25 Kessiah Crow

My eyes snapped open as I pushed through the pain and cold and anger. The arms wrapped around me like bands of steel, but I overwhelmed them as I pressed out. Heat returned to my blood as my blood boiled.

It literally boiled. The arcane bonds keeping me together reformed as my armor evolved. No longer did they saturate my flesh with chaotic bands. Instead, they reoriented into long, smooth lines that connected in a smooth flow, weaving around the tendrils of armor piercing into my bones.

The millions of armored spines in my body connected, wrapping between my nerves. The pain receded as the armor pierced deep into my body. Removing it now would be like removing all the bones in my body.

The reorientation of the arcane bonds reheated my body, and the pain had subsided. The evolution had only taken minutes, not hours like I assumed. When I thought about it later, I realized that I didn't necessarily pass out for a long time before. I could have just been out for a few minutes. I had neglected to ask anyone how long I'd been passed out.

With that in mind, I activated oppression. Usually, I could flick it on like a light switch. This meant I had no control of how much power it had. This time, I felt the aura press outward like a menacing fog. The summon of Yawm holding me lunged back as the aura scraped him. I fell onto the ground with a sharp clank of stone on steel, surrounded by the walls of the tunnel.

As I lifted myself up, I pulled up one of my hands. With a thought, the metal bended like putty. I turned behind me, the thrall of Yawm shaking near a wall. This thing had almost taken me to that piece of shit Yawm. I charged towards the creature, my feet digging into the stone.

With the enhanced perception, I landed my feet onto flat parts of the stone as I whipped my fist in a wide hook. I angled my fist as it landed directly against the creature's skull. The crisp connection of my fist caused the dull thwack of metal on bone. My fist shot back like I had fired a cannon in it. Hitting the creature had nearly forced me back.

The summon's robed head shot away from my fist. The skull smacked against the wall, bouncing off with the sickening thud of breaking bones. A pair of footsteps echoed behind me. Two cold arms wrapped around me, the summon gripping around me like bending railroad tracks.

I pulled my arms forward, unleashing a flurry of armored spikes through the summon. I turned myself, retracting the spines from the creature. Pieces of the monster fell from under its robe as bounced off a nearby wall. I stampeded towards the damn thing, turning on my heels as I unleashed another heavy hand towards it.

My fist dug into its side, keeling it over before I turned on my heels once more. I swung my fist like a hammer, tucking the blow close to my side as it smashed into the monster's mouth. The momentum of my blow blew my hand back, like I detonated a handful of gunpowder in my palm. The jaw broke as the face shot back into the wall.

The body slumped onto the ground before cold arm slammed into the side of my head. My face mashed into the wall. The precognition saved me as I pulled myself down, avoiding the next blow of the creature before a bone spear slid into the head of the monster. The weight of the bullet sent it flying back before I turned and faced the next monster.

The robes of the creature slipped off, revealing a set of glowing blue sacs. Several eyes glanced around, scattered across its body. A set of fat cheeks, mouths, and necks led up to the bulging skull of the creature. Two squirming tentacles writhed with glowing blue veins pulsing down the tips of them. It was fucking disgusting, just like everything else this Yawm fucker sent my way.

It turned sideways, whipping a tentacle towards me. Instead of dodging, I caught the tentacle against my side. My feet dragged on the stone for a few feet, but I stayed firm. I slid sideways on my feet before pulling on the tentacle. The body of the creature whipped with my pull, clobbering into the stone. I pulled it again, crushing it into the stone. A spear flew into the cavern, bursting one of the blue sacs.

The blue glop gushed out as the creature squealed. I nearly vomited before pulling the creature towards the center of the cavern. As threw it out into the colosseum, one of Althea's bone spears shot passed the summon of Yawm. The bullet barreled right for my for my chest.

With precognition and my enhanced dexterity, I whipped my hand outwards as fast as I could. My tendons and muscles screamed at the effort, nearly snapping in the process. My hand hit the spear at an angle before the projectile slid past me.

The impact on the back of my hand shot me back as I stumbled sideways. I fell onto the side of the wall before gaining a level in deflection. I sighed out before losing tension in my body. Goddamn that was that hard. I shouted towards Althea,

"Watch where the fuck you're shooting. Why can't any of my allies aim correctly."

The proud voice from earlier said from inside the colosseum, "She may have been aiming at you instead. You never know."

