Gilliam didn’t wait for the others to comment or respond, he had two goals. The first was to be practical and hopefully take out his target from an extreme distance, but the second and perhaps most important in Gilliam’s mind; he got to test out a new spell idea.
He started with the base construction, there was an order to things that he both learned instinctively but got explained in some books and by Jial during one of their sessions. The first thing he created was the circles in order of activation, he also had to link them properly. The Creation circle was first formed, with the runes for Darkness, Create, Tiny and Spear, the latter two runes were linked via the double line which linked their meanings to each other. This created a tiny spear, more so than making the spell of a spear tiny. This spell would be created first, not only because it was a Darkness spell and would wound him, so if it broke his focus it would be at the start of the spell rather than the end. Then it would be covered in a barrier not only to protect it from smaller impacts, but as a barrier it would deliver its own impact force, perhaps increasing penetration. It could also provide aerodynamics as it would be longer and more spear-like in shape, this had the runes for Aether, Barrier and Spear, a simple triangle spell. Thirdly came the Aiming circle, it could in theory come whenever but it was better getting it out of the way before the last and most power-hungry one. The aiming circle was simple, it locked onto a target of the caster’s choosing when it was manifested; Aether, Target and Homing were the runes of choice, the latter two linked to make sure it homed to the target. Though the homing might not do much at great enough speeds, Gilliam thought it was better to have it for minute adjustments during flight at long enough ranges.
Then came the last one, it was very simple in concept but would be a bit much, even on paper. A simple launching circle which puts a thrusting force behind a spell or object. Forming a heptagon circle with room for seven runes, he entered Aether, Launch, Power, Strength, Force, Spin and Axis. The latter two were linked together to make sure the power was put into a gyrostabilisation spin like bullets, Aether was alone but the power runes were linked to make an exponential force where the launching power was increased, the power rune was strengthened, and so on. The result was an incredibly power-hungry circle that would alone drain most mages, a total of 14 runes, 16 if counting the duplicate Aether runes.
Though Gilliam didn’t see the expression of Angela and Petal, he could tell that Angela was reacting to the over-the-top feeling of the whole thing. Not to the same degree as the Star Lance but from what he was explained before; the more runes in a spell the more power it drains. Not just in a scaling degree, there was a strange exponential factor involved. A two-rune spell didn’t just take double as much as a one-rune spell, it took more than that. The exact amount depended on the runes used, and multi-circle added another unknown factor that Gilliam hadn’t tested enough to know by heart yet, but he had a vast Boundary, a good Core and a metaphorical pocket full of gems to recharge if he needed it.
Starting to feed this monstrosity with mana took a moment, mostly due to the accuracy he had to focus the stream of energy into the different circles and runes. In the order which he made them was the same order, he fed them, starting with the Creation circle. As expected a wound opened up along his arm, it wasn’t deep but it felt like being cut by a kitchen knife. Though he expected it, the shock was still almost enough to make him lose focus, the creation before him flickered for a brief second as he managed to regain control. Petal also sounded like she reacted to the sudden wound from nowhere and the spurt of blood exiting the wound in a fine stream which was absorbed by the spell circle. Though his wound still bled after the circle had consumed what it wanted, it was shallow enough that he could ignore it for now. Placing a hand over it to at least keep sand and dirt out of it he continued the process. The Darkness circle activated after it had processed the life force and as the circle collapsed it pulsed back out into a cylindrical shape with a point on one end, the simplest example of a spear; a sharpened stick. It was about the size of Gilliam’s thumb and about as thick.
The shielding circle was simple and easy, it took only a second, though it was the same spell as the barriers he had been using on the group for a while, the more complicated shape needed a little more energy, but it didn’t change the effect much. Like the Creation circle, it collapsed but rather than pulsing it grew out to cover the projectile in a field a bit larger than its size.
The aiming circle took the least energy, it was just focusing on Borroth and feeding it mana, and it was activated at the same time. The runes and internal lines collapsed and pulsed out into a few circles which lined up like the simplest of non-magnification scopes between Gilliam and his target.
