The Great Core's Paradox

Eli’s fingers tightened around his spear, each one flexing in quick succession. A nervous tic, but it was hard not to be nervous. Eli hadn’t dealt with anything like this before. His time guarding the mines before today had been easy; threaten a lazy prisoner here, beat back an encroaching monster there, and that was about it. And as dangerous as monsters could be, Eli had never felt truly afraid while working in the mines. His armor’s Wind Barrier was enough to keep him safe, and his Wind Spear more than sufficient to pierce any beast.

Eliwasn’t certain that was true anymore. He didn’t feel safe. Didn’t feel secure.

The screams made sure of that.

Eli’sfingers flexed again as another shout bounced off the walls of the mines, stretching across an unknowable distance to reach him. He hoped that the distance was long, but he had his doubts.

The screams had been getting louder.

Closer.

Another one came, and Eli flinched, activating his armor’s enchantment by reflex. The wind rushed in, forming a bubble of pressurized air that spread outwards. He relaxed a little, feeling just a bit safer in his -

Someone pushed him in the back.

“Idiot! Turn that shit off!” someone barked, the voice breaking past the whistling wind of Eli’s Barrier.

Eli sheepishly turned it off, turning around slowly. His sergeant glared at him, shaking his head. The other six members of Eli’s squad, the entire outfit assigned to guard this particular section of the mines, glared with him. Not that they were the ones forced to stand in front, where the danger would come first.

Assholes.

“You planning on running yourself out early, boy? Get infinite charge on that armor while I wasn’t looking?”

“No, sir,” Eli gulped. The screams were scary, but so was Sergeant Horik. The man was hard. Dangerous. Rumor had it that he once shattered a Rock Jaw’s teeth with his fist. In a single blow. Those things were supposed to be as hard as diamonds. Not something you could just break.

Eli believed the rumors. The man had the power of a strength-focused mana-enhancement and a body to match. His shoulders were as wide as two men put together; his hands looked closer to giant blocks of metal than gauntlet-covered flesh. Made his Wind Spear look like a toy, in comparison. Eli was a little jealous of that combination. The quicker regeneration that his own mana-enhancement gave him - both stamina and healing - might’ve been useful, but it’d made him thinner than most. Like his body tried to eat itself every time he stopped paying attention. It made him weak and spindly, even as it made him move with unending endurance.

Eli would rather have the muscle-and-strength combination. At least then he wouldn’t be scared of crumpling from a single attack. Sure, he’d heal faster than others, but there were limits. If he just got hit again and again, his body’d eat itself to fuel the repairs until there wasn’t anything left.

Not the way Eli wanted to go - which was the main reason why he was so quick to activate his Wind Barrier. Especially because, again, he was standing in the front.

Eli didn’t feel like dying today.

“Sorry, sir. Just got a little jumpy,” Eli finished, not wanting to push the issue. Eli’s personal vulnerability aside, Sergeant Horik wasn’t wrong. His armor would run out of charge if he wasn’t careful. “Won’t happen again, sir.”

“It better not,” Sergeant Horik said. “You keep that Barrier down until I say. We haven’t found the enemy yet, and no subordinate of mine’s gonna blow his load before the action even starts. Overseer Leo’d have my head if he ‘eard. Annoying bastard. And then I’d have yours, clear?”

“Crystal, sir.”

“Good. Don’t make me remind you again.”

Another scream came, and even if Eli flinched again, he didn’t activate his armor.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

And then he heard the footsteps. The voices. Eli strained his ears, eyes awkwardly squinting in his desperate attempts to hear better, as if cutting off parts of his vision would grant him hearing equal to the sight he lost.

It might’ve been stupid, but it kinda worked. So it wasn’t that stupid.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work well enough that he could make out the words being said; there were too many voices at once, and the conversations melded together into an indigestible slurry of sound. It did let him understand just how badly things were about to go, though.

Those voices were far too calm for what had been happening. And Eli recognized more than a few of them as one prisoner or another. Prisoners that shouldn’t have been walking around so freely, even during a monster attack.

Is this even a monster attack?Or is it -

A group of glowing figures stepped into sight, cutting off his thought. They walked in a ring, each wearing the same armor as Eli. A few of them limped along, moving with belabored steps that favored one leg or the other.

Eli relaxed, letting go of a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding.

And then it caught in his throat as he finally noticed an important detail. An obvious one.

There’s something wrong with them.

And then the wind appeared, bursting into life in the moment between blinks. It roared down the cavern’s length; it whistled through the cracks in its walls. Lances of wind stretched across the distance between the two groups, extending from suddenly-thrusting spears.

Elibarely activated his defenses in time, his own winds springing to life. The few blows that slipped through became little more than puffs of air, soft breaths that reflected off of sturdy metal.

“The fuck are you doin’?” Sergeant Horik stepped forward and barked, his face red with rage. It paled a moment later, when another figure stepped into view. “...Overseer?” he muttered, confused.

I don’t think that’s the Overseer any more, Eli thought to himself. Overseer Leo was a shining figure even among the other glowing guards that surrounded him, the quality of his armor unmistakable.

But without that, even his own mother might have struggled to recognize him from a distance. A misty black - significantly stronger than the mist spilling off of the others - wisped from his flesh, obscuring his features like a veil. It was only in the brief lulls in the mist, where the veil wisped away for just a moment, that Eli could clearly see his face.

Eli took a step back, just as another armored figure came into view. Unlike the others, this one’s face wasn’t obscured by the inky mist. Not even a little bit.

And neither was the snake on his shoulder, the Core atop its head on full display. A shining, terrible beacon.

Eli pissed himself, just a little.

Skies, fuck, fuck, fuck! This isn’t happening. This isn’t real. This isn’t -

A giant gauntleted hand, big as an anvil, pushed past Eli’s Wind Barrier and shoved him aside. Sergeant Horikstepped forward, his own Wind Barrier easily weathering the next thrusts that came for him. Eli could see a few scratches on it. Sergeant Horik had taken a hit or two before his defenses were up, but they were minor.

“You!” Sergeant Horik shouted, bellowing loud enough that Eli thought his ears might start bleeding. “Turned into some monster’s plaything, huh? Guess you’re annoying and useless,” he spat.

Sergeant Horik rolled his shoulders and hefted his spear easily in one hand, the other clenching into a fist. “Well, then. Come and see how a real man fights!”

The Overseer didn’t answer with words, instead slowly walking forward. The other opposing guards followed, misty black leaking from their skin.

And Eli was horrified to see that, in the back, the snake dropped to the ground and fell through it. The ground closed up around it, swallowing it whole. Eli’s eyes darted to the ground around him, and he was suddenly very aware that his Wind Barrier didn’t protect him even close to as well from below. If that thing came out of the stone the same way it went in, it would appear inside his defenses. Eli bounced in place nervously, unwilling to leave his feet in the same spot for long.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Horik cocked his head back, eyeing the rest of Eli’s squad. Evaluating his subordinates. They didn’t look so good. A few of the initial thrusts had gotten through. Adam had even taken a glancing hit across the head, a bladed thrust of wind leaving blood pouring from the wound. He looked pale.

Eli was probably pale, too, but he didn’t have a head injury as an excuse. His legs shook, knowing what would happen next. What had to happen next, because there was no way that monster would let them go after killing all of the others.

The screams had made that more than clear enough.