51 – Gravity is Working Against Me

The goat charged toward him, and Jonny struggled to get out of the way in time due to the enhanced gravity. His body was more than strong enough to handle it, but he wasn’t used to it, and the goat’s horns stuck out to the side more than he expected. He wasn’t sure if it was just the wind, or if the horn actually brushed his side, but it was a sobering moment, and it made his excitement about the gravity magic fade slightly.

Immediately after the goat brushed past, Jonny’s eyes suddenly widened, and he was forced to fall backward onto his rear end as the goat pivoted its own rear end around to kick him in the face. He tried getting back to his feet, but then the goat’s horns flared again, and the gravity on him increased further, making him slip down onto one knee.

While he struggled, the goat rotated around to face him and lowered its head once more. Its movements were slow, clearly affected by its own magic, but they were steady, and while Jonny was practically immobile, it was able to line up its charge. Jonny saw its legs tense as he tried to get out of the way. Then, with a mighty push, the goat charged forward.

Jonny loaded his body with more mana than it could handle and dove to the side, but lost his balance because right as the goat charged forward, its horns flared again, and gravity turned from extreme, to nearly nonexistent. His hands and feet lost purchase on the ground as he tried to push himself to the side, and all he managed to do was get a little air.

The goat was practically flying at him, and he knew that if it hit him, he would be screwed. It was moving far too fast. It would be like getting hit by a car.

Somehow, before it hit him, he managed to get his arms and legs in position in front of him. He braced himself with mana, crouching and positioning his hands and feet so that they would absorb the impact from the horns. The goat slammed into him with enough force that it sent a shock of dull pain through his body, but he bent his legs and arms, and managed to catch himself.

Stuck to the goat’s face like a weird bug, he tried to shift his hands and wrap them around the horns, but found that the base of the horns where he was grabbing was too thick, and his hands were too small. Unlike how it was with the deer, he just couldn’t get a good grip.

He had the presence of mind to start focusing on his mana, trying to absorb some mana from the goat’s horns, but the moment the goat realized that Jonny had attached himself to its face, it released its hold over gravity, and Jonny almost fell off when he suddenly had to bear his full weight on such poor handholds. The surge of mana formed the connection he needed to steal mana, but he barely got any before the goat made its move. It reared up, raising its head as high as it could before swinging violently downward, increasing gravity as it did.

Jonny realized what was about to happen just a second before it did, and while he was able to let go of the horns and keep from being slammed, the enhanced gravity still slammed him into the ground, and after failing to catch himself on his legs, he found himself on his butt again. Above him, the goat reared up again, somehow fighting against the gravity to stand nearly all the way on its hind legs, raising its front hooves and looking down at Jonny with baleful yellow eyes.

Jonny rolled to the side, using so much mana he could feel his muscles protesting, barely getting out of the way before the hooves came down where he had just been, impacting the ground so hard it made craters.

Knowing this was no time to try to conserve mana, Jonny maintained his high mana expenditure, fighting through the gravity to get to his feet and start running.

“Shit, shit shit!” he said as he tried sprinting away.

He got three steps away before the gravity suddenly reversed again, and his next step sent him flying into the air, arms flailing. He got almost ten feet up before the gravity flipped again, sending him crashing to the ground. He was more prepared this time, and managed to land in a squat and keep his feet. It hurt, but a second later, he was running again.

He glanced back to see the goat already running after him. It was slowed by the gravity, just as he was, but it was also stronger than he was, and it was gaining fast. He prepared to dodge, only for him to find himself feeling nearly weightless again, and floating up.

“Fuck!” he shouted, seeing the goat charging him again.

Stuck midair, he had no way to get out of the way in time, and had to try to brace himself for impact again. This time, though, he was at a worse angle. The only limbs he could get between himself and the goat were his legs, and while tried to bend down and grab onto its horns with his hands, he was less successful, and the goat had learned. Just as his hands made contact with the horns, the goat jerked its head upward, and throwing him up and away. He lost contact with the goat entirely as it fell, and he continued to rise.

The goat came to a stop in the snow while Jonny was still falling, more than thirty feet away. The further he got from the goat, the less its gravity field affected him, so even when the goat increased gravity again, the impact with the ground was not that bad, but the goat had pushed him quite far downhill, and when he landed, he started rolling.

He panicked as he flipped over twice, unable to get his bearings. All he could do was put his hands on his head and reinforce his body against any rocks hidden under the snow. He rolled more than a hundred feet before finally slowing as the ground evened out, and as soon as he was able to tell which direction was up, he re-oriented himself, skidding across the ground on his feet.

He braced himself for the goat’s next attack, but when he stood up, he saw that the goat had not followed him. It was still standing far uphill, watching him. Jonny waited for it to come down the hill to finish him off, but it never did, and a few seconds later, it turned around, disappearing as it walked back toward the mana well.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Well, fuck you, too!” Jonny shouted after it.

Fortunately, it did not respond, or turn around. Jonny was not in good shape. He was not seriously injured, but the tumble had bruised and battered him, and his whole body was sore from overusing his mana. He was also a little dizzy from rolling so far, and likely wouldn’t have been able to react accordingly.

“Fuuuuuuuuck,” he breathed, stumbling backward and sitting down in the snow.