Beyond The System
Chapter 133: Power of Earth

The clearing was… well, cleared. Just the commander and me, facing off.

I summoned my gauntlets and activated the rest of my skills, already feeling the pressure. I’d seen him move before, command the earth without being a mage. He had to have something unique, like Thea. Guess he really was a royal guard for a reason.

“You want to use weapons?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. He pulled a small, solid black cube from his pocket. With a quick tap, it flashed, expanding into a massive rectangular shield. “Then I’ll use mine too.”

It didn’t look that threatening at first, just a towering slab of metal. 

Until of course, you notice the massive spike jutting from the end.

“Alright, Peter. Don’t hold back!” he barked.

Poison? Luna offered.

I think he means my abilities. I’m not trying to kill my companion, I assured the eager flower.

Marcus stood off to the side, raising a hand. “BEGIN!”

My focus was on creating a Silencing Current. I needed to get in close enough to explode my Internal Energy outward, the skill along with it.

But the moment I took a single step, the commander stomped and the ground shifted beneath me.

I already knew he was a man of precision, practice, and perseverance based on our previous interactions.

Buuut, the last thing I expected during a fight was to go into a full split, nearly slamming a very tender area into solid ground.

I managed to catch myself with my hands and just barely caught a glance of a surge of energy rising from below.

I pushed off hard, lifting myself into the air, but he was ready. He rushed up and leapt, meeting me midair with that shield.

Guess I didn't need to close the distance anymore.

I detonated the Silencing Current, the field of system disrupting energy erupting around me. Then threw a punch, straight at the shield.

Maybe it was some kind of danger-sense ability, or just pure instinct. Either way, the commander erected a translucent barrier, very unfortunately blocking my aoe system shutoff.

Luna, Blasting Wave, I requested.

Got it—

No. Don’t help him, Wyrem snapped.

I set aside my frustration just in time for the barrier to shatter beneath my punch. The commander’s eyes widened, and he quickly turned the shield to bring the spike toward me.

I had only a fraction of a second to react. I gathered what force I could and met the incoming weapon head-on.

“RRG!” Ironscribe grunted as the impact sent a ripple of power through the shield and then, snap.

Yeah… I felt a little bad because the spike cracked clean in half.

On the bright side, I found someone who could maybe teach me how to make a barrier.

We landed. He stared at his battered shield, mouth hanging open. “Peter… do you have any idea how much that cost?!”

I panted, grateful for the pause. “Nope, but I can get you something better.”

He eyed my hands, still wrapped in glowing golden gauntlets. “Fight’s not over.”

The World Force in my body was almost fully converted, so there wasn’t much urgency to continue, but now I was curious how far I could go.

I activated True Sight, scanning the ground for signs of energy, anything that might hint at his next move.

With Air Lances circling in my palms, I dashed forward, releasing one still connected to me by a thin, invisible tether.

The commander raised his shield and at the same time, a headache hit me.

The dirt surged up again and I punched through it, leapt to avoid another sudden slip, and forced my domain to its limit, curving the Air Lance wide around the commander before releasing it toward the back of his head.

I noticed something odd. While using Swift Stride, my circulations moved more smoothly. I wasn’t actually moving faster, at least not in the way I’d assumed, but my energy flows stayed consistent. They didn’t stutter or stagger when I switched them off and on to control the friction under me.

I guessed that was a trait of Water World Force.

“Ug.” Griffith flinched from the hit, but barely reacted. Figures, this was the guy who invented Bark Skin.

The battle was dragging out.

As we closed again, I felt more than just a headache. My vision started blurring at the edges. Still, I pushed forward and struck; the first punch released a Silencing Current straight into the shield.

Thunk.

It dented, staggering him slightly.

Then I followed with another punch, this one laced with a blast of force.

Riiing.

I could hear the vibration echoing through the metal, but not much after that. My body hit the dirt, face-first, my head throbbing, nose bleeding.

“Unbelievable,” someone gasped, a feminine voice. At least Miss Star was impressed.

