Zerine woke surround by adorableness. Everyday sense they had made the spiritual place their camp, the youngest spirits slept curled up around her. They were still low rank, so they would still need sleep. Give it another year and the youngest spirits wouldn’t need sleep at all like Varino. Zerine was absolutely delighted with the fact that they slept around her. Waking to tiny, adorable little spirits would always be one of the best ways to wake up and she would fight anyone who said otherwise.
Sadly for Zerine, the adorableness was interrupted as shrieking monkeys made the little spirits flee to the large tree. The spirits’ terrified sounds tugged at Zerine’s heart. Her distraught and worried feelings were quickly replaced with unbridled rage. How dare these annoying monkeys disrupt these peaceful spirits! They were not going to like dealing with an angered Varino and Zerine, not to mention the two early C-rank spirits.
Speaking of those spirits, Zerine saw that the water spirit was fending off a group of powerful D-rank monkeys, while the nature spirit was protecting the little ones. It seemed that the weaker monkeys were acting as a distraction, keeping the nature sprit from helping the water spirit.
There was an angry chime followed by a deep blue flash. When Zerine’s vision had cleared, she saw several D-rank monkeys rocketing off into the distance propelled by bolts of lightning. Varino floated above the monkeys on a roiling thunder cloud who quickly caught the attention of monkeys.
Varino gave a loud warning chime. She wouldn’t kill them, but would make it clear that this was their territory.
As the spirit had chimed, Zerine noticed several subtle runes moving into place. She wasn’t certain how, but the monkeys had gotten around their traps and Kimi was preparing more to make them rethink their actions. They had even put some in the trees, but clearly, they would need more.
The monkeys shrieked and cast conjured bolts of water, casting them at Varino, which was when they realized they had truly fucked up. Not only did the attacks have no effect, but they were turned around and sent straight back at the casters who scattered, shrieking in alarm. Varino also sent several spells at the group, harassing the nature spirit.
Zerine moved quickly, pulling out a scythe and spinning the ball chain, not intending to kill, but certainly injure them if needed. They were Waterstrider monkeys, after all, so she assumed that at least some had to have a healing ability. Healing was one of the abilities fairly common amongst those with water affinities.
Zerine didn’t have to go looking for enemies, as a group of monkeys were heading straight for her, fleeing from the angry storm elemental wielding lightning.
The monkeys were fairly large. If they stood straight, they would reach her shoulders. Their fur was a mix of a grey with patches of deep blue. Unfortunately, they were also quite good at magic, so Zerine didn’t get a chance to observe more, as most prepared to attack pooling their mana rapidly. But before the group could cast a spell, runes appeared under their feet, creating threads of mana. The threads wrapped around the legs of the monkeys who got tangled in Kimi’s trap, which gave Zerine the opportunity to land the first strike.
With a little aid from her willpower, she spun then lashed out with the ball and chain, which slammed into a monkey who barely managed to block with a forearm. Even though it had blocked her attack, the monkey let out a cry of pain and fell back. Seeing their comrade? Or was it a member of their troop? Zerine wasn’t sure, but was certain her attack pissed off the others who stopped trying to break Kimi’s threads and attacked Zerine, sending jets of condensed scalding water at her. Zerine had already moved, avoiding the attacks thanks to her instincts, giving her a warning.
Her having to avoid the attacks gave some other monkeys the chance to escape the threads and charge her. Out of the corner of her eye, Zerine saw that Varino was herding the creatures working with water elemental leading the monkeys into traps and towards the forest. So Zerine decided to lure these monkeys to a set of traps just outside of the spiritual place and away from the little spirits. After she had avoided several punches and spells, which she countered with a solid hit with the blunt part of her scythe or from her ball and chain she ran. While running she avoided attacks cast at her with a group of enraged monkeys hot on her heals. Along the way, she would attack to keep the monkeys following, which she hardly needed to do because this group had decided that Zerine was their primary target. They made their way closer to the traps and Zerine prepare to make her move.
