The giant Yeti turned its head, carefully looking at the rings around it and took a step forward. As the beast's foot hit the ground its weight caused the floor beneath it to collapse. The creature fell forward as one leg disappeared into a pit that must have been designed for exactly this. It crashed to the ground on one knee as it pushed itself back up, Jack felt a few faint bursts of mana from all around the ringed terraces.

  The Yeti tried to stand but couldn't find purchase; it yanked and tugged trying to pull its leg free but something must have been holding it firm. A barrage of what Jack now knew were likely the large ballista bolts like those in the cart soared through the air. Some of the bolts seemed to be enhanced slightly, trailing faint lights Jack had begun to associate with mana.

  Most of the projectiles missed. A few that were either better aimed or luckier made contact, but other than one, they left no damage. The one that had left a mark only did so because it hit a sensitive part on the inside of the monster's knee; even then, there was only the slightest hint of blood.

  Jack stared at the scene in shock. He had been basing his understanding of the universe's power levels on Monty, he saw now that might have been wrong. Still he had to be missing something, Turrel had said Zerra was behind earth technology-wise but still… Ballista? Even with mana infused bolts, there had to be more than that? The skill required to build this city was evident so he found it hard to believe there was no better weaponry.

  As the thought crossed his mind, the group of three in front of him loaded one of the bolts onto the ballista. From a closer vantage point, he noticed he had been underestimating the size of these bolts due to the distance. Each one looked to be at least three metres long and as thick as he was. It looked incredibly sharp and had intricate carvings all over the shaft.

  The massive projectiles required three of the large lizardfolk to lift. He had no way to gauge its weight, but judging by how they struggled with it, it had to be at least a few hundred kilograms. They struggled with the bolt for a few moments, but once it settled into place behind the ballista it snapped into place, almost like it was magnetised. Once it was locked in, one of them infused mana into the ballista and the device cranked itself back as it locked into place. With the bolt loaded, one of the three drew deeply on a crystal on his belt. Jack knew the feeling of the mana that he sensed from it—it was one he had tried to memorize. Fire!

  The person charging the bolt seemed to struggle as their body shook with effort. The symbols on the bolt started to glow deep red as the metal itself began to heat up and give off a glow of its own.

  One of his friends grabbed the man's shoulder and shook him; he stopped charging and collapsed to the ground. If Jack had to guess, it looked like he had infused the bolt with almost an entire gem's charge. Jack assumed channeling fire mana must be very different from life mana, or perhaps the person had simply had a long day. Channeling that much life mana hadn't bothered him in the slightest.

  Bolts still rained down on the Yeti, much more haphazardly than before; the defenders seemed to just be firing as soon as they had loaded. There was no coordination as far as he could see, if there was something else coming, he had no idea. Jack stared in wonder at the beast, better understanding just how thick this creature's hide must be for these bolts to do almost no damage.

  Monty and Brandt were having a heated whispering discussion to the side while Turrel was fixated on the beast. Every now and then, when a bolt seemed to be on target with something vital, a flash of blue would light up before the bolt made contact. When it did, the bolt seemed to disappear in a mist.

  “Do you see that, Jack? The barrier it is creating?” Turrel asked, pointing at a flash.

  “Barely. Is it using an ability? What Tier is it then?” Jack asked, focusing on trying to catch another of the flashes.

  “Yes. It is likely a Tier 2 evolved variant by the sounds of it. It will have at least one ability, possibly two, but that would only happen if it was mutated. Which would be a much bigger problem.” Stroking his beard, he leaned on the rail slightly, seeming unfazed by the potential danger. “That barrier is very interesting, Jack. These bolts are designed to enhance any imbued attributes by the looks of it. Some of them have been charged with air mana and imbued to increase their piercing power. They should be able to easily pierce through an ice barrier.” He turned with an excited look on his face.

  “But that's the thing, Jack. It is designed to shatter on impact. The barrier itself seems to be incredibly cold and brittle. It is somehow passing that property on to anything it comes into contact with, essentially turning anything it touches into brittle ice. The sheer act of moving at speed shatters them after they are affected. Fascinating stuff. Maybe I should come on more expeditions…” Turrel muttered.

  Jack’s eyes were wide. That sounded terrifying to him; he understood Turrel wanting to learn to recreate it, but a level below them, people were fighting to defend their home. It seemed a little detached and out of place to him, but he was beginning to understand that his current company was not exactly ordinary.

  An explosion rang out near them, and as the ground shook, Jack glanced around, noticing smoke from where the three people at the ballista had been. Following the trail of the smoke he managed to catch a glimpse of the tail of the fired bolt as it roared through the air twice as fast as any of the previous shots.

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  The Yeti seemed to sense the incoming danger and its massive head twisted towards the oncoming bolt. It tried once more to yank its leg out of the pit but abandoned the attempt and raised a hand. This time Jack saw the barriers being created—not one, not two, but three in a row, all spaced slightly in front of each other floating in the air.

  The red bolt sped towards the first barrier and crashed through. A mist sprang up around the bolt as the barrier tried to freeze it. The red glow dimmed slightly, but the ability wasn't strong enough to counteract the heat from inside the projectile.

