Savannah smiled to herself as a strange sound tickled her ears. It was faint at first, rising above the roar of her winds and the settling chaos around her. Then it hit her—it was her own laughter.

  She laughed harder, wiping blood from her face and eyes, her eyes filled with blood still locked on the spot where the creature had been blasted away. The look on its face right before she struck—confusion, a flicker of uncertainty—was spectacular. It had been worth every ounce of pain.

  Her gamble had paid off.

  Allowing herself to take this much damage, to be pushed so far, had put her in a strange, dizzying state. Also decreasing her output to strengthen her bones with Mani paid off. She was teetering on the edge of consciousness, half in and half out, but that was exactly what she needed. She was moving instinctively now, her body reacting without thought, surrendering completely to the natural flow of the universe. Unconscious Movement.

  It wasn’t a technique anyone advised using as recklessly as Savannah had. To fight in this state required a profound trust in one’s instincts, as every motion came from an almost primal place. Her body moved with perfect timing and unparalleled grace, unburdened by hesitation or thought. Normally, it required a level of spiritual energy that even most skilled fighters couldn’t sustain, but Savannah wasn’t like most people. She couldn’t pull it off when she was fully conscious—or sober, for that matter—but here, in this haze of adrenaline and exhaustion, it came naturally.

  And with it came something else: Perpetual Combat.

  She could feel it now, her movements flowing seamlessly into one another without pause. Every attack, every counter, every dodge would connect like pieces of a puzzle, creating a rhythm impossible to predict or corner. It was the natural extension of Unconscious Movement, a technique that turned combat into an endless, unstoppable dance.

  Savannah’s mind buzzed with the realization. The creature doesn’t know about this, she thought, her smile sharpening as she steadied herself. Her laughter faded into a low chuckle as she looked toward the dust cloud where the creature had landed.

  After not seeing any movement, her smile dropped as she forced herself to focus. She knew it wasn’t over—the creature would be back, and it wouldn’t waste time giving her another opening. This wasn’t a moment to bask in her small victory. It was time to end this and kill this monster.

  She steadied her breathing, her winds settling into a calm, controlled spiral around her. Deep down, she reached—not just into her Mani, but into something far more profound. She focused inward, tapping into the core of her very being, where her physical, mental, and spiritual energies intertwined. This was Selfish Encasement.

  Selfish Encasement wasn’t just about fighting. It was about internal mastery—honing her entire existence into a singular, focused weapon. It enhanced her abilities across the board, sharpening her reactions, fortifying her body, and clearing her mind. It was the foundation of everything she could do, unlocking techniques like Unconscious Movement and Perpetual Combat. But even beyond those, it allowed for something even more powerful: Desires.

  Desires were a manifestation of a Veythari’s deepest needs and goals—a personalized, ultimate ability born from the unique will of the user. They weren’t something easily summoned; they required immense energy and complete focus. Savannah clenched her fists, knowing this was the time to use it. She couldn’t hold anything back—not against this thing.

  Her wind picked up again, sharper and more precise, as her body began to glow faintly with the energy she was pulling from within. Her Desire was forming, the culmination of her frustration, rage, and determination. It wasn’t just about survival anymore. She wanted this creature gone—not just defeated, but erased entirely.

  Savannah hadn’t needed to call upon a Desire this powerful before. But now, with no other options, she had no choice. Her life, the lives lost, and everything she still stood for demanded it.

  She smiled faintly, her body trembling under the weight of her decision. Even if this ended with her death, at least she’d avenge everyone who had died because of her mistakes. With these thoughts grounding her, she reached deep into her soul and called upon her Desire.

  The moment the power ignited, she felt her body begin to repair itself. Her cuts and bruises sealed almost instantly, and the ache in her muscles evaporated, replaced by an overwhelming surge of vitality. Her breath steadied, her vision sharpened, and the weariness that had gripped her moments before vanished. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, she felt whole—stronger than she had in hours.

