Chương 18: R&R Ch. 18 — Building the Paths

Nicholas would endure. The world would rot, and the sky would fracture before he gave up. Blood streaming down his face and filling his throat was nothing. He could still breathe, and his soul was stable, focused on this single task.

"How's it going in there?" Jasmine asked through their communication array.

"Peachy," Nicholas grunted.

"So they really are just putting on a show in there while you hold the world back? Dang you win the bet." Nicholas was not happy to be winning. That they didn't even try to leave the barrier pissed him off. He went through the effort to make it one-way so they could leave or just throw attacks through, but did they do that? No, they did not. Instead, they tried to make it so that they got time in the spotlight as he fought. Each impact shook his barrier, trying to break his focus.

If he had wanted a quick one, it would have just been sustained by his power and would break the moment it ran out, but his was far more than that. Every impact drained him as he tried desperately to convert belief back into power as fast as he could. And he was losing ground. That he was also defending from any area attacks from the other side wasn't helping the situation. Few of them were worth mentioning, but the explosives Jasmine was dropping hurt. Still, he could feel himself growing stronger.

As energy gathered in his spirit, the Karma changed from a few nascent embers to a proper flame. A piece of him wondered if he should try to break through now; this could probably make the difference. But forcing it when he was still suffering from major soul damage didn't seem worth it. More than that, it wouldn't be a quick process, so he would leave these people defenseless. He would ascend when he was ready, and the doorway formed naturally.

Astra had said that if it formed naturally, he wouldn't need to worry about hurting his soul more at all, and in some cases, it could heal him. And she assured him it would happen if he had enough insight to force it open partially; it would naturally open the moment he met the other requirements. Nicholas was broken from his concentration as a particularly meaty blow broke against his shield, draining enough power from him. He dropped to his knees to keep it up.

"Come on," Nicholas growled, not rising as he held the world back. Oh, how he wished to drop the barrier and go on the offensive, to break the enemy like they were trying to break him, but there were flaws in that. He couldn't have two workings active at once, not really. And while he had found a way around it to a degree, it didn't solve the second issue. He could recast it and make one with a pool of power that would run out eventually and be free to use his power as he wished; that was true.

It would also mean the barrier dropping for a time. Worse than that, he couldn't spare the mental effort to design the next barrier, so he would drop the first, build the second into his mind's eye, and then call it into being. There was no world that was going to work. That left only one option. Back to square one, Nicholas would endure until the world broke against him; he would not stop. Attacks he had rebuffed easily were impacts to his psyche.

And attacks that shook the barrier were now breaking it even as he fixed it as fast as he could; it was a losing battle. He couldn't do this alone, no matter how much he was willing to throw himself on the fire for it.

"I won't be able to hold it for much longer," Nicholas said quietly.

"How bad?" Jasmine asked, sounding so much more relaxed than she had minutes earlier fighting the boss. Though all she had been doing was flying around dropping explosions, it was a great chance to catch her breath. He was envious.

"I will pass out before the wall falls," Nicholas said, dropping to his hands and knees to keep himself from falling even as the barrier splinters to his left.

"Yeah?"

"I am struggling to see and can't stand."

"Drop the barrier. Rest. I can handle this," Jasmine said instantly.

"No." He could almost see Jasmine throwing her hands up in the air in defeat. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Just focus on kicking ass."

"Next week we are doing a different plan." Nicholas grunted in agreement. He wasn't lying about his state. But he would hold. They would not be stopped. It wasn't the barrier breaking that signaled the end of times for him, but it was the fact that it was no longer being battered. The only thing drawing on his power was the barrier's continued existence. He wanted to let it collapse immediately, but he refused. They had pulled back before. Was it likely? No, but he would wait.

It was easy to fight a battle you could feel. One with no stimuli? Nicholas found his inviolable will was a lot more violable.

"That sucked," Nicholas wheezed. With titanic effort he pushed off the ground to flip over to face the sky. The crowd was loud. Nicholas figured that meant they had managed to win. He wondered how long he had held the barrier for no reason. Many chanted his name. He should do something about that. With a trembling hand, he raised an arm into the air in victory. The roars only increased.

After another few minutes to rest as they cheered, Nicholas finally levered himself off the ground, to which Jasmine was instantly at his side helping him to his feet.

"Thanks," he said through the communicator. Actually, talking was going to be difficult for a while. Even having used only two commands, his voice was destroyed from the raw power he had channeled.

