Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Flicker

My Spark spun to life as the bike suddenly found itself riding over nothing, dropping down about a foot and catapulting me forward.

Despite my increased mental capabilities, instinct took over, and I tucked my head in and somersaulted, bracing myself for the subsequent landing.

Moments before my body hit the ground though, a gentle cushion of air curled around my body, lowering me to the floor.

Screams rang out shortly after.

“Shit!”

“Watch out!”

*Crash!*

The crevice harvested more victims, most of those in front unable to register my unscheduled short-range flight. I had to hurl myself aside to avoid a tumbling bike and its rider, a death grip on one handle and a look of blank shock on his face. Thankfully, most crashers were Knights hardy enough to take a hit and warlocks with spells to save themselves, so nobody was particularly hurt.

Well, I was glad I wasn’t the only one.

Just then, Umara slowly rolled to a halt beside me, crossing the crevice at a much lower speed and infinitely more grace.

“Are you okay?”

“Yea, thanks to you.”

I took her hand, pulling myself up before glancing at the others.

Sure enough, all of them were perfectly fine, at most a little dirt marring pristine white clothes.

The bikes seemed fine too, their sturdy construction and greatly reduced number of moving parts resulting in increased durability.

My own bike was still active at first glance, so I slung myself on and tested the throttle. It jerked; the back wheel worked perfectly fine, but the front wheel snapped off from the pressure and went rolling off into the distance.

I jumped off just as it fell over.

“Oops.”

“Is everyone alright?”

Mina jogged over. She had been thrown off as well, but there wasn’t a speck of dust on her dress.

After everyone nodded in confirmation, she sighed.

“Alright, we should continue. Don’t worry about anything that’s broken. Just find a partner to take you. Everything else can be left behind.”

She spoke while lifting her bike, checking and finding that it was okay.

Hearing her, I shrugged and walked over to Umara.

“Looks like I’m with you.”

“Mm. You want to drive?”

“No, I’ve had enough fun. I’d rather just cruise with you.”

I spoke while taking a seat behind her, putting my hands on her waist before pushing them around her belly, wrapping her in a hug from behind.

She looked away, her ears burning as she tapped the gear switch.

“A-Alright. Let’s go then.”

“Let’s.”

I smiled as she rolled forward, all the others getting themselves situated and following behind Mina.

Four bikes were left behind, but it didn’t seem like Mina cared at all. With so much money, what was a few broken toys?

We continued on our way, our target thankfully not far.

Within 5 minutes, we crested a hill to meet an untouched field filled with vibrant blue grasses.

I looked out, wondering where these Flickers were. I had no idea what they even were, so I was curious, especially since hunting them was supposed to be so much fun.

After a few seconds, I noticed some shifting in the field. The blue grass was close to 3 feet tall and hid quite a bit from view.

Still, I was able to pick out something splitting the grass as it moved, slithering like a snake.

It wasn’t all that fast, until I suddenly saw a small gleam of light in two places.

There were several other entities that moved at that moment. There were around 5 at first glance.

My brows raised, I saw Mina pull forward on her bike, her scarlet red hair shifting in the breeze as she peered out toward the field.

“Whoever catches one gets to keep it!”

“Really?!”

“Out of my way!”

With her word, everyone suddenly rushed down the hill and stormed into the field, moving as fast as they could.

Umara was right with them, forcing me to clench her torso as she sped off.

“Find the main body, and don’t let it trick you!”

“Okay?”

I answered back confusedly, not sure what she meant.

Still, I looked out and felt an Aura nearby. It gave off no indication of danger whatsoever, so these Flickers were either non-hostile or weren’t dangerous.

That made them much harder to find though. Still, blots of Aura sped their way through the grass, matching the rustling paths the grass made for them.

“There!”

Umara pressed the accelerator as she spotted the closest one, speeding after it.

