Mylo continued to drag Seren outside of the Outpost. Seren was dragged for almost fifteen minutes. Eventually his pleas became more and more desperate, he even began doubling back on what he said earlier.
" Stop! please! Mr Mylo. I'm sorry for what I said.It was wrong. I'll stay! I'll stay and be a firekeeper. Please just let me go. " Seren struggled and thrashed his body around until he suddenly felt the weight of his upper body crash into the dirt.
Thunk!
ArGh! Seren, unable to land properly felt the back of his head kiss the dirt, enraged he pressed up against the grey soil. He clenched his fists digging into the loose gravel with a tasty crunch.
He then looked up at Mylo who's Empath karma was flowing freely. Mylo stood above him with the same eyes of that mutt who killed…who killed Yonnis. Seren felt like prey.
" Don't." Seren's karmic output flared up.
"Don't look at me like I am food. Let me give you something to munch on." Seren raised his arms and his flared Karma condensed and a ceramic bowl manifested in his hands. The bowl was covered in mystical engravings and had orange accents and highlights surrounding it.
Karmic Manifestation: FULL PLATE
Seren feeling his face turn red hot in embarrassment gripped the bowl with a dangerous glint in his eyes. " I hope you're hungry, Mr Mylo."
Mylo's face was devoid of any emotion. However, behind his empty eyes was a mind teeming with thoughts. 'Could I have been wrong? Is he not the one?'
Seren felt his heart racing. The emotions that were suppressed were boiling over and so was his karmic output. Orange karma flowed freely from Seren's body as he placed the bowl down onto the dirt. The bowl was currently empty.
Mylo's brows furrowed as he continued to observe Seren and his Karmic Manifestation. He quickly analyzed what he knew and decided his plan of action. 'Abilities belonging to Manifestation usually have a time limit and if not they have conditions for activation. Judging by how he hasn't made a move it's more likely to have conditions for activation. '
Seren stepped forward. His fireboots turned the loose rocks into sand beneath his feet. His eyes which were listless were now filled with excitement. "I don't understand why you're doing this but just because you broke me out of my depression doesn't mean I'm going to let that go."
Seren mentally began calculating. 'I can only maintain a full plate for five minutes. But that's more than enough time to deal with you.'
Mylo had misunderstood Seren's initial hesitation and in that moment Seren charged forward towards Mylo.
Step! Step! Step! Step!
UsU! Mylo startled, shifted his stance and braced for an attack. 'He's fast! '
Seren seeing this grinned. 'Good, Go on the defensive!'
Seren charged without much concern.
Swish! Seren swung his left fist at Mylo's face.
Wvwosh! Mylo dodged.
Seren was unphased and shifted his weight using the momentum of the punch. He dropped his shoulders to the floor and twisted his hips.
Wham! Another strike from Seren. Mylo frowned slightly as he pulled his shoulder down to his hips to block the attack but it was a split second short. 'Is this a physical boost caused by the manifestation of that object?'
Contact! Seren landed a blow on Mylo's ribcage with his boots.
Ack! Mylo felt a heavy blow on his side and doubled over as he slid across the dirt.
'Shit. I don't actually want to fight him. '
Mylo winced in pain but his train of thought never stopped. ' Do I tell him why I dragged him out here?'
Mylo recovered his stance. 'Hmm?'
Before Mylo could regain his balance Seren had already closed the distance.
'Why is he faster?' Mylo asked himself as he once again raised his hands to block any attacks retreating a step backwards. This time, however, a thin layer of formless karma surrounded Mylo's body which was then further concentrated around his fists.
SKIN!
Mylo waited for Seren to get closer. ' If I stun him, maybe he will listen.'
Mylo a feint with his right.
Vwosh! However his left hand appeared in Seren's blind spot.
Seren, noticing too late, did not retreat or attempt to reduce the damage done.
Wham! Contact!
Seren felt himself go flying backwards as his body flew into a tree. Boof! Ahk!
Seren felt the wind leave his chest. ' Almost there!'
Mylo felt that something was wrong and didn't move towards Seren. ' Something's not right. I'm being tricked. He's gotten faster for no apparent reason and even though that attack used ENHANCE he hasn't taken any critical damage. '
Seren glanced at the bowl which was now twenty five percent filled with karma.
Mylo quickly caught this glance and looked over towards the Bowl which he could also sense was different than before. Its presence was stronger and the bowl was no longer empty. His intuition told him that this was a problem.
