Alex hurried over to Claire as soon the last echoes of Absolution’s footstep had vanished from the hall. She’d fortunately fallen within a few feet of where his anchor had landed, which meant he didn’t have to use the Singularity Core to drag himself over to her.

He dropped to his knees in the widening pool of blood around her. The wound in her chest had yet to properly seal over. As resilient as she was, she’d been completely drained of magic before Alex had even joined the fight. There was only so much that someone could withstand.

“Claire,” Alex hissed, scooping her head up and resting it against his thigh. He brought his wrist up to her mouth. “Drink! Fast!”

She squinted up at him, but her eyes were hazy and distant. It didn’t seem like she could even understand the words coming out of his mouth.

Damn it. There’s no time for this. She’s way too hurt for me to try and waste time reasoning with her.

Alex grabbed her jaw and pulled her mouth open. He pulled Claire into a seated position, supporting her against his chest as he drove his wrist into her fangs, using her head like a hole-punch to bite himself.

Pinpricks of pain burned at his wrist as blood flowed out from him and into Claire. She swallowed instinctively. Then she swallowed again. Her jaw clenched and her bite grew stronger as she started to drink on her own, draining blood rapidly from Alex.

That didn’t help with the dizziness spinning at the edges of his mind. Princess’ magic had already completely drained him in its best attempts to keep him from dying. But Alex didn’t stop Claire. Her eyes were still distant and wild, like those of a trapped wild animal.

She drank for nearly thirty seconds before thought finally made its way back to her mind. Claire nearly choked, hurriedly pulling Alex’s arm away from her mouth to draw in a greedy breath of air.

“Shit,” she hissed. “That fucker stabbed me.”

“That is how fights tend to work,” Wess drawled, prodding at the huge wound still covering his chest. “Do you think this will scar? I’ve always wanted a good scar. And do I get some blood too?”

“No,” Alex said, fighting off the vertigo that threatened to pull him down to the ground beside Claire.

“Damn,” Wess said. “Such is life.” Chapters first released on Nove1Fire.net

Derek snored in the corner of the room. He, at least, seemed to be at peace. Alyssa had yet to stir. She was out cold, but she was still breathing. They’d actually all somehow managed to survive. And more than that… they’d actually forced Absolution to retreat.

Not with a bluff or some trick, but with a real fight.

Alex braced his hands on the ground behind himself and leaned back. The others had definitely weakened Absolution pretty significantly before their fight had started, but he’d entered the fight without his monsters and using an entirely new weapon.

I’m not that far from catching up with him. If I hadn’t been hiding my identity and had been able to call on my monsters for the fight, we might have been able to kill him. And the next time he comes for us…

We will.

Especially once I’ve upgraded my Partial Soul Manifestation to a full one.

The Outworlder’s biggest advantage had almost completely evaporated. He no longer had an enormous lead in levels. The gap in their combat skills was still huge, but it was closing with every passing day.

A slight grin pulled at the corners of Alex’s lips. Despite how close they’d all come to nearly getting killed, he just couldn’t help it. Absolution might have been the best benchmark for his strength that he had in the Apocalypse.

When they’d first met, Absolution probably could have killed him with little more than a thought. Then, in their previous fight, Absolution had been forced to retreat by a very well-placed bluff that Finley had made.

And now they’d fought him to a standstill. His freezing trick barely even worked on Alex, and the Outworlder had actually shown respect to him at the end of the fight, not having even realized that he was the meddlesome Nativeworlder that he wanted dead so badly.

I’m looking forward to the next time we meet, Absolution.

“You okay?” Claire asked Alex. The wound on her chest had finally started to seal itself up now that she had new blood pumping through her veins again.

“Yeah,” Alex said, fighting through the remnants of his dizziness to give her a small nod. “I’m sorry it took me so damn long to join the fight. Berith was screwing with me.”

“You don’t say.” Claire’s gaze flicked to the chain still connected to Alex’s wrist. “What is that?”

“A weapon. Berith got ticked off that I was using shitty weapons and gave me this instead,” Alex said. “I’m pretty sure its fashioned after one of his bindings. It doesn’t let me use my magic while it’s on my wrist.”

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“Is he trying to get you killed?” Claire asked, her eyes narrowing anger. “That bastard. I knew we couldn’t trust him, but why would he give you such a terrible weapon?”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d call it terrible,” Alex said with a frown. He rattled the heavy chain on his wrist. “This thing is fucking terrifying. Did you see how much damage it did to Absolution and how fast it can move? I just have no idea how to use it properly. Berith is still a massive asshole for not warning me about this, though. He was laughing through half the fight.”

No power comes without a price. If you can’t realize that, then you don’t deserve to wield it. Speaking of which… well done. It was an enjoyable watch. Far more interesting than being subjected to you poking things with a sharp stick.

