"Asaeya!" Upon seeing the shuttle drop to the ground, Inala shrieked in alarm, infusing Prana into his throat. His shout alerted the elites as they launched their Spirit Weapons, intending to catch the shuttle.
"H-Heavy!" An elite grunted in pain as his Spirit Weapon, a spear, stabbed into the shuttle, intending to pull it back up. But, it was too heavy for him, since he was only an elite. All he managed to do was buy a second before the shuttle fell past his range.
Spurting out blood, the elite collapsed, exhausted of all Prana. The other elites in the area were farther away and were a moment late in reacting, for they had been targeting the Zingers.
Inala sprinted without a moment of hesitation and jumped over the edge. His Prana surged into his bag and made a glove fly out. When an elite slowed down the shuttle's fall, Inala used the chance to push forth his glove with all his might.
"Argh!" When the shuttle began to fall, the air resistance caused it to spin, throwing off Asaeya. As the shuttle spun, one of its inner walls slammed into her.
When her body impacted the inner wall, Asaeya's nails grew in length, turning sharp as she clamped upon the wall, latching onto it like a lizard. This at least allowed her some freedom of thought, looking around as tried to find a way out.
The shuttle was a moving platform. To avoid being attacked by the Zingers, walls, and a ceiling were attached by the master that transported it. There were only a couple of fist-sized holes meant for air circulation.
It was impossible for a student to break the bone walls constructed by a master. Asaeya condensed Prana into her fist and punched once, barely denting the wall. Just as she despaired, a spear pierced the wall nearby, rotating at a high speed to poke a hole.
Immediately in response, a few more spears poked the wall, lodging themselves halfway inside as they tried to push the shuttle up in hopes to reduce its acceleration. The elites situated along the stomach and legs of the Empyrean Tusk had taken action.
But even they could only slow down the fall.
The elites tied ropes to their hips and jumped down, falling alongside the shuttle as their Spirit Weapons poked into the shuttle repeatedly. They intended to break open a section of the wall and pull out Asaeya.
But it was taking time and the shuttle was approaching closer and closer to the ground.
"Shit! Hurry!" An elite grunted as blood gushed out of his nose in strain. His Spirit Weapon drilled into the shuttle's wall and penetrated a hole. It turned around inside and made another hole on its way back.
The elites were poking holes in the wall around Asaeya. Since she was latched onto the wall, as long as they broke out the piece she held, they could save her. But they weren't fast enough as only a few elites were in range to take action.
The shuttle had fallen past their positions too quickly for them to handle. The shuttle fell through the layer of clouds and continued to fall. Six hundred metres to the ground. A few seconds to impact. Even though the elites wished to save the kid trapped within the shuttle, they were losing hope as none of them were strong enough to break open the shuttle or hold it in place.
The shuttle fell through the region between the 43rd and 44th Empyrean Tusks. As this region was hardly attacked by the Zingers, only weak elites had been placed on guard. It wasn't even a year since most of these elites graduated from the academy. So, their strength wasn't that high as compared to a student.
Had the veteran elites been at the scene, they would have rescued Asaeya by now. The newbie elites weren't capable enough. Just as they prepared themselves for Asaeya's death, a pair of gloves rushed past them and grabbed two of the lodged spears.
Mystic Bone Art—Prana Domination!
Inala added his imprint in the Spirit Weapons and using the Mystic Bone Art, he refined their shapes, transforming them into blades. The gloves moved back and forth to saw through the wall. Moreover, using his psychokinesis on the gloves, he tugged hard, pulling his body towards the shuttle.
Mystic Bone Art—Sculptor!
Mystic Bone Art—Puppetry!
His four Spirit Weapons targeted a hole each and sawed through them, connecting the holes with a crack. "Asaeya! Brace for impact!"
He shouted and spiked the Prana in his gloves, pulling his body towards the shuttle faster. His Spirit Weapons barely carved a crack in the wall, but it hadn't shattered yet. Hence, with a bang, Inala landed on the region with enough force the crack spread throughout the wall's thickness and caused the affected piece to cave in.
His legs shattered from the impact, but he was so pumped with adrenaline that Inala didn't feel the pain. Instead, his full focus was on saving Asaeya, 'Fuck! She's my first disciple! As if I would let you fuckers kill her!'
His glove clenched into a fist and slammed the edge of the broken piece of wall, flipping it to reveal the figure of Asaeya that was clamped on it, "Grab me!"
Asaeya let go of her hold and leaped onto him, grabbing him like a koala bear as Inala punched forth the walls with his second glove and used the momentum to fly out of the hole. "Elites! Hook my legs!"
"Argh!" Inala blanked out when a spear pierced his thigh and pulled his body up, rapidly slowing down his descent.
"Come on! Slow down, dammit!" The elite that had pierced his spear through Inala's thigh grunted as his Prana surged into his spear and pulled as much as possible. He did indeed succeed in slowing down Inala's descent, causing other nearby elites to catch up.
Since his legs were busted anyway, they hooked their spears in the legs and pulled Inala. Fifty metres above the ground, Inala's figure came to a stop. He had fainted long ago. And holding him for dear life was Asaeya, shrieking upon seeing blood gush out of Inala's orifices, "Help!"
Like reeling a fish, two elites controlled their spears and pulled Inala and Asaeya to an encampment on the Empyrean Tusk's knee.
"Inala!" Asaeya jumped around the moment she landed safely, staring at Inala as she broke down into tears, observing the over dozen spears logged in his legs. Blood leaked out of them nonstop.
Asaeya was flustered, feeling Inala's body turn cold.