I rolled my eyes before glancing at my notifications. Dealing with another smartass could wait till later. The first thing I noticed was the evolved armor.

III Harbinger of Cataclysm(Skin, Legendary Unique) - Skin that can absorb rift energy(Ambient Mana) for evolutions. These evolutions may add other special effects. Cannot be removed, only altered. This skin is regenerated with health. 0/16,000,000 Mana left till next evolution.

A Harbinger's Might - Increases Damage reduction cap by 2% | Current Max: 97%

Skin of Eldritch - Additional 15% increase to total health | Current Total Health: 115%

The Walking Calamity - Gives unique ability III Oppression | Current Damage: (8000 + 25% of health/min) within a 150ft/45m radius

An Undying Force - 2% of health added towards health regen per minute | Current regen added before multipliers: 2% of 2733 = 54.66 Unyielding bonus = 109.32 Determinator Tree bonus = 219 hp/minute

Loathed and Abhorred - Decreases Charisma by 20% | Current Total Charisma: 80%

- Endless hunger and eater of Eldritch, but we eat more than the new. We eat the old as well.

So oppression was becoming a damn strong debuff, the damage reduction and health increases kept making me tougher, and the extra regen made my health regen skyrocket. One aspect of the armor unnerved me however. The shell of eldritch had turned into the skin of eldritch. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind, resolving to ask Torix about it.

I'd also gained 2 levels from the two thralls dying. When I checked my attribute screen, I gained one attribute for level 104 and two for level 105, since I already unlocked all my perks. I already lost an attribute point by facing the ugly fuckers.

I put the points into luck, leaving me with 24. I checked out my status.

Daniel Hillside Totals Regen Buffs/Debuffs

Health 2733/2733 579/min Oppression Damage- 8000+25%hp/min

Stamina 1044/1044 31.5/sec Elemental Res - 97%

Harbinger of Cataclysm 50,000/16,000,000 0/per min Plasma Res - 97%

Phys Dam Reduction - 97% Rad Res - 97%

Phys Dam Bonus - 353% Mental Res - 97%

Level 105 Attribute Totals

Strength - Increases carrying weight, maximum speed, and physical power 30

Constitution - Increases hardness, density, and weight of your body 36.3

Endurance - Increases regeneration of stamina, health, and their totals 51

Dexterity - Increases ease of movement, flexibility, and reflexes 30

Willpower - Increases internal motivation, mana regen, and Mental Res 30.3

Intelligence - Increases memory, critical thinking, and total mana pool 30

Charisma - Increases likeability, persuasion, and decreases prices at shops 9

Luck - Increases money found, odds in your favor, and chance of rare events 24

Perception - Increases comprehension, the five senses, and awareness 30

With all that handled, I walked out of the tunnel while searching for the voice. It was time to whoop some ass.

The high pitched voice from earlier chattered from across the room, "Alright, I'm seeing a bit more cataclysm here. You're only level 105, yet you move like your over 200. Must be a tri-spec. Shitty endurance, eh?"

I glared over and found her with a hip jutting out. She was basically a human, though she had red violet skin. Dreads fell down the left side of her face, the right side shaved clean. It was like she had an edgy, urban haircut. A scar traced across her nose, leading up and through one of her eyelids.

She looked crazy, her eyes black except for yellow irises. Her white hair was vibrant, almost blindingly so. She didn't have a bad figure either, surprising for a woman older than dirt. That shit didn't matter to me though, so I raised an eyebrow and said, "Who the fuck are you?"

She grinned, exposing a set of sharp ass teeth as she said, "I'm Kessiah Crow. I'm Torix's friend. Who the fuck are you?"

I raised an eyebrow underneath my helmet and said, "Daniel Hillside. I know, my last name is terrible. Don't remind me."

She nodded before saying, "You've got a very strange...aura. How about you cut that off and we can talk for a minute? I don't like shouting across the room."

I narrowed my eyes and said, "Alright then."

Once I got in range, Schema helped me out,

Kessiah Crow, Remnant(lvl 2398) - An ancient member of the remnants, Kessiah is a wanderer like much of her species. Her species didn't appreciate most of the revolutionary changes that Schema brought about, so they ran from their duties like children. Now other races have to pick up the lost ground while the remnants just wander around aimlessly.

Their species also live unusually long lives, some even assuming they are immortal. This isn't due to any evolutionary trait. It is due entirely to how these mongrels developed. The remnants used to be a species, but they genetically modified themselves until every remnant might as well be a unique species all to themselves.

