Beyond The System-Chapter 288: Three Elements Peter

It was strange, knowing how the speed of the average person was. Flashes of images blurred through my mind of those uniform residences sponsored by the government. Walking to school at a leisurely pace, running off to the arcade for only a couple minutes before being winded.

But now?

The roadside passed by in a blur of trees, grass, and wildflowers.

With all my energy flowing through me, it was easy enough to cross long distances in no time. Honestly, it was hard to tell exactly how fast I was, but it reminded me of the feeling when I stared outside a car, watching the scenery change.

Bristle was recovered enough to move on his own, tongue out and practically prancing next to me. The others too, were nearby, running at full speed, other than Thea, maybe. She wasn’t using her lightning abilities to increase her speed, and was looking like she was in the middle of a casual run.

And around her neck, stretched thin out like a scarf of dragon-scale, was her slimy companion, dragging across the air lazily.

“We’ll be there soon!” Elric shouted past the wind, looking over to me. “Be ready!”

I nodded, forcing my heart to steady.

This wasn’t going to involve any reconnaissance.

We would burst into the town… causing a disturbance of sorts.

Though, rather than town, Elric had said Drake described it more of a large organized camp with buildings.

And so, with just a few minutes more, we slowed down.

In the middle of an expansive prairie, grass shoots raising up to my knees along with varied colored wildflowers, was wooden structures.

People in uniforms, simple badge shirts with an emblem sewed onto them, dark boots, and dark pants. It was a practice in blandness, but one that made sense. Not to mention that the yellowish grass allowed them to blend well enough, I imagined that the cloth may have simply been made in that color as well, not needing any dyeing.

But, that was simply a guess.

I took a deep breath.

Then, walked forward.

There was a wall on the outside, nothing massive, but several logs of wood were stuck deep in the ground vertically, connected by boards made from the same material, stretching around the town.

From the hilltop, I could see the entire thing.

It was smaller than the training camp I’d first arrived in this world at, but could still be called a town, I suppose. More like a village with coordinated placement and planning. There were stalls on some streets that I could see when I stretched my Spiritual Sense out, selling fresh clothes, jerky, and even services in cleaning.

There was a building where a sign hung from the door in the shape of a mug, with nothing else to accent it. Another across the street, a sign in the shape of boots. More and more stretched down what you could call a main street, which was the only one in town.

“Sia,” I called out, alerting the red-head girl. “Let me go first, then use everything you got, right behind me… Make it look—”

“Scary?” she offered, eyes ablaze with passion.

I shut my eyes tight, but eventually nodded. “That… that’s probably the best way to say it.”

“Be careful,” Thea offered.

I chuckled, and nodded. “Yeah, no problem. And you can make it even more terrifying too, you know.”

She gave a bright smile.

“I’m not helping you,” Elric said evenly, expressionless.

“Enforcers are in the background, aren’t they?” I said as if what he told me was totally natural. “Anyone who gets close to me, you touch, and—”

“It’ll feel like fire is roasting them inside out… Now go,” he said, again with very little emotion, which somehow disturbed me even more.

But I did as he said, dashing forward at full speed, with an internal request aimed at Drybel. The pressure within changed, assisted in part by the roots that made up my right hand, and the fire core was slotted into place.

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Some saw me approaching, but it didn’t bother me.

They shouted to others, pricking up spears, some bows, while a man clad in shining plates rather than leathers approached the wall border where I was heading toward.

“STOP!” he shouted.

I ignored him, reaching the wall, then running horizontally alongside it.

It didn’t take long to wrap along the entire perimeter, allowing me to glance at the largest wooden structure. That was where I would need to be soon.

But pretty soon, I was staring at the plated captain again.

I stopped, meeting his gaze through the eye slits.

“SHOW YOUR IDENTITY ORB!” he commanded.

But, I shook my head, answering calmly. “It seems my reputation hasn’t—”

“IDENTITY!”

