Hector dove to the side with a thud, rolling onto his shoulder. A wave of fire washed over him as the fireball exploded behind him, its flames licking into the air. He was on his feet in seconds. More fire gathered above the pool.

  How nice would it have been if he could apply static to that? But punching that would do more harm to him than anything else. Hector leapt over another tentacle, and it cracked by whipping up the air. The creature sure was good at multitasking.

  A bright light bloomed from the corner of Hector’s vision. He jerked to a staggered stop as a ball of flame shot past him with a wave of heat. A moment later, waves of flame lashed at him, and a force launched Hector off his feet. He tumbled to the stone and rolled to a stop as his side exploded with pain.

  He groaned as the heat subsided, and the taste of blood filled his mouth. His instinct screamed for him to move. Hector was on his feet in seconds, jumping back as another tentacle slammed into the spot where he’d just been, cracking the ground. This was getting a little ridiculous.

  If that flame had hit me just now, I don’t think I would be moving. How the hell is that even a Talent? Uncommon rank really is a different ball game. Thank goodness it only has one that seemed to be used for fighting.

  Static thrummed in his legs. How much longer did he have left? Three minutes, maybe five at a push. He turned his head. Further in, Jodie continued trying to close the gap with the creature. Tentacles whipped towards her, slicing through the air with wicked speed.

  Her fists shot out in a blur of motion, blitzing the air in front of her and smashing into the tentacles. She slowed them for a breath as her body blurred, and she dodged the rest. She was putting up a damn good fight. If he’d tried the same thing… Hector glanced at a smear of blood on the floor.

  Jodie closed in further on the Void Singer again, weaving through its attacks like water. The ground cracked as tentacles fought to keep her at bay and missed. Hector raised a brow. Near the Void Singer’s head, there was a cluster of writhing tentacles swaying with power that never moved. Guarding. They had to be.

  The Void Singer didn’t want its head to be hit. Then again, no one in their right mind would—not if they wanted to stay functioning, anyway. But this seemed a little too desperate. The black obsidian heads of those Void Hungers had been tough as heck. Did the Void Singer not gain such a benefit?

  A smile cracked across Hector’s blood-splotched lips. He spat to the side, and a glob of blood and saliva smacked against the stone. It was worth the shot. He had the [Resonant Shout] Talent. If he could use that, there was a good chance he could stall that thing.

  He jerked to the side, gritting his teeth in pain as his side burned and a tentacle whipped by. It hadn’t forgotten about him. Above the pool of fire, another ball gathered, its form undulating as whips of flame churned into it.

  Hector took off, static charging through his legs as he sprinted across the stone. He leapt to the side, careful not to aggravate his wounds, as a tentacle caved into the stone, sending out a splinter of rock chunks. He skidded low as another whipped over his head.

  On the slab, the fireball, fully grown, screamed from the pool of fire and shot straight towards Jodie, its form a blur. Surprisingly, as if she’d seen it coming, Jodie didn’t even turn towards the incoming projectile. Her form blurred, and she closed the distance with the Void singer even more as the fireball streaked by.

  It exploded against the stone wall in a gout of flame and heat before flickering out. Waves of flame snaked from the pool of flame again, growing another fireball. How many of those could it throw? Surely, there was a limit.

  Hector slid under another tentacle, his knees raw as the friction practically burned through his trousers. He hopped back on his feet, static flickering by, and continued pumping forward, his chest heavy with exhaustion. He’d be lucky if he didn’t collapse before his Talent gave out.

  How many fireballs has this thing fired already? Four or five, maybe.

  From the corner of his vision, another torchlight flickered out as wood snapped and clattered to the floor. The Void Singer’s form had become that much more blurry. The creature probably wasn’t trying to make the room darker, but was sure doing a damn good job of it.

  Jodie popped back into view at its side, unleashing a barrage of punches. They crashed into the tentacles guarding the creature’s head with heavy thuds before Jodie blurred away again. The ground where she’d stood shattered into an explosion of stone a second later as a heavy tentacle slammed into it.

  “How dare you, bugs, not yield to me?” the Void Singer screamed. A tentacle, pulsing with power, snaked forward, whipping through the air like arrows and shooting towards Hector. It had probably pegged him for the weaker target. And sadly, he wasn’t doing too hot.

  As the tentacles closed in, Jodie blurred next to him. She grabbed his waist, causing a wave of pain, and moved them out of the path of the tentacles. Hector staggered to a stop as they shared a glance.

  “That wound is slowing you down,” Jodie said, jerking her head back. Fire and warm air whipped between them before exploding in a roar of flame on the far wall, kicking up wind.

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  Jodie raised an eyebrow at Hector as her ginger hair whipped about, and her iridescent white eyes scanned his features. “I don’t suppose you have any ideas?”

  She jumped away, and Hector did the same, narrowly avoiding a tentacle that screamed by and slammed into the floor in a light shower of stone. “Just wait for the opening,” Hector yelled, static humming in his legs. It was growing fainter. He didn’t have long left. Maybe just over a minute.

  Not that it mattered. If the howl didn’t land, they’d be screwed, anyway. The door was only a few steps away, but once he was out, then what? The Void Singer probably wouldn’t let them go so easily. No, it was now or never.

