Chapter 17: Stem the Tide

The displacement of air was the only warning the kobolds had before they looked up—just as the boulder came crashing down in their midst. Four were crushed instantly, their bodies reduced to mangled heaps, while six more were sent reeling from the impact, battered by flying shards of rock.

Gathering himself, Asterion watched as Theos hurled rocks at the kobolds with incredible speed. He lifted the next boulder with his gravity magic and once again sent it hurtling toward the kobolds. But they had wised up—sharp barks and pointing claws left no doubt that their position had been discovered. Most of the kobolds managed to evade the somewhat predictable arc of the second boulder, and Asterion only managed to let it roll over an already injured kobold.

Cursing, he lifted the third boulder, giving it a sharp spin before launching it, aiming more to disrupt the small crowd of kobolds and buy Theos time. Theos' rocks continued to break bones and smash heads with almost every other throw.

“More kobolds incoming from the caves!” Asterion called out as he redirected his spinning boulder toward the cave entrance, managing to crush at least three more kobolds before it spun out of sight. A sharp crack echoed from within, telling Asterion it had shattered against a cave wall.

The first of the kobolds were clambering up the rock face, and through his Spatial Perception, Asterion could see just how fast the scaled bastards climbed. Their tails and sharp claws helped them scurry up at frightening speeds.

Taking his fourth—and likely final—boulder, he aimed to scrape some of them from the cliffside. The massive stone crashed against the rock, sending two kobolds plummeting while crushing another beneath it. However, the lead kobold managed to leap aside at the last second and was now scrambling over the edge.

Asterion grabbed one of the smaller rocks, knowing exactly when the creature would show its ugly mug. The moment it did, he hurled the rock straight into its face, cracking several of its sharp teeth and sending it reeling off the cliffside. His throws didn’t have the raw power Theos’ did, but a sharp rock to the face was still potentially lethal.

That truth went both ways, and Asterion’s Spatial Perception warned him just in time. He grabbed Theos’ arm and yanked him into cover as a barrage of sling-fired stones whistled through the space they had occupied seconds before.

“Slingers,” Asterion called as he drew his sword, sensing the next pair of the kobolds cresting the edge. “First two incoming.”

Asterion used his gravity magic on one of the smaller rocks, preferring his abilities over his off-hand as he sent it in a perfect arc toward the nearest kobold’s eye. Though the rock lacked momentum at this distance, it still elicited a wailing screech as it struck, damaging the creature’s eye.

Waiting out the next volley of sling-fired stones whistling overhead, Theos suddenly shot up, his arm sweeping over the lip of their cover. Through his Spatial Perception, Asterion watched as a kobold navigating the spikes they had set up had its skull crushed.

Theos retreated but remained poised to strike as the sound of claws scraping against rock grew more numerous and closer.

“How many did we get?” Theos asked.

“I counted roughly eighteen, so we probably have at least half a dozen left,” Asterion replied.

“Shit,” Theos cursed as he grabbed another rock.

“They’re surrounding us,” Asterion warned as more sling-fired stones whistled over their position.

He lashed out as the nearest kobold poked its head past the rocks they had used for cover, his blade carving a deep wound across its snout. The cut sheared through muscle, leaving its maw hanging loosely, yet in its fury, the dark red kobold didn’t stop. It lashed out viciously at Asterion just as another clambered over the rock to enter their divot.

Asterion hacked again, his blade biting into flesh, but he found it much harder to put the kobolds down compared to Theos, who smashed them apart with each swing, stemming the small tide of creatures swarming them.

With his third swipe, Asterion finally cut the kobold down, feeling its life force vanish and his own strength surge. But there was no time to savor the victory—before he could recover, the next kobold tackled him to the ground.

Its claws tore through his sparse armor, raking deep gouges into his flesh. Asterion screamed in pain, his sword slipping from his grasp as he instinctively caught the kobold’s head, forcing it back to keep its snapping jaws away from his throat. He was a bit stronger than the creature, but not by enough to make a difference. Trapped in a mixture of his own blood and the kobold’s, he struggled to push the frenzied beast off him.

Theos had no chance to help. He was locked in his own desperate battle, fending off five more of the creatures. Some had latched onto his arm and leg, their claws and teeth putting both his Vitality and Titan Frame to the test.

As Asterion pushed back with all his strength, the stench of the kobold’s breath hit him—rot, death, and sulfur mingling into a choking miasma. His teary eyes blurred, but through the haze of pain, he recognized the creature. It was the same kobold whose eye he had injured, now fueled by rage and desperation, doing everything in its power to take revenge.

His muscles trembled as panic set in. Even Theos screamed in pain—Asterion barely registered the sound as a spear scraped his friend’s scalp, while a green-scaled kobold next to Asterion’s head sank its teeth into Theos’ leg.

Asterion tasted blood, realizing only then that he was biting down so hard his teeth ached. He forced himself to suppress his own scream, grinding his jaw to sharpen his focus. There was only one thing left to do.

Digging deep within himself, he gathered every ounce of mana he could, channeling it into his right hand. Gravity surged at his command, raw and overwhelming. With a final, desperate jab, he struck the kobold’s side, and in that moment, something within him clicked.

His vision flared with mana. The pressure, the instinct, the years of training—it all fell into place as his gravity power broke through to the Core Stage.

