lying, I’m firing a bolt between your eyes.”

I laughed, “Your standards for taste are just incredibly low. And I mean low.”

“Ok Daniel, I’m looking forward to it.” She glanced down, tearing open another can. “Thanks for the company, but I’m pretty sure Torix will hate you if you keep him waiting much longer.”

I smacked my forehead, “Oh fuck. Yeah, I gotta go.” I walked out of the tent while waving a hand, “It was fun. We should do this again sometime.”

With a slight smile, she nodded, “Yeah. I’d like that.”

After walking across the camp again, I reached back into Torix’s home. As he lived in it longer, the place turned more and more eerie. There were trails of upturned earth surrounding the place, probably the burrows that the beetles used. I remember overhearing Kessiah and Torix’s conversation before being tossed by one.

Combine that with the shattered windows inside the building, and you had a certified evil lair by now. I walked up towards it, using my telekinetic fields to not break through the housing. The force of compression was weird, but better than breaking every building I went into.

Once I reached into the building Torix had added tables and tables laden with tools. Clippers, snappers, breakers and beakers, hammers and scissors of all shapes and sizes, the tables were chock full of creepy, metal tools. At the same time, everything was neat and organized which just added to the ominous effect.

I didn’t really care by now though. I walked into the room with my footsteps damn near silent. I was reorienting the weight of my body against my sides and shoulders. Since my armor was so hard, it didn’t make much noise when even the weight of my heels pressed against it.

This allowed me to sneak up to Torix, who was hunched over a table and dissecting one of the plague insects. I tapped his shoulder, “Sorry I’m late. What you up to-“

Torix whipped out a hand, a block of black mana forming around me. He pressed me backwards about a foot before slamming himself into the wall. With pieces of drywall falling with him, he fell onto his table before glancing back up at me,

“Oh, it’s you apostle. Excuse my sudden assault. I thought you were an intruder.” He glanced to his side while cupping his chin, “I knew I shouldn’t have told the beetles to handle you as a non-threat.” He glanced back up at me, “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

I reached out a hand, which he took to help him back up,

“If I had one that is.”

Once upright, he lifted a hand. The wall reconstructed while the metal pieces reoriented back into their precise placings. Turning back to me, he grinned, “Have you been working on your sneaking skills?”

I shook my head, “Not really. I’m using telekinesis.”

Torix raised an eyebrow, so I continued, “I’m placing field under my feet and redirecting the weight against my shoulders and sides. Makes it so that I don’t crush through floors.”

“Ahhhhh. I understand now. Creative and effective. Good. I believe you’re ready.”

“Ready for what exactly?”

Torix smiled, making his signature evil grin, “To wield gravity.”