A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

191  The Shadows - Part 16

But that was just a theory, a theory that Beam didn't know how to apply. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The creature continued to cut off Beam's escape routes, through a series of charging, and through slowly walking him down. He was soon pinned against the cliff, an irritated look on his face, as his body continued to tremble in dismay. His sword arm quivered as though afflicted by the cold of the wind.

Beam eyed it, looking for an opening. He just wanted one counterattack. That was the only plan in his mind now. The creature was outrageously fast.

WHAP!

Another fist crashed into the wall behind Beam. This one cut his cheek as it flew past. Beam wasn't sure whether he was getting slower, or whether the creature was getting faster.

His counterattack after that swinging fist was lacking. Normally, due to his superior speed, his counterattacks came like an instinct. They swung themselves without him having to think about it.

But now his body was reluctant to throw it. His mind had to force it to work, and his timing was completely off.

He raised his sword and slashed the outstretched arm.

But the blade merely bounced harmlessly off, as though Beam had tried to cut an outrageously thick piece of leather.

The Titan paused for a moment and narrowed its eyes. Its beak parted in what looked to be a mocking smile. And then a fist came straight after.

Beam couldn't dodge this, he was far too out of position. All he could do was twist his body, and try to ride out the impact.

He made sure his back wasn't against the cliff, as he twisted off to the right, holding his sword in front of him in a defensive posture. The giant green fist came hooking in. It caught him full-on and sent him flying.

The speed at which he accelerated sent Beam's organs crashing against his ribcage, making his vision momentarily flash black.

He landed hard on the ground, but the speed still hadn't left his body. He went skidding for a distance, before the trunk of a thick tree came to halt him.

His head was forced upwards when he landed, as he was made to witness the bright shining stars up above.

In the past, this was about the time when Dominus would have stepped in, Beam realized. As the boy was confronted with an overwhelming enemy, far greater than he was, without a chance at victory. But Dominus was busy with his own training now, and it was for but a single reason that he left the boy to his own devices: after his victory over the evolved hobgoblin, Dominus had come to trust him.

But even Dominus could not predict that a creature such as this Titan would arise by itself. And now Beam was left on his own to fend against it.

A figure blotted out the light of the stars, as it came bounding over from its spots by the cliff, its movements gleeful, its body more coordinated than before. The weakness that Beam had seen, the weakness of several conflicting souls in one – it seemed to be rectifying itself.

But still, Beam couldn't sense true strength from it, even if it was unified.

Though, such a thing didn't quite matter. The creature was growing faster as it gained complete control of its body, as it learned to move it. It was growing stronger too for the same reason. Beam's own body could feel that. The shaking of his limbs grew more intense, as he felt the overwhelming urge to flee. But even if he ran, the creature was faster than him by now. All that he would achieve would be putting the rest of the world in danger due to his blunder.

He needed to deal with it here and now, but how?

Beam ducked carelessly, still waking up from the previous blow.

Wind rushed overhead and wood sprayed, as the tree behind him snapped in half and went tumbling backwards.

The Titan's vicious attack did not end there, though. Even after that ruthless fist, there came another one, as the creature balanced on its hind legs, and reigned down blow after blow.

Beam dove aimlessly in a single direction, but the destruction followed him. The anger was bubbling up inside of him now. Just how was he meant to prove the weakness in this creature? How could he best it when the physical difference between them was so vast?

Darkness swelled as he looked deep within himself for that answer.  His movements were pitifully slow, he needed to get stronger, he needed to get faster.

Ingolsol laughed in delight within him. Beam's rage was so vast, that as the Dark God cackled, Beam's own soul bit at it in anger. "Silence," he demanded. But the God only continued to laugh.

Beam clenched his fist. If only he could see him. If only he could tell what the manifestation of that curse looked like. If only he could properly communicate with him, rather than just feel this dull dark feeling in his stomach. He was sure he'd tear that Dark God to pieces.

As his anger boiled, and Ingolsol cackled, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. There were no words, but there was an instinct towards calmness, as though telling him that giving in completely to rage would only lead towards his doom. He understood that touch to be the blessing of Claudia, though he had never felt her so strongly before.

Even as he warred with the Titan, as it chased him around the clearing, as it grew ever closer with every hit, and it sped up faster to corner him, there was the war inside the boy's soul going on.

He may have managed to subordinate both blessings in his battle with the hobgoblin, but as Dominus had known from a time ago – it was a tightrope he had to walk in order to keep them under control. Both of them offered him potential, both of them offered him room for growth. But if he favoured either one of them too strongly, the other would rebel and his soul would finally collapse under the weight of that imbalance.