Chapter 7

The wind blew through the trees in the final few minutes before the Flux was due to hit. Layan rested in the small clearing he had found to prepare himself. According to his grandfather's teachings these first few moments after the flux hit would be crucial.

The amount of energy at the wave front was many times what would be left after it pasted. Leading to many of the more extreme mutations in normal creatures. For Layan this meant that he could use the techniques that he had been taught to absorb many times the energy.

His whole life or for as long as he could remember he had been cultivation the miniscule amounts of flux energy that could be found in the quiet places of his vast forest home. He was stronger and faster than a normal man due to his dedication but compared to the amounts of energy that was about to saturate the planet it was a drop in the ocean.

Checking his watch for the last time Layan took it off and threw it to the side. The digital watch would no longer work after the wave so carrying it was pointless. Just sixty seconds now. Layan started channeling the flux around him imagining that his body was the center of everything drawing all things closer like a black hole's gravity. The energy slowly building towards the center of his being, compressing ever so slowly.

The wave struck the earth at this moment the energy smashing into Layan like an extinction level meteor striking an unsuspecting planet. The energy he was absorbing rose so rapidly that he lost all thought. Just a raging torrent of power suddenly flowing through his channels. The bead of power he had spent his whole life gathering at his center was suddenly shattered and washed away.

His mind slowed as the power flowed through him. His spirit starting to leave his body like the time he almost died while challenging the flooded river. That feeling of calm as the world started to fade out and become just background noise.

In the calm place he watched as his body was ravaged by the incoming flux energy. His normal human boundaries lowered by the technique he was using to absorb the flux allowing the flood to rage unchecked.

He watched with a cold detachment the only thing letting him hold onto life was a distant memory of the promise he had made to his Grandfather. The peace of slipping away into eternity and forgetting it all was becoming harder and harder to ignore. His grandfather was there ahead of him it would be so easy just to let go and join him.

He couldn't do it; he had been raised all his life through challenges just like this. Every moment of everyday that he could remember he had been trained by the best people his grandfather could find. They had tested him in every way possible pushing his limits in every way in order to make him stronger. He would not give in; he could not let go.

Gritting his teeth and using the calm of the detached state of his soul he pressed the energy flowing through his body using all his incredible will to force the power to his center. He could feel the pain now. The pain of too much energy running rampant through every cell in his body. Pain let him know he was succeeding as his soul slowly forced its way back into his ravaged body.

Energy kept flooding in through his completely open channels and he pushed and forced it the best he could to compress and gather into his center. The once small bead of power was gone and in its place was a swirling angry rush of power collapsing upon itself repeatedly as he compressed it with all his might. Fighting for dominance with everything he had