New Talent

"My circle was perfect!" he groaned, "you can't defy me!"

"How narrow-minded." Detro twisted his wrists around, gaining more and more of his body's control. Zeeth eyed him and it kept reading, healing. "With one flaw. I'm stronger than you expected. And if you think you can kill my granddaughter, you've got another thing coming."

Detro smashed his hand into the ground beside Dirt, clicking his tongue. He still didn't have full control yet and Dirt saw that as an opportunity to bolt away, becoming a shadow and slithering aside. Detro smashed a nearby glowing golem, creating a glowing shield out of it, imbuing it with electricity and throwing it at Dirt, shining away all shadows and forcing him out of the ground, hitting the electric shield with a concussion.

You can't hurt me! The circle clearly binds you to be mine. This doesn't make any sense, strength shouldn't matter!"

"Oh, it matters when you speak of killing my family. You won't lay a single finger on her."

"I wasn't going to kill her, damn it! That was a lie!"

"Why would you lie?"

"To cover up my real plan!"

"Which was?"

"I'm not going to say it here."

Detro created a ball of electricity in front of his face, which spurred him to yell, "fine, fine! I'm going to capture Hetio and access his Infinite Library. Killing Dande was just a ruse. Now can I go?"

"No. What if you lie?"

"Why the hell can you even defy me?!"

Detro went silent, stretched a bit, glanced at Zeeth's wandering eyes and said, "that kid figured it out."

"What?" Dirt looked at where Zeeth was looking as well but now he was only looking at the two of them. The benefit of the angel ran out the moment he was shocked and only the devil stayed behind, watching it unfold.

"Well, now that I know what you want. I guess this won't hurt. Are you alright with me telling him, Undead Detro?"

"Sure. not like he can do anything about it."

Zeeth looked down on him with Detro, ominously, "Heh heh, yeah, I guess so."

"Hey, stop bonding with my undead!" Dirt cried.

The students watched the three of them argue awkwardly, unsure if they should leave or not.

"His body is over 50 years old, and in a dungeon like this which absorbs organic matter for power, he would need some considerable source of power to protect his body all this time. And it comes in the form of that room of healing crystals in the walls that you found him in. The crystals attached themselves to him through fifty years of protecting him, siphoning power from the dungeon, and the circle you created that bound them all together. It can really proficiently heal him, almost too proficiently.

When he was severely damaged by Zafrakos, the crystals healed him, but they didn't stop there. They went further, healing him past being a normal, weak undead, into his human body. Granted, it's still weak, but since his mind was healed enough, he can resist you. And with the extra motivation you gave him by threatening to kill his daughter, you gave him just enough will to break free. Or at least that's what I think happened."

Detro gave him a thumbs up and smiled. "That's about it. Good analysis"

"Stop bonding, damn it!"

"Now, to kill you and go back to my rest. Living as an undead is excruciating."

"No! Don't kill me!"

Detro charged up an electric hand and tried to chop off Dirt's head. Dirt tried to change into a shadow but the glowing shield hid all major shadows. When he looked up, expecting a hand to slice him apart, Zeeth was holding Detro's hand back. "I'm afraid I can't allow that. I swore to make him my subordinate and I don't go back on my words."

Dirt was honored and gracious for the kind words, even if they seemed a little off. It basically meant that Zeeth was saving him from certain death.

"I respect a man's promise but could you let this one go?" Detro smiled, holding a hand up in peace, "he threatened my baby girl. I also swore to protect her with all I had and to kill anyone who messed with her. I don't want to fight you. It feels like we could've been friends."

"We still can be. But I intend on ruling the world so his talents are useful to me. He could be indispensable."

"Ah, ruling the world huh?" Detro chuckled, "I remember when I still had those dreams. Instead, I settled for a school. Hey, good luck. I was the strongest mage of my time and even I couldn't succeed."

"Really? You were?"

"Well, maybe there were hidden talents, but I was first in the Buchalary towers in my prime."

"What's that?"

"Something from my past. I suppose it's not important anymore."

'What the heck…' Dirt though, 'this sidetracked so fast.'