A blast of super-heated water shot past her cheek, making her grit her teeth. The monkeys were pushing at her restraint not to start out right killing them. She really didn’t want to kill creatures. Like all beings, creatures could grow in power, and some could even reach sapience given enough time. Monsters, on the other hand, had no true soul and were just creatures absorbing mana and killing things for their mana to sustain their existence. There was also the fact if they killed a group of the monkeys the others would just come back wanting blood and Zerine didn’t want to bring trouble to the young spirits or this place. It was also clear the monkeys either knew or had instincts about spiritual places and restrained their own attacks so as not to destroy the area. This meant the defenders focused on pushing the attackers back, while the attackers were trying to figure out a way to take over the place without destroying what made the area a spiritual place.
At this point, she had led the monkeys to the edge of the spiritual place, and it was only a few more feet before a few traps, but evidently the monkeys had decided that now was the time to stop holding back. Bolts of hyper condense water suddenly formed near three of six monkeys, while the others sent slices of water.
Weeell, shit, she thought, blocking a bolt of water with her scythe which blasted her back out of the spiritual place. Luckily for her, she avoided the other attacks, but unluckily slammed painfully into a tree. She slid down to the ground, groaning.
The monkeys took advantage of the opening and charged at her. Zerine, seeing the monkeys charge at her swore under breath as runes appeared under the feet of the monkeys. An explosion lit the forest.
***
Kimi sent runes at the remaining D-rank monkeys, forcing them to either block their attack or Varino’s. They choose to retreat instead, and the water elemental joined in after forcing another group to retreat, which only made the monkeys retreat faster.
Varino chimed and trilled at Kimi.
“Go to Zerine. She will need help. We got this.”
Kimi clicked loudly, agreeing, hoping Varino heard over the crack of thunder from a small bolt of lightning which sent another D-rank monkey rocketing off towards the forest. With that last attack, the monkeys’ offense broke, and they all began to retreat.
Kimi hadn’t known what monkeys were till today and had to admit they were not a fan. The monkeys, throughout their attack, had tried to go towards the large pool of water, but were forced back. Clearly, the planets or energy of the pool were their primary targets. Kimi knew the plants that grew in the pool probably would help the monkeys grow in power or improve their connection to their affinity, but spiritual places were meant to be neutral places. The spirits would have probably helped the monkeys if they didn’t just want to take over the place.
Kimi sent out runes to several monkeys who looked like they were rethinking about leaving. The runes would only blast pure mana at them, not hurting them…much. But just seeing the runes made the monkeys shriek in fear and flee into the forest, making Kimi very pleased. They knew even if they were peak E-rank like Kimi; they were still weaker.
An explosion from the direction that Zerine had gone made Kimi move faster, skittering amongst the flowers. Kimi had seen Zerine run off being chased by a group of monkeys. Since the traps were made by Kimi, it allowed the spider to know what traps were activated and by who, while also knowing Zerine had been close to it. But now Kimi couldn’t sense the area, as their webs nearby had been destroyed. Worried about Zerine, Kimi concentrated on channeling their mana to their legs. The spider shoved their legs into the ground and rocketed into the air, a green blur.
Kimi found Zerine a little worse for wear, but intact. Zerine was looking around for something and filling the air with words Kimi didn’t know, but clearly meant she was mad about something. To Kimi, Zerine was an interesting person. Not only did Zerine somehow under them, but Zerine always seemed aware of everything around her, even if she didn't visibly react. Kimi didn’t really understand beings like Zerine, as they weren’t born with magic right away, unlike Kimi and Varino. A rather foreign concept to the Runic spider. But Zerine fought incredibly well and her understanding of runes, albeit those that use a different base of magic, was impressive. Kimi doubted the monkeys had truly managed to hurt Zerine, so why then was she so angry? There were no signs of the monkeys nearby. In fact, she knew the group was fleeing towards the beach, being less careful as they fled. To Kimi’s amusement, they ended up running into monsters attracted by the fighting and were forced to fight.
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***
Zerine was pissed. The monkeys had set off the traps while she was too close, which made her get launched back… again. Luckily, this time, she didn’t slam into a tree. Speaking of that impact, she knew she would have some major bruises that she would have Varino check. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be bruised bones, or she would have to use her dwindling supply of healing pills. She had slowly made her way through her supply of pills because of the near constant fighting they had been dealing with since day one. Zerine didn’t want Varino to use her magic to heal her when they may have to rely on Varino’s power to fight something. To make things worse…
“Where the flying fuck is it?” She swore before filling the air with more expletives. When she ran out of swears in one language, she switched to one of the other two she knew. She crouched and checked under a bush. Finding nothing, she said. “Wheres my fucking scythe!” she grumbled through gritted teeth, anger pulsing through her as she searched the forest.