  The winds around her roared, responding to her rejuvenation. This was the gift of her Desire—to restore her physical and spiritual strength, giving her back 85% of her full power. But even as she reveled in the surge, she couldn’t ignore the price she’d have to pay once the power faded.

  The toll was inevitable. Once the Desire ended, the strain would crash into her all at once, leaving her body weak and battered. Lingering pain, slower reflexes, and reduced endurance would plague her for forty-eight hours, rendering her nearly useless if the fight dragged on.

  Savannah clenched her fists, letting the restored strength pulse through her. Five minutes, she reminded herself. That’s all the time this gift would last before it ran out and left her vulnerable. “I’ve won fights in less.” She muttered. Her winds grew sharper, more precise, as they spiraled around her.

  A massive pillar of dark energy shot into the sky, warping the air around it with malevolent force. The creature’s laughter echoed ominously as it emerged from the smoke, walking casually toward Savannah.

  “Sorry for the delay, Savannah,” it said with mock politeness, brushing debris off its shoulder. “I’ve never had to regenerate entire body parts before. Took me… thirty seconds.” It stopped, tilting its head as it looked at her with spiraled, mocking eyes. Placing a hand over its mouth, it grinned wide. “My, my, didn’t—”

  Its taunt was cut off as a powerful claw-like wind strike slammed into it, sending it flying backward. The impact shattered the ground beneath it, and before it could react, it was caught in a violent spiral of devastating wind. The vortex tore at its form mercilessly, ripping through its body like a blade through fabric.

  The creature snarled in frustration, its smug demeanor cracking as it struggled to resist the onslaught. Its spiraled eyes narrowed, and its body flared with dark energy.

  “ENOUGH!” it bellowed, its voice reverberating like a thunderclap. The spiral stuttered and faltered as its oppressive power lashed out, dispersing the winds.

  The creature grinned triumphantly, its confidence returning—until it realized it was no longer on the ground. Its grin wavered as it looked around, finding itself high in the sky with no sense of how it had gotten there.

  “What—?”

  Before it could finish, a massive pillar of wind, glowing with an almost divine radiance, erupted around it. The light burned through its body, searing away at its being with relentless intensity. The creature shrieked in horror, its laughter twisted into screams of agony as it thrashed against the pillar’s force. The light cut deeper, tearing through its very essence, forcing it to confront pain it had never experienced.

  And yet, even through its torment, it began to laugh again, its voice strained but filled with manic glee. “Yes! Finally!” it howled, its spiraled eyes gleaming with feral joy. “Finally, a struggle worth my time!”

  As the attack dissipated, the creature turned just as Savannah closed in, her fist ready to deliver a devastating punch. It moved to counter, its claws aiming for her throat—but she teleported just an inch ahead, her body flickering like a mirage. The strike missed by a hair’s breadth, and its spiraled eyes widened in shock.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Before it could recover, she unleashed a concentrated blast of wind directly into its face, the force blowing its eyes out the back of its head. It reeled, its shriek cut off by a flurry of relentless punches. Savannah’s form shifted, her movements fluid and untouchable as she poured everything into her barrage. Each strike tore into the creature with the ferocity of a predator, her body becoming like the wind itself—unpredictable and unstoppable.

  The force of her punches sent shockwaves rippling through the air, scattering clouds and shaking the ground below. The creature struggled to retaliate, but every attempt was met with another devastating blow. Savannah’s winds roared in sync with her fury, carving deep grooves into the earth with each strike.

  With a final push, she cupped her hands and summoned a vortex of compressed wind, slamming it into the creature’s chest. The impact sent it hurtling toward the ground like a meteor, crashing into the earth with a deafening explosion. Dust and debris erupted in all directions, leaving a massive crater in its wake.

  Savannah didn’t wait for it to recover. She teleported next to it in an instant, her fist cocked back for another attack. But before she could land the blow, the creature’s body flared with dark energy, erupting in a violent explosion. The shockwave tore through the air, but her wind instinctively coiled around her like a shield, deflecting the worst of the blast.

