Dire Porcutor [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPCLTUSNvpT5DLdzkfw3JNbNydQ_WWrKpTOISRD5N8GE-pjfAlfoBJ9jIVLK62xPRdEsnx1eTU2LY20RKP6IDaofoFfqIBz7pThyD7u8os668rDyD2Z9et_MGbHospvrOu9mvOpLYuyhlbHtlf7v7WD=w661-h992-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Saiya chanted the incantation for her [Restored Foundation] spell, healing and cleansing the Magical Banes on the gravely wounded Sapphire Caster who had gotten attacked by surprise. The group of Stone Adders had come upon them from below the rocky ground itself. The Emerald Caster had finished mopping them up quickly enough, but the initial attack had taken them by surprise, and Captain Clisson couldn’t be everywhere at once.
“He’ll live, yes?” the older woman growled roughly. She had been unhappy the entire trip, constantly glaring and using a clipped tone whenever forced to interact with the twins, who were the only outlet for her ire.
Saiya gave her a nod and answered simply, “He will.” She didn’t want to add more fuel to the woman’s fire so she kept their interactions short in turn. No need to push their strongest protector further away.
She quickly realized that the woman had only really agreed to escort them to Serenydi for two reasons. The first was that she wanted compensation for her lost ship and cargo. While she figured this was partially fair since Phoenix had caused a portion of the damage to the vessel, there wasn’t really any evidence that they were directly responsible for the attack in the first place.
The second reason was solely because of Saiya herself and the role she filled. Their current situation made her use perfectly clear to the entire group of disgruntled sailors as she brought one of their members back from the brink of death.
To add to her worries, Saiya didn’t like the fact that both she and Rayna had awoken after that first night to find Dazien’s purple bead broken on their bracelets. It was too much of a coincidence not to mean something had happened to their leader.
“I’m sure it was just his bracelet breaking,” Rayna had tried to assure her. “King is both a Defender and survivor. It would take a lot more than some ocean waves to break him.”
Saiya simply nodded but could easily sense the fear and doubt behind her sister’s words. She would have to take comfort in the fact that the bracelets still seemed to be working since she could still feel Rayna’s direction.
Their luck only seemed to be getting worse after almost a week of endless walking along the coast that she wasn’t entirely sure of the nation it belonged to. As they were preparing to make camp for the night, a small pack of porcutors appeared from the line of evergreen trees. The creatures were as large as Saiya was, standing on two legs, with scaled reptilian bellies but a back covered in long dark green quills that were just as dangerous as the large talons on their hands and feet.
Phoenix had once told her that the Sapphire monsters reminded her of a cross between a prehistoric raptor and a porcupine before, but she wasn’t familiar with that first example. It didn’t matter much, though, when she was thrown into battle with them.
Chaos erupted as Captain Clisson went to intercept them, only to be distracted by the arrival of one of their evolved versions. The Dire Porcutor was massive in comparison and as tall as a tree. It also almost killed all of them as it shot its quills at them.
Those Emerald Caste quills might as well have been javelins with how large they were and how much damage they threatened the group, which quickly scattered at the attack.
“Yous focus on the wee fish. I’ll take the big one away, so yous don’t get caught in the crossfire!” Captain Clisson commanded as she sprang into action, using her hand cannon ability to send a miniature ball of blue plasma into the Dire Porcutor’s face.
As the Emerald Caster quickly led the giant monster away, the rest of the crew focused on finishing off the few Sapphire porcutors that remained. While most of the crew excelled in combat at sea, their powers weren’t completely useless on the shore and they eventually managed to take down the others, with Rayna at an obvious advantage against the land creatures.
Unfortunately, as Saiya was focused on healing one of the downed sailors, Rayna’s ears perked up as she glanced back at the tree line. Rayna’s body tensed, and the sudden fear permeating her aura bled into Saiya’s own emotions as she turned to ask, “What is it, Ray?”
