In the calamitous upheaval of the battlefield caused by Reysault’s unveiling of her true appearance, I took the time to recover as much mana as I could. Merownis and I started breaking through the lines of scorpions. Magic Missiles sparked easily in the air around the Sundercat, the longsword Severance making light work of any supposedly durable exoskeleton which got too close. For my part, the intensely hard form of the Jingu Bang in even its most stable state was a devastating hammer blow.
The Scorpion Queen continued to shake off the dust as it became clear even my large pool of raw attributes wasn’t enough. Having decided to become an all-rounder for the achievements, none of my singular qualities was enough to truly dominate a force like the one arrayed before us. Still, enough time had passed for my mana to recover to full, and that regeneration now fed into my skills and weapon.
My first skill activation was Battle Bond. As I handed over a lump sum of one hundred gratefully received mana, I also shared my regeneration between Merownis, myself and the Jingu Bang. For myself, I just wanted to recover the amount I had given to my partner before funnelling as much as I could into King’s Training and the Jingu Bang.
However, over a few practice sessions Merownis and I had discovered that while the tigerman didn’t have an Aspect himself yet, he was able to produce more powerful effects with my mana than his own. With my regeneration on top of that…
The air around the tigerman was illuminated in purple light as ten amethyst crystals appeared. Technically, these were Magic Missiles but with the added flair of draconic power, it would be hard to say they were the same skill. Slowly, like deflated balloons, the glowing crystals moved out into the sea of scorpions. Once they were far away enough from us, they exploded with arcane force, tearing apart entire chunks of the arachnid army with their magical shrapnel. Affectionately named our Dragon Bombs, it was the only real combination we had discovered so far, but it was effective.
“Are you going to use it?!” Merownis roared at me, clearly still upset we had walked into a fight. As the gargantuan legs of the scorpion queen were still shaking sand loose and rising to crush us intermittently, I had to concede the point. This was my fault. I was naive, I was hopeful and I let it get us in a terrible situation. Those were mistakes I wouldn’t make again, and if that led to a blunder in the future then so be it.
I wouldn’t let my hope get us killed.
Guidance Stone of Poison
Guidance stones are sometimes called the lesser variant of Aspects. Each Aspect has a set amount of spaces to absorb a Guidance Stone. They can only be used by Aspect wielders.
Aspect of the Dragon available.
Use Guidance Stone of Mastery? This will consume one Guidance slot from your available Aspects.
Thinking back to Naea’s words on the subject when I had asked if it was worth it. “Yes and no. Guidance Stone skills are not like the skills you can simply learn. The stone and Aspect work together to create something greater than the sum of their parts. It’s why they’re so limited, I guess.”
Thankfully, something else Guidance Stones were was quick. If this were an Aspect I couldn’t have used it mid-battle, but as the purple and green orb shattered in my grip, I felt the power flow into me immediately. Like a snake made of steam, I felt the mana burn through my channels and slither into my core. In my mind, I saw clouds of noxious gas shoot towards the world of the dragon, taking up residence in parts. The fields and forests created by my mana so far were morphed into swampy lagoons.
Though such places had negative connotations, a world also needs such things. While I could feel the skill taking hold, and I knew it wasn’t quite what I wanted, I didn’t regret the risk.
Skill Unlocked - Catalyst (Epic) (Dragon/Poison)
The ignition. The spark. The reaction created around you and because of you, without altering the self.
“...Shit.” I knew well enough how to use the skill despite the vague description. Which meant I knew enough to be sure it wouldn’t make the difference right now. Merownis heard me curse and just rolled his eyes, pulling Severance from the Xaverweave Pouch before dashing into the scorpions without a word. We had a plan for if everything went as bad as it had. Neither of us had quite expected the giant kaiju scorpion, but our worries weren’t far from this either.
Plan A was simple. Run, as quickly as we were able to, using everything we had to give us an advantage. I wished I hadn’t been forced to use the stone, and more so I wished it had been useful. “Well?” Merownis asked as I arrived next to him. Together we created an arrow of death through the masses to puncture our way out.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
“Useless for right now, I think. Plan A.” We didn’t have time for all of the details. Even if we ignored Reysault and hoped for the best, it wasn’t like she was the only true danger in the sands. Before we could break the lines completely, we were stopped by a pair of Scorpion Princes. “We can’t get stopped here.” The Jingu Bang in my hand undulated a little as it drank as much mana as I could give it in preparation for serious combat.
