Friday April 8th, 2019.

  Starting to freak out, Helo paces like a tiger caught in a cage. The barrier around him hums in his senses with power and mana. Just for the heck of it and because maybe it will help, Helo blankets the barrier in his aura. The effect goes to work, forcing the barrier to burn far more mana than usual.

  After a minute of this, Helo starts to think about other things. He expects it to take a few minutes for Micah, Akira or anyone else to get here. He hopes that it isn’t just Alli and Hinata. He wants whoever his savior is to come in with overwhelming force.

  With nothing better to do Helo mentally goes through the fight. He is doing his best to keep his thoughts from spiraling. He can hear Kenneth’s laughs and everyone talking about what they are going to do when they get back to their base.

  Thinking through the fight, most of it is just pain and blurry images. For the first half he was majorly concussed, that is something that he can recognize now that he has healed. As soon as he boosted his regeneration, Helo remembers activating ‘Bloodline Awakening’. Only it was different.

  The skill didn’t glow with the gold and black of his bloodline. But with copper and purple, that matches his cultivation. Helo perks up at the realization and stops pacing. This might be it! What I need to progress! He thinks happily. He can feel the weight that has been over him like a dark cloud lifting.

  Conversations outside the barrier stop as his foes see Helo perk up. But he quickly slouches again and continues pacing. Not like it will help him in this situation. What he needs now is to lose a ton of vitality. His body is completely saturated right now.

  Back to pacing Helo does the only thing he can do, wait it out. Studying the room as he waits Helo doesn’t find any easy answer. His foes are impressive, together they might be a threat to him, but he is pretty sure he can take them in a fair fight. Unfortunately, this isn’t a fair fight. His left arm is still dangling loosely with vast portions of his bone gone. Plus, his enemies set a trap, who knows what else they have prepared.

  Only a few seconds later everyone within the large room stills. The runes on the wall of the outer layer, they circle the entire room in a faintly glowing ritual. But the runes slowly start to glow brighter.

  “Ha! Finally!” Hang smirks as he leans against one of the columns. He looks down toward where Helo is trapped in the barrier.

  Looking back at the blank mased man, Helo scowls. He knows Hang is grinning even with the mask covering his face.

  “Don’t worry. Only a few more seconds for the runes to charge, then we will be out of here.” Hang says, his entire demeanor radiates victory.

  Helo’s gaze snaps to the still brightening runes. “A teleportation array?!?”

  Hang doesn’t reply, but Helo can see Kenneth’s victorious grin. “Ha, caught like the animal lover you are. I can’t wait too finally be reunited with Alli.” Kenneth looks down at Helo with madness in his eyes. “SHE WAS MINE FIRST!”

  Helo sneers at Kenneth. He wants to argue back. He wants to wring his neck. But Helo doesn’t have the time. With time officially running out, with no other options. Helo can only think of one plan. Kicking his legs in the misty vital energy on the ground, Helo continues to pace.

  Pulling out his enchanted Kukri. Helo is glad that he hasn’t disenchanted the blade yet. Pouring his energy into the enchantment. His kukri quickly starts to heat up.

  “Won’t work.” Hang says in an almost bored tone. Tapping his knuckles on the barrier. “We went over everything we had on your skills, abilities, and items.”

  Ignoring Hang’s casual taunting skills. Helo touches a finger on the white-hot blade. “SSSSSH”. Searing his own finger Helo nods his head. It’s ready. He thinks well walking up to the barrier. Out of everything he is thankful for, the fact that his trappers are so sure of themselves that they haven’t moved to block the exit, is at the top of the list.

  Before Helo can regret his life choices. He raises his knife, and brings it down on his mangled semi-functioning arm. “AHHHHHGGGG!” He screams as the knife sears through his flesh and bone. It goes through his arm and into his side, burning its way into his ribs. The pain is as white-hot as the blade. But it quickly fades as his nerve endings are fried and the vitality in his body begins to work.