This goes against Schema's laws against genetic modification. They've been exiled for over a million years from Schema's home planet. Without a home of their own, they just wander now. They are volatile, disgusting, and abominations of nature. Never trust one and kill them on sight even if you must risk your life.

Looks like whoever came up with this message may be just a be bit biased. I was ready to activate oppression at any second in case something happened. After reading its contents, all thoughts of resistance shriveled up and died. Althea aimed from a cubbyhole in the back, her violet eye visible through the crack. I waved her off while mouthing,

'Noooooooooo. Nooooooooo.'

She got the idea.

I reached beside her, and Kessiah Crow stood an inch or two taller than me. She was like seven feet tall or some shit. Over two meters tall man. Kessiah raised an eyebrow as I said, "Alright, what's the plan with Torix?"

Kessiah grinned as she said, "We're going to try something fun."

I frowned as I said, "Anything more specific, like how we handle Yawm or what the plan with my armor is?"

She tapped the edge of her chin as she said, "Don't worry. Torix and I have things handled as far as Yawm is concerned. For a little while at least. I was going to study these runes for a bit before Torix and I tried out any experiments. Don't want to waste you."

I bit my lip for a moment before saying, "Is this how every high level thing is in the universe?"

"I suppose some of us are like that, though you won't find things that are as nice as I am."

I tapped the edge of my armor as I said, "Alright then. I'll take your word for it. When will Torix be back?"

"Another hour or so. Maybe. Who knows how long he'll be playing with the bodies."

I shook off this sinking unease as I said, "Alright, great. Awesome. I'll be training over in one of those caverns."

As I walked off, Althea finally sauntered up and said, "How did you and Torix meet?"

Kessiah clapped her hands together as she said, "We'll tell the story together. That should make the tale come to life."

I turned around before walking back off to my cavern. A hand gripped on my armor, strong enough to bend it. KEssiah said behind me, "How about I help you with your training? I may be able to give you a few pointers."

Althea's shoulders drooped as she said, "Seriously? Why him?"

"Cause he's interesting. Talk more, and maybe people will do the same for you."

Althea nodded before saying with reverence, "Uh, alright...I'll think about it, miss Kessiah."

I laughed at her sudden change in tone before Althea shot me a pointed glare. Kessiah leaned her face beside mine as she said, "No need to tease her. Besides, you've already got a date with me."

I pushed her away as I said, "Yeah, good luck teasing me with that shit. I'm not some four year old blushing every time someone says the word kiss."

"Bah, you're no fun."

"Neither are you and your experiments, miss Kessiah."

"Ok, ok, I shouldn't have brought up how you're a labrat. Sorry. Come on, let's see what kind of brawling style you've scrapped together."

We walked over towards the center of the colosseum. I said, "I'm just a bruiser, that's pretty much it."

Kessiah shrugged as she said, "Eh, simple isn't always bad. Let's see how your execution is."

She lifted her hand and a portal just like Torix's appeared above her. A green bow fell out with a green quiver, right into her hands. Kessiah said, "Alright, come at me."

I stomped my heel into the ground, charging towards her. It would be nice to punch that smug face of hers. Kessiah pulled back and launched an arrow in an instant. The arrow whistled in the air as it streaked towards me. Using the very slight precognition, I saw the angle and jerked my hand to divert its course.

The arrow slid off my arm and deep into the stone beside me. I kept running towards her. Kessiah's lips made a circle as she said, "Ahhh, nice. That armor's tough. It can't block for your eyes though."

She shot several more arrows, but I knocked them off course, sending them into random directions around me. Kessiah raised an eyebrow as she said, "Are you doing that on purpose?"

My armor and I grinned, the crimson slit on my helmet turning to a jagged line like teeth. As I reached upon her, she stood with her left arm out in front. She shot out a quick jab with her left hand. Her understanding of the brawl was impressive.

Versus most sluggers in boxing, you could stop their momentum with a few crisp, clean jabs to the nose. Once blood started pouring out, the slugger's stamina turned to shit. Makes it real hard to breath when blood is pouring from your nose. She was trying this strategy on me. Knowing this, I ducked under her jab before shooting a right hook towards her body.

The blow landed like my hand was slamming into a brick wall. My bones didn't break though. The tendrils of armor kept them together. Kessiah pulled her punch back, aiming to elbow my temple since I was beneath her arm. I shrugged my left shoulder, causing the elbow to slide over my head. Right behind the elbow was a right hand coming right towards my jaw.

