Defiant Streak, Refuse the Hunter, and Deny the Reaper merge and form Rage Against Fate!
New Ability
Rage Against Fate You think that's enough to stop me?
-Nullify opposing Auto Kill effects, mental effects, and Slayer-Abilities within 80m.
-Defiance remains alive for the next two turns after her Health falls below 0; should she heal back above 0 in that time, or the person responsible for this Ability triggering be killed by her, her death is prevented.
800 EXP spent
56 remain
[] Plan Secure Food Supply
-[] Hunt large beasts
-[] Practice x2
[] [Bonus] Time a normal attack so it synchronises its damage with one echo of Argent Star's Perpetual Caster. [1 Training Action]
"Okay, so what's about the wings?" You can not help but ask; with the both of you sitting and eating a quick breakfast from the Fairy rations, you do have the time anyway.
Lu does not really react outwardly, she merely folds the pair on her back as she chews. After swallowing her food, your friend shrugs. "All Angels can dismiss their wings like that. We just do not do so because it feels... alienating. It is useful for fitting into small spaces, but basically no Angel will put their wings away for no reason."
You nod slowly and finish chewing your own food. "Yeah, I guess I get that. They are a part of you after all."
It is difficult to imagine, as you have no wings of your own. Maybe something like putting your arms or legs away? That comparison does not completely work because Angels can still walk and grab things, but it is probably the closest you will get.
Just as you make to take another bite however, your magic shifts and suddenly projects outward, scaring off two rabbit-sized things that had been grazing outside. You can see it subtly interweaving with your surroundings for a good distance, crackling with power. Lu went still as well, eyeing you intently. "It grew again."
There is not even any question in this. You can feel your powers roaring inside, though they seem to stay less obvious on the outside.
"Well, now I have something to do for the morning," you joke with a bit of resignation; all that growing is great, but having to figure things out all the time does take a while you could spend otherwise.
And then Lu crushes your lacking enthusiasm even more: "More than just this morning. This is an aura, and a rather noticeable one. Unless we constantly want to chase creatures around and tire ourselves out, you have to learn to suppress it, draw it back into yourself. Else everything in a vast area will be aware of your presence."
You just groan and chew another mouthful in resignation. It does not last for long as you begin to think how to start, but Lu distracts you again: "have you decided on something to train in-between yet?"
Oh, right. You nod and swallow quickly. "Yep. I figure I'm going to start with something simple and practice attacking an enemy at the moment they are hit by Argent Star." Then you drink some of the water to finish off your meal.
The first sign something is wrong is Lu's frown. She eyes you carefully for a few moments as she, too, finishes with a drink. Only afterward does she ask: "Is this wise? Argent Star is volatile and has a rather wide reach. It is also a good bit faster than you, so you will not be able to take distance from it if you want to hit at the right time."
You... did not actually think about that. Huh.
"You're right. Damn, I didn't even notice." You sigh and throw that idea out. "Okay, I'll think of something else."
"See that you do."
(Due to the GM not realising how self-defeating this exploit is ahead of time, you get to see what it looks like when Heidi throws stuff at the wall to see what sticks, as is normal when practicing exploits and usually omitted for player convenience. There will be a new vote for the bonus slot at the end of this chapter, you do not effectively lose anything.)
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
The first thing you realise, soon after starting, is that this aura is not new. Not entirely, at least.
It is, in fact, three other distinctive powers merging into a single one, the whole greater than the sum of its parts; the aura is just an outward effect, with an inward one in addition. And oh boy, is it powerful. Each of the three original things is in there, but quite a bit more powerful. You will have to check more carefully to find out the aura's exact reach, but its definitely quite the amount of ground it covers.
Your second find is that suppressing it works similarly to suppressing the magic which aids you in battle. That one surges normally, empowering each strike you make; but by actively pulling it back, you can stop it from doing that and get a much better fine control for how hard you hit, in case you are sparring.
This here in particular is rather similar; you can do something which amounts to pulling back the aura, lowering its reach bit by bit as you draw it into yourself. At least you already know the basic part, which is pulling it with your mind; getting the hang of that was weird, but you managed with Lu's help and advice back at the Keep. So now you only need to practice doing it to this part of your power instead of the automatic strike augment.
It still takes you all morning and noon to get a proper hold of the aura without making it snap back every ten seconds or so. Which is while you are focussed on it anyway, so chances are it will come back out once you go into battle.
Lu spent that time setting up what amounts to a kind-of butcher's workshop, heaping up rocks and wood and hardening surfaces with Brand Craft. She even carved herself a set of stone knives, each one as sharp as a steel one thanks to Brand Craft yet again.
Once you are at least somewhat proficient however, Lu interrupts her preparations to lead you out. "Tell me if you see any large amounts of mana underground, especially below flowerbeds."
Her instruction is a little weird, but you accept it and keep your eyes open; an hour of walking interspersed with flying later, you can finally point to a set of flowers of various kinds, set some distance from a handful of trees. Milidia's flora is rather big in general, with each of these flowers being as tall as you.
Three of them, however, are positively glowing with mana where the rest only has what you would call normal amounts. Looking down reveals them attached to a few large creatures, what should be their heads directed upward.
You need a moment to take in what you are seeing, then you turn to Lu. "Milidia has ambush predators masquerading as flowers?"
She shrugs at that, though you can see the faint grin on her lips. "I see we found some," she notes and follows your gaze. "Knowing they are there, I think I can see them too. These are Mimic Stalks, a dangerous kind of predator. They sense through the ground and the air, with no actual need for their eyes. They can last in wait for months and years if need be."
Lu motions for the flowers, making no motion of getting closer. "I forgot how far they can actually sense, but it is stronger in the ground than in the air. Those flowers can disperse pollen which put prey to sleep. I forgot their exact range as well, but it is not much beyond their body length."
So on a guess, you would say somewhere between five and eight metres. Lu nods when you tell her that, then motions for the three critters. "You will hunt a few more than just those, but it is a start."
"Makes sense. So... wait, I will? What about you?"
Your friend just gives you another, more insufferable grin. "This will double as training for you." Your resultant groan is ignored. "I know how to disable these creatures safely, but you have precious little experience fighting opponents you can not just outmatch in some way. As a melee specialist, you will have to learn how to get close and stay close even if your opponent has an advantage there."
She motions for the group of monsters again. "So go ahead and give this your best shot. If you feel like taking this seriously as practice, do not use Argent Star."
You show her the finger and take a few steps forward to take a closer look. The Mimic Stalks are not right next to each other, but not too far away either. Maybe about twenty metres between each one, in a not completely straight line? A single tree stands right next to the most distant one, probably not high enough to get you out of the pollen's reach; else, it is just flowers, and a few small critters that look a bit like boars. With small meaning that they only reach up to your rump.
"Oh, I forgot to mention: they are still quite powerful, so they are not going to flee from an opponent your size immediately. They will tunnel away if you take too long fighting them, though. They aren't likely to flee if your aura leaves your grasp either, which is why they are our first targets."
You show Lu another finger, but are still grateful for the additional information. Her chuckling is ignored.
Now, how to go about this....
-------------
[] Just charge them and hope for the best
[] Maybe try throwing your weapon? But at what?
[] Ignore Lu and use Argent Star
[] Something else
-[] Write-in what
[] [BONUS] Write-in what to practice additionally
[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it
=====
+5xp You Never Stop Learning
EXP gained: 5 Total EXP: 61
=====
-Soft Mechanics updated
=====
Mimic Stalk
Stats
Health: 6,000
Base Damage: 400
Base Resilience: 350
Magic Modifier: 125
Digging
Level 2
-Mimic Stalks may burrow into the earth and dig at up to 10mph.
???
-???
Dangerous Wait
-Mimic Stalks may contort their bodies to devour prey up to ten times their own size and break them down into mana within hours, returning to their normal size. They can store up this mana to reconvert into nutrients, allowing to survive for months without hunting or catching prey.
Seismic Sense
-With a hide sensitive to tremors and waves, Mimic Stalks are capable of sensing movement within ???m of themselves while burrowed in the earth, and within ??m while at the open air.
[] Plan: Bait variant
-[] Prepare by using Conundrum before beginning.
-[] chase one of the "small" boars into the "flowers" or throw a stone into them.
-[] kill the monster while they are distracted eating/killing the boar.
-[] maybe Stygian Tempest can disperse the pollen? Try it if needed.
[] [BONUS] -have Arcane Slash's Echo carry the weapon attack as well when layering the spell over it [2 Training Actions]
This is actually an interesting riddle Lu gave you there. These Mimic Stalks are difficult to engage in melee because they win the moment you fall asleep; without any proper ranged measures, you find that you actually have to get creative. Not just in the way of where to step and how to parry, but rather how to approach the fight itself.
You consider trying a fast charge anyway, see if that gets the job done, but a moment of reason stops you from acting hastily. There are better options than slamming your head against the wall and hoping it breaks, metaphorically speaking. Even if, admittedly, you do that far too often anyway.
First of all, protection. "Conundrum." On your call, magic seeps from your palms and over your entire body.
(Conundrum: +1125 Base Boost, +894 dice = 2,019 Total Defense
Damage Block active, Damage Barrier active.)
Your eyes wander around over the various elements in your surroundings. Plants are not useful, no trees high enough to climb and leap down from. You have no idea what all those flowers and herbs do, so you are not going to try working with them either.
Instead however, your gaze comes to rest on the handful of boar-like critters; you ignore the fact their fur is an almost camouflaging green. It stands out to your sight well enough, seeing that it shines quite a bit brighter than the rest.
Thankfully, there is no leyline running right below; that would have thrown off your handy sense somewhat fierce. The nearest one runs by toward the horizon, further away from your temporary base.
Anyway, you have little critters there. You have ambush predators who are hopefully not too smart. It is a little sad that you have to use these pseudo-boars, but they are all you have at hand. Maybe you can make it so they do not get killed, that would be nice.
So you get to work, circling around the nearest one as your weapon forms in your hands, quickly turning into Aetheric Tide for your convenience. The boar watches you carefully and starts to retreat as you near; not fast, though. It confuses you a little, but then you remember that they never saw or smelled a human before; they can not tell how dangerous you are, just that you are taller than them. So this one gives space and watches you cautiously.
You slightly change direction so it backs further away into the direction you want, then walk directly toward it. The boar twitches and stops, grunting as it measures you up.
Standing straight, you are more than twice as tall as that critter and can stare down at it without any hesitation or fear, not to mention the shroud of active magic roiling around you. When you take another step, it turns tail and runs. Right at the nearest Mimic Stalk; it hops this way and that in its flight, but mostly remains on a straight path
You follow at a sedate pace, no need for speed right now; some of the other boars are watching you, but you pay them no mind. The one you singled out dashes forward on its stubby legs; it stops halfway toward the ambushers and turns around to see if you are following, then continues to dart away.
Now you speed up, weapon switching to Reaper's Will; you actually wanted to slap the boar's back to get it running, but that part worked out better than expected.
Due to you still maintaining some distance and despite your almost peak human running speed, the boar reaches the Mimic Stalk a good bit ahead of you. Then you see it, the flower belonging to the creature spitting out a swath of bluely tinted pollen; they quickly disperse over a comparably wide area, not losing their potency. Eight, maybe ten metres wide. So maybe five in all directions.
The boar stumbles forward as it enters that area a moment later; you can not see it clearly, but the pollen shift a little before the boar falls to the ground, fast asleep.
The pollen quickly lose their properties and fade away while the Mimic Stalk digs itself out. Now is your chance.
At first it does not seem to react to your approach as it taps the boar to make sure it is asleep, but then it whirls around at surprising speed and snaps for you, once you are in range.
(Razor Teeth: +400 Base Damage, +20 dice = 420 Total Damage
Attack Negated)
You do not even need to try with this one, it is a straight-forward attempt to tear into you with those nasty, sharp teeth. So you hop up and above the short lunge, landing with your right foot and slightly digging your heel into the creature's scaly hide. From there you make two steps and turn to the bulbous head and the exposed neck now in front of you. It ducks, probably to rear up and throw you off; too bad you are faster and slice at its neck
(Reaper's Will: +500 Base Damage, +532 dice, +2500 Superslayer = 3,532 Total Damage
Mimic Stalk: +350 Base Resilience, +96 dice, -100 Can Not See You, -6000 Off With His Head = 5,654 Extra Damage
9,186 Final End Damage
Mimic Stalk Health: 6000 - 9,186 = -3,186)
The blade easily slices through the creature's neck and it drops to the ground, head rolling forward until it comes to a stop on its teeth. You give it an experimental kick just like it did with the boar, to see if it budges, but that seems to have done it. A bit of wind makes your cape-like ribbons flutter, which probably makes for an impressive picture.
Going by the pleased expression on Lu's face, you did good.
Then your aura slips your grasp and makes the remaining boars flee; so much for that. You sigh and rein it back in, then start to think how to get the next one.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
She has you continue doing that kind of thing a few more times, though several Mimic Stalks actually tunnel away after noticing you dispatching their nearby kin. They apparently live in groups of three or four most of the time.
Either way, it takes the better part of two days to get enough for Lu to be happy. She already started eviscerating your first kills before the last were even beaten; according to her, while many parts of Mimic Stalks are inedible for various reasons, there is enough on each one to make for a sizable amount of meat.
By the time you are done fighting these critters, the provisions from the Fairies have run out in your final meal that evening. It does not matter though, seeing that Lu is already at work making more; you spend that evening setting up a larger space as a kind-of refrigerator that keeps the carcasses from spoiling; Lu already made something similar for the food, including a few berries she found by chance.
You have water from the river as well; just water, but it will do. You will get past this.
The next morning, after clearing your next idea for practice on the side with Lu, you make to begin training Voyage.
And you start... by meditating. Without the weird seating position, of course. Just a nice spot on the grass, shadowed by the forest nearby; Milidia's summer is warm.
Voyage has always eluded you before; you could never actually discern how it works from introspection, it just would not let you. It felt as if there was some kind of filter between your mind and that part of your magic, preventing you from looking at it properly and turning any expression you got from it into gibberish.
The methodic clacking of a reinforced stone knife hitting the chopping block is the last sound to slowly fade from your mind as you focus again. Maybe the second casting of your spell removed that filter, you reckon.
Alas, no such luck. It is still there.
You do not give up that easily, though; you keep looking for a while, only to strain what counts for eyes while in your own mind. That filter does not budge no matter what; which means you are not going to get through it... but maybe around? You never spent too much time on Voyage after finding out you can not discern it easily.
When you start to shift your perspective however, Lu shakes you out of your trance for lunch. She asks you about your progress and is not surprised when you have nothing to show yet.
Over lunch however, your friend casts a curious gaze at you. "There is something I wanted to ask you." She waits until you make a motion for her to go ahead; yet the questions your friend asks almost makes you choke on the chewy meat: "Why would you run from Gabriel? I have fought and killed Archangels before," she elaborates thoughtfully, "and even though you were cautioned against that kind of opponent, I never saw you so afraid of anything before. Not me, not the Imperial Golem, not Argus, no one."
Your chewing slows down as you consider. She is right and you do not feel like trying to make excuses; you are a bad liar anyway. So you swallow, both your food and the sudden lump in your throat, and shake your head. "I wouldn't dare. I can't and you mustn't even if you could win. It would change the timeline if Gabriel died."
Lu is quiet as the implications roll through her mind; you give her time to think and wait for a response. You get it a few seconds later, in form of a question: "She lived to your time?"
You nod. Prior discussions with your friend had you explain the problematic parts about time travel to her before, as well as the various media humanity has on the subject. She knows that changing the past is a big no in basically all of it.
Sadly, she also catches on that this was not all: "She is a captain of the First Host, the elite of the elite, at the time we met her. From what I recall, Gabriel is earning the credentials to take command of that Host entirely. With how scared of her you were... how far is she going to get?"
You can only avert your gaze there, suddenly no longer feeling hungry. You stood so close to certain death and yet still a part of you wished to fight while the rest screamed over it in terror. What do you tell her except the truth?
"I doubt there is a single person, be it in the Unified Light or Darkness, who doesn't know Grand Archangel Gabriel. She led the entire UL, not just Heaven's Host. We lost her a few years ago though, during the fall of Hope. She held the line when the UD overran Reluxus and sealed the Hyper Gate to prevent them from getting further into Elven territory."
