I catch the migration of the enormous Level 300+ Ravager Manta about two thirds of the way to Egypt over the deserts of Libya. None of these Monsters have an Adventurer inside them that’s alive, though no doubt a lot of them have remains of people inside them that they’re consuming to feed their massive forms. Some of those people are probably ones that I know. I stand on top of one of the Ravager Manta and stare ahead, dark thoughts clouding my mind. It’s not an orderly formation and there are some tight clumps so I trigger Omnipresent and overlay what I’m seeing with my eyes with what the Skill shows me, then decide and open a Portal to the back of the largest clump of Ravager Manta, several dozen of them at least.

  I step through the Portal on to the back of my target. No Arkkil Interceptors, Viscerlok Drones, or Dh’uundar Siege Beasts emerge to approach me; I hope these fuckers blew their wad in Kano and we were able to handle their invasion troops, even though these things are a different story. A few Dreadroot Corrupters emerge slowly as I ramp up Perfect Focus and I’m happy to see it, since it means they haven’t broken through our defenses and landed their life-sucking terraformers yet.

  As I look out at a sky full of invaders, I steel myself and then dive down deep inside to find the churning, powerful connection I have to Dark Mana through the unique combination of my Class and Affinities. On a hunch, I explore my connection with Gift of Gaia at the same time and I can feel the similarity between the two connections, even though my Dark Mana one seems deeper and stronger in some way, more an inherent function of my Class than my Skill, even if it is Evolved. Using all the focus I can draw from the anger and frustration of the past few hours, I pull what power I can to the surface and add it to the strength of Resonant Strike as I trigger the Evolved form of it for the first time.

  My target is the middle of the thickest group of Ravager Manta and I put everything I have into driving Resonant Strike into the one I’ve picked, then I don’t stop. I channel my Affinity through my SMI, push the Skill beyond even what its Evolved form is meant to do, and add every scrap of fight I have to blast that motherfucker apart.

  Even with my eyes closed I can feel the results.

  A chain reaction originates with the first one I target as it vaporizes into the air and travels on the shockwave all around it in a sphere. Each Ravager Manta it hits is also disrupted and the destructive resonant energy, tuned specifically to the Ravager Manta, builds and builds and spreads throughout the whole group. A chain reaction of exploding Ravager Manta sends shockwaves for miles and catches more of them including the one I’m on. I can feel the Monster brace for impact, but its defences are overwhelmed as the Resonant Strike hits and it simply can’t hold its own molecules together.

  Covered in gore, I drop through the air in freefall as hundreds of notifications surge in through my SMI. Without bothering to alter my fall I find the next biggest group and grit my teeth then pour every ounce of rage and connection to destructive energies through Resonant Strike as I trigger it again and then trigger Omnipresent to manifest a Portal below me that I fall through and emerge above the next biggest group, far distant from where I was over Al Kufrah.

  I trigger Resonant Strike again before the notifications have even slowed coming through and a third chain reaction is set off. There are still more groups, but they’re more spread out and the next biggest group that’s close enough is less than a dozen. I don’t stop though and trigger Resonant Strike again, then Portal, and trigger it again. After the 12th time I’m down to very small groups and I trigger Omnipresent to try to find a bigger one, possibly far away if the back of this has been broken.

  Suddenly, I’m interrupted by a flash from Foresight that plays slowly because my Perceptions are so dialled up by Perfect Focus.

  In my mind’s eye I see Xypharoth, the Level 538 Evolved Ravager Manta, appear over Spain and begin to single-handedly pick off groups of our most powerful humans who are fighting to turn back the invasion.

  At the edge of my perception with my focus on Foresight, something is slowly happening beside me. I can feel hugely strong Mana and Dimensional currents, but my Danger Sense is not pushing on me so I turn my attention to the disturbance briefly with my Perceptions on hyper speed.

  “Omniframe’s wrath!” I hear at a crawl as I look over and take in Syvox who has appeared beside me. I release Perfect Focus to hear what he has to say knowing my patience and time is at an end. “You’re not even Level 10 of your Ascended Class - I’ve never seen first Tier Ascended Skills that powerful!” I have no confidence he’s going to help me or do anything but delay me.

  “I’ve got to go,” I say to the abrasive Cyborg, and trigger Perfect Focus again, then Omnipresent to find a big group of Ravager Manta approaching Spain. There are only a few minutes until the biggest threat since Hvitserkur arrives on Earth, and this one can appear anywhere it wants to, any time rather that moving slowly from Iceland. I leap through the Portal to land on the back of a Ravager Manta, leaving Syvox behind.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  “Level 538 incoming near Murcia!” I quickly broadcast through my Group Party Chat, hoping a few are close enough to receive it and spread the message. It’s not like when we assaulted Hvitserkur though, this time the fight is coming to us and there’s no Tenebris here to take care of it.

