“Combinations are entirely dependent on arcanists, and their unique point of view. The same cards given to two different arcanists can result in two completely different combinations, which stems from their own understanding.”
~Collegiate Hafner Soulard
Ken and Ben sat back to back as a vortex of shards, aether, and essence revolved around them—and the wolf pup the quiet one won’t let run away. Bella shook her head at the bastard’s hardheadedness. She told Ben to take its core long before she started to teach them the ascension method, but the fool insisted on keeping it.
The crazy part was that it was actually working. With her boon, Bella could see the circle form around Ben that siphoned essence from the wolf’s core. It was even more stable than her own, reflecting that his path was right, at least for him.
At least the loud one isn’t as stupid. Or maybe he really was that stupid, and truly thought of himself as the hero like the Star Stream said. Just because you got the achievement doesn't mean you're really a superhero kid.
She would’ve felt bad, if she didn’t guess that the loud bastard would find some way to get himself into trouble. At least now, maybe his potential won’t lag behind whatever fate throws his way.
Unless he decided to take up a World Quest. Only the most crazy bastards attempted those.
Bella had to know; she was one of them.
The storm of power surged once, twice before exploding. The force they produced was nearly enough to make Bella take a step back, but it was soon gone, replaced with a powerful suction.
“Hurry, and forge your rings! Build towards your focus!” Bella yelled over the whipping winds, reminding them.
It was entirely unneeded as the twins followed the steps she had laid out, squeezing the shards, and essence with their aether-based resources. They incrementally increased the pressure like she taught them, building up the strength to match the resistance the shards and essence created. It didn’t take long for their constructs to resemble spinning rings.
From there, they used whatever shards they had left to build a connection to their focus: Ken with the core of the Giant Ant’s Nest Lair, and Ben with docile mutated wolf pup. A weird choice, but effective all the same
Bella watched over them, making sure no monster or beast used their vulnerability as a chance to pounce. Already, she had to put down three giant, feral raccoons that wandered too close while investigating.
She looked at her analog watches, one of the few things that she took with her into the Tower that still worked. Should be about time for the maximum amount a store’s visit. She couldn’t wait to see her little brother’s face again so she could pound it into the ground.
Ken awoke from his meditation first with a gasp, immediately exploring the difference in his body. “This—this is amazing, is this how you feel all the time?”
Bella smirked at him.”Nah. I feel even better.”
She expected him to pout like a child, but he guffawed instead, marveling at the wonders of being more than just a human. “Not for long! I’ll catch up to you and Devin in no time.”
“If you don't kill yourself first.” Ben said, cracking open his eyes as he pet the puppy that nuzzled against his hand.
“Congrats on joining the ranks of arcanists.” Bella clapped dramatically. “Now that we successfully relieved my boredom, Devin should be coming back soon. Time to head back to the house.”
The twins collectively groaned. “Do we have to?” Ken complained.
She crossed her arms. “You’re welcome to stay here, or go home, but I need to see my brother.”
Ben stood at that choice, the wolf pup disappearing into a stream of light that flowed directly into his chest. “I’ll take this chance to head with you, if you don’t mind.” He said politely, digging his elbow into his brother.
“If you don't mind.” Ken grumbled.
Bella sighed. “I do mind, but I’m not heartless. You’re Devin’s friends, and it would be pretty messed up to leave you out here.”
“What if we weren’t his friends?” Ken asked, unaware of the daggers his brother was staring into the side of his face.
“Then we wouldn’t even be here, having this discussion.” It was as simple as that.
Bella grabbed the two boys who were slightly shorter than her, and hoisted the both of them on each of her shoulders. “Hold on tight.”
“Ugh, I hate—” Ken complained, only for it to be lost in the wind as Bella moved through the forest as fast as a car on the highway. She weaved through the trees like the wind, cutting through the forest rapidly to get back to the house..
Hopefully,I can convince him to come with me. It would be hard to protect him on the road as they traveled through America, but it would be even harder to do so if he stayed here.
If only I wasn’t chosen as a Challenger. The last ten months were hell; it took everything she had and more to just get through the tutorial and return home. It had taken another month to get through miles of overgrown wilderness, but she finally made it back home and reunited with her brother who she hadn't met in years.