Lu blinks at that, then shakes her head softly. "Sounds like her," she mutters. You ignore it and sigh heavily.
"I... I never thought I'd actually see her in person. Gabriel's Last Stand, they call what she did at Reluxus."
Your friend nods as she takes in the new information. Then she freezes and her eyes turn to back to you. "This war...." Oh. You never mentioned that. "...it keeps going for another five thousand years?"
You were not meaning to tell her that, but this one is on you, so you just nod. "Yep. We call it the Eternal War in our time. But don't ask me how it's going. I don't really keep up with the news." Not to mention that a good bit of it is likely propaganda to keep the populace calm.
"I see." It is rather clear your friend has to think about this for a while, so you force down the rest of your cooked meat and the few sweet berries, then get back to your meditations.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
Your breakthrough follows on the week's final day, toward the afternoon. You interspersed meditation with work on Arcane Slash, to force its echo to carry your weapon's attack without having to make another strike. It was more progress than you got on Voyage, which remained zilch until you found out just what this filter is.
When you do, you drop onto your back with a tired groan, the evening sun shining into your face. "Lu! I'm an idiot!"
Your friend does not even interrupt her work, being almost done turning the Mimic Stalks into rations. She eyes you curiously, then sighs when you shout your explanation: "That stupid filter is my own magic being an ass!"
Because that is what it is. Your most inherent magical property, the one which allows you to hold powers normally unseen in someone as inexperienced as you, or which are locked to specific Affinities. It has to constantly do something so Voyage actually retains its properties. Time Travel, who would have thought, is far more harshly restricted than anything else... bar one.
It took you a long while to actually look around again; then you began to notice minor distortions around those specific elements in your magic, the ones where your core property is at work You could still work with what you sensed there, though.
After that, you found a much bigger one when trying to look into that reality-bending thing you obtained right after the last leap through time again. The one connected to your parrying capacities.
The only reason you did not notice that earlier was because you were already looking at it before it got distorted. There, your core property also has to constantly do something in order to maintain this power. Something big.
Problem is, you can not say for sure what it is. Does it fake out reality? Does it emulate traits so ridiculous it warps stuff? Something else?
Either way, now you know what stops you from looking at Voyage more closely. The next task is to actually figure out how to find what lies beneath, then start to practice in earnest.
-------------
Food: 10 Completed Practice: 5 / 60
[] Plan for the week
-[] Action 1
-[] Action 2
-[] Action 3
Hunt small critters
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Foraging
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Hunt medium-sized critters
(secures food for 7 days, may turn into a combat encounter)
Hunt large beasts
(secures food for 14 days, combat encounter)
Hunt the biggest and baddest
(secures food for 30 days, boss encounter)
Practice
(adds between 2 and 3 days to the training counter; 7 days if all actions are this)
[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it
=====
+300xp Killed 10 Mimic Stalks in Various Ways
+100xp Have To Get Creative
EXP gained: 400 Total EXP: 461
=====
Lu is not keeping any parts, so you only get the full sheet as a trophy:
Mimic Stalk
Stats
Health: 6,000
Base Damage: 400
Base Resilience: 350
Magic Modifier: 125
Digging
Level 2
-Mimic Stalks may burrow into the earth and dig at up to 10mph.
Ambush Sprung
-Attacking a sleeping target counts as a surprise attack; when doing the former or attacking an unsuspecting target from below, Mimic Stalks count as having Lethal Surprise.
Dangerous Wait
-Mimic Stalks may contort their bodies to devour prey up to ten times their own size and break them down into mana within hours, returning to their normal size. They can store up this mana to reconvert into nutrients, allowing to survive for months without hunting or catching prey.
Seismic Sense
-With a hide sensitive to tremors and waves, Mimic Stalks are capable of sensing movement within 100m of themselves while burrowed in the earth, and within 25m while at the open air.
Your first day of the next week is mostly spent practicing again. Or rather, poking your magic and hoping it gives you information. So far, the search for some kind of switch to stop getting gibberish has not been successful.
You spend some time on Arcane Slash after each meal to clear your head, though it remains kind of weird. You are still trying to find a consistent approach to replicating your weapon within the attack.
At least it is convenient how many different nutrients are in your food. Lu does not know anything detailed about that, but you do not feel any worse for wear after half a week of eating little else but meat and a few berries or other things your friend keeps finding on the way.
Granted, it is magical alien meat. You are not going to question that any further.
Later that same day however, you and Lu decided to wash up at the river; not an arrangement you are happy with, mainly because you are naked somewhere in the wilderness, but you will live. At least it is better than just staying dirty.
Due to how long your hair is, similarly to your friend's, you both make to wash each other's instead.
While Lu is busy with yours however, she lightly taps your head for attention. "You mentioned a place called Hope a few days ago. Is that on Earth?"
You never really knew much about Hope. Your father took you there once when you were little, but that was it. There were tons of reports from the capital city of Elysium, especially right at the beginning, but it has been years.
Still, you know enough to explain it to Lu while she tends to your hair: "No, it's not. Hope is... was our first colony on another world. You know that dimension right adjacent to Earth, where no one lives for some reason?"
"I do." Your friend shifts her weight and splashes some more water over you as she speaks. "For your information, the area was deemed too close to the death zone Earth is currently in. The dimensional walls between the two are thinner. The Elvin Empire is not going to risk a Hyper Gate sending them there due to an error, though they did lay claim to the dimension. Hell never much cared for it for similar reasons, though there are some skirmishes between them and the Empire from time to time."
"Makes sense, I guess." If it immediately or even just slowly killed you to enter the death zone, you can see why no one would want to be near it.
Lu finished with her explanation, so you continue with a shudder from the wind on your skin; at least the mid-summer sun is warm. "Anyway, we colonised the place a few years after we got magic. It was a really big thing, the biggest in decades I think." Not counting World War Three and the Grand Crusade, at least. But you are thinking more of civilian matters instead of military ones, and the last one might have been the moon landing.
"But Hope fell." It is not even a question; Lu has not forgotten that part and you have not tried to hide it.
"Yes."
You both stay quiet for a little while, the babbling stream and chirping birds your only companions. Some kind of bee buzzes by, its curiousity for you two ended with a flap of Lu's wing, which tears it out of the air for the water to carry away. A fish quickly moves to gobble up the dead insect.
The fish here are weird, all colourful and sparkly. They keep their distance from the both of you though, so you do not mind them.
"Why?"
Of course she had to ask. Recent history is a mess at the best of times and you are no expert. But really, the problem is different here. So you turn back to your friend, pulling silvery strands through her fingers. "I know what happened, but not why. One day, the UD just rolled over Hope and Reluxus with so many soldiers that the troops couldn't see the ground anymore amidst all the corpses. My papa says its because they wanted to break humanity before we could properly integrate into the Unified Light."
You can not say why they did it. You do not know how exactly it happened. All you know is that the golden age of Magical Girls ended the day the Light retreated from Hope, having lasted but a few short years.
"Well, I can see how the fall would follow. If several legions of Hell marched, that would certainly alter the field."
Lu is thoughtful, but you only poke her belly with a shake of your head. She is not getting the big picture yet. "They didn't stomp us into the ground. The Akashic Pillar did the same thing I'd have done in that situation. And the rest of the Unified Light followed."
She looks at you for a moment, then comprehends your words and blinks. "They threw everything at the Darkness?"
"Basically, yes." You have an idea for a comparison to make it more clear to her, too: "Think the fighting going on on Valhalla over the last few thousand years, but squeezed into a few days. With gods on both sides fighting and at least half the champions of Light and Darkness somewhere in the mayhem. They actually discussed adding the Battle of Hope to the bible, one of our religion's holy books that has been unaltered for... at least a thousand years."
It is ridiculous in retrospect, but you can also respect what the Akashic Pillar did in those days. Hope belonged to humanity then, so they fought tooth and nail to keep it.
Lu drops the conversation there and you are quite happy about it. Hope is a sore topic for most people these days; you did not lose anyone there yourself, but many of your friends and acquaintances had loved ones who died in that battle.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
Once you are clean and dry, the latter mainly thanks to the sun, you have another hour of meditation before deciding to play around with Magic Binary. Lu watches curiously as you draw out a simple code segment.
"What is this about?" She carefully eyes the lines without understanding them, which makes sense. For a moment, you consider taking her promise not to tell anyone, but at this point it really does not matter.
"It's Magic Binary. You know how there are Brand Craft and Necromancy that basically everyone can use if they learn it?" She nods, then narrows her eyes at the code while you continue: "This here is a new one that we invented. It's similar to Brand Craft, but it has some neat differences."
You stop and double-check your code, make sure any organisms in its reach are excluded, go over all the characters again, and then begin to draw it out. Now that it is just mindless repetition, you can get back to talking: "Magic Binary is completely focussed on effects covering areas and usually better at them than Brand Craft. You can't really enchant objects with it in turn."
Halfway done, you stop to add a more clear dot over one 'i'; even if your mana should work out with only a barely visible one, you like things to be orderly. "The power requirements actually scale with the effect you want, that includes the area you want to affect. Back home, we warded off many of our older cities against dimensional gateways with it. Too little mana there to power it normally, but they somehow converted their age into power. Don't ask me," you head off the question you know would come, "I don't have the slightest clue how you draw energy from something as conceptual as how old an object is."
You finish the final line and grin cheerfully, a trail of sweat running down your forehead. "But you know what's the best about Magic Binary?"
Lu does not ask, she knows it was a rhetorical question you will answer on your own. Before you do however, you charge the array and immediately feel your surroundings cool down. "It doesn't need any upkeep once it's charged. We can ignore this until we leave and it will still make this place less stuffy."
For that which you made is a bootleg air conditioning. As fun as this little adventure is, living in a place without windows or running water is bothersome in the heat. So you have it cool down the area over several dozen metres in all directions to a pleasant twenty degrees Celsius.
Lu still eyes the contraption before curiously leaning over the code; you could have explained that it is reminiscent of computer code, but she has no reference for what that is. Explaining computers is really not something you want to do right now.
"How do you turn it off then?"
That is a good question, one you asked yourself before when your father started teaching you. Disrupting the array is not the right answer, something which you were taught rather thoroughly to forget you ever thought it was what to do. "You pulse a bit of mana through it again. It's like a switch."
You demonstrate this by pushing some more magic into your array, which immediately dims. "But they take a while to turn off, I think that's by design to prevent sabotage. If you pulse it again before it shuts down entirely," which you do, causing the magical lines to brighten again, "it immediately turns back on without needing another full charge. The larger the array, the longer it takes to shut down."
"Clever." Lu studies your creation before turning back to you. "Can you teach me how to do that?"
Now there is something you did not expect to hear today. For a moment, you want to protest; you are not an expert on this, not even particularly proficient. Household applications and barriers and such, small and easy stuff, that is what you can make reliably. You are not going to even try anything beyond that scope.
But then again, it might be fun to teach your friend the basics. "Sure. Just not right now, it's time for bed soon." As the sun is sinking, that means you should have dinner and catch some sleep.
"Very well, I will get back to you about this." Lu gets up and looks back at your 'freezer', a Brand Craft array to preserve the food surrounded by arrays to wall it off from other creatures. Which you realise you could replace with a single MBinary array. "We will start hunting tomorrow, else I am wasting time I could spend preparing more rations."
Oh. You forgot that; Lu is right, she is done with the preparation of all those Mimic Stalks after all. The carcasses she discarded in the forest have been found by carrion eaters at this point, too.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
"Do you see them?"
"You mean the fish?"
"Those are not fish."
"Ah, those over there."
This would be easier if Lu had not insisted on looking at them from up high. She is flying at least two hundred metres above the ground, which makes seeing your next targets in detail difficult. They are not small dots to your eyes at least, but you still grumble. They look like a cross between a fish and a gorilla, with blue scales instead of fur and long claws as well as spikes on its back.
"In total difference to the Mimic Stalks you fought before," your friend begins to explain, "Glibbles are aggressive to the point of foolishness."
"You named them Glibbles? Really?" You can not help but ask, but Lu ignores your question.
"They charge intruders and assailants at breakneck speed, not letting up until one side is dead. Basically like you but angrier."
"Got it, so like me on my period. Which, coincidentally, I am on." You can not help but quip, the fact your guts are trying to tear you apart from the inside not helping the matter either.
Lu just rolls her eyes, lightly squeezing you with the arm slung around your waist. "Stop whining, you baby." That shuts you up quickly, both out of surprise and sheepishness, but she does not give you time to retort. "Your greatest weapon against them is your mind. Glibbles secrete acidic mucus all over their bodies, getting hit by one is not a nice thing at all. Their jaws are powerful and difficult to break out of, not to mention that their bodies are quite strong in general. You do not even have speed on them, as they are at least peer to you in that. They readily charge creatures many times their own size once they enter their berserking state, which makes most predators avoid them for fear of injury."
Her explanation makes you more and more concerned as you look down at the bunch of four lying in a shallow pool surrounded by empty grassland, no other critters in sight. The Glibbles seem to be munching on some kind of wood. "So this is more practice for being smart?"
"You were always a fast learner." The mocking smile your friend gives you only produces a scowl.
"I hate you too."
Damn her for being right, damn those things for being so difficult, and damn evolution for having invented periods.
-------------
[] Just charge them and win
[] Argent Star is probably still cheating, but fuck them
[] Something else
-[] Write-in what
[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it
=====
+10xp Hope Is Lost But Not Forgotten
EXP gained: 10 Total EXP: 471
=====
Glibbles
Stats
Health: 12,000
Base Damage: 1,160
Base Resilience: 250
Magic Modifier: 300
[] Plan Amputator
-[] Switch to Reaper's Will and lean heavily into Guardian's Excellence and Inhuman Agility to deal with your enemy. Cast Conundrum to protect yourself from their attacks.
--[] Fight in really close combat and don't stop moving, use the enemy bulk to hinder their attacks on you. Use Reaper's Will to cut off their arms and legs, aiming to cripple them. Distribute attacks between targets and if you can do it with ease, push them into each other with your magic (use Skill). Blind them by flashing Conundrum, too. And use Arcane Slash, too.
--[] Don't be afraid to use Overdrive Seal for a burst of speed, especially if they try and chomp on you. Retain Aetheric Tide and Reaper's Will.
You consider the situation below, taking note of how laid-back the critters are for now. Four of them, one of you. They are stronger, at least as fast, and more durable than you. Lu did not say anything about their skill, but berserkers usually tend to be sluggers more than anything else.
More importantly however, you have many options and time to consider them.
While your friend circles around the Glibbles a few times, a plan begins to form. Simple but effective, the best kind of plan where you are concerned. "I think I got it. Hold on, Conundrum."
Power surges from your hands where they are grasping Lu's arms, enveloping both on you in a protective shell.
(Conundrum: +1125 Base Boost, +318 dice = 1,443 Total Boost
Damage Block active, Damage Barrier active.)
You dismiss the one on Lu immediately, knowing that it is unnecessary; she will not interfere in the fight. Maybe you can get some help with the bigger creatures running around, one of which you saw earlier, but you are not going to get your hopes up there.
For all her consideration and care, Lu is and always was a brutal trainer.
"Out of curiousity," she asks you after you give her the go ahead to descend, "what are you planning to do?"
You shrug lightly against her grip, mostly out of reflex. Your grin is halfway directed at her, halfway at the now attentive Glibbles below. "If they're berserkers, they will just come at me all at once. So I'm going to use them against each other and cut them up while I'm at it. Maybe they will even start to fight their friends if I get them to hit each other."
She does not comment, but you did not expect her to. At least there is no chastisement for doing something lazy like balling up a bunch of Argent Stars and blasting them all to kingdom come with that. Though it would be funny.
You summon the Handle and turn it into lightsaber mode; that one remains far too convenient not to use. As your blade ignites, the Glibbles begin to growl and tense up, ready to jump for you. Good to know that charging attack of theirs does not work in the air.
(4 enemies in range. Determined Soldier: Defiance's ApT increased by 1)
"Ready?"