Kimi arrived in a green blur and looked curiously up at her. Their two largest eyes blinked in a rather cute manner.
“They all left, but thanks for the backup. I would have needed it if they hadn’t left. But, speaking of back up can you help me find something?”
Kimi clicked rapidly and moved, waving a foreleg for Zerine to follow.
“Huh, that was fast,” she muttered. Somehow Kimi could find something connected to her? And so quickly? It was odd, but Zerine assumed it had something to do with Kimi’s magic or an ability.
In the darkness of the forest, Kimi was a dimly shining green spot. As Zerine followed the spider, she observed the spider had grown in size. Now the spider was the size of a puppy, which made Zerine wonder if Kimi, during their time here, would move to D-rank. She was about it ask Kimi when the spider stopped.
Kimi then clicked, saying they found something. Shifting green runes lifted a broken haft of her scythe.
Zerine’s heart fell.
“Thank you! Also, how strong was your trap? This should have lasted till I was D or C-rank,” Zerine wondered. She took the broken piece, which was only about the lower quarter of the haft.
Kimi clicked uncertainly.
“So, the monkeys broke it, you think? Perfect,” she muttered. “Do you know where the other part is, perchance?”
Kimi shifted its body back and forth.
“No, alright. Thank you for helping me find this piece. Let’s head back. Wanna ride on my shoulder?”
Kimi clicked and hopped happily before scuttling up her leg and back to rest on her shoulder, making Zerine smile.
When they got back, they found Varino surrounded by the spirits praising her. When the spirits saw them, they were soon surrounded by tiny spirits, which completely turned Zerine’s mood around. After all, the young spirits were so cute, and their thanks and mannerisms were adorable. It took ten minutes before finally the spirits gave them some space, which was when Varino checked Zerine. And sure enough, a bruised rib or two forced Zerine to take a pill. After that was done, Zerine went back to bed enjoying the relaxing warmth of healing pill taking effect. She had hoped it would help her fall asleep quickly, but laid wide awake, still on edge for a time till Varino came over and used some magic that had her drifting off.
The next day saw their group replacing and adding yet more traps. During their flight, the monkeys had been far more sloppy, which meant they had set off many traps. Not to mention the fact that the fight they had fought with monsters set off yet more traps. None of the lethal traps, sadly, but the ones that had been triggered would have made the monkeys and monsters think twice about coming back.
“How many days has it been, Vairno?” Zerine wondered as Kimi and Vairno worked on complicating trap.
Varino cheeped and chimed, still hard at work.
“Mid-way through week two. Still so many days left,” Zerine said, having mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, she enjoyed being out of the city, but the constant fighting was draining. She thought there would be a break once in a while, but with the ley lines having shifted to where a stray branch was over them, meant monsters were an hourly manifestation. Dealing with this made her find a new appreciation for the hard work the household, adventurers, and navy had been doing around the clock during the intersection.
I can only imagine how insane it must be with the monster manifestations on top of the incredible amount of mana and creatures involved with the intersection, she thought. With that thought, she smiled and felt a little better.
“We are doing great. It could be far worse. And we are doing an actually good job with this test,” she said, which got a happy chime in agreement from Varino.
The rest of that day was uneventful, but the next day they ran into a small group of monkeys scouting the area, which they drove off. They then went to gather supplies. Zerine and Kimi both had needed to eat more, draining the food supply. Zerine ate more because of the healing, which drained her energy and Kimi for using quite a lot of manas, replacing traps, which made the spider hungry. So, this time they would stay out longer to get more supplies so they could focus on fortifying the hill and surrounding forest more.
Throughout the day, groups of monkeys would show up, attempting to steal or try to mess with them. Zerine wanted to draw a group of monsters to where they believed the monkey’s territory was, but Kimi and Varino said convinced her it would be a bad idea. And so began a war of attrition as the monkeys and Zerine’s group clashed daily with the monkeys. Their group would harass the monkeys or mess with whatever they were doing. While the monkeys would do so in return, often destroying traps, stealing supplies, or even stealing prey that Zerine and Kimi had been hunting.
Zerine watched the monkey flee, spinning her ball and chain ready if they came back.
“That’s right! Run!” she called after them, which was echoed by a taunting chime from Varino.
