Chapter 86: Harmony Embraces All
“Younger sister Hellis Fallen,” Raina Bow greeted, “How is the status of the local operations?”
Raina Bow, the highest ranking combat harmonant was making her rounds of the mountain base. Hellis Fallen was her charming and studious younger sister, the one Raina had chosen to nurture. In the future, she hoped for Hellis to fully manage large scale operations on her own. She had the potential within her. But for now, Raina served as her guide. Nurturing the next generation was a shared valued of the natives of this world; perhaps, they were not so different. Perhaps, they were not so lost.
“Elder sister Raina Bow,” Hellis Fallen greeted, “It’s an honor to see you.”
“No, it is my honor to have such an exemplary younger sister.”
“You raise me with your praise, sister.”
The socially expected greetings had been exchanged, and Raina saw more in Hellis’ eyes than just pleasantry. Her obedience was borne of genuine respect—that was right, and it pleased Raina.
Hellis had gotten up from her desk to greet her elder sister, but with a gesture the two sat across from each other on the couches within her office. A screen flicked on from the wall adjacent to the two of them, only a wave needed to trigger its light.
“From our local contact, we’ve gathered a list of potential harmonants to be integrated into our divine song. There is one problematic harmonant I would like your esteemed advice for, elder sister.”
“What ordinary harmonant warrants such caution, Hellis?”
A person’s face flickered onto the screen. She was ordinary, with brown hair and brown eyes, unusual for the closest locals but not unusual for the world at large. Her face was between pleasant and aloof, but not the sort that stood out in particular.
“This harmonant has connections to local discordants that warrants caution.”
“Hm? Is it a level of discordance I cannot tune for you, Hellis?”
“It is my shame to say it is a possibility, elder sister.”
Raina gestured for Hellis to continue.
“The harmonant in question has connections to several local gold rankers, and potentially a diamond ranker.”
Raina was strong, but a diamond ranker she could not handle. It was beyond the scope of assistance she could call to her particular assignment, in this particular phase. Hellis sensed her apprehension but waited with patient expectation, worry hidden in her eyes.
“Your assessment is accurate. We would normally temporarily forsake such a harmonant. Why did you bring this harmonant to my attention?”
Hellis paused, piecing the information to best communicate her intent to Raina. A quality Raina liked, that careful contemplation. She knew she’d be convinced of whatever Hellis had deemed important enough to deliberate in the first place.
“I was recommended by our local contact to pass on this harmonant as well,” Hellis said, “I was in agreement until I learned of what the harmonant’s specialty was.”
“You do leave me in suspense, Hellis,” Raina said, but her tone was that of chiding amusement.
“My apologies, elder sister,” Hellis said, flushing slightly. “We have no true confirmation, but the adventurer in question may have done research on souls.”
“That researched is restricted to the religious institutions of this world.”
“It is, elder sister. It appears that this harmonant in question conducted her research in harmony with a local gold ranker healer priest.”
“Harmonizing the gold ranker would pose a significant challenge to our local forces,” said Raina. “I will make the decision on the status of this harmonant. It was good to come to me, Hellis.”
“Thank you, elder sister. There is one more thing that may influence your decision.”
“Oh? Do say.”
“Our local contact has said that the harmonant in question additionally possesses the entirety of the local Library of the Celestial Book within her mind, and the harmonant is an outworlder.”
That was interesting. Raina did not expect any valuable research from an iron ranker in this underdeveloped world. Their research into soul magic was far more extensive than any native institution of this world, although her outworlder status was of note. Outworlders varied in the information they carried. Mostly, their skills and information were inconsequential. Outworlders were not ‘selected’ on basis of achievement, but simple random chance or circumstance.
The information of the local Library of the Celestial Book? That was valuable. The inability for their iron rankers to succeed the final stage of that trial and simultaneously possess an ability that can store a large amount of information had been a persistent and unresolvable annoyance.
“Those are determining factors, thank you, Hellis, for bringing them to my attention.”
“You’ve already made up your mind?”
