Montarg Polteg

  Montarg rolled his shoulders, letting his bodysuit settle as it distributed its weight. He felt strangely comfortable being back in his heavy, constricting armour. It probably said something about him that he was more comfortable in his battle armour than casual clothes, but that was a thought for another day. He had work to do.

  He clapped his hands and waited for the hum of chatter and work to fade. He caught sight of Turrel and Jack in the crowd. It was a blessing that Jack was coming on this expedition with them; it would have been long and much more dangerous if he had to worry about reserving his mana the entire time.

  Now he could afford to let loose a little. He had no need to ration his power or restrict himself. With Turrel watching over Jack and Jack being with the support crew, he wouldn't have to overly worry about their safety either. Turrel might not have the traits associated with a higher Tier, but when it came to skill, there were likely only a few better at assessing a situation and improvising than he was.

  As he raised a hand, silence fell over the rest of the area as the last box was placed down.

  “Thank you for your attention, everyone. I wanted to take the time and make sure that you all know how proud and appreciative I am for your efforts in bringing together this expedition as quickly as you have.” He paused as he held his hands out to acknowledge everyone before him.

  “I know an undertaking of this magnitude in the time we have been able to prepare is more than I could have hoped for. Myself, Lady Vessara, and the people of Zerra thank you.” Montarg motioned to the left where the yellow-scaled lady waited.

  “We will be entering this Rift very soon and hope to make this expedition end as quickly as possible and all return safely. I don’t want to slow us down with long speeches, but you all have my thanks.” Monty motioned for Amira and Axel to approach and stand upon the deactivated portal with him.

  “Myself and our vanguard team will be entering the Rift in a few moments to establish a foothold and ensure that it is safe to begin bringing provisions through. Prepare accordingly.” Monty nodded at everyone and stepped back as the sound of clapping reached his ears.

  He hated that; he had done nothing that warranted applause. He took a deep breath. These were the things he had to deal with if he wanted the power to do things like what he was about to do. Vessara had confirmed that as they were speaking now, there was a battle on Zerra for their sister city.

  An Elemental had crossed through a portal and was devastating one of only a few largely populated locations. The reinforcements had only just arrived and were joining the battle. While he would likely not be able to turn the tide for this conflict, it didn't mean he wouldn't try.

  Every moment he wasted was potentially a life he could have saved. He wouldn't waste any moments. He pulsed a tiny amount of mana through his body from one of the many crystals that were embedded inside his suit. Now that he had his full kit on, he would be able to activate his Body Enhancement Trait fully. For the moment, however, he activated it at its base level.

  With his strength increased ten-fold and his body reinforced to deal with the related stresses, he easily lifted the two half-ton rectangular crates beside him.

  “You two ready to go?” Montarg asked the two siblings. They were his most accomplished combatants and both were on the verge of achieving their Tier 5 body modifications.

  “Yes, Lord Montarg,” Axel responded for the pair. Between the two of them, they carried a much smaller container.

  Inside these three crates were the materials needed to activate and establish their foothold. They needed to create a safe zone, free from the weather and with defences against intruding Riftspawn. It didn’t need to be permanent, just long enough to get their materials through and the Turtle constructed. From then on, they would be on the move.

  He nodded and looked over at Thalen. The man gave him a thumbs up and the three of them braced themselves on the smaller inner transport ring.

  Lights flared around them as mana raced through the device. It had been synced to the outpost that had been created at the base of the massive Rift. From there, they would be entering it directly while they ensured the base camp was safe.

  In seconds, the familiar sensation of dropping assaulted his senses and faded abruptly. The area around them was noticeably cooler; his coat kept his body warm, but his breath fogged as he breathed out.

  Montarg was focused on his goal; his surroundings and curiosities all faded away. His eyes met the massive Rift ahead of him and with barely a nod at the two crew members with him, he approached.

