I floated upwards carefully, cocooned in a pillow of magically commanded wind. I was in the perfect location to train my control and I took advantage of that fact. Slower than if I used my arms and legs, I found the cliff which I had been thrown from twice. However, this time my approach had been silent, at least as far as the Shaleborn Kalar was concerned. Using gales of wind to approximate flying wasn’t exactly quiet.
However, my current enemy had no ears. My theory was that the Kalar protected the peaks from trespassers so it could continue cultivating its power by absorbing power from the mountain itself. The buzzing mana underneath the rock of the mountain had remained antagonistic to my own energies. Now that I was more connected with the breeze than ever, I understood why.
The whole mountain was like a giant battery filled with earth-aspected mana. A fair number of Dao could be felt here, unlike on the Everbloom Evergreen. The Daos of Earth, Rock and something else I couldn’t name as specifically were the most common. The mystery Dao felt similar to the Growth I had felt upon the massive tree to the north, with the except that said growth had already happened. Maybe it was the Dao of Size? Or Vastness, more likely.
Sensing the Dao of Space was the biggest surprise. I immediately had a strangely fond recollection of the previous wielder of my weapon. Master Thorn had been a true warrior, and I wouldn’t have noticed this potent Dao without having our final battle in the dungeon. I had thought some of the climbs felt longer than they should have. By rising up the mountain without physically touching it, I avoided the stretched areas of space.
“Cool mountain,” I confirmed to myself before dropping onto my least favourite plateau in the world. “Not this time, fucker.” I jumped and landed on a hard air platform right as the Kalar tore from the ground to grab me again. Physically, the weird little golem was way stronger than me due to attributes and the Dao is used.
It was my first time experiencing the rock-paper-scissors effect that a Dao could have. The Kalar used the incredibly simple and assumedly common Dao of Earth, but it completely grounded the Dao of Tempests. My new Air Manipulation was next to useless as an attack for now, doubly so against a literal rock. I had to exert increasing amounts of effort, mana and willpower to continue using the new skill.
The Kalar, knowing I was in the area, tried to use its Dao to lock down the other mana in the area. I lost a step and became heavier as its surprisingly potent Dao took over. I would have to relook at my prejudice against the common Aspects. The Kalar was doubtlessly unintelligent, yet it shouldn’t have been a shock that it could grasp the very Dao of its creation to a high level.
Of course, I was stubborn, proud and knew this was ideal training, so I used it anyway. Determined to beat the Shaleborn Kalar using the explicit worst tools at my disposal, I flipped over a grasping clutch. Alternating Armament in staff form, I didn’t land, instead bouncing on the tip of the weapon to avoid the second pair of reaching arms. Using the momentum of the bounce and my new control, I spun high into the air.
I rose like a discus thrown straight up, then I redirected the wind and fell at a greater speed than gravity would normally accept. I brushed away such ambient concepts, along with the Kalar’s decent attempt at exerting control with a thunderclap of my own energy. With a crash, I connected my staff to the Kalar at the perfect moment. Only the shifting nature of the Alternating Armament stopped the rebounding force from shattering my arms.
Instead, I was thrown back like a pebble against a boulder. The staff became a pair of gauntlets as I tumbled through the air, landing happily onto the solid rock. I couldn’t stop to recover, so I rolled and scrambled away from the Kalar’s attempts at grappling. By focusing on the changes in the air under my control, I was able to receive slightly advanced warnings on its attacks. Damn, this ability is useful, I thought happily.
It is famously said that “Necessity is the mother of invention,” to which I felt comfortable saying “and desperation is the father of possibility.” As two disgustingly solid and powerful hands wrapped around my leg, I was desperate not to be removed from the mountain again. I tensed every muscle, clenched every avenue of power and threw them at the Kalar all at once.
“NO!” I yelled, power exploding from me. Magic is intent, and my intentions were all mixed together. I wanted to win, only using Air Manipulation and my Dao to strengthen it. I also wanted to smash this stupid thing to tiny pieces and punish it for casually tossing me from the mountain. Twice. I desperately didn’t want to fall again.
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More mana than I had ever output into a single skill or ability screamed from me. With a vicious whipping sound, a visible lash of air sliced one of the offending limbs from the Kalar. The form of the arm fell apart as soon as it was detached, becoming a collection of brittle shale chips. The Armament followed my will and even as I threw a gauntleted fist, my hand filled with the handle of a pickaxe.
