The moment Kyle felt a surge of mana from across the forest, he reacted.  There were plenty of options available to him; Reflexive Evasion pushed him to dodge, Instinctive Intelligence wanted to react with Storm Shelter, and frankly, he felt confident in taking the blow head-on.  Ultimately, he decided in that split second to put a new trick to the test.  Using the spatial storage inside the World Tree Seed, Kyle pulled out one of his recent creations.

One of the limitations of the spatial storage with the seed was that the point of origin when he withdrew anything from it had to be on his left side, where the center of the seed was.  Outside of that, however, there were very few restrictions as to how much he could pull out at a given time, with the only issue being the amount of mana required to withdraw something large.  In this case, quite a bit.

While experimenting with the Infuse skill, Kyle had been curious about his ability to weave concepts into the skill instead of just mana.  It took some time, but with C.H.A.D.D.’s help in the process, they’d been able to get some of his conceptual understanding added to the constructs he was infusing, one of which he withdrew now.  It was a living wall of wood that he’d grown in a spiral pattern, encircling him the moment he pulled it from the spatial storage.

The stonebloom bark he used as a base was resistant to the Infuse skill, but had no compunctions about absorbing conceptual energy, in this case containing the concept of Immutability.  He’d managed to create three of the massive wooden constructs, and this would be the first real test of their durability.

A fraction of a moment after the wooden construct was withdrawn, the explosion of light rang out, the entire forest rocked by the power.  From the center of the spiral, Kyle could see spiderweb cracks forming all throughout the wooden structure.  It held up well, Kyle thought, considering the scope of the attack with Auric Perception.  It was an attack around the caliber of Arhades’ or Skippy’s capstone skills, and the lingering mana carried with it the telltale signature of a C Grade, though this, too felt synthetic to his senses.

Kyle wasn’t sure if it would be possible to repair the damage to the wall, when Synaptic Barbs warned him of another set of fast-approaching projectiles.  These struck the heavy barrier as well, releasing a cloud of dark green gas.  He activated Identify, seeing a potent blend of both neurotoxins and necrotic reagents inside the gas cloud.  He wasn’t sure how his body would respond to the venom, particularly the artificial organs inside the World Tree Seed’s storage, so he activated a consistent blast of Repel all around him, keeping the gas at bay.

At the same time, he brushed against the wooden construct with the wooden stump of his left shoulder, drawing the wall back into his spatial storage as he looked toward the source of the attacks.  The presence vanished as quickly as it appeared, but Kyle had a pretty good sense for where the attack came from.

“C.H.A.D.D., can you get me a vector to the origin of the attack?” Kyle asked, hoping to take advantage of the obscuring cloud.  A moment later, Sensory Barbs detected another wave of projectiles, which caught him unaware as they didn’t release more toxic gas, but rather exploded with concussive force.  He felt the shrapnel tear through parts of his robe, though none of it managed to break the skin.

[AS A POINT OF ORDER, DR. MAYHEW, A VECTOR HAS BOTH DIRECTION AND MAGNITUDE.  I CAN PROVIDE A DIRECTION, BUT THE MAGNITUDE IS NOT SOMETHING THAT APPLIES HERE.]

“Then get me the direction,” Kyle sighed, trying to ignore the mix of amusement and anticipation he felt from Pack Leader’s Instinct.  C.H.A.D.D. knew what it was doing, and Phaegos found it funny.  Of course, Phaegos was also hungry, which was something Kyle planned to remedy.

A gentle orange light pointed in the same direction Kyle felt the attack come from, and the projected map highlighted a spot in the trees roughly two kilometers away.  Let’s see how far we’ve come, Kyle thought, condensing mana into his right palm.  Focusing the blast as much as he could, he released a burst of Repel, pushing more and more power into the skill as it ripped a tunnel through the poisonous cloud.

The original blast was only the size of a pinprick, but as his skill crossed the distance it lost some of its focus, smashing through the trees like a speeding train.  The moment it splintered the distant target, Kyle could feel the aura escape as a figure fell from the tree, dodging his Repel as it continued skyward.  Their reactions are good, Kyle mused, walking toward the crouching figure on the ground.

[DR. MAYHEW, I BELIEVE WE HAVE FACED THIS PERSON BEFORE.]

“Oh?” Kyle asked, continuing his slow pace toward his would-be ambusher.

In response, the drone pulled up an image of a familiar face, followed by a video recording of a fight from his Practicum.  The resemblance was striking, and Kyle raised his eyebrows as he took in the similarities.  “What the hell would Ger’Sinh be doing here?” he asked.

[I HAVE NO IDEA, DR. MAYHEW.  HOWEVER, IT SEEMS LIKE THIS IS A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO ASK HIM YOURSELF.]

Kyle remembered the threats Ger’Sinh issued last time they’d met, and decided that C.H.A.D.D.’s course of action was likely the best.  He launched another blast of Repel, weaker this time, which the other man barely avoided.  This gave Kyle an opportunity to start closing in, using Repel to vault great distances.  In the blink of an eye, he’d propelled himself nearly a third of the way, the area behind him torn up by the continuous blast of Repel from behind him.

