“Where. Did. You. Hide. It?!” Cain bellowed, punctuating each word with a punch to the Low Bronze’s gut.
The man fell to his hands and knees and vomited into the sand.
“Get up, thief!” Cain ordered, kicking the downed man in the ribs.
“I didn’t take it!” the Low Bronze snarled, “But I wish I had.”
Cain spat on the man and turned to the rest of his crew, who were all carefully maintaining a safe distance from him. His four Coppers looked utterly miserable after enduring the surprise alchemical attack–especially the three who had lost their bonds. The rest of them–all in the Bronze Tier–were in better condition. Though the situation itself was unfortunate, the reestablishment of the power hierarchy pleased him and gave him the confidence to be more ruthless than usual. With the crew as bedraggled as it currently was there was almost no chance of him being overthrown by them.
His tone lowered to a menacing bass as he scanned his eyes over the entire group, “Who has it?”
Cain’s second in command, Uttu–a Mid Bronze who was bonded to the alpha sand spider–spoke up, “I think you’re asking the wrong questions and accusing the wrong people.”
Uttu was one of Cain’s more loyal followers and had a highly tactical mind. Normally, he would be extremely interested in his insights. However, even though the man had stood beside him when the others threatened him, it also meant that Uttu was the closest to Nethershot when Cain dropped it. There was no guarantee Uttu hadn’t hidden it and was now trying to cover his tracks. Still, seeing as how he wasn’t making any progress with this current method of interrogation, he decided to hear him out. Cain couldn’t simply calm down and back off, though. That would make him seem soft, or worse, indecisive. So, he got in Uttu’s face and maintained his aggressive demeanor, “You’re questioning my intelligence?”
Uttu instinctively took a step back and held up both hands placatingly, “I’m simply trying to point out some possibilities you’ve overlooked.”
After an appropriately long pause and staring the man down, Cain gave a slight nod, “Speak.”
Uttu nervously cleared his throat, “First, let’s consider the vulture deaths more carefully. All three died mysteriously in a very short period of time. This only happened after they started attacking that unknown beast–albeit not immediately. We might conclude that this creature managed this with some sort of long range attack, but that doesn’t necessarily explain the other strange events that have been happening.”
Cain tilted his head slightly as he mulled over these words, “What’s your other theory, then?”
Uttu let out a huff of breath he had been holding before continuing, “We only initiated this assault early because that Bronze cultivator unexpectedly died and we thought the remaining two were easy prey. What if that was a trap? What if she used some art to fool [Find Corpse] and lure the vultures in?”
“You’re suggesting she faked her death to get rid of our scouts?”
“Exactly. I don’t know how she knew the vultures were bonded–maybe some sort of divination or scrying art– and I don’t know why there was such a delay before the vultures were killed, but...” Uttu’s words trailed off as he looked up at Cain for a reaction.
Cain’s fiery rage cooled as he considered Uttu’s evaluation. It was unusual how the girl had died out of nowhere, but he’d never heard of an art that could so effectively fool [Find Corpse]. Ascendants often possessed strange and unique arts though, so it was possible. He had been so excited about the prospect of an easy score that he hadn’t been as cautious as he should have been. There were a few things that still didn’t quite fit Uttu’s narrative, but he could admit that it was a reasonable assumption considering the information available to them. “Your theory leaves a lot to be desired, but I’ll humor it. Let’s assume the girl is alive and she and her beast managed to lay a trap for us. How does Nethershot vanishing fit into this?”
“Perhaps the alchemical attack was not so much to harm us as to distract us?” Uttu offered, “If they gleaned from divination that the vultures were bonded and being used as scouts, they could’ve also seen that Nethershot was a powerful weapon. It would make sense they would want it out of your hands. As to how they stole it, there’s only a few possible explanations I can think of: teleportation, invisibility, or any art that can move objects from afar. Depending on how these arts were used it could explain all three mysteries: how the vultures were killed, how we were surprised by the concoctions, and how Nethershot is missing.”
“So… what? You want to call off the hunt?” one of the Coppers asked with uncertainty.
Uttu shook his head, “On the contrary, I think we should do everything we can to make this successful. This cultivator is clearly powerful with many unique skills. In addition to the valuable goods she likely carries, it might be worth it to capture her instead of killing her immediately. Not to mention the alchemist has many ingredients and possibly a recipe book that we could sell for a high price. We do need to approach things differently though. I suggest from this point on that we assume we’re being watched at all times and communicate with hand signs only.”