The only answer Lu gets is a light clap against her arm, your focus being solely on the creatures below. She lets go and you start moving immediately, turning yourself before the fall really begins. In this moment, your abdomen cramps up again and makes your usual calm fade into a buzzing annoyance.
Well, good thing you have four targets to take it out on right there.
With one hand still on Lu's arm for that precious second, you get your feet against her stomach easily, then push yourself off with all the force in your legs and a grunt from your friend. "Arcane-"
The Glibble closest to you does not have time to react before you are already next to it and rushing by, almost curling into a ball on the way to solid ground. "-Slash!"
Your lightsaber warps and even though you could use your position to maybe swing for its head, you are not going to risk missing entirely.
Arcane Slash: +1200 Base Damage, +34 dice = 1,234 Total Damage
Echo: 2; Echo triggers!
Arcane Slash: +1200 Base Damage, +156 dice = 1,356 Total Damage
Echo: 1; No Echo
7,504 Unified Damage
Glibble A: +250 Base Resilience, +98 dice = 348 Total Damage reduction
7,156 Final End Damage
(Mythic Might does not trigger because this weapon's blade consists entirely of mana)
Glibble A Health: 12,000 - 7,156 = 4,844
Abrade triggers)
It carries echoes, but you still don't manage to actually make them replicate your lightsaber on their own. That annoys you again while you catch your fall on one hand and turn it into a roll to bleed off momentum. The creature bellows in pain, one of its arms mostly cut by the original strike and cleanly severed by the echo, while also missing an eye from the other echo. Serves it right.
You are already on your feet when the enraged Glibbles finished turning your way, all of them. Instead of running however, they immediately charge.
So you do the sensible thing and let go of your aura; they are not going to flee, so you do not need to waste focus on that. A quick flash of Conundrum's shroud and three sidesteps make the large beasts flail into empty air, falling into a pile of bodies. Droplets of water and mucus splash everywhere, but at least they got out of their pond to fight. One of them was slower than the rest and got itself cut on its friends' spikes.
(One attack of each Glibble negated. Glibble A receives additional Body Damage from allied Catastrophic Damage.
Glibble C lands on B's back and triggers Spinal Spikes.
Glibble C takes (1,200 - 840 Mythic Might = ) 360 damage.
Glibble C Health: 12,000 - 360 = 11,640)
Now that you have a moment to look at them, they are pretty big. Every single one stands taller than you once again. Not that it matters too much.
The one-armed creature screeches in pain and you need a moment to understand why; as the bunch is sorting itself out roughly, each one trying to get back up first, their mucus is getting into the open wounds and starts to melt unprotected flesh.
Now that is cruel. You quickly step forward and aim your lightsaber at that one's head. As much as you came here to kill them, you are not going to make them suffer. A quick stab is all it takes.
(Reaper's Will: +500 Base Damage, +463 dice, +2500 Superslayer, -400 Bad Reach, +1500 Stab The Head, +125 Unstoppable (False) = 4,688 Total Damage
Glibble A: +250 248 Base Resilience, +251 dice, -125 In Pain, -125 Can't Move, -580 Flesh Melting = 331 Extra Damage
5,019 Final End Damage
Glibble A Health: 4,844 - 5,019 = -175
Look, it's barely not animal cruelty!)
You have to overextend, but the blade goes through its tough hide like butter, pure mana unconcerned with something physical like toughness. It's pained roar cuts off and you make to retreat when you feel another making to snap for your arm.
(Amphibious Jaw: +1160 Base Damage, +9 dice, +580 RAGE +290 Opponent Distracted, -290 She Sensed The Attack = 1,749 Total Damage
Attack negated.)
It is too fast, you do not have the time to use your weapon. If it gets your arm, you are in big trouble. So you push out the palm of your free hand and slap it against the creature's jaw, which is thankfully without any mucus.
From there, you push it forward and make its momentum change far enough for this one to crash into one of its friends again, biting down on its spikes while their dead buddy hits the ground.
(Spike Sandwiches are bad for your health; double the usual damage of Spinal Spikes for hitting the inside of the mouth.
There is a roar of pain and some more screeching going on while you quickly step back from the only one now free; the other two are tangled up again and seem to be shouting at each other. The last one charges straight at you and makes to swing with its large fists.
(Slimy Fists: +1160 Base Damage, +208 dice, +580 RAGE = 1,948 Total Damage
Attack negated, leg negated)
You consider cutting its arm, but this time you can not find a good angle for that without getting sprayed in either blood or that mucus. Which is why you sidestep the attack and swing your lightsaber to cut through the charging creature's leg; its roar cuts off for a moment when it hits the ground, dazzled for an instant while you move up to stab it.
Then you feel the other two opening their maws wide and only have time to turn your head before two fountains of salty water come rushing at you.
(Aqua Jet: +1200 Base Damage, +232 dice = 1,432 Total Damage
Aqua Jet: +1200 Base Damage, +91 dice = 1,291 Total Damage
2,723 Unified Damage
Defiance: +100 Base Resilience, +149 dice, +1443 Conundrum = 1692 Total Damage Reduction
1,031 Total End Damage Conundrum (-1,443): 0 Final End Damage
No damage from the attack, but there was some mucus in there; Catastrophic Damage hits and does bad things to Heidi's side.)
Conundrum's two shrouds thankfully catch all the water before it can tear you apart, but you quickly learn that they got some of the mucus into their mouths earlier. Your top sizzles and basically melts away all over your right side, a single drop making it onto your skin and burning a small hole into it. the red hot pain joins the cramps flaring through your body.
You ignore it, regain your footing from the surprising attack, and slash for their friend on the ground with a quick step forward. Instead of being disoriented or shocked from pain however, your target moves past it just like you did and surges its magic for a burst of speed. Then the Glibble slides toward you on its belly, only being caught on your lightsaber because it was already pointed at the creature.
(Slimy Fists: +1160 Total Damage, +287 dice, +580 RAGE, +580 Ramming Speed, -1,304 Vorpal = 1303 Total Damage Mythic Might (+70%): 2,215 Total Damage
Intercept
Reaper's Will: +500 Base Damage, +418 dice, +2500 Superslayer, -250 Too Fast To React, +1584 Vorpal = 4,752 Total Damage
2,537 Difference, Reaper's Will wins!
Fists are carved right through.
Reaper's Will: +2537 Intercept Damage, +75 dice, +2500 Superslayer, -250 Too Fast To React = 4,862 Total Damage
Glibble C: +250 Base Resilience, +171 dice, -250 Charged The Blade, -5000 All The Way Through = 4829 Extra Damage
9,691 Final End Damage
Glibble C Health: 11,640 - 9,691 = 1,949
Abrade triggers)
The time between the beginning of its charge and your sense picking up on it is basically nonexistent. Yet its fist is effortlessly parted by your mana blade, the body behind the charge practically running itself through a chainsaw with its own momentum. A screech of rage and pain can be heard far and wide, even before the two separate parts hit the ground. Blood and mucus sprinkle everything, the latter burning more holes into your clothes and scrubbing off your skin in places; some of it even eats into your flesh
(Defiance takes 50 damage and various minor injuries
Defiance Health: 900 - 50 = 850)
You can feel the other two rearing up to get back into the fight, feel yourself too slow to react. So you seal your scythe, the consumed mana giving you a burst of speed that allows you to turn and meet the next charge easily.
(Stygian Tempest sealed, ApT reset)
(Slimy Fists: +1160 Base Damage, +201 dice, +580 RAGE = 1,941 Total Damage
Slimy Fists: +1160 Base Damage, +201 dice, +580 RAGE = 1,941 Total Damage
Attacks negated. Glibble B and D are on the ground.)
This is not really going as intended, but you can help out a little on that end. The lightsaber's handle crashes into the first Glibble's head and directs it sideways, then you step in that direction to evade the other one's lunge. Now they are more or less to opposite sides of you; Lu would normally scold you for letting your enemies spread out, but it is fine this time.
They do not have the presence of mind to abuse the position, after all.
One creature does not get up as fast, so you form some magic in your fingertips to trip the other before it can actually move for you again; a thin beam of mana lances out to pull its leg back, sending the Glibble crashing back into the sizzling ground.
(Glibble D negated before it could actually start an attack)
Now that you have a moment to look at it, the whole area around you is pockmarked with sizzling spots; grass and earth melted away somewhat and forming something between goo and swamp, making the place looking like it is sick.
They are both on the ground, so you take a moment to breathe, feel the adrenaline surging through your veins, and then charge the one in front of you. It does not have time to react to your boosted speed, the surge of magic even flowing into your strike somewhat.
(Reaper's Will: +500 Base Damage, +690 dice, +2500 Superslayer = 3,690 Total Damage
Glibble D: +250 Base Resilience, +238 dice, -125 Just Got Tripped = 363 Total Damage Reduction
3,327 Final End Damage
Glibble D Health: 12,000 - 3,327 = 8,673
Glibble D lost a hand.
Abrade triggers)
Your previous mistake is still clear in your mind; no overextending to go for the head. Even if it might work, you force yourself to play it safe by cutting off its right hand and retreating.
Technically, you could keep going before it gets back up, but then you would get out of position again.
(Turn 1 over
Blood Soaked Cross would trigger now, but Lu is holding it back.)
It does not take longer than a second for both Glibbles to get back to their feet and charge at you while roaring. All the wildlife probably fled by this point.
You wait for them to come at you, tearing the ground with their feet and throwing up loose earth. Closer, closer still, only then do you leap up and clear of both creatures; their own momentum carries their fists into each other right as you pull your feet out of their way.
(Glibbles hit each other.
Slimy Fists: +1160 Total Damage, +251 dice, + 580 RAGE = 1,991 Total Damage Mythic Might (+70%): 3,384 Total Damage
Glibble B: +250 Base Resilience, +246 dice, -50 Confusion = 446 Total Damage Reduction
Slimy Fists: +1160 Total Damage, +180 dice, + 580 RAGE = 1,920 Total Damage Mythic Might (+70%): 3,264 Total Damage
Glibble D: +250 248 Base Resilience, +33 dice, -50 Confusion = 231 Total Damage Reduction
Glibble B takes (2,938 - 2056 Mythic Might = ) 882 Final End Damage
Glibble D takes (3,033 - 2,123 Mythic Might = ) 910 Final End Damage
Glibble B Health: 11,280 - 882 = 10,398
Glibble D Health: 8,673 - 910 = 7,763)
They slug each other somewhat harshly, but there is little visible damage aside from some wet noise as their fists fail to cave in the other's flesh. You spend the split-second in the air wondering if that is their physical prowess.
Then you come back down, interrupting a potential brawl between berserkers by necessity. A heel digs into the sharp tip of the one-handed Glibble's back spikes and you balance yourself without any trouble, sinking in a little as your weight pushes the heel down. "Arcane Slash!"
Your swing warps once again, the blade lancing right into the creature before it can throw you off.
(Reaper's Will: +500 Base Damage, +653 dice, +2500 Superslayer, +1200 Arcane Slash, +155 dice, +850 In Their Blindspot = 5,858 Total Damage
Echo: 2; Echo triggers!
Arcane Slash: +1200 Base Damage, +100 dice = 1,300 Total Damage
Echo: 2; Echo triggers!
Arcane Slash: +1200 Base Damage, +191 dice = 1,391 Total Damage
Echo: 1; No Echo
8,949 Unified Damage
Glibble D: +250 Base Resilience, +290 dice = 540 Total Damage Reduction
8,029 Final End Damage
Glibble D Health: 7,763 - 8,029 = -266
Only two enemies left. Bonus ApT back to 0.)
Again it echoes twice; where your initial strike tore a deep gouge into the creature's back, the two that follow sever its spine and make it drop to the ground, dead.
You allow yourself a grin as it falls, right before feeling another open its mouth to spray water your way; due to your position falling however, you can just barely lean over backward to dodge; the stream shoots right overhead and tickles the shroud over your belly. You flash that for good measure to cover your fall from the dead Glibble.
It turns out a single heel can not support that much weight when distributed horizontally... or maybe this is because it was already damaged by the spike. You turn the fall into a roll and get to your feet, eyeing the battlefield.
Surprisingly, the one who you thought killed itself by charging your lightsaber is still alive. A third of its body was chopped off over the whole length and the other leg is gone from your earlier strike, but it still grunts and bellows and rages to keep fighting you on but a single arm.
Now you are a little sad that you have to kill them for food. That here seems to be your spirit animal.
But needs must, these are not the only Glibbles in the world. Their eyes clear from the blinding light and you decide to finish off the barely living one first.
A few quick steps carry you to its armless side, the other one right after you, but your target shoves itself off the ground, spinning in mid-air to get a hand your way. No way out without being caught by the other Glibble, so you lean back and turn your run into a slide, going through below the airborne creature; its fist slams right into its friend's open mouth.
(Slimy Fist: +1160 Base Damage, +273 dice, +1160 Furious Death Throes, -290 Severely Crippled = 2,303 Total Damage Mythic Might (+70%): 3,915 Total Damage
Glibble B: +250 Base Resilience, +100 dice, -100 Eating Fists = 250 Total Damage Reduction
3665 Total End Damage - 2565 Mythic Might
1,100 Final End Damage
Droplets of mucus destroy more of your clothes and tear bloody holes into the flesh beneath, but you bear it and carry on below the monster.
There is another roar and you quickly push yourself back to your feet, finding one Glibble reeling from the punch while the other slams into the ground with a wet thud, followed by pounding it in impotent rage, spreading more mucus that melts away the grass and the earth.
You use that moment of distraction to slip closer and cut off its head.
(Reaper's Will: +500 Base Damage, +367 dice, +2500 Superslayer, +500 Execution = 3,867 Total Damage
Glibble C: +250 248 Base Resilience, + 282 dice, -10 Distracted = 520 Total Damage Reduction
3,347 Final End Damage
Glibble C Health: 1,949 - 3,347 = -1,398)
You make sure to aim for the neck properly, take the moment to adjust your stance, and then place a single swing to end the battered creature. It falls still immediately, leaving only a single Glibble to oppose you.
Instead of taking in the situation however, the last one immediately charges back at you, stomping over its friend's body without hesitation. It bellows in challenge, the only one left and the only one you yourself have not attacked yet. It took some damage from the other Glibbles, though.
(Slimy Fists: +1160 Base Damage, +8 dice, +580 RAGE = 1,748 Total Damage
You take the opportunity that presents itself, deflecting the creature's fist upward with a tap of the saber's handle and consuming your regular sword for speed. The mana surges through you with a roar to match the monster.
Yet the Glibble immediately springs forward to crush you under its weight. Now that you are faster though, you can dart around its bulk in time. You deliver a nasty slash to its flank on the way.
(Glibble B's attack negated
Reaper's Will: +500 Base Damage, +690 dice, +2500 Superslayer = 3,690 Total Damage
Glibble B: +250 Base Resilience, +170 dice, -100 Wide Open = 320 Total Damage Reduction
3,370 Final End Damage
Glibble B Health: 9,298 - 3,370 = 5,928)
The gouge is deep and, although cauterised, obviously a great bit of damage. Your last opponent crumbles to the ground for a moment, but you can already see its muscles tensing to bring it back up. Right now however, there is an opportunity to end the fight.
So you seize it, without hesitation.
Eyes narrowed, you dash forward with all the speed you have, kick the Glibble's face as hard as you can to disorient it, and then slash over it twice while balancing on your other foot.
(Reaper's Will: +500 Base Damage, + 458 dice, +2500 Superslayer = 3,458 Total Damage
Reaper's Will: +500 Base Damage, +432 dice, +2500 Superslayer = 3,432 Total Damage
6,890 Unified Damage
Glibble B: +250 Base Resilience, +262 dice, -50 Disoriented, -125 To the Face = 337 Total Damage Reduction
6,553 Final End Damage
Glibble B Health: 5,928 - 6,553 = -625)
You hit the brain spot-on and slice it in three with a flourish.
Moments passes as the echo of their bellowing stops ringing in your ears; all is quiet aside from the everpresent thrum of mana in the air. No insects, no small critters, nothing. You take a deep breath as your sore foot returns to the ground, then turn off your weapon. It takes a little bit to become aware of how much your injuries burn.