  Not letting the moment be wasted, Helo does three things. First, he flips the kukri to be held upside down in his right hand. Two, he shifts the enchantment into its second positions, made for creating an explosion. Three, Helo’s aura surges around the blade as the vitality in his body is rapidly drained.

  He has never tried to coat a weapon in his vital aura. He has never even truly trained with his vital aura. Due to his bloodline’s suppressive effect on its vitality side, doing so requires constant absorption. But he isn’t trying to test the effects now.

  Before his severed arm can even hit the ground, Helo’s right arm is surging forward across his body. Just as the tip reaches the barrier, the aura surrounding it shifts from a bright copper into a dark purple.

  The shift only lasts a moment. But it is long enough for the blade to pierce through the barrier. If only a fraction of a centimeter. Then before anyone can truly react to what Helo has done. The blade explodes in a mass of heat and flames.

  Helo is launched back with his flesh smoking. He doesn’t stop until he hits the wall on the other side of the inner. The force slams his body back, gives him another concussion and drives all the air from his lungs. Fortunately, with the massive amount of vitality within the lower level, Helo is almost instantly recovered enough to move.

  Rising to his feet Helo dashes back along the floor of the lower layer to the staircase that leads up to the outer layer. The barrier on that side is fluctuating wildly. The runes that were created on the wall, stairs and upper layer were all damaged by the explosion.

  By the time he reaches the other side Helo’s flesh has already mended. He is also the first person to reach the barrier, of the six in the room. His enemies were stunned by his self-mutilation, then the explosion. Not to mention Helo has ‘Bloodline Awakening’ active and boosting his speed. With the vitality also reinforcing his bloodline and body, his agility stat is more than doubled. Helo’s speed is the highest he can make it.

  All around him the stone is blacked. Helo runs right shoulder first into the side of the barrier. For a second he worries it will hold. But then with miracle like luck, Helo’s aura finds a gap to surge out through the weakened barrier. Then its effects come into play. The runes and the barrier itself are forced to work harder to produce the same effects, while the magic barrier is also weakened.

  The barrier holds for a second more, then Helo breaks free and stumbles onto his hand and knees onto the staircase.

  Behind him he can still feel the vitality pouring free from the broken barrier. It is following him due to his second aura effect that he awakened. Looking back over his left empty shoulder Helo can see his charred severed arm lying on the ground and the shattered remains of his Kukri.

  Pushing himself to his feet. Helo surges up the staircase. As he reaches the top he is forced to roll right as an arrow comes from Hang to his left. Infront of Hang, but behind his arrow, the other four fighters dash around the corner and towards Helo.

  Rolling to his feet Helo’s aura spreads out again. With its sensory range he can feel as the runes on the wall are starting to twist space. Hitting the runes with all his aura’s might, Helo does his best to slow the process.

  Splitting his focus Helo braces himself for the fight to come. He has grown skilled at using his aura to do multiple things at a time, like coating a weapon, silencing his movement, and scanning for people. But using his aura’s more active effect to focus on a single rune, enchantment, or spell, still requires close to the full focus of his aura.

  Right now, the only other thing he can use his aura for is to feel everyone around him. He could quickly switch between effects. But Helo worries that if he stops using his aura to disrupt the teleportation, then they will all be whisked away.

  Ignoring his chasing foes Helo dashes for the exit of the ruin at his fastest speed. Just as he reaches it, a thin blue mana shield appears covering the exit. Helo hits the barrier at full speed and watches in frustration as it shakes, but holds firm.

  “Grrrrr.” Helo growls in frustration. He forms a ‘Dark Blade’ in his own hand and slams it point first into the barrier. It manages to pierce into the magical construct. But nothing more. Fucking vitality. I need more control! Helo shouts in his head.

  After he cut off his arm, he only had a brief moment as the vitality in his body was bled out or used to fix the damage. Then the vitality around him was forced into his body. Even now with a crack in the barrier, and his still uncontrollable second aura effect, Helo’s body is stuffed full of energy.

