Last of The Eldrani

I had been expecting many things from my encounter with Akash, the last of the Eldrani.

So far all of the alien species I'd come across still looked vaguely human. Niva, her father and her guards all basically looked like pink elves.

Hardwick looked like a gremlin of some kind, sure, but he still had all your basic human bits like two arms, two legs and a head with a mostly normal face.

Akash though? He was something else entirely. He was truly alien.

"Akash? The Otherworlder has arrived!" Hardwick said, opening a door into a room that… well, it was more of a greenhouse or a garden really.

The door opened up onto a wide and open space filled with trees and other types of greenery.

There was a patio section at the center of the room, large enough to fit fifty or so desks and chairs for people to work on, but surrounding that was mud, dirt and a lot of plants.

The room extended out past the boundary of the castle wall, opening up into an open-air balcony that had a series of glass panels above to help keep the room warm.

"Yes, I see that," Grumbled a deep voice, though I couldn't tell where it was coming from, "Another annoying human from another universe for me to try and tame."

Before my brain could really comprehend what was happening, one of the thick wooden tree trunks on the far side of the room seemed to shift and move toward me.

It uprooted itself from the ground to reveal that it wasn't a tree at all. No, it was an alien being made completely out of wood.

This was Akash.

The wooden creature loomed over me, at least ten feet tall. Its tree trunk body tapered off into a thin worm-like point that had two bulbous eyes atop it hidden behind a cover of leaves.

Toward the bottom of its body, many little branches split off and pierced down into the ground. These were its legs, holding the alien creature aloft.

[Panic Status Negated By Skill: Steady Mind]

[Terror Status Negated By Skill: Steady Mind]

If it weren't for the system having my back with the Steady Mind skill I'd probably be a quivering wreck on the floor right now.

Akash was so alien I could have never imagined a being like him even existing.

"Very well, Hardwick," Akash intoned, his voice seemingly generated by the leaves around his head, "You may leave him with me for now. You would not like to be in the middle of a magic test if his mana power is anything close to that of the… last one."

I was no expert on reading the emotions of giant tree people, but I could almost imagine he was sad as he said that.

Had he and the previous Otherworlder, this Jacob Lyre, actually been friends? Despite the fact that the human race had led to the destruction of his planet?

"Yes, yes, I know, I know," Hardwick replied, turning to leave the room, "Just don't go too hard on him, he sounds like a good sort."

With that, Hardwick was gone, and it was just me and Akash in the room together.

While I couldn't make out his eyes properly behind the layer of leaves that covered them, I couldn't help but feel like he was staring me down and judging me harshly.

[Threat Detected: Engaging Autonomous Reactive Protocols]

Before I knew what was happening my body had moved seemingly of its own volition. I had leapt backwards at an impossible speed, and where I had previously been standing the patio had been blown apart by a thick tendril of vine that linked right back to Akash's body.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, the question was directed at my system just as much as it was Akash. I hadn't realised the thing could literally take control of my body like that.

"Not as fast as the last Otherworlder, but fast all the same," Akash remarked, ignoring my question entirely.

He attacked again, this time with two vines instead of just the one, and just like before my system took over and moved my body for me.

I jumped straight up into the air to avoid the first of the vines, which was aiming to take out my legs and met the second vine with my hands. I vaulted off it, spinning into the air, and before I could even do anything to attempt to stop it my body had launched a counterattack.

The system whipped one of my hands out in front of my body and summoned some kind of a runic circle in the air directly in front of it.

A dozen small beams of light erupted out of the runic array and lanced down toward Akash. They all hit home, each exploding with as much ferocity as the last.

As my system caused me to land I was actually worried I may have killed the alien creature.

That was until I heard the rasping crinkling of leaves in the wind. Was he… laughing at me?

"So you do have some fight in you!" Akash exclaimed. He seemed… happy… as a result of the ongoing battle between us.

And then Akash was on the offensive once again, this time doing away with any preamble he might have had before about going easy on me and unleashing what I could only assume was a full on assault to test my defensive and offensive capabilities.

Capabilities that I myself had no true understanding of.

Once more the system took over, ducking and diving and dodging my body through the air to avoid attacks that I could barely even register.

I moved as quickly as the wind, the world blurring around me as my vision narrowed into specific focal points.

An attack from my left, I slid to the right.

A swipe from the right at my legs to try and take me off balance, I neatly hopped over the vine and used it to boost me up into the air.

Three vines at once, all aimed at my torso coming in from different directions at the same time while I was up and seemingly defenceless.

Clearly that was just what the system wanted Akash to think.

White energy enveloped my hands and a giant runic circle erupted in front of me, from it came a bubble shield that seemed to atomize the vines that came into contact with its surface.

The main bulk of Akash's body reared back and the tree-like alien screeched an ungodly sound.

I wanted to flinch or throw my hands up over my ears, but all my system-controlled body allowed me to do was fall neatly back to the ground where I landed deftly.

"I… I'm sorry," I said, "I wasn't really in control there, it was like… a battle trance… I don't know what that was."

Akash's screeching had stopped and no more vines had shot out to meet me.

"It is okay," Akash replied, though the pain was evident in his voice, "I attacked you with force, it was only logical for you to respond in kind. Though a spell of that level was not what I had been expecting from you."

[Threat Neutralised: Autonomous Reactive Protocols Disengaged]

[Panic Status Negated By Skill: Steady Mind]

The brief shock of panic I felt in the moment before the Steady Mind skill could wipe it away almost caused me to fall over, but then it was gone and I felt just as fine about what had just happened as I had before.

I hadn't been expecting to be able to do any magic, considering I never had before.

That being said, it wasn't really me that had done it. It had all been performed by the autonomous protocols of my System.

I was sure that if I tried to conjure up any runic circles or beams of light without that going then I would be in for a world of disappointment.

I explained as much to Akash.

"I see," The tree-like alien said, clearly now unphased by the damage I had dealt to him, "That will be a powerful combat tool going forward but not something that should be relied only upon. There will no doubt be limits to the system that you will be able to refine and exceed with your own training."

"So you're saying I have a lot to learn, then?" I asked.

That rustling sound returned, the sound of Akash laughing, "Yes, human, you have much to learn indeed."

I found myself agreeing.

It was all well and good to have an autonomous system that allowed me to do so well with literally no training or knowledge of my own. But I'd done some serious damage to Akash in what was only meant to be a sparring match.

In other words, I could accidentally kill someone without even meaning to do it.

I was going to have to train a lot to stop that from happening, and only rely on the autonomous system when I truly needed to.