"By the way, if you insist on saving him. I might have to fight you first."

'Crap, it's back on!'

"Maybe we do. You could've been a great addition to my friend group. Too bad, huh."

Still smiling, Detro zipped a hand at Zeeth, who managed to bend back in time to see it glide over his eyes. His bend turned into a backflip against the wall.

'The main enemy shifted!' the students thought.

Detro shot two bolts, each at the heads of Dirt and Zeeth. Dirt shaped his head into a U while Zeeth turned his head to water and created an O, allowing the bolts to shoot straight through.

Zeeth yelled at Dirt, "if you can shapeshift, you can move. For now, we better fight together."

Dirt jumped up, elongating his legs and arms while shrinking his head into his torso. It was an ugly look, but an effective one for fighting. Dirt coated his hand in a black film while Zeeth used a slime to hold Detro down. He kept trying to electrocute the slimes but it was simply absorbing all of it to grow even stronger. Detro tried flinging the slime away but Zeeth grabbed his hand and crushed it while Dirt kicked him in the head, speeding his leg up by making it a shadow and returning it upon contact. Zeeth ripped off Detro's hand while his head was dented and his slime kept trying to hold him. But the pink mist surrounded him, healing all his injuries. He lifted an artifact from a student nearby, smashing it into Dirt and, in a burst of strength, blew the slime off.

Detro smashed a metal golem, creating metal gauntlets to put around his hands. He went for another but Zeeth jumped ahead to stop him. He wanted to headbutt Detro but he leaned back at the moment Zeeth closed in and kneed him in the face full of electricity.

The knee flung him up, causing a nosebleed, and the electricity ran through his face and body. Shooting stinging pains through all his nerves. The pain and the force to his mind sent him into a world he didn't know existed. He saw popping bubbles floating up, and then a yellow sky that rushed at him yet never seemed to ever come or ever end. The sky then became the ground and he was flying up instead, away from the yellow.

Being pulled into it was like being pulled into Rah. He struggled against it but he still wasn't used to the pull yet and the entire thing sucked him in. When he opened his eyes, he saw an infinite expanse with countless books floating orderly everywhere he looked. Hetio, covered in scars like it was his shirt, floating weightlessly, reading one of the books.

"Hello, Zeeth. I hope you're not put off by my scars. They were involuntary."

"Hetio, what are you doing here? What am I doing here?"

"We're at my Infinite Lexicon. I pulled you here at the request of Dr.Wistiga."

"Wait, start from the beginning."

"The beginning? Well, as far as I'm aware, three giant rocks collided, creating what we call the Big-"

"No, I meant-"

"Haha. I know what you meant. Just thought you might be interested. Besides, we have plenty of time."

Zeeth was out cold but his entire body glowed black and yellow. His body lifted into the air and his robes fluttered around, revealing his slimes and body. Detro smashed another golem, casually wearing artifacts while grinning. "Damn, his talent is awakening now? I'm flattered. But this is bad news for you, Dirt. No one controls me and gets away with it."

Dirt was simply flabbergasted at the sudden turn of events. 'Why does he have to do this now?! I'm so dead!'

Detro pushed Zeeth aside, stretching his body out and getting in a runner's stance, pointed at Dirt. he peacefully closed his eyes, ready for his death, and released all he had, bolting at Dirt like lightning. The light he produced from his body from pure energy blinded Dirt and stopped his shadow transformation.

'I am so dead now!'

In the white expanse, Hetio flipped himself upside down, grinning, "Almost didn't make it."

Dirt opened his eyes, noticing first that he was still alive, and next that he was on the floor. Detro's cackling hand was held above him. Dirt followed the hand down, checking why Detro suddenly stopped. 'Did I trip in time? Why isn't he moving?'

His hand was coated in a layer of dripping, white liquids and his wrist was stuck in a rough, ruined hand. He looked further and noticed Hetio with Detro's hand stuck inside his own. Hetio's shirt was missing, his pants were burning and scars covered his body. There were more scars than normal skin left on him. But more importantly, at least ten gems were embedded into his back alone.

"Hetio. How've you been? You still can't leave that library, huh?"