“You know what? I think that was the first group today. Not bad. I only hope it doesn’t mean they are preparing to attack or are too busy with powerful monsters to mess with us,” Zerine said.
Varino sat on her shoulder and whistled.
“Hmm, now you notice the ambition magic feels different. That is not good.”
Varino only shrugged in reply.
“It is what it is,” Zerine said resigned and Varino patted her cheek reassuringly making Zerine smile.
It had been three days where their group and the monkeys had been clashing. Just because they had been fighting off and on with one another didn’t mean the monsters had stopped manifesting. In fact, the monster had grown in number and in strength, just like Zerine had feared. Today, it seemed the creatures on the island were all busy with trying to keep the monster numbers down because, other than that group; they hadn’t run into a single monkey. Instead, a steady stream of monsters had been their primary opponents.
They spent the rest of the day fending off monsters, while improving their defenses. They even had to get the water elemental to help as a C-rank monster had started to head towards the hill. Fortunately for them, the monster, after activating trap after trap, it wasn’t doing so great, so the water elemental didn’t have much of a fight. Despite that…
Zerine looked in awe at a new clearing in the forest as the water elemental brushed its hands together. It burbled to Varino, who was standing next to the far taller spirit.
Varino threw her hands up and whistled enthusiastically. Saying the water elemental had done a good job.
“That is an understatement,” Zerine muttered.
They would have still had problems, even after the monster had triggered so many traps. She looked at the monster and shivered. The monster had been a strange crab-like creature mixed with a squid. Its corpse was in pieces, sliced and diced into pieces by the spirit’s attacks. Their group was not ready for C-rank monsters and Zerine feared that there would be far more, which was something not even the two C-rank spirits could handle.
Suddenly Varino cheeped and pointed at the slowly darkening sky. A ball of fire was growing and was heading…heading right for the island! The group hurried to their camp as the fireball grew closer. Soon the once darkening forest was lit like it was midday. A low roar had started to grow louder as the bright ball of fire drew near.
Zerine and the spirits watch before covering their eyes as the ball roared over head. Moments later, there was a blinding flash. The ground shock before a blast of sound reached them.
BOOM!
***
The Metalhead scout moved to stand on a hill. It gave the scout a great vantage point, now that trees had been cut away. The view was of the largest island in the group, still a day’s trip away. The island in question was several miles long and hilly with a strange mix of forest and jungle. With a pulse of its aura, a hundred of its kin moved toward the island. The small horde had been delayed because of monster manifestations, but they had killed everything that got in their path and were finally nearing their goal. The island would be more of a challenge though, as the scout could sense mid and early C-rank creatures and monsters fighting.
The scouts four eyes shifted as a fiery ball flew and smashed into one of the large hill tops. A distant boom reached the scout a minute later. The scout got excited. Treasures from above would make this task even more useful for the horde. Although there was some sort of shroud dampening the energy that had attracted them to begin with. Strange, but it could mean this would be where the true horde would head towards if they found anything of use.
Another day and their first scouting group would arrive, followed by the rest the next day.
***
Tristan Trevel sighed as he stood in the air, looking down upon a massive mana storm. Clouds of every shape, size, and color moved as one. The storm covered miles and the ambient magic was going wild as a result. Every base affinity was present, either raining from the sky or running amok in the area. His gaze pierced the storm, revealing beams of light shooting down from purple clouds as tornados of fire and wind tore across the ocean. Stone and blots of pure darkness shot in every direction.
Not good, he thought. The storm was following the ley line thread that had shifted more than a week ago. This meant the coastline would have to prepare for a moving natural disaster. Although…
The storm wasn’t moving quickly and if it hit the islands; the mana dampening effect from the strange natural treasures there would stall it further. Then there were the ancient defenses on the islands from the spirits that had called it home once that would also probably impact the storm.
Hmm, the test will certainly get thrown off if it hasn’t already and so will my bet, he thought.
As the mana moved, Tristan’s gaze shifted, and he frowned.
“So, a horde of Metalheads led by a…peak Gold-rank. They were cloaked using some artifact and abilities. Hmm, something else is at play here though. At least Ava will be happy for a test. But if they got this far, what could have been missed during this intersection?” he muttered, preparing to move to deliver a message in person.
“Mana storms ruin every connivance,” he grumbled before vanishing.