  If he was able to switch over to the dark aspect of his bloodline, he could destroy the barrier. His bloodline’s dark aspect lets him nullify things around him, defense, his presence, sounds and things like that. While his vitality aspect burns through vitality quickly but also affords him high levels of control and power.

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  Turning around with a growl rumbling in his throat, Helo summons his remaining Kukri into his remaining hand. He can see Hang hanging back with a second blank face person. This one is holding a staff and Helo assumes he conjured the mana barrier.

  The other three are Kenneth, Isla’s other male teammate, and the blank face woman. Trapped in the room with them and on a timer, Helo’s radiates killing intent. “Fuck you.” He growls out.

  Then he is lunging forward at his fastest speed. He isn’t sexist. But he already injured the woman, so he assumes she is the weakest link. Ducking another arrow, the wind that spirals around it cuts scratches along his cheek, scratches that heal moments later.

  Coming up from under the path of the arrow, Helo makes a bee line straight for the woman. Just before he reaches her, he is filled with an overwhelming anger, his gaze turns red and Helo unconsciously turns toward Kenneth in the center of the three.

  Helo dark purple mental energy works to lessen the effect of Kenneth’s ‘Taunt’. If he still had access to his bloodline dark aspect, he could have shattered the skill’s effect instantly. But with only his cultivated mental energy, he has to slowly wear it down.

  With the skill’s effect weakening every moment, Helo is able to will his body up and over Kenneth as the ‘Shield Bash’ comes for his face. He is forced to play mental gymnastics as he fills his mind with the idea of getting around Kenneth, to stab him in the back.

  If he wanted to dodge, block, or do anything but attack, the ‘Taunt’ would have overrode his will. Instead, he gives the ‘Taunt’ effect a better way to attack.

  Just barely missing the shield, Helo’s right foot is caught in the effect of the bashing skill. Due to his low endurance, his foot broke on contact with a loud snapping noise. But before Helo even finishes his flip over Kenneth, it is already healed.

  Kenneth, proud of his small victory. Doesn’t turn as aggressively as he should have. Assumeing that Helo will stumble and fall, instead he laughs as he turns, getting ready to taunt Helo in a non-skill way.

  Only for Helo to already be slipping under his arm and stabbing him through the ribs into his chest. “Kuhhh.” Kenneth spits up blood as he looks down at Helo’s small frame.

  Helo looks but up at Kenneth with glowing cat-like pupils and a fang filled grin. Kicking off the tank, Helo barely makes the tank stumble back. But he does manage to send himself back as an arrow cuts through the space he was just in.

  With the effect of ‘Taunt’ worn out by landing a solid hit. Helo turns to his other foes. Just as he prepares to continue the fight, Helo can feel something in his aura. He hasn’t been using it for anything but sensing those around him and slowing the teleportation. Even if sensing people is more of a passive effect of his spread aura.

  With his aura focused on the teleportation array. Helo can feel as it starts to truly grab space. In that moment he realizes that his foes truly have the upper hand. They only have to hold him off for a few more seconds before they all teleport together to a new place. A place filled with their bosses and teachers.

  “Shit.” Helo mutters. On a dime he turns from what was about to be an attack on the mage, and a dodge of the woman’s attack. To a leap backward and toward the exit.

  Similar to the last time Helo finds himself in front of a mana barrier as he approaches. Dropping the weakening effect on the teleportation. Helo focuses all his strength on the barrier. Instead of just summoning a ‘Dark Blade’ with its minor piercing effect, thanks to his dark purple energy. Helo also coats his conjured blade in ‘Dark Hand’.

  The telekinesis spell quickly goes to work. Eating through the mana barrier along with his aura. Helo can feel space starting to pull around him. Pushing with all his might he hears a “Crack.”

