Disintegrate: Magitech Legacy Book 6 by Chris Fox

Author:Chris Fox [Fox, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sort1
Publisher: Chris Fox Writes LLC
Published: 2021-04-15T22:00:00+00:00

12

The Art of War

Aran’s power swirled around me, and I found myself deposited in a dueling circle marked out on a rocky surface, the stone the same color and consistency as bone. The temperature had dropped sharply, and if not for my suit I’d have had to use fire magic just to survive the cold.

The rest of my companions had been left back with Kazon, which would be great for Vee, but I worried about how the rest of them would get back to the ship. I supposed I needed to trust them to take care of themselves. It was time to be selfish. Really selfish. I was going to soak up every word of this training, and nothing was going to distract me.

“I can’t help but notice,” Aran began as he glided into the circle with Narlifex drawn, the scimitar tracing a line of sparks along the bone, “that you do not carry a sword. The only weapon on your person is that pistol now that you’ve put the staff back.” Aran raised his free hand, and Dez vanished from my holster and appeared in his grip. “Let’s start there. What do you do if you are suddenly deprived of your weapon?”

Aran tossed Narlifex into the air, and the sword hummed in my direction of its own accord. The latter third of the blade exploded into jagged shards, which swam towards me like a swarm of piranha.

I blinked instinctively out of the path or attempted to anyway. My spell shattered as Aran flung a counterspell, and Narlifex’s shards zoomed toward my face and throat. They froze there, millimeters away, humming, the blade driving home that my death had just occurred had this been for real.

“Your instinct was to open a gap,” Aran continued as the demon prowled along the edge of the circle, “but I anticipated it. Once deprived of your weapon, you instantly went on the defensive as nearly all warriors will do. Why did you do that? Why defend? Why not attack?”

“Because I don’t know what your abilities are.” I backed slowly away from the shards, which vibrated one final time, then zoomed back to make Narlifex whole once more. “Any spell I cast will almost certainly fail to affect you. If I get jumped and someone removes my weapon, then I need intel. I need to know what their capabilities are, so I can find a way to counter them.”

“Good.” Aran waved a hand and Dez reappeared in my holster. “On ancient Terra, the original god of war was known as Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu won battle after battle, apparently, and wrote down his knowledge. Those writings were gathered into a sacred text attributed to him. The Art of War. It is well named, and by tomorrow morning you will have memorized it. I have lending enabled on my account, so I can save you a few credits.”

The demon prince withdrew an ordinary black comm from his pocket, and I received a SEIZURE friend request, then a file transfer.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.