The Astral soul system

Chapter 269: Rock beats fire type

"Why are the monsters in these things always just strong enough to screw me over majorly but never kill me?"

He’d asked it ironically as he kept dodging but surprisingly Theia had an answer for him.

"One benefit to the instability is that more complex lifeforms are unable to keep a sustained presence in it"

He raised a brow

"Complex lifeforms?"

"When I say complex and simple,I mean like Mycoplasma genitalium and eukaryotes. The higher rank a creature, the denser and more complex it is, and the harder for this realm to hold it, since beasts are fundamentally different from each other depending on rank. A few evolutions higher and you wouldn’t be able to come in here either. "

He didn’t really care for the details. He was too busy dodging for his life. So far they’d only picked up speed . Simply shooting them wasn’t enough. He’d be out of energy and dead before he realized it

His gloves were already gone and if he replaced it they’re just going to be gone again, meaning gear was out of the question,unless he felt like destroying it.

"You really are a stubborn mule. You wouldn’t be in this situation if you’d just brought someone with you as backup right? I once again repeat,there are no rules forbidding teamwork "

He didn’t reply, keeping his wits about him, firing a soul gun eyes squinting as he watched it fly through the air.

"Like Jade for instance. I bet she’d love to go with you -"

"Not possible "

"Why? She’s got the skill set and we need a way to test her strength anyway. Besides she’s an Astral too, like you"

He shot another soul gun, though this is didn’t hit anything, he didn’t seem concerned, observing it.

"Okay then Zaria. She’s powerful, and she already knows what you are so -"

" You want to know why i don’t just call my friends to help me? It’s the same reason I don’t bother looking for gear and I don’t just transform whenever I need it or use dawn and dusk to bail me out "

He suddenly snapped, explaining.

"They’re crutches, crutches that’ll leave you when you need them the most. It’s stupid to rely on something unreliable "

He dodged again, his fangs baring themselves.

"Though in this case..."

He suddenly pulled out a new pair of gloves and his handguns, equipping both, his eye locked on a specific fireball that was brighter and faster than the others. It was the same one that had taken an arm from him.

He snarled, adjusting his ain before firing.

With a bang, the bullet left the barrel, cutting through the air and into its target,taking a massive chunk of its flame and intensity with that hit

"Missed"

He seethed

He hadn’t hit the core.

He suddenly rolled out of the way of another fireball.

"Two,three"

He muttered, shooting two more bullets at two regular elementals from both sides, watching as they shattered and dissipated, not before letting out a huge burst of fire.

[Defeated flame elemental]

[Gained exp(×2)]

[Gained bonus exp(×2)]

"Four, five"

He took out too more, doing an entirely necessary backflip to avoid another burst of flame.

[Defeated flame elemental]

[Gained exp(×2)]

[Gained bonus exp(×2)]

He had a very limited amount of bullets and no way to get new ones so he had to keep track.

"Six"

After that,he returned the guns, gathering energy in his hand. The swap to weapons had given him some time and space to recuperate his energy.

Strangely unlike usual it didn’t form a ball,instead it formed to the shape of his hand around it, resembling a shard of dark crystal. Grunting he threw it out as hard as he could, putting more energy into it and watched as it flew faster than any other attack he has, leaving behind a glowing trail, like the tail of a comet.

It flew right into the path of an elemental, cutting into it, and like a knife through butter, going right through.

The intensity in the fire had reduced a great deal, but it still hadn’t gone out.

[Equip soul:Jörmungandr]

He formed another shard in his hand, this time it was a faded orange, looking more... solid than before.

Ten points of astra disappeared as he threw it right at the damaged elemental, killing it in one hit.

He didn’t let up, picking another target and sending another shard right into another, killing it instantly.

He’d killed eight in total yet the sky still looked completely full of them. Maybe he hadn’t killed as many as he thought,or maybe it was just an illusion caused by how fast they were zipping around. Either way he wasn’t sure how long he could keep adding minus tens to his energy total.

He was about to throw another when the ground suddenly started to shake and tremble.

He tried to keep his balance but it was like the whole temporary world was shaking as well.

"What’s going on?"

"A lifeform higher than what this place can handle is trying to force its way in. It’s falling apart"

He looked down and saw the ground splitting into two, looking up at the sky to see the same thing happening.

"Alright, we’re done. Time to get out of here"

He had barely even taken a step when the high level elemental suddenly shifted its body into something resembling a saw blade, spinning towards him at blinding speeds.

The ground was too unstable for him to just leave so instead he braced.

[Fortify]

[-30Astra]

He focused all the defensive earth element energy as best he could on his hands as he held onto the spinning flame blade.

"Theia,do something. This thing feels angry"

"With pleasure "

A voice replied though it wasn’t Theia.

From his back a dark energy suddenly gathered before ripping out, looking like it had came from under his skin. A spire of darkness, rising from his spine and stretching into the vague shape of a scythe.

Zaine watched the rest of his astra disappear as it swung down hard against the flaming saw, destroying it and dissipating itself.

"I guess dark and fire cancel each other out"

Theia mused

Zaine didn’t bother looking at his hands to assess the damage. They would heal.

He looked down at the bright orange crystal on the ground and without thinking,he had Black grab it since he couldn’t.

Tentacles reached out from his sleeve, wrapping around the crystal and pulling it into his sleeve. Unfortunately he couldn’t put it in his storage ring.

His wings immediately spread out from his back. He couldn’t maintain them for long but he didn’t have tou

"Alright Moirai, now"

He heard a faint chime in his ears as he felt something tug him gently. The next second it was much more forceful, dragging him out of the temporary realm, his wings glowing.

On the outside, about a dozen people in combat uniforms in the academy’s colors were standing, watching the portal with multiple shattered fire elemental cores on the ground.

Closer to the portal there was a person standing right in front of it, half a foot already inside he was about to keep going when he suddenly saw a shadow that seemed to be getting bigger on the other side.

He suddenly stepped back and just in time as a black cloaked figure flew out at blinding speeds .

The figure flew for a few meters before planting its feet on the ground and sliding to a stop.

Turning around,Tim ooked at who the figure was or how he’d gotten here but what he saw glowing on their handmade his eyes widen

"You-"

Before he could finish his sentence there was a blinding light that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking them from view.

Immediately it faded, he looked at where they were standing and just as expected,gone.

Somehow they’d disappeared from an encirclement of soldiers without a trace

Although he already suspected it was pointless, he looked at his soldiers

"Find that player now. Search every nook and cranny this part of the city and bring them to me, and fast! And I don’t I need to tell you to keep this quiet"

They all immediately got to work because the situation WAS that serious. The military had proudly declared its victory over this particular scourge a few months ago to the entire galaxy. Now not only did one show up during an expedition and live broadcast,it turned out they’d for some reason decided to stay and further an agenda they had no idea about.

This could cause major panic if it wasn’t nipped in the bud while they had the chance

He sighed, clutching his head.

Something wasn’t right. He could feel it. What did that player have to do with these portals. Were they trying to overrun the city with beasts? And if so,how?

He was still thinking when he suddenly got a call on his watch. Before he could check who it was it answered itself and Ava’s projection showed up on it.

"Ms Ryder "

He said uncertainly.

"Hey,I was watching your fumble. Looks like you really don’t know what you’re doing"

"Is there a point to this call Ms Ryder?"

He said, not at all suprised she’d been spying on them

"I have a proposition for you"