A look down shows that you have bloodsmears all over you, courtesy of the finger-sized holes in your stomach, side, right leg, and right arm. Most of your outfit has been disintegrated by that acidic mucus, the rest being basically scraps of your jacket, one sleeve, and your skirt hanging on by the unmarred cloth on your back. Great.
(Blood Soaked Cross: Defiance's Health reset to full)
Then Lu's dark power rolls over you and soothes your body for the shortest moment; it is not particularly gentle like Maya's healing power, but it closes the wounds and that is enough. Bloodstains remain where you were injured before and you can see two previously deep holes indicated by pale scar tissue. One looks like a teardrop, right above your belly button, the other is a jagged egg on your right bicep.
The unholy choir Lu's magic produces to your ears becomes a little louder and you stop the self-examination to turn her way. She was watching the whole time, but now she makes a bit of a show out of looking over the corpses.
"They fight as I remember, without thought or hesitation or self-preservation," your friend starts calmly. Only then does she return your gaze, offering a congratulatory nod. "Well done. You did better than I expected you would."
Her eyes strain downward from your face for a moment, long enough for you to notice and narrow your own. "Something the matter?" You do not bother hiding the grumpy tone; you know you are basically half-naked right now, but you really can not be bothered to do anything except wind down and breathe until you feel like moving again; the newly grown skin is still tender.
"Interesting change in style," your friend merely comments, merrily ignoring your gritted teeth. "It might even be alluring without all that blood. Then again, could it be you are practicing to seduce that trooper? I doubt you need that much effort for him."
At this point, she fishes your ballistic lightsaber out of the air without any trouble. You did not even notice you threw it until after the fact; Lu grins while you turn away from her, face red from a mix of anger and embarassment.
You catch your weapon without really looking a moment later, then dismiss it. Lu eyes you critically, then leans closer to look over the freshly healed wounds. "Some of them scarred. My bad."
You just wave her off, then run a hand over the teardrop thoughtfully. "It's not a problem, just... weird. These are the first scars I got at all, I don't get hit all that often and the rest was healed just fine."
Scars were never really something you thought of. With Maya nearby, you never even considered ever having one. Now you have two; small ones, but they are there.
The weirdest part of it is that you do not even mind them much.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
The rest of the day is full of work; first you help Lu secure the carcasses and transport them. Technically, Lu transports them. You are not strong enough for that, so you mainly wait back at base to immediately put the parts she brings into the freezer.
Then she has you fight another pair of Glibbles the following day, to similar results but no further scars. Just finding these took some time, though. Include into that the transportation and everything, you do not get anything else done that day either. The third day, you just take off to kick back and relax for a while. At least your cramps finally go away and leave you free of pain for a few blessed hours.
The day after that is when you actually get back to focus on your meditations while Lu prepares food nearby. The cooler air within your shelter helps you concentrate.
There is even some progress, though sadly not on what you want to progress on. You now figured out a more or less consistent way of altering Arcane Slash so its echoes copy your weapon once they go. Problem is that you need to focus on it entirely in order to make it happen and it takes too long to prepare in combat. But you have a start.
In regard to Voyage, you have at least figured out what is going on. It is a cipher. However one can encrypt sensations and stray thoughts, your magic does it. Magic. From the impressions you gather, this cipher apparently makes it so you appear legitimate whenever anyone or anything checks if you are supposed to have some of your more powerful stuff.
Sadly, it is not one of the fun substitution ciphers your father told you about, where each letter is replaced with another letter. This is something incredibly complicated that you will not crack in years.
Which means you have to try it the other way and convince your power to stop giving you the encrypted returns after all. No progress on that end yet.
Like this, another week comes to an end.
-------------
Food: 17 Completed Practice: 9 / 60
[] Plan for the week
-[] Action 1
-[] Action 2
-[] Action 3
Hunt small critters
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Foraging
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Hunt medium-sized critters
(secures food for 7 days, may turn into a combat encounter)
Hunt large beasts
(secures food for 14 days, combat encounter)
Hunt the biggest and baddest
(secures food for 30 days, boss encounter)
Practice
(adds between 2 and 3 days to the training counter; 7 days if all actions are this)
[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it
=====
+300xp Killed 6 Glibbles
+100xp Victory up Close
+5xp Found Your Spirit Animal
+10xp Got Your First Scar(s)
EXP gained: 415 Total EXP: 886
=====
As before, a trophy for victory:
Glibbles
Stats
Health: 12,000
Base Damage: 1,160
Base Resilience: 250
Magic Modifier: 300
[] Plan Fuck it we've got plenty of food
-[] Practice x3
"I think we should take some time off of hunting," you muse out loud over breakfast.
Lu gives you a sideway glance while eating, having mixed Mimic Stalk and Glibble meat to get some variety for the day. She does not disagree with you, though; that is good. You are not against more practice and more reserves, but right now you have the food and focussing on getting this stupid cipher cracked sounds like a better idea.
And, even though you do not say it, you feel off. As if something is missing. That might break your concentration in a fight.
Your angelic friend swallows and glances toward the carcasses still waiting to be turned into rations. "That is just as well, I need some time to work through all of this."
"Alright then."
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
And so you get to it, going over your powers again to find out just what is blocking you. Arcane Slash makes a good bit of progress while you feel into this innate ability of yours.
At the third day however, you have a bit of a detour while explaining the problem to Lu; the question she asks you in turn presents a problem which should have been obvious: "What's a cipher?"
Of course. The information war in the LDC is kind of nonexistent at this point, or rather limited at least. So you take some time to explain the concept to her: "A cipher is used to encrypt some kind of message, so you can only read the meaning of it if you know the key. Here, look."
You proceed to draw the letters of your alphabet into a bit of soft ground without any grass on it, then draw Lu's name a bit behind it. "That's how your name is written in my script."
She nods understandingly while you consider how to proceed for a moment, then motion for her. "One of the most simple ciphers out there is a substitution cipher. Let's not be fancy for this, just invert the order." So you do, writing your alphabet backward below the first one. "Now, here. A maps to Z, B to Y, and so on. That means if I encrypt a message with this, I replace each letter from the upper row with the corresponding letter of the lower one."
So you follow this up by writing the encrypted form of 'Lucifer' right below the name; 'Ofxsruvi'.
Lu looks down at the weird, barely pronouncable thing her name has become while you clean off your finger. "That's the basic principle. I learned those as part of my Magic Binary studies because they sounded fun."
Then something occurs to you and you quickly translate 'Can you read this?' with the same key you just made, but thankfully Lu has no idea. Angelic magic apparently does not translate ciphers; if it did, that would have made this a really weird concept to her.
She looks at you a little lost. "I can not read this, not without turning it back to normal." Moments later however, her eyes narrow on the script. "How interesting. Do you know any more of those ciphers?"
"A few, but they get complicated really fast." There is a moment of silence while you take in just how curious your friend looks, then you shake your head. "I can show you another one later. The important part is that that," at which point you motion for the crude letters, "is what my powers do with parts of my magic. And for some reason they don't let me see or feel what it is actually supposed to be."
"I see. That makes it a lot more complicated; this is not the kind of power you can just practice to find out how it works."
You let yourself fall onto your back with a quiet groan. "Tell me something I didn't know already."
This feels familiar, though. Explaining something that is kind of basic to you, only to have it received with almost childlike curiousity.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
It takes you another day to realise what that bothersome feeling actually is. Once you do, it only makes your chest feel tighter, though you keep quiet about it.
Not that this stops Lu from noticing; it takes her a few hours because she is doing something else, but she ultimately gives you a flat look over dinner. "You're bothered by something. As much as you try, your facial expressions give you away on anything except anger. You need to practice that more."
She is right, but you still want to deny her claim out of habit. Something which you barely stop yourself from, sighing heavily. "I'll see about it sometime. Right now... I just realised how much I miss Orux."
It is a weird feeling, your chest being heavy like this.
Your friend raises an eyebrow for a moment, but soon pushes closer to you to take a look. "That trooper? Are you seriously interested in him?"
The hint of disbelief in her voice makes your own eyes narrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Her first response is to give you an unamused look and a dismissive wave. "Stop getting so aggressive. I figured you were just fooling around due to the relative freedom being among Demons gives you; your own society is far more strict and somewhat more prudish on the matter of sexuality in particular, by your own words."
She is right, but you still want to growl at her. Lu does not let you, simply talking about the loaded silence you were going for: "I'm surprised that you are actually infatuated with that man. You certainly don't like him for his looks."
That... actually draws a snort from you. "Okay, that's a fair point." Lu offers a grin in turn while you lean back to look at the setting sun. "I honestly don't know why it started, there was no big thing we made of it."
It is a bit weird, now that you think about it. But then again, you never really liked anyone before; maybe this is how it actually works? "He just feels more... genuine, I think. He treats me kinder than he has to, and actually enjoys talking to me. And I like talking to him, he is more thoughtful than most people I met before."
In the end, he has been somewhat of a constant in your life at Charon's Keep. You got along and you liked him, even if nothing particularly interesting happened during your conversations.
Unfortunately, another thought dulls your mood. "Now I don't even know if he's still alive."
Your chest clenches as the thought of Orux dying goes through your mind, but you force it down. He will be fine, just fine.
It still hurts, more than you like to admit. You really should not hesitate so much while in the middle of a war; which is why you decide this for yourself: once you are back, you will take him aside to figure out where you stand exactly.
Silence hangs over your little shelter, with Lu's contemplative gaze either on you or the wall behind you.
After a time, she speaks up quietly: "I completely forgot until just now, but... I used to have a bit of a crush on Gabriel."
That is the last thing you expected to hear. Well, maybe not the last last thing, but definitely up there. "Really? How come?" You can actually guess, but curiousity got the better of you immediately.
Lu shrugs and walks over to the 'freezer' to get herself a second helping. "I do not remember the exact reasons anymore, but she used to be my commanding officer, when I was still young. She was always kind to her subordinates, as well as protective of them. I think there was some admiration for her dedication in it, too." She shrugs before settling back down, eyes narrowed as she tries to remember more. "Gabriel is just about a century older than me, but it always felt like a millennium in regard to our respective power."
Hear, hear. You can understand that quite well. Especially after having met the woman; she killed Argus in a few seconds, as if it was nothing.
...thinking of Argus, you have to cringe a little. Elisabeth will be devastated once she hears about that.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
On the last day of the week, you come out of your meditation just before a breakthrough. Something pinged your sixth sense and makes your eyes snap open.
Before you, an Angel crumbles to the ground, his throat pierced by Lu's cross. Her dark aura is not present, still suppressed as usual, but she does not appear happy. At all. "He saw you and came to investigate when you ignored his hails. That is better than him running to get reinforcements, but still not good."
You just look at the corpse quietly, then back at Lu. "Did you have to kill him?"
"Yes."
The answer comes without hesitation and makes you sigh. Whatever problem Lu actually has with False Heaven seems to be greater than you originally thought. Then again, she is working with Thirteenth Hell, so you really should not be surprised.
She is not actually wrong, though you do not like admitting it. Lu would gather a lot of unwanted attention and you can not afford to be spotted right now. Letting some patrolling Angel go free is the opposite of what you want. Just capturing him to be released later... that would put a lot more pressure on your resources.
At this point, you realise that you lost the train of thought for that cipher and drop onto your back with a mad groan. "And I almost had it! Why now!"
Why do these things always choose the worst possible time to happen?! Fuck that!
Your transformation fades as you release it, partly out of annoyance and partly because you have to refresh it soon. Uncaring for the dirt getting onto your dress and trying to get a hold of the roiling anger, you start to grumble.
Only that your feelings, the surge of defiance and anger against the world that conspires against you, become light on their own. The ground fractures under the force of it, more volatile than usual; your eyes widen in surprise as the transformation completes.
You blink up at the sky. Lu eyes you from where she was starting to drag the corpse away. You look at each other for a long moment, the annoyance at your interrupted meditation forgotten.
Then you drop your transformation again, the rest of the day spent on this.
As it turns out, mimicking the feelings that come up while saying your transformation phrase allow you to transform without saying it. It takes focus, a good amount of it, but you can do it. Granted, in your case this is probably easier because you have a lot of stuff to be angry about and defiant against.
Why is this so easy and why does no one know? You have to investigate that at some point. It might be a useful skill to have, cutting your transformation time a little shorter.
Then again, maybe that is why anyone who knows does not tell; it makes for a good advantage to get that one or two seconds over your opponent.
-------------
Food: 10 Completed Practice: 16 / 60
[] Plan for the week
-[] Action 1
-[] Action 2
-[] Action 3
Hunt small critters
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Foraging
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Hunt medium-sized critters
(secures food for 7 days, may turn into a combat encounter)
Hunt large beasts
(secures food for 14 days, combat encounter)
Hunt the biggest and baddest
(secures food for 30 days, boss encounter)
Practice
(adds between 2 and 3 days to the training counter; 7 days if all actions are this)
[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it
=====
+5xp Yearning
+10xp Learned a New Trick
EXP gained: 15 Total EXP: 901
=====
(Unlocked the 'Others' section under Soft Mechanics)
(Unlocked the technique behind transforming wordlessly)
(Unlocked basic Affinity mechanics as observed)
(Unlocked suppression mechanics)
[] Plan Not Out of the Woods
-[] Foraging
-[] Practice
-[] Practice
After that patrol coming so close, Lu and you agree on trying to stay under the radar for a while; she disposed of the body by dropping it into some distant pond of Glibbles. They are too far away to be targets for your hunt, so you will not return there.
The next week, you spend in meditation interspersed with walks through the nearby forest. Lu teaches you which plants are edible, which leads to a haul of various berries and mushrooms and other things; you do not even like mushrooms, but after a diet mostly consisting of two types of meat for the last month, you welcome them for the difference in taste.
Some of the berries you find are familiar already, seeing that Lu picked some up over the previous weeks; Summer is winding down, so there is plenty to find. You do have to compete with the forest's other critters, though.
Yet, all which you get is one more angelic patrol flying overhead, their bright aura washing over you during dinnertime. They do not even slow down, which means they have not spotted your shelter.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
On the fifth day of that week, you finally have your breakthrough. All the pushing and pulling you somehow did with your mind makes something click into place and suddenly, the cipher is gone. You check your powers and find the gibberish turning into proper sensations under your attention.
"I got it!" you shout out to your friend, who is doing some meditations of her own as she ran out of meat to process. Lu does not seem to hear you, so you make to leave her be for now. Then again... a little fun will not hurt.
"Hey, is that a bunch of Angels?!" Her eyes snap open and she surges to her feet, only to find you standing with an ear-splitting grin. "Got you."
Lu relaxes again and gives you an unamused look. "You should take this more seriously. What is it?"
Your only response is to keep up the grin; you could not stop it even if you wanted to. "I got it! I don't even know how exactly, but I got it. From how it felt, some bits of my magical makeup were out of whack and that caused it to give me no proper sense for it."
She offers a congratulatory nod and makes a motion toward you. "Very well then. Demonstrate it?"
That stops you cold and makes a smidgen of embarassment go through you. "Uh... I, uh, still have to take a proper look at it. And I was doing that a lot so I wanted to look over Arcane Slash again next."
A beat.
Then Lu just sighs and turns away while you try to stop yourself from fidgeting; maybe you should have thought that through a little longer. Then again, you are giddy to get to work properly... which probably means you should do something else first. Time travel ought to be approached with a cool head, right?
So while your friend returns to her meditations, you spend the rest of the day working on Arcane Slash's little trick.
Which, much to your surprise, is actually completed by the time you eat dinner. It already carries your weapon along on a normal strike, which means you only need to bend the echoing property just so in order to replicate whatever weapon you stuck into it as well, instead of just the spell itself. That was done a good while ago, then you only had to practice, practice, practice in order to actually do it quickly enough.
Up to this point, you had to basically prepare yourself for that bend and do it right as the first echo formed; then you failed to bend the next one in most cases.
It got better as the days passed, but now you are finally confident. You got used to how it feels to bend the spell in this particular way and your immediate reaction speed allows you to do it from something akin to muscle memory now.
To ensure it actually worked as intended, you tested the whole thing with all of your weapon modes, then your fist and your foot. The weird feeling of seeing your hand two metres ahead while feeling it right there at the end of your wrist aside, it works as intended. Praise be to Lucifer for also teaching you the basics of close-quarters combat to wind down over the past months, you can actually defend yourself without a weapon.