She should chide Hellis for rushing her, but her eyes were so expectant and pure. She smiled at Hellis indulgently instead. She had made up her mind already, as Hellis expected.
“We shall include her in upcoming operation. We are reaching the end of our ability to remain undetected not only in this region, but in this world at large. The Adventure Society has taken notice of our actions.”
“A shame,” Hellis said, her voice trembling with genuine pity, “That they resist the song.”
“Indeed, if they would only let it, they will be embraced by harmony. Harmony embraces all.”
“Harmony embraces all,” Hellis repeated, the light of her eyes solemn and hopeful.
*****
There was one month until the expedition, and the team jumped back into training and research, Lawrence the ever-trailing kite in the wake of the party’s wind.
Since the team has become a two star adventuring party, they decided to apply to take on limited one star bronze rank monster contracts. Adventurer growth relied on challenge, and challenge they fervently pursued.
They would be challenging lone bronze rank monsters, chosen for them by an adventure society functionary that journeyed with them. Aliyah and John opted out from the certification. Sen of course, put on his best disapproving frown, but Aliyan and John were grownups who would not be swayed by their age-junior, exceptionally mature as Sen was, but the rest would give it a try. Most adventurers fought in teams, so the ability to challenge a monster of a higher rank alone was unnecessary. Especially for Aliyah and John, who weren’t suited for solo fights (and that was the logic used against Sen, and he couldn’t force them to take it, so he could only accept defeat).
They had traveled as far upriver on a boat as they could, but now they coasted over landscape in a skimmer, a little cramped for 8 people.
“Ugh,” Eufemia complained as Sen’s sweaty thigh shifted against hers, “We really need better transportation option. If only we didn’t have this unwanted addition,” she glared at Lawrence.
Lawrence had developed a tolerance for Eufemia’s verbal jabs and sharp looks, and her words flowed past his ears like lotion over skin with a method called ‘See no evil, hear no evil’. Nara wondered if his goddess approved of his willful ignorance, or if he could sweep anything under the rug with the excuse of ‘I’m busy copying books’.
“At least your cars float,” Nara said, eyeing the mud from the last hot and muggy rain, which in an equivalent Jeep would have threatened a non-optional mud spa treatment.
Their Adventure Society escort today was Ranshi, the functionary that had served as Mona’s assistant during Nara’s exam. Nara would be the first to challenge bronze rank; her contract was picked out for her by Ranshi.
The Shian region had a variety of forests. Some normal, filled with ordinary trees and a variety of magical and non-magical creatures.
Others, like the forest before her, were clearly magical. The magic was thick and rich, almost aromatic, and it tickled her skin like it had in the astral space, as if the trees exhaled magic instead of oxygen. Trees didn’t produce mana; mana diffused through the dimensional boundary, but it felt like they did here, with a humidity and coolness that matched the ancient and awe-inspiring redwood forests of Earth. That je ne sais quoi lingered in the air, and Nara wondered if the redwoods of Earth weren’t a little magical themselves.
Tall, monolith trees sprouted from the ground like obelisks placed by gods. If not for the noon sun, the shadows of the trees would stretch across the landscape in unending stripes of shadow. Despite the height of the trees, the vibrant thickness of their leaves, sunlight still peeked through the canopy. Sunlight was enhanced by the ambient magic—perhaps that is what allowed its rays to seemingly penetrate through the inconceivably large foliage. A leaf could fall—aimlessly, gently—and it’d smother Nara like a weighted blanked made for the strongest man on Earth.
“Monolith trees are harvested for many useful products,” Ranshi explained, as he was ever want to do, “To name a few of their uses, the sap is used in many healing salves and potions. The wood is incomparably sturdy, used often as the foundational material for structures. The forest troll is disrupting harvest operations.”
“Is it okay if the trees are damaged?”
“It would be best to keep damage to a minimum, but you need not worry. Monolith trees are highly resilient. Collateral damage is expected when defeating monsters.”
“That’s not what I was told,” Encio bitterly muttered.
“You can’t just be imperfect sometimes, Encio?” Eufemia said.