I lifted my head up, Kessiah's right hand passing right past my eyes. Pulling my torso in a slight arc, I weaved around her left arm. I let my fist trail with me, my right hand building momentum before I smashed the heavy hook right into her cheek.

She didn't recoil much. In fact, my arm creaked from hitting her. She was like a moving diamond, way fucking harder than steel. Still, my bones didn't break against her. Her balance wasn't on point after the righ cross, so I shot a left hook straight towards the side of her face.

My metal gauntlets squealed as the bent on her face. I had one more hook left in my combination, so I smashed my right hand straight into her face. Kessiah laughed as I took a step back after hitting her. I grit my teeth before lunging back at her.

This time she kicked towards me legs. Reading her move with the precognition, I shot out a palm towards her leg. My hand pushed her leg so that it slammed into the ground, stone shattering under her strike. Low to the ground, I lunged forward and created an arc with my hand.

I left the hook wide, feinting the strike towards her face. She pulled her face back right as I pulled the overhand towards me chest. The centrifugal force increased, putting more inertia in the strike as it slammed into her stomach. Yet again, my fist met a wall of stone.

This time, my bones didn't hold. My pinky knuckle broke along with my wrist. I grit my teeth as Kessiah shot backwards. She said, "It's been a long time since I had someone actually try to fight me up close. It's so refreshing."

I bolted towards her again. This wasn't the time to stop my assault. In my mind, she fell back for a reason. Whenever I reached her, she said, "Alright. Fun's over."

Immediately, my precognition shot out as series of strikes shot out towards me. Dodging them would be impossible, so instead, I angled my arms, shoulders, and face so that her strikes would slide off. Most of the damage would be diverted off me if it worked.

I tightened my arms against my core as several kicks, punches, and palms slid across me. She kept on attacking, her strikes growing in volume. My senses stretched to their utmost limit as I struggled to deflect her blows. Every one of her attacks flowed perfectly into her next attack, giving me no time for rest or for a counter.

These attacks kept flying past, the metal of my armor screeching, sparks shooting off the edges. I kept my ground, only taking a few steps back after a minute or two. After a few more minutes of the relentless assault, I gained a sense of her timing. Random strikes and angles started making some sense. The momentum of her attacks began forming patterns.

Once I was sure she'd repeat a pattern of hers, I let the first two kicks skid off my armor before leaning straight into her next punch. I let my arm drag behind, sure of my strike's timing. Her fist shot past my face, like leaning your face right beside a speeding car. I could feel the wind off it, even the enormous power and weight on it.

But that power slipped right past me as my hand crushed straight into her face. I mean it too. My fingers, my bones, even my poor skin split and tore and ruptured. The armor crinkled as the strike landed with a pristine display of force and skill. In the end, her face was just too goddamn hard for my fist.

The pain exploded all throughout my arm, but it wasn't too bad. I deflected the next kick in her combo before shooting another punch with my left hand directly at her face. The bones in that arm crunched like the last. A kick from Kessiah landed straight into my stomach right after, keeling me over. A punch landed right into my exposed jaw, sending me flying backwards.

I rolled on the ground a few times before looking straight at the renewed mana light at the roof of the cavern. The fight had reminded me why I needed the levels and other shit. Some gaps couldn't be bridged with skill.

Kessiah walked over before saying, "That was incredible. Those last two counters were particularly awe inspiring...That was riveting. We have to fight again."

I lifted my arms, the broken bones mending as I said, "Give me a minute. I gotta figure out a way to avoid getting my arms broken."

"Fine, fine. I'll be looking at these runes and see if I can't hurry the experiments along."

After a few minutes of experimenting with the armor, I focused on building more of it around my forearms. The extra structure would help with keeping them strut during my fights. With that handled, Kessiah and I sparred for another few rounds.

During these fights, I found myself pushing forward, despite her superior weight and strength. After an hour of watching her, I incorporated a few of her movements into my own. She slid on her feet from one attack to the other, launching kicks, punches, knees, and elbows. It was an exhausting style, if she applied herself completely. Unfortunately, she never had to when fighting me.

This style of training rapidly leveled deflection compared with blocking the arrows. Before I knew it, sweat dripped from between the joints of my armor. I heaved for breath as I struggled keeping up with her. Kicks and punches that were once easy to deflect became nigh impossible. Weaving in attacks went from something I did every now and again, to a rarity, then to something that never happened.