"I'm alright," Hetio replied.

In the imaginary world, Hetio kept talking, "When the preliminaries started, Wistiga came to my library to continue with the blueprints while the other teachers were out watching. We actually got pretty far, you'd be surprised. We can start making it soon. Anyways, later, we noticed an Ice Bolluma crashing the town so we went to watch from the windows. And then I noticed Detro's mana from the dungeon and knew something was up. And then I saw you three fighting. Nice moves by the way. But during your fight, his lightning triggered your fear and your body fell into the state of talent. Right now, you might be impossible to kill."

"I thought I didn't have any chance of getting a talent."

"You're really going to believe a machine? Wistiga is smart, but not perfect. Anyways, he noticed what happened so he asked me to put you here. The visions you see while your body is developing with a new talent is… discombobulating to say the least. And I'm keeping you here until your body is done with the whole Talent thing. In the meantime, a clone of mine is saving your butt."

Detro sliced Hetio's throat, which spurt blood but didn't stop Hetio from punching so hard he bounced off the rocks and exploded in a cloud of bits. When the bits gathered again, Detro sighed, "even a clone of yours is enough for little old me now. Man, this mana upgrade is useless to me."

Hetio's clone pushed Zeeth to the shield and said, "I heard everything. Detro, you're already dead and Dande is off fighting a Bolluma. She's safe."

"Bolluma? A descendant of the dragons?"

"The weakest descendant. And she's simply helping the kingdom from behind. Dirt couldn't cut her hair if she didn't want him to."

Dirt felt an arrow strike his heart at the comment. 'I could totally sneak up on her!'

"No, you couldn't," Hetio and Detro said at once.

'Huh?! They can read minds?!'

"You're just easy to read for the elderly like them," Zeeth said. Everyone turned to look at him. His body was still glowing black and yellow but his three eyes were pitch black, like his grinning mouth.

During the fight, Zeeth in Hetio's library asked, "so, what is this place?"

"This is my secret mental space, my Lexicon. A mental area filled to the brim with all my memories and knowledge. Things I've gathered through my decades of traveling and studying and it's still growing. The greatest library of all time. I told you my favorite thing was my studies. Only I can invite people in and only people with more information to provide that this place doesn't already have will be invited. So only the best of the extraordinary may enter. You should feel very lucky. The little girl in your class has been trying to get in my room for years now."

"The contract girl?"

"Yes, Greed. The Contractor. She's not even human, you know. She's a crow pretending to be a girl. She just thinks it's fun to be small. Anyways, Wistiga is beside the real me right now, yabbering about the satellite."

"Why don't you let him in?"

"He isn't special enough to be let in."

"Even he isn't?"

"Yeah, all his stuff on talents and such have been figured out before. It was just lost to us but I have it here somewhere. And somehow, you still got in. I guess, in the meantime, you should stay here until your talent development is over and- wait. Your body just began moving. How are you doing that?"

"Um, wait."

'Black, are you in there?'

No one replied and that's when he noticed none of his slimes were with him and he wore nothing but a white, flowy blanket that covered every part of him, just like Hetio.

"That's my friend in there. I guess in my absence, he has full control."

"Zeeth, how are you awake?" Dirt asked.

"Zeeth is gone," Black chuckled, "it's just me now. Detro, time to end this fight."

"If you aren't Zeeth, then I have no reason to fight you. I ask that you return him before damaging his body."

"You don't need to worry about that, gramps." Black held his right wrist and twisted it, opening the hand and revealing the tiny barrels inside. "I always felt he didn't use these enough."

The barrels shot hundreds of bullets out and they kept being reloaded with Gul. He hid behind Hetio while firing from his arm, riddling Detro with rocks. He kept getting pushed back and shaking with the impact but the gems kept healing him. Black whispered, "you destroy the gems, I'll stall him."

Detro shielded his mouth to ask, "what the heck is that?! Why have you never used it before?"

"Yeah, technology from dangerous minds. He always says he doesn't need to use them. I mean look at this! Barely any mana and I can still do all this from a distance. He apparently prefers magic to this because he used it so much before."