Quickly flying through the city on a Pattern box with Nedira at his side, Larek eventually arrived at where his senses were telling him to go, so he hovered over a nondescript building near the walls of the city. Pinpointing his Magical Detection Skill down below, his initial perusal through the area confirmed what he’d detected earlier, but to an even greater degree, now that he could see it up close.

  There were multiple instances of the ambient energy flowing around indistinct objects that he couldn’t detect. If what he had seen before with the other Bereft was true, then these fluctuations in the ambient energy were indications that there were more of them below. He attempted to detect the missing Volunteers, but unlike the full Bereft, the ambient energy didn’t flow around them – or at least he didn’t think it did. In short, they were completely invisible to his magical senses, at least for now; he wasn’t sure what it took for them to turn into the other version, but he doubted it had happened yet, based on how many energy fluctuations he saw.

  “As much as I want you with me, I also want you safe,” Larek told his betrothed as they both looked down below. There wasn’t anything to see, given that they were over the roof and there weren’t any energy distortions outside of the building, but he could still sense it, even through the solid material. “I can’t guarantee that one of them might not be able to sneak up on you and rip out your entire potential. I’d like you to stay here.”

  The Fusionist was ready for an argument, as Nedira had told him numerous times before not to treat her as someone who needed to be protected, which meant he was surprised when she simply nodded. “I agree. I saw what happened to the Volunteers, and I don’t want that happening to me. Besides, I have real trouble even seeing these ‘Bereft’ unless they’re right next to me, so it’s probably best not to take a chance.” Pulling him down to her level, she gave him a long kiss. “But you had better take care, too; the last thing we need is for you to have your potential taken away.”

  “Oh? And why is that? Would you still love me if I didn’t have any potential?”

  She smacked him on the arm. “Of course, I would! But you’re our best chance of surviving against the Gergasi when they finally make a move, and I don’t think we can save your family if you’re not you.”

  “Ah, good point. I guess I better be careful, then.” Releasing her from his arms, Larek prepared himself for a moment before he slid over the side of the Pattern box and directed it to lift into the air another 100 feet. Even with higher Martial stats, it was unlikely that any of these Bereft could jump over 150 feet straight up into the air to reach her.

  Landing on the roof with a flex of his knees, Larek immediately threw open a hatch leading downstairs, breaking a lock that normally would’ve been a deterrent to most people in the process. He practically threw himself down the wooden ladder with just the barest touch to the rungs.

  He found himself on the top floor of an empty building that looked like a warehouse, with this upper room apparently having been used as an office, as there were still remnants of desks and scraps of chairs, but most of them had been cleared out to the edges in some random piles. In the center, Larek identified some of the energy fluctuations that he’d noticed from a distance, but he still couldn’t physically see the people he knew were there until they got within 20 feet of him.

  He counted 6 of the Bereft as they rushed at him, moving faster than even those he’d encountered before. He was barely able to form, condense, and launch a single Primal Essence projectile at one of them, the unexpected attack coming at them at such a speed that they couldn’t dodge it. The robed man he hit stumbled as his emptiness was pierced and destroyed, falling flat on his face as his momentum slid him nearly to Larek’s feet.

  The others, however, ignored what had happened to their companion and threw themselves at Larek, but he was too quick for them: At 900 Agility, thanks to his stat-boosting Fusion, he was far faster than even the fastest Bereft. Now that he knew what he was facing, he applied that speed to great effect. Throwing himself backwards, he formed a Pattern wall in front of the charging attackers, hoping to slow them down, but there was only a miniscule halt in their progress as they pushed through his otherwise solid plane of personal energy as if it wasn’t there. Thankfully, because he was actively controlling it, the internal Pattern Cohesion didn’t dissipate, but it was helpful to know that it was effectively useless against the Bereft. As he approached the wall behind him so that he landed feet-first, he used his position to launch himself up and over the ravenous Bereft, who were looking at him and his potential as if it was a four-course meal. As he sailed over their heads, the abrupt change in his position startling them, he formed, condensed, and shot another bead of Primal Essence into another one of the hard-to-see figures, taking the woman down with a scream of pain and frustration as the emptiness inside of her was extinguished.

  Using another Pattern platform underneath his feet to slow him down and change directions, he threw himself at the bunched-up Bereft who had turned around, tackling all 4 of those remaining to the ground. Immediately, he felt the hunger grasping at him, but now that he’d experienced an internal attack like that before, he found himself much better equipped to defend himself. As Larek created a condensed shield of Primal Essence around his potential, the hungry claws that ripped into it sheared off portions of the shield while still providing protection for his potential. The miniscule amounts of Primal Essence that the Bereft managed to consume likely improved their stats by a few points here and there, but that was a worthy price to pay as he punched each Bereft in the side of their heads, using a technique he’d learned from Torge, the Drekkin who’d helped train his Martial abilities, to knock them out.

  The Bereft might be quick and strong, but they were still much weaker in comparison to him.

