The High Peak of Brenn [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1794.01.08]
As they were running, Zeph checked his resources. In the last two days, they managed to kill almost three hundred animals. Almost all of them had levels higher than 60 because they decided to venture a little further into the woods after the initial success of Makani’s hunting method.
That and Gru’s Soul harvesting brought a truly ridiculous amount of Soul fragments his way.
[Table version:]
Name: Zeph Einar Perk: Precise Soul and Mana perception t. a. Race: Human (type 6671: 'Earthling') Passive Enhancements: Power 60 Intuition 224 Flexibility 29 Memory 68 Regeneration 50 Greater Willpower 75 Basic properties: Resource: Total: Available: Reserved: Matrix Space: 229 68 161 Mana Capacity: 1_076 1_064 12 Mana Generation [/s]: 190 151 38 Class: Level: Unallocated points: Matrix space taken: Force Generalist [Seeded] 13 14 141 Profession: Level: Unallocated points: Matrix space taken: Shaman 35 2 9 Soul contamination: Details: Space (type: B5001) 5.22%, slightly increases [Matrix space] Will (type: H1) 8.73%, enhances interaction between Will and Mana Iron Isotope Alloy (type: ZW1) [Soul] imbalance detected! Natural [Soul contamination] balance not achieved!
[Synhronization] detected! [Soul contamination] instable!
3.12%, stabilizes I.I.A. ZW1 in Mana environments Planaria Ferrium Fullerene (type: CON8795-XA65) [Soul] imbalance detected! Natural [Soul contamination] balance not achieved!
[Synhronization] detected! [Soul contamination] instable!
0.06%, [Unknown] effects.
[https://i.imgur.com/Vkg0q9r.jpg]Oh shit… I expected the relative percentage of contaminations to decrease but it seems that something worse is happening, he thought, looking at the red sections. The Interface is showing both even if they are below the 5% threshold… That can’t be good.
Although, he couldn’t do much about it at the moment. He would need to speak with Ghrughah later, as the ongoing Modulation of his contaminations was probably the culprit.
He focused back on his resources instead of worrying about the unsolvable issue.
Major upgrades:
Force Generalist [+1]
==> Intuition [+2*2], Greater Willpower [+1], [Unallocated] [+2]
==> Matrix space [+5], Mana capacity [0], Mana generation [+2]
Shaman [+1]
==> Memory [+1], [Unallocated] [+2]
==> Matrix space [+5], Mana capacity [+23], Mana generation [+4]
Force Generalist [+6]
==> Intuition [+12*2], Greater Willpower [+6], [Unallocated] [+12]
==> Matrix space [+25], Mana capacity [+246], Mana generation [+57]
Seven levels in my Class… He nodded with approval. I wonder how many would that be for my Profession… It only leveled once.
Because he could only level ten times during this trip, he decided to listen to Makani and change the Soul fragments distribution. The plan was to use this opportunity to its fullest.
He set Gru’s and his Profession’s shares to the absolute minimum. The Interface prevented him from ditching them altogether, but his Class was getting around 90% of the overall amount.
As for why he had chosen his Class over the Profession, he postponed raising his Intuition and Willpower long enough. From time to time—like during the Ambient Mana Channeling training—he felt that was reaching his limits. It was high time to increase his potential. Also, a quick math showed that concentrating everything on his Class was theoretically enough to reach the overall level of 50. If they were short on time, he could gain the last level or two easily in his Profession.
Almost 200 Mana Generation and over 1000 Mana Capacity… And I didn’t even allocate the free PE points. A shame we won’t have time for training. I should be able to use most of my Matrix Spells now, I think. He was a little disgruntled because of that. Especially because the returning trip was already reserved for dealing with the eventual Flexibility increase. Well, I am only starting to consolidate my fighting style, so it’s probably for the best…
“Small group of Lepus detected four boats ahead. Prepare your Spells,” Makani interrupted his musings.
“Will that be enough? I won’t be able to play the bait this time,” Zeph commented absentmindedly. Like the Talpa in the Torrent mountain chain, animals here seemed very intent on killing him after assessing his Soul contamination from up close. This time, they would have to use only the smell of blood and fried meat to set the trap. “Actually, we would have to set the minefield further out this time. And we shouldn’t allow the animals to touch the coolant wall…”
“It should be fine. The flying animals will know something is wrong with the area around us, and I can scare away the strays. We won’t be killing them all this time, anyway. You better concentrate on detection. If one of the Felidae gets too close, the trap will be busted. As for the bait, Strigiformes have cannibalistic tendencies and we will encroach on territories of at least two different groups. There will be a fight for food, I can guarantee that.”
“What if something else becomes interested in the commotion? That one Vulpine was quite nasty. Its camouflage was something else.”
“What are the chances? We overhunted an area of at least a range and found only four non-standard specimens.”
