There wasn’t time to argue; the glass rhinoceros was already charging towards them. Serenity took a few steps off to the side and confirmed that the rhino’s attention didn’t waver; it wasn’t on him. “Move! It’s headed right for you!”
Serenity didn’t take the time to see if the flyer actually moved; the moving sculpture was finally in range, so he threw a Death Manabolt at it. It sank into the rhino without a visible effect, but Serenity could see a slight dimming in the monster’s Vital Affinity. It was better than his other options, but it still wasn’t great; while using Death would make it slow down and hesitate, almost like weariness, it wouldn’t actually prevent it from moving or attacking until it was nearly dead. The amount of vitality loss it took was also not as great as he’d hoped; the glass rhinoceros seemed to have some resistance to his magic.
Serenity threw his infused Slowness spell at it. It would help; if he’d had a gravity increasing spell infused, he’d use it, but it wasn’t one he did every day. Even his Slowness spell wasn’t in great shape, since he hadn’t had the time to replace it since the previous day before they left the Visitors’ Palace. It would help, but even at full power he didn’t think it would be enough to make the rhino actually slower than the flyer once it was moving.
Thankfully, everyone on the street had already fled; he didn’t even hear any shouting from the destroyed building. Serenity hoped that meant no one had been hurt, but it was just as likely that anyone hurt was already dead.
One Death Manabolt after another left Serenity’s hand. He worried that this wasn’t going to be enough unless the flyer really got moving. If they had kept going when he jumped off, the extra distance would have given him the time to kill it, but as it was the rhino was simply too hard to kill quickly.
Serenity glanced back at the flyer and confirmed his fears. They were moving now, but they were slower than the Slowed rhino.
Could he get on the rhino and kill it faster than his magic was?
Serenity answered his own question as he threw the last Death Magebolt he could at the rhino before it passed him. Maybe, but both golems and pachyderms were relatively well protected against physical weaponry. Magic was generally a better solution unless they were specifically protected against it, and while this one had some protection, it clearly wasn’t as well protected against magic as it was against physical attacks.
As he turned Serenity could see that the flyer was running, but hadn’t made it far enough. The rhino was in bad shape, but it wasn’t yet slowed down enough by the damage. He needed more power in his spells if he was going to stop it before it got to the flyer. The acolytes could probably take a hit but Helen couldn’t.
It was too bad the rhino was completely ignoring him even as he did damage to it. If he could get its attention, he could either kite it or (more likely) close with it and depend on his own sturdiness and agility to not get hurt too badly. Either would let him keep others, especially Helen, safe.
Serenity grumbled to himself and reached for a Skill he hadn’t used since he left Tzintkra. There was only one monster here and he had people who would pick him up after the fight even if he passed out; his Adept Aspect Form would temporarily boost him enough to actually kill the glass golem.
Serenity felt Death surround him and become him; it was comfortable and familiar, yet somehow different than before. He didn’t think it was simply that he’d gotten his Aspect form at a much lower level; instead, he thought it was probably because he was physically present twice. Both of his forms were showing the Aspect.
He wondered if that meant he could double-cast. He’d have to try it in the future, but for now he’d stick to what he knew worked. Death Magebolt after Death Magebolt flew from Serenity’s hand. Each one did more than the one before it as he deadened the Vital Affinity in the glass monster and convinced it that it too could die.
The rhino slowed as it got closer and closer to the flyer; it was fifteen feet behind the flyer when it slowed enough to start losing ground. Three long steps later, another Death Magebolt ran it out of Vital Affinity completely. It didn’t take another step, but its momentum kept it moving for longer than Serenity expected.
Serenity jogged after it. He’d cast far more Death Magebolts than he should have; unlike his previous use, he’d been unable to keep a good mana reserve and still kill the annoyingly resistant creature. The only thing keeping him on his feet right now was his Aspect Form and it wouldn’t last much longer.
Maybe he should have gotten the more generic Magebolt as his reward Skill; it would have been useful here. Melting off a leg would have been difficult with how refractive the glass probably was but still easier than killing the creature and it would have been almost as good at preventing it from doing damage. The flyer would definitely have been faster than a three-legged sculpture.
Well, that was the price of the stronger Skill; less flexibility.
Serenity staggered the rest of the way to the flyer. The world was fading in and out as he pulled himself in and collapsed.
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Acolyte Tinar stared down at his charge. What under Eternity was that? He’d been in the Glass Sculpture Dungeon once; it was a ten-person dungeon and needed every single one. Sure, the Glass Rhinoceros didn’t ever attack Serenity, but one person couldn’t take it out alone. He was only a single Tier higher than the beast!
He didn’t know what sort of berserking Skill he’d used at the end, most didn’t apply to magic, but that had to be what that awful aura was right before his magic started being effective. Whatever Skill it was, it had some serious after-effects; he could still feel the draining coldness gathered near Serenity.