“There is a difference between damage and decimation, mister Aciano. No doubt, your abilities will trend merrily towards decimation at latter ranks. It’s best you reign in your tendencies early.”
Encio sighed, re-accepting his criticism with a grimace.
“Whenever you are ready, miss Nara. Keep it in mind that there is no consequence for retreating,” Ranshi continued without missing a beat. A destructive iron ranker with the potential for greater destruction later was hardly out-of-the-ordinary. All things considered, Enciodes Aciano’s capacity for widespread destruction was tame.
Ranshi handed Nara a recording crystal. The fight would be recorded for their review. A copy could be made for Nara if she wanted it. She debated whether she would show it to her family in the end, but she would probably request a copy regardless.
If her life was going to be killing monsters, how much of it could she really keep from them?
The assessment wouldn’t even be performed if the Adventure Society was not confident that the society member would pass, not unlike the sash and belt examinations for martial arts, Nara told herself to relax.
She started by sending two bodies of Sage into the forest. With ample cover, Sage remained undetected, flitting between the underbrush in a grey smear of faded light.
“Benefactor, I’ve found your target.”
Nara set out, using Nodes to gain height into the taller branches of the forest. Using the gravity manipulation of her Cosmic Path, she leapt from branch to branch like an anime ninja. The branches were sometimes too far apart for her to leap even with her slight gravity manipulation, so she had to use Node jumps to bridge the gap.
The forest troll was a tall, lumbering creature with skin the color and texture of bark mixed with flesh. It stood at nearly three stories tall, but was dwarfed by the monolith trees. The forest troll didn’t have the troublesome swingling whip like vines of the jungle troll, so Nara expected an easier fight.
Sage’s two bodies were redistributed to Chrome and Thanatos, and Nara began her assault.
She started off as she normally did against large targets, peppering the troll from on high with arrows of magic. She generally avoided firing arrows long term, since their conjuration consumed her mana better spent on other abilities. As an opener, it was suitable. Most of her afflictions were blocked, but once a few made it through, she was set.
“From order to disorder.”
Nara chanted her spell, and Entropy was in place. By then, the troll had mildly reacted, its face rather placid for a creature that had just been ‘attacked’. Those arrows had been mere pinpricks of acupuncture needles to the massive monster. It swung a massive, creaking, bark-encrusted arm up…and scratched. The arrows bent and snapped.
Looking at the line of raised and red skin, the forest troll had more damage scratching than she had just done with her arrows. Nara huffed mildly in frustration, and told herself she was an endurance fighter anyway.
For her afflictions to eventually reach the point to topple the monster at this rate, without her intervention, would take days. She would need to speed things up with some active engagement. While it would serve as proof she could ‘defeat’ a bronze rank monster if she left it be, Ranshi and herself had better places to be than to wait around.
And she doubted she would feel very approved of.
Waiting for a monster to die was not an effective method when lives were at stake.
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She moved in, leaping down from one of the massive branches she was on, feeling rather like a certain media character that attacked the necks of titans.
She aimed downwards, carving into the troll’s neck. She landed on its shoulders, which was offensively easy for her current parkour skills, making quick scratches with her blade. Any damage done now would be regenerated, so she needed to focus on increasing the stacks of her afflictions than dealing actual damage.
The troll finally reacted; It roared, sending a group of birds to fly in terror. The roar itself was so loud it reverberated within Nara’s head, pinging within her skull. For a moment all she could hear was ringing, like a gong had gone off in her cranium, and wondered what decibel level would instantly kill a human being, and if that had gotten anywhere close. The monster lurched backwards, slamming its back into one of the monolith trees in an attempt to shake her off.
She reacted in time, teleporting down to the ankles of the troll where Chrome was, nipping at its heels like a Hell born-and-bred chihuahua.
Like her fight with Graff, her Infinity Domain took a backseat. It had little to no effect on the massive momentum and force of swinging troll arms that tried to pluck her off its back, or slow moving leg swings that left a vacuum of air in its wake. What use was slightly shifting the trajectory of an arm, when the arm was larger than an 18-wheeler truck?