“Rrrg.” So much for a show. Right, one more time, maybe a little louder. Match his energy.

“MY REPUTATION—”

He cut me off faster this time. “FIRE!”

Immediately arrows fired, staves and magical tools gathered energy, turning it visible.

Fine.

SNAP.

My fingers slid across each other, creating the quick sound.

B–bo–boo—BOOM!

The entire chain that I laid out was set off, blasts of fire the size of my body expanding in an instant, rattling the wall. The explosions set off one by one, becoming distant, then returning again in full force as it completed the loop.

Men and women screamed, shouted as they tried to hold their footing.

Then—the walls, after being charred, some logs clean through, were covered in a layer of frost, spreading high to cover even the spikes at the top.

Come on, Sia… any time now.

The force of the blast caused my robes to flutter back, and hair to wave wildly.

WHOOSH!

Finally on time, a pillar of fire erupted from behind me. It started small, but grew, and those eyes that had just again managed to meet mine through the helmet had changed.

I grinned wide.

And raised my hand.

The pillar warped, growing taller than the walls themselves, then taller more, shifting and twisting, as portions of the wall crumbled, causing some to fall with it in a staggered domino effect.

CRACK! CRACK!

The vortex screamed, blasts of plasma-lightning shooting within, in red, violet, and neon-blue.

Right. Last time.

“MY REP—!”

“It’s the THREE-ELEMENTS SCOURGE!”

That’s it. “WHO’RE YOU CALLING SCOURGE, YOU BASTARD!” I shouted at whoever had warned the rest. My chest was heaving in anger. I mean seriously, who the hell taught them manners?! I was speaking. Did they have to cut me off three times?! Where is the damn pageantry?! “THE NAME IS PETER!”

“NOW GET—Hng!”

Something slammed into my chest. I couldn’t see it. But when I blinked, whatever skill this man had used wore off.

If I felt angry, his expression screamed fury past that.

Short black hair, with dark eyes, a green iris that bordered closer to the color of the pupil filled with fire. “You dare—”

I huffed a breath of air out my nose, only speaking these words. “I’m not a fan of talking while fights, so… Well, not sorry, but—Hey! You didn’t interrupt! Thanks!”

For a moment, anger stemmed into confusion. “What? Who—”

I threw a punch into his side, using my full force, manifesting my gloves.

He flew away, rolling three times in the ground before gripping his fingers into the earth, stopping himself to a skid, the other hand immediately going to his side.

A stream of blood trickled from his mouth.

I rolled my neck, cracking it while standing.

Then, I charged forward, in front of him in an instant.

My leg swung out, water core swapping, my hand shifting the plant-growth along with it.

Water Force surged.

My leg became enveloped in a covering of ice.

But, to his credit, the man reacted.

CR–CRASH–Thunk.

But the barrier he formed, one through a skill manifesting a brown energy, then the one beyond formed of a solid layer around the length of my foot, were crushed instantly, clashing into his side.

He flew again, but I didn’t let him settle, catching up again.

I grabbed the collar of the thick black leathers on his neck, and lifted him, causing a small whiplash in his form.

The man was taller than me, but his legs were limp under.

“You are in charge?”

“Hrnm,” he mumbled.

“Answer me,” I growled.

PTEW.

“Did… did you just spit on me?” I said, lowering my voice, wiping my hand across my face.

Breathe.

Just… breathe.

I let him slump to the floor, looking straight at that man from before, whose armor was more showy than this one’s, raising my voice, but keeping it even.

“If this is all you have to offer, then I cannot understand the Kingdom’s actions!” I took a deep breath. “Removing others like me?! Outrageous!”

I took another step forward, crossing over a meter with just that one.

“I am Peter! Fire, Water, and Air! All are under my command! Your strongest are nothing! Nothing in front of a BLOODLESS!”

The last word was said with the full force of effort in my lungs.

And I repeated it.

“A BLOODLESS. I HOLD NO BLESSING!”