  Experience led him to activate his visor before he even entered range of the Rift. Even with his strength, a moment's disorientation or lack of attention could be deadly. From the edges of the bands over his temple, a field of transparent energy began to flow around his head, like an invisible helmet. He sighed as he adjusted to the additional visual input.

  He controlled his breathing and felt the mana pulsing through his muscles, making him feel whole once again. Setting his thermal threshold for the visor's visual filter, he nodded.

  He placed one of the briefcases down temporarily to motion he was going in first. He picked up the case that contained his heavy-duty Life mana crystals and walked through the portal.

  He kept his composure as his foot fell on a frozen metal plate and a sharp, crystalline crack rang out. The layer of frost shattered under his weight.

  He placed the two cases down. The one with his mana in it, he unlocked and slid a segment open. With his absorption primal, he could absorb the mana even through the protective shielding, but this was easier and safer.

  He drew deep on the mana and, powering his boots, he surged forward. Without powering his boots he would likely have destroyed the portal or dented the floor as he took off; they helped stabilise the ground as he stepped so he didn't leave craters behind him at full strength.

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  He scanned the area. He was out in the open, inside a high-walled facility made of metal and rock. He ignored everything other than the vague outlines, not only because the raging snowstorm obscured his vision slightly, but because it wasn't important to him.

  He couldn't pick up any heat signatures within range of his current position. He ran a quick circle of the perimeter to confirm. The rush and roar of the storm, dulled slightly by his visor, pushed to the edge of his mind. His muscles twitched.

  The surge of adrenaline made him want to race away and find something to fight, something to crush and destroy. He clamped down on that feeling as he saw Amira step through the Rift, with Axel following behind dragging their container.

  In a single bound that crossed the twenty metres between them, he landed next to Axel and easily lifted the heavy box.

  “Th-Thank you, Lord Montarg,” the man replied, shouting over the howl of wind. Axel had done well to hide his shock at Montarg's sudden appearance.

  He nodded and, grabbing the box that had the other half of the device, he walked them out to about where he believed a central location would be. Axel and Amira followed him silently; both of them had mana flowing through their bodies, with Amira almost bursting with water mana.

  The area was covered in snow. His boots were simply letting him walk along it as they solidified it beneath his feet. Axel and Amira, however, were knee-deep at this point. He held up a hand to motion them to stop.

  A targeted [Shockwave] pulsed outward from him in a ring, throwing the snow into the air and exposing the solid ground below. It was being covered again as the storm raged, but the stabilisation device would take care of that soon enough.

  Placing the two cases down, Montarg opened them, and together the three of them assembled the large pyramid-like structure. It came together rapidly as Montarg was able to hold the entire upper section in the air with one arm while the support pieces were attached.

  Axel placed the last of the fire gems down. Drawing from them, he activated the device.

  A pulse of mana and heat raced outward in a massive dome centred on their location. The storm began to subside around them, its icy fingers being pushed further and further away as the influence of the stabiliser expanded.

  “You two know what to do; I will sweep the area,” Montarg said. They nodded at him and he stepped away.

  He activated his [Body Enhancement]. Every vein and muscle in his body bulged. His already enhanced strength was amplified again; three times his enhanced base which put him at 30x his normal strength.

  With a single step, he leapt out of the enclosure. He passed through the bubble of calm air and flew through into the stormy skies. He pivoted his head as he looked for any movement or heat signature his visor could pick up.

  There. To his north, he saw a cluster of figures moving towards the facility. A distance further he saw two much larger shapes converging as well. The mana emanating from their device was acting as a beacon. Despite it all, he smiled to himself. It had been too long since he had been able to truly flex his muscles.

  It was hard to gauge distance in the storm. He also had trouble with his own internal scale when one jump sent him hundreds of metres away. He pulsed mana through his bodysuit as he raced through the air and it smoothed his flight, absorbing the resistance and friction associated with moving at these speeds.