She found another use for the ability, altering its purpose towards offense. Nara prioritized light and fast strikes to quickly increase the instances of dimensional instability and dimensional rupture. She used her domain to speed up her blade, slightly reducing the space it had to travel. It wasn’t much, but she needed every tool she had.
Chrome and Thanatos were down below, unable to scale to the heights she was at, unless she transported them herself by subsuming them. Thanatos made long ranged attacks of trailing black flame, keeping his distance. Chrome was similar, running in for a few strikes then teleporting out to safety.
A massive hand rushed at her, like a sumo wrestler attempting to slap a fly that had landed on its back. She teleported away, continuing her assault with twinges of a magic bowstring. To say nothing of Graff, attempting to deflect the massive hand of a troll with Dream’s Wake was a fool’s errand as well.
The hand, of course, smashed into the troll’s back in a surprising display of flexibility for a creature covered in bark armor, and smashed a larger surface area of said armor than Nara could have ever managed.
She had thought she would need to save her mana for Phase Shift, but the creature’s unwieldy body was to her advantage. The danger of its attacks their power, not their speed.
The forest troll suddenly jumped, its heavy body lifting only slightly off the ground. Unlike essence users with their balance attributes that maintained mobility into higher ranks, the forest troll did not have the mobility its rank should have had.
The shockwave from the landing staggered Nara, sending her to her knees. A massive crushing slap slammed down caving in the earth in a crater. Nara avoided it by teleporting to another node placed out of the reach of the troll and tried not to think about being made a squashed human-mosquito by a 3-story tall Shrek. She stayed on the branch for a moment, steadying her nerves and adrenaline that had suddenly shot cold-hot through her body. Luckily, the advantage of her nodal teleportation was that she could do so from any position. The troll’s swings were wide, but it didn’t posses magical forms of damage that would have destroyed her nodes. It’s powerful wild swings swept harmlessly past her nodes. Still, she eyed her nodes with relief that the troll didn’t posses the capability to destroy them.
Her attacks had accumulated instances of Dimensional Instability, Dimensional Rupture, and Boundary’s Scorn on the forest troll. Chrome’s Deterioration affliction sped up the interval at which Nara’s Entropy stacked her afflictions. Meanwhile, Thanatos’ Umbral Flame had inflicted Vulnerable, allowing her to get past the troll’s bronze rank resistances to begin with. With her own Boundary’s Grace boon stacked and growing through her insistent efforts, Nara’s preparation to inflict serious damage was complete.
She utilized Boon Conversion, transforming some of her stacks of Integrity and her Invigorating- boon trifecta into resonating-force damage. Deflecting a blow was too dangerous, so she moved in, simultaneously casting Astral Judgement and digging her sword into the back of the troll’s neck.
Nara briefly wondered if monsters had a brainstem, and if was even a vulnerability location at all. Her Monster Compendium may tell her, but she didn’t check for such a specific detail. She should really stop basing monster weaknesses off of popular media.
It didn’t matter. The combined power of her boons and her afflictions resulted in an attack that dealt far more damage than it looked like it should have. A crescent shaped seeping wound opened up, along with an aftershock of damage that seemed to draw cracks across the monster’s skin from within. The wound was so large that Nara could fall into it, had she lost her footing. She continued, sacrificing further boons to hack away at the monster slash by slash.
There was no need to hold boons in reserve and wait for her Overture boon to keep pace. She burned it all, her sword tearing past flesh and bone in a methodical, persistent flurry of attacks. The troll stumbled and twirled and screeched all the while, Nara teleporting away when she should, and teleporting back in to doggedly continue.
It had reached the point that Nara was surprised the troll was alive—evidence of the impossible resilience higher rank monsters, especially silver rank monsters, were known for. The troll could barely keep its head upright, the muscles around its throat bulging and straining, streaming rivulets of tree sap like blood.
“Just let go,” Nara grit out, “I insist!”
She teleported to the front of its throat, slicing again. There was no comical spurt of blood, but the monster’s originally brown bark body was already covered in streams of amber-red blood, like a murder committed in the woods.