I threw myself into the air, three platforms all arranged for me to grab and stand on above the ground. The Kalar tried to grab at me with its two remaining arms, but I was heartened to see that it at least didn’t regrow the others. If it could, it wouldn't be able to do so immediately. That clash had cost both of us. With the mountain strengthening the Kalar’s Dao, I had needed to swing all of the willpower I could muster for that high-pressure air slice.
Myself running low on mana, the Kalar losing limbs, this could be interesting. The creature had slipped into the rock like it was sinking underwater. I wondered if it was smart enough to consider running. I laughed at myself, knowing that I certainly wasn’t. Leaving now, even to climb higher, would be like admitting defeat.
Absolutely not.
With the restrictions I had on myself, the battle was closer than I had ever expected it to be. Both my assumptions that a common Dao wouldn’t be a problem, and that my attributes would always carry me, were shaken and firmly destroyed. Without using Infusion to increase my strength and speed, I wasn’t much stronger than a fresh Grade one fighter. Sweat had begun to form now that my mana was running low, and I embraced the feeling.
If I got tossed from the cliff again, I wouldn’t have the mana to make the fall suck less. My still throbbing shoulder had only worsened in the fight. Even with the lost limbs, I didn’t know if I was much closer to actually killing the Kalar or not. My initial strategy had proven inadequate, and even if I wanted to break my bonds and use the Dao of the Dragon, the Dao itself would refuse.
I smiled, wide and wild. That extra month away had done wonders for the world’s ability to challenge me. It was because of that month, spent weathering Badaila’s rage, that I felt the pressure on myself not to just grow, but to become stronger than anyone else. I thanked the System for not letting me rot in boredom for any longer. It might be dancing on the knife’s edge, but this was the only way I knew how to face this new world.
I decided not to analyse what that meant for my psyche and dove back into the fight.
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Would you like to loot Shaleborn Kalar (Level 47)?
“Give. Me. That. Junk.” I gladly accepted my reward for a battle well won. I raised my eyebrows as I felt the weight of new materials appearing in my inventory. I had more than enough space within the strange invisible backpack in my soul, but this was one of the first times I noticed something entering. The other times…
Inventory
Gold Coins (Xaverion Minted) - 5192
Gold Coins (Standard Mint) - 15,199
Storm Arrows
Assorted Earth foods
Guidance Stone Of Breaching
Various Furnitures
Alchemical Supplies
Leatherworking Supplies
Metalworking Supplies
I had recovered some of the costs I had put into the Outpost during the trial wave, but I barely looked at the money. A part of me had been tempted to take the coins out and fill a bath with them but I avoided being ridiculous when I could. Naea was usually the source of that energy. I removed the culprit of the increased weight, hidden in the newest section - metalworking supplies.
Item - Infused Ore (Grade One)
Used in the creation of grade one metals for crafting
“Oh wow,” I nudged some of the crushed shale at my feet, “you were extra valuable.” I doubted the Kalar cared, but without Naea’s constant companionship, I found myself talking to anything and everything that I could pretend might listen. The rock in my hand was quite pretty. The bulk of the stone, I couldn’t place but was a pleasant dark grey. Most importantly, I assumed, were the silver shards of magically charged metal within. “Neat.”
Wary of an ambush, I stole a short rest to recover some of my mana pool and stamina before continuing to make my way up the mountain. Each time I focused on my quarry of the claimant beasts, I found myself looking up to the peak of the mountain. My target was up there. I craned my neck, jumping out from the cliff and landing on a cushion of air. I couldn’t quite make a cloud, but I was going to practise until I could for sure. If the Dao of Tempests didn’t let me make clouds, I was trading in my magic.
The top of the mountain was easily another mile away, due to various spatial magic weirdness along with the explosive scale of the whole world these days. I couldn’t stop myself from sighing slightly as I coaxed the wind to push me skywards. If I got thrown off again, it was going to take so long to get back.
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From their throne atop Cloudslash Horn, the golem waited. It could feel the tremors from below, battle upon on the mountain, but it did not move to intervene. While the mountain was its domain, it cared little for ruling. As an avatar of the planet, a being created to express existence itself, such snap decisions were not in its nature.
Changing course was something only to be done after great consideration, and while the golem’s mind was by no means slow, it was so close. To expend any energy now, when evolution was only hours away, was a loss of efficiency that the golem could not accept. The evolution to grade two would mean a far greater ability to grow, and thus needed to occur as soon as possible.
Like impulsivity, doubt was not a common emotion for the golem to shoulder. As the tremors approached, increasing in severity and regularity, the alien sentiment took hold. Perhaps…
Perhaps it should request some assistance.