  Then a moment later he stumbles through and into the desert sand. Falling to his knees Helo looks back to see everyone that was fighting him trying to get to him. But, at the same time, none of them want to be left behind when the teleportation takes effect.

  Looking into the room Helo follows the line of golden wisps as they still trail out of the destroyed barrier in the center of the room. Down at the bottom of the staircase, Helo sees his severed arm.

  Reaching his good hand out, Helo casts ‘Dark Hand’ on his limb. Yanking his own arm toward himself, Helo watches as it sails through the air. He reaches out to catch the limb, only to grab nothing.

  Just as his fingers closed in on the limb, everything within the ruin disappeared. All that is left is an empty square of space leading down into the ground.

  Helo grimaces slightly as he loses his arm. Will someone be able to do anything with that? He wonders because his enemies just got a piece of his body. Whatever. Helo shrugs and turns around. “Now where is my backup.”

  Looking out over the vast desert. Helo watches in annoyance as seven people appear in the space around him. Micah and two teleportation mages. Then Akira, Yuki and two teleportation mages.

  A moment later a very tall and extremely beautiful dark-skinned woman appears a few yards off. She is wearing a flowing golden robe with white accents, and she stands with an imposing presence. Due to her speed the wind picks up and sweeps the area, but it is quickly batted down by the tier 3’s in the area.

  Seconds after she arrives multiple tier 3 people appear around her at speeds that Helo can’t track.

  Micah, Akira, and the woman all enter a staring match. Their auras don’t battle, but they do sweep the area. Yuki on the other hand rushes toward Helo. “What happened?!? Are you okay?!?” She appears by his side and cups the stump that used to be his left arm.

  Getting his face pulled into Yuki’s chest Helo can’t answer Yuki’s questions. But they don’t need him too. They all can feel the residual spatial magic in the area. Yuki turns to the woman with a glare.

  “You failed.” She growls out. “We called you, and you didn’t listen!” The sandy desert starts to bloom with grass and flowers. The effect starts around Yuki, but it quickly sweeps the area. “You’re supposed to keep them safe.”

  The woman doesn’t respond as she takes in what happened. With a grimace she lets Yuki’s magic run unimpeded. Clenching her jaw, she glares at where the inside of the ruin used to be.

  “Cleo?” Micah steps up next to the woman.

  Helo’s ears perk up as he listens. Is that Cleopatra? How does she know Micah.

  “Ha. You no longer get to call me that Micah.” Cleopatra glares at him.

  Micah smirks at the woman. “Your still upset I didn’t want to join your harem?”

  Still forced into Yuki’s bosom, Helo’s ears twitch rapidly as he listens to the interesting conversation. First Kiyoki and now THE Cleopatra. You dog Micah… well Wolf.

  With Yuki so close to Helo and her aura wrapping him protectively, nobody but her can feel Helo’s amusement at what he is hearing. She chuckles softly in relief, as a few tears fall onto Helo’s head.

  He might not be her biological son. She and Akira had no luck having any other children after Hinata. But she still thinks of Helo as her own child. Seeing him bloody, missing an arm and almost kidnapped, has her body swirling with emotions at the speed of a tier 3 mind.

  As Helo is finally released by Yuki from man’s first trap, more people start arriving. After the tier 3 guards that came directly after Cleopatra, more tier 2 guards enter the area outside the pyramid.

  Seconds later Alli, Hinata and the rest of his party come rushing out of the pyrimid. Ignoring their fathers and the queen of the land they are in, the two heiresses rush directly for Helo. Seeing his missing limb Alli gasps in shock and wraps Helo in a hug. Hinata doesn’t say anything, but her expression turns cold and she glares at Cleopatra.

  With Yuki still batting away all other auras, nobody can feel Helo or his party’s presence.

  In the middle of the two groups Cleopatra, Micah and Akira all close in and are talking at speeds that Helo and the other lower tier individuals can’t keep up with.