The bike finally flexed its speed, shooting off like a rocket with incredible acceleration. Umara was forced to make some sharp turns, but with the magic of the bike, so long as we didn’t hit a crevice and could hang on, it wouldn’t lose traction.

I pressed against her body, shifting my weight with hers as we turned with the Flicker. We managed to draw closer, pulling up nearly directly behind it while splitting off from the others. That’s when I finally saw what it was. It was a wolf, but also not a wolf. The body carried a certain lupine grace, but that’s where the similarities ended. A pair of wings, translucent blue, sprouted from between its shoulder blades. Six legs gave it an unfamiliar gait, and reversed horns similar to that of a goat’s sprouted before its ears. Light blue fur, much closer to white than blue, gave off an impression of coldness.

It glanced back at us with predatory eyes and I caught a glimpse of its azure crystal irises. Despite its strange chimera look, it still radiated an aura of beauty.

I also felt an amazing power coming from its Aura. As we finally closed in and Umara prepared to cast a spell, its Aura surged with a blinding light.

By the time my Aura recovered from the extra-sensory equivalent of a flashbang, a myriad of other creatures had emerged from the main body, which itself was hidden among a few clones. The creatures began running toward the bike, but I still couldn’t feel hostile intent in their Auras. They collided with me, offering no physical impact, but multiple flashbangs went off in my head again. It was disorienting, but thankfully I had the foresight to fortify against another flash. However, it did accomplish its intended effect: distraction. With my senses temporarily washed out, I couldn’t feel past a certain proximity.

After a short while, I had gotten used to the feeling. It had happened more than a few dozen times by now, but more importantly, felt like a very familiar attack of a different level altogether.

The Flicker’s confusion tactics felt very much like a less hostile version of Apocryon’s Aura. His was so vast that even with all my power I had only scratched it. He had taught me a lot from a single exchange. The man was a genius.

But this creature, this Flicker, wasn’t on that level.

I pulled out my 1911 and fired.

The bullet tore through one of the incoming animals, a shower of illusory shards instead of blood and gore bursting forth.

Illusions vanished in rapid succession as I emptied the rest of my magazine into the oncoming horde, a reload sufficient to clear out the rest.

“Amazing!”

Umara brightened up, driving faster without having to worry about the disorienting powers of the illusions. She turned, following one of the clones of the original creature.

“The other bodies can’t go far from its main one! Attack the body and check! If it dies easily, then it’s a fake! Just make sure to keep your attacks light! We can’t hurt it if it’s actually the main body!”

“Alright!”

I nodded before sending away the pistol, taking out a Trench Gun. Without even thinking, I swiveled myself and the shotgun toward the body we were following, and pulled the trigger as we came within 30 meters.

*BOOM*

*Splat!*

The pellets turned the creature into a bloody mess, its body instantly collapsing.

The shots hadn’t even been empowered.

“That’s not it!”

“Damn. Next then!”

Umara turned to find the next one. I turned my head to watch the body, the crumpled mess dissolving into blue and white sparkles.

These things were tricky, weren't they?

That still didn’t explain the enthusiasm everyone had for hunting them. Sure, they were difficult prey and harmless, making for a skillful yet safe activity, but there was something else to this game.

I had a feeling they were valuable: the power of their Aura was nothing to scoff at. Umara did tell me to keep my attacks light; we shouldn’t injure it.

I pondered as she found the second body. This time, I didn’t hesitate to simply pump off some mundane buckshot.

Its body was immediately riddled with wounds, prompting Umara to turn yet again to find the next body.

However, after glancing between the three remaining clones, I patted her shoulder and pointed.

“Go after that one!”

“Alright!”

She didn’t hesitate to follow my direction. It didn’t matter either way, but she knew my Aura was sharp.

I was just trusting my senses.

As we pulled up on the one I pointed out, I stuffed a few shells back into the tube and point-shot the creature.

*BOOM*

Pellets went flying, and, this time, the body didn’t show the slightest sign of blood.

Umara’s back stiffened in excitement.

