“Well, that didn’t take long,” Vesper said casually as the fog cleared. I had two minutes left on my timer, but it occurred to me wasting it on random larvae MIGHT be a poor use of my resources. In my defense, I’d been bored and it had seemed fun. A trilling cry rang out as my phoenix swooped down, flapping his wings and blowing a wave of green flame at my face. My mask prevented it from even being a nuisance, but I still didn’t love it.

Bella snickered as I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t STEAL your prey. It was a fucking BEAR. Or something like one. It’s way too big for you to prey on. You clearly have delusions of grandeur.” He trilled again. “Yes, I know you’re permanently on fire. I don’t think that counts as LITERAL grandeur. Well I can’t define it, but like…something to do with mountains or castles or something. Something bigger than a scraggly green bird.”

I laughingly dodged the next burst of fire, and he swooped away, taking up a position on Bella’s shoulder as he looked away from me haughtily.

Vesper chuckled. “I think you offended him.”

“He could use it. Trust me if you could hear him talk you’d want to deflate his ego a bit too. He’s a sweet bird, but he’s very cocky.” I smirked at my companion, who did the phoenix equivalent of snorting in derision, which was really impressive without a nose.

Bella scritched him on the neck, comforting him, the traitor. “So can we split up?” She asked hopefully. “I don’t actually think I learned much about killing them, but you got an idea how strong the bugs are right? I can totally take one on.” She tried to keep her tone even, but she was clearly excited to go out on her own.

I glanced at Archie. “Keep an eye on her?” I asked him bluntly. He trilled grudgingly, letting me know he would obviously keep her safe. I smiled at my companion, proud that even so young he had such a strong sense of loyalty. “Alright, be careful ok? Both of you. If something unexpected comes up you run. Between your flight and her Escape Path there shouldn’t be anything that can catch up if you decide to leave.”

He didn’t seem happy about it, but he grudgingly chirped an acceptance. He didn’t like the idea of running away, given how proud he already was, but he knew keeping my apprentice safe came first.

Bella scowled at me. “Hey, I can take care of myself.”

“That is demonstrably false,” I told her bluntly. “I kick your ass in training all the time. If Archie can agree to run if it gets out of hand so can you. He’s literally less than a week old. Seriously, the bar for maturity here is so low it’s almost impossible to miss. Just do as you’re told and stay safe.” I said with exasperation.

Sulkily, she nodded, and I sighed in relief. I understood wanting to prove herself but I needed to know I could trust her to take care of herself, even if it hurt her pride. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been willing to let her go. I still might not have, if Scent of Truth hadn’t confirmed she was being honest. That skill really was weirdly useful.

Once we’d made our decision, we checked the map again, each of us orienting on another host. After getting my assignment, I headed off to deal with the next monster. I absolutely wanted to kill my target before it birthed an insectoid brain baby that would be even worse.

As I walked, I decided to reach out to Callie, see how she was doing. “How goes the training?” I sent through the bond.

“Not bad,” came the voice of my wife. “Your grandmother is very patient, but very demanding. I’m learning a lot from her though. You won’t even recognize my combat style when you get back. You better be working hard if you want to keep up.” She sounded as excited about that as I was, and I had to chuckle at the enthusiasm.

“What does she have you doing?” I asked. “Blind training in some kind of secret dungeon or an ancient city of the dead?”

I got a burst of amusement and mischievousness. “No hints. I’ll just say it’s helping me grow fast. That’s the only way I can keep up with you. What about you, training right now? Or is this another day off to whip your apprentice into shape.”

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“Actually, neither. I needed a day off from being tortured by fanatical god followers and being tortured by my apprentice. I’m helping out one of my new friends, doing something productive and building some good will for when this is all over.” I sent her a jumbled series of impressions along with a bit of info about the bugs, and I could feel the grimace from across the galaxy.

“Gross,” she sent bluntly. “But probably good for you. Do you see your next target yet?”

Stopping, I hopped up into a tree, narrowing my eyes “Just did. It’s… gods, that’s hideous. What even is that?” I sent her an image of what I was seeing, trying to make sense of it myself as I beheld what might have been the ugliest creature I’d ever seen.

It looked kind of like a humanoid moose, shoulders hunched and back bent to make it seem only about seven feet tall. I could tell it was actually MUCH taller, and its misshapen arms dragged the ground behind it, loo long and lanky even for its tall, spindly frame. Matted hair hung off every inch of it, shrouding the monster in curtains of fur, and empty red eyes scanned the clearing around it, disgusting squashed snout snuffling horrendously.

“I…have no idea.” Callie said uneasily. “It looks horrible though. What kind of animals does that planet have?”

Amused, I shook my head, showing her some of the things I’d seen here. “Some really fucked up ones. Luckily for me, I’ve been working on a new trick. A new form, actually, and a new combination. This one has been a long time coming.”

I closed my eyes, focusing on my skills. Pit of Despair, Dust Construction, Afterburner for a little kick, Stone Limb, and trying something new, just because I was pretty sure I could make something better with this fifth pillar of the form to balance it, Shadow Manipulation, a charge pulled from Callie ages ago.

I merged them together, darkness and earth and stone, infused with infernal flames of amplification, crafting my new form slowly and carefully, perfecting it as best as I could with all the experience I have.

The result was something new. The earth flowed and shifted at my command, dissolving into darkened liquid that burned like tar when needed, or into burning ash, or hardening into abyssal black stone. I named the form for a demon who could cause earthquakes, shaking the very ground beneath his feet with a flex of his will. Agares.

The form clicked into place like it had always belonged, my most complex and oddