Chapter 46: Sharing

Three daggers, controlled and propelled by telekinesis, flashed forward. The sharp metal glinting under the sun. To Leif’s sight they were trailed by a thin line of gold.

Leif slapped aside the first, sidestepped the second and let the third impact his shoulder. It did little to stop him, though the dagger penetrated deep into his bark. The spriggan charged the human whom the blades belonged to, his four amber arms reaching, deflecting, hounding.

Linus launched himself back with a burst of telekinetic power, as Leif made to follow a sharp whistle came from his left. It was followed a split second later by a powerful burst of wind. It buffeted Leif but only for a moment.

Adriana cursed and gestured downwards. A field of thrumming wind surrounded her body, empowering her movements. She sent two more bursts of air in Leif’s direction as Linus retracted his daggers from where they had flown.

For a brief, fantastic moment the two were in sync. Then one of Linus’s daggers moved into the path of his companions' blasts and got knocked off course by Adriana’s wind, the weapon was sent tumbling. The wind mage stepped into an invisible wire of telekinetic energy and tripped.

Both humans yelled in frustration, but they didn’t let up. Leif grabbed at Linus’s collar but a sharp whistle made the rogue speed up ever so slightly. The spriggan turned his attention to the fallen mage as she struggled to get up.

[Amber Steps] carried him in her direction and [Grand Action] accelerated his movement as he focused on [Alacrity]. Adriana panicked and flared a dome of repelling wind and sound around her.

Leif powered through, though he was still slowed slightly by the domain's effects. The wind mage sent a compressed blade of near invisible air right for his throat. He easily blocked the relatively dangerous attack with a golden barrier courtesy of [Under my Protection]. Then snapped his arm up to catch the rogue who was hurtling through the air right towards him.

Linus had landed on, then kicked off a boulder with enough force to crack the stone below. The man, somewhat foolishly yelled as he flew forward. A golden hand caught him by the arm and twisted.

At the same time another grabbed Adriana by the shin. Young man and woman swapped places at Leif spun. Linus slammed face up into the ground as Adriana was wheeled through the air, then Leif slammed her down on top of him.

Both combatants groaned in defeat and moaned in pain. Leif stepped back and crossed three sets of arms. “Better.”

The pair of humans didn’t get up. He analysed them.

Combat experience: Lesser!

Combat experience: Lesser!

To be expected I suppose. I wish [Combative Gumption] gave a little more detail. Leif contemplated. The spriggan focused on his [Willpower] and reshaped a golden limb. It narrowed and extended, no longer recognisable as a hand and arm but more akin to the roots he had first created after his evolution.

The thin branch of amber administered a healthy dose of healing. The groaning stopped.

The past few hours had been more than enlightening. For him, at least. Leif doubted Linus and Adriana had gotten much out of it. The two humans seemed to have an irreconcilable rift preventing them from even trying to work together.

The spriggan wasn’t sure how, or if he could help either of them. But he had needed to get used to his skills and attributes after his massive growth in levels after the advancement. It was a good distraction as well, images and scenes from his trial kept slipping into his mind, lighting a fire within his spirit.

Leif knew he couldn’t act on his desire to return home. He wasn’t ready, and a part of him doubted if he ever would be. Fortunately progress was an exemplary distraction, for having gotten used to his new strength and learning to adapt to two new combatants…

Congratulations! Your [Brawler] skill [Grounded Stance] has met an upgrade threshold!

Would you like to upgrade [Grounded Stance] from rank I to rank II? Y/N

Naturally, Leif accepted the rank up. Almost unconsciously he began to reassess his footing, how he moved, the weight distribution behind every strike.

Ranking up the skill hadn’t been overly difficult. Ever since Leif had ranked up [The Well Within] he had become aware of the ceiling certain skills possessed.

Similarly with his cultivation skill, upgrading [Grounded Stance] no longer seemed within reach. As if the next step would require a qualitative leap in understanding to even glimpse the next rank.

The spriggan turned to where both humans were stumbling to their feet. How can I teach them? They’re so quick to get into each other's way…

Within moments they were grumbling at each other, this quickly began to devolve into a full shouting match.

Leif had an idea. There was a brand new part of a skill he hadn’t yet used. He reached out with his will, targeting both expedition members. Then he triggered [Amber Sympathy]. The present faded into the background as golden grains of sand began to drift against the currents of time.

Adriana gasped and Linus stared in shock. The outlines of each motion, attack and counter began to replay across the plateau.

Maintaining the skill like this, sharing his ability to see the past was far more taxing than usual. Leif focused his will and pitted it against the increasing strain of the skill. He couldn’t rewind all the way back to the beginning of their most recent spar, but he got within a few seconds.

Good enough.

“Do you see it?” He asked.

Both humans nodded dumbly. “It’s faint, and it’s hard to make out…” Adriana said.

“Is this… our fight?” Linus asked, squinting at his surroundings.

“Yes.” Leif replied simply. “Now watch, right from the start you got into each other's way.”

===

Midday came and went before something changed. Both Linus and Adriana had become fixated on training. Their animosity fueled rivalry spurring each to improve faster than the other. But just because they were motivated didn’t mean they were any good.

Two new presences approached the plateau. Leif cocked his head in the direction of the newcomers while he absent mindedly scratched the head of a deer. Several animals had filtered down from where they had been resting, many watched in interest as the two humans sparred.

Sieg and Marcus came into view. Leif nodded as they approached. “You’re stronger. Very nice. How was the advancement trial?” Sieg called.

“It was enlightening.” He responded. Out of curiosity he used [Combative Gumption] to analyse them both.

Combat experience: Greater!

The results for the northman were expected. The man had been training and fighting most of his life after all. Leif switched his focus to Marcus and repeated the skill usage. The skill was instinctual, barely requiring any input to activate.

...Huh? Leif thought, reading over the notification in confusion.

Combat experience: Lesser!

Error: Target invalid!

Error: Target invalid!

“What?” Marcus asked, coming to a stop. “Is something wrong? Is it my face? What’s happening?”

===

Somewhere far away, a red mote of light was absent mindedly watching a pair of songbirds fly through the air.

The overseer received a ping indicating a system error, followed by coordinates. It did a little flip in happiness before zooming off.