Finally, the monster toppled, its body tipping onto a monolith tree, not even shaking it, before it finally slid face first onto the ground. The monster’s blows had hit the trees during the fight, resulting in cracks in their bark. But as Nara looked around, she realized the trees had already healed themselves, evidence of their overwhelming vitality—a trait the troll and the trees shared.
She hadn’t been able to time the final blow with the cooldown of her World’s End execute, so the monster had not been automatically looted. She activated her looting ability, disintegrating the monster into smoke (From a safe distance, of course).
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[Forest Troll] has been looted.
* 10 bronze spirit coins
* 100 iron spirit coins
* 10000 lesser spirit coins
* 1 monster core (bronze)
* 30 tree quintessence (bronze)
* 20 life quintessence (bronze)
* 10 flesh quintessence (bronze)
* [Living Wood Rope]
Loot has been added to your [Astral Domain].
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She returned to Ranshi and the rest of the team. The fight had taken around 20 minutes. And while she wasn’t physically out of stamina, she was never so energetic as to not want a warm relaxing bath and a deep-tissue massage. She could sit in bed all day and still want that.
With Boon Conversion, she had more instantaneous damage to close out a fight. It was a high risk tactic, since if she misjudged the vitality of the enemy, she’d be left back at square one with no buffs. Sacrificing all of her boons wasn’t a tactic she’d use against an essence user. However, her experience with the trials’ jungle trolls benefited her; she had gauged the vitality of the troll correctly, and succeeded in her tactic.
Ranshi gave a few short words of approval and the group moved on to Encio’s challenge. They headed west, towards the eastern coastal plains of the Nisei family. Bronze rank monsters were dispersed thinly across the landscape, and singular, powerful bronze rank monsters rarely appeared in the same place.
The stone forest landscape eventually faded into wide open plains. Fields of rippling green and gold covered rolling hills that gradually sloped towards the coast. Trees were sparse, occasionally forming small patches of forest that stood out on the open fields.
Nara had not yet been to this part of the Shian Union before. Herbivorous grazing animals would not be out of place here, and hoofed herbivores were uncommon on Erras. Instead, various other beasts roamed the plains. Beasts between a giraffe and a deer, but with paws instead of hooves, and flickering velvety ears roamed in packs, called Kaafs. Heidels too, in their own separate groups and strange dual heads.
“There,” Ranshi said, pointing his finger to a speck in the sky, “Do you see it?”
“I do.” Encio focused on his target.
The sky chilopide swooped down in a gentle arc, its bronze rank speed surpassing what a normal rank Kaaf could produce. Strange bones hung from the bottom, like some grotesque exposed rib cage, and encased a Kaaf, picking it up as it rose back into the sky. The bones constricted, gradually crushing the Kaaf as its dying keens echoed behind its fleeing comrades, whose soft paws whispered quietly on soft dirt, drawling little attention in a wide expanse with little cover.
“Not only a nuisance to livestock,” Ranshi explained, “But the sky chilopide is known for riding the wind to its next destination. If it happens upon a village, it does not discriminate.”
Encio nodded. He was similarly handed a recording crystal, and he sped off, his speed unhindered by the tall grass.
Encio’s unusual advantage was his ability to launch projectile special attacks with his sword (because using melee attacks with a sword would be too basic). Against the sky chilopide, he launched a barrage of sword waves upwards, his exception aim and instantaneous power slicing a few of its dragonfly-like wings off. The monster screeched, flying over Encio to drop the carcass of the Kaaf upon him, which he nimbly avoided. The chilopide glided much lower to the ground, shooting across the plains to launch charging attacks to catch Encio in its pincers. Occasionally it spat acid that burned away the tall grass and the plants.
Encio’s unrelenting sword waves eventually created a rough clearing, grass buzzed short. Every so often, a sword wave would skim the side of a hill, adding another bald patch and sending grass drifting into the wind.