“Another big monster,” she replied. “I hear it heading this way, but I also hear the Captain still fighting to the east.” Rayna turned to look at her. “Can we try moving further away and hiding?”
Saiya shook her head. “I still need to heal a few of them.” She lowered her voice as she added, “And some of them aren’t exactly the best at keeping their auras retracted.”
They could probably hear her whisper as a few faces grimaced but didn’t argue with her point. She hadn’t wanted to be rude, and she assumed one of the reasons they weren’t great was a lack of proper teaching combined with their jobs, preferring them to keep their auras spread in order to look out for unseen dangers on the sea. Their auras being expanded into the depths probably kept them alive more often than caused them danger.
“Some of the others can help move—” Rayna’s voice was cut off as she glanced back at the tree line where a roar echoed from. “We need to go now!”
The others who were able to move tried helping the others who had still been awaiting Saiya’s heals, but they were obviously not moving fast enough when another monstrous head broke through the tree line. Saiya’s heart almost stopped as terror flooded every other aura when they all realized it was another Dire Porcutor.
“Warden, have mercy on us,” one of the sailors prayed aloud.
Rayna turned to her and grabbed her shoulders as she said firmly, “Keep healing while you lead them east. I’ll lead that thing west and catch up with you later.”
“Ray, no—”
“No time, Sai. I’m quickest, now go!” her sister said before turning and vanishing as she used [Blink Step] to appear behind the monster’s head and slamming all of her [Gem Encrusted] tails into it.
The monster let out a deafening roar and turned to chomp at its attacker, only to eat air. Rayna’s speed might be the only thing that could survive the slower creature, and she had to trust that her sister would make it back to her.
Swallowing her own fear, Saiya turned to the others. “You heard her. Let’s move quickly.”
----------------------------------------
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Rayna thought over and over to herself as she dodged the massive quills being magically directed towards her. Making rash, stupid last stands like this was not her style. Making an insane choice to attempt the impossible was Phoenix’s role, not hers.
While she was never one to back down from a challenge, she also didn’t take risks that would likely result in death. This was one of those times. They had never fought an Emerald Caste monster as a team, and now she was trying to fight one on her own.
Stall, she reminded herself, Not fight. Distract.
She chanced a glance backward as her perception screamed at her to move and triggered [Beyond the Boundary] just as the giant monster’s teeth tried to close in around her. The ability had her shoot off like a firework, generating a burst of Song damage and knocking back the massive head.
You will not become food! she told herself as the monster roared behind her. Rayna was pretty sure the roar was from annoyance and not pain as she practically teleported along the tree line. Her initial thought had been to lure the beast west, in the opposite direction of the group, and be able to outrun it before circling back. Hopefully, leaving the dumb monster lost without the sounds of battle to attract it again.
That plan quickly got altered, though, as the monster showed that it was not deterred by range. Not only did more spikes rain down on her, but it puffed up its chest and spit at her.
She yelled out in pain as some of the bright green liquid splashed onto her left side, leaving a spattering of burns along the outside of her arm and leg, the acid having eaten straight through her clothing.
Rayna didn’t wear much in the way of armor, having preferred the light cloth tunic and slightly baggy pants that allowed her freedom of movement. She didn’t even wear boots, instead having simple cloth wrapping that her pants tucked into, leaving her padded feet and claws the ability to properly grip the ground. One of her armbands helped make the cold not bother her, so the minimal protection she had for her body was mostly for modesty and comfort.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Suddenly feeling very exposed, Rayna turned and dashed into the trees, leveraging them for cover while still trying to bait the monster into chasing her instead of going after the group who were still recovering.
The noise of the forest being destroyed all around her was deafening and made her falter for only a moment as it overwhelmed her [Echolocation] perception.
It wasn’t like sound was the only thing she relied on, but it was a core part of her being, and the sheer cacophony around her was making it hard for her to focus and find her own rhythm.