  Two more dashes sent the land beneath him blurring as he exploded through the first group of heat signatures. Literally.

  His suit flared, and expelling most of the absorbed energy helped to halt his momentum, but there was already a Montarg-sized hole in one of the enormous wolves behind him.

  The sound of growls caught up to him and an ear-splitting howl was dampened by his visor to little more than a rumble. There were three more of the giant creatures in front of him, the smallest of them being twice his height.

  The one he had crashed through was little more than a smear on the mountainside when two of the three wolves pounced at him. Standing his ground, he raised a forearm and jammed it into the jaws of the one on his left, holding it still as it tried to pierce his bodysuit.

  The one on his right might have hesitated if it was capable of thought, seeing him crash through one of its kin. It wasn’t, and before it managed to open its jaws, he smacked it on the snout mid-pounce. As his hand collided with the wolf's nose, its entire face caved in. A sickening crunch sounded as its head changed direction while its body continued towards him. The body of the now-limp wolf was rocketed into the compact snow beneath them, leaving a crater in its wake.

  Montarg turned his head towards the wolf on his forearm and took one step towards it while it thrashed and gnawed on his arm. He sent a pulse of mana along his arm and triggered a [Shockwave] from the centre of his forearm. He tensed and thrust his arm forward at the same time, adding the force of his own body's movement to the activation through his transference enhancement.

  The wave that blasted out tore through the wolf; it emanated from inside its open jaw and split the creature in two. The upper half sloughed to the right while the bottom half fell away to the left, sliding away from his raised forearm.

  He heard a howl from the remaining wolf. He pointed his hand toward it and pinched his middle finger. He channeled another shockwave into the tip of his finger and at the same moment that he activated the skill, he flicked towards the wolf. With the added force, the tighter shape tore a finger-sized hole right through the creature's skull and continued for the length of its body. It collapsed to the ground.

  He smiled. It wasn't the violence that made him happy; he wasn't some sort of psychopath. No, he just felt free. He felt unshackled, able to finally let his body sing and move the way it wanted to. He turned in the direction he had seen the larger bodies in before. He guessed they might be Yetis; he was excited to test himself against them and see if his strategy would work.

  He took two steps and launched himself into the air once more, scanning for their heat signatures. His strategy was pretty simple for the Yetis – in fact, for most fights his strategy started the same. Overwhelming speed and strength, then play the rest by ear.

  He spotted a number of additional signatures moving towards the Rift now. Their device was acting like a beacon. It didn’t bother Montarg right now, but that might become a problem long term depending on the density of Riftspawn here.

  He shook his head; he would just have to thin it out as quickly as he could. Amira and Axel were capable, but even they would not be able to last long against the numbers that were heading their direction. He touched down on the ground again, changed direction, and surged towards the closest group.

  A deep vibrating bass coursed over his body as he tore through the air, approaching the speed of sound. The Yeti’s could feel it as much as they could hear it, but as they turned towards him, it was already too late.

  Not wanting to give them a chance to summon one of their ice shield he attacked while dashing past, moving before they could pinpoint his location. He threw a one-two combo at the creature's head, triggering a shockwave at the end of each punch to cover the short distance between them.

  A fraction of a second later, moving at near-supersonic speeds, he flashed past the creature before the shockwaves connected. He angled his body so both of his boots were aimed at the other Yeti's chest. He added no shockwave; he didn't need to. The Yeti might have had a thick hide, but with the speed he was travelling, he would be able to crash through a solid steel door.

  He emerged from the chest cavity of the suddenly limp Yeti; he had managed to sever its spine cleanly as he tore through. The quick hiss of air being sucked back into the hole he had left in the body was overridden by the activation of his suit as it expelled energy to slow his momentum.

  Montarg turned back to check on the first Yeti. He had time to see it falling headless forward to collapse on the ground. Not wanting to waste another moment, he turned and launched himself into the air once more. He had work to do so that they could get this expedition started.

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