Multiverse Revenge Story: Chapter 15 Battle Synchronization

<<<<Author's Note: Just a reminder that later this week I will be choosing a new name for this series based on the recommendations posted. So please go, check out the other options and vote on the one you wish to see.>>>>

Chapter 15

Battle Synchronization

It’s hard to describe what exactly happened next.

Call it instincts, call it the awakening of my bloodline, or call it the awakening of my true self but that next moment something primal surged in me.

I was at a crossroads of what to do, of how to act.

I could call out and thereby blow my cover that Auntie and I had been so delicately building up all summer long.

Or I could act.

Honestly, when it came down to what happened next, it wasn’t even a decision.

My body just moved on its own.

The moment, that one tiny microsecond, that my mind realized I needed to act on my own, I did.

By now I had grown used to where my extra weapons and blades were on my uniform.

Reaching to the breast pocket right over my heart, I pulled out not one, but two throwing daggers. Instinctively I knew that these were the easiest to grab for this moment, as they would be the flattest and smoothest to unsheathe from the holster, where I would then be able to throw those daggers at a slightly moving target.

I had practiced this exact motion and action a lot over the past few years, let alone these last few months of summer.

That is why my fingers felt the readily available grip notches and began tugging, then pulling both blades out at once. Then with practiced ease, I inserted my thumb behind both blades, eventually linking both balanced hilts together. After that, muscle reflex took over and I threw both blades towards two cloaked beasts that were steadily making their way towards our group of children in the back of the formation.

Swoop, scwhoop, squish.

I did cheat, as I had already mentally grabbed both blades with powerful arms of my standard strength Telekinesis and threw them towards the monsters.

Mentally, I felt the blades tumble end over end two and a half times, before each impacted their intended targets blade first.

Of course, I didn’t stop there, as I was already moving towards the third and final monster.

At least, this was the last monster that I had been tracking to have come out of the now closed rift.

Again, I cheated.

The third beast was focused on the leader of the females. While I had never learned the true identities of all the females, it was clear that many of the women that spent their summers training with us came from noble families. It was also clear that most of the other females had somehow learned about the identities of the others.

It was minor things that led to this last part. The way the girls all seemed to naturally bunch together. Then there was the way that they all seemed to be at peace inside the personal space of the others. This isn’t done with strangers, further implying that there was a deeper familiarity between the group that made them all seemingly feel comfortable within each other’s presences. A familiarity that they lacked when interacting with me.

Fortunately, this lack of familiarity paid off for me, as I used it to my advantage. Had the others felt comfortable with my presence they might have gathered around me and hindered my actions. Instead, I felt the ability to move and react to external monsters easily.

Being separated from the pack, just meant that my next actions were easy to perform.

Not only had I randomly thrown two daggers at hyperkinetic speeds towards invisible enemies, but I was now wielding the blade in my left hand. The long blade that I never put down due to orders from Auntie. Orders that were as sacrosanct as not talking. That being rule number two, never let go of your weapon until you are safe.

Squeek-ack.

The monsters that had up until this point been hiding within veils of shifting dust and dirt moved.

At least the last one moved, realizing that it and its kind were still being hunted, it began moving.

That’s when I moved in kind.

The world blurred around me, as I let everything but the monster before me blur and lose focus.

My blade that I had brought up with my left hand to a high guard position, was now embraced automatically by my free of throwing daggers right hand. With movements that are only brought on by countless hours of practice, I then raised the blade even higher to strike at the beast that had now taken its chance to lunge.

That’s when the world seemed to slow down, as my mind came to life.

Neurons and synapses firing on all cylinders.

I readjusted my Telekinetic grip, letting go of my hold over the two thrown daggers, as that application of energy had already done its part. This time I reached out and Telekinetically held the lunging ravenous squirrel in mid-air.

Simultaneously, I applied my second application of Telekinesis to my blade, helping me add force, power, and precision to my blows.

I was aiming for the base of the neck, the sweet spot. That part of the beast’s body that was unprotected by bone or other dense layers of protection.

There was of course, one problem.

One giant tiny horse-sized problem in the form of a ravenous and twitching squirrel being held in midair.

Namely, it moved.

Not much, in fact, by all means it was just a matter of an inch.

But that inch was huge, as it meant that rather than my blade striking down on delicate fur, I found my blade striking at thick bones. Bones and structures that had evolved over time to help these monstrous squirrels exert dominance over an area by headbutting away competition.

Still, despite evolution, there was a point where evolution could only take you so far.

Slink.

This was one of those times.

My blade struck true.

Despite the shifting of weight. Despite not hitting the desired spot that I had been initially aiming for, my form and technique were perfect. My blade went up, then went down.

