Path of Transcendence 1: Ultimatum of the Nameless God (14 page)

“Fuck me.”

Urehara-sensei smirks. “You have a natural talent for upsetting people and making enemies.”

“Well then, fuck them.”

The spell formations start to charge at a staggered pace. As the spells start firing off, I dash, dive and roll to avoid them. I start moving erratically, to make it harder for the priests to lock onto me. The staggered firing pattern makes it harder, and if this keeps up, I will tire out faster.

Urehara-sensei's sword bursts into flame, and he strikes the barrier over the stairs. He strikes it a half-dozen more time, but none of the formations are used to attack him.

“Fire has no effect. What did you use?”

“Kinetic force. I focused it like a wedge on the point of the blade.”

“I have nowhere near your talent with raw force.”

“Get of my way, you stupid old bastard.” Clarence charges toward the stairway, while changing the drums on his gun.

Urehara-sensei  jumps onto the railing surrounding the stairway, before backflipping away. “I will leave it to the gorilla, since brute force is all that he understands.”

“Blow me.” Clarence levels his gun at the opening of the stairway and pulls the trigger twice.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The oversized bullets ricochet around the room, but luckily no one is hit, and more muffled laughter echoes from below.

Urehara-sensei, after watching the spell formations for a couple minutes, rapidly charges toward on section of the wall. Just as the barrier opens over the formation, he arrives and slashes the formation with his flaming katana. The force of the explosion knocks him back, but he twists in midair landing in a three point crouch, with his katana held out to the side.

The barrier is intact, but the spell formation behind it is destroyed.

“Now, that was very interesting. Do you FBI agents have anything incendiary?”

Wendell glances upward. “The Predator does, but I have lost radio contact since entering this building.”

“Fuck. Everyone get ready near the stairwell. If this works, I can only do it once.”

It has been there every moment, since I woke from the coma, but I have been afraid to touch it. I know how powerful it is. I know how easily it could destroy me. My body is not strong enough, and may never be strong enough. Still, I have no choice.

“AAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!” I cannot stop myself from screaming as the Od flows through my body. It freezes me and burns me. My body feels like it is about to shatter into a trillion trillion fragments. Power swirls around my fist: black so dark, that it absorbs all light, shot though with malevolent streaks of red and purple; greenish-silver so brilliant it could overwhelm the sun. My fist hammers into the barrier, with all the weight and force of my body behind it.

Pfft!

The barrier disappears over the stairwell, wild streamers of blue energy lash about like angry snakes. I tumble down the first flight of stairs, completely unable to control my body, and slam into the railing on the first landing. Red mist sprays everywhere, as I projectile vomit blood.

“Mark!” Urehara-sensei is the first to recover from his shock, and he charges down the stairs.

“Move! Move, now!” A few seconds later the stunned Wendell follows him.

Galvanized by Wendell's yell the FBI agents start down the stairs.

SNAP!

Half of the last FBI agent's body tumbles down the stairs, while the rest lays face down on the barrier. Shock and incomprehension are plastered on his face as the light fades from his eyes.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Brrraaappp!

Brrraaappp!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Brrraaappp!

“Kill them! Do not let them live!” Beard is screaming, while the FBI are firing into his priests.

“Mark! Are you okay?” Urehara-sensei's worried face hovers over me.

“Probably not. I used Power never meant to be wielded by mortals. I'm not sure how much damage it's done.” Coughing wracks my body, and I spray up more blood. “Help me sit up and make sure those FBI fucks don't backstab me.”

With Urehara-sensei's help, I get into a lotus position and draw ki into my ravaged body. I have to try to heal as much of the damage as I can.

All three of the Trinity Powers have ways to heal and strengthen the body, the mind, and the soul. Body control comprises most of the ki techniques that do this. It uses ki to strengthen your body, heal your body, make your body heavier or lighter. At its highest levels body control can be used to heal others to varying degrees, but I am from that level of mastery. Of course, Boran did not know the specifics of Body Control, so I only have a general idea of its capabilities and how it works. I have been experimenting since returning to my original body.

“Mark.” I open my eyes. I cannot tell how much time has passes, but the gunfire has stopped. I am a little better, but I will need a lot more time to heal all the damage I took from just a few seconds of using the Od.

Wendell is standing a few feet away. The fear is plain to see in his eyes. Before today he never experienced ki or mana users, how could he be ready to face the Od? The oppressive weight of the aura around the Od is enough to make a weak person crap himself. Since, I do not smell anything, Wendell must have avoided that indignity.