I never stopped though. The boost in regen meant broken bones healed in a minute or two. Kessiah never relented in her assault, keeping it vicious and visceral. She laughed when she heard my bones break. She'd giggle when my foot slipped, letting her slam a strike into my stomach.

That's when she said, "You're such a fun punching bag."

That was it. I wasn't about to let this piece of shit toy with me anymore. I redoubled my efforts. I couldn't just sit here and wait for progress. I had to push, push, then push harder. The lack of life or death had made me lazy. Not anymore.

I desperately clung towards survival, using every skill I hadn't used in weeks. Scorn, desperation, and death's dance all came in like a sudden surge of strength. I pushed through the exhaustion, activating the ferocity and challenger skills. All the bonuses overlapped, enhancing my efforts.

No more of this half ass bullshit. I'd rip this bitch apart or die trying. When her strikes came towards me, I would bend my armor to deflect her blows, reducing the movement required for them. The volume of my attacks increased tenfold as this freed up more of my movements for them.

I countered her strikes whenever I could, landing multiple strikes in a row at times. Her speed grew, normalizing as the change in my attitude became apparent. I wasn't fighting with the aim of gaining strength. I was fighting with the aim to kill her. Kessiah giggled and laughed and snickered at my struggling, enjoying the difficulty.

Her eyes laughed as I hit them. Her lips smiled when I smashed them. She didn't enjoy the pain, she enjoyed the challenge. Here was a fighter different from what she was used to. A fighter who could actually outclass her.

She said right after jumping back, "It's been so long since I met a real hand to hand fighter. They're so rare now. People always want to use guns."

I pounded my heels into the ground as sprinted towards her. She continued, "I've gotten so rusty since the good old days."

I countered her next strike, then her next kick before she said, "You must have learned striking before Schema. Your style reminds me of those times, so long ago."

Her movements grew more fluid. Her strikes became harder to deflect, her smile more hungry. She no longer pressed back as she said, "You remind me of my brother Calyx. He and I would fight like this all the time."

I couldn't pressure her back, even with all of my mind honed in on my task. I fought with every piece of myself, grasping at any way of winning. Her own style reflected my own, turning primal. We sat there, at the very edges of our skills for ten whole minutes before she sped her blows up even further.

They went faster than I could react to, even with my precognition. They crunched my armor like crumbling aluminum foil with your hands. The broke my bones like snapping sticks. I fell onto my knees after a few hits from them before coughing up blood. Kessiah stopped her kick, right beside my face as she said,

"Alright Torix. Why did you stop me? I wasn't going to kill him."

Torix walked out of the darkness at the back of the room as he said, "Of course you wouldn't, but there's no need to break his pride...or his neck."

She sighed before laying her foot onto the ground. She turned towards me and said, "Now I know why he's caught your interest. Speaking of which-"

She sat onto the heels of her feet as she lifted my chin with her finger. She said, "You've caught mine as well."

I fell over to my side, fighting for air as my chest heaved. My stamina was below 50. After a minute of catching my breath, I sat up. My bones came back together, the arcane bonds reorienting. It was like my body hated being out of order, so it regenerated with vehement fervor.

Torix had floated over during that time, cleaned himself with the snap spell, and thanked Kessiah for 'saving' us. I zoned into their conversation as they spoke,

Torix was ranting, "We'd best wait until he's a higher level. Do you think such a pitiful body can hold so much energy?"

"Of course it can. I just fought the guy. He'll be just fine."

"No, he will not. We must take our time and move with caution. We are working with powerful forces-"

"And that's what makes this so much fun, don't you think? Come on, I don't want to wait any longer."

I said, "Wait for what?"

A slight bit of insanity leaked into Kessiah's eyes and smile as she said, "We're going to rip open a dimensional portal, then fill you up with whatever spills out."

Torix frowned as she continued, "Doesn't that sound exciting?"

Torix leaned his face onto his hand as he said, "Oh how I wish I didn't need you for this...but I do...and Yawm will be here soon. We can't wait anymore for you to get what we need. We have three days longer at most before he arrives."

Torix raised his face from his palm and said, "Kessiah, you'll adjust the ritual, then I'll cast and control it. Daniel-"

My armor frowned as Torix said, "Are you ready for it?"

I smiled at my numerous notifications as I said, "Hahah...I just might be."