  In a short few seconds, he’d sent each of them into unconsciousness with precise blows. With how sturdy their bodies were because of their inflated Body stats, that unconsciousness wouldn’t last long, but he didn’t need it to. He quickly stood up over them and launched one Primal Essence projectile after another into their bodies, eliminating the emptiness inside of them as easily as that.

  Unfortunately, the screams they expelled into the world as they regained consciousness caught the attention of every other Bereft in the building, and they began to stream into his location from all directions – including from the roof. Dozens of energy distortions merged into figures once they got close enough for Larek to see them, and he was forced to fight to keep his potential safe and secured inside of his body as he was swarmed by Bereft. It took all of his speed and focus to avoid being overwhelmed, which was a major concern when he was caught by a half-dozen of them at once, and he was barely able to fight them off before his shielding of Primal Essence collapsed.

  Fortunately for him, he was still much faster than all of the Bereft, allowing him to avoid too many situations where he could be overwhelmed. If he hadn’t been trying to avoid killing any of them, he could’ve ended the fight in almost no time at all. As it was, he spent about 20 minutes flinging himself around the large room, narrowly avoiding the grasping claws of hunger that attempted to consume his potential, all while launching condensed spheres of Primal Essence at his attackers, taking them out one at a time.

  When everyone in the room stopped moving, with the former Bereft unconscious on the floor, Larek stood in the middle and stretched out his Magical Detection Skill once again. Looking for any disturbances in the ambient energy nearby, he couldn’t detect any, though he thought he felt a few near the opposite side of the city. It was difficult to tell for sure, given the distance and the fact that his Skill wasn’t as sensitive the further out he went, but he estimated that there were another 10 or so Bereft still inside the city walls.

  Unfortunately, he still couldn’t sense the Volunteers, but that didn’t mean they weren’t close. Now that the danger seemed to be over, he quickly pulled himself up to the roof and brought Nedira down, before leading her below.

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  “Wow, this was a lot more than I expected,” his betrothed said when she saw the unconscious bodies of the former Bereft. “But it’s also not as many as were stationed here before they started disappearing,” she added.

  “There are still another 10 or so that I need to hunt down in the city,” he told her.

  Nedira shook her head. “That’s still not enough. For a city of this size, they should’ve had approximately 80 to 100 Faction members protecting it. From our records, they reportedly had 92 Mages and Martials calling this place home, so we’re still missing about 30 or so. Perhaps one of them,” she said, waving to the unconscious people, “can tell us where they went.”

  “Maybe. But it’s likely that, given the other towns that are missing people, those that used to be here simply moved on, looking for more potential to consume.”

  “Good point,” she agreed, before looking at him again. “Have you found the Volunteers yet?”

  “No, but I have to hope that they’re here somewhere. There shouldn’t be anyone else here, so let’s go look.”

  With that, the pair left the former Bereft where they were, as it didn’t appear as if they were going to be waking up anytime soon. Taking the stairs near the corner of the room, they went down to the floor below, finding it to be an empty warehouse, with a few broken wooden shipping boxes scattered around here and there; but overall, they only encountered a bunch of dust and trash. It didn’t take long for them to find a way down to a basement, however, as footprints in the dust led to a dark corner, where a ramp could be found leading down into darkness.

  Pulling his halberd out and using it as a light, they worked their way under the main warehouse floor, discovering a long, dark hallway that eventually led to a larger space – and they found the missing Volunteers. All 15 of them had had their potential stolen away and consumed by the Bereft, before being essentially placed behind bars in a makeshift prison. If he had to guess, the numerous cells holding his people were originally meant to be secure holding rooms for valuable cargo before it was shipped out, as the walls, floor, and ceiling were greatly reinforced and would be difficult for anyone but a strong Mage or Martial to get through them. They hadn’t been used for that purpose for years, however, so he could only assume that those who operated the warehouse had gone out of business or were killed shortly after the Scission situation throughout the Kingdom started threatening overall stability in the region.

  Now, though, these cells were keeping the ravenous people inside contained, which was somewhat of a blessing. Even before Larek and Nedira walked in, he could hear insistent pleas coming from ahead as the prisoners caught a whiff of their potential, and when he actually walked close enough to see them, they were all stretching out their arms through the reinforced steel bars holding them captive, straining against the barrier as if they were attempting to bodily push themselves through.

  If it was just them pleading to be let out, that would’ve been heart-wrenching enough, but he could see that they only wanted to be let out because their hunger was already pushing them to consume potential, and many of the traits and personalities that they would’ve normally demonstrated had been suppressed, making them virtually mindless in their hunger. His strong potential probably didn’t help, as it was even more of a draw than most people, and he even heard the dull *snap* of a rib breaking as one of the Volunteers pushed themselves against the bars so hard that they hurt themselves trying to reach him.

  “They’re like mindless beasts or something; what exactly is happening to them?” Nedira asked, horrified by what she was seeing. Larek had to agree, as this was much worse than what he’d seen from the Volunteers he’d saved in the alleyway; he could only assume that this effect was due to them being on their way to becoming a Bereft for longer than the others, but either way, it was quite frightening.

