Zerine woke staring up at a cavernous celling. The ground sometimes shook accompanied with distance booms of thunder or were those explosions and crashing sounds?
Where am I? she thought drowsily. She thought back to the last thing she clearly remembered. A metal head spider was coming towards her after she had killed the brute. Zerine frowned, trying to remember. An attack had shredded the Metal head spider.
Oooh, that's right. Kimi saved me and brought me here…I think. Then what? she thought. Everything was a bit of a grumbled mess.
A happy trill from Varino saying her name made Zerine smile. She moved her head to look, still too tired to really get out of her bedroll. The spirit was skipping to where Zerine was laying, her blue, nearly transparent hair drifting behind her. There was a small crystal flower tucked behind her ear, which made the spirit look somehow more adorable. The spirits eyes were glowing brighter than usual, she even saw little sparks ripple through Vaiano’s hair. And did the air shift around her too?
Zerine was too tired to focus on her magic senses, which felt like a jumbled mess just like the rest of her.
Varino skipped up to her and peered down at Zerine, smiling brightly, and whistled triumphantly.
“We won, huh? That’s good,” Zerine said.
Soft rustling announced Kimi’s appearance as the paint outline of the runic spider’s body came into view. Kimi’s large expressive eyes blinked, then they waved a foreleg clicking.
“Glad to see you two are alright. And thanks Kimi for the help.”
Kimi clicked, saying it was a relief that Zerine finally woke up.
Zerine’s tiredness got washed away from the panic as Kimi’s words sunk in.
“Woah, wait, how long have I been out for?” Zerine wondered, sitting up on to her elbows. She glanced around the cavern they had found the Starborn in. The room looked like it had before all the fighting. Scorched stone and runes carved literally everywhere, many of which were glowing as they reacted to the Mana storm, keeping the space safe. In the middle of the space, surrounded by a red and gold mana barrier, was a crystalline sphere that pulsed with gold and silver light.
The Star Seed…wow, looks fancy. Too bad my magic senses are all over place, she thought.
Her gaze continued, then locked on to the tunnel they had entered. Well, where it used to be. Instead of the tunnel, rocks filled where the tunnel had once been. Every stone that Zerine could see had runes glowing on them. That was when she realized there were signs of fire damage around the tunnel.
“What happened?” Zerine wondered, looking back at the two who fidgeted under gaze. Varino looked caught out for some reason. Zerine had no idea why the spirit would feel that way, but knew there was probably a very interesting story behind it.
There was a blink of light and the red Starborn appeared and beeped.
“The storm has only gotten worse. Well, that just means we have plenty of time for you two to explain how long I have been out and what happened to one of our only ways out,” Zerine said cheerfully laying down once again.
The Starborn began to make an electronic tone, but Varino waved a hand, making a hushing sound like crashing waves.
“I guess Varino wants to explain,” Zerine said, which got a chime from the spirit saying, of course it’s her turn to tell a story after all.
***
An unspecified time earlier…
Varino stood on top of the only standing part of the first wall. She peered out towards the ruined forest. The forest that had been on the outskirts of the impact area was completely destroyed from the first wave, so Varino could see enemies coming from a decent distance. It also helped that as the mana storm was building up, she could feel energy thrumming through her.
Sure, she was a storm elemental of the normal variety, but hey, a storm is a storm conceptually wise. And boy, did her connection to the concept of storms feel closer than ever. She was almost looking forward to this fight, wondering if she would have a conceptual breakthrough like what mom said might happen one day. Did she fully understand what Ava meant by conceptual breakthrough? Not really, but it sounded fun, so she looked forward to seeing if this feeling would lead to anything.
Zerine said something about magic and the mana storm that she didn’t quite pay attention to. Zerine worried a little too much. Yes, the other Starborns were gone, which meant more D-ranks would become their problem, which wasn’t great, but they could handle it. Although, if the mean metal heads show up, that would make things messy and way more dangerous.
Varino spotted the group of monsters and frowned. It just had to be those evil puff balls, as Zerine called them. Sparks arched between her fingers tips as a breeze kicked up around her, reacting to her annoyance. These monsters were the worst, trying to manipulate Zerine to find them cuter and acting all adorable till they try to kill her. There was only room for one cute companion, and that was her.
Varino charged the bounding group of monsters, shouting.
“There can only be one called the cutest, and it’s me!”
She sent a blast of wind to explode amongst the puff balls. Her attack was super effective. With a whoosh, the evil puff balls got sent flying in every direction, squealing.
Varino shouted her war cry while shaking her fists in the air. It came out as a loud melodious whistle, but what can do?
“Zappy zappy time!”
Varino could have sworn she heard Zerine laughing and made some comment about them needing to work on a war cry. Varino was proud of her war cry, though. It was, after all, based on her favorite attack.
BOOM!
Thunder rumbled as she blasted lightning out, killing clusters of monsters. On a guest of wind or sliding along a sheet of ice, she weaved amongst the melee, attacking, leaving carnage in her wake. Varino felt the mean Metal heads before she saw them. Powerful auras washed over the battle, which she ignored. Two mid D-ranks and a C-rank were the most notable out of the group. The Starborn she called Little Red would handle the C-rank, which, on cue, she felt the C-rank’s aura retract as the Starborn attacked; she assumed.
The D-ranks tried to suppress her aura, but she rebuffed their attempt. She kept moving, avoiding attacks, while castings spell after spell at monsters and the swarm of Metal heads. Zerine’s newly enchanted arrows had helpfully marked groups for her to attack. Zerine had experimented during their time here and created some handy enchantments for her arrows, Varino’s favorite being the group electrocution one. Not because of the attack, but because the lightning arching everywhere was pretty to watch. It wasn’t as good as an explosion, but it certainly came close.
A pebble bounced off the top of her head.
“Ouch,” she burbled, and looked up at the now multicolored sky. Small rocks, raindrops, and even sparks rained down. The sky was beautiful. Every color imaginable was present amongst the clouds. Lightning and fire roared across the sky.
A slight tingling session ran through her as the mana storm began.
She kept attacking, ignoring the sensation. During this time, her continuing ability to rebuff the mid D-ranks auras had gotten the attention of the more powerful of them. She saw it as she carved a brutal bath, using all her elements to slice, freeze, or blast apart. The mid D-rank was a scout…or well, she thought it was a scout. Varino only knew the really bad ones to avoid. Queens, kings, wraiths, and…and, hmm, whoops, she forgot the others, but there was a list and Zerine knew it.
This Metal head had four spikes for legs and a long spiky covered tail with a stinger. Four arms ending with curved scythe-like weapons reminded Varino of a mantis monster. A monster that Zerine had used its arm as a weapon. But back to the big scary Metal head. It had six glowing slits that probably were the Metal head’s eyes. An iron diamond in the middle of its forehead helpfully told Varino what she already knew that it was D-rank. It was larger than she expected, much larger. Easily matching uncle Gary in height, but those spikes were certainly not as welcoming.
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They exchanged several long-ranged attacks, while Varino made her way closer to the Metal head. One of her attacks caught her attention. A bolt of lightning she summoned from the sky was accompanied by a stream of fire and light, creating a large explosion where it annihilates anything near it.
“Now we are talking!” she chimed to herself, getting more excited. There was one thing that dampened her excitement. A bit of information from Zerine popped into her head. Her sis had said certain attacks might get affected by the mana storm. Something about domain, and conjuration-based spells or hybrids with those techniques may act odd.
“If this is odd, I am absolutely for it!!” she whistled happily, calling down even more crazy lightning.
“Boop, boop, boop,” she whistled. She happily pointed a finger at different clusters of enemies.
Boom, boom, boom!
Every spell was a mix of light, fire, and lightning. It created quite the light to show much Varino’s delight.
After another lightning attack where she felt more and more energized, she saw something that looked... awesome. Her lightning had a different hue to it now. Instead of the deep blue, there were hints of purple, gold, and green. Energy surrounding her whirled as threads of mana flickered into view, while her own internal energy flowed through her at an increasing rate. The tingling sensation grew and to her surprise, the electricity arching between her fingers flickered, then started shifting through many colors just like the mana storm’s clouds.
