Chapter 4: Soul Debt In the blink of an eye, Finn’s hand flashed towards Lionel at inhuman speeds, making the Revenant’s eyes widen further in shock. A loud Clash resounded through the empty building, causing Rick, who stood some ways by the side to stumble from the shockwave of the impact. He kept his gaze on the clash despite his fall, squinting his eyes to see what had happened. That was close!! Lionel thought in alarm as his vision cleared. His shadow soul mass had barely made it in time. The wraith-like, twisting figure blocked Finn’s strike head on, with hands that had become solid. But that was not the surprising part. Lionel clenched his jaws as he observed Finn from behind his shadow soul mass. The boy still had a grin on his face as though he didn’t feel the slightest pain from such an inhuman clash. There was no way he was okay after that. The human body couldn’t tank such a force without damage. His eyes went to Finn’s arm, which was locked against his shadow soul mass in a battle of strength, pushing for dominance even after the clash. No broken bones. His eyes went up to meet Finn’s which was fixed solely on him already, grinning. So he’s still somewhere in there... Lionel frowned. Embodiment manifestation...? A Body Enhancer’s soul mass, maybe? Yes. That was the only way he could tank such a hit. But that begged the question, where did someone like Finn get the chaotic soul mass of a dead Enhancer Arcanist? If he already could, why did he still need to come all the way here to find him? Lionel frowned deeper. None of it made any sense. The soul mass seemed to be very strong too. For it to hold up this well against his ’Shambler’. "Tch" Lionel hissed, before urging his Shambler forward. It received his instruction immediately, exerting more strength against Finn, pushing him a few steps backwards. Finn staggered before stabilizing and lunging forward again without care, and even faster this time. "I’m coming for your head!!" he yelled with a cacophony of voices that sounded grating in the ears, laughing manically as he charged. "Shambler!!" Lionel yelled, spurring his wraith-like soul mass to close the distance too. A loud thump displaced the air around the point of impact, sending the two parties careening backwards immediately as they clashed. How is he this strong?!! Lionel was flabbergasted, with traces of unease creeping up his spine. Where’s the debt for this strength?! His eyes frantically searched over Finn in the distance, trying to discern the specifics of his ’soul debt’. Such strength would surely require an immediately visible debt. He needed to find what it was and take advantage of it. "Shambler," he urged his soul mass forward again from where he stood unmoving, watching the fight. Sounds of clashes upon clashes resounded as Finn battled madly with his shadow manifestation. Slowly, Finn began to take the upper hand, each blow becoming faster, stronger, heavier... The Shambler was being beaten back. But Lionel was at ease, a small smile playing on his lips. He had figured it out. Finn’s Soul Debt. Immediately, he sent a thought to Shambler, who received it and mechanically carried out the order. As Finn dashed in for another blow, with his abyssal black eyes tilted up in a mad grin, the Shambler suddenly dropped its guard, allowing the blow to hit cleanly. The blow was heavy, folding its seven feet figure from its midsection and sending it flying back towards Lionel, who was now openly cackling without care. The Shambler skidded to a stop, killing the momentum of the blow right before it hit its master. Rick, suffering terribly from the effects of being exposed to a soul mass, was on the ground about ten feet by the side, with no choice but to spectate the fight. His already fear-stricken eyes widened further in panic as he noticed the same thing Lionel had. "F—Finn..." his voice came out in a whisper, trying to warn his friend... if his friend was even sane enough to be warned. Finn did not hear a thing. Instead, driven by the mad urge to destroy, he lunged right after The Shambler, unthinking... or at least he tried to lunge. A frown colored his face as his perspective suddenly lowered. He was falling to the ground? Why? His black eyes looked downwards at his body searchingly, showing that there was at least some modicum of self still intact. He was not yet fully overtaken that he’d keep mindlessly charging despite such a change. His eyes located the source of his fall immediately. A large gash that was hard to miss spilled blood from his thigh like a stream. The gash went straight down from his thigh, and nearly to his feet, severing the muscles necessary for movement. Lionel cackled loudly where he stood, observing the slight look of surprise that flickered behind Finn’s eyes before disappearing like it was never there. Lionel noted it though, but continued as though he hadn’t. "You fool," he stared into Finn’s eyes as the young man struggled to stand with his gaze locked on him. "You cannot feel a thing, can you?" He raised a finger at Finn, "The debt for your speed and your power demands your ability to feel pain..." he drawled out, raising another finger, "and the fragility of areas of your body you do not consciously focus on," he chuckled, watching Finn’s bristling face carefully. He seemed sure the young man could hear him clearly through his chaotic state. "I’m right aren’t I?" the edges of his mouth pulled up in a sure smile, before he abruptly waved a hand, urging Shambler to charge at Finn. "I know you can still stand, boy!" He roared. A roar laced with madness and excitement. "You have a lot of assimilated soul masses! Let them all loose! I want to see something good! Show me what a person wracked with stacked soul debts will look like!!!" The Shambler bounded on Finn’s position, slashing down at his prone figure without hesitation!