Cain nodded his assent, then roughly pulled the Low Bronze up from the ground, “I’m through with you for now. You should thank Uttu. It’s because of him that I’ve decided not to make you vulture bait… yet. I hope this experience has reminded you of your place.”
The Low Bronze looked to Uttu and gave him a deep bow, and Uttu gave a shallow nod in response. Then, the entire group gathered in a dense huddle to formulate their future plans.
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“So that single shot emptied your entire qi pool?” Samantha asked.
Harold struggled up into a seated position, panting heavily, “Yes, but if I’m right, there are additional power settings on this weapon.” He pointed to the indentations in the metal rod, “Though I’m unfamiliar with these exact glyphs, I had a cauldron with similar enchantments. You see how each finger position has a slightly different marking, with each getting progressively larger the further it is from the wooden stock? These glyphs regulate how much qi the weapon takes from you before funneling it into a beam. The larger the rune you touch, and the more of them you’re touching at once, the more qi it collects from you before firing. Similar to a flute, lifting or placing down various finger combinations should result in different levels of power. The beam I fired should be the most powerful setting since all four of my fingers rested on the runes.”
“What’s the weakest setting do?”
Harold handed her the caster, “I can’t fire it again until my qi regenerates, so that’s something you’ll have to test yourself. Place only your pinky finger down in the indentation closest to the stock, then push a bit of qi into the glyph.”
She aimed Nethershot at a spot on the ground about 20 feet away and followed Harold’s instructions. She felt 1 qi’s worth of energy being pulled from her center and into the metal rod. Unlike Harold’s previous shot, only the single row of engravings closest to the stock shone with purple light. A split second later, a thin beam of light accompanied by a low, quiet thrum shot out from the end of the rod. It didn’t last for nearly as long as the full powered beam had, and the beam itself was much thinner, but it still cut a clean hole about a quarter inch deep into the weathered rock. Happily, nothing became superheated or exploded this time.
“Wonderful!” Harold remarked, “How much qi did that cost? How fast can it shoot? Is there a limit to how many beams it can fire in a row?”
Samantha couldn’t help but inwardly smile at his enthusiasm. Seeing the grumpy man genuinely excited about something was a nice change of pace.
“It only cost one qi. As for your other questions, I don’t think now is the best time to experiment with this.”
Harold regained his usual frown, “Is testing an unfamiliar weapon in the heat of battle more your style? Or are you planning to forgo using this at all in favor of beating our enemies with your pointy stick?”
She returned his frown. He was being needlessly rude, but he had a point. Though she had just gained a pseudo long range attack through creative use of [Telekinesis], it was costly. Being able to accurately pepper the raiders with shots as they approached for as little as one qi would be useful. Also, in a pinch Harold could probably make use of Nethershot… at least until his limited pool was emptied. “Fine, walk me through the other settings.”
They quickly went through other possible combinations until they came up with 10 that might work. Then, they spent the next five minutes testing the weapon’s capabilities. Using shots from a few of the lowest settings as a baseline, they estimated that each progressive setting would increase the cost by 1 qi. Using the lowest setting for their other experimentations they found that Nethershot could fire roughly one beam per second. The weapon didn’t seem to heat up with use or lose effectiveness throughout their testing, so they extrapolated that it didn’t have a limit to how many beams could be fired in a row. By the end of their tests, Samantha was left with 63 qi.
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While they hadn’t exhaustively explored the weapons capabilities, they felt confident they had enough information to use it in combat. Samantha could see it being useful in several situations, but recognized it had some serious weaknesses as well. For one, there was no discretion or deception with this weapon. Nethershot always lit up and made a humming sound just before every shot, and the beam always fired in a straight line from the end of the metal rod. The short delay between empowering the caster and firing it also meant that anyone with fast enough reflexes could dodge out of the way or possibly shift the caster’s aim.
“Sam! The raiders are leaving.” Silas reported.
She joined Silas near the edge of the butte to see for herself. The bandits indeed seemed to be moving away from them, but after a minute’s observation she witnessed them split up into three separate groups. One pair veered left and rode towards the line of rock formations, one pair veered right and was on course to block their path to the canyon, and the final trio also swerved right but moved at a slightly slower pace to allow the pair ahead to outdistance them.