“Oooh, pretty,” she whistled excitedly, playing with the multi color sparks. As she played, she entered an almost trance -like state. Something inside her was…awakening.
A group of those nasty Metal head centipedes attacked, but there was a pulse of energy as the world slowed.
Varino was looking up at the mana storm, mesmerized, her hands reaching to the sky as multicolored sparks and arching electricity played across her fingers, matching the colors of the lightning and fire that shot across or rained down from the sky. Everything around her was frozen. Raindrops were floating in the area reflecting the shifting light. Everything felt right, there was even a connection to something. She focused on that feeling, finding a tentative link to the mana storm…no, the concept of storms itself.
People didn't commonly feel a close connection with the concept of storms, but it was considered a powerful concept with many interpretations, allowing individuals to make it their own. For Varino, storms meant many things, bringing change, balance, replenishing the environment and magic. There was one other that she also felt in this moment. That storms were nature’s power, which in the mana storm certainly gave the impression of the world’s true power. She wasn’t sure which of these impressions or maybe all of them had clicked into place, but she felt the connection only grow as she focus on her understanding and feeling towards storms.
Varino focused on that link and willed it to grow more and something inside her that had been flickering now ignited.
BOOOOOM!
An enormous explosion rocked the entire hillside.
“Woah! Hang on!” Zerine said.
***
Varino chimed, wondering why? The story was just getting good.
Zerine smiled as she sat up.
“That massive explosion was you!? I got thrown back by it! And are you going to tell me it was you creating all the other explosions that threw everything and everyone around? And why the mana storm intensified faster?” Zerine wondered in a teasing tone.
Varino looked caught out for a moment, then looked down at the stone floor, tapping her index fingers together. She bubbled a response, saying it might be related to that.
The red Starborn, Little Red, started to speak, but Varino waved a hand at the ball of light, hushing it, saying she was still telling her story.
A mix of clicks and hissing came from Kimi as the Runic Spider began to laugh.
Zerine grinned. “Alright, sorry. You were telling us about your conceptual breakthrough.”
Varino burbled her version of grumble that sound a cross between a tiny stream and the pattering of rain, but immediately took a huge breath then began telling the story again.
Zerine wondered why the spirit had done that. It wasn’t like she could breathe, but it was still cute.
***
“I forgot something before the big boom,” Varino whsitled, continuing the story.
Before the explosion, a beam made from pure mana blasted down, followed by multiple bolts of lightning hitting Varino. The centipede Metal heads that had been about to attack tuned to dust from the pure power of the explosion and the outpouring of mana.
Varino blinked, looking around in awe, watching the explosion as if in slow motion. She stood in the middle of a fiery sphere of energy expanding outwards, feeling mana rush into her. She felt…good, no, great! The world suddenly went back to normal speed. The explosion blasted out, destroying a large area of the hillside.
Umm, whoops, she thought, still grinning from ear to ear. Lightning leaked from her eyes as water and wind swirled around her in a sphere spanning twenty feet in every direction.
Varino looked around. She could easily see even though clouds of ash, smoke, and dust that shrouded everything. Clearly, her conceptual breakthrough had quite the side effect. There was a massive crater around her, and she saw monsters and Metal heads heading for her. The monsters seemed more incensed than before, probably because she was brimming with mana.
Still grinning, Varino raised a hand to the heavens and chimed.
“Eminence of the storm!”
Strictly speaking, Varino did not need to say aloud her newly created domain spell, but it was satisfying as her willpower made the air shutter from her chimes. Her domain erupted outwards, suppressing everything that was below mid D-rank and even then, the mid D-ranks couldn’t do anything to stop it, as their willpower wasn’t nearly as refined as hers. Plus, she was in her element, and everyone knew the rules about that. Well, the smart Metal heads probably did and the monsters certainly not, so some knew the rules.
As Varino pointed out, there are some universal rules. The first rule was to never disrupt a spiritual place or terrible things will follow, be it, spirit curses, entire ecosystems dying, and the list just goes on. The second was never anger dragons or fairies, for obvious reasons. Never fight a witch in their domain, which lead perfectly to the last rule. Never anger an elemental in or near their element.
