CHAPTER 3

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Choice Made:

[x] [X] Try call upon [Gae Bolg] to blow it to pieces before it can get in range (40% chance of working, 40% chance of injury).

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DICE ROLLS

Result: To hit = 60 Success

Result: To avoid Injury = 26 Failure

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Your hand shoots out on instinct, trying to will [Gae Bolg] into existence fast enough to stop this creature.

The inky shadow on your hands melts away, a hundred eyes watching your every move and nudging you slightly.

Move your foot here.

Shift your shoulder this way.

Back step to set your balance a bit better.

More and more advice meets with an amused laugh. A deep sound that morphs into an ear ringing roar of blood and death as the red rifle snaps into existence in front of you.

It’s too late, the Mesmer already in slashing range as its claws swipe at you.

The six fingered hand carves into your front as you push yourself away. Turning the lethal looking hit into something less so. [Babr-e Bayan] flares in response, hexagons further dulling the blow, pushing the claws an extra inch or two from your depths, and making the cut into a mere flesh wound.

It still hurts. Six streaks of pain that slice across your chest. Blood streaks across the floor for the briefest moment before it’s pulled up and into your halo. The black hole pulling it up and into itself as the wound… well it doesn’t close just yet, but you get the feeling that it won’t kill you.

You use the barrel of [Gae Bolg] like a spear, stabbing it forwards and into the creature’s chest. It recoils in kind, some instinct or command telling it to dodge away.

You grin, and the trigger is pulled.

In a split second, a spear of red light forms between the prongs.

Seven voices scream in terror from seven different directions.

Heat slightly scorches your skin and red light flashes.

The spear of red energy is embedded deep into a pillar a ways away, the metal around it molten and dripping. A clean hole is punched through the chest of the Mesmer as it topples to the ground.

A puppet cut from its strings.

You breathe out. Pushing yourself back to your feet as the glow on [Gae Bolg] brightens and energy gathers around it. A viscous drop of red liquid falls from its barrel, and then turns purple as it’s sucked back into the weapons toothy maw.

You dismiss the hefty weapon after scanning your surroundings and finding nothing of interest. [Grendel’s Arm] feeling far, far lighter compared to [Gae Bolg]’s weight.

Your wound is… interesting… It leaks blood a little, but the drops don’t stain your clothing… sucked straight through the cloth and up into your halo… your shirt’s still ripped though… But at least you get the feeling that you won’t die from this.

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Is a little harder to bend over though.

You note that it took longer to call [Gae Bolg] to your hands then it did for [Grendel’s Arm]. Maybe twice as long in fact. You pose the question to Elly as you go back to hunting for more lone Mesmers on your spiral towards the center.

‘An interesting observation. Though I don’t think it’s a useless one.’

Pages ruffle as your fist meets the chest of another lone Mesmer. Charge detonating and coring out its chest from behind.

‘How do I explain this… The more well known a legend or hero is… the harder it is to, for lack of a better word, warp its form. This iteration of [Gae Bolg] is far, far different then what most know it as. Yet it is the form it has chosen to take in this instance. In turn, it must convince reality that this is the form it must take on its summon. A spear is not a sniper rifle. Yet [Grendel’s Arm] is much closer to its original definition. A gauntlet is closer to an arm then a spear is to a firearm. It shall get faster with time and practice. Something a Magical Girl would not benefit from when it comes to summoning weapons. And before you ask, no, I cannot explain why… I do so love Fae restrictions…’

You nod as a six claws glance off your gauntlets, plunging a fist through a Mesmers arm, oddly not setting off the charge you notice, and then backhanding the creature’s head.

Which explodes as your charge goes off.

And showers you in metal shards.

Probably not your smartest idea.

But at least [Babr-e Bayan] reduces the force such that it’s more like fast moving raindrops.

You idly run a hand through your hair, searching for any scraps that got stuck in it, but happily find that nothing did.

When you try to load another charge into your gauntlets, a sharp spike of pain throbs in your temples, and you stumble against a wall.

Guess I’m out

You move a bit away from where you finished the last Mesmer, hiding in one of the shops as you wait for your charges to recover.

Your hands summon your back of drinks before you look down at your wounds.

You’ve got a few more scratches from some unlucky hits. Mostly along your chest and face. Nothing dangerous. Though they do remind you that you’re not invulnerable even with [Babr-e Bayan]’s barriers.

‘Well, they do act to weaken any physical blows you take. Against an elemental blow however… well, they shall be quite the surprise for any Blue type magical that attacks you I’m sure.’

A class of Magical girl perhaps?

You turn to Elly with a confused look, and ask her as such while sipping on some Heal. Your halo heals slowly… far too slowly to be used in combat you think… But it’s definitely still useful outside of it.

‘Magical Girls are given… I suppose Classes work, it's what they’re referred to in that infuriating system. They’re classed and given roles based on their colour. It has a deeper meaning than that, but I can’t explain too much unfortunately.’

She rolls her eyes and grumbles a bit before continuing.

‘Technically, there are seven main types of Magical. I can only explain five as you need to be told about one of the last two before I can reveal them both. You’re chomping at the bit I’m sure.’

There’s a bit more grumbling.

‘The five main classes are Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and Purple. Reds are the metaphorical frontliners of the Magicals. Hard hitting, fast, and relatively… tanky. They have baseline magical capabilities, but nothing overly impressive. Blue’s are the opposite, as is appropriate. They take time to cast, are not as fast as a similar strength Red, and are more fragile… but their magic is devastatingly potent. Reds and Blues make up the standard complement of magical girls.’

She takes a breath as you nod at her. Memory calling up the Red you saw in your vision. If that beam wasn’t… something special, then you might have to watch out for magic in the future…

‘Greens, Yellows and Purples are more of a support set. Green’s are slower than Reds, have much less offensive capability, but they have much more potent defensive options. Think shields and barriers that could take [Gae Bolg]’s Spear of Carnage head on. The barrier or shield would break of course. But it would hold for a not insignificant period of time. Yellows and Purples are two sides of the same coin… I think that’s the human phrase. A yellow works to… buff? They work to enhance other Magical girls while purples inflict maladies and curses upon their foes… the book says they debuff them, but I refuse to use such… language.’

You take note of that… you’ll probably have to go over it in more depth later, but that’s something for future you to try and memorize.

You simplify it for yourself instead, using some of the language that Alice had been talking about while you were browsing the stores.

Reds are Warriors.

Blues Mages.

Greens were… she called them Tanks you think.

Yellows were Buffers.

And Purples were Debuffers.

You spend a few more minutes listening to Elly grumbling about the ‘Magical Girl System’, whatever that is.

And you load a new charge into your gauntlets.

Then you inspect your other weapons.

[Gae Bolg] shows full charge before you unsummon it.

[Curtana] hasn’t been used yet and is at full charge… you think… it has a weird… you think its a wifi symbol? On its stock that’s currently full.

A thought pulls your gauntlets back to you as you stand back up from where you’ve been sitting.

The charge is gone you note…

So you load a new one, and wait a bit to have all your charges back before heading off again.

The courtyard isn't far according to the directory nearby.

Should probably plan how you approach it now that it's this close…

[ x ] Rushing in might seem stupid. But [Gae Bolg] can help you carve a path forward with a few well placed shots… It’ll be harder, but you’ll definitely be doing more damage faster to whatever’s in between you and the rift.