Alex narrowed his eyes. He didn’t love the idea that Berith could just speak to him through his mind. It was a constant reminder of just how closely the demon was watching everything he did.

You gave me this thing just because it was more fun to watch me fight with it? Do you not realize that Absolution absolutely could have killed me if it took me just a few seconds longer to figure out how to use it?

Berith let out a derisive snort.

Baby birds fly when they are thrown from the nest. And I’m not the one that created the weapon. I only gave you the parts.

Alex’s brow furrowed in confusion.

What do you mean?

Berith’s amused laughter rolled through Alex’s mind again.

Nothing comes from nowhere — and you would be deeply mistaken if you think I am ever going to give you more parts of myself than a single drop of blood. What you received were the tiny fragments that broke away from my bindings.

And all the power you will ever take from this System is power that you yourself desire. There are no gifts. No direct transfers. If you seek a traitor, then look inward. It was your own Mind Palace that formed them into the weapon currently attached to your wrist.

Alex’s back stiffened. He could tell that Claire was watching him, but she’d clearly realized that he was speaking to Berith.

Wait. You’re telling me that my own fucking soul tried to kill me? You really had nothing to do with it?

Berith’s laughter only grew louder.

Isn’t it incredible? This is why I chose you to carry this fragment of my being around, Alex. What kind of maddened creature has a soul so obsessed with challenge that the deepest parts of its being would create such an odd weapon?

The irony of asking someone else how to use a weapon you yourself created and getting mad when you don’t get an answer… delicious.

Alex sat in silence for several long seconds. The demon couldn’t even contain the mirth in his voice. It wasn’t like Berith to lie about something like that — not when the truth would be far more amusing.

The situation was so ridiculous that he couldn’t help it. Alex started to laugh.

“What is it?” Claire asked. “Did Berith say something?”

Alex just shook his head, then gave the chain a rattle. “I… it’s a long story. I think my own soul might somehow be responsible for this thing. Uh, just in case you ever get the chance, be careful when using new weapons that your soul makes unless you know exactly what they do.”

“That’s why you want to test new weapons out before using them in a fight,” Claire said with a shake of her head. A small smile pulled at the corners of her lips. “Not that I can say yours wasn’t effective. But please don’t tell me you’re stuck dragging this thing around forever. If you can’t use your magic while it’s on you, how do you get rid of it?”

Alex hesitated.

Uh….

Don’t ask me. It’s your weapon, idiot. I don’t know how it works any more than you do. But even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. Your soul has handed you a trainer for your Incarnation abilities. Revealing how it works would just ruin its effectiveness.

Alex blew out a breath. He looked back down at the massive white anchor embedded in the ground. It was still blocking his access to his magic.

But, now that the fight was over, he had a moment to actually think. The anchor wasn’t actually part of his magic. It was part of his Mind Palace. That was a subtle difference, but it was an important one.

He didn’t use magic to influence his Mind Palace.

He used will.

Alex let his eyes drift close. He sat down on the ground before the anchor and centered himself, sending his mind inward to his Mind Palace. The world stilled around him.

Entering the Mind Palace wasn’t something one could do when they were distracted. The only path to it was the calm, steady approach of meditation.

He could feel the Anchor’s presence. Not just on his wrist in the real world, but within his soul. His earlier thought had been right. It really was a part of his Mind Palace. And if it was part of it…

He could control it.

The weight pulling his arm down vanished.

Alex’s eyes snapped back open. Then he grinned. The anchor was gone.

“There we go,” Alex said, rubbing at his wrist as he rose to his feet. “All dealt with. How are Alyssa and Derek doing?”

“Sleeping,” Wess replied. “The System will get them patched up soon enough. But… how are we gonna go about this thing?”

“About what?” Claire asked.

“You heard the big beastie die, didn’t you?” Wess asked. “That means somebody just got somethin’ good. And if we heard it, I’d reckon other people did too. I think we might be running into some of the families again pretty soon.”

Alex frowned. Wess had a point. They certainly weren’t in a good shape to go fighting anyone right now, but if they rested too long, the Great Families would get too far ahead. That was one of the advantages of bringing a small army in with you. You had a lot more people that could fight while your weary members recovered.

“We should rest for now,” Alex said. “Measure twice, cut once.”

“I don’t think that’s the right line for this, but I get your point,” Wess said with a snort. “Sure would be nice if we could somehow steal another kill, though. That was a right hoot. Fucking hilarious. But after we did it once, the chances of running into the same families are a bit high. They’re definitely ready for it. Pulling it off would be too risky unless we had some kind of way to drop in and out before they could even react.”

Alex’s head tilted to the side.

Then his lips twitched into a grin.

Unless we were able to drop in and out, huh?

I wonder how the Mirrorlands version of the Ancestry looks. I think it might be a good time to find out.

After all, I need to get my hands on a new monster now that I’ve reached Adept. Why not kill two birds with one stone?