“That’s it! Suppress it! We need to capture it!”

“I’ll try.”

I mumbled back. I wasn’t exactly suited for not killing things.

However, Apocryon had given me an ace for this situation. Nobody else may have noticed back then, but when I shot at him, the bullet didn’t actually land.

If all of those spikes were nothing more than illusory and tricks within my mind, my bullet would’ve landed since it was real. So either the things created by his Aura hadn’t been an illusion and his he could warp reality with but a thought, or I didn’t actually fire a physical bullet.

My conclusion was the latter. I had in fact fired a bullet, but in that illusive world, neither the gun nor the bullet fired manifested in reality.

What I brought out was the spirit of the gun, and what I fired was the spirit of the bullet.

I had attacked his Aura with my own using summons as a channel for my power.

Apocryon, as a warlock, used odd spells to create those black spikes that attacked me. They were illusions founded on Aura, but still mixed with magic.

I simply did the same thing, except with my summons since I didn’t have magic.

The result?

I could attack with my Aura using my summoner powers as the medium. It wasn’t even a fraction of Apocryon’s skill, but I had opened that door.

So now, against this Aura creature, I decided to do the same thing.

*BOOM*

I fired my shotgun. A blue light flashed as an illusory shield belatedly manifested around it, the Flicker staggering under the impact.

Its Aura fluctuated. I could sense its surprise and panic. It probably wasn’t expecting to encounter someone who could directly affect it.

Another set of clones appeared from its body.

Two of them ran off in opposite directions while the third snarled, ready to fight.

With a quick thought, I pointed to the right.

“That one!”

“Okay!”

Umara jerked the bike, causing it to drift and turn toward the running creature.

At the same time, I pointed my trench gun at the clone that turned to fight, firing and scattering the illusion.

After that, the clone that ran to the left also dissipated, leaving only the one that I had pointed toward.

Umara caught back up to it with ease. Her skill on a bike impressed me. Then again, she had done this before, probably several times throughout her life.

The creature continued to run, even flapping its wings to change directions with incredible agility. Umara almost skid out a few times, barely able to keep up.

But it couldn’t escape us, especially with suppressive fire. Firing bullets even illusively still utilized as much energy as firing normal shots. I still had to empower it with my Psyka and conjure spirits from my dimension. It was combat as I had always known it, except every shell I fired let out illusions that only I and the target could see and hear.

Well, Umara could also see it since she was within proximity. But all the others running around chasing their own targets couldn’t.

The Flicker was just fighting a losing fight at this point: our bike’s speed wasn’t tied to our mentality like the Flicker’s evasive maneuvers were.

Sure enough, after I let off enough shells, the beast slowed to a halt, unable to continue. Its Aura flickered out of control, barely able to maintain itself as its six legs buckled.

We slowed down not far from it. I jumped off then with my gun raised, Umara staying on the bike just in case it wanted to run off again.

“So what do we do with this thing? Is there a way to capture it?”

“Mina has the collar, but I can bind it.”

She took out her staff, a large complex spell winding its way through the air.

The wind was kicked up a bit, the blue grass around us swaying with her magic until the streams of air compressed and wrapped around the creature. I could see her magic coalesce around its body, binding and holding its figure in place.

It could no longer flicker and release clones, even when it tried. Although Umara wasn’t launching Aura attacks like I was, Mana could still affect it. It was still a physical being.

She walked up to me, the spell continuing to operate after having been cast.

She had a huge smile, barely containing her excitement as her focus started to ease.

“We did it! You made that battle far easier.”

“I can see why they would be difficult to hunt. I attacked its Aura, so someone who doesn’t know how to do that would have to expend a lot more energy to whittle it down.”

“Of course. I mean, look at those guys.”

She pointed, causing me to turn to all the other bikes flying through the blue field.

The others were rapidly throwing spells at sprinting animals or using their insane reflexes to try and slice at it with swords and spears. None of them were having an easy time; some were outright failing since they couldn't track the main body as well as I could.