It was a grotesque dance. The monster’s bone cage clattered as it moved, futilely attempting to grab at Encio. What was most effective was its bundle to tentacle-like-feelers that was situated at the monster’s rear. The feelers elongated and stretched, occasionally nicking at Encio, drawing painful welts of blood and bruises on his skin.
Besides Encio’s Immortality Ability, his only other source of self-sustain was his Chronometer ability.
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Ability: [Chronometer]
Essence: Balance
Special Ability (boon)
Cost: None
Cooldown: None
Effect (Iron): After first inflicting damage on an enemy, begin gradually accumulating instances of [Time Count], one instance per second, regardless of the speed of your personal time stream. Instances of [Time Count] can be expended to recovery stamina, mana, or health. Instance limit determined by the [Spirit] attribute. [Time Count] accumulation stops when no enemies are within your aura range.
* [Time Count] (boon, magic, stacking): Increases resistance to hostile dimension effects. Small bonus to [Speed] attribute. Additional instances have a cumulative effect.
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Compared to Nara’s Astral Blessing and Refresh feedback loop, Chronometer was not effective at long term sustain. The true value of the ability was at bronze rank, and its rank up upgrade long since known. However, expending instances of Time Count also reduced his Speed. Requirements of tradeoffs or timing was common with Balance Essence abilities, such as Nara’s own Boon Conversion and Refresh.
Encio only expended instances of Time Count to replenish his health and mana as it reached its instance limit.
As Ranshi said, the sky chilopide was far more fragile than the forest troll. With Encio’s blistering fast sword waves, he chipped away at the chiton and wings of the creature, shredding into papery streamers. Eventually, he had damaged the wings enough that the monster could no longer fly, settling onto the now barren field in a furious screech.
There was not much else the monster could do. It spat it acid and whipped its feelers, but the monster had entirely lost its mobility. Like the common swift, the sky chilopide was never intended to descend to the ground. Not that monsters always followed reason and logic in their form. While some were based off natural creatures, others were abominations.
Nara wanted to give Encio credit for determining the weakness of the chilopide, but wings were a pretty obvious weakness. She’d made sure to tell him that and needle him later when he no doubt tried to act smug about finishing his battle quicker than she did.
There was not much else the monster could do. It spat it acid and whipped its feelers, but the monster had entirely lost its mobility.
With a final barrage of attacks, the monster was felled, green acidic blood seeping into the ground and releasing a foul smoke. Nara looted the monster, the acidic blood and cut body drifting into rainbow smoke, equally foul.
After returning to the group, Encio removed one of the healing salves Nara had given him from his Dimensional Rift Racial Ability inventory. He stripped where he stood groaning as he lifted his injured arms and shifted his punctured muscles. As he applied salve to himself, Nara helped him with his back.
“Now I really wish I had a conjured armor,” Encio groaned, “Or that trick where you instantly change.”
“Well, that trick is a combination of two racial abilities really. My Astral Domain is my inventory, so I manifest it around myself, and use it to instantly equip items.” Nara looked at his inventory that looked like a rip in reality, “Your inventory looks neat though. Very cool.”
She gave him a thumbs up, and let him have this.
“I am a man of style.”
If Encio was going to be shredded up and covered in blood, he may as well look gorgeous, like the art of an injured character from Fire Emblem.
“Nothing’s more stylish than instantly changing your outfit though…” Nara mumbled.
“Tell yourself that.”
“You’re a clothing model! You have to agree with me.”
As much as someone was a model that only modeled for one business. It counts, she decided, and she’d use it against him.
He gave her a look and smirked, causing himself to groan again from his pain.
Nara had suffered her own minor injuries in her fight against the troll, but her abilities had gradually taken care of the damage. More importantly, while receiving a direct hit from the troll may not have instantly killed her, it may have left her vulnerable to a follow attack that would have finished her off. She needed to avoid the attacks entirely, or if she got hit, instantly retreat to recuperate in safety.
Encio’s opponent was weaker and had trickier movement and attacks, but they lacked power. The most dangerous attack was its acid spit, but that moved in a fast but predictable path. Encio instead had suffered some gradual damage from its whip feelers. His level of damage was expected for an essence user fighting a monster of higher rank.