No extra movements, no vibration in my form, just pure energy being applied to a blade making one crisp clean strike.

Thump, thump.

The front hemisphere of the monster’s skull hitting the ground and rolled away. That was the only indication that the battle was over.

There was an awkward moment, when I just paused staring at my kill, as the dark smoke that had been coating the beast slowly disappeared.

Only then did I realize I needed to let go of my control over the beast’s body.

Thump.

The giant and still twitching body of the third giant squirrel creature going immediately into death throes was the only sign that the battle was over.

Mentally, I felt drained.

The world began to speed up, as I could once again focus enough on the people around me to realize that the others were moving.

Off to my right, in the direction where I threw my two throwing blades the warrior maidens were moving.

To my left, that is where the gathered gaggle of female warriors stood. A gaggle that seemed to breathe and gently shake in the breeze as one.

Stomp, slash, swoosh.

The maidens went to town on the monsters to my right, while Auntie and the final guardian went into place to deal with the bisected squirrel monster.

They must have done something.

I knew on a fundamental level that they were even now contributing to the overall efforts. But for the life of me, I couldn’t mentally process everything that was still going on. As mentally, I felt a long intense drain fill my body, mind, and soul.

Tap tap.

Auntie’s Healing energy washed over me, and suddenly I felt alive.

“You did well, Pathfinder,” Auntie stated boldly for all to hear.

Whether there was talking before her power infusion and little speech, I couldn’t tell.

I heard sounds. Or rather, my primitive brain let me know that there were actions going on around me, but I had spent too much mental energy. It was all I could do at that point to remain standing.

The Healing burst of energy that Auntie applied came at the right time, for an instant later, I could see the Maidens to my right stabbing one of the two downed monsters again. That’s when we got the notification that we were done here.

Fwoosh.

A surge of energy erupted out from the spot where the rift had occurred.

This time I felt a particularly dense surge of energy fill my mind and body.

“There it is, our notification that we are done here,” Auntie exclaimed.

Then pausing for a moment to let that statement sink in, she pressed.

“This goes to show, that if you feel something is off,” Auntie noted while gesturing to the defacto leader of the gaggle of girls, the one who noted that they had not received a notification of the rift being closed. “Then say something.”

Then turning to me, Auntie paused as she seemed to evaluate what to say next.

“Also know, that sometimes acting first is the only way to ensure everyone’s survival. Good instincts there, Pathfinder,” Auntie concluded, once again using my apparent nickname that I had now earned over this summer.

There was a pause as everyone took in that last statement.

Finally, Auntie turned to the final guardian, the one who had been assigned to us as a final rear guard.

“Take the children back, let them run off some of that excess energy they just gained along the way,” Auntie commanded.

The guardian who had been with us to this point just silently nodded her ascent, then looking over the girls she seemed to make a mental count. Then finally her eyes flickered up to my mask covered face, where she no doubt could see my eyes through the thin layer of mesh that protected me and prevented my eyes from being overly exposed to shrapnel and viscera.

Not saying a word, the rear guardian raised her hand and then began running away at the pace of a light jog.

It was painful to go so slowly, as I felt my body having to shift its natural form to that of a slower pace.

Fortunately, we were able to speed up a bit as time went on and the guardian realized that others were able to keep up with her.

We got to the pace of a moderately fast jog, before the first females had a hard time keeping up.

For me the pain of going slower was torturous.

I knew the girls were somehow already able to enter points into their system.

From the best I could tell, it was a neural interface that helped monitor energy gained, and then you could tell it where and how to apply that energy gained to improve your body. Just by adding the markers into your body didn’t mean that you had that newly identified strength, but rather your mind, body, and system would begin adjusting that gained energy to the areas of improvement that were desired.

Of course, I had none of this, but being around so many pre-awakened females and fully awakened warriors had let me understand some of this.

This was why despite being exposed to the same levels of energy, the other females were able to endure the pain just that much easier.

While I was certain my organs and tissue had evolved enough to absorb and eventually use this level of energy, it would still be painful if I didn’t try to distribute the energy as evenly throughout my body as possible.

Sort of like having a very bad muscle spasm that won’t leave you alone.

By the time we got to the clearing where our vehicles, and related chauffeurs were parked and waiting for us to return, the guardian that had been jogging with us raised her hand and threw it forward. This meant that we were now free to run as fast as possible, as we were no longer directly under her singular authority.

Blur.

I didn’t even need to be told twice.

My body just moved on its own.

One second, we were going at the speed and pace meant for everyone. The next, I was going at my speed.

Clap-clatter.

I wasn’t the only one who used that gesture as a chance to release some steam, as I could hear the footsteps of others racing behind me.

