The sky above crackled faintly, pressure mounting in the space between us. He took one slow breath, then his aura surged, raw, dense, and layered with invisible forces. The air bent subtly around him.
A faint shimmer danced across his limbs, like gravity and magnetism wrapped around each punch and step.
Then he vanished.
No sound.
No flare.
Just pure, unfiltered speed.
But this time, I was ready.
I didn't try to dodge. Instead, my short vortexes spun into existence near my shoulders and ribs, quick funnels of Energy absorption. As David's fist flew toward me, I focused on the subtle layers between it: the tension in the space, the warping of energy, the compression of force just milliseconds before release.
I let him hit me.
BOOM!
His knuckles slammed into my side. Pain exploded across my ribs, but I didn't fly back. I dug in. The vortexes siphoned part of the kinetic energy and fed it into my core, where my generator pulsed violently. More Essence. More fuel.
