All the Floaters swarmed at me; fighting the entire group was too much to handle, even for my cheat-like damage. I ignored their awful stench and focused solely on my defense. Floater on the left stroked at my left side, and other two surged from behind to surround me. I motioned the shield and pushed the left to get out, but I had to suffer damage.
[Block successful. Mitigated amount of damage: 3, other damage halved. Suffered amount: 3]
[Block successful. Mitigated amount of damage: 3, other damage halved. Suffered amount: 2]
Awfully sharp pain paralyzed my shield hand even though I ingested liters of the wine. One fast dash moved me to the safe side, but I stumbled upon a downed Floater which resulted in my heroic fall.
“Fire Cleanse!” Istvan’s voice cut through the cries of monsters and howling of the storm. His flames burned fiercely, and after a few seconds of raging, it left only an ash. Famous sight of my past life flashed in my mind - the siege of the Sky City, Istvan was the commander of our little group; one of the best mage NPCs in the imperial army, loyal to the Duke.
Ominous sounds of cracking of the white shield which was still hugging the ship, made the combatants casting nervous glances at the enemy, because the shield was barely holding on as the tentacles pounded on it without stopping. I scrambled to my feet and climbed up to the deck; all Duke’s retainers greeted me standing in their classic formation - Warriors with Paladins in front, Mages and Priests at the back with thiefs guarding them and Duke in the middle.
The younger Duke already had a scar on his right face, but what was the worst, I had to look up to him. I used to think about him as a small person; what would that say about me now? Istvan was still as old as ever, and he watched me with his signature stern look. I almost couldn’t recognize him, because of his black robe and staff, which were the perfect cover in the dim night rain.
“Hero! Fall in the line, to the backline!” he commanded with a serious voice. Oh yes, the standard Imperial formation, although flawed. He helped to develop it - male close combatants to the front, female squishes to the back. If you were a male Archer, or a female Paladin, like Lucy, you were out of luck. She used to complain about it during our talks endlessly, while sitting on her favorite window. I wonder how is she now? I need to contact her soon.
“Hero! Move!” he ordered again.
“I can’t, commander Istvan, sir! I need to fight with them in close range and let them damage my shield. My skill-”
He grabbed me by the edge of my robe and dragged to his side. “You will do as I say, or you won’t fight at all. Insubordination in time of crisis is not tolerable, even for the Hero.”
“Sir, please! In order for me to be effective-” I wanted to run to the frontline, but he clasped me with unexpected strength for a mage. Wait, priest’s strength is even more pitiful.
“No! You will stay back and heal the soldiers. Your comrades are risking their neck to save yours.” After casting one quick rune for a sound spell that amplified his voice, he said, “Attention for all! I need to lower the shield for the Floaters, prepare for the battle!”
The shield cracked, just as Istvan moved his staff and created a beautiful line of runes in the air. I gazed at him with cloudy eyes; he drew all the ten complicated runes like he was on an afternoon stroll. Then he turned the shield more transparent and let the Floaters in, but it still held the tentacles out.
“Soldiers, hear me, you must hold them before we finish the [Spear of Destiny],” he said and rummaged in his inventory.
What?! This early? When he found a plain-looking spear, he placed in on deck and motioned the other mages to chant. One by one, they drew runes in front of them, and the spear hungerly sucked all the mana in.
“The Elite Floaters!” one Warrior shouted and intercepted an attack. Horde of monsters rushed at us from all sides. These were bigger and uglier than the regular ones and wielded crude bronze weapons. I ignored his orders and blocked one attack of the elite, to keep my [Ice Blood] going, but the force of impact was so strong I staggered back and crashed to a Paladin.
[Elite Floater Lv.7]
Type: 3-rare Elite | HP: 145/145
[Block successful. Mitigated amount of damage: 3, other damage halved. Suffered amount: 5]
“Hero! Last warning!” Istvan saw my reckless charge, even though he was busy with the spell. Terrific. I stepped back and swung the whip between two Warriors and the poor [Elite Floater] lost his right arm with a beautiful supersonic bang.