'I can't let that bowl fill up. But what are the conditions for his abilities activation? Or have I been misled and there is a time limit? '
Seren did not remain idle and quickly made his way to his feet. Once again his speed had increased and his stride was fast enough to cover the meters of distance between them in less than five steps.
Three steps
Two steps
One step.
Expecting a blow Mylo tensed his Abs and did his best to maintain SKIN.
Fwash! Seren threw sand that was clenched in his fist at Mylo's eyes. 'Gotcha!'
"ARGH!SHIT" Mylo closed his eyes, ignoring the searing pain of the sand in between his eyelids and ducked below the forming dust cloud. Mylo quickly attempted to sweep towards Seren's legs.
Seren, also losing direct eyesight of Mylo after his attack , couldn't see what happened as he lost his balance. "Huh?"
Through the cloud of dust another attack came barreling towards his face. It was a Fist.
BOOF! Seren immediately felt the momentum in his body shift from downwards to upwards as his head flew backwards and was knocked into the tree again. This time he coughed up some blood.
'Fuck! This hurts.' Seren's head wobbled as he tried to regain his senses.
The bowl was almost full; it was now at seventy five percent.
Seren staggered forward and looked at Mylo whose expression was growing more concerned by the second. " Hey, What's wrong? Why are you doing this anyway? Is it really just to get my blood boiling?"
Mylo was in a sticky situation. ' I don't think it's him. But who could it be? Who is trying to summon a Duppy in the Outpost? '
Seren was also at an impasse of what to do. ' It's been two minutes since the full plate was activated. '
Seren looked towards the bowl which was almost full. 'Full plate is eighty percent full. I just need another attack to fill it up'
A minute passed as the two continued to observe each other in silence.
Mylo massaged his black hair and sighed. 'This ability doesn't feel like the one I felt. '
Mylo looked back towards Outpost number one. It was still covered in a thick purple haze that only seemed to get thicker every second, blanketing the Outpost in an aura of death.
"I hate it when I'm wrong." Mylo shook his head and turned his attention back to Seren.
Seren was about to charge forward but Mylo held out a hand. " Stop, I have no reason to continue suspecting you. So please stop."
Mylo pointed towards the outpost. " I'm sure you've noticed the unnatural concentration of Post-humus karma around the Outpost. Before when karma masters and cryptids were dying daily it made sense for there to be such a large quantity of it present, but now it's been over a week without any death and it's still getting thicker. "
Seren looked towards the outpost with curiosity. "What does that mean?"
Some of the tension left Mylo's shoulders. " There is someone who's attempting to summon a Duppy with the abundant Post-humus karma. A powerful one."
Seren looked towards Mylo but his mind quickly put two and two together and his expression grew sour. " And you think it was me?"
Mylo shook his head. " Not anymore. You were the most suspicious person. I've been asking around and you were the one who started the bonfire. And Yonnis... he wasn't the first person you burned, but your reaction towards his death felt unnatural."
Seren frowned. " Unnatural how?"
Mylo shook his head. " You've burned people you spent as much time with as Yonnis, but I heard from Yomi that Yonnis saved your life and that's why you feel so strongly about it. '
Seren blinked rapidly as tears welled up in his eyes thinking about that moment. " I- I we were closer than that. He was always looking out for me. That's why-, That's- why I'm going to kill that stupid mutt who ate him."
Mylo listened and nodded but he felt there was something wrong with what Seren said at that moment. 'Hmm…That's strange'
Seren did not speak for a moment and looked towards the bowl which was now eighty five percent filled with karma. "So what now?"
" You can deactivate your Karmic Manifestation and return to the Outpost." Mylo scratched the back of his head innocently.
" Sorry for riling you up. I really couldn't stand watching you sit there and mope all day. It was ruining my mood." The faint SKIN around Mylo quickly dispersed. 'So tiring.'
Seren stood there at a loss. His expression was troubled before his brows relaxed. "Okay."
Seeing that Mylo was serious, Seren's karma output also quickly decreased. Mylo sighed in relief. 'I guess it really wasn't him. '
Mylo rolled his shoulder slightly as he casually closed the distance between the two. " So tell me what does that bowl actually do?"
Seren seemed reluctant to reveal the complexities of his Karmic ability but eventually relented seeing as though most of it could be inferred already.
" Full plate is my Karmic Manifestation. It appears as a bowl and while it is filled with karma it enhances my speed, durability and strength by one percent every ten seconds.