  Powering onwards it crashed into the second barrier and disappeared from Jack's sight in a burst of ice. A moment later it reappeared as it shot through towards the last barrier.

  The bolt's symbols and red glow had dimmed significantly and most of its heat had obviously been lost. However, it was still traveling faster than any of the other projectiles Jack had seen so far. It collided with the last barrier and made it clear through, the last of the red glow sputtering away as the tail of the bolt burst into ice and scattered in the wind.

  The bolt's trajectory changed ever so slightly as it lost a bit of weight, and instead of continuing through to pierce the Yeti in its chest, it shot over its shoulder. It left a large furred cut that was visible through the beast's fur, blood began to stain the area around it a stark red against the white of its fur.

  Yet for all of that destructive force, all it had achieved was a single cut on a stationary beast—a creature they had been prepared for, one they had weapons pointed at and had obviously dealt with in the past. The thought of one of these creatures being dropped into the middle of a populated city on Earth terrified him.

  He knew they would probably have better weapons, but would bullets do much to a creature like this? These car-sized ballista bolts were barely injuring it, he doubted a bullet a few centimetres long would have much impact.

  Wondering how he would try to counteract the barrier if he had to, he was interrupted as the Yeti let out a deep howl that sent a chill through him. He stared back down at the beast as it was clawing at the ground trying to dig its captured leg free.

  Whatever had locked onto its leg had a tight hold, and no matter how much the massive creature tugged or struggled it wouldn't budge. All the while bolts rained down on it, most missing but slowly more and more made it through. The creature was focused on trying to free itself rather than generating barriers and more of the projectiles found a way to leave a mark.

  All around him there were bolts scattered on the ground, but still it stabbed its claws into the ground and tore out chunks of the stone.

  “It won’t get free, not that way at least.” Jack heard from surprisingly close and turned his head to the side and found himself eye to stomach with Overseer Brandt.

  “It is a devilish little trap, they use a variation to catch sandworms in the desert. There is a cylinder in there with some very strong and very sharp teeth in it. They are on a spring-like mechanism, normally they are all touching in the middle but they will push in and let something enter.” Brandt held his hands together in a V shape.

  “Unfortunately for the beast, they do not retract. There is some sort of weight trigger and one of the local craftsmen added some sort of earth enchantment as well, once the trap is activated, it literally merges with the stone around it. As I said, it won't escape that way.”

  Nodding, Jack stared at the scene playing out in front and found himself strangely unafraid; he felt a little ashamed of that if he was honest. This wasn’t his home, or his world, he was just a visitor. The threat to him was minimal if anything; he was surrounded by people who would likely be able to deal with the creature on their own if they needed to.

  He looked down at the three lizardfolk who had put their everything into charging the fire bolt. Two of them were trying to drag another bolt up to load it while the one that had charged it was leaning against the cart. They were struggling, fighting and exhausted, who knows how many times they had done this recently and who knew how many more times they would have to.

  As far as he had been told, there were even worse creatures that could have come through that portal. The Tier 3 riftspawn were on the level of the Rift Guardian according to Turrel and an evolved variety was on another level as well.

  Something in the air changed and he turned his head back down towards the rift. The Yeti was still. Kneeling and obviously frustrated it was staring at the terraces above it and breathing heavily.

  A low growl started to reverberate throughout the area, echoing up the mountainside. A strange feeling came over the area, it almost felt as if the wind had stopped moving, but Jack realised that it was just the mana from the rift.

  It wasn’t flowing out into the area anymore, it was all flowing directly into the Yeti who with each deep breath seemed to be absorbing more and more mana.

  “Overseer Brandt.” Turrel said sharply.

  “Yes. I see it. What do you propose? I can’t allow interference in the conflict. You understand right?” Overseer Brandt replied with a slow shake of his head as he held onto Monty.

  Jack could sense something serious was happening and looking between his colleagues he got the feeling it was something big.

  “I understand, Overseer. I was tasked with ensuring Jack’s safety, this was a direct task given to me by Envoy Thull. I do not want to overstep here, but I believe I would be within my rights to assess this as a dangerous situation for Jack.” Turrel said as he looked between Brandt and the kneeling Yeti.

  “Go on.” Brandt said.

  “As there is an immediate threat and I would be remiss in my service to the Envoy if I did not act immediately. I request permission to intervene in the current conflict and postpone judgement on my actions after consulting with Envoy Thull at a later date.” Turrel motioned for Monty to step back as he held his hand out to the side. Before Brandt had even responded Turrel began to draw in the ice mana around them.

  “Ha ha ha, Good one. I can feel the bond forming. Fine approved, do as you see fit. I have always wanted to see the fabled layering technique in action” Overseer Brandt laughed as he too stepped clear of Turrel.

  Taking a cue from the two of them Jack also stepped back to join Monty and Brandt as an orb of water formed over the top of Turrel's hand.

  “Watch closely, Jack.” Monty whispered.

  “Turrel may underplay it, but in certain situations. He is one of the most powerful people in the Universe.”