The launch circle needed considerably more mana, even with Gilliam’s vast reserves it took several tens of seconds to charge up properly, his face didn’t show how draining this was, nor did he feel any of it, he was too hyped on adrenaline in expectation on the result to consider his reserves. He was also too focused to pay attention to what Angela and Petal were doing, they had a plan, after all, so unless they stopped him or properly drew his attention he should be fine!
Soon enough the spell was charged and ready to go, the only circle that was not yet activated was the launch spell which was glowing a very bright white-yellow, he was holding back its activation until he was ready. The spell was on a hair-trigger connected to Gilliam’s mind, and his mind was ready!
Vaguely double-checking that everything looked fine, ignoring the fact that someone might have seen the bright light from afar, even in the ever-bright desert, he felt that it was fine enough, he was careful in activating everything and it was too late to try to hide the spell so it should be fine.
Pulling the trigger he activated the launch circle, it pulsed once almost as if it was preparing itself, and instantly collapsed around the shielded bullet. It bounced back out in a pulse as the bullet and shield were locked in a terrifying spin, Gilliam was briefly glad that it had a smooth surface as anything sticking out could potentially move a dangerous amount of air. However, his fears were incredibly short-lived as before he could complete that thought the spell circle collapsed its final time. As soon as the implosion hit the size of the bullet it disappeared in the blink of an eye. The snap of breaking the sound barrier only barely overshadowed the powerful burst of energy that not only lifted sand and dust from the ground but seemingly created a vacuum behind it, pulling the sand in a long line for quite the distance towards the target, but also washed over Gilliam like a strong gust of wind as it pushed the shielded bullet towards its target.
The group didn’t have a chance to time how long the projectile used to move towards the target due to the sand and dust in the air, but the several seconds they used to get out of it enough to see anything, the result was already clear. It was very hard to see what was going on as there was a large commotion over there which had caused a dust cloud to form. The only thing they could do was hope for the best and get ready to either fight or teleport over.
A large part of the army seemed to have realised that the glowing light was something to investigate and was closing in at great speed, but many of the larger individuals seemed to remain over there.
Finally turning towards the others Gilliam smiled at them with a maniac-charged smile. Angela seemed a little put off by this but at the same time had some levels of being impressed mixed in. Petal looked oddly calm all things considered, it might be that she just didn’t know magic enough to put this in context. After all, she was conditioned by the other seemingly ‘too much’ things he was doing at times.
“Well, they know we’re here now, at least.” Angela commented as she started stretching her arms and shoulders.
Gilliam healed the wound on his arm as she spoke.
“Yeah, I had an idea for that as well.” Gilliam’s maniac expression faded as he looked into his left hand, specifically at the tattoo, which was hard to see even from a short distance. “Though that idea has a short range so I think we’ll keep to the plan. We let most of them come over here and we go for the gate.”
Poking his hair-nest to make sure Savia was still there, he got a familiar headbutt against his fingers. “You ready, Savia?”
“Savia is ready!” She shouted, not leaving her relatively safe location.
Gilliam pondered for a moment, thought he would love to use the Star Lance again, Angela did have a point about it potentially damaging the Gate. He could limit its power considerably but at that point, there was no need to use that spell specifically.
He wanted to give Nolis’ tattoo a try but though he felt it had a decent range, it was still a bit too close for comfort when testing. He also realised that he had somewhat forgotten it in the chaos and attempts to focus, he could have made several Blood Crystals for future use.
Instead, he opted for something simpler that wouldn’t endanger himself, his companions or the Gate. He started putting together a hexagon spell circle, filling it with Aether and Crescent before Angela broke in.
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“What are you making now?” She sounded uncertain with an undertone of anger.
“Something to cut down their numbers, that won’t endanger the Gate.” Gilliam didn’t turn to face her but rather continued the spell filling it with Flat, Enlarge, Launc and Power.
Though the incoming army was still about a hundred meters away, he didn’t wait more than needed and both charged and activated it as soon as it was ready. Upon activation, the spell circle collapsed and flattened out into a crescent moon shape, as soon as the shape had formed it flashed towards the incoming army at great speed. It was entirely flat, to the point that if you looked at it from straight on it would barely be visible, even up close, that flatness was the closest thing this had to an edge. But when it’s that thin there isn’t much distinguishing it from a honed blade.