The kobold shrieked as a powerful gravitational pull wrenched it from Asterion’s grasp, its body suddenly weightless. A powerful pull of gravitational magic sent it spiraling as its magic resistance crumbled under the force of Asterion’s mastery, the difference in power undeniable. It flailed helplessly as it was dragged into the air, rising higher and higher, its fate sealed as it sailed beyond reach.

Not having a moment to waste, he used his Spatial Perception to find and grasp his sword and drove it into the kobold snapping at Theos’ leg before rolling and pushing himself to his feet, narrowly avoiding another kobold that had tried to jump him from behind.

As it scrambled to regain its footing, Asterion activated Mass Shift, briefly increasing the density of his blade. The sudden surge in weight sent the weapon carving clean through the kobold, cleaving it in half before it could react.

Moving around had become difficult—Theos had created a small pile of kobold bodies around them, the ground slick with blood and viscera as he continued to smash apart any that came close. Even the slingers had abandoned their ranged advantage, closing in for the kill.

Fortunately, Asterion’s actions had given Theos just enough breathing room to finish off the last of the kobolds. Seizing the moment, Asterion let himself collapse to one knee, rummaging through his pack for the herbs and bandages he had prepared. He pressed the Panacea herbs against his largest wound, gritting his teeth as the sting set in.

They were both covered in blood, but Theos’ wounds had already begun to stop bleeding, his body slowly knitting itself back together. He cursed at the sight of Asterion’s injuries, but whatever he said was lost in the haze of exhaustion as he helped him wrap the bandages.

“Don’t you dare die on me!” Theos’ voice cut through the haze as he shook him.

Asterion groaned, managing a crooked smile. “Then stop shaking me, you oversized dipshit,” he coughed, his voice rough though he couldn’t help but smile. “You’re going to shake out what little blood I’ve got left.”

Asterion watched as his friend let out a long sigh of relief, the wound on his cheek already knitting itself back together.

“Good. Don’t close your eyes,” Theos muttered.

Gritting his teeth, Asterion pushed himself a little straighter and away from the bodies and the pooling blood, the movement sending a fresh wave of pain through his body. But the Panacea was already working wonders—he could feel his lifeforce recovering, his wounds slowly stitching themselves back together with an uncomfortable itching sensation.

“I’m fine,” Asterion said, exhaling. “Just make sure there aren’t any more of those damn things coming.” He managed a smirk. “And… thanks for saving my ass.”

“That’s my line,” Theos said, glancing in the direction the kobold had been sent flying. His brow furrowed. “What the hell was that? Did you break through?”

“Yeah,” Asterion said, catching his breath. “I would’ve preferred to break through with Gravitational Flight, but with all the training I did to overcome resistances, this is good too.”

Theos looked over the lip of their position and nodded before pulling out his knife and getting to work butchering the kobolds. With each harvested body, he sent them flying out of their circle in a single motion, effortlessly tossing them out of sight.

“Well, now that you’ve got one of your powers into Core Tier too, your first breakthrough should make getting to flight a bit easier,” Theos said. “Teleportation and flight were way too ambitious for a first breakthrough anyway.”

Asterion grumbled, still unwilling to give up on short-range teleportation. He knew it was ambitious, but if he managed it, it would make using those abilities—and acquiring similar ones—easier as he advanced through the tiers.

His ability to affect opponents with gravity had made a significant leap forward due to the stress and desperation of the situation, pushing his power over the edge into the early Core Stage. He wouldn’t complain—it was definitely a facet of his gravity power he intended to refine and strengthen as he progressed and would serve him well no matter what.

Still recovering he used his gravity power to pick the bodies surrounding their position floating them over the lip before unceremoniously dropping them on the pile of unprocessed kobold bodies.

Theos split the pile of beast cores in half, and they began absorbing the essence within. Each of the small marbles further compressed Asterion’s mana and reinforced his body, a steady surge of energy coursing through him. He exhaled as he felt his wounds finally close properly, though the lingering soreness reminded him just how much punishment he had taken.

Fortunately, he had managed to keep the kobold from biting his neck or clawing out his eye in retaliation—but the memory sent a shiver down his spine. He had come far closer to death than he was willing to admit, even to himself. Instead, he let the lingering adrenaline and excitement take hold, focusing on the newfound power surging through his veins.

He felt confident he could punch a kobold into orbit and let natural gravity take care of the rest—though he knew he could certainly help the process along. He exchanged a glance with Theos, who snorted, mirroring his grin.

“You’re nuts, you know that?” Theos quipped.

“Right back at you,” Asterion shot back. “There’s no way our family doesn’t realize what we’ve done… and I’m not just saying that because we’re both caked in blood.”

Theos glanced down at himself as if noticing his state for the first time. “Shit,” he muttered.

“Might as well make the best of our situation,” Asterion said as he stood up, suppressing a small grimace. “Let’s find the rest of the kobold bodies, absorb what mana this rift has left, and get to a better place to rest.”

Theos pushed himself up, the blood-soaked dirt beneath his boots letting out a sickening squelch. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Let’s get out of this bloody pit.”

They cleaned themselves as best they could with household magic, though without a proper water source, the spell’s efficiency was limited. Neither of them knew how to conjure water—a gap they both silently agreed to remedy once they got back home.

As they turned their gaze over the small realm, Asterion couldn’t help but wonder just where exactly the last kobold had landed.

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