Santari struggled desperately, but Sam was too strong for him. Finally, in an act of desperation, the man triggered some sort of last resort skill. His body glowed with a cyan hue as he triggered it, and it started to hum as energy cycled throughout it. Sam let go of the man with a grunt as his hand was burned, and he threw him away as far as he could.
Midair, Santari detonated, with a storm of razor sharp crystals flying everywhere. The soldiers around them were all perforated a thousand times over by the skill, and even Sam was affected. He crossed his arms in front of his face and hunkered down, but the impact of the shards still rattled him even within his armor.
Sam got to his feet slowly after the attack had finished, a bit wobbly from the exertion. In front of him was a pillar of crystal, vaguely shaped like Santari. As he watched, it crumbled away into a tide of purple sand, which was whisked away by the wind within a matter of moments. No essence entered Sam, which meant that Santari had somehow escaped.
All around him, the surviving aliens started to run, their oaths to Santari banished by his disappearance. Sam considered chasing after them, but as he saw the unit of faction members led by Eduardo chasing them down, he decided against it. This was a good chance for them to get some essence, and perhaps a few levels. For now, he had some training to get done.
Firstly however, he wanted to check out the cannon. When Santari had disappeared, the shield around the cannon had disappeared. A few strikes from the city had landed on the cannon, but not enough to damage it. He had thought that as the weapon was made out of crystal, it would have crumbled when Santari left, but it appeared to be an independent construct. Sam laid one of his hands on his opalescent surface, surprised at how warm it felt, even through his armor.
A bright glow emanated out from the center, from the orb of energy that the alien soldiers had loaded into it. It seemed to be dormant however, and Sam was not especially worried about it. Spotting Mjolnir lying next to it, Sam reached down and scooped the weapon up. He scanned it quickly, interested in its potential for damage. If they could repurpose this weapon, it would be extremely powerful.
Crystalline Devastator
F-Rank Heavy Artillery
A devastator class siege weapon is one of the strongest weapons that can be acquired within F Rank. Forged through arcane rituals and connections to elemental powers, a devastator is more than just a mundane cannon. This particular one is attuned to the Earth elemental sub attunement of Crystal, allowing it to transmute raw mana into an intensely destructive shard of crystal once fired. Each firing takes 1,000,000 mana which must be fed into the weapon’s mana reducer. In addition, this weapon is especially powerful while attacking fortified structures.
Sam was sure that Santari had created this weapon just because it would reinforce his ego, but that was neither here nor there. If they could take this weapon within the city walls, it seemed to have a lot of potential. The mana cost was exorbitant, and it certainly would not be usable except as a last resort, but when that time came, it would be invaluable. Sam had seen the damage that the superior mana cannon had cone with only a quarter of a million mana. He could only imagine what this weapon would do. There was a small panel on the back of the cannon, with three buttons on it.
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Load
Fire
Release
It was quite clear what the buttons were meant to do, and Sam hit the release button. A large section of the cannon dropped out at the back, and the glowing orb of mana dropped out and onto the ground. It glowed like a second sun at this range, and Sam was forced to shield his eyes. The orb seemed to be stable, which was a good thing as Sam would not want to be anywhere near that thing if it went off. To be safe, Sam waved at Eduardo and pointed at the orb. In between the beheadings of two alien soldiers, Eduardo nodded at Sam, understanding his request.
Trusting in Eduardo to transport it safely to the city, Sam ran towards Sarge, who was still waiting for him. All of that fighting that he had just done would be nothing more than an annoyance compared to the pain that he was about to feel. Sam reached Sarge a few moments later, and the robot smiled at him.
“Now that the distraction is out of the way, I believe it is time for you to show me how far you have progressed with your projectile skill.”
Sam groaned. He had been expecting this.
Sarge took off, flapping his way up into the air. He hovered there, waiting for Sam to make the first move. Sam held out his right hand, coalescing his mana and Dao energy into it. His palm glowed through his armor, and a red haze formed around it, condensing down into a spike of power. Sam gritted his teeth, and pushed it away from his body as quickly and cleanly as he could. It still tore his skin off, but at least the effects were somewhat muted. Sarge dodged the attack effortlessly, and snorted.
“Are you so afraid of pain that you weaken your attacks so as to not harm yourself? That is the most pathetic thing I have ever seen.”
Sam growled and pushed more of his power into his hand, as much as he could fit. It blazed like a red star before he sent the attack flying off towards Sarge. He tried to maintain as much control as possible over the strike, but it still shattered every bone in his hand as he did it. A pillar of red light flashed between himself and Sarge in the blink of an eye, skewering the robot on its end.
Sarge fluttered down to the ground, already healing. Sam was too busy clutching his broken hand to notice, and it was taking a lot out of him not to curse in rage. The pain was the worst he had felt in a long time, but as the waves of agony ebbed and flowed over his body, Sam realized that something had clicked within himself. Holding up his free hand, Sam closed his eyes. Funneling a small amount of Dao energy and mana into his hand, Sam projected it outwards, controlling it with his anger. The attack streaked off without harming him at all. Through his pain, Sam smiled. He had figured it out. His Dao energy was not just some pool of force that he could call upon at his leisure. It was a sea of conceptual energy, meaning that to survive in the real world it needed to be surrounded by its own aspect. When it was within Sam’s body, or weapon, it was close enough to him to maintain its presence. When Sam tried to project it out of his body however, it tore a bit of him with it to power itself. If Sam sent his own anger into the strike, he could power it without harming himself. He would never have figured this out had he not been trying to keep himself in control while dealing with the severe pain of his injury. It turned out that he needed both anger and control in order to balance the two halves of his Dao. To Sam’s delight, a notification appeared.
You have gained the skill [Anger’s Reach:Legendary]. Anger is not limited to the bounds of a mortal body any more than it is a concept tethered by natural laws. It is an ephemeral power, and as such is bound only by the will of its user. You have discovered how to use this property to strike your enemies from afar, showing them the true power of your rage.