Mit-like hands scooped me up like a ragdoll.

“Don’t—urgh. Slower,” I groaned.

“Peter. That shield…” The voice sounded mournful. “So many contributions…”

“Sorry,” I managed, barely breathing the word.

“Sorry?! HOW CAN YOU BE SORRY!”

Oh no. This was way too familiar.

“Please, no.” I started, recognizing the energy shift.

I was Ignored, and he flung me into the air.

“Stooop,” I whined on the way down.

He caught me mid-drop, locking eyes with mine, clearly ready for a dramatic speech.

“Commander, I’m begging you—ugh—just put me down.”

“Oh. Right. Apologies, Peter. Got a bit excited,” he confessed. “But you will show me how to make those marvelous gauntlets, right?”

“Sure,” I muttered, closing my eyes and trying not to hurl.

He handed me off to a pair of softer, steadier arms. “You’re the best, Thea,” I sighed in relief.

“It’s me, buddy,” Elric said sweetly.

“You’re the best, Elric.” I chuckled weakly. Seriously, how was his grip that gentle?

He dragged me off to the side, and with everything powered down, I started to feel better.

When I opened my eyes, a young girl was staring at me with bright, sparkling excitement. “They couldn’t do anything against him,” Velea said, almost in awe.

Elric stiffened.

I gave him a nudge and turned to her. “Like I said, just imagine how strong you’ll be in…” I had to pause to catch my breath, “five years.”

CLAP!

“Alright, everyone inside. We want to move quickly,” Miss Star called out.

No one argued. People piled into their carts. Bristle, now firmly attached to Velea, hopped in with us.

Surprisingly, Griffith chose to ride in the back too, practically buzzing with excitement.

Trevor rode up front beside Marcus.

Thea sat to my right, Elric on my left, Velea across from me. Lyra and Sia flanked her, squeezing Velea in the middle.

Bristle curled up on Velea’s lap, earning instant affection through head pats.

Griffith settled into place at the head of the cart, eyes locked on me.

“So, you're going to show us how to make that weapon, right?” Sia asked, maybe even more excited than the commander.

The cart jolted, and I immediately leaned to the right, trying to keep the contents of my stomach where they belonged.

“Before that—Velea, why don’t you try sensing World Force again?” I said gently, slipping back into my role as teacher.

“Won’t this help me too? I want a weapon,” she protested.

“You need to be able to actually cultivate first. We’ll cover it once you can, alright?”

She let out a small huff but didn’t argue, closing her eyes and settling into focus. I watched for a moment, waiting until her breathing steadied, then turned my attention back to the others.

“Well, as you all know, I’m not exactly the greatest at explain–ing!” A sudden bump in the road made the word stutter out. “So, all I can say is, it’s kind of like forming a core. Except it’s outside your body. You have to choose something meaningful, and then pour everything you’ve got into it.”

I went into a little more detail, describing the vision I’d had while living as the young Kazreil, the effort it took to form his spiritual weapon. After I described my experiences including the pain when it shattered, and the strange way it recovered on his own.

“That’s crazy,” Griffith said. “You actually lived as someone else?”

I nodded once. "Briefly."

“Well then,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s get started.”

I raised a trembling hand. Apparently, the start of a trip was worse than the middle. The motion sickness had returned. “Actually… I need your help. Some of you.”

Sure, Luna and the dogs didn’t have issues, but humans seem to be the targe, and I really didn’t want to push my luck right now. So checking just in case is the best move.

“I need you to make sure no Precursor Energy returns.”

The cart went silent.

“Y–you think there could be more? The monster… will it come back?” Sia’s voice shook. I figured she was remembering what happened the last time.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I’m not going to take any chances. If we’re all going to be training anyway, might as well take care of this now, right?”

“Then let’s do that first,” Thea said, already placing a steadying hand on my back.

The others gathered in closer, following her lead without hesitation.

So I closed my eyes, and for the first time in a while, pushed my channel past its limits.