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Bella would be damned if she let anything separate them again. Even the Star Stream itself.
It had taken a while to get within town limits, but once she got close to her childhood home, she stopped, unable to make sense of the trail of smoke and the mountain of fire that consumed every inch of her family’s property.
Her heart dropped as a yell boomed through the air. She dropped the two boys, picking up speed towards the fight..
“HAHA! Run while you can, rat! Eventually the cat always catches the mouse.” Explosions ripped across the junk-ridden yard, flinging molten metal, flaming pieces of wood, and even rapidly-evaporating bits of trash.
Three figures were locked in battle, two of which were focused on pinning down the third in between fireballs and the blistering brute. They almost had him.
Not on Bella’s watch.
She invoked her second assassin’s boon, disappearing into the shadows and reappearing right behind the stronger of the two enemies. Arachne’s Fang manifested in her grip, her light violet magic circle near invisible in the dark of the night.
The man screamed as Bella sank her three foot dagger into the bastard’s back. He retalited with a blast of fire, yet Bella dodged it by diving back into his shadow. She rose in between Devin and the two bastards who dared to assault him, her black dagger pointed at their throats.
“I told you this would happen.” She said without taking her eyes off either of them.
“Shut up.” Devin gasped out. “Just help me out here, will you?”
“Of course.” She was going to enjoy using this fight to relieve her tensions, but more than that, she was already imagining how she was going to rub this situation back in Devin’s face
Bella looked her brother up and down to make sure he wasn’t wounded, but other than a nasty cut on his forehead, he seemed alright. She was about to ask something when she heard the man she stabbed stop screaming, and yell nonsense at Devin. She ignored him until he said, “Only dogs need the help of other bitches.”
A vein on her forehead popped from a furious surge of anger. “I’ll gladly show you a real bitch.” Bella’s feet moved before she stopped speaking.
One moment she stood in front of her brother, the next—she sunk her foot straight into the stomach of the asshat who insulted her.
With a power score over 2, all it took was a twist of her hips to kick the bastard to the other side of the property. A primal itch in her brain was scratched as he smashed through several cars, vans, and even straight through the RV.
Bella followed, jumping in and out of the shadows, using the boost in the momentum from each jump to get to the bastard before he stopped. Her near-invisible magic circle manifested around her right hand, which held Arachne.
Steel Web (Uncommon)
Atomic/Conjuration
Cast your string, and wait for the
prey to trap themselves
Cantrip Class—ACU
Conjure webs,
Can overcharge for stronger conjurations
Bonuses based on Covert
Her spell card manifested thousands of metal strands behind the bastard, enough to cover the sky. Bella had expected some resistance, but was disappointed as her enemy fell into the webs like a helpless bug. This is what Dev was struggling against? I’m gonna strangle—
A divine bell rang through the sky, one she was intimately familiar with.
Thematic Shift!
A blast of fire hotter than any of the spare embers around the property exploded within her web trap. Her conjuration melted, allowing a bright shape to escape.
Her quarry floated away, and landed onto a car twenty feet away. Paper and plastics were burned to a crisp while rubber melted and bikes deformed. Even the grass caught on fire as the magical flames consumed anything they could, spreading around Bella like an invasive cancer.
The curtain of fire dropped, revealing the one who called her a bitch dressed in a jacket made of golden flames. “Good kick. I haven’t felt this beat up since the first month.”
“How the hell do you know how to Thematic Shift?” She frowned. “You shouldn’t even know how to unlock your slots.”
“Oh. You must be one of them challengers.” The pyromancer donned a disgusting grin. “They told me about people like you. It was fun to torture the first one I came across. How they represent humanity being so weak, I could never understand.”
The fucker had the audacity to shake his head in disappointment. “Hopefully, you can give me some better entertainment.” He said, bringing about three magic circles that spun around each other.
Bella grit her teeth. “Get ready. It’ll be the last thing you’ll get. I promise.”
His disgusting grin widened even further. He taunted her closer with a wave of his fingers. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
A dark red magic circle manifested in the bastard’s aloft hand as gathering all the fire in the area into a orb smaller than his palm. The miniature sun shook with radioactive waves of heat and pressure, warning Bella of its devastating potential.
