x
What was strange was that the average pneumarian had an EQN over 400 million, placing this guy below average, yet he still held authority over these klevonians.
Most of the klevonians obeyed the pneumarian, but one, the one who'd been circling Tymon, decided to ignore the order and attacked anyway.
"This guy? Even in his hybrid form, he only has a fraction of our power without us having even to transform," he said as he swung at Tymon.
When his fist connected with Tymon's energy, it instantly shriveled away, causing the connecting parts to do the same. The guy fell to the ground in agony.
Tymon stopped Last Breath, but the guy's hand and part of his arm were already gone.
"You should've used spirit enhancement. It wouldn't have spread so fast," Tymon told him, looking down as the guy clutched himself.
Tymon could hear murmurs from the others.
"What the hell? What power was that?"
"His arm's gone! He didn't even touch him..."
The pneumarian chuckled from his elevated position.
"You should've listened," he said to the klevonian writhing before Tymon before shooting an energy blast that blew off one of the guy's legs for additional punishment, then continuing, "That's for being defiant. The other crests may let you klevonians express free will, but here, you obey your superiors or suffer."
Tymon quietly noted that not all klevonians were treated the same in Pneuma City.
The pneumarian whistled and looked at Tymon with cunning eyes.
"It's meager, but that's interesting energy you got. Bet you can kill real easy with that. Whaddya say? I know a way you can make a lot of spendil with skills like that," he offered.
Tymon looked around at the ruffians, then looked back up at the pneumarian. Uncomfortable with the positioning, Tymon levitated off the ground, rising to be level with the pneumarian. He heard one of the klevonians cough in surprise, and the pneumarian silently raised an eyebrow.
"You're just full of surprises."
"Not in the killing business," Tymon told him flat-faced, to which the pneumarian burst in laughter.
"That's a lie. From what I can tell, your power is tailored specifically for killing. If you ask me, you were born for it."
Tymon looked at him and firmly declined.
The pneumarian appeared annoyed at his defiance, but reluctantly raised his hands in a gesture of giving up.
"Aight, if you say so. You clearly got a mark, so forcin' you would only start beef with another crest. So, go. Leave."
As Tymon turned around, before he could fly off, the pneumarian called out to him.
"Hey. Keep what happened here to yaself, hear? Hate to have to put a mark on your head."
Tymon remained unfazed and moved forward as he heard the others start to chuckle and laugh. Even at 200 mph, it took him another two and a half hours to finally leave Morium, simultaneously exiting Pneuma City as well.
As he flew at Mach 13, he noticed the temperature dropping severely the further south he went. Eventually, he came across an ice tundra that spread as far as the eye could see. He decided to fly straight across.
Not even five minutes into the flight, he noticed he was actually shivering, feeling cold unlike any he's ever felt. His clothes were covered in frost. If not for the zip-wear, he'd have frozen to death already, but even with it, he struggled to keep warm.
He coated his body in a thick layer of his spirit energy to help ward off some of the cold that his zip-wear couldn't, providing only a little relief, but it was enough as he rocketed south, beyond the ice belt, until it was far behind him and he started to warm up.
Hanging his head down to look behind him past his feet, Tymon estimated the ice belt was around 500 miles thick. He pitied anyone not a cindarian that could fly who tried crossing the region.
At his speed, not too long after, he came across a city. He landed in front of a sign that read "Pneuma City." Beyond the sign, the large town was devoid of life, with rusted, crumbling buildings everywhere. There were old symbols on each of the buildings. Crest symbols.
Tymon rose from the ground until he was higher than the buildings. This had to be Old Pneuma City, Viraa mentioned. The city wasn't divided as it is in the current version. For the most part, it appeared that property was acquired sporadically, leaving most of the area without official ownership. The districts there weren't set up the same as in the current Pneuma City.
He saw the edge of a swampy biome in the distance. He imagined that the only places with the biomes were the Crest Houses where cindarians stayed.
"No wonder they moved. It was probably hard to keep up with their responsibilities this way," Tymon commented as he flew at a steady cruising speed, turning east. "Giving each crest its own domain was wiser."
As he flew, he could sense the lingering deaths in various areas, prompting him to land and investigate further.
"What the hell happened here?" He questioned, standing in the center of a reduced portion of the city. He willed the shadows to spread out and tried to raise some of the dead, but couldn't. It felt like he was trying to pull something too heavy for him to move. He understood, though. Those that died there were more powerful than him – too powerful for him to raise.
Strangely, something did rise from the shadows. He watched as a small, shadowy wolf-like pup hopped toward him with excitement, sniffed him, then frolicked around.
Tymon didn't mean to raise a dead animal. He tried to send it back, but couldn't, catching him off guard. He realized it wasn't his power that summoned the creature. Was it its own? Did it willingly choose to come to him?
Tymon looked at it as it wagged its tail innocently. Did it get lonely? Or did it see some kind of kinship in him?
Whatever the case was, Tymon turned to walk away from it, choosing to ignore it...but of course, it followed him.
Tymon stopped, causing it to bump into him. Tymon turned.
"Go home," Tymon said. "Wherever that is."
The pup whimpered as it tried to nudge closer to him.
Tymon grunted.
"Sit."
The pup obediently sat and wagged its tail happily.
"Stay," Tymon said and turned to walk away. But he heard its tiny feet patter across the rubble behind him. Tymon had half a mind to scare it off with his malice, but chose not to go that far.
He turned to face the creature. The pup tilted its head curiously.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHiGYIwEpf
