EPISODE 92: WRATH
— Az’Dawn Empire, Year: 7291. Season Color Fading.
Sins… and Virtues… buffs… and de-buffs… too much or too little of one thing can emerge as a buff or de-buff through the Prime System. Emotions are at the forefront of these afflictions.
Many find the use of Sins and Virtues to rapidly increase their strength over a short period of time. However, many also lose themselves to the emotion… becoming avatars who campaign throughout the continent in hopes of converting more to their emotion. It is said this brings them great benefits as they begin to offer their faith to the emotion.
This extreme is argued as the reason most Deities—besides many of the demigods and Deities who rule over the Warring Beastman Plains—ban the use of emotions amongst their worshipers. Yet, those who are demigods, who protect their people and gather their faith, are not as opposed to their followers using emotions. Like those in the Warring Beastman Plains, the Lower Kingdom’s ‘empire’, Az’Dawn, inhabitants intensely use the emotional spectrum to harness greater strength and abilities.
Recently, the Queendom of Edryan held a massive outbreak in their upper society as emotions such as {Gre-
— Excerpt from the lesson taught by Jod Cain, a teacher at True Sight Academy in the Theocracy of Jhan.
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Chine Redsan gazed lovingly at Allura Grasci Az’Dawn, her child. The young woman slept in her lap as she gently brushed her hair, exhausted from training Wrath . She’d finally mastered the emotion and significant changes were coming to her class, fighting style, and mannerisms as the emotion no longer held as much sway over her.
The older woman sighed and glanced up at the night sky. They found themselves on a small terrace in the home of the Ni’Raiku. The [Caravan of Death] as her daughter called it, had been stuck in the city of Ruifall for over a month. The Edryans locked their border, and currently no movement to reopen the pass showed. Little news escaped, and the trade partners that relied on reselling the goods to the Warring Beastman Plains began to grow desperate. The Plains were a major consumer of the magical goods and weapons that emerged from Edryan, and the country of Az’Dawn relied on the trade of foodstuffs to help support their economy. Especially in the regions close to the border between nations. Unrest and tensions began to develop in Ruifall, and Chine knew it’d only be a matter of time before the rest of the Lower Kingdoms became affected.
A light snore escaped from Allura’s lips, causing Chine to chuckle. Her gaze looked up at the three moons of the realm. One white, one blue, and one with a golden hue. Memories of the past began to invade her mind, but Chine kept her calm.
Her twin, the woman she grew up with all her life, who chose the exact same class as her, the exact same skills, and assigned the exact same attribute points… died that night against the [Heavenly Father].
“We never planned for it to be this way,” Chine Redsan sighed. She continued to gently brush Allura’s hair, a single teardrop fell down her eye.
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Two whips extended beside Allura, their handles tightly grasped in her palms. Across from her with nothing in her hands was her Aunt Chine. Today established another day of battling to ensure her control and mastery over Wrath progressed at a steady pace.
Aunt Chine wore a simple tunic like armor that left her arms bare and exposed to the sun. Her chest remained covered by the leather armor and on her lower bod she wore a simple pair of pants extending to leather boots. Equipped to her back were two short daggers tightly locked in their sheathes.
A Greater Sin was not an easy thing to control or bond with. She recalled the effects of Wrath and the sacrifices she’d have to pay to use and control the emotion. The emotional spectrum held many powers and abilities, but above all emotions there were seven Sins and Virtues that reigned supreme.
Wrath, part of the seven, was arguably one of the hardest to control but its benefits…
Sin of Wrath — Stage 1
Function:
Soldiers of Wrath
Those killed by you rise again as Soldiers of Wrath. Twisted abominations filled with a thirst for battle. Any killed by them join the growing legion, and they too, shall rise as Soldiers of Wrath.
Function:
Wrath’s Ambition
Merge yourself with [Ambition’s Wrath] to form a Battle Body. When in this state, attributes are increased by 300%. In this state, regeneration is increased by 1500%.
Function:
Mark of Wrath
Mark a target with the Sin of Wrath. The target marked is designated as a beacon that draws any under the effects of the Sin of Wrath to slay them. If slayed, the host of Sin of Wrath gains, 25% of their total attribute points.
Cost:
All other emotions and desires aside Wrath… shall slowly fade.
…were vast and could allow Allura to become a one-woman army. It would raise her attributes to that of high levelers and could allow her to match level two hundred or higher at her current state. Allura grew excited at the thought. This was the power she wished for, if only she held such a power that faithful night…
She shook the thought from her head. Allura knew, with gains in her level and time, she could come to match those at the highest echelons of the Az’Dawn society and even of the Elrunian Continent. If she were to use her Sin at level two hundred or higher, then her strength would match that of a demigod. She managed to meet all the conditions to get these specific functions from the Sin.
A living weapon suitable for the emotion…
A mythical class related to the emotion…
And attributes of sufficient might.
“Are you ready,” Aunt Chine called.
Allura took several deep breaths before meeting her eyes and nodding. In the same moment, she allowed the emotion to slowly encroach itself as the only one she would feel.
“( Sin of Wrath ).”
Although the Sin was a powerful booster to her ability to fight as were other emotions of the spectrum, its dangers were just as high. Falling into a state in which she could feel no other emotion but Wrath, would allow the Sin to consume her. It could easily end her and force Allura to become an avatar of the Sin on the continent. With the function, (Soldiers of Wrath), Allura could easily see herself becoming a plague to the world as did various others who lost themselves to emotions.
[Ambition’s Wrath] usually held colors reminiscent of a campfire, yet as the sin slowly began to push its way to the forefront… her living weapon began to change and morph. It became darker and covered her body in a metallic-like armor, encroaching around her face but not fully covering it. The moment it did would signify her complete loss to rage. She’d have to disable her connection to the sin beforehand.
Her body blurred as Allura struck out at Aunt Chine. The woman calmly stepped to the side and allowed Allura to smash into the wall behind her. The pair were in training grounds loaned to them by the Ni’Raiku clan. The mid-afternoon sun shined down, and a long trail was left in the heated dried dirt.
Allura slowly pulled herself from the wall. She swallowed and a vein of irritation showed itself on her forehead. Aunt Chine smiled, her eyes upturned like crescents.
Allura Grasci Az’Dawn —Level 60
HP: 2817/2817 (+450)
SP: 2430/2430 (+450)
EP: 3420/3420 (+450)
Allura’s attributes were thrice their normal range. Her speed, power, reflexes, and Energy reserves were beyond anything she’d ever dealt with. Allura flexed her right hand, allowing her whip to shoot forward. She stood over a dozen meters away, yet the weapon extended toward Aunt Chine. Dirt and debris scattered as it cracked through the air, its length magically extended to reach her.
Aunt Chine calmly deflected the whip, her left hand raised to her mouth as she covered a yawn. Allura’s eyebrows twitched, and she felt her sin increase in its strength, attempting to consume her mind. She focused, doing her best to banish the emotion from taking control of her.
“(Ambitious Strikes).”
Two whips extended forward like wriggling snakes as a hundred and fifty EP drained from her. Dirt and stone flew as they tore through the ground on the way to Aunt Chine. This time, the woman held a serious expression as she began to move, jumping backwards in a small gust of wind. Allura controlled her weapon to follow, and [Ambition’s Wrath] responded accordingly. The whips curved and chased after Aunt Chine in an attempt to strike her.
Yet two whips seemed easy for the woman to contend with as she easily moved out the way each time one failed to make contact. A vein throbbed on Allura’s forehead.
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“If two isn’t enough, then let’s try four. (Ambition’s Cascade).”
Energy drained from her, but with Allura’s current reserves, she found this insignificant. The moment she activated the Sin of Wrath, her regeneration shot up from the mid-thirties per hour to over four hundred for each Life Point.
Two whip falls split into four, then eight, and it continued to split as Allura provided Energy. Flames sparked on the whip falls as the small metal spikes ignited.
“Haaa-haaa, Ahhh-hhaaa-haaa,” Allura began to laugh—the power felt great! This time, Aunt Chine didn’t dodge as the whip falls split into multiple branches. This time her Aunt defended as Allura left her with no other option. Allura smiled, satisfied as Aunt Chine became defensive.
“(Gale’s Patience),” Aunt Chine activated. A blue-green shield of wind erupted around her, similar to a mage’s barrier. Several strikes hit the barrier, but to no avail.
Chine Redsan calmly walked through the cascade of strikes, the blows insignificant to her. Each time a class experienced an advancement, the skills, and their functions would only rise in ability. The better the class at your starting point, the stronger your skills would be as you neared level one hundred in that class. Currently, Allura was only level forty in her main class, meaning she underwent one class advancement thus far. That meant the skills of her primary class only received one opportunity to advance to a higher level.
Chine Redsan is over level two hundred and her main class experienced over three advancements. “The Sin has strengthened you, yes…, but your skills and abilities are far from reaching the heights to fight on equal footing against a true high leveler,” Chine commented.
Her voice easily reached Allura through the hail of blows she rained upon her. Allura watched as her attack was easily negated by Aunt Chine. Slowly, she withdrew her whips, a vein of frustration throbbed on her forehead. The whip falls merged back together as the three-meter-long weapons returned to her sides. Flames still licked at the falls, their color was a deep red, nearly appearing the same color as Mythical itself.
“Prepare yourself, I’m attacking! (Grasci Combat Arts: Battle Power).”
Grasci Combat Arts: Battle Power
Function:
Increase Base Attack by 150% for the first minute, 300% for the second, and 500% for the final.
Cost:
100 EP, 50 SP per minute.
That was the only warning Allura received before Aunt Chine disappeared. She caught a brief glimpse of the woman’s body growing by a small percentage as the skill boosted her, then nothing. Allura moved swiftly, raising her right hand up to receive the blow. Her face twisted at the final moment as the blow connected.
-404 HP.
Her body flew, it pierced its way through the air until Allura smashed into a wall as her weapons dissolved into embers. The air whistled in her wake. Allura groaned, her teeth gnashed together as dust and debris filled her vision. She pushed herself out of the rubble, her eyes widened as a foot met her face.
-404 HP.
Allura Grasci Az’Dawn —Level 60
HP: 2459/2817 (+0)
SP: 2430/2430 (+450)
EP: 3420/3420 (+0)
The sound of glass shattering alerted Allura her true Health Points were now being affected. Her body shot along the ground, creating a deep ridge through the dirt until the pile of debris behind her forced her to a halt. This time, Allura recovered herself much quicker and her fist met Chine’s foot as the third attack came.
“(Grasci Combat Arts: Battle Power),” Allura activated right before the blow connected. [Ambition’s Wrath] flowed around her hand, reinforcing her attack and cushioning the blow.
Grasci Combat Arts: Battle Power
00:02:59
-201 HP.
[Ambition’s Wrath] has blocked {Fracture} from affecting your right hand.
Allura kept her ground as she only slid slightly, a confident, arrogant grunt escaped from her lips. Aunt Chine slowly lowered her foot, a pleasant, calming smile presented on her face.
“Is that it?”
“(Emberheart Armament),” two long ashen whips glowing with embers shot toward Chine, leaving trails of embers in their wake. Her weapon now held a three hundred percent boost to its damage. When the Sin of Wrath strengthened her, Allura found her Base Attack rising to 351, while her Base Defense hit 324. A simple boost from (Emberheart Armament) would multiply her attack value by three. Allura felt strong, far stronger than she’d ever been before. Her aubrey colored eyes began to take on a deeper, darker glow. She swallowed, face lit with excitement and a hint of rage.
‘ My advantage is range, so long as I provide the Energy [Ambition’s Wrath can continue to shape-shift, ’ Allura thought.
This time, Chine Redsan didn’t dodge, nor did she activate a skill like the previous time. Two short, sharp, sand-colored blades emerged from seemingly nowhere and deflected the blow.
Allura continued her rain of blows, doing her best to create distance between her and her opponent. Embers were left in her wake as she moved backward, whips shifting too and fro as she struggled to hit Aunt Chine.
“Is running all you can do,” Aunt Chine taunted. She seemed to be leisurely approaching Allura. An action that began to irritate the young woman to no end.
She hadn’t hit her Aunt once, but a plan began to form in her mind. What did Allura struggle for years to comprehend the Sin of Wrath if she couldn’t fight against those far above her in level? Why did she nearly drain the [Pool of Reflection] charge if not to accelerate her comprehension of the Greater Sin? The days of her struggle began to flash through Allura’s mind, which caused her to let off a snarl of frustrated anger.
What did she kill her fourth brother, engage to Tian… what did she… STRUGGLE… for, if not for the power to stand against those in her way?
“(Grasci Combat Arts: Flashstep Burst).”
Grasci Combat Arts: Flashstep Burst
Function:
Execute rapid, short bursts of movement that enhance the speed and next attack by 300%.
Cost:
100 SP.
Allura’s body blurred, before she could reach out and touch Aunt Chine, now she reappeared close to thirty meters away. A distance, at their level, that could be crossed in a single leap, but Allura was after the precious few seconds this distance would give her.
She slammed her whips together and activated a core skill, her jaw clenched and teeth gnashed as a tremendous amount of Energy and Stamina Points began to drain from her. She’d never held this amount of energy within her, and thus never the opportunity to do something this big. The gigantic release of Energy turned into an intense charge of heat that made the hot weather of Az’Dawn feel like a cool summer breeze. The dirt and sand around her began to liquify and merge in a radius of three hundred meters.
Her whips seemed to turn molten and merge under the pressure of her clasping them together.
The moment they combined, she spoke and released her hands as she finished casting the core skill. “(Princess’s Wrath).”
Allura immediately thrust the true form of [Ambition’s Wrath] into the ground.
Chine Redsan’s eyes widened, and she hurried to take flight. Allura’s attack and movement all happened in the span of a few seconds. Aunt Chine immediately turned to face Allura believing her to be charging in for a decisive blow. The burst of movement caught her off-guard but what made it worse was Allura’s unexpected action. Most holders of emotional sins that affect anger are the first ones to charge into battle, not retreat from it. By the time Chine recovered, Allura began to thrust her weapon into the dirt and debris around her. This split second gave her an opportunity to react, as she possessed skills that allowed instant translocation through the use of the wind. However, when she finally came to a decision, it was already too late.
The sand and dirt that made up their section of the training grounds liquified. A red-hot landscape emerged surrounding the pair. The transition was instant, and with its charge came a host of others.
An angry, molten color encompassed the two women like a hellscape on the Mortal Realm. Chine’s Intent protected a small area of ten meters around her, preventing the ground underneath her from liquifying. Chine was partially crouched, ready to spring away, but the area was already locked down by Allura’s Intent. It would interfere with any abilities Chine attempted to deploy, whether movement, defense, or attack.
“Good girl, she’s understanding exactly what and how she needs to fight as a high leveler,” Chine commented.
Her eyes, that usually remained half closed, slowly opened. Two sparkling Aubrey colored eyes, that shined like stars in the night sky, revealed themselves. Lightning crackled in the air as the opposing Energy between the two women interacted. Sweat began to gather on Chine’s forehead from the intense wave of heat surrounding her. The ground began to form bubbles, the molten sand rising in various patches around her.
The calm expression, and the patience Chine Redsan typically displayed slowly began to enhance. A golden-white light seemed to shine from her eyes.
POP!
“(Virtue of Pait—.”
A single of the gaseous bubbles between the two women popped. The sound it made was minor, but the effects it caused erupted in a flurry of attacks. The rising tension seemed to be released all at once as large, molten, root-like appendages emerged from the ground and began to thrash Chine Redsan.