If that was what you had to be able to do to make it as a ruler outside the Eternal Church, Tinar wanted nothing to do with it. He’d daydreamed a little about having the freedom Serenity did, able to visit other worlds and spend time in fancy places, but it wasn’t worth having to be able to fight like six or eight people of only one Tier below.
Tinar would never be able to do that. More than that, he never wanted to have to.
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Helen rolled the man who’d just saved her life onto his back. Lying on his face couldn’t be comfortable.
She owed him at least three times now, maybe four. While he hadn’t been in her Tutorial, she knew how much she’d learned from him. He’d closed an invasion portal near her hometown; yes, their military had it under control, but they hadn’t been able to close it. Then he got her out of that hellhole and kept an oversized glass figurine from stomping her into the ground.
She doubted she’d ever be able to pay him back. She was certain he didn’t expect to be paid back, either, but maybe she would find a way.
If nothing else, she’d get him a lifetime pass to her spa. Assuming it was still there after all this time, at least. She could only hope her partner was able to keep it going without her.
Perhaps he’d like a good massage, too? With Rissa present, of course; the fact that he was engaged was very well known and the last thing she wanted to do was cause strife.
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Deek glared at the damage around them as he routed the flyer back onto the original detour. He felt lucky that the man hadn’t gotten himself killed, but really. Who did that? Who jumped off a moving flyer in order to fight a Commander-level monster alone?
It was hard to believe the transparent animal was only Tier Three, but his senses agreed with Serenity’s comment; it was at the top end of Tier Three. It, or rather its dungeon, had to have put absolutely everything into its physical capabilities. Whatever Skills it had were either passives or used to attack; all he’d seen it do was run and not die.
He didn’t want to think about what Serenity had done. It was clearly a sacrificial Skill of some sort; he could feel it lingering and affecting the man. He was lucky to be alive himself with all the residue Deek could feel radiating from him. He’d felt that before and it was always hard to recover from.
Deek hoped it wouldn’t take too long. The man seemed likely to be important, even if he didn’t understand why. Rourke thought he was, at least.
Not that Rourke ever explained anything. Saying that Serenity had the chance to “counter their biggest problem, at least for a while” was not an explanation.
At least now he knew the man had near-suicidal levels of belief in himself and a desire to help others. That ought to be helpful in pushing him towards what was needed. Deek knew he’d need to find Rourke and brief him soon. The Captain was still the best at tactics, but he needed information.
Deek reminded himself that he needed to not use the old titles, even in his head. If he slipped and said one of them out loud it could be devastating to everyone, especially with some of the people who were regularly in the Visitor’s Palace.
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When Serenity woke up, he was in his bed at the Visitor’s Palace. Strangely, he was still in his human form. While he’d gotten better at not shifting in his sleep, he still wasn’t good at it and usually found himself a dragon by morning.
He felt better than he’d expected and when he checked his mana was completely full. He must have been out for a while, but he’d suspected that was the case when he realized he was in a bed he recognized. They’d been hours from the Palace when he collapsed.
No one else was in the room.
Serenity sat up and noticed that he was still in his armor. It was true that no one else could take it off him; there were no separations since he shifted his armor-self to fit himself. Still, even when he stayed in human form, his other form always shifted. It was strange that it hadn’t.
For a moment he was worried, so he reached out towards his shapeshifting Skill. It was still there; his armor-self easily shifted into his sword-self.
Serenity relaxed and shifted his armor-self back on. He’d have to ask Rissa if she’d noticed anything; it would be nice to know if he’d done something to hold off the shift, but he didn’t remember anything after he fell into the flyer.
That was when the notices from the Voice that he’d missed while he was unconscious showed up again.
[Skill overloaded: Adept Aspect Form]
[Skill repair initiated]
Well, hell. It was hard to overload a Skill, but a large enough Tier difference could do it, especially when it was a Skill that didn’t see much use; they’d stretch if you used them but just dumping a lot of mana through a Skill that wasn’t prepared for it could be bad. Three or four Tiers wasn’t usually enough, but an Aspect Form wasn’t generally available at Tier Four; the fact that he’d gotten it as a Tier One Path while he was Tier Zero might mean that it was even more undersized than normal.
The Voice’s skill repair might fix it, but Serenity knew better than to count on that for an emergency-only Skill. If he used it again, he’d break in again. The real solution was picking up a Path that included a better Aspect Form. It would absorb the broken one, likely gaining a little power but more importantly giving him a Skill he could actually use.
If he was lucky, he’d even be able to get a version that didn’t knock him out afterwards. He wasn’t sure Tier Four or Five was high enough for that, but he could hope. He’d never be able to stretch a Skill that he couldn’t use without passing out.