A little freaky though, having five punches slam into a tree despite only having thrown one.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
"I was wondering," Lu starts at the last day of the week. You are preparing everything for your first attempt at using Voyage, but move at a relaxed pace. "Why did you choose the path of the warrior instead of a battlemage? Your spells are powerful and versatile, you certainly could have gone far."
That is a good point, but you doubt you would have changed your mind even if you had known about Argent Star and Arcane Slash at the time. "I guess that makes sense, but I wanted this."
"What for, though? Did someone tell you it is forbidden to be a fighter instead of a caster?"
She actually delivers the question in a mix of deadpan and amusement, making you huff at her. You tap a foot against the stasis-array holding your food to recharge it completely, finishing your preparations; this is followed by a pointed look at your angelic friend. "No. I wasn't magical for long enough to get anything like that."
The ensuing silence makes you suspect that she waits for you to elaborate; you do not mind telling her, but this is kind of embarassing and makes you hesitate.
After a few moments you spend looking for a way to start, you decide to go indirectly: "Would you be surprised if I told you I have someone I look up to?"
"Why would I be? Almost everyone does, in one way or another." She merely looks you up and down, wings folded behind her back. "So that idol of yours is why you chose this path? A master swordsman, perhaps?"
"Almost." You avert your gaze from Lu and think back to your younger days. "She doesn't use just swords. I never actually met her either, but I heard enough. She is one of the most powerful Magical Girls of my time and unmatched in her skill. I always wanted to be like her when I was little and, heh, now that I had the chance? I took it."
You find yourself smiling involuntarily, thinking back to all the stories you heard about Magical Girl Goddess Grey.
"I see."
Lu eyes you curiously for a little longer, then swishes her winged arm. "Then let us get back to this."
That gets a nod from you and a hug for Lu. She already expected it and you make sure to keep your arms close to her waist while she holds on. As planned, you will go forward by a short amount of time; if you mess up however, you do not want her to be on her own for long. So she comes with you.
Five seconds is what you want. Five seconds, no more.
"Voyage!"
You can see the portal form in front of you as reality shifts; there is no need to dodge it and no hurry, which allows you to take it in for the moment it takes to engulf you. A timeless moment in the void and next you know, you are right back at your shelter, holding onto Lu.
Except that the sun is setting.
"Great, that wasn't five seconds."
Your friend chuckles as you let go of her, then wanders over to look into your temporary home. "At least there are no animals claiming it." She goes inside, then pokes her head out while you grumble and make to meditate on the issue. "I laid out a berry earlier as a check for how long we are gone. It is still not spoiled, so we went for a few hours or perhaps a day."
That's a least something, but you still just mutter under your breath and close your eyes.
It feels as if almost no time passed at all when Lu pulls you out, pointing at the moon up high. "Get some sleep," she tells you. "We need to gather more supplies soon."
At least you figured out the problem you had. This is something you mull over on your bed of leaves, with Lu spread over her own on the other side of the room.
Time does not count itself in seconds, or any human-made structure. Its increments are off and weird... not to mention that you can not just make your magic translate seconds into them. Neither can you grasp them easily, as they run through your head in the instant after the portal opens up and before it swallows you, apparently transmitting themselves.
What the spell can do, you found out, is interpret directions; you thought of a short leap forward, so it went forward; a few hours are basically nothing within all of time after all, so that is technically short.
You solved the issue of not knowing how it works; now you have to get back to the usual practice in order to get a feeling for Voyage, as well as the way time acts. Once you got a grasp on those increments, you should be able to set your own coordinates more specifically.
This will be an interesting time... and a boring one.
Then again, you prefer boring over the alternative.
-------------
Food: 6 Completed Practice: 21 / 60
[] Plan for the week
-[] Action 1
-[] Action 2
-[] Action 3
[] [BONUS] Write-in what to practice additionally
(the now-available exploit for Voyage may not be selected)
Hunt small critters
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Foraging
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Hunt medium-sized critters
(secures food for 7 days, may turn into a combat encounter)
Hunt large beasts
(secures food for 14 days, combat encounter)
Hunt the biggest and baddest
(secures food for 30 days, boss encounter)
Practice
(adds between 2 and 3 days to the training counter; 7 days if all actions are this)
[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it
=====
+5xp The Blacksmith
+15xp Made it Past the Cipher
EXP gained: 20 Total EXP: 921
=====
(Soft Mechanics for Voyage have been added)
Unlocked Soft Exploit:
-have Arcane Slash's Echo carry the weapon attack as well when layering the spell over it [2/2]
[] Plan Take up the challenge
-[] Hunt the biggest and baddest
-[] Practice
-[] Practice
[] [BONUS] Write-in what to practice additionally
-[] put more force into Trans Smasher's corrosion; halves damage, but anything of a lesser Existence than Heidi eats a malus to defense: -100% Max Health "Critical Existence Failure" [Arcane Slash] [4 Training Actions]
With your side project done, you decide to do something more ambitious in-between practice of Voyage. There is a corrosive property to Arcane Slash which stays inactive most of the time, but which you hope can be used in battle.
That aside however, things are looking a little grim; you are running low on food, which means that you have to hunt this week or the next one. It does not bother you too much, considering that the monotony is still getting to you.
As much as you like Lu, she rarely makes for a good conversation partner.
Then again, there was something you wanted to ask her anyway. It has been on your mind from time to time ever since meeting Lu, though her recent actions against Heaven's Host brought it back to the forefront.
"Lu? Mind telling me something?"
"Hm?"
"Why do you fight against Heaven?"
She stops her own sequence and lowers her cross, eyes on you immediately. The suppressed aura around her sparks dangerously, but you pay that no mind. It is fine if she does not answer, but she will not intimidate you into backing off.
The staredown continues for a few seconds, then Lu sighs and dismisses her weapon. "That's not a nice tale." She pauses in thought and you wait for her, though you do not have to wait long: "I do not mind telling you, if you wish?"
Considering her vanished weapon, she knows exactly how you feel on the matter. You simply nod and make to sit on a fallen tree nearby.
Curiously, Lu does not join you. She stands right before you instead, soon beginning to pace back and forth as her black wings sway in the breeze. Tattered cloth swishes around her body as she does, almost hypnotically.
"The first thing you need to know is that the fall changes an Angel," she starts calmly. "We call it Stigmata, the breaking of a promise important enough to swell the ranks of our ancestral enemies. Angels and Demons are diametrically opposed existences."
You nod and supply what you remember hearing from your friends back at the Keep: "I heard that a Demon who prays can get sick and even die."
"So it may be, but this is different." Lu turns back and fixes you with her gaze. "An Angel's fall is not a matter of getting sick. Sickness implies there is a cure, but there is no cure for this. The karmic weight of the promise broken does not birth a Demon for us, instead it digs inward and sets our souls ablaze."
You blink, unsure what to make of that. Then her magical aura throws out sparks again and your eyes widen. Lu has her back turned, face hidden but voice forcedly calm: "It burns and warps our souls until what is left is but an abomination, or so they say. I do not disagree, as I am all three."
This, however, can not stand. Your eyes narrow at the back of Lu's head. "You're not a monster."
She actually chuckles and turns to look at you. "I was not at the time I fell, no. But here is the answer to your question: False Heaven abhors us fallen Angels. We are blight to them, swept up and locked away so as to preserve their pristine appearance. It does not matter who we were or who we turned into, whether we lose our sanity to the pain or hold on to it. There are no extenuating circumstances once you fall."
Oh.
"Oh."
Lu just grins mirthlessly and flexes her third wing. "An Angel's body resembles their ideal self, so look at what this did to me. In fact, I got off lightly by only losing an arm and was lucky to get another wing to maneuver with."
You are starting to get the bigger picture, though it takes long moments to sink in that Heaven is apparently not as holy as they try to appear. "I think I get it. They locked you away without trial or anything and-" "Stop. I am not done." You click your mouth shut, still too busy digesting what you were just told to push back. With that tone she takes, you are not sure you want to argue either way.
A moment passes quietly before she turns back around, her good hand carding through ash-coloured hair before bunching up some of it. "I can not say if it is the same for all of us, Adelheid, but know this: scars of the soul are far worse than scars of the body. Mine still burn as I did on that day. I will not even bother trying to describe how it feels, as you would never have a frame of reference to understand. Or at least I do not wish that on you."
Meanwhile, you just feel numb trying to imagine the kind of pain a burning soul could create. You are failing, and badly; even with the injuries you took over the past few months, nothing feels like it could compare. Lu remains standing where she is, but you can see the sparks in her aura growing brighter in sync with her breathing. There is a question on your mind still, though she did not take well to the last interruption. So you stay quiet.
It does not take long for her to continue, quiet and with an undercurrent of wrath that frankly scares you: "Just try to imagine, then, the feelings I harboured in my heart of hearts when the only people I could look to for aid, for stability, looked upon me in disgust and cast me in chains."
You can imagine it. You do not like the thought of what you would feel in such a situation.
"So it is revenge?" Your voice is weak as you try not to provoke the agitated Angel.
Lu does not object to your interruption this time. She just offers you a shake of the head, face devoid of emotion. "It was revenge, but is no longer. I have long since left the moral high ground, if I ever had it. It is more simple and more complicated than that. You remember how fallen Angels can go insane from the pain of their fall?"
"I do. You didn't, though."
Your friend huffs in amusement, though that expression is at odds with the single tear sliding down her cheek. The sight weighs heavy on your chest, but she does not give you time to get over it: "That is true. Yet the pain never subsided, which left me with the choice to either slowly succumb to it as time goes by, or to find something to center myself. Something to occupy my mind and distract from it all, at least a little bit. But there were precious little options in my little cell, far removed from all civilisation. Little more to be found on the outside, too."
Lu takes a deep breath and makes a cutting motion with her hand, eyes narrowing at nothing in particular. "So I chose wrath, a feeling I will never be able to forget, with the flames to remind me. I had other choices than Heaven, such as the ones responsible for the break of my promise, but they were already dead by my friend's hand. No other compared to that feeling of betrayal, so I used it to center myself.
"Battle is a good substitution, training helps put my mind at ease. But in the end, the content about having taken revenge does not hold. It is an ever so fleeting sensation, one which can not hold back insanity." She chuckles mirthlessly and points her winged arm at herself. "At this point, I am aware I long since went insane. But for as long as I hate, I can function. For as long as I fight, the rest of me stays me. And I don't want to die."
A shudder goes through Lu, her last words suddenly so quiet and fragile that your heart breaks. Yet she stands there unbroken, waging a one-woman crusade against False Heaven that will only end with her death.
In this moment, you do not care for the implications or the magnitude of it all. To hell with all of that, your friend is on the verge of crying.
So instead, you dart forward and hug her around the waist, as hard as you can. Lu stills and looks down at you for a long moment, but you just stare back heatedly. "What-" "Just shut up and let me hug you."
She does. Thankfully, she does not say anything about the tears in your eyes, just picks you up so you can stroke her back and head instead.
That afternoon is not the most productive one, but who cares?
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
"There is something I am curious about, though."
"Hm?"
"How did you get out of wherever they held you?"
Lu gives you a blank look. Now that you had some time to work through your conflicting emotions and calm down your friend, the situation she described does make you wonder. Perhaps asking this kind of thing while in mid-air is not the best idea, but you have time while looking for your next opponent.
And going by the faint smile on Lu's face, there is a story there. "My friend Leliel snuck in and got me out. I doubt she took kindly to what I decided to make of that freedom."
"Makes sense." Your answer is mostly noncommittal; you are aware the woman carrying you is effectively working toward the genocide of all Angels for the sake of her own sanity. What she does is not okay. And yet... "It's weird, I feel I should stop you from killing Angels, but at the same time I don't care enough about them to fight you." You can not help but air your worries, which draws a chuckle.
"Believe me, the woman I used to be would be right there with you. If any of the alternatives to occupy me had worked for long, I would have stopped. But I can't and I am selfish, so I keep on hating. I do not need your forgiveness or your judgement."
"Mhm." Your sound fades into a moment of silence, broken only by the air rushing around you and your respective magic singing quietly. In the end, it's easy. "I don't think I could forgive or judge what you did. I don't want to, either."
You think back to your other friends. Orux, Elisabeth and Argus, Maya and Paoras, Dragul, Neverwas. Every single one of them is, at the least, a murderer by the laws you grew up with; likely worse because you do not know all they did in their lives excepting Paoras, and because all of them are Demons who lived completely different lives. They are also your friends, dear friends in most cases. Orux is even more than that.
You are kind of confused about why you feel this way, but absolutely sure that you do.
A squeeze from Lu draws you out of your thoughts, the smile she gives you being surprisingly gentle. "I think that is what makes you special. You don't judge, but accept people as they are. Even someone like me."
The gale weakens as you mull that over, Lu having found something of interest; you can see it from a distance too, appearing like a blue-scaled dragon. It will still take a little while until you are close to this one, especially if you do not want to be spotted ahead of time.
Still... "I don't think it's good that I see people doing evil without at least trying to stop them."
And this time, Lu laughs at you. Loud and hard she laughs, hugging you to her chest with an ease and mirth that makes you wonder if this is how she used to be. It's a pretty laugh too, not the usual barks of laughter you hear from her.
"Oh, you are a treat! Isn't it obvious? You don't pick these fights because you care and because you know that there is no stopping once you start."
That makes no sense. You just tilt your head at Lu as best as you can, prompting another snicker. "Perhaps you did not notice it before, but the people you surround yourself with hold quite the temper on certain subjects, as well as a surprising amount of stubborness. If you picked a fight with any of us on a matter they feel so strongly about, there would be bad blood sooner or later. You couldn't stop me from fighting Heaven without killing me, but once you start? You would never stop trying until we grow apart."
Oh.
She is right.
You never thought about it that way, but your friends are quite headstrong. It is scary to imagine the kinds of fights you could end up having with them; even that squabble with Paoras you had on Valhalla already bothered you a lot. On the other hand, considering the rest... no, that does not matter.
The silence stretches for a little while as you close in; Lu gives you a sideway glance soon enough, though. "No follow-up about whether you even should seek the company of people you find morally questionable."
She gets an unamused look back. "Don't make it sound so easy. I'm not the best person myself, so I don't really have any room to judge... and I don't want to hate my friends, even if I don't agree with them."
Lu huffs again and slows her approach. "You really fail to understand just how much an open mind like yours means. Nary a soul is purely malevolent, so giving them a chance and holding onto them can let you find many friends and change many a life." She then drops the matter: "Anyway, we have arrived; it took a while to find this one, though I never...."
Your friend trails off and you find her eyes slightly widened when you look up. A good bit ahead and below sits a dragon, or something that looks like one. Except that it has no wings and navy blue scales all over. Mana swirls all around it to seep into the surrounding area, a magical field of some kind sits on its tail, and you do not like those claws or horns particularly much.
With Lu not saying anything, you just ask: "Is that a dragon?"
Her responding squeeze is a little too tight for comfort and she hisses at you with even wider eyes: "Of course not, do you really think I would get us both killed for training?"
That gives you pause and faintly reminds you of something you were told about Dragons before. They are much more powerful and Archangels were originally made to fight them, or something like that.
"I give you that it appears like one, minus the wings." Your friend takes a deep breath before shaking her head. "But this is not one. This is a Naga, a species native to Milidia. Or, well, a species that was native; they went extinct long ago."
"Oh."
"This is actually just the second one I have ever seen, the first one having attacked my battlegroup's outpost right after I was stationed on this world. I can not really remember any specifics aside from them being fiercely territorial and prone to expanding their territory without warning."
No information, great. "So that is why they went extinct?" You just get a nod while the two of you sink lower, toward a good hiding spot distant from the Naga. It has not spotted you yet. "What happened to the first one you saw?"
The answer is short and concise: "Gabriel happened to it."
She lets the statement stand and you have no response to give. Lu sets you down on the ground soon after and both of you crouch behind a hill to watch your mark. It seems to be resting and is honestly boring to watch right now.
On the other hand, Lu knows basically nothing about it, so you might have to go in blind. Except... "Are we going to shadow that thing and find out more about it?"