  As the creature tried to rise, she lunged forward, her winds surging with her as she delivered a supercharged strike. The force of her attack crashed into its chest like a hurricane, ripping through its dark energy and extinguishing the power it had gathered. The creature was sent flying again, its body twisting unnaturally as it hit the ground, struggling to get up.

  Its laughter rang out, deep and guttural, as its spiraled eyes narrowed. “Alright, let’s get serious,” it said, its voice carrying a strange resonance that made the air a shiver. Dark energy coiled around its body like living disease, and then it raised a clawed hand, twisting the air itself with an unnatural force. Savannah froze as she recognized the familiar shift of energy.

  “Oi! Oi! Oi!—it’s using Manifestion!?”

  Her shock was quickly replaced by urgency as the creature’s voice deepened, a ripple of oppressive power echoing from its mouth. “Break. Bind. Drown,” it commanded, the words slicing through the air. Shadowy chains erupted from the ground, writhing like serpents as they lunged for her. Savannah dodged, twisting and flipping as the chains snapped and coiled around her, trying to ensnare her.

  She realized quickly that it wasn’t just the chains—it was the creature’s voice itself. Her winds flared in retaliation to the words, holding their effects off, while slicing through the chains with sharp gusts, but more kept coming, their speed relentless. Each word it spoke seemed to bend reality, disrupting her focus and amplifying its attacks.

  “Break. Collapse. Crumble,” it growled, and the shadowy chains surged with even greater force. Savannah gritted her teeth, her mind racing as she dodged and countered. “It’s using manifestation techniques against me, but it doesn’t understand them completely. That’s the only advantage I have.”

  She landed lightly, her winds circling her protectively as she quickly muttered under her breath, “Unite. Encase. Stabilize.” Her hands moved in practiced, fluid gestures, shaping the swirling winds around her into something precise.

  The air thickened as her words resonated with the energy around her, drawing from the chaotic winds and binding them into a focused structure. With a final gesture, she thrust her hands outward.

  “Cyclone Dominion.”

  The barrier erupted to life, a dome of wind and energy forming around her and the creature. The outer layer of the dome hardened like a shield, deflecting the incoming shadow chains and trapping them outside. The chains thrashed uselessly against the barrier, unable to penetrate. Inside the dome, the winds shifted, sharpening Savannah’s senses and transforming the space into her zone.

  Inside the Cyclone Dominion, the creature’s presence—normally invisible and undetectable—was suddenly clear. No matter how much it tried to blend into the background, Savannah could see it, feel it, track every movement it made. The winds whispered its location to her, making its usual tricks of evasion useless. Even its voice, the core of its ability, fell silent within the barrier. The intricate weave of her winds disrupted the resonance, neutralizing its ability to attack or manipulate her with its words.

  The creature paused, its spiraled eyes narrowing as it realized what had happened. It tilted its head, looking around the confines of the dome. Its chains fell limp, dissolving into the ground as it tested the barrier with a swipe of its claws.

  “This is… interesting,” it said, its grin widening. “You’ve turned the space itself against me. Clever. But how long can you keep it up?”

  Savannah didn’t respond. Her hands stayed at her sides, fingers twitching slightly as she reinforced the barrier. It took every ounce of focus to keep the winds balanced and stable, but she couldn’t let it see any cracks in her resolve.

  The creature chuckled, its spiraled eyes gleaming with intrigue while looking around. “You’ve surprised me, Savannah.

  The creature’s spiraled eyes darted toward Savannah, watching her closely as her hands twitched subtly to maintain the flow of energy in the air. It didn’t understand the complexity of what she had summoned, but it could feel the power coursing through her—flowing in and out of her like a pulse.