My new comrades near were smiling and subconsciously guarded area near me, because of the slow effect of the Ice Dance. It hindered the enemy's movements, and even the non-agile Warriors could sometimes dodge their attacks completely. In another four minutes, I held my breath and tried my luck just as a warrior in front of me stumbled. In three big strides, I jumped in front of him and the Floater scratched at my shield. Success!
“That is the last straw!” Istvan hit me on my head with his black staff and dragged to the center where they were chanting. “You won’t join the fight! You are only a civilian helping during the crisis, but you are hindering our efforts. I will not tolerate any insubordination. Stay here and don’t move, or face execution.”
Fine. As I sulked on the ground beside him, a big idea invaded to my head. One giant, stupid idea. It had only one catch - Istvan will kill me. Whatever. The counter of Ice Blood expired, and my exceptional damage vanished; I could only blame him.
Istvan ignored my angry glares and chanted the runes. The spear changed color to a pure gold and hundreds of runes, engraved by the magic of mages, enveloped it. I held this weapon only once in my previous life, but that immense power intoxicated me. Well, that was the point of it. The mages, lined-up in a circle around the spear, were engraving even more runes on it and I could feel the mana escaping, it was violent more than the storm all around us, or the melee in front.
I was sitting there for the entire duration, painfully long hour of chanting. The experience bags, in form elite monsters, were on arm's reach, but I didn’t want to anger Istvan; not yet, that is.
Naturally, the constant battle raged, and the tentacles hadn't stopped attacking the shield. In the mist of it all, I took out ten cauldrons and prepared another potion on this shaky ship. It wasn’t easy, but what else I could do? Stare at them?
When the spear’s hum intensified to a point where it almost hurt my ears, Istvan said in a low, but strong voice, “Spear of Destiny.” The spear resonated to his words and glowed with a gold light so bright it reached the heavens. The heavens responded, and another gold light stroked the spear like a lighting. My time had come, so I drank the potion and snatched the spear as soon as the light from heavens disappeared.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
[You have used the Agility Potion]
[Agility increased by 50]
[Spear of Destiny] Quality: 7-legendary ATK: 400-500 Effect: Turns the wielder into a disciple of chosen God. This spear was supercharged with extreme amounts of mana and can last only for ten minutes. Make every second count.
“No! You can’t-” Istvan’s desperate plea couldn’t reach my ears, because the golden light coming from the spear enveloped me completely and cut out the world. For a moment I saw familiar Ice realm where I got my Hero powers. The laughing of God sounded in my ears and I had to smile as well; the power was slowly filing every part of my body.
As I wielded the spear, I looked around the frozen plain. The realm of God and the realm of the mortal world seemed to be one, and the feeling I could go between them as I pleased filled my heart. After I blinked, the raging storm, and the fierce battle on the ship's deck was back. I blinked again, and the calm realm of God appeared once again.
“Is this heroic moment? May I use the talent, oh mighty God?”
“You want to use your powers to kill this poor creature? This is not worthy of a Hero. The magic that spear contains is enough, you will pose a part of my powers, you have my permission,” the voice laughed and my connection to a God’s realm closed.
[Transformation complete. The power of God of Ice Blood was activated.]
[Attention! Heroic abilities found, transforming to the appropriate level, resetting...]
The strength in my body exploded, and I had a problem to hold all the mana inside the spear; same feeling as in last life. But unlike the last time I had experience in working with mana, so almost nothing escaped. The violent power concentrated and formed a gentle golden light around me. I checked my stats with a grin on my face.
Name: Princess ST: 200/200 XP: 45 AGI: 275
Drawing the runes for Ice Dance was easier, thanks to the spear. The mana flew and guided my hand; with that power dwelling inside me now, it was like a child’s play. The golden light turned into a blue frozen bubble and expanded a few hundred feet to all sides. It froze the sea; it formed a frost on the creatures and slowed them to a crawl.
“We will talk about this. Kill that monstrosity,” Duke said in an amused voice.