Spreading out so I can’t hit you all at once anymore?
“Bad news Harold. Looks like they haven’t given up yet.” she warned, “They’re doing some weird maneuvering though, so you might have more time to cook up something for them.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Let me know once they start getting close.”
Silas and Samantha kept watch on the raiders as best as they could, but because the butte was around 500 feet in diameter they were unable to keep their eyes on all of them at once. She was tempted to get a better view with [Spectral Projection] or ask Harold to help them, but she absolutely needed her qi reserves to refill and Harold’s attention was better spent crafting potions.
Over the next hour the sun began to set and the bandits had completely encircled their position. Their groups had further divided so that the seven bandits were equally spaced around the butte and riding in a clockwise loop. As the desert continued to darken the loop closed a bit tighter with each rotation.
“Not much time left Harold! What have you got?” she called.
Harold finished swirling two liquids together and a puff of green smoke shot out of the top of the glass vial in his hand. He corked it, then set it down next to two others, “Insecticide. I’ve never tried to exterminate spiders this large before, but I’ve increased the potency by a few magnitudes. I think it should do the trick.”
After the sun fully dipped below the horizon, it took another hour for true nightfall to arrive. She had expected them to attack much sooner, but it seemed like they were intent on waiting for the cover of darkness to move in. She wasn’t complaining, though. Her rapid qi regeneration had topped off her qi pool and she was even able to switch her mindset to [Hyperfocus] during this time. The faster reaction time and mental processing speed would help in the coming battle.
As the raiders finished their latest loop, a pale red flare shot high into the air. Two more red flares followed shortly after from different directions. She looked over to the alchemist who was still diligently crafting potions under a circle of lantern light. His small pile of vials hadn’t grown much since she’d last spoken with him an hour and a half ago, but that wasn’t too surprising. It seemed like he had been working on much more complex concoctions than before, which took time. She only hoped they would be as effective as he claimed.
“It looks like they’re about to attack if the flares are any indication. I’m going to quickly scout. Move to a ledge and get ready to repel the enemy.” she commanded, “You too, Silas.” she added aloud for Harold’s benefit.
Harold pocketed all but one of his vials which he uncorked and consumed himself. He grimaced briefly at the taste of the potion, but when he looked back to her she could see that his irises were glimmering with inner light. It reminded her of when she saw a cat’s eyes glow in the dark.
“You don’t need this, do you?” he asked, hovering his hand over the lantern dial.
“No, Silas and I can see in the dark.”
He nodded and turned the lamp off. With only stars and a thin crescent moon pushing back against the oppressive night, it would’ve been impossible for her to penetrate the inky blackness if not for [Prey’s Awareness]. Although she couldn’t see as well as in broad daylight, the grayscale world around her was still clear and visible as though it were dusk or early morning.
The three of them took up position at different edges of the butte, each guarding roughly a third of the rock pillar. Samantha sat in the lotus position and used [Spectral Projection], then flew down towards the circling raiders. In the short time it took to communicate with Harold and prepare for the attack, it seemed the bandit closest to her had already begun riding up the rock face on spider-back. The spider climbed faster than she did–even while burdened by a fully equipped rider–and she estimated it would reach the top in the next few minutes. Flying a loop around the butte, she found four other raiders and their mounts making similar progress.
Three of the bandits she recognized from her earlier [Inspect]ion: a Low Copper, a High Copper, and a Low Bronze. The other two she sensed were in the Copper ranks. She didn’t see the leader of the raiders anywhere, nor the cultivator who was bonded to the alpha sand spider. Their absence was worrying, but she couldn’t waste time searching for them.
She canceled the projection art and returned to her body, “Harold, five raiders are riding their spiders up the butte! They range from Low Copper to Low Bronze. I don’t know where the Peak Bronze Leader and the raider bonded to the alpha spider are. They’ll be on top of us in minutes. I’ll do what I can to take out the Low Bronze. If you’re in imminent danger, call out and Silas and I will do our best to help you.”
She sent a similar mental message to Silas, and told him to assist Harold if he heard the man shouting so long as it wouldn’t put him in too dangerous a position.