Varino happily skipped along, humming a tune, completely oblivious to the sheer and utter apocalyptic chaos occurring all around her. Every skip lined up with thunder or explosions and, there were a lot of explosions, to her delight. She could sense everything going on in her domain, which covered the entire hill. The original plan was now she had her domain up, she would go handle the mid D-ranks. But something odd was happening. Nothing was getting closer than forty feet from her before having something happen to them. Sometimes a Metal head would get tossed into the sky then die from the storm. Other times a monster might get shredded by winds. So, nothing was getting close to the spirit who had gotten a little distracted by simply enjoying a nice day in a mana storm.
She cast only a few spells, which she promptly stopped doing so after a cyclone kinda…well, the mana storm took control over that and it went off, turning into a purple flaming vortex of death.
Huh, I forgot that could happen to conjuration magic…whoops, she thought, watching the cyclone zip off, tearing through a cluster of monsters and Metal heads. She may have a domain that was mostly fueled by the storm, so the domain and the storm worked together, but that clearly didn’t extend to everything.
Lightning mixed with the other affinities shot down like the judgment of the heavens, destroying anything it collided with or exploded into the ground. Varino sensed that Zerine was doing alright even if she was injured. Although she focused on her friend and sister, focusing on what she fought and whistled. It was one of the few mid D-ranks left and was a brute. Varino was about to go help when she felt four more mid D-ranks enter her domain. Varino pursed her lips, thinking, but smiled brightly, sensing Kimi was heading towards Zerine.
A burbling laugh escaped Varino, who punched a fist into her palm, creating multicolored sparks.
“Now it’s really zappy, zappy time,” Varino whistled before charging towards the new group of Metal heads.
And so began an extremely one-sided fight where a spirit skipped along, and everything died from seemingly random aspects of the mana storm. Nothing ever came close to Varino who spent some time picking flowers that had grown due to an infusion of life affinity mana. She found a small crystal flower, which was the perfect size, so Varino tucked it into her hair. While the spirit picked flowers, in the background several enormous detonations ripped apart two mid D-rank Metal heads.
After a very productive plant picking excursion, Varino headed towards the cave when she felt something tug at the back of her mind. She focused on the feeling, and a spike of fear and anger rushed through her. Her domain reacted to her emotions. Every affinity went wild, blasting down, destroying anything that was an enemy. She realized Zerine was badly hurt. With a gust of wind, she flew and quickly found Kimi and a delirious Zerine.
With some healing, Zerine was good as new and even had killed a brute, something she always knew Zerine could do. It was expected from her future bonded partner to be a monster, even without a crest. Although she had taken a beating and would be out for a little while.
Kimi moved to Zerine and, for some reason, had parts of that brute being dragged behind the spider. When asked, Kimi said Zerine wanted those metal parts.
Her domain was still going at full strength. Her mana hadn’t even gotten drained much due to her connection to the storm, which gave her a warning when she felt an aura probe from something stronger than peak D-rank. Varino peeped in shock, realizing that it was something at least mid C-rank. At sensing the C-rank checking the strength of her willpower, Varino decided it was time to retreat.
***
Varino peeped, completing her story.
“You didn’t explain why the tunnel collapsed and with all that mana, you only retreated? Oh, and how long have I been out?” Zerine wondered.
Kimi answered before the spirit could and clicked.
Zerine blinked rapidly and stared at Varino before cracking up as Varino smiled, embarrassed.
Six hours not bad, she thought, still staring at Varino's smile shifted to sheepish.
“You just let the domain connect to the storm more, making it concentrate in this area for a time. Then let a bunch of cyclones out. No explosions?”
Varino chimed, explaining she realized that she should conserve her power, so she just let the mana storm do its thing.
“And the tunnel?”
Varino burbled a nervous laugh.
“You created a gigantic explosion, while laughing and clapping, which then started to collapse the tunnel, while Kimi made it so you could get here before it collapsed entirely, huh?”
An embarrassed chirp confirmed Zerine’s suspicions.
“Yep, I figured. So, what now?”