embarrassment. Well, that made me feel  kind of stupid. Probably should have assumed the master wizard could  protect himself from the effects of magical splash damage. I also  resolved myself to try to learn that spell. It seemed high level, and  that could be damn useful in the field. For now though, I needed to  focus on this upcoming fight.

The three suits of Keyblade  Armor were similar in theme but subtly different. One suit of black  armor with golden gilt was massive, easily seven feet tall. A smaller  blue suit was lithe and looked like it had been made for a woman, barely  breaking five feet. The bronze suit in the middle was an average  height, five eight or nine, but it was incredibly wide through the  shoulders.

Each of them carried a keyblade, though none I  recognized, with the blocky one hauling around an incredibly thick  keyblade made of bronze gears, while the blue one had a short silver  keyblade only a foot or two long that looked much sharper than most I'd  seen. The tallest had a huge black and red keyblade that reminded me a  bit of magma, and seemed to be wielding it with little to no effort.

As  we took up positions the three of them surrounded me taking up three  equidistant points that reminded me of a triangle. Bronze and blocky  took the point, taking position in front of me in a way that obviously  implied some sort of tank role, while the other two set up behind me to  wait for openings to attack. Once that was done, they stopped and  waited, and after a minute or two, Master Yen Sid gave a shallow nod,  and the world shifted into motion.

My reaction times, had  been boosted to triple when I was first given access to my power, and  those enhancements had kept up their usefulness since that time. Even at  my current speed, that enhancement played a key role in allowing me to  counter opponents. It was the only thing that saved me.

I  hadn't fought without my armor in quite some time, and these things,  while non Drood armor, WERE magic armor at a terrifying level. Facing  someone with that kind of speed and power when I was so underprepared  myself would have been impossible without my enhanced reaction speed.  Even as they blitzed me, i felt my body start to react instinctively,  all my training combining with my reflexes to instinctively act to  protect my life.

As the brawny bronze armor dashed  forward, I reached out with all my senses and let myself pickup the  attacks from behind too. As the big one hauled back on its magma  keyblade, the small blue one darted in with an attack aimed at my spine.  Almost without thought, I sidestepped and kicked lightly at the blue  armor's ankle, tripping it up as it went by to send it tumbling into the  path of the brawny bronze armor, which was moving too fast and had far  too much momentum to pull back before they collided.

I  didn't have time to watch that particular wreck because the big one was  still bearing down on me, about to smash my skull in with the colossal  keyblade. I flicked Tartarus up to deflect it, using the pommel of my  keyblade to knock it aside even as I cast Blizzard from the other end,  smashing a huge chunk of ice into the tangled forms of the still  struggling armors behind me.

It was hard not to stagger  when I deflected the big one's blow. Despite putting literally all my  skill and strength to work, along with my insane reflexes, I barely  managed to knock it off course with the blow. I'd gotten too used to  having my armor on at all times, making me a physical match for nearly  every one of my enemies. Now I was on the back foot, and I was  scrambling to keep up.

I rolled hard to one side, avoiding  an incoming blow from the blue armor, which had extricated itself from  the small pileup and tried another spine cut with that sharp little  keyblade. I cast my protective fire spell, then Aero, the combination  creating a massive explosion of flame around me that I infused heavily  with demonic energy to create a blast of hellfire so I could get some  damn breathing room.

Scrambling back I tried to slip  through a gap the blast opened in their formation so I could put some  distance between myself and my opponents. Despite the force and  destructive power of the hellfire, there was barely a singe mark on the  three armored figures. Since the couldn't surround me from the current  position, they took up a V formation, with the brawny one at the head,  bracing for my next attack.

Despite the new setup, I  wasn't worried even a bit. I was grinning like a lunatic as they grouped  up so closely. Reaching deep down into myself, I tried a new trick. I  cast the strongest spell I had, Gravity. Instead of infusing it with  demonic energy or ectoplasm, I reached into my bloodline and tugged on  my connection to the void, merging the Hole ability with the Gravity  spell.

There was a booming crack as the expanding void of  darkness bloomed in the middle of the three figures, ballooning out to  swallow all three of them as my energy was drained away like water from a  cracked cup. I cut off the flow of power as quickly as I could, but  when it faded, all three armors were standing in a crater about ten feet  in diameter. The plates of their armor were cracked and twisted, and  though they had managed to survive the attack, I could see I'd done  serious damage. Master Yen Sid raised an eyebrow at the sight, stroking  his beard. "Well. Isn't that interesting."