“What do you want, Wendell?”

Wendell fidgets a moment before sitting on the stairs in front of me. “You have put me in a rather difficult position. Even with your powers, I still have to arrest you. There is no way I can leave you to run loose, but I am well aware that you can kill us at will. Even Clarence probably would not last ten seconds against you. I do not want to throw away what remains of my strike team, pointlessly. So would you please surrender peacefully.”

I give Wendell a one-finger salute. “I came here to get the fuck off this shit hole world, once and for ever. I'm not surrendering. I'm leaving. If  you try to stop me, I won't hesitate to kill you all. Can your pride deal with me being effectively exiled from Earth?”

Wendell's mask is broken, his confusion is as plain as his fear. He glances down toward the wall of the pit for a moment. “How do you plan to leave the Earth?”

“There should be a gate here somewhere. It will take me to another world, a different universe. You won't ever see me again, and I would suggest you destroy the gate after I'm gone. If you don't you might get more people coming to find out what happened to this group.”

Wendell frowns. “One of them disappeared through an arch in an alcove below. There was a shimmering silver energy field in the arch, when he walked into it. Afterward, there was nothing buat but a solid wall behind the arch.”

“He'll bring reinforcements.”

“Not necessarily.” The voice coming from the open air behind me is one that I did not expect to hear on Earth.

Wendell's jaw is hanging open, as he stares. Urehara-sensei has a frown, and a hint of fear is visible in his eyes.

I do not have to look to know who it is. “What the fuck are you doing on Earth?”

An amused chuckle fills the pit. “You are as brazen and as rude as ever. I am still more interested in you than in any of the others. Actually managing to use the Od in that fragile body, you are truly a marvel to behold.”

“You two can stop staring. He's nothing but an arrogant fuck of a self-proclaimed god.”

The Nameless' laughter booms out, filling the building with its echoes.

The Masters threw me out, they cast me into the Battleground of the Damned. I was not interesting to watch in the gladiatorial pits, no one and nothing they threw against me lived. I had been champion for too long. So many wanted to see me crippled and killed; that DokkAlfar cunt had me dropped off the Great Citadel as a spectacle for them, but I survived.

Nothing in the Battleground of Slaves was a challenge, and I took what I wanted. Most who challenged me, I killed. They all died badly. A few I left alive, cripple and maimed, so the rest of the weak would learn to not challenge me. I tortured and impaled any that I did not maim and cripple.

No one was my match until I met him. That damned human beat me, but did not kill me, did not cripple me, did not maim me. Did he dare to think that he did not need to fear me? Did he dare to think I was so far beneath his notice?

I ran from him. I had never run from anything. Not from gladiators. Not from the Masters. I faced everything and beat it or endured it. Only that old human made me afraid. His touch was enough to make my knees shake. How? Why?

I went back determined to kill him or die. He beat me unconscious. I never stood a chance against him. Again he did not kill me. He waited until I was awake again.

“You have an amazing body, but your hate and anger are blinding you. I will teach to control yourself and master your hate and anger. Then, I will teach you to fight. I am old, and I need to pass on my arts. You will be my successor, the only master of Shadow Fist.”

Talon woke from the dream sweating, his head throbbing from an agonizing headache. Cradling his head in his hands, he tried to sort out his mind from the original Talon's. The brutal impact of the original Talon's memories were even greater than when he was first dumped into the original Talon's body. The depth of the detail and the feeling of personally experiencing them was blurring the boundary between the original Talon and himself.
I might go insane for real, if I do not come to terms with his past.

There was some light in the hole, and brighter light was visible at its mouth.
It must be morning or daybreak at the very least.

“You are different from the others I brought here.”

Hearing that voice right next to him, Talon surged to his feet, slamming his head against the stone roof of the tunnel. It made the pain, from the headache he already had, flare to epic proportions.

“Shit! That fucking hurts!” His shouting only made the pain still worse. He lowered his voice. “What do you want with me now, Nameless Bastard?”

Calling a self-proclaimed God a bastard is probably not the smartest move, but Talon's anger overrode his common sense. Even though he would hate admitting it, he was scared too. He did not understand what was happening and needed to lash out at something. This Nameless God was just a convenient target for his anger, since he claimed to be responsible for everything.