  If the missing Mages and Martials stationed here left after becoming a Bereft, I can’t even imagine the damage they could do once they begin to spread out. It would be like the mind-controlling bugs, but even worse.

  He was now determined not to let a disaster of that magnitude occur. In this case, all he had to do was hunt down the Bereft and neutralize them before they could get too far. They were much easier to find than the bugs, at least, now that he’d had some practice with searching for them, but it would still be a chore. The only problem he saw was the presence of the original, this “progenitor,” as was mentioned, but he was fairly confident that the rest of the Bereft would be easy enough to overcome. Unfortunately, he was going to have to do it on his own, because Nedira and the Volunteers had very little defense against them at this time; even though his betrothed had become stronger over the last year, he didn’t think she had the ability to combat the hunger that would attempt to rob her of her potential.

  He had another job for her at the moment, anyway.

  As he rapidly launched Primal Essence projectiles at the ravenous Volunteers, he asked her, “Would you be able to bring everyone back to Thanesh for me? See if you can get everyone armed with Fusions and more Arrays to see if we can re-unlock their full potential. We might not be able to replace their potential fully right away, but it would go a long way toward the protection of the city if these Mages and Martials were reinstated.”

  Again, rather than argue when he was deliberately leaving her out, Nedira nodded. Death doesn’t scare her, but becoming one of these mindless and hungry individuals certainly seems to. If I’m being honest with myself, it scares me, too. “I can do that. What will you be doing?”

  “I’m going to go hunt down the rest of the Bereft and follow them wherever they went from here. Do you have a map of the towns that had their defenders disappear?”

  A few seconds later, his betrothed produced a map from her Void Pocket bag and handed it to him.

  “Thanks. I’m probably going to leave those I find in the city where they are, so you might have to go pick them up. Also, cautiously stop by these other towns on the map over the next day, and pick up any others that I’ve cleared of this inverse potential, so that we can support them as they recover.”

  Leaning down to kiss her, she held him in that position for an extra few seconds before letting him go. “As always, be careful.” The seriousness in her eyes made him hesitate a little bit, but he eventually nodded and backed away. It seemed as though this whole potential-consuming thing was really getting to her.

  With a quick goodbye, he quickly confirmed that he couldn’t sense any other Bereft near the warehouse, before rushing out of the basement and out of the building, using his great speed to move quickly through the city, zeroing in on the energy fluctuations that were scattered around. A few of them fled when they seemed to sense him coming, but others not only stood their ground, but moved toward Larek, as if the pull of his potential was too much for them to withstand.

  With them being gathered in groups less than 3 at a time, it was much easier for Larek to avoid being in danger, and he was able to hit each of them quickly with a condensed sphere of Primal Essence, rendering them harmless in a matter of seconds. For those that initially fled him, all but one eventually turned to attack him when he chased them down, which made clearing the city relatively easy. When he was confident that he’d gotten them all, he flew with a Pattern platform under his feet as he swept through everything within the walls one last time, and even as he saw Nedira working to get everyone back on The Hopper, he couldn’t detect any other dangers anywhere nearby. Before he moved away completely, he noticed that all of the Volunteers were up and moving around by that time. While the spark of their potential had been restored, he could tell that all of them were lethargic and despairing over their loss. The Fusionist just hoped that another Array Fusion would give them back at least a portion of what they’d lost, but Nedira would be looking into that for him.

  As for the Bereft that he’d reverted, none of them were awake quite yet; the damage that the hunger inside of them had done had been more extensive than that of the Volunteers, so he could well understand it. He also had hopes that they would be able to rejoin as defenders of the city once they woke up, and that being in that state where all they could think about was consuming the potential of others hadn’t permanently changed them. Only time would tell with them.

  A quick circuit of the area within 5 miles of the city didn’t reveal any other Bereft or anything else of concern, so he took off toward where he had felt the final energy fluctuations fleeing from him. Unlike the others, who had stayed within the city and attempted to hide from him until he got close enough to trigger their hunger, one of the Bereft had fled the city entirely, heading west. Larek wasn’t sure if this individual was heading toward others of his kind or was simply running away from the Fusionist as fast as possible, but he was going to follow him, nonetheless.

  Within a minute, he had followed the Bereft’s trail far enough that he caught the edge of their presence at the very edge of his Magical Detection Skill. Slowing down a bit so as not to let his quarry know that he was being followed, Larek tracked the distortion from miles away. Pulling out his map, he could see that his target was heading straight toward the nearest town, so he could only assume that this person knew what they were doing, and that they would lead the Fusionist to more of their kind. If not, then he would use Primal Essence to revert the Bereft back to normal, before doing his own investigation of the towns that had disappearances.

  It wasn’t necessarily going to be easy, but Larek was determined to eliminate this threat before it could become even worse; he felt a responsibility to fix his mistake, even if it had been an unintended consequence of his Transfer Potential Fusion. And once all this was taken care of, he could get back to an even more daunting task:

  Figuring out a way to stop the Gergasi, once and for all.