  A smile crept across its face as it tilted its head, just barely dodging her fist as it whizzed past. Her winds howled around them, amplifying her movements and making every strike faster, more precise. But the creature didn’t flinch. Instead, it leaned into her, forcing the fight into close quarters.

  They clashed in a whirlwind of hand-to-hand combat. Savannah’s strikes came fast and furious, each one backed by the raw force of her Mani and the sharpened control the barrier granted her. The creature tried to counter, but it was losing—its moves too slow, too predictable. Its memories from Howard’s life were of someone constantly beaten down, never learning how to truly fight. And as a Demurge, its raw power had always carried the weight for it.

  But in this human body, that wasn’t enough.

  Savannah’s grin widened as she landed a clean hit, her fist connecting squarely with its jaw. The impact echoed through the dome, and the creature stumbled back, growling in frustration. It moved to strike, but its swing was wild, clumsy, and Savannah dodged it effortlessly. She followed up with a sharp kick to its ribs, sending it skidding across the ground.

  The barrier wasn’t helping its situation, either. Every time it tried to move erratically, Savannah’s heightened senses tracked it perfectly. Every time it tried to slip into the background, the winds inside the dome exposed it. And her smile—that cocky, knowing smile—was starting to piss it off.

  “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” it sneered, its voice dripping with venom.

  Savannah didn’t answer. She darted forward again, her winds roaring as she closed the gap, forcing it back into the fight. It dodged and countered, but her strikes came faster now, more confident.

  The creature growled, its frustration boiling over as her punches landed again and again. Each impact felt like a slap to its pride. It was learning, adapting, but not fast enough. Savannah was pushing it, forcing it to face its own weaknesses, and the realization was infuriating yet educational.

  It leapt back, snarling in frustration, but Savannah didn’t let up. She surged forward, her movements fluid and precise as she closed the distance again. Her body twisted with controlled grace, delivering a flurry of strikes that left it reeling. She started with a spinning kick to its side, the impact sending it stumbling, followed by a rapid series of open-palm strikes that disrupted its balance.

  Pivoting on her heel, she swept its legs from beneath it, sending it crashing to the ground. She didn’t stop. Dropping low, she struck with an elbow to its chest, followed by a swift backflip to avoid its clawed retaliation.

  The creature scrambled to its feet, growling with fury. It opened its mouth, trying once again to use its voice, but Savannah’s barrier nullified the sound before it could even reach her. She smiled, her expression calm and confident.

  That smile was the breaking point. The creature snapped, erupting in a surge of dark energy that engulfed it entirely. The dark energy twisted and coiled around its body like a storm, crackling with chaotic power. “I’ve had enough!” it roared, channeling the energy outward in a massive burst, aiming to destroy the barrier that had kept it trapped.

  The dome wavered, the winds rippling under the pressure. The creature, confident it had shattered the barrier, lunged forward, its dark energy trailing behind it in a streak of destruction. But Savannah remained unfazed.

  As it charged, she sidestepped effortlessly, her movements as fluid as water. Her counters were seamless, blending strikes and evasion into one continuous flow. Each dodge led into a calculated counterattack—a sharp kick, a spinning elbow, a focused punch to its ribs—that threw the creature off balance again and again. It was fighting a losing battle, its rage blinding it to her precision.

  Savannah stepped back and gathered her winds into a swirling vortex around her hands. The air around them seemed to vanish, pulled into a singular point in front of her. The creature paused, its spiraled eyes narrowing in confusion as it felt the pull.

  Vacuum Implosion.

  The vortex expanded rapidly, drawing the creature toward its center with an irresistible force. The dark energy surrounding it flickered and distorted as it was dragged into the crushing pull. Before it could react, Savannah reversed the technique, her hands snapping outward as the vortex exploded in a violent outward blast. The repelling force hurled the creature across the battlefield with devastating speed.

  It slammed into a nearby mountain, the impact shattering the rock face and sending massive boulders tumbling down. The ground shook with the force of the collision, dust and debris clouding the air.