Harold nodded towards her with a grim expression on his face. His brow was covered with sweat–more than could be explained by the still-severe desert heat. Samantha sympathized with the man, but put him out of her mind and left him to manage on his own. She needed her full attention to be focused on the fight. Their only advantage right now was the high ground, and it was imperative they kept it.
Carrying Nethershot in one hand and her spear in the other, she rushed over to where she had seen the Low Bronze ascending the side of the butte. Upon reaching the edge she set down her spear and peeked over the side while aiming the caster downwards.
The Low Bronze was still about 800 feet below her. She tucked the stock tightly into her shoulder to stabilize it, pointed it as best she could at the distant target, and fired several low-powered beams at the man in quick succession. The first beam was too high and missed by a large margin. The second beam hit too low and struck the rock face after she overcompensated her aim. While it did send a small rain of pebbles and debris onto the raider and his mount, it didn’t seem to cause any damage. Her third shot was much closer and nearly struck the raider, but by this point he began to return fire.
Samantha saw the telltale light of his caster–green, instead of purple like Nethershot–being charged with qi. In response, she immediately leaned back behind the safety of the rock edge. Five consecutive beams briefly lit up the night as they entirely missed her position. While one of the blasts clipped the side of the butte before continuing onwards into the sky, the other four completely missed the rock formation. She realized that it was probably very difficult to aim while mounted and vertically climbing, which boosted her confidence.
Feeling more secure and deciding to take the risk, she returned to her firing position and did her best to ignore the intermittent beams. Lining up her next series of shots, she fired as quickly as Nethershot allowed while homing in on her target. Each rapid beam got progressively closer to striking the enemy as she got more familiar with the foreign weapon. Recognizing that his covering fire was no longer a sufficient deterrent and that her aim was improving, the raider directed his sand spider to start moving diagonally instead of straight up the rock face in an attempt to evade.
On Samantha’s fourth attack she finally landed her first blow. She grinned with macabre satisfaction as the purple beam blasted through one of the spider’s front legs near a joint close to the body. The wounded leg lost its grip on the butte as it curled inwards and began spurting dark liquid from the hole. Acting as dead weight, the now-useless limb caught on protruding rocks and slowed its advance.
With the more sluggish target and her aim locked in, she upped the power of her beams to 2 qi and continued her onslaught. Three of the next five shots were solid hits, with two punching through the spider’s long abdomen and one burning into the raider’s thigh. The arachnid almost completely stalled its upward progress as its lifeblood flowed freely from its injuries and it weakened. Panicking, the raider returned fire once more–this time with significantly more powerful beams. The wild shots seemed to strike at random and caused dust and debris to fall with every impact, which caused more inconvenience to him than it did her.
Preparing to invest 3 qi into the next series of shots now that her target had practically stopped moving, she noticed two raiders closing in on the Low Bronze’s position from both sides. The two newcomers took aim at her with casters glowing yellow, and an unexpectedly close shot from the Low Bronze finally struck home. The green beam’s light momentarily blinded her right eye as it passed her face and left a line of burning pain in its wake.
She flinched back from the edge as a barrage of yellow beams peppered the area she had just vacated. These shots seemed to be significantly weaker overall, but came in bursts of two or three per second. She blinked to try and clear the afterimage from her eye and tentatively felt around the injured area with her left hand.
She cringed as her fingers slipped across her wet cheek and brushed against a long rent that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Following the wound in a straight line towards her ear, she realized with discomfort that a good portion of said ear was missing. The middle third of the appendage had been bloodily erased off the side of her head.
That was close.
Though not life threatening, the injury was still bleeding heavily. Her Rebirth Core would likely take too long to completely scab over the wound, so she reached out to Silas for help.
“I’ve been hurt. It’s nothing serious but I’m bleeding a lot. Can you send some healing my way? Low grade herbs should take care of it.”
“On it!”
It wasn’t long before she felt the familiar soothing energy flowing into her through their binding thread.
The caster fire near the edge was still too intense to safely resume her assault and it showed no signs of slowing down. Frustrated that the Low Bronze was likely using this covering fire to recover and regroup, she wracked her brain for a way to try and finish the job. She looked around for any inspiration and noticed Harold tossing a head-sized rock over the edge of the butte. As it fell, he made a rude gesture with both hands and shouted obscenities towards his target.
That could work.