Of course, by now I had too much of a lead. Even those with naturally longer legs had a harder time keeping up with me. A few, that is the three strongest managed to keep only a pace or two behind me for a moment, but then I managed to start taking steps at a faster pace. For every one of their paces, I would take one and a half paces.

Without even needing to look around, I felt Ceecee our driver and began running to her.

There was of course, just one problem.

Ceecee was not by our car.

In fact, I ran past our vehicle to find Ceecee surrounded by a group of other drivers. All of whom seemed to be pressuring Ceecee. This was apparent from her nervous body posture and the obvious tension that came from the other maiden drivers that now surrounded her.

Of particular concern was the fact that there were two distinct items being held by the driver for the leader of the group of females.

While I still didn’t know the names of those that I went on missions with, it would have been nearly impossible not to notice the drivers that always drove the same female student and their corresponding bodyguard. This was how I knew that the seemingly sealed letter, complete with a red wax seal, and a large manilla envelope that were being offered to Ceecee were likely no good.

Ceecee of course looked sheepish.

Now that class was over, the need for anonymity would also be over.

Thus, this interaction.

This ambush.

Ceecee held up her hands in a neutral gesture, indicating that she either didn’t or most likely couldn’t take either item.

From my understanding of politics from this world, the first was likely a letter inviting me to a gathering, where I could meet the other girls of this expedition, without need for a mask. Most likely this would be meant as some way of linking powerful families or clans together, and to see exactly who I was.

The second item, the manilla envelope, was likely a bribe to ensure compliance with the delivery of the letter.

It was a trap, for just taking either, would bind Ceecee to have to deliver them to Auntie, or more likely mother, the current head of our family.

By taking the letter, it would be one thing Ceecee could likely get by with just delivering the letter and later claiming that it got lost and taking the burden of being a bad family representative. Then by her taking the manilla envelope it would be implied that it would get to the matriarch of the Andry family. Meaning, that if I didn’t show up to the indicated meeting that the family would lose face when I inevitably didn’t appear.

It was a no-win situation for Ceecee and one she desperately seemed to be trying to avoid at all costs.

That is why I decided to help.

Clap.

I clapped my hands together, loudly. I infused a bit of Intermediate Telekinesis into each hand to both deliver and protect against the ensuing clap.

The result was immediate and apparent, as all of the drivers that had somehow lured Ceecee away from our vehicle and were now effectively working her with this world’s variant of peer pressure sparked to life and immediately waved at me. Then swimming around the outstretched hands of envelopes and folders of money charged forward.

“Oh, there they are now,” Ceecee cried out as she waved and began moving towards me.

The other drivers looked angered for a second, before their training kicked in and they shifted to a more neutral expression. Their faces switching from forced coercion to that of trained delight.

It was all a ploy, and I could read their body languages well enough to see that they were angry, but they would not dare cause a scandal that would look bad on their households. Particularly now that other house members were beginning to reappear.

The driver that had been forcing both the letter and envelope to Ceecee quickly opened their long trench coat and put the items away in an oversized pocket.

Just seeing the jacket being worn in summertime made me realize just how highly trained and conditioned even the drivers for this world’s elite were. As all the drivers here were in long coats, gloves, and other layers of clothing, while showing little to no discomfort at all.

Even Ceecee wore the same but appeared to be doing just fine.

As for me, I was sweating, but that was fine as I only truly started to sweat once the last burst of rift energy hit me and began melting me from the inside out.

Seeing that Ceecee was safely away from the gaggle of people I gestured for her to follow me.

She nodded and then took off running.

We were side by side each other in no time, then I sped up, only to realize that all of those thick clothes were causing problems for Ceecee as she clearly began having a hard time keeping up with me. That was when I slowed down until we were by our vehicle.

Then realizing we still had time, and I had energy, I began doing laps around the vehicle.

At first Ceecee looked embarrassed by my antics but soon looked relieved when it was clear that the other drivers had to give Ceecee space due to my constantly running around and past her.

It didn’t hurt that at this time the other girls all came out of the woods. Each looked at their driver with an expectant look, only to seem disappointed when each driver shook their head no.

***

Meanwhile, over two kilometers away, a team went to town collecting the various cores of the giant squirrel beasts that had just been killed.

This was the final cleanup, and Auntie found herself picking up the bisected skull of the last shadow squirrel matriarch that managed to leave the rift.

It was a minor beast in the grand scheme of things, but pausing for a moment, Lady Andry, or Auntie as her favorite living grandnephew had taken to calling her, couldn’t help but stare in awe and wonder at the nearly perfect cut that cleanly tore through the noted beast’s skull.

So lost in thought was Ms. Andry, that she almost failed to notice when the lead guard for Lady Jaupry came forward to talk.

“Just exactly who is your ward, and what is her connection to the Andry House?”