  I bear down and trigger Resonant Strike again to set off a chain reaction, pushing the Skill as hard as I can. A cloud of Ravager Manta blood and exploded flesh fills the sky as we approach Murcia, like an ominous expanding cloud that lets loose a toxic, torrential rain storm. Hundreds of Ravager Manta are destroyed as the seconds tick by when new epicenters are created and then expanded in the chain reaction and notifications flicker by at tremendous speed. I don’t stop to admire them; instead I trigger Resonant Strike again at the next largest group. Hundreds more are slain with my Skills and carpet the ground with a coating of wet, alien sludge for miles.

  I Portal to a third group and trigger Resonant Strike again, overcharging the Skill and straining my body and mind. My physical regeneration is key to being able to leverage the benefits of my Dark Mana Knight Skill and this unique circumstance of huge, high Leveled Monsters traveling in groups pushes my XP forward at a fantastical rate. Not fast enough to give me access to my next Tier of Skills to face Xypharoth though, with less than two minutes to go and the number of Ravager Manta now drastically reduced. We’ve done so much to turn back the invasion but now the tidal wave is coming. I Portal to the ground to prepare myself.

  Level Up!

  You have reached Level 6 as a Dark Mana Knight

  +30 Aura, +20 Mana, +60 free Attribute points to assign

  You have 60 free Attribute points to assign

  Would you like to allocate them now?

  (Y/N)

  You have 4 unallocated Class Skill points

  Would you like to allocate them now?

  (Y/N)

  I drop all 60 Attribute points in Aura again and feel my synergized connections to my Skills, SMI, and Affinities strengthen in their solidity. I don’t know what will come of it, but I hope for something game changing as I drop all four of my Class Skill points into Dimensional Forge to reach its Evolution along with a big hit to my Mana Regeneration at 20 per Class Skill point.

  Class Skill Evolved!

  Dimensional Forge (Dark Mana Knight Skill) (Evolved)

  Dark Mana Knights manipulate pure energy and Mana to form unbreakable temporary constructs. This Skill has been additionally enhanced through Skill and SMI integration.

  Effect: crafts weapons, armor, or tools from pure energy, tailored perfectly to the user’s needs and designs within the limits of the Skill

  Enhanced effect: create or replicate any object; physical contact no longer required

  Unique Evolution effect: under certain circumstances this Skill may create constructs whose nature is more permanent.

  Cost: variable Stamina drain per second

  I thought my warning would drive everyone away but a few streak through the sky and I can see on my minimap others race on the ground to join me. Jeff on his Griffin, Evan, Brodie. Freyja from Iceland. All the Legendary Strike Force Leaders. I feel such a mix of emotions. Gratitude they’re here. Foreboding that they’re all going to die like I’ve just lost Alana. Fear this is going to turn out exactly like with Hvitserkur, with our asses kicked and Jon dead. My only hope is that my new Class, Skills, and Evolutions can make the difference now where I couldn’t before.

  Jeff is the first to land next to me; his massive Griffin pounds into the ground somehow stopping their tremendous momentum in an instant. Syvox appears beside me and glances from Jeff and I and then up into the sky. His cyborg eye glows as he searches.

  “How the fuck do we always get into these messes?” Jeff asks me as he leaps down from his Griffin and gives me a bearhug.

  “Maybe the Universe wants us to Level as fast as possible, or kill us off,” I suggest. Negative feelings drag at me but I put them aside. Now is the time to be sharp and have a killer instinct, not wallow in things that might slow my reactions or thinking.

  I trigger Omnipresent again to make sure nothing’s changed since Foresight gave me a glimpse of the future. Xypharoth is going to hit us in a minute and I look Jeff in his dark eyes. Probably my best mate. He’s been by my side through thick and thin and he’s ready to throw himself into the thick of it again.

  “I’m going. See you on the other side?” I ask him.

  “I almost told you not to race off on your own, but let’s be honest, it’s probably our only chance of not getting slaughtered. I love you, man.”

  I create a Portal to Xypharoth and we both look through it.

  “One scary fucker,” Jeff comments. “Hit it hard above that shit eating grin of a mouth?”

  He glances at me and I nod. It’s only a minute away, but at the speeds I fight at now, it will be over one way or another. I move the Portal above the middle of the Evolved Ravager Manta and manifest it then trigger Perfect Focus, strengthen my Dimensional Forge armor, and leap through onto its back.