“Well… I was just thinking that maybe we should apply the coolant wall a little bit later. I don’t think our guest will attack us before we tire ourselves out, either way.”
Makani thought about it for a moment. “Only if you prepare it beforehand. It has to be ready to be deployed at any moment. And remember, we still need to test things out.”
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“Sure, sure, it can be done,” Zeph nodded. “It will just take a while to produce enough Mana-L.”
“How is Gru?”
“He is getting himself together. Should be ready for a short session.”
Makani nodded at that. “Dealing with so many Soul fragments can’t be easy.”
“You have no idea,” Zeph smirked. “Spells ready.”
“Good. Let’s slow down…”
========Theron Nalani PoV=========
For hours they fought, making him wonder just how much endurance the two Manacasters had. It wasn’t normal by any means, especially after yesterday’s exhausting day.
Quite impressive, he thought while observing them from afar. Thankfully, the trees were rather big here, leaving wide open spaces between the trunks. Forcing the scarce snow congeries to partially melt and form mirror-like surfaces was a pain if he wasn’t close, but he only needed to go four steps deep for his sight to reach the battlefield. The quality of the reflected scene wasn’t the best but he was proficient enough with the Skill to compensate.
The area of the hunt was in total chaos. Birds were flying all around – resting in the trees, fighting for the meaty treats lying on the ground, killing each other, and hunting the big cats that were trying to snatch some of the carcasses for themselves. And there were a lot of carcasses littering the ground at this point. The place had become a free buffet for the carnivores.
At the very center, the duo stood, calmly firing Mana Beams of different types. The animals—for better or worse—were much more interested in the fresh meal lying around than in an unknown enemy. The fact that the Beam Spells weren’t that efficient in killing them was probably part of the reason.
As the Spell bombardment continued, the magnitude of the conflict only escalated. What was a few stray animals fighting against newcomers at the very beginning, quickly rose to the status of a major local scuffle in the forest.
I wonder if Makani is keeping the animals away, he mused. Some should have tried to attack already. The wild winds around the pair were strong enough to lift some snow from the ground, pulling the snowflakes into an aggressive and unpredictable aerial dance. It looked a little intimidating. He knew of a few Spells that looked similar, but this one was clearly heavily modified.
But his patience was paying off. The two Manacasters were showing first signs of mental exhaustion. Not only were they firing the Beam Spells less frequently, but they also started to miss their targets.
Waiting for Willpower overuse doesn’t seem doable… he analyzed. The two men would probably retreat before depleting themselves, and he couldn’t find a way to get rid of their Veils.
Their trap escalated too much… Maybe I will find my chance to engage. It should be as loud up there as at an aerostation. He smiled to himself, standing up. In all that ruckus, he should be able to get close and find a good hiding spot. He was quite sure Borre wouldn’t be able to detect him when in the middle of that chaos; if he was cautious. With his abilities, it would be a disgrace to not be able to get close.
Close enough to attack.
He quickly climbed the nearest tree, deciding it would be best to approach from above.
================================
“How are you keeping up?” Zeph asked through their communication system.
“Half an hour. If they don’t attack until then, we will move,” came the calm answer.
Zeph grimaced. That bad, huh?
The strain was easily noticeable on Makani’s face and Zeph wasn’t going to be misled by the calm voice the Manacaster was using.
But Zeph himself wasn’t faring that well. His Will dropped to the first depletion stage already. He was constantly sustaining and adjusting two big Mana-L constructs, two sets of Telekinetic walls meant to push away air currents and objects the size of a human, two to three ongoing, Magicule-producing Spells, Mana Masking on his body, and finally – keeping up the Mana-L production in his body. His increased Mana Generation was the only reason he could still keep a reasonable Veil around himself but it was all he could do without directly using Will to form active Spells, like the Heat Beam, even when using the Matrices to construct them.
Of course, all that was possible only because they were basically rooted in place. This setup wasn’t dynamic at all.
Thankfully, the Light enchantments he put on the branches above beforehand were working, powered by the Veils of the animals, so it was one thing less to worry about. Gru was able to help big time, too, taking the sentry role. Using some of his own Spells and Soul-detection abilities, he managed to find a way to trace the tricky cats before they got too close.
“How’s the wall?” Makani asked.
“Stable. The adjusted Force-Magicules are doing their job properly this time.” The Telekinetic barriers and Mana-L were separating them form the coolant as Makani was using Air Spells to enclose it from the outside.
“Maybe next time you should be trying to pool something that dangerous above our heads?” he asked with some ridicule in his voice.
Zeph rolled his eyes. “Are you going to rub it in my face for the whole trip?”
“No, no, no,” the man denied indulgently. “Until the end of our days,” he corrected Zeph’s delusions.
That bastard—
“Grrrruum,” Gru interjected, mentally pointing at a camouflaged cat a few meters away to Zeph’s right.
He glanced quickly at Makani, and seeing as the man was in the process of destabilizing the flight of a stray owl that came too close, stopped concentrating on his latest Beam Spell, allowing it to collapse. The invisible wall around them had a half-meter wide, horizontal slits at the height of their heads, so he would have to deform it a little more to fire the Beam that low and close. Instead, he sent a Mana tendril through the slit to the nearest Life Detection bead and activated the Spell. Almost immediately after, dark stains materialized on a pile of snow a meter away. The big cat darted away, running for his life in the direction of the forest. A small flock of owls descended on the poor animal within seconds, killing it immediately and tearing it apart.
They were gone before Zeph could construct another Beam to capitalize on the commotion.
The animals were massive – as oversized as the forest itself. He was sure some of the owls would reach his chin when standing straight. They were kind of strange for owls, though, possessing more predatory features. For example, their beak and eyes looked more like a hawk’s, and their cries sounded more like a howl of a wounded animal.
The hares and cats weren’t much different in that regard, presenting impressive sets of teeth that would be more appropriate on a shark and big lizard respectively. Also, it seemed that oversized claws were in fashion this season. At least their sizes weren’t that overblown, comparable to merely the biggest specimens of their sort on the Earth.
All of them possessed an appropriate camouflage for the season, too. The owls were all dark and brown, the cats dark greenish with white spots, and the hares white with dark, random strips and spots.
The forest was such a magnificent place, that Zeph was sure he would dream about it every night of the coming weeks.
It was a shame that the System wasn’t granting achievements for unlocking new fears.
The time flowed slowly as they tried to look even more exhausted. They couldn’t go too far but a slight slip of a foot, leaning on a spear, or a nervous gesture should have done the trick.
Zeph was starting to consider giving up when suddenly wild vibrations shook his chest.
“GRE!” Gru cried in panic just as Zeph felt his Telekinetic barrier deforming behind and above him.
Before he could fully turn in the direction, an explosion of light seared his eyes despite the glass visor in his helmet as another cry reverberated through the air. This time, it was a cry of pain.
The heat and shockwave hit him a moment later, almost making him fall on his back. Something broke through his weakened Telekinetic barrier and scraped the armor on his shoulder, finding little purchase. But in the next moment, he was shoved forward as big explosions of air from behind and above ravaged his Mana constructs. He landed on his knees as the winds continued to blow down with unprecedented force. The howling of the air drowned out the panicked cries of the animals. He could feel as the residue of the coolant touched his shins, rapidly cooling down the superheated armor.
“Grrra!” it vibrated, sending a mental image and Zeph immediately reached to his belt. He still couldn’t see, so instead of his pistol, he grabbed the scabbard of his spear while sending Mana-L reinforced tendrils in the general direction of the enemy and moving the remnants of his Telekinetic construct to form a shield at the front.
He directed the scabbard in the direction of the enemy and activated the enchantment. The Tier 2 Spatial Beam took a moment to activate, enough for him to also reach the first of the explosive beads with his tendrils.
The enemy moved just as the Beam was fired, so Zeph activated the beads on that side. Another series of explosions rolled through the dark forest as he fired another projectile from the scabbard. It was depleting his Veil too fast, though, so he quickly changed it for the pistol. His spear was at the ready, held firmly near the blade and jammed under his armpit.
Gru? You lost them? he sent while standing up in a crouch.
Graa…
Shit.
His vision was slowly returning as the winds around died down. He tried to blink away the white spots, but his vision wasn’t returning just yet. Only a few seconds had passed, but he felt extremely vulnerable even despite his Veil and their Soul perception. That person was simply too fast to react to without using his sight.
Yet, they weren’t attacking.
The silence that ensued was more deafening than the previous ruckus and explosions.
He quickly constructed a much stronger Flashlight Spell and tried to feed more resources into Willforce Morphon to speed up his regeneration and see what was going on.
As the light slowly returned to his damaged eyes, he found Makani kneeling on the ground to his right. The man was covering his head with his arms and was visibly concentrating.
Zeph started constructing their communication construct while taking stock of the surroundings. Everything was still dark and blurry, even though he was sure his Flashlight was quite overloaded.
Moving slowly in the direction of the exploded beads with his weapons at the ready, he tried to find any trace of the enemy.
Not even halfway to his destination, he noticed something peculiar lying on the ground.
A part of a human’s hand with two fingers attached, broken cleanly off an appendage – as if it was made of stone. Looking around, he found quite a few more of the suspiciously regular-shaped body fragments that potentially could have been a part of the same arm.
“Incoming,” Makani suddenly said aloud. “At least six people. We have three minutes at most.”
Fuck, he cursed internally. “The enemy?” he asked through clenched teeth, glancing at the Manacaster.
Makani said nothing and just reached with his hand to the left, his finger pointing right at the roots of a big tree maybe forty meters away.