She never stopped moving as she leaned into her speed to weave through the forest and quills replacing fallen trees. The tempo of her steps slowly increased as she focused on controlling her body with as much precision as she could through the shifting terrain. She wasn’t perfect, though, as both quills and debris cut her up, and the splashing acid ate through both clothing and flesh.
[Stepping Tune] was a foundation of her fighting style as each timed step generated stacks of [Tuned] that made her abilities cheaper while she moved, and if she could keep the rhythm, she’d gain more stacks of [Tempo] that made her faster and faster.
She was immensely grateful at that moment for the synergy of her abilities, letting her stay just ahead of the tyrannical monster destroying indiscriminately in her wake, the acid spit leaving the land pockmarked around her.
It was actually her aura that informed her of the shift the pseudo-battle would be taking. As the Emerald monster seemed to tire of the annoying chase, she felt its own aura separate from hers when it seemed to suddenly remember the buffet it had left behind to chase a mere morsel.
Rayna pivoted as the chase reversed course, and her mind raced through her options. She knew that she was at a disadvantage with range, but there was no way she could take that hulking monstrosity head-on. That was why she also knew that she worked best with Dazien, though she would never admit it to his face. She didn’t need to see that cocky smile he liked to flash at his groupies every time they killed a monster.
With someone else to distract and keep an enemy's attention, she was able to focus more on perfecting her timing than blocking an incoming attack, thus maximizing her damage output. She didn't have her party at the moment, though, and had made the insane decision to be the bait in Phoenix's stead.
She suddenly had a clear view of the monster's quilled backside as she entered the lane of deforestation that had just occurred. With that line of sight, she swallowed her hesitation and triggered [Blink Step] again, grateful for the relatively short cooldown.
This time, she let out her [Siren’s Cry] right in front of its face. The monster screamed back at her, in outrage at her audacity more than anything else, especially since it resisted the knockback effect and [Deafened] that the ability would normally do. However, she did feel that her [Punishing Shriek] Bane managed to land on the higher Caste enemy, which would make her other Banes eventually deal more damage to it… if she could land more.
While it might not be apparent at first, her powerset heavily relied on inflicting Banes while stacking Boons on herself. The longer the fight went, the more devastating her music became, weakening the enemy with each strike while empowering herself.
As Rayna landed on the ground in front of the angered beast, she glanced between the shore in the distance and the overgrown reptile. Dancing between the impossible task of solo fighting an Emerald Caste monster or letting an entire crew and the sister she loved more than anything get destroyed, she made the only impossible choice she could live with. If she had learned anything in her time with Phoenix, it was to not underestimate the success rate of crazy plans when there was enough determination behind them.
She would protect her sister, even if it meant destroying herself in the process. Despite already being painted in her own blood, this monster would soon regret ever threatening Saiya.
Something felt like it snapped within her soul as she made the decision to fight, she could feel power well up from her core as a pale blue light lit up from within her. She didn’t have Phoenix’s book ability that spelled out everything for her, but she could feel the fundamental shift as her Natural Talent cultivated to match her newfound resolve.
She didn’t lose the increased effect and reduced cost for her Movement abilities, luckily, but the new capabilities she could sense from it gave her the hope that perhaps she’d be able to pull this off as it erased the Caste advantage of resisting her abilities. Not only that, but the new active component to it gave her the crazy idea that it might be enough to finish the monster’s insane amount of health.
Rayna tugged a mana potion off her belt and downed it quickly as she moved, knowing she was going to need every drop of it. She began carefully weaving her symphony of destruction around the aggressively spiky bipedal lizard. As she danced around the ranged projectiles, she began to sing, tapping into her [Battle Symphony] ability that inflicted stacks of [Shaken] and [Dazed] while increasing her damage for both the Boons on her and the Banes on the monster.
She never stopped moving as she finally fell into the rhythm of her song, her steps providing the beat that she sang a wordless melody to. As she dodged and continued to infuriate her opponent, she left small floating crystals hovering in the air while slowly encircling the large monster.
