Mana stones aren’t uncommon in dungeons. They’re a byproduct of the same corruption that causes decay when dungeon portals stay open too long. The same energy that rots and corrupts the human world can crystallize into solid forms. Eventually, they hardened and turned into mana stones which were then mined.
Willow knew from experience that mana stones in their many forms weren’t inherently dangerous. Even the Fire Stone she held in her hand held little to no danger to her. It would’ve taken six experienced magic-users to imbue it with enough mana and fire over the course of hours to bring it to its current state. But if it were broken, all that power and mana would simply be absorbed into the air.
No, the danger was in what Jinyoung was suggesting.
“I don’t understand,” Seunghyo repeated. “Can’t you just throw it?”
Willow shook her head. “It’s not a grenade. It’s more like… a battery. One that I can draw energy from to power my spells.”
Willow shivered at the thought.
“Then why haven’t I heard of anyone else using it like that?” Hana asked.
Willow thought of lying, but she knew better than to lie. They were in the field and withholding information from your team was tantamount to suicide out here.
“Because it’s extremely dangerous,” Willow replied. “Mana crystals are raw fonts of mana which is why mining them is so dangerous. But mana stones are more stable, that’s why we refine them instead of the crystals.”
“But they’re still dangerous?”
Oh, yes, she thought. Especially with what I have in mind.
“Think of mana stones as cups and the mana inside them as water,” Willow explained. “If I’m running low on mana, I can, in theory, drink the mana in the cup.”
Seunghyo shrugged. “That doesn’t sound dangerous at all.”
“Except in this case, the water would be scorching hot fire that I’m absorbing through my veins.”
Willow took a deep breath. She had to be careful not to absorb too much mana otherwise she risked literally igniting her body from the inside out. But she also needed enough mana to protect her body against the fire magic, which she would be absorbing from the Fire Stone. In other words, too slow and she risked lighting her hands on fire.
“Are you sure you can do this, Willow?” Hana asked.
She nodded quickly. Too quickly. “Yes. Yeah. Uh… I think. But we don’t have any other options open to us.”
“She’s not wrong. I don’t know how long your brother’s going to last.”
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Seunghyo directed their attention to the fight. Jinyoung was holding his own against the wraith. He was [dashing] back and forth, doing a good job of staying within reach of the wraith but out of the way of any attacks.
Willow took Jinyoung’s Fire Stone in one hand and took her own in another. Hana took the extra step of offering her own.
“Thank you, sunbae. I don’t know if two would’ve been enough.”
Hana tightened her grip on her shield. “What about us?”
Willow gripped the Fire Stone and took a deep breath. “If this works, you and Jinyoung will have an opening to deal extra damage to the wraith.”
***
The wraith wasn’t just strong and fast, although it was those things. It was ruthless and merciless.
Attacking and defending were two sides of the same coin for monsters and players alike. The goal of any attack was to damage your foe and defending was preventing damage to yourself. But at the same time, you had to reduce the amount of damage done to your weapons and gear.
The same applies to almost every weapon, especially so to fists and claws. But ever since the sunset, the wraith was attacking freely with abandon.
CRUNCH!
It brought down its claws so hard that its fingers were buried in the concrete floor. Another swipe saw it rip into the ceiling above, exposing the sky outside.
Jinyoung [dashed] backwards, barely moving out of range of the last attack. No sooner had he regained his footing when the wraith pushed in on his position and followed up with another barrage of attacks.
It wasn’t just attacking him, it was actively re-engaging him every time he put even a little distance between them.
It’s trying to kill me. The thought made his blood run cold and blurred his focus. Just for a second. But it was enough.
He didn’t notice the rubble which was strewn across the floor including a particularly large chunk of the ceiling which had placed itself in his path. When the wraith attacked again, Jinyoung moved sideways but his feet caught on the tangle of steel rebar and concrete, spending him sprawling across the floor.
Shit.
The wraith was on him immediately. Claws raised, reading to send Jinyoung to the next life.
“[Ember]!”
A column of fire twisted out and hit the wraith, pushing it back as it’s mouth gaped open into a silent scream. It could’ve been screaming, but the whoosh of hot air and the crackling of the flames was all anyone could hear.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, the flame cut off. But before the monster had time to react, Hana was there smashing her shield into its burnt torso and pushing it back.
Jinyoung crab walked backwards, careful to keep his sword tightly gripped in his hands. He watched as Hana cut wide with her sword and made contact (!) with the wraith. The wraith realized its newfound weakness and moved back, putting space between himself and Hana. But Seunghyo was there with a short sword, hacking into the monster like a butcher and cutting chunks of its flesh from bone.
Before the monster could react, Hana used [shield bash] to knock the monster away.
Then Jinyoung saw her. Or what looked to be a terrifying vision of her.
Thanks to [scan], Jinyoung could see the mana flowing from the Fire Stone into Willow’s body. It lit her up like a torch. She wasn’t just using the mana to power her spellcasting, she was using the mana she drew from the stone to protect against the heat of the fire-magic which threatened to consume her entire body.
And, just like the campfire a few weeks ago, Jinyoung watched as Willow focused this limitless stream of unstable and untamed mana into a single point before releasing a conflagration on the wraith.
“[Ember]!”