The crescent shape grew in width, keeping its flatness but expanding substantially in width. The enlarging was completed before it reached the incoming horde and the resulting damage was to be expected but also surprising. The blade-like shape slid effortlessly through their bodies, several rows of them at once before impacting the sand behind them due to the angle of attack. It took a brief second before their movements to overcome the body’s ability to hold together through whatever adhesion that kept it together. Arms, legs, torsos, guts and blood, and all manner of damage happened all at once. The screaming in pain and terror of the ones that didn’t outright die was bone-chilling.
The resulting bloodbath would normally have been enough to send Gilliam over the edge, but he realised to himself that he didn’t react that much. It wasn’t that he didn’t care but more that it just didn’t bother him as much as he thought it should have. Spending a second to think about it he concluded that it might be him getting jaded from all the other damage he has caused, perhaps it was that he was ‘used to it’ from the last time he was in the Fractured lands, or just that the glee of making cool and effective spells outweighed the negative results like this. He was almost worried that his reaction to the lack of reaction was larger than his reaction to having just painfully murdered a bunch of demons. Though they were indeed the enemy, they were never given a chance, and since he did see them as people this was beginning to feel weird.
The result of this pondering was that he didn’t have the time to care about it now, if he could continue this without problems he could go to whatever therapy he needed later if it came to that.
The incoming Fracturians stopped charging for a moment, the yellow disc that came from the people on the mountain, in the blink of an eye just took out a sizeable chunk of their people without any warning. It seemed this was enough to have them reconsider their charge.
Gilliam turned to the group and held out his hand. “I think that’ll work, let’s go.” He still felt jaded, not reacting to what was going on behind him.
Petal didn’t seem to react either and simply took his hand, Angela seemed a little bit taken back but didn’t voice or show much hinting that she was against it.
As soon as they took his hand Savia did as agreed, and as she had done before. The energy built up in her for a few seconds as she looked towards the goal, the cubical building wasn’t hard to see in the distance, so her aim was simple. Afterwards the familiar pulse of energy and bright white light in their vision returned.
Not wanting to wait for something to happen, Gilliam did as they had done before, before he could see what was going on he cast a strong barrier around them, large enough to cover the whole gate building and give them some room to move around in, though that had the unfortunate side effect of also capturing a few locals.
Before the white light disappeared from Gilliam’s vision he overheard things around him. Locals who were confused asked what was going on, but also individuals on the roof and in the air around them not seeming to wait for orders. His personal barrier took a few hits before he could see what was going on, but as soon as the blinding light faded he could see that two lizard-like demons were whaling at him. Savia had returned to the hair-nest as Gilliam called the sword out from the ring, sending a slight pulse of Aether into it and triggering the second activation. The wide blade manifested instantly letting him swing with it at the moment it came out of the ring, the long, wide and thin blade slid through the chest of the two bodies with ease, quickly ending their attack.
Angela and Petal had started their counter-attack before Gilliam could see anything, he realised this had happened before and he would have to check with them how they do that. Taking a glance at what they were doing, he found out that he needn't worry. Angela had just punched in the skull of one attacker and what looked like a normal kick most people could do was delivered with enough force that he heard the crashing of the whole torso once it landed and sent him flying off the roof. Petal was doing surprisingly similar, the only addition was that she was moving her tail as a separate entity, attacking one of them with her hands or feet and another one entirely with her long, clawed tail.
Taking a quick check around he got to see the result of his sniper shot. Borroth weren’t too far from the Gate, after all. It seems the spell had worked very well! Though it was still hard to see as he wasn’t next to the walls they were closed now. He was lying on the ground and it seemed like most of his back was gone. There was a decent-sized red area in the sand behind him. Though Gilliam’s confidence and satisfaction of this having worked faded in an instant as he now saw the large spiked demons closer.
