Crack!
Ryker's hand gripped the golem's crystalline heart, muscles screaming as he forced it to give. He felt the last bit of mana drain right as the core ruptured, flowing power back into his soul. Translucent, violet ether poured over him, seeping into his tattered body.
The bleeding ceased to a thin trickle as his flesh crawled back together, forming off-pigmented seams that riddled his skin. Ryker's joints settled back into their sockets with ugly pops like wood shifting in a fire pit.
The process was only agonizing due to a clear fact to Ryker:
Not enough. Damnit, there's not enough mana left in this thing to keep on fighting. I.. I have to make do.
His gaze shifted to the steaming obsidian egg far off, high above the plaza. Its carved shell lit up with off red flames that, after rising to cover the entire sky above, compressed down into a reddish white magic circle.
Helikath again…this rift isn't even from Earth. These runes must've been corrupted before the portals…
The Barren, The Holy, The Mother.
A creature originating entirely of residual Helios mana. A collection of recycled power that the strongest of a warrior species never needed to use.
Just then—glyphs that were burning violet before ignited with an off red, cracks scattered across the egg's surface and a brutal shriek tore at Ryker's ears.
His senses alerted him once more to the obsidian egg on its perch, exhausting steam from every crack on its body.
The gentle purple flames that ignited on Ryker's contact now exploded in a rapturous hellfire. A white circle mired by a hint of crimson expanded from the base of the egg and shot skyward.
Ryker sat upright, expression bewildered.
After shutting his eyes and gritting his teeth, he peeled his right leg back off the ground and used it to steady himself. This alone wasn't an easy task, but the trials of the rift demanded more of him.
Before Ryker could get back to his feet, the stone egg shook violently, pillars of magical flame erupting from every crevice along the shell.
Pillars of flame tore free from its shell, ripping through the air as unstable glyphs replaced the clean, ordered runes that had once held it dormant. A piercing shriek ripped through the plaza, drilling into Ryker's ears until his skull throbbed.
The stone egg exploded in a brilliant display of pyromancy, towering flame tornadoes bursting forth and tearing through the rift lands in a violent display of power.
A being soon materialized into focus from Ryker's squinting gaze.
Malformed.
Large.
Aggressive.
A massive snarling beast adorned with great horns of ebony stood motionless through the subsiding flames, springing to life once its fierce black eyes shot open.
Ryker's already weakened heart sank as he examined the creature from head to toe.
It gave the appearance of living obsidian, but Ryker wasn't fooled. Its hide was a dark purplish fur that reflected madness off of the rift light. Large, muscular arms bore hooked claws on both ends. The claws clicked against one another impatiently, the sound like swords scraping against an anvil as the embers around it faded.
The beast sighed, its maw billowing plumes of black fog into the rift sky.
"That golem wasn't even close to this thing. shit…" He brought his legs beneath him, forcing himself to stand.
Stay focused, Ryker! Feel it out and-
The beast screamed.
The vile shriek tore through the plaza, plummeting into an explosive roar. Red hot gales whipped between what pillars were left standing in the previous battle's aftermath.
The plaza tremored, then pulsed as the roar ceased. Ryker had closed his eyes to shield them from the white hot air, opening them to find the beast crouching down.
"Shit! Aerysin-"
Black and crimson consumed his vision the same instant a sharp whistle died as it began. Ryker barely twisted himself aside as claws cleaved through the air where his throat had just been.
Aethe ruptured in his hands, just barely forcing him out of the claws range. He hit the ground and spun to sweep its legs out but-
Nothing-
"Where-" The kick came out of nowhere.
Ryker folded, blood bursting from his mouth as the Mauler blasted him through a worn pillar. Stone shattered on contact, pulverizing into a suffocating wall of dust.
The impact raked him across the sharp rocks littering the ground. Blood poured from his nose and streamed down his neck as white blotched his vision.
The Mauler lunged through the dust, claws slashing where Ryker had landed.
Barely conscious, Ryker thrust his hands forward blindly, no spell attached. A raw burst of mana tore through space toward its target.
The Mauler deftly evaded the strike with a fluid set of leaps backward. As it did, Ryker dragged himself to his feet, searching the smoke for his opponent's silhouette.
His breaths came out ragged and uneven, blood pooling in his mouth.
His bones whined like stressed steel.
His vision faded in and out and even the thought of drawing on mana made his skin burn like he'd jumped into molten metal.
"Come on!" He forced the words from his throat.
Another sharp whistle cut across space to him.
He lifted one foot, letting gravity pull him off balance.
The Mauler ripped through the dust cloud, just grazing Ryker's cheek as it passed.
Ryker's hands thrust toward his target again.
"Aerysin Cleave!"
A small, paper-thin arc of wind hissed across the plaza and smashed into the beast's neck.
White hot pain seared Ryker's nerves–but the Mauler seemed genuinely shocked.
Ryker shook his head, forcing the pain to the back of his mind while his adversary crouched down again.
I'm ready this time.
Both of them vanished from the other's sight, a claw tearing through where Ryker had just been. In that time Ryker had whizzed through the maze of half destroyed monuments throughout the plaza.
The beast gave chase, smashing through pillars like glass in a direct path for Ryker. A deafening roar ripped through the maze and masses of stone spikes formed from every structure the Mauler destroyed.
A streak of green caught its eye, the dozens of spikes swarming that spot like monstrous piranhas.
A fake.
"Aethe!"
Ryker appeared around a mess of rubble behind it. Green mana exploded beneath his feet, spinning him around to slam his heel into the Mauler's skull.
Its head jerked forward, the impact hitting like a bomb. Ryker landed next to the beast and drove an uppercut clean into its jaw.
The Mauler reeled–then whipped its arms down, slapping aside Ryker's follow-up.
Ryker responded with a brutal flurry of punches, most of them landing squarely on the Beast's face.
Before he could line up his signature, an axe kick to the skull–
The Mauler's mana exploded outward in a blazing hot tornado, tossing Ryker across the plaza like a ragdoll.
He twisted himself midair, landing in a deft slide till he came to a halt.
The Mauler had already left the ground, bounding toward him with thundering strides that ripped stone from the ground.
The beast had barely taken a scratch between two of its many eyes.
Ryker, despite his condition, charged back. Both of them clashed in a wild, chaotic exchange of mana imbued strikes.
He parried claw after claw, letting each graze him just enough so that he could force an opening. Ryker's leg shot up the beast's blind spot, a cleave spell resonating at the ball of his foot.
"Cleave!" He commanded as his foot met the monster's throat.
The spell's recoil shoved them apart.
"Aery-" His chant died, a wretch crawling up his throat. He forced it back down, choking on blood as his vision narrowed like he was seeing the world through a keyhole.
The mess of devastation around him trembled as the Mauler walked him down, its breath labored but stable.
His plan to pierce its throat had almost worked, hampered only by his tapped mana pool. Ryker could barely make out a thin cut just below the jawline.
Come on…one more spell!
It lifted him by the collar and slammed him down into the stone beneath, a broken, agonized sound escaping Ryker's throat.
One more-
The beast dropped to its knees over him, its maw agape.
It lunged–
Ryker tore his shattered arm from the blood soaked ground, jamming it down the Mauler's throat as he screamed in agony.
"CLEAVE!!!" The words nearly shattered his soul.
Wind magic imploded inside the creature's organs, bursting its head open with sheer pressure.
Brain matter and shards of diamond hard bone rained down on Ryker as the beast collapsed onto him.
His vision faded to darkness.
***
The scent of sterile air was the first thing that welcomed him back to life. Next, unreasonably bright ultraviolet lights and the sounds of cheap wheels clattering over uneven tile.
He thought he was still in the rift. Perhaps he'd still needed to clear one more beast.
Get up…
His eyes cracked open.
The ultraviolet clawed at his eyes, forcing them shut again. He took a deep breath, examining the artificial smells around him.
Only then did he realize he was laying on some cheap cushion. A gurney, to be exact.
He'd felt this exact bed before. The worst kind of bed but it beat out sharp rocks and a dead body blanket.
Then the pain hit him. Tamer than he'd expected, but painful nonetheless.
His eyes shot open–before he could sit up a gentle hand held him down by the chest. He coughed, wheezing as he turned to see her.
"Morning, jackass." Her soft, feminine voice was in sharp contrast to her dickish tone. "I almost thought you were gonna die this time. Had Amelia and I betting and everything."
Ryker couldn't help but chuckle, then wince. Laughing of any sort was a mistake.
"Fuck you too, Hera."
She smirked, then softened her expression.
"Maybe that was a bit insensitive." She cleared her throat. "Good job."
"Thanks, I guess?"
"Can you walk?" She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, a dim hue of gold mana seeping into his skin.
The warmth warded off any pain left in his body, relaxed his muscles and renewed some of his vitality.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well get up then! Appraisal is right now and we've only got two spots in Freshman courses left, Ryker!"