The key to this game was Aura. Without that, you couldn’t win without overwhelming power.

These Flickers didn’t seem amazingly powerful beyond their Aura. This one didn’t fight back with magic or its body. After I disrupted its Aura, it was too weakened to do anything.

After chuckling at the hilarious figures of everyone fighting to capture those Flickers, I turned back to my own prey and walked over to it.

I didn’t feel any danger from it, only warning. Fear was predominant in its posture, but an alien intelligence was easily visible behind those crystal blue eyes.

It observed me as I squatted down in front of it. Umara also silently strengthened her magic, worried that it might try to hurt me.

I reached out with my hand, slowly and without malicious intent. If it was a creature of Aura, it could no doubt feel my intentions, especially when I made them obvious.

I was still surprised when it didn’t try to stop me, only apprehensive as I touched its shoulder.

Its fur was incredibly soft, but the body underneath was rigid. It was definitely as strong as a knight of its level.

From its shoulder I moved my hand to the base of its wings. It twitched, wanting to start but heavily restricted by Umara’s strengthened air currents, so I ignored the attempt.

Despite seeming more like shards of crystal than anything else, the wings still had a corporeal presence, tensioned like metal threads and unyielding to my poking and prodding.

After the wings I felt the horns. They weren’t metallic, but they may as well have been. I couldn’t really test it, but I felt they would be incredibly hard to damage. They were also pitch black, contrasting against its snowy blue fur.

I stood with a sigh, admiring it like a piece of art.

“What an amazing creature. Are they all like this?”

“Every Flicker is unique. They’re all hybrids of various animals. Snakes with feathered wings, turtles with the head of an eagle, lions with the tails of a scorpion. No two are the same, however, these also aren’t normal animals. They’re spirits.”

“Spirits? Like summoned spirits?”

“I believe that’s the consensus, yes.”

Umara nodded, walking closer to the creature.

“From the legends, Flickers start out as little wisps, aimless spirits that spawn from other dimensions. And once they come to our world, they see all the creatures within it and create their body in their own image. This is why all Flickers are unique. They aren’t born from parents, at least not that we know of, so each one is its own entity and chooses its own form. The body of a Flicker is its personality.”

“Hmm.”

I tilted my head, scanning the creature before me.

“I guess this one likes strength. It’s also agile.”

“Yea, it's slippery. The only reason we had a chance at capturing this thing was because you took it down. Speaking of, how’d you do that?”

“Just used my Aura. I’ll tell you about it later.”

Such a thing would be better explained during a discussion, so I brushed off the topic and continued looking at the creature.

Suddenly though, I frowned with a thought.

“Do these things ever take on the form of a human?”

“Actually, no. I’m not sure why they don’t, but I’ve never heard of a humanoid Flicker. Some people say that they’re not intelligent enough to mimic us. Others say that there’s another power that stops them. Perhaps there’s something special about the human form. Regardless, everyone seems to agree that there’s no such thing as a Flicker taking on human characteristics.”

“Curious.”

I rubbed my chin in thought. From my perspective, there wasn’t any reason why they shouldn’t be able to take on human form. Beyond some intelligence and whatnot, humans were animals too. We had organic bodies just like every other creature on the planet. Or, at least from the perspective of Earth. I wasn’t so sure that was the case here.

Regardless, the form shouldn’t matter. Humans walked on two legs and used two arms to carry out tasks. And if they could mimic the organ design of animals, they could do it for humans.

Was there something else there? Maybe there was something special about the human form, just not in the way people thought. Instead of Flickers being unable to mimic humans, perhaps the smart ones did it and something special happened to them. Maybe the reason nobody thought that Flickers mimicked humans was simply because they were never able to detect one that did.

It was an interesting hypothesis that couldn’t be answered anytime soon. Nonetheless, the very existence of a creature like this was fascinating.