Although Bella only had two theme slots, and therefore didn’t have a true thematic shift, she wasn’t going to take an attack like that lying down. She manifested both of her magic circles on top of one another, enacting a celestial formation to give herself another temporary theme slot.
Then, she yanked on her necklace, activating its duel function.
Thematic Shift!
Warden of Tartarus (Precious)
Chaos/Summon
The one who guards the
jail of the gods
3rd Circle—POW, ACU, CHA
[Taunting Presence]
[Infernal Chains]
{Iron Maiden}
{Dying Regret}
Deathmatch Duel Initiated!
[Assassin of Tartarus] Vs [Soaring Pyronmanic]
Neither Duelist can leave the area
until the duel is declared over.
An opaque dome the size of several football stadiums shimmered into reality over the two arcanists heads, locking them both in until only one of them was left. The pyromaniac barely gave it a glance, but the lapse in attention was just enough for Bella to slip unnoticed into the lengthening shadows.
One moment, the bastard looked up—the next, his eyes snapped onto Bella's dutiful summon; a ghostly armored revenant surrounded by spiked chains that seemingly had a mind of their own.
His concentrated ball of plasma glanced off the huge suit of armor that was the Warden.
Bella snickered, hidden safely in the liminal space between shadows as she watched the pyromaniac panic. Her summoned roared, unwrapping lengths of chains around its joints, and swinging them like whips at the flame-cloaked arcanist.
Thunderous cracks shook as her Warden incessantly cracked its chains like whips. The pyromaniac dodged every strike, but that was fine. All Bella needed was an opening.
The bastard flew through the air like a mosquito, spamming fireballs nonstop at the Warden as if he was using a cantrip instead of a costly first-circle card. Must be a really good thematic engine. Bella noted, getting closer to the fight without being seen. Now I’m even more curious as to who his backer is.
It couldn’t have been the Dragons; they were a greedy, stingy bunch of lizards. Probably not the elves either since they have strict requirements on who they support. And there were so many human factions that if it was them, she might as well be looking for a needle in a haystack. I guess it doesn’t matter. I’ll just beat it out of him.
“AHH! I hate this! Come out, and fight like a man!” The pyromaniac screamed as he fled from the ever-chasing chains.
“But, I’m a bitch, remember?” Bella said, letting her voice leak from multiple shadows, none of which was anywhere near her true position.
Predictably, the evil bastard launched several fireballs in every direction she threw her voice from—and therefore momentarily depleting all three of his rings—Bella lunged from his shadows straight towards him.
Her magic circles shimmered. She overcharged her Warden, and the second ability of Arachne {matriarch’s poison}. The armored monster roared again, and its chains doubled in speed. They wrapped around the pyromancer’s ankle, and for a brief moment, he was stuck.
Like the lethal assassin she was, Bella carved a clean slit from the pyromaniac’s belly to his ribs. She ignored the splashing blood and guts, safely diving back into the shadow.
A second passed, then ten all without a hint of a fire, or explosion. Just non-stop screaming.
She poked her head out of the shadow space, seeing the pyromaniac struggle to cauterize his wound while having all four limbs tied in torturous chains.
Not like it matter, the bastard's innards were all over the ground. No one could save him now. Bella backed away, just in case the bastard decided self-immolation was better than bleeding out like a pig.
The pyromancer screamed his throat dry without stopping. Is it bad that I’m more annoyed than horrified? The initiation had changed her just like everyone, if not more. That girl that cringed away from the slightest bit of blood, and pain no longer existed.
Not paying attention due to her introspection, Bella failed to notice a vault portal open above the man’s head until a dark pill fell into his mouth, and he bit it down with a crunch.
His screams turned into a blood-curdling laugher as his wounds zipped closed. His skin grew hotter, and more red until he grew powerful enough to rip out of the Warden’s chains.
“HAHA.” The pyromaniac laughed in a voice deeper and more sinister than his original. His canines nearly leapt out of his mouth from the length they gained. “You should’ve killed me while you had the chance!” His aura exploded into a physical force, weighing Bella down, as well as rapidly heating up the air.
Fuck, I’m such an idiot.