They were easily two stories tall, their scales were incredibly thick, and they were covered in sharp spikes some easily reaching arm length. They were very varied in look, one looked like a centaur but instead of the human and horse, it was a human-lizard front and a lizardlike back, just covered in spikes and scales. Others looked like bipedal nightmares with an armoured faceplate covering everything but the mouth, long clawed arms and spiked bodies. The main attribute that linked them was that they were all somewhat covered in spikes to varying degrees, not all of them had lizard bases.
Other individuals looked like strongmen variants of the common lizard-like demon, slightly larger, wider, stronger and surprisingly sleeker and rounder on the edges. But they were quite muscularly looking.
Their appearance came with a wake-up call to his barrier strength as a centaur-looking one charged into it, and with a powerful two-handed strike, the barrier shattered. Though it had been worn down a little from the other demons attacking it this was still a substantial blow.
In a slightly panicky moment, the first thing Gilliam could think of was to raise another barrier, it only took him a second at the moment but by that time several of the smaller creatures had entered. He took care to dedicate a much more sizeable chunk of energy this round to make sure it lasted longer.
Running towards the edge of the building he needed to get started on the Gate. Taking out two fire crystals from the ring he consumed them right away. Though they were fire elemented, once absorbed it all returned to pure energy, so though there was probably a slight loss in the converting process, it didn’t matter which one he absorbed as long as he had more to go.
Landing on the sand, almost falling over but regaining balance he had to frantically swipe the sword against a few incoming enemies, though since Angela and Petal were more in-their-face combatants at the moment they managed to draw most of the focus.
Cutting down the singular, somewhat panicked guard in front of the door into the Gate room he found himself standing among familiar spell circles and runes yet again. Starting the process of channelling mana into them it... felt off. It was like the circles weren’t absorbing the mana, but rather a tiny bit went into them but this energy was used to redirect and waste the other mana he tried to push in there. Like he was charging up a shield blocking further entry.
He looked around quickly and found one different thing about this Gate’s room, in the centre where one would stand when activating it, there was a slot connected to a mini circle that mixed itself into the rest of the engravings. Trying to read the runes he found out that the smaller circle was a blocking circle, much like a switch in electronics, it wouldn’t let energy flow unless closed. Going over there he tried to gently channel energy into it, perhaps charging this sub-circle would unlock itself.
As soon as he connected his mana to it there was a jolt, like getting electrocuted from a wall socket, it hit hard and had him spasm since the mana was connected to his very soul. Feeling that his body lost control for the briefest of seconds, he barely caught himself falling over, at least stopping his head from smashing into the stone floor.
Getting himself on his feet, the pain was slowly fading as he was investigating this more. Reading the runes directly connecting to this sub-circle he tried to analyse it more. The whole thing was too complicated to read during the little moment he had, the barrier felt like it was about to break again, after all. He realised two things once his mind stabilized from the jolt. The first was that the key probably had a sub-circle on it that negated this, based on the little he learned of magical engravings in items is that the simplest switch could just be a lever with the line on one side that connects to the other once it’s moved correctly, completing the circle. Having a sub-circle on the key could just ‘slot in’ and complete it.
The second thing he realised could be practical, he felt a weak pull from the direction of the city. It had the same ‘taste’ as the jolt he got from the sub-circle, the only conclusion he had was that he was feeling the key. Wondering about how he should get hold of whatever thing he felt, he heard and felt the barrier shatter.
“Fuck...” Swearing to himself as he darted back outside.
Stepping through the door he had to jump to the side as his personal barrier was shattered by an attack from one of the bodybuilders. He was using a spear made from the bones of something, with what looked like a bird or beaked skull as the sharp tip. The strength behind it was enough to penetrate and pop the remaining energy in his shield.
In a brief moment, he focused and connected to the pocket with the aether darts in it, aiming the spell at the creature which attacked him. The spell circle blinked into existence and immediately collapsed into the darts, flying into his opponent.
As the four darts connected with the bodybuilder lizard, they destabilized slightly. This caught Gilliam off guard. The destabilization effect was just enough to limit their damage to flesh wounds which didn’t seem to affect him too much. The moment of his mind wondering what just happened was enough of an opening for the lizard to land a strong tail whip follow-up, connecting with Gilliam hard enough to send him tumbling into the sand.