The response you get is a playfully surprised gawk. "Since when are you aware of stealth and intel gathering?"
You bat her shoulder, though both of you are giggling soon after.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
That is basically the last time you get to laugh for the next day, though. Staking out that Naga is boring, seeing that it usually patrols its territory or lies around; it does not even eat during that time, though at least you get to see it charge a singular boar-like creature that wandered into its territory. Not to kill it, just to chase it off.
It is big and surprisingly nimble for its size. You doubt you can outspeed it without making some commitments.
Right now, just after noon, you are back at a reasonable distance and watching the napping creature. You went back for food and sleep before, but this seems to be its nest. There is hardly even shade around your hideout, being located on the same hill you were on yesterday; stakeouts suck.
"Stakeouts suck."
"You said that five times already, and this was just today."
Lu is vaguely annoyed, but she can deal. You know for a fact she does not like the inaction either. Still, you both want to at least see the Naga fight something for real before engaging it.
"Let's give it a few more hours, then-"
You cut yourself off as your sense pings, moving to flip from your belly to your back. Then the sensation grows as more of it enters your reach, just deflecting it is not possible. It is too big.
You bend your legs and stab your heels into the ground, then push off; but it is too fast. You only get a glimpse of a giant thing with a scaly beard... that explodes the moment it hits you.
(Explosive Melee: 1, explosion triggers
Bazel Divebomb: +4000 Heavyweight Dive, +74 dice, +1200 Explosive Melee, +2400 Point Blank Explosion, +8000 SURPRISE! = 15,674 Total Damage
Defiance: +100 Base Resilience, +492 dice, -50 What?!, +100 Dodge Attempt = 642 Total Damage Reduction
Lucfier: +50 Base Resilience, +2308 dice, -50 Completely Unexpected = 2308 Total Damage Reduction
15,030 Final End Damage for Defiance, 13,366 Final End Damage for Lucifer
Lucifer Health: 39,600 - 13,366 = 26,234
Defiance Health: 900 - 15,030 = -14,130
Defiance is dead, Rage Against Fate triggers)
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
Your skin was burned off by the explosion, your flesh is charred and what clothes you still wore have been torn to shreds. It hardly even registers while you focus the thrust of your wings to push yourself out of the dust; your body broke the soft earth, allowing you to get out from below the creature's foot.
Your eyes, arms, and wings are all whole, which is enough.
You are fallen Lucifer, and you messed up. Even after almost two months, you failed to remember the most dangerous predator on Milidia, holding its title through the combination of invisibility, flight, and a highly lethal first strike. You never even saw one alive, yet you know it better than any other creature from the warnings your elders gave you long ago.
Your guilt is replaced by worry about Heidi, who was thrown dozens of metres away after her attempt to dodge the attack. She is in even worse condition than you, her attire torn by the explosion and the flesh on her entire body ruptured. Blood runs down her body from various wounds, creating a shallow pool around her feet.
The sight hurts to just look at, but you can physically see mana surging through her body, keeping it together. She is already getting to her feet, slowly but surely.
Bazelgeuse barrels out of the dust to charge your first friend in over a thousand years. Its body is coloured in a mix of grey and beige with some ivory, the reddish scales arrayed on its tail and throat forming something resembling a flaming mane and bushy tail. Red veins run over its entire form.
But you do not let it reach your friend. With only two legs, it is easy to trip with a bit of manipulation to your own mana; a thin sling around its ankle and a tug.
Just as it trips, you receive a short burst of speed as always; it suffices to flip your cross so you hold it upward, then throw the weapon like a harpoon that slams into the monster and makes its scales explode again; nothing is hit and your weapon sticks in its hide now, but that at least got its attention from Heidi. Your own magic surges and mends some of the wounds, though you could not care less.
The thing turns around and roars up at you, now ensuring that the Naga noticed this entire commotion.
It is answered from behind, however. Heidi roars in a primal rage you have never heard from her before, which you watch unhappily. Her aura lashes out to challenge the large monster, which turns to her again.
At least the other one will need a little while to reach. You quickly dash around Bazelgeuse and tear your weapon out of it, with a little push to dodge the creature's scaly wing on the way. This brings both of you in front of it, but at least it distracts the monster for a moment.
That is when your power reaches out. You let it.
(Blood Soaked Cross: Defiance's Health reset to 900.
Rage Against Fate cancelled, Defiance is alive.)
It thankfully knits her back together, mends flesh and tendons and bones. You did not like the sight of her being so mangled, even though you instinctually knew she would be fine.
Heidi's breathing is heavy when you float up next to her, the girl's expression warped into anger. She stares at Bazelgeuse, who is carefully watching the both of you right now. Only a moment until it comes at you again.
Not that there is any choice in the matter. You can tell with a glance at your friend, though her figure is oddly distracting for a moment, until you shake off the thought.
------------- PoV will return to Heidi at the start of the next chapter. This plan is hers and not Lucifer's.
Also, Heidi is pissed. Any plan that includes retreating or fleeing is vetoed by default.
[] What do? (Write-in)
[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it
=====
+15xp Stigmata
+20xp Encountered a Naga
+100xp Counter-Ambushed by Bazelgeuse!
EXP gained: 135 Total EXP: 1,056
=====
Notes
-Clothes Destroyed: Defiance and Lucifer take -90% to their Base Resilience
-ETA for Naga to join the battle: 2 turns
-Bazelgeuse Health: 94,236 / 100,000
-Lucifer Health: 30,217 / 39,600
-Battlefield: mostly plains with a few hills and a little creek running between
=====
Bazelgeuse
Stats
Health: 100,000
Base Damage: 1,200
Base Resilience: 500
Magic Modifier: 475
Fire Blast
Level 2
Base Damage: 800
Magic Modifier: 400
Affinity: Nature
Ability: Burn
Abilities
Flight
Level 7
-May take to the air and fly at up to 60mph.
High-Speed Combat (Lvl 1)
-Bazelgeuse can track and react to objects moving at up to 90mph.
Large Enemy
-Bazelgeuse takes 50% less damage from smaller enemies.
???
-???
Explosive Melee
-Melee attacks against or by Bazelgeuse have a 50% chance to trigger the scales. Bazelgeuse is immune to their own Detonate-effects. Each strike of a multi-hit attack may trigger this Ability.
Natural Camouflage
-While outside of combat, Bazelgeuse can turn invisible at will.
Naga
The Last of its Kind
Stats
Health: 80,000
Base Damage: 1,675
Base Resilience: 900
Magic Modifier: 1,100
[] Plan why God why!?
-[] Cast Conundrum.
-[] Try to keep the Naga focused on the Bazelgeuse.
-[] If the Bazelgeuse takes flight nail it in the head with Argent Star at max power.
-[] Try not to die.
You are Adelheid Schmeling. Human, Magical Girl, time traveler.
Lu's magic healed your wounds, but you can see some rough patches of skin that remained as scars. This little shit of a monster just ambushed you and blew you up. And it couldn't even be bothered to be a suicide bomber, no, it is still there, screaming challenges at you.
You grit your teeth, a moment of reason making you bellow out "Conundrum!" to at least get some protection going. Not that it will do much, but you are beyond caring at the moment.
(Conundrum: +1125 Base Boost, +1138 dice = 2,263 Total Boost
Damage Block active on Heidi and Lucifer, Damage Barrier active on Heidi and Lucifer)
"This is-"
"I don't care, it's as good as dead anyway."
You don't give Lu the time to explain, you saw enough of that thing to get the gist of it anyway. Your friend makes to speak again, but that is when you charge ahead, weapon changing form to your trusted spear; Aetheric Tide ought to be better than the lightsaber, you are less likely to get hit by the full brunt of those explosions with more reach.
Not that you have to care much about them, Lu just showed that it can not put you down for good no matter what it does.
You meet the charging monster with your own charge, easily vaulting over its attempt to bite you with your spear and striking back with a snarl.
(Bazel's Maw: +1200 Base Damage, +107 dice = 1,307 Total Damage
Attack Negated
Riposte!
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +467 dice, +640 Neck Poke, +160 RAGE = 1,587 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +467 dice, +640 Neck Poke, +160 RAGE = 1,587 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +467 dice, +640 Neck Poke, +160 RAGE = 1,587 Total Damage
4,761 Unified Damage
Bazelgeuse: +500 Base Resilience, +394 dice, -200 Outmaneuvered = 694 Total Damage Reduction
4,067 Total End Damage Large Enemy (50%) Negated by Defy the Rules.
Bazelgeuse Health: 94,236 - 4,067 = 90,169)
(Explosive Melee: 2, 1, 1; two explosions
Explosive Melee: +1200 Boom, +1200 Boom, no dice = 2,400 Total Damage
Defiance: +50 5 Base Resilience, +524 dice, +2,263 Conundrum = 2,792 Total Damage Reduction
Attack Ineffective)
Your spear strikes the monster's neck thrice as you fly over it; magic lashes out and draws long gashes into its hide, eliciting a bellow that is almost drowned out by not one but two explosions. Eh, not that it matters. The shockwaves are buffered by Conundrum and you sail over the creature without harm, coming to land behind it.
It snarls and turns, only for Lu to swoop over the creature and pluck her cross out of its hide; she makes no motion to attack though, leaving the creature to you. Just as well, you have some aggression to work off.
Before your opponent gets to actually fight back, you step forward and start to stab its head in rapid succession; its scales begin exploding, but you could not care less as you lay on the pain and make sure to stab it in the eye once you get the chance. Bastard can try to bite things now.
(Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +209 dice, +160 RAGE = 689 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +209 dice, +160 RAGE = 689 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +209 dice, +160 RAGE = 689 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +290 dice, +160 RAGE = 770 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +290 dice, +160 RAGE = 770 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +290 dice, +160 RAGE = 770 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +497 dice, +160 RAGE = 977 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +497 dice, +160 RAGE = 977 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +497 dice, +160 RAGE = 977 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +614 dice, +160 RAGE = 1,094 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +614 dice, +160 RAGE = 1,094 Total Damage
Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, +614 dice, +160 RAGE = 1,094 Total Damage
10,590 Unified Damage
Bazelgeuse: +500 Base Resilience, +211 dice, -400 Overwhelmed by Attacks, -3000 Eye Scream = 2689 Extra Damage
13,279 Total End Damage Large Enemy (50%) Negated by Defy the Rules.
Bazelgeuse Health: 90,169 - 13,279 = 76,890
Bazel has only one eye left)
Explosive Melee: +1200 Boom, +1200 Boom, +1200 Boom, +1200 Boom, +1200 Boom, +1200 Boom, +1200 Boom, +1200 Boom, +1200 Boom, no dice = 10,800 Total Damage
Defiance: +50 5 Base Resilience, +126 dice, +2,263 Conundrum = 2,394 Total Damage Reduction
8,406 Total End Damage Conundrum (-2,263): 6,143 Final End Damage
Defiance Health: 900 - 6,143 = -5,243 Heidi is deadRage Against Fate wants a word with you)
One, two, three, adjust, one, two, three, step forward, one, two three, step forward, one, two three.
You do not brave the explosions your rapid-fire strikes draw, but ignore them. They do not matter, all you have to care about is keeping up the staccato of stabs until the last one throws you back after all. Your whole body burns in a way you simply crush into insignificance before it even registers fully; now is not the time.
At least the monster is reeling and screeching, seeing that you managed to land a hit square in its eye; with your magical extension, the potentially blinding wound was turned into a bloody gouge in its head.
You fly through the air like a ragdoll but manage to curl up into a ball; impacting the ground is harsh and hurts even more, but you ignore that in favour of your burning anger. Eyes focussed on the monster and nose filled with the scent of charred flesh, yours most likely, you find the thing swinging itself into the air.
Well, fuck you too, buster.
You are still in the process of getting up when it turns around after corkscrewing into the air; not fast enough, you need more speed if you want to get at it. So you consume Reaper's Will as it is the first weapon that comes to mind, uncaring for the use it could have been.
The additional mana hits your system like a splash of cold water, jolting you back into action and to your feet. "ARGENT STAR!" you roar at the heavens that shelter this beast. Then, before the first bunch even left your presence, you channel more mana into the lingering iteration and have it follow the first. This guy is not getting away, you make sure of that by targeting its wings in particular with two spheres each.
The monster tries to lean out of the way, a sight which makes you grin. It is not fast enough and not nimble enough to pull it off. You already use the split-second to charge forward to where the beast is going to fall.
(Argent Star: +715 Base Damage, +134 dice, x8 Purge And Anti-Air = 6,792 Total Damage
Argent Star: +715 Base Damage, +134 dice, x8 Purge And Anti-Air = 6,792 Total Damage
Argent Star: +715 Base Damage, +134 dice, x8 Purge And Anti-Air = 6,792 Total Damage
Argent Star: +715 Base Damage, +134 dice, x8 Purge And Anti-Air = 6,792 Total Damage
27,168 Unified Damage
Bazelgeuse: +500 Base Resilience, +84 dice = 584 Total Damage Reduction
26,584 Total End Damage Large Enemy (50%) Negated by Defy the Rules.
Bazelgeuse Health: 76,890 - 26,584 = 50,306)
The first volley hits its body and explodes violently, tearing off large chunks of scaly hide and grey flesh beneath; the wounds left are deep and quickly spill pinkish red blood. Then your second volley hits before the thing can even scream out its pain.
(Argent Star: +715 Base Damage, +80 dice, x8 Purge And Anti-Air = 6,360 Total Damage
Argent Star: +715 Base Damage, +80 dice, x8 Purge And Anti-Air = 6,360 Total Damage
Argent Star: +715 Base Damage, +80 dice, x8 Purge And Anti-Air = 6,360 Total Damage
Argent Star: +715 Base Damage, +80 dice, x8 Purge And Anti-Air = 6,360 Total Damage
25,440 Unified Damage
Bazelgeuse: +500 Base Resilience, +4 dice = 504 Total Damage Reduction
24,936 Total End Damage Large Enemy (50%) Negated by Defy the Rules.
Bazelgeuse Health: 50,306 - 24,936 = 25,370)
This time the explosions tear its wings to tatters, leaving nothing but grey-pink chunks of the strong membranes. The monster screams as it begins to fall, toward the ground where you are almost in position.
You just grin and push your body to make the last few dozen metres, then turn it into a burning slide on your mangled legs while aligning your spear at a right angle to the flat earth. A glance is spared for the falling monster and you push yourself a little further so its neck only hits your legs instead of your rump when it slams down. Time for gravity to do its thing.
(Aetheric Tide: +320 Base Damage, -320 Not An Attack, +355 dice, +5000 Indestructible Spike = 5,355 Total Damage
Bazelgeuse: +500 Base Resilience, +422 dice, -5000 Gravity = 4,072 Extra Damage
9,427 Total End Damage
Head...shot? (+75,000): 84,427 Total End Damage Large Enemy (50%): 42,213 Final End Damage
Bazelgeuse Health: 25,370 - 42,213 = -26,843
Bazel expires, and messily at that
Heidi takes a lot of crushing damage from an oversized monster crash-landing on her legs, but that is healed away by Vampire and her Super's restoration; Heidi is back to full Health)
The earth shakes as its giant body impacts, your legs being almost crushed to paste under its neck alone and sending a spike of pain through you.
But that does not matter. The only thing that does is the literal spike you hold up until the very last moment; your enemy's head slams onto it with all the force of a long fall, driving it up and through the monster's head in a single fluid chop; you only barely get your hands out from under it in time, the cacophony of crushed earth and screeching monster deafening.
Then its head explodes outward from the force behind the impact on your spear, splattering you in monster bits while the Handle gleams in the light, revealed within its gory sheath. Its speartip was bent and crushed by the impact.
Soothing life force starts to run through your body as you pull on your legs; the monster's weight drove them into the ground, which means you can actually get free of it instead of having to lift the body off.
As you do, your bones, flesh, and skin knit themselves back together under the torrent of life force you are absorbing from the monster. The pain you managed to ignore so far fades away before it really registers, which you are thankful for.
You take a deep breath and get up at the same time as you dismiss your weapon to get it free; a spurt of pinkish blood comes out of the newly revealed hole, but it does not splash far enough to hit more than your toes after its impact on the ground. Yuck.
This was... intense. You blink once, twice, and take in the carnage surrounding yourself. It is not that you did not understand what you were doing, but your mind was set to a scary degree of being uncaring.
The ground is torn where the monster stood before, the many explosions you triggered having turned a large patch of grass to ash. Its corpse is... a mess, a lot more mutilated than you would normally want. Effective, sure, but it still makes you shiver.
Crimson traces coat the immediate area, footsteps and a metres-long trail leading almost exactly to where you are. You, uh, must have been injured worse than you thought.
Your moment of horrified tranquility is broken by something buzzing, as well as a mostly naked Lu landing right next to you with narrowed eyes. "Are you calm again?"
You are still breathing heavily from that episode, but nod. "Yeah, k-kind of." Your voice is shaky, too. "Today sucks."
"So it does." Lu looks you over carefully, then nods calmly. The buzzing is getting louder "Just some minor scars, at least. The Naga is near, make rea-"
The buzzing cuts her off, reaching its apex and forming a translucent sphere of mana around you; not a chance to escape, it seeps into your body and does something you can not describe. It feels as if it turned you inside out except not really, making your stomach churn while Lu freezes. Her power immediately retracts into herself, wide eyes directed at you.
Turning to look for the source of the buzzing, you find the Naga standing in place, at least fifty metres away and poised as if to lunge; its eyes are focussed on you and the mana that was so abundant around it is gone for a moment. More follows soon after, but only once the buzzing stops.
The Naga remains motionless while Lu's hand lands on your bare shoulder. "Gabriel mentioned that. What this being just did is invert all healing powers aimed at you. Do not use your spear, under any circumstance. I will aid you with this one."
Oh.
"Shit."
"Quite."
There goes your invincibility, and there comes the Naga again, skulking forward cautiously. You summon the Handle back to your hands and prepare yourself, stepping away from the corpse to get some freedom of movement.
"Hate's Seal," Lu notes as it nears step by step. Feathers separate from her wings and blow toward the approaching creature in an almost gentle wave; you can see the magical fields around them and know they will end the fight.
(Hate's Seal hits Naga. Naga is unaffected)
Except that... nothing happens. It looks as if Lu's magic is just sucked into the mana font surrounding the Naga. Of course it can't be that easy.
Lu just shrugs at the unspoken words between you two. "Worth a try."
-------------
[] What do? (Write-in)
[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it
=====
+400xp Bazel is Dead
+100xp Brutalised Bazel
+100xp Scared Yourself With Your Brutality
+20xp Kind of Sabotaged Yourself
EXP gained: 620 Total EXP: 1,676
=====
Notes
-Clothes Destroyed: Defiance and Lucifer take -90% to their Base Resilience
-Conundrum: 2,263 Damage Block and Damage Barrier for Defiance and Lucifer
-Reaper's Will is sealed
-Defiance is affected with Negative Space; any and all healing effects targeting her are inverted to damage
Fire Blast
Level 2
Base Damage: 800
Magic Modifier: 400
Affinity: Nature
Ability: Burn
Abilities
Flight
Level 7
-May take to the air and fly at up to 60mph.
High-Speed Combat (Lvl 1)
-Bazelgeuse can track and react to objects moving at up to 90mph.
Large Enemy
-Bazelgeuse takes 50% less damage from smaller enemies.
My Turf Now
-When fighting another enemy of the same size or bigger, Bazelgeuse deals tripled damage and their attacks carry Consume.
Explosive Melee
-Melee attacks against or by Bazelgeuse have a 50% chance to trigger the scales. Bazelgeuse is immune to their own Detonate-effects. Each strike of a multi-hit attack may trigger this Ability.
Natural Camouflage
-While outside of combat, Bazelgeuse can turn invisible at will.
Naga
The Last of its Kind
Stats
Health: 80,000
Base Damage: 1,675
Base Resilience: 900
Magic Modifier: 1,100
Stardust Striker
Level 15
Base Damage: 1,125
Magic Modifier: 840
Affinities: Interference
Ability: Modifier Save | Supremacy
New Ability: Laser (Can charge up any number of actions into a single, powerful attack; main downside is that the charging requires time)
1,660 EXP spent
16 remain
[] Plan Laser Kite
-[] Charge the Stardust Striker with its new power while staying at range, deflecting attacks, and avoiding melee combat with the Naga. When heavily charged, dart in and strike it with Arcane Slash. Withdraw and repeat until it dies.
-[] If possible, ask Lu to cover you when you close.
Stardust Striker has not seen battle yet, at least not really. Perhaps your magic wants to give you a nudge to use it already, though it always felt like more of a spellcaster's weapon.
Then again, what your instincts tell you sounds like fun. "Hey Lu, remember that thing where I get growth spurts?"
The Naga is forgotten for a moment as she gives you an incredulous look. "Again?"
You just grin at her while the blade in your hand lights up. "Yyyep." The turquoise ray casts long shadows over your face and probably makes your grin look a tad more nasty than intended, but Lu probably does not care.
The Naga, in turn, has paused and eyes your glowing sword. You hold it up and wave smugly at the creature. While you do, you tap your friend's leg with your foot. "Keep it off me until I've charged up a little."
Lu nods and steps forward while you step back, leaving the stage to her. A surge of thrust from her wings and she is off, charging the monster without hesitation. It roars a challenge and jumps.
...this might be the first time you actually get to see Lu fight without being busy.
(Naga's Maw: +1675 Base Damage, +1243 Auto Max Charge, +833 Ramming Speed, +5025 Hegemony of the Food Chain = 8,776 Total Damage
Attack Negated
Riposte! Cost of the Crown: Lucifer heals 8,776 damage (now at 38,993)
Bloodsoaked Cross: +5000 Base Damage, +11777 dice = 16,777 Total Damage
Naga: +900 Base Resilience, +360 dice = 1,260 Total Damage Reduction
15,517 Total End Damage Large Enemy (50%): 7,758 Final End Damage
Naga Health: 80,000 - 7,758 = 72,242)
The Naga goes airborne for a split-second, powerful jaws snapping for Lu in an attempt to rend her asunder; she only twitches her winged arm and the change in thrust makes her sail right past the creature's assault. Another twitch turns her around mid-air and a single, long cut is drawn over its hide as it passes her by.
Lu completes her turn and now has the creature between the both of you, readjusting the grip on her cross minutely as you watch.
You did not have the eye for it before, but...
(Naga's Tail: +1625 Total Damage, +1637 Auto Max Charge, +50 Follow-Up, +5025 Hegemony of the Food Chain = 8,337 Total Damage
Lucifer: +50 5 Base Resilience, +4400 dice, +2084 Rolling With the Blow = 6,489 Total Damage Reduction
1,848 Final End Damage
Lucifer Health: 38,993 - 1,848 = 37,145)
...yep. She never actually used her full skill in your spars. Not even once. You can tell she took that hit on purpose and rolled with it in mid-air, managing her acceleration so carefully that you doubt it will leave more than a nasty bruise despite having slammed into her waist at speed you only barely could have reacted to.
An actual strike like that could have broken bones, yet she mitigated it both with her own actions and the strength of her innate magic.
From there her dance continues while the Naga turns back in a fluid motion, claws tearing the ground open in its haste to get at her and mana continuing to spark in its natural weapons. She is not even back on the offensive again, merely adjusting her trajectory minutely so the creature simply sails past her.
You could do all of this too, maybe. But it would be hard, every single action, and she does it effortlessly. Her mastery of the heavens is not genius, not instinct. It is experience, plain and simple. Lu knows exactly how she has to move in order to get the most out of every single shift and thrust.
It is mesmerising, now that you can see it properly. No movement wasted, an efficiency even you could only dream of. Where magic makes you push past her by removing the limits of the possible, Lu dances with every single one of these limits. Stretches them as far as she can. Thrives.
(Over three attacks, Lucifer took 1,834 damage in total due to good rolls
Lucifer Health: 37,145 - 1,834 = 35,311)
The Naga is getting frustrated with her too, but it is still faster than her and she knows it. You know it, too. You keep pushing mana from within yourself into the sword, making it shine brightly and hum an aria, but it has not been that long yet. You need more time.
Lu takes that moment to meet the monster again as it tries to bite a chunk out of her.
(Naga's Maw: +1675 Base Damage, +2,034 Auto Max Charge, +833 Ramming Speed, +5025 Hegemony of the Food Chain = 9,567 Total Damage
Attack Negated
Riposte! Cost of the Crown: Lucifer heals 9,567 damage (now at 39,600, full)
Bloodsoaked Cross: +5000 Base Damage, +107 dice = 5,107 Total Damage
Naga: +900 Base Resilience, +510 dice = 1,410 Total Damage Reduction
3,697 Total End Damage Large Enemy (50%): 1,848 Final End Damage
Naga Health: 72,242 - 1,848 = 70,394)
For a moment it appears as if she just flies into its open maw, but your friend once again adjusts her thrust minutely while also hammering the butt of her cross into its jaw. The result is a missed bite and Lu almost sliding right over the scales on its side with how close she is. A thin, faintly bleeding line follows her where her cross passed.
She adjusts again when the Naga's tail starts to swing for her at incredible speed once more, rolling with it and mitigating some of the damage.
(Everyone go home, she rolled a 12,464 for dice)
The rest, you see a moment later, is buffered by a powerful surge of magic protecting your friend. Instead of stopping however, the Naga uses the momentum of its tail to throw itself around and gore Lu on its horns; this time she is too slow to react at all.
(Naga's Horns: +1675 Base Damage, +1,611 Auto Max Charge, +19,800 Straight Through the Heart, +5025 Hegemony of the Food Chain = 28,111 Total Damage
Lucifer: +50 5 Base Resilience, +3113 dice = 3,118 Total Damage Reduction
24,993 Final End Damage
Lucifer Health: 39,600 - 24,993 = 14,607
Ow. Lu is bleeding badly)
You flinch over the sight; blood splatters and coats the Naga's head crimson, Lu's chest torn open with a wet noise you can hear from where you are. Her skin just... parts. As does the flesh beneath, and some of the organs below that.
The right half of her chest is just gone, torn off by the large monster's strike.
Yet she remains in the air while you stare at her wide-eyed. Despite the constant drizzle of angelic blood she sends down onto the ground below, your friend does not even make much of a face.
Is... that about how you looked to her earlier?
The hand around your sword's grip tightens, knuckles turning white as you pump more mana into it. She is not going to survive another hit like that and you won't get another shot at charging up.
But you trust her, so you wait.
Lu took distance from the Naga to gather her bearings while the monster looks at her carefully; then however, its eye flicks to you and the creature turns; the last step of its motion already flows into a push off the ground, to charge right at you.
You cock your hips and wait, but the show of carefreeness does not make the thing reconsider.
And with your blade charging up power you are not sure you can hold in if you use it, you are definitely not going to deflect it normally. Instead of that, you grasp the horn aimed at your throat and flip yourself off the ground, holding steady while glaring into the monster's large eye. Not yet, not yet.
It can do nothing to stop you from using its own momentum to swing over backward and land on its neck, then slide down from there. The Naga shakes itself and you use the opportunity to leap off of its side.
Still, this is going too slowly. There is already a good bit of mana in your sword, but nowhere near enough to hurt as much as it should. This thing is smart enough to not let you charge it up again.
So you seal your spear, useless as it is with the buzzing magic in your core. The burst of mana that follows and normally speeds you up, you send straight into your sword; its gleam grows brighter, stronger, a little heavier.
(Aetheric Tide sealed. ApT reset and put into another 6 charges for Laser.)
Right as you do, Lu rushes past you and slides off the Naga's tail fin on her cross; the appendage makes your hair flutter in the wind as it passes you by in mid-air.
(Lucifer suffers from Bleed:
Lu Health: 14,607 - 3,960 = 10,647)
(Naga's Tail: +1675 Base Damage, +1,579 Auto Max Charge, +5025 Hegemony of the Food Chain = 8,279 Total Damage
Attack Negated
Riposte! Cost of the Crown: Lucifer heals 8,279 damage (now at 18,926)
Bloodsoaked Cross: +5000 Base Damage, +2950 dice = 7,950 Total Damage
Naga: +900 Base Resilience, +211 dice = 1,111 Total Damage Reduction
6,839 Total End Damage Large Enemy (50%): 3,419 Final End Damage
Naga Health: 70,394 - 3,419 = 66,975)
You felt it coming, but her interference makes it easier to focus on your sword, so you let her. No words are exchanged, but she knows you trust her with this.
What surprises you is something else, now that you really see it: the moment Lu moves to retaliate, her magic knits her back together somewhat. Flesh regrows in parts, bones reset, it is not pretty and moreover not done yet, but her body no longer looks like it was halfway torn off around the middle.
She leaves another bloody gash in the creature's body, prompting a growl while it turns back to her.
You land on the ground in a roll that ends in a crouch, blade held outward so as to not trigger its charge early. It is a little weird to roll on one hand, but you manage thanks to your superhuman flexbility. The edge of your sense tells you that the Naga is focussed back on Lu, fool that it is.
Or maybe it is smart, you think to yourself while watching her rolling with a bodycheck that does nothing due to her magic flaring up.
(Seems the dice still think Lu is Best Girl; 11,933 this time, what is it with these near-max rolls?)
Nonetheless, Lu is the faster of you two and visibly the stronger one in terms of striking power. But she is not strong enough to wittle this thing down before it can land another horrific blow like before. One more, maybe two, and she is done for.
If it was an actual battle one on one, this creature would actually be able to defeat her on tenacity alone.
(Naga's Maw: +1675 Base Damage, +1,874 Auto Max Charge, +5025 Hegemony of the Food Chain = 8,574 Total Damage
Attack Negated.
Riposte! Cost of the Crown: Lucifer heals 8,574 damage (now at 27,500), Bleed removed
Bloodsoaked Cross: +5000 Base Damage, +7361 dice = 12,361 Total Damage
Naga: +900 Base Resilience, +1061 dice = 1,961 Total Damage Reduction
10,400 Total End Damage Large Enemy (50%): 5,200 Final End Damage
Naga Health: 66,975 - 5,200 = 61,775)
It tries to snap for her again, but Lu simply repeats her earlier motion of sliding past and slamming the butt of her cross into its jaw. This time however, her own magic surges strongly and she leaves a much nastier cut right over the shallow one she left the first time she used that maneuver.
Moreover, her body keeps healing and knitting itself back together. A last spurt of blood, which you only now realise turns black a few seconds after leaving her body, and the hole in her chest seals shut. She is still missing some flesh and skin and one of her breasts, though. Urgh.
It is still not a pretty sight and you really hope you can forget it.
Another pulse of mana is sent into your sword while you watch Lu get batted away, but she... would not even have needed to roll with it. Her magic surges to protect her again.
(...12,076)
You can not help but grin at the sight; it seems her innate power is as determined to stay alive as she is.
The Naga is still faster than her though, and this time you can see how your friend is pushed toward a bad position really soon. So you push your mana faster, as fast as you can while still keeping a hold on the existing charge.
Another attempt to bite Lu...
(Naga's Maw: +1675 Base Damage, +1429 Auto Max Charge, +5025 Hegemony of the Food Chain = 8,129 Total Damage
Attack Negated.
Riposte! Cost of the Crown: Lucifer heals 8,129 damage (now at 35,629),
Bloodsoaked Cross: +5000 Base Damage, +8943 dice = 13,943 Total Damage
Naga: +900 Base Resilience, +402 dice = 1,302 Total Damage Reduction
12,641 Total End Damage Large Enemy (50%): 6,320 Final End Damage
Naga Health: 61,775 - 6,320 = 55,455)
Ends the exact same way the previous two did, except that Lu flies higher to dodge the tail as it attempts to slap her out of the air. She probably saw the thing shift its posture earlier and adjusted to it. Her body finishes healing up, more or less; at least you see no more outward injuries from where you are.
But that still leaves her in trouble if it tries to retaliate. This has to suffice. "Lu! Take distance!"
Your call is heeded immediately and she retreats higher, out of the Naga's next attempt to tear into her with its horns. The moment it is in the air, you use to push a trickle more mana into your weapon. Then you seal Stygian Tempest as well, just to be safe. Mana makes to rush into your body from within your weapon, but is once again redirected.