Ger’Sinh leveled what Kyle now saw was a crossbow, then launched a cluster of grenades right at him.  A quick blast of Repel detonated them early, releasing more noxious gas into the air around him.  Holding his breath, Kyle flew into the cloud, pushing another use of Repel out of his body in all directions to disperse the fumes.  This slowed his forward momentum just slightly, allowing Ger’Sinh to duck behind a nearby tree to gain some cover.

The man had even gone as far as activating a stealth skill of some type, though Kyle and C.H.A.D.D. were beyond the level where a hastily constructed D Grade stealth skill could hide from their combined senses.  In a fraction of a second, C.H.A.D.D. highlighted the tree Ger’Sinh hid behind, and he focused Repel into a plane before firing it, smashing the trunk horizontally and felling the tree.

Kyle’s aim had been slightly high, leaving Ger’Sinh covered by the portion of the stump that still protruded from the ground.  Still, the shock of the attack seemed to spur his opponent to motion, as he leapt away from the destroyed tree and released another volley from his crossbow, this time poison-tipped arrows.  Raising his right arm to intercept the blow, Kyle pushed power into his Ferric Augmentation, the biometal expanding to cover his entire forearm as the bolts struck.  They bounced off harmlessly, unable to break his heavily reinforced skin.

Kyle felt himself grin as he leapt after the fleeing man.  Ger’Sinh was strong, no doubt, and his aura carried with it the faint hint of C Grade energy.  Thinking back to some of the weaker C Grades he encountered, Kyle acknowledged that the man’s opening attacks were certainly capable of dealing major damage to most of them.

Unfortunately for Ger’Sinh, Kyle was an exception.  A bladed whip lashed out at him, intense mana crackling through the edges.  There was a time when the weapon would have been dangerous, but an instant activation of Repel from his neck blasted the blade away, even as Ferric Augmentation expanded across the rest of his body.

Since becoming a Union Symbiote and the Adaptive Anatomy changing to Devourer’s Anatomy, Kyle’s control over the changes had improved tremendously, and he reveled in the seamless feeling of control.  Before, they were haphazardly stitched together, but now, they were his.

Reflexive Evasion and Instinctive Intelligence made for a delightful dance against the whip as Kyle closed in, avoiding the bladed weapon by a hair while subtly pushing it out of the way with small, targeted blasts of Repel.  The crossbow fired a storm of bolts at him once more, which once again found no purchase.  Tendrils of Parasitic Resonance extended, and he saw the look of shock on Ger’Sinh’s face as his boosting skill was slowly broken down by Kyle’s overwhelming Willpower.  Once it had fully deactivated, Kyle took a confident step forward.

“Ger’Sinh, it’s been a while,” Kyle said, noting the fear on the other man’s face.  “Now, mind telling me why the hell you’re here?  I don’t exactly get a lot of visitors.”

“You’re a monster,” Ger’Sinh managed, hands trembling.

“Not what I asked,” Kyle replied with a sigh.  “And to be fair, you’re the one who came here looking for a fight.  Frankly, I’d almost forgotten you existed.”

Ger’Sinh looked to be about to say something, before he whipped out what looked like a long rifle, pointed it at Kyle’s chest, and released the charged blast of mana within.  Kyle had expected the move, with Auric Perception and Synaptic Barbs both warning him of the weapon, and he felt a deep pulse from within himself the moment the attack struck.

The upper half of his robe was entirely blasted away in the torrent of power, revealing the nasty scar where the World Tree Seed fused with his body.  It also revealed the bright golden glow emanating from his body as Genesis Engine activated, the power drawn from the Between coursing through his Ferric Augmentation in a shade of brilliant gold.  What little damage the attack did was almost instantly healed away courtesy of Adaptive Regeneration, accelerated further by Genesis Engine’s massive boost to Vitality.  Kyle watched the man’s expression shift from a sneer into one of utter shock.

He felt Phaegos rumbling within him, encouraging Kyle to tear out Ger’Sinh’s mana, but he decided on a softer, more diplomatic approach.  With a single step, too fast for the other human to react, Kyle pivoted and punched him right in the stomach.  With the bonuses from Genesis Engine, Exoskeletal Strength, and Compressed Musculature, not to mention the simple merits of being in C Grade, he felt ribs crack and break as Ger’Sinh was sent flying.

To his credit, the other man retaliated by throwing a poisoned dagger directly at Kyle, which he ducked underneath.  Kyle felt mana beginning to condense around Ger’Sinh, and he clamped down on the man’s mana network with Parasitic Resonance, stopping the skill before it could form.  Kyle felt Phaegos’ hunger, and allowed it to drain some of Ger’Sinh’s mana, though not to the degree that the other man would be physically harmed.  Not yet, at least.  Kyle had questions, and Ger’Sinh had answers.

His opponent had risen to a knee, and Kyle approached with slow, deliberate steps, keeping Parasitic Resonance connected.  He saw the disbelief on the other man’s face, and could appreciate where it came from.  After all, just a few years ago, Ger’Sinh had nearly managed to kill Kyle.  Now, their skirmish couldn’t even be called a fight.  It was dominance, plain and simple.  Part of Kyle almost felt bad about it, though mostly it felt good to stretch his legs.

Stepping up to his gasping opponent, Kyle spoke, letting his voice ring across the forest.  “Let’s try this again.  Why the hell are you here?”