  As more people start to arrive, one of them quickly draws attention. It is a tall man wearing white robes that Helo recognizes. “Dear! My love! Are you okay?” He rushes to Cleopatra’s side and wraps her in a hug. “How can I help?” Cleopatra looks slightly annoyed, but the man is one of her husbands, so she allows him to be publicly affectionate, even if in private they are not very close.

  The man’s gaze sweeps the area. But he stops on Helo with wide eyes. The man might be tier 3, but his aura senses were blocked by Yuki’s rock-solid defense.

  Stepping forward out from Alli’s hug and Hinata and Yuki’s side, Helo tilts his head, raises his hand and points at the man. “Hey. I know you.” It takes Helo a second to place the man’s face. He only saw it for a moment, and then in the next moment he had a major concussion. Once he places the man’s face, his own eyes go as wide as the man’s.

  Jabari stares in stunned shock at the little tier 1 pest that is supposed to be gone. It is supposed to be being dissected and tortured at this moment. Instead, the annoying brat is pointing right at him. Realizing that he only has moments to act Jabari slowly extracts himself from the woman he calls his wife, even if he only married her to try and take back the Egyptian Crown from the women that have claimed it for the last two-thousand years.

  He was approached by a group calling themselves The Undeserving. At first, he told them to screw off, with a name like that, they can’t be that impressive. But he quickly learned why they are called that.

  The Undeserving are filled with the people that should lead, that should be in charge. They are the strong, the cruel, but they are the strong that were beaten back by other oppressors. They are a mirror of himself. He is a powerful tier 3 fighter, but he has lived his whole life under the thumb of the Queens that lead their country.

  So, when they promised to write the wrong that is their country’s matriarchy, as long as he helped them take control during Earth’s Integration, the only answer he had for them was a resounding yes.

  It was made especially easy when the first step of the plan was to get the current Queen under him in his bed. She might be his enemy and oppressor. The reason he is not King himself, even if he has the blood of Ramesses flowing through his veins. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that she is very beautiful.

  So, going along with their plans he has subtly found the people in Egypt’s ranks that agree with him. The people that would rather a man be their King. He has been gathering them, getting ready to finally take over.

  He has been doing this for almost fifty years, then a few years before the Integration is supposed to start, they tell him that they need a favor. A child sent to be studied. An anomaly that needs to be taken from the board. He easily said yes, when they called for his help.

  Now here Jabari is, all his effort, all his time. Pretending to be the perfect husband. Bowing under Cleopatra’s control. Wasted! He internally shouts. His aura starts to seethe around him.

  Cleopatra can feel the changes, and she takes a defensive step away from Jabari and closer to Micah. Micah.

  Jabari hates him, he might have never loved Cleopatra. But he has his honor as a man. Everything he did was always compared to Micah. He was never better than Micah.

  Jabari’s fists clench just as the brat speaks up.

  “Hey. I know you.” The brat says, drawing everyone’s attention. They all look to Helo. Then trace the line that his finger makes directly toward Jabari. “He tossed…”

  Before Helo can finish speaking Jabari surges forward. Sand is sent almost five-hundred feet back due to his sudden movement. He intends to kill the kid; it will be like swatting a fly.

  But before he even reaches half the distance Micah is standing in his way. His spear is in hand and spinning. It makes a “Whirwhirwhir.” Noise as it casually moves through the air with a force that could crush mountains.

  Jabari almost flinches at the noise. The first time Jabari sparred with Micah was after his wedding night. Cleopatra compared his efforts to her school days, to Micah’s own, and found him wanting.

  He stormed from the room and publicly called Micah out. Only for Micah to not only accept, but to appear in Egypt on the same day and crush him.

  Realizing that even with all his anger back then he stood no chance. So, his anger now is meaningless. Turing back Jabari flees as fast as he can. If he can get away, then the Undeserving will pick him up. His subordinates are still in place; the plan is changed but it is still a go.

  But first, he must escape Wolf that is on his tail.