Ranshi moved on to Sen and Eufemia’s assessments.
Sen’s assessment was the standard for adventurers. His ability set rounded out damage, damage reduction, and all his attributes, which gave him no clear specialties but also no clear weaknesses. He was hard to kill and hard to counter, where no single ability could render him ineffective (a specialty of its own really, Reliable Sen). Whereas for Encio, eliminating his ability to create projectiles with attacks would reduce a massive part of his effectiveness.
Sen bludgeoned to death a group of overgrown rabbits the size of an award winning pumpkin called ravager rabbits, a monster notorious for consuming everything and anything around it, be it flesh, fruits, and even metal and wood.
Besides Sen high physical strength, toughness, growing attributes, and reliable special attacks, Sen awakened two abilities early on that served as an important combination to his ability set. For now, they were unimpressive, but later the two would grow to become a potent force.
Building Wrath was the ability Sen awakened by absorbing his Wrath Confluence.
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Ability: [Building Wrath]
Special Ability (boon, holy)
Cost: None
Cooldown: None
Effect (Iron): When suffering damage or using a special attack, gain an instance of [Wrath]. Greater damage suffered or greater damage dealt grants additional instances of [Wrath]. This effect ignores the reduction of your damage reduction effects. You can gain [Wrath] from execute abilities, even if they are not special attacks. Instance limit is determined by the [Spirit] attribute.
* [Wrath] (boon, holy, stacking): When using an execute ability, consume all instances to inflict additional transcendent damage and reduce the low health threshold of execute abilities. Additional instances have a cumulative effect.
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Shortly thereafter, he awakened his execute ability, Final Judgement, all but guaranteed with the effects of Building Wrath, his ability set obediently filling up the holes as it should (although his parents hadn’t let it to chance either, splurging on a Judgement Stone specifically, which had a high chance of awakening execute abilities).
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Ability: [Final Judgement]
Awakening Stone: Judgement
Special Attack (execute)
Cost: Moderate stamina and mana
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Effect (Iron): Unleash a powerful attack, inflicting additional physical damage and a small amount of transcendent damage. As an execute effect, damage scales exponentially with the enemy’s level of injury.
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Sen unleashed his attacks on one ravager rabbit, building instances of Wrath by attacking and instances of Agent of Karma by defending. The searing edge of his staff swept out, slamming the red-hot blade into the bronze rank monster as he crushed the rabbit with Final Judgement. The enhanced damage granted by Wrath caused the monster to die right then and there, blood spattering across its fellow rabbits like a mascot from Five Nights at Freddy’s.
“One,” Sen said, swinging his staff to intercept another rabbit.
He dutifully repeated the process with almost robotic efficiency, except his staff mastery was far too beautiful to denigrate it with an adjective like robotic.
“Two.”
He was a master at work, crushing his enemies with the steadfast will as the foremost protector and frontliner of the team.
Sen was washing blood away when Nara called out to him,
“Could you stab your staff straight down into the dirt?”
“Like this?” He was confused, but did as she asked.
“Perfect. Now yell out ‘None shall pass!’”
Sen shot Nara a resigned look, shaking his head.
“This is another one of your ‘references’, isn’t it.”
“…So? Will you do it?”
He eyed her contemplatively, “How about 5 hours of sparring?”
“5 hours? That’s flagrant, Sen. It’s just a photo.”
“4 hours 30 minutes.”
“Have the decency to go down by a full hour!”
He lifted his staff, pulling it part way out of the ground.
“…4 hours across 2 days,” Nara bit out begrudgingly. “Shit.”
“Acceptable.” Sen was giving Encio a run for his money as the smuggest bastard on the team.
“John! Get the Camera! We’ll make this worth it! Now Chrome, where did I put that commissioned wizard robe? And did I ever get that fake beard?”
“Do not ask me, ask Sage,” Chrome said, “Better yet, try remembering for a change.”
“C’mon, you love this shit.”
“I do not.”