(Stygian Tempest sealed. Another 5 Laser charges)
You then step forward, once, twice, and break into a run from there. The Naga already turns, but you have its side to you still and are too fast for it to face you fully. With a roar, you raise your gleaming blade and bring it down the moment you get in reach. "Arcane Slash!"
It does not even know what hit it.
(Stardust Striker: +1125 24750 Base Damage, +840 dice, +1200 Arcane Slash, +23 dice = 26,813 Total Damage
Echo: 2; Echo Triggers!
Stardust Striker: +1125 Base Damage, +251 dice, +1200 Arcane Slash, +15 dice = 2,591 Total Damage
Echo: 2; Echo Triggers!
Stardust Striker: +1125 Base Damage, +286 dice, +1200 Arcane Slash, +50 dice = 2,661 Total Damage
Echo: 2; Echo Triggers!
Stardust Striker: +1125 Base Damage, +166 dice, +1200 Arcane Slash, +15 dice = 2,506 Total Damage
Echo: 2; Echo Triggers!
Stardust Striker: +1125 Base Damage, +389 dice, +1200 Arcane Slash, +26 dice = 2,740 Total Damage
Echo: 2; Echo Triggers!
Stardust Striker: +1125 Base Damage, +503 dice, +1200 Arcane Slash, +175 dice = 3,003 Total Damage
Echo: 2; Echo Triggers!
Stardust Striker: +1125 Base Damage, +169 dice, +1200 Arcane Slash, +45 dice = 2,539 Total Damage
Echo: 2; Echo Triggers!
Stardust Striker: +1125 Base Damage, +827 dice, +1200 Arcane Slash, +114 dice = 3,266 Total Damage
Echo: 1; No Echo
Mana Nexus: All of this is magic damage, so it is absorbed and heals the Naga Supremacy, bitch!
46,119 Unified Damage
Naga: +900 Base Resilience, +937 dice, -900 Expected to be Immune, -450 holyshitwtf = 487 Total Damage Reduction
45,632 Total End Damage Large Enemy (50%) Negated by Defy the Rules.
Naga Health: 55,455 - 45,632 = 9,823
Ouch. The animal cruelty is back.)
Time seems to slow to a crawl and you can see clearly how not just mana cascades from your blade. You see the shroud around the Naga attempt to absorb both it and your spell, but it is repelled and broken past by Stardust Striker. That is the first surprise; this thing is apparently immune to all magic, not just spells.
The second surprise is the wave of energy that roars out of your sword the moment it impacts the Naga's hide, washing over its shoulder and flank while disintegrating layers of scales and flesh beneath.
The third surprise is your slash's echo. It surges once, twice, thrice, and you lose count. Every single one tears the fatal wound open further, both the magical shroud and the steel of your replicated blade alike.
You quickly vault back and watch the titan collapse, one leg almost completely separated from its body and bleeding a small river. It's scream is not one of anger this time, but of pain.
Then it is silent for a long moment.
(Naga is bleeding:
Naga Health: 9,823 - 8,000 = 1,823
Hegemony of the Food Chain: Supremacy on Stardust Striker and Defy the Rules are sealed.)
The juggernaut breathes heavily, eyeing you with palpable hatred. Purplish blood continues to soak the ground where it fell, apparently unable to get back up again. Magic still races from it and sinks into you, too fast to evade and following your movements to boot; your magic sight fizzles out, it grows more quiet than it has been for you in months. And your sword's gleam weakens, as if something was missing from it.
Your eyes widen and go to the downed Naga, but it remains as it is. You would step forward and end its misery, but it would probably try to bite you. Lu lands by your side and looks over your handywork while the monster goes through its death throes.
"That was a considerable amount of power. We shall look at this later."
She has a point. As great as this new power boost is, you will have to give it a good look. Before you can agree with your friend however, the Naga's eyes begin to gleam.
You ready yourself as it opens its maw, but what comes out is not a roar or a beam... but song. A beautiful, serene melody that echoes through the empty plains. You can see streamers of mana gather and flow despite your vision being returned to normal, but they are not aimed toward you.
Lu realises it too and both of you quickly turn around to find what the dying creature is doing.
Its magic sinks into the mutilated monster you killed earlier, casting a growing net over the large body as if embracing it. Torn flesh grows back between instants, blood spurts out of a few slowly closing wounds, scales that were broken become whole again.
Then it stirs, and the one eye you can see slides open.
(Restoration: Bazelgeuse was revived)
The song ends and you can only watch in shock as the thing you killed earlier comes back to life, as good as new. It gets to its feet with a low growl, eyes still on you and Lu. One shaky step is made before the revived creature finds its balance, then it shakes itself roughly.
The Naga behind you lets out one last hum of content, no, spite before it falls silent; moments after, the thrum of magic returns to your ears. The buzzing power it anchored within you remains, though.
Meanwhile, the monster before you spreads its wings, still eyeing you carefully.
Then it pushes itself off of the ground and turns around to- hold on!
"Argent Star!"
Four silvery spheres form and shoot out, followed by another four, but the thing is already taking up speed and begins to outpace them; they keep following, but its contours become fuzzy and it makes no attempt to turn around.
The little shit is running away!
You clench your teeth in a surge of anger, but Lu puts a hand on your shoulder. "Leave it be, we have what we came for. I do not feel like fighting another Bazelgeuse."
She is right, but still. You let out an explosive sigh, take another deep breath, and slash for your friend a few times. The attacks are haphazard and easily deflected, the same happening to her counters.
Within a few moments, Lu motions for you to stop, now fully regenerated. "Thank you."
"No problem."
And with that, the excitement is over. You have a partly disintegrated Naga to dismantle and bring back to your base. Ugh. At least its stupid anti-healing thing starts to disperse.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
Your everything hurts by the time night falls. With Lu doing some sorting ahead of time, before she started to transport the Naga in parts, you actually managed to finish the job within that one day. Yet you can not help but groan about how pitiful your body feels. Your scars itch a little, your muscles burn in places you did not even know had muscles, you are exhausted, and having a bed of leaves to poke into your back in various places does not help any of this.
A single glance at Lu makes you shut up, though. She sits quietly, looking up at the full moon despite the excruciating pain she is apparently in. It really does not look that way.
How can she even sleep with how she is?
Does she sleep at all?
You want to ask but also not ask, unsure whether she would be willing to talk about something like that.
Well, you muse, at least she managed to make herself new clothes out of some Mimic Stalk leather she made last week to pass the time. You are at a point where you do not care much about it, but there will be a time when you return to Sharon's Keep. She should be presentable then, if just for your peace of mind.
You rub your side again and sigh, but then realise something. You rub again and then huff as you find something else you did not notice before now.
In the end, you do speak up, if only because you want to share your new wisdom. Might as well make the best of it... and pull a fast one over your friend. "You know, I see one positive about having my skin burned off and healed back repeatedly."
Lu turns her head to you, expression cast in shadow by the moon's green glow. She does not say anything, but you know you have her attention; which is why you show her a thumbs up and laugh. "My new skin is now as smooth as a baby's and I don't need to shave, either."
Apparently, only the hair on your head grew back. That is at least a silver lining over the other stuff.
Lu snorts and shakes her head, turning back to look at the sky. "Get some sleep, you will need it after today."
You do not disagree, but the hollow aches in your body continue to throb, leaving you unable to find rest until deep into the night, long after your friend went to bed.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
The next day is spent mainly recuperating in your case while Lu begins with the actual dismantling of the Naga parts. She has a lot of work ahead of herself, but does not appear concerned about it.
During your time off from the actual training, you idly consider Stardust Striker. Some focus exercises teach you that once it goes beyond a certain amount of mana, the strike turns from just being stronger to actually creating a wave of mana. It actually grows in size the longer you let it charge, that might be quite useful.
Despite it all, you manage to get some practice in too... though not in the way one would expect. Lu decided to test your skill in regard to holding the charge and kept peppering you with bits of bone and scales while she worked.
Suffice it to say, your sword's calming property on magical flow made that quite easy... although you did slip up a few times at first and released clouds of concentrated mana that quickly dispersed. Lu was not amused; apparently, while a little of it is good for giving others a boost, taking in too much of the stuff is actively bad, up to being poisonous for an organism.
You are just... not going to use that as a weapon unless you absolutely have to. It feels a little too close to poison gas for your liking.
That aside however, your practice continues uninterrupted for the rest of the week, if slowly. It will be a while until this works well enough.
-------------
Food: 29 Completed Practice: 25 / 60
[] Plan for the week
-[] Action 1
-[] Action 2
-[] Action 3
Hunt small critters
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Foraging
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Hunt medium-sized critters
(secures food for 7 days, may turn into a combat encounter)
Hunt large beasts
(secures food for 14 days, combat encounter)
Hunt the biggest and baddest
(secures food for 30 days, boss encounter)
Practice
(adds between 2 and 3 days to the training counter; 7 days if all actions are this)
[] EXP-Plan
-[] Write-in what to buy
-[] Save it
=====
+600xp Killed a Naga
+50xp Circumstances Conspired For An Easier Fight
+100xp Brought a Species to Extinction
+50xp Long Live Bazel!
+20xp Bazel Booked It
EXP gained: 820 Total EXP: 836
=====
(Soft Mechanics updated)
(new Soft Mechanics Exploits available)
Unlocked Soft Exploit:
-Hold Laser-charges active even while swinging Stardust Striker to negate attacks, or while casting spells
=====
Naga
The Last of its Kind
Stats
Health: 80,000
Base Damage: 1,675
Base Resilience: 900
Magic Modifier: 1,100
Large Enemy
-Nagas take 50% less damage from smaller enemies.
Arcane Overflow
-If a Naga does not cast a spell in a turn, all of their attacks carry Auto Max Charge in the next turn.
Mana Nexus
-Magical damage heals Nagas instead.
Hegemony of the Food Chain
-Any powers which circumvent a Naga's powers are sealed after the turn they first did so; when attacking a smaller enemy, Nagas deal 300% additional damage against them. A Naga may sacrifice all of their actions at the start of turn to inflict Negative Space on an opponent.
A week of practice sounds good to you; food is not an issue at the moment, so you can give Lu time to process it all and go back to training.
After a few of your weapon stances and swings to warm up, you find one thing that is a little odd; your scythe and sword both grew a smidgen stronger, and after some checking, you think Argent Star did too. A weird change, seeing how your powers tend to grow by leaps and bounds instead of slowly most of the time.
But you table that thought and what it might mean for later, deciding to go back to practicing Voyage instead.
Granted, most of it is repetition and something akin to number crunching; except that time is not measured in numbers, that would be too easy. Then again, this is your own fault; you are the time traveler here, so you have to figure out how something as primal and alien as time actually works.
No one at home is going to believe you. If you ever tell anyone, that is. Science or magic or whoever would probably love the insights you have and gain into the matter of time, but you really can not find a reason to share them. Time travel should not become a thing any more than it already is.
Much to your chagrin, your body even provides you with the option to practice while distracted, as it bothers you with your period. Joy.
That day, you just throw down your work and try to poke Arcane Slash into corroding stuff instead. You even make some progress, and to hell with Lu for saying your sour mood is conductive for it.
She just laughs when you flip her off, but the unintended pun stays with you for a while.
Lucifer is... well, you heard theories that human mythology being similar to many existences in the LDC is based on members of other races falling onto Earth in the past. They would have died soon without any mana to sustain the parts of their bodies which require them, but they could have passed on knowledge.
You do not know much about the biblical Lucifer, aside from that 'he' is a fallen angel and aligned with hell. You know Gabriel is one of the archangels, too.
It seems those things were based in reality after all.
. . .
IDENTIFIED BREAK LINE . . .
On the sixth day, you are busy once again. It is tedious, but you figured out a rhythm by now.
Calm breathing, attention inward, 'calculate' a moment in time ahead, Voyage with the destination in mind.
Calm breathing, attention outward, aim for the mountains in Sheol, Voyage.
Calm breathing, attention outward, aim for your shelter on Milidia, Voyage.
And so on. You began to practice the interdimensional property as well, just to make sure you have it down pat. It is honestly much easier than the time aspect of Voyage, though by far not as accurate. You can designate a location, but you are not going to land in an exact place unless you spend minutes picturing it in your mind and have a good mental image of the place.
In related news, Sheol is... weird to see at this point in time. Nobody detected you and Sharon's Keep does not exist yet. Metatron's Divide is still a proper mountain range because the Archangel in question did not yet die there.
As you get back from your latest trip however, Lu immediately waves you into the shelter; the distant choir makes it clear even before you see them, following your friend's motion without hesitation.
Their auras are glowing faintly in the distance, visible even during the day. You keep yourself in your hidey hole as they pass by while your friend summons her cross. "They kept circling here a few times, but I think that was standard procedure. Their speed did not change, so we should be clear."
You nod and summon your spear in response. It always pays to be prepared after all.
While you watch the angelic patrol however, you keep thinking more about the past weeks and how your relationship with Lu changed. You do not even question her commands as you would for anyone else, and no amount of respect would lead to that.
Your mind is still there by the time the patrol moved on and Lu's tension faded. She notices the moment you just hum in response to her notion that you are good. Of course she asks immediately: "What are you thinking about?"
The first response she gets is a shrug before you slump down on your bed, now with a coating of leather so it stops poking you with stems... and because the leaves are starting to rot again. It is a weird train of thought, but still less weird than the subject matter.
"Just, uh, about you and me."
Lu just stares blankly for a long moment and you glare at her when her lips curl up. "Don't you dare."
Of course she dares. "Are you propositioning me now?"
You just groan and flip her off again. "Go be a lesbo elsewhere, I'm not interested."
"And you can say that why? Have you ever been with a woman to figure it out?" Lu keeps on grinning as she teases, though as usual with a hint of honest curiousity. You just roll your eyes in turn.
"How often have I seen you naked or with your tits bouncing around freely? You're pretty, but you do nothing for me." She first raised a finger to respond, then lowered it thoughtfully. But you are not done. "A damn Succubus propositioned me and it did nothing for me. I got to see my boss drunk and just in her chemise and she's prettier than any of my human friends too, which did nothing for me. I get to be in a bath with dozens of hot women and that doesn't do anything for me either. So yes, I'm pretty damn sure."
You take a deep breath after your short tirade; Lu is actually snickering at this point while you are definitely not pouting. If you learned anything at all during this journey, it is that you decidedly do not like girls.
"Well, you certainly seem to be getting into enough situations with barely dressed ladies." At this point, your stare is just unamused and Lu finally takes the hint, calming herself down. "But you were saying?"
Ah, right. She completely distracted you from that and now you kind of do not want to tell her anymore. But then again....
"I just never thought I'd find a friend like you out here, is what I meant." You quickly stop her from interjecting and shake your head. "Pao is cute and I love her to bits, but that's not the same. Not with Maya or Elisabeth, either. Maybe it's because of all of this," you tell her while motioning for the surrounding area, "but we went from teacher and student to kind of friends to good friends. I'd actually say you are my best friend out of everyone I know by now."
It is a weird feeling. Anna might know you much longer and probably better, but you never felt like you do with Lu now. There is a trust between the two of you that goes deeper than any words can describe.
Or perhaps you would feel the same with Anna now? Maybe your perception shifted. Maybe it is because Lu taught you so much and stayed with you through everything. Maybe that is what makes you feel like this.
Lu herself is eyeing you thoughtfully before shrugging; you still see the twitching of her mouth from her trying to suppress a smile. "I feel that makes sense. You and I are birds of a feather in some regards, yet oh so different in others. I am glad we met."
"You and I both."
That is all which needs to be said. You leave it at that, though a thought quietly lingers over the remainder of this and the next day: perhaps, despite all the bad things that happened, you getting lost in time was actually worth it for the people you met?
-------------
Food: 22 Completed Practice: 32 / 60
[] Plan for the week
-[] Action 1
-[] Action 2
-[] Action 3
Hunt small critters
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Foraging
(secures food for 3 days, auto-success)
Hunt medium-sized critters
(secures food for 7 days, may turn into a combat encounter)
Hunt large beasts
(secures food for 14 days, combat encounter)
Hunt the biggest and baddest
(secures food for 30 days, boss encounter)
Practice
(adds between 2 and 3 days to the training counter; 7 days if all actions are this)