"You going to be able to handle the show?" Jasmine asked through the same method. It wouldn't do for the others to see how weak they were. A hero fighting and bleeding for them was one thing, but they still had to appear strong. Nicholas could do that. Appearing stoically strong with dried blood caking his face and staining his suit should be easy.

"I got this, just you'll go first," Nicholas replied.

"Of course, who doesn't want to sign signatures and kiss babies," Jasmine laughed as they made their way to the meet and greet. The fact that they would not get a chance to clean up pissed both of them off. Jasmine might not have bled from the eyes, but she was covered in viscera and sweat. But the metrics were better to see the heroes as they had been fighting. Supposedly. Both were still moderately excited for this; it was the first chance to actually meet their fans.

You could regenerate power without Belief, but it was a slow process supposedly. Without them, neither of them could do the things they did. Nicholas was just glad most of them seemed to accept Jasmine's explanation why he wasn't talking. He signed autographs, shook hands, and posed for pictures while Jasmine did the same next to them. The other candidates in the room were doing the same, but they had enough time to levy glares at the duo exceeding expectations.

For his part, Nicholas smiled at his fans and even more brightly at the people glaring at him. If he was going to walk this road, it would be on top of everyone who had once been his peer. That was the nature of these things. He wouldn't be stopping for something as simple as keeping a friend at his level. Though outside of Jasmine he didn't even have friends here, and surpassing Jasmine was the least of his worries. He knew she couldn't do what they had accomplished together; he wasn't blind.

And her results were flashier in the fights, so they got far more prevalence in the replays to show what happened, but he was there and had witnessed all of their fights. Jasmine was the stronger of the two, and it showed. She didn't even need to use her soul armaments. She was strong enough to break through tier one enemies without them. He also couldn't escape the sensation building in his soul. It was almost as if powers were converging at a constant rate, building towards something. What that something was?

He had no clue. Well, that wasn't entirely correct. He had a theory, more of a hope than anything else, but it was strengthened by one thing. Jasmine was also when she could staring off into space, deep in concentration, as she tried to figure out the same sensation. They hadn't been told the exact conditions to hit the next stage. But it had to be a certain amount of karma, a certain level of belief. And a fundamental amount of insight. If you had all three, supposedly, the gate would open naturally.

Was this the sensation of the gate opening naturally? Could he make it go faster? That thought lasted until a new person came to greet him. A small child, probably younger than seven, stared up at him with wide eyes. Nicholas waved a hand before scribbling his signature on a poster, before gesturing to the photo area, hoping he wouldn't have to talk. The child nodded, and Nicholas walked to the photo area.

And after an intense game of charades, Nicholas ended up holding the kid on his shoulder as he struck a pose while his mom took several photos. Once the photos have been taken and a hug is given, Nicholas is back to signing as he tried in vain to ignore the sensation of his soul swirling behind him. He would deal with that the moment he was free, but that wouldn't be for another; he looked to the line to try and do some mental math. It would still be a few hours until they were free.

After far too much time signing things and then even more time playing around and showing off to people who had either paid extra or won a lottery, Nicholas couldn't be sure they were finally home and in regular clothes.

"You feel it too, right?" Jasmine asked, tapping the side of her head.

"Something is building?" Nicholas nodded as he tried to figure out the fastest way to get the most information across. He was sick of using text to speech apps. They were just not his favorite.

"Doorway, forming naturally, I think," Nicholas croaked out before grabbing some of the tea he had prepared earlier. It wouldn't be as great if it had been made just now, but it would tide him over while the next batch was cooking.

"That's what I was thinking, but I couldn't be sure. Do we leave it alone or try to speed it up?" Jasmine asked. Nicholas had actually formed the door so if he said that's what he thought it was, she was going to trust him. Nicholas glared at his mug.

"I think I have to wait. Pushing it…" Jasmine nodded.

"I'll wait too."

"Why? We said?"

"Dude, we said we wouldn't hold each other back, but you're not. We're literally at the same stage. If my soul were busted up, would you wait three days?" Jasmine asked, crossing her arms. Nicholas felt a little ridiculous when she phrased it like that before nodding.

"Thank you."

"Great, so we'll step through the gate as soon as we're done, and until then we're both on rest. Well, you're on rest and I'm ditching class to repair my gear. It did not handle it as well as I thought," Jasmine said, clapping her hands. Nicholas raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing that bad, besides it means I can make upgrades. Next week we're going to walk out as tier two with a whole new set of gear." Nicholas couldn't wait.