There is a condition attached. If I get hurt or inflict damage it increases the rate at which the bowl fills. Most people mistake their attacks or damage done to me as increasing the amount of karma that's in the bowl when it's really just increasing the rate not the actual amount.
It's to my benefit though, because if you suddenly decided to avoid fighting me after guessing that my ability was conditional rather than time dependent I would have been able to double my speed, durability and strength without getting injured in the process. "
Mylo nodded in approval. " A good ability. An amazing one. You must have thought about it a lot before negotiating with Samsara Scale."
Seren did not respond. Instead he stood there motionless like a statue. His eyes were hidden behind his hair.
Once again Mylo's brain kept itching his skull as if to tell him something. But what exactly?
In that moment of distraction Seren charged towards Mylo. In less than a step Seren was face to face with Mylo.
'Not good.' Mylo sensing danger didn't immediately try to block or evade the attack but turned his attention to the bowl which had not disappeared since the start of their confrontation.
' Hmm, I see. That's it. ' In that split second Mylo figured something out. His eyes darted back towards Seren and his karmic output skyrocketed. Blue karma flowed freely from his body as he closed his eyes. He focused his karma and instantly ten percent of his reserves evaporated from his karma lake.
Karmic Empathy: MYLO SAYS
"Mylo Says Stop"
Seren hearing this immediately felt his movements become sluggish as his body suddenly became disoriented. It was as if all physical connection to his limbs were severed and like a broken marionette Seren dropped to the dirt below him.
Mylo quickly distanced himself from Seren.
"Tch!" Seren, whose demeanor had rapidly changed, did not seem to care that his surprise attack failed.
Seren lamented. 'Mylo says. An empath ability that uses properties of manipulation. Worse, its only activation criteria is him saying the words. I was hoping to save him for last.'
Mylo decisively threw the questions he had to the back of his mind and looked at the sluggish Seren and continued once again.
"Mylo says, tell the truth!"
Seren suddenly felt that he was now compelled to tell the truth.
Mylo sighed in relief and glanced at his karmic reserves. 'The stronger a Karma master is, the more I have to use to overcome their mental and physical barriers. I'm already down to sixty percent.'
Mylo didn't waste his finite window of opportunity and asked. "Did you lie about Full plate?"
Seren bit his lips but eventually he relented and reluctantly said. "Yes."
Mylo was cautious and didn't approach as he could see Seren quickly regaining control over his limbs as he began to wobble to his feet. Mylo's brain fired on all cylinders thinking about what he could have lied about.
It was then something so obvious, so simple that Mylo could not help but feel as though he was the most foolish person on the planet. " You said your ability's name was Full plate. Where is the plate?"
Seren, who was regaining his mobility, laughed out loud. Hahaha! Hehehe!
" Very good Mr Mylo, very good. Something so obvious could never escape your brilliance"
Seren gritted his teeth and cocked his head back like a Ram. He stood tall and swung his head forwards.
' Shit, I don't have to be the one who hits him. ' Those words echoed in his mind as he watched Seren's head collide with the gravel, his hands outstretched, unable to stop him performing this action.
Seeing Seren's eyes had never once looked away from him, Mylo realized that he had made a grave error.
" Mylo says, Kill Yourself!" Mylo immediately felt half of his Karmic reserved empty. Mylo fell to his knees and coughed up blood. 'Shit, karmic Backlash.'
Mylo winced in pain as he felt the flow of his karma become chaotic.
At that moment Seren's head had already collided with the dirt, the bowl which was filled to the brim began to overflow. The bowl quickly began to disintegrate and a large plate shimmered into existence.
Hehehe! HAHA! HAHAHA!
Seren, unaffected by Mylo says looked up at Mylo and grinned.
Mylo gripped his chest and tried to stabilize his breathing. 'No, I can't die here. C'mon' Mylo quickly tried to focus his mind and absorb the ambient karma but quickly vomited another mouthful of blood as it grew more chaotic.
Blood leaked from Seren's forehead which was now raw pink flesh. In his eyes burned a madness that could not be faked.
" The Wendigo sends his regards. But unfortunately, dead men don't get to see the end of the story. So do me a favor and become fuel for the fire just like the rest of them!" Congratulations Mylo you've got a full plate!"
A blinding light erupted from Seren's body. "Congratulations Mylo! You've earned yourself a full plate!"