“What does it do?” Merownis demanded, Severance gleaming with mana in his hand as he lopped off the first prince’s tail while I smashed the other one back. A Mana Shield at my feet allowed me to flip over a reaching claw while sweeping the prince away with my staff. It bowled through dozens of other chittering scorpions before stopping. Another, hard thrust with the Jingu Bang smashed its carapace completely, folding the silver scorpion in half. It hadn’t been long since a single one of these were dangerous for me and Merownis together.
Now they were just hurdles.
“It lets me change things,” I grumbled, answering his question about my new skill. Merownis fired a few precise bolts of powerful mana into the other scorpion prince and a Serious Swing was enough to clear most of the way to freedom. All around us, sand falling in great clumps and clouds as Reysault dug herself from under the sand and made her first move. With her massive legs alone, she started laying waste to the surrounding desert as she smashed and swept to try and hit us. Of course, the massive, ruby coloured legs were only incidental to the fact she was preparing an actual attack. Like a skyscraper aiming itself for us, a huge claw descended from the heavens.
Haste. Battle Bond.
It was a decent expenditure of mana, but I had the energy to burn after pacing myself. By using both skills at the same time, Merownis was brought into the slowed world with me. Together we sprinted at full speed out of the range of Reysault’s train sized claw. As the strike collided with the sand, we were thrown even further away. Acting in tandem with my half-controlled body, the Jingu Bang brought my random tumble to a stop quickly. The staff had made itself heavy, planting itself in the sand. I deactivated Haste as the shockwave from the heavy blow kicked up a dust storm all on its own.
Merownis tore his way out of the ground with an angry roar, spitting out sand. I pulled him to his feet, and we started running again. With vague interest, I noticed the other scorpions somehow avoided the damage from the claw, despite definitely being hit. There was more mana in the air than I could see through so it made sense she had ways to protect her army from herself. “This isn’t going to work!” Merownis shouted, giving voice to the worries in my head.
Reysault was mind-bogglingly massive. All she had done was stand up and throw one attack, but her form was so large the single movement was more dangerous than a falling building. Adding to that, there were too many enemies. If she wasn’t causing collateral damage, I didn’t have much hope of really clearing the army. All the scorpions had to do was wear us down and one or two of them would be enough to finish the job.
Yet, despite all of that, I refused to lose.
It was not a mistake to offer my hand for alliance. My imagination may have run away a little with ideas of an underground complex of tunnels built to keep people safe, but that could be accomplished in other ways. The warrens of the scorpions had been horrifying but easily defensible - if it wasn’t myself breaking in.
The real mistake was not having enough power to enforce my ideals peacefully. As she was quantifiably stronger than me, Reysault saw no reason to accept my offer, even if it might lead to a more promising life in the end. The System’s proposition was much more simple than my own, after all. “Kill,” the System said. So the Scorpion Queen would. With the alternative being uncertain, there was no other choice but to fight. If I had come here with overwhelming power, then perhaps…
No. The System put these creatures in my way, not the other way around. For my own freedom, the Claimants needed to be brought to heel. I may have a tool which could remove the conflict inherent in the dungeon, but I should have known it wouldn’t be so easy to do so with one of the more powerful denizens. The irony was heavy on my shoulders as I realised my weakness here would cost lives.
They just wouldn’t be mine and Merownis’. All of the mana I could gather at once came under my control and flooded a certain skill pattern with energy. “You ready, partners?” I called out, both with my voice and through the magical connection still flowing from me to the tigerman and the weapon. “Plan B!”
“Ready!” Merownis replied, dropping to the ground. There were two phases to Plan B, and they were very simple. Only three conditions needed to be met. First, the situation had to be beyond fucked, because otherwise there would be no point. Escape had to be out of the option. Second, I had to have given a certain amount of energy to the Jingu Bang. The weapon was actually incredibly efficient with the mana it used. The effectiveness was dramatically more impressive than any of my other attacks.
Third, the claimant needed to be an easy target.
The shadow of an impossible claw cast darkness about us, and all three aligned at once. I had to smile and give some quiet thanks. As intimidating as the giant red scorpion form was, I would have had a harder time fighting a more durable version of her humanoid form. Likely it was a costly illusion to create or maintain. I remained wary of Reysault’s magical powers even as my mana continued to drain away quickly into my attack.
I’m ready, the Jingu Bang whispered through my mana channels once it had drunk its fill of my mana. The playful spirit inside the staff was completely serious for once, ready to move in perfect flow with myself. For added oomph, I drained the final vestiges of my mana pool into King’s Training. My grip on the staff shifted slightly, making the attack land even more perfectly.
Serious Swing.