  A tentacle screamed towards him, and he took a step to the side, his sandals lightly tapping on the stone. The tentacle charged past him in a torrent of wind, barely slowed by the field the [Static Field] Talent gave off. His vision practically converged to a point, and the only thing in it was the Void Singer.

  He had to make these next few seconds count. Not only his life, but the lives of his friends could depend on him stunning this thing—even if it was just a second, Jodie could do it. He kicked off the ground, soaring over another tentacle to close the gap between him and the creature.

  He could probably unleash [Resonant Shout] from here. But that could risk its effects being lessened and barely even stalling it. That was less than ideal, and that was if it worked. This option had more risk, but it would be worth it.

  He skidded under another tentacle, slammed his hand off the ground, and jumped to his feet. His momentum carried him past a blur of tentacles, his side groaning in pain as he slammed into the stone and weaved through a bunch more.

  From the corner of his eye, Jodie weaved along. She kept pace with him, deftly dodging a rush of tentacles as they snapped by rupturing the stone as they missed. Hector smiled. She was like a shark just waiting for him to ring the dinner bell, and it was about time he opened the path.

  He leapt over one tentacle, dived under another, and rolled to the side to pop up just on the Void Singer’s side. The creature still hadn’t fully climbed out of its egg. Hector tugged on the Talent in his mind. A cord pulled tight and power rushed free as energy raced towards his throat.

  It raced under his skin, thrumming with might as it surged to a point, building and building, sending ripples through his neck. Then, all at once, the cave-like room snapped into silence.

  Waves, small at first, tore free from Hector’s mouth before expanding. They ballooned out in dense ripples that slammed towards the Void Singer like a hammer, each wave pounding its skin. Its flesh wobbled, and the tentacles surrounding its head seized up, becoming nothing more than decorations as the waves passed through the Void Singer’s body.

  Jodie was there an instant later, her ginger hair whipping behind her as she let loose a barrage of fists. Each blow popped into the creature’s head like a shower of sudden rain, sending cracks snaking through its crystal-like head.

  She then leapt up before crashing down with an Orion Leaping Strike—she’d made it to the adept level—cracking the creature’s head back with the first hit and taking its head partially off with the second.

  That had to have killed it. Suddenly, Hector’s instincts screamed for him to move. His head snapped to the side as a fireball raced towards him, sizzling through the air. He went to move forward but found the static in his legs long gone, as he stumbled and the fireball crashed right behind him in a gout of flame.

  The force of the explosion launched Hector off his feet and sent him hurtling forward like a rag doll. He slammed into the ground with a crunch and continued rolling until he smacked into something hard. With blurry eyes and his vision going black, Hector groaned. Above him, on the altar, the creature lay sagged over the side of the egg. Dead.

  But Hector’s body still screamed for him to move. He couldn’t let them go to waste; he couldn’t let the Talents fade. His back hummed with sickening pain as if a fire was eating away at his flesh, charring and blackening his skin. But it didn’t matter. He screamed to his feet, pushing his exhausted muscles with all he had left and slamming his hand onto the creature’s limp claw.

  Jodie blurred next to him as his grip tightened on the beast—his fingernails scratching against its claw for purchase. Jodie frowned, stepping towards him. “Hector, what are you—”

  He raised a tired hand, frowning at the burn marks that throb along his arm. “Don’t, I’m fine,” he rasped out. Jodie stalled. Her eyes scrunched as the iridescent light flickered from them in flakes of white, similar to how his Talent plants would fall away. She likely wanted to help him, but that would interrupt him. And he couldn’t let that happen. He needed these.

  The system flickered to life in his vision, its white text sending a wave of anxiety as he read the two messages.

  ————————————————

  ///: “System upgrade has been completed. You may now look at the upgrades that have taken place. It is recommended that you do this in your Talent garden to view its effects.”

  ————————————————

  ————————————————

  ///: “Two Talents and four Talent fragments have been detected. The talents are on a creature that does not have a soulscape. Would you like to commence the retrieval process?”

  ————————————————

  The first message was a cherry on top. But what he really needed was those Talents, he’d already seen the effects of one. The other could only be just as good. As his vision continued to fade, Hector gritted his teeth. “Retrieve the Talent.” he’d never taken more than one Talent before, so he was worried that the system would make him choose.

  But thankfully, that didn’t happen. His hand clenched as energy surged down the creature’s arm and flowed into his body like a river. His skin practically hummed as it surged through his veins, and a wave of ecstasy washed over him.

  Jodie took a step back, her sandaled feet scuffing the stone, as she watched Hector’s hand. He’d have to explain it later and just pray that she didn’t think he was a demonic cultivator.

  Lincoln, and now Jodie. I really need to be more low-key. I don’t even think there is a lie good enough to explain all this. The truth might not even work. But then again, the ship has pretty much sailed. I just need to figure out a way to navigate all this.

  As the power faded, seeping deep within him along a route he was familiar with. Hector released the creature’s claw and flopped to his knees before slamming onto the stone, rubble biting against his cheek. “Hector,” Jodie yelled, rushing forward.

  Perhaps she won’t think I’m a demonic cultivator. Her hand slipped under him as his vision went black and her voice a distant din. His body sagged as a wave of relief swam through him. It was finally time for some rest.