“That could be considered blasphemy. You should be thankful that I am a kind and compassionate God.” His voice had the same hint of wry amusement that it did in the Chamber of Transition.

Was that real, or was it a dream or illusion created by The Nameless God?

W
ithout an apparent care in the world, The Nameless God sat in the tunnel, while Talon appraised him. Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the hole, his robe appeared to be woven from coarse brown wool. He had an iron-shod staff laid across his knees, and his hand resting on the staff could have belonged to someone anywhere between twenty and fifty. No matter how Talon tried to change his line of sight, he could not see into the hood. All that was visible were his mouth and chin, everything past his upper lip was completely hidden in darkness. His mouth and square jaw were framed by a close cut salt & pepper beard. His lips were wearing twisted smile, as though he was laughing at a sick joke. He had a lean rangy build, and looked to be about six feet tall at the time. Though, after the way he appeared in the Chamber of Transition, Talon could not guess what his real height might be.

“You are different from most people in your world, different from almost all of the people who played my game. Never once did you beg for help, or look for a group before attempting even the hardest of challenges. I know that for you the game was more of stress release than anything else, but you enjoyed the challenge of defeating everything you faced alone. Did you know that you are the only one ever to follow the complete character creation path?”

“So what?” Talon's voice was surly.

“So, you are the only person that was not desperate to get into the game to play with your friends, or to create and dominate a guild, or to become a crusader for some ephemeral justice, or some other equally pointless objective. You never sought out other people for any reason other than to acquire information or buy things. Though, you sometimes acted as mercenary, when others sought you out for your power, you never became a part of any of their groups. Maybe that is because, you have not a single person that you can call friend. After you were disfigured, your combat teacher was the closest thing you had to a friend, but neither of you think of the other as a friend. It was always a master and student relationship.”

“How the hell do you know all this?”

The Nameless laughed, without any apparent sarcasm or derision. He seemed honestly amused by what Talon said.

“The VR rig that my followers created in your world has a special components to read the memories of the users, among other things. The entire purpose of Taereun: Battleground of the Damned was to find the people I would use to retrieve my body from beneath the city of Haven. You are one of those I have the most hope for. You did not cling to groups, relying on others, and always sought out more and more difficult challenges.”

“So you came by this morning just to tell me that you're my fan? Big fucking deal.”

The Nameless laughed again. “Do not misunderstand, I am not your fan by any means. You really are a pathetic excuse for human being, no matter how you look at it, but you are an angry, driven, vicious pathetic excuse for a human being. Those unpleasant qualities mean you might have a better chance to succeed than most of your fellow players.”

“What if I just tell you to piss off?”

The Nameless shrugged. “I have no use for you, if you do not serve my purposes, and of course, you will die when your time runs out.”

Assuming this asshole is telling the truth, he has us by the balls and he knows it. Either, we play his game, or we die. Do we dare to risk not playing his game? I do not want to die, but I hate the thought of being used by him.

“You've really fucked us over, so I'll probably be forced to help you in the end. Tell me the secret behind Talon's abilities, otherwise you're just throwing me away. I'll think about helping you, once I know how to use them.”

The Nameless smiled. “You are surprisingly rational, for all the anger you keep inside yourself. Most people do not make rational choices when they are angry.”

“Anyone ever tell you, that you really don't sound like a fantasy world's God?”

The Nameless started to chuckle, but it evolved into full-throated laughter. “Fantasy world is an interesting term, but this is just another world. There is no fantasy involved. Also, I am not from this world. I became a God after acquiring Power here, not before. No Gods are of Taereun, no matter the lies they may tell. Some attained godhood here and others were already Gods when they arrived.”

“So, what's the secret of Talon's abilities.”

“You do not give up. I will give a clue to understanding Talon's abilities. You are not like the others, the key to the using Talon's Power does not lie in the body you inhabit, but in your own soul. Talon became a monk, like his teacher, and mastered Shadow Fist. He learned to use Od, that is not a thing of the physical body or the mind, like an adept, wielder, caster, or even a medium. He crossed a line and his soul was forever changed. You need to understand the training of Tae Sun just as Talon did, and you can cross that line. Very simple in concept, but can you succeed?” The Nameless gives the impression that his unseen eyes are boring holes through me.

“That could take longer than I have left to live.”

The Nameless frowned. “Should that be the case, then I was wrong about you. I will return. If you master Shadow Fist, that is.”

When Talon blinked, the Nameless disappeared, as though he was never there to begin with.