Her [Arcanist Gem] was cheap to cast and had no cooldown, but it normally took time to do anything as it slowly absorbed the ambient mana. Eventually, it would reach its capacity and explode, causing a burst of damage, or she could tap into that mana to use herself. However, the Sapphire effect was what she wanted to leverage now, as it let her store an ability into it that would be triggered against the nearest enemy target once it broke.
Each minute, she stored the same ability into one of the gems as she dodged quills and kept the Dire Porcutor twirling in a circle. She could feel her mana pool slowly draining despite the stacks of [Tuned] helping to lower the costs of the ridiculous number of abilities she was triggering in succession.
As she weaved around depositing gems throughout the area, she continued landing as many hits on the quilled reptile as she could manage, trying to stack up as many instances of her Banes as possible and powering up the stacks of [Kinetic Force] she got from her [Gem Encrusted] weapons on her fists and tails.
When she finally thought there were enough gems littering the area, with ten of them now holding her most powerful ability, she made one more circuit around the target of her ire and tried something she had only ever theorized doing. She knew that if it failed, she likely wouldn’t live long enough to try it ever again, but she began the crazy idea with the new activation ability her soul had unlocked for her.
Time stopped.
For her mind, she had nine seconds to do as much as possible in the single moment that the rest of the world would experience.
She triggered [Beyond the Boundary] again, hoping to use the extra speed to complete the zone delineation of her [Crystalline Distortion] ability within the time limit.
It was one of the hardest Spells for her to progress, requiring setup and tactical placement of her foes. The war had actually been decent for progressing it as large swatches of enemies could be caught within it, but it also had the downside of affecting allies as well, so she had needed to be more careful with it than she normally liked to be.
In those nine seconds of frozen time, Rayna continuously moved around the outside of her gems to periodically punch the ground and cause a massive crystalline pillar to spring up from each spot she hit, marking the boundary of the zone, all the while incanting her longest Spell. “The heart of the world skips a beat as the song of the land cries out in distorted dissonance. Let the repercussions of my fury resonate across this theater of battle.”
As her words finished and the orange pillars began to glow and vibrate, disrupting the mana in the area and dealing Gem damage, she used [Blink Step] one final time to place herself in the center of the circular zone with the monster as time finally seemed to resume again.
Her zone Spell triggered and she felt the concussive blast of the dozens of gems she had surrounded them with get destroyed from her own spell and unleashed their stored spell on the closest enemy: the Emerald Caste Dire Porcutor.
In that final critical moment, she used the [Kinetic Force] and [Reverberation] stacks she had built up during her setup time. In perfect harmony with the gems delivering her final ability, she triggered her own casting of it to execute the beast where it stood roaring in pain and anger.
Class Ability: Shatter
Type: Execute (magical, song)
Cost: High mana.
Cooldown: 1 minute.
Current Caste: Sapphire 4 (99%)
Crystal Effect: Inflicts moderate Song damage in a sudden burst. Damage is scaled based on the amount of health missing from the target.
Sapphire Effect: Base damage is increased for each instance of Magical Bane on the target and each Magical Boon on you.
The force of her ramped-up strike rippled through the acid-spitting lizard like it was made of gelatin as its form was distorted from within for the briefest of moments. As the ripples of magic collided within the creature, its insides swiftly became its outsides as the omnidirectional forces fought for dominance about which way to travel from the multitude of impacts.
Rayna fell to the ground, buffeted by the deluge of attacks, and the monster itself exploded in a bloody rain of entrails.
Her entire being ached, her mana and stamina completely tapped out, but she managed to roll to her side, a new goal pushing her to move.
She managed to crawl to the nearest chunk of Dire Porcutor and dismissed her gauntlet to place her hand upon the bit of flesh. That was when she noticed the little mark of a sword going through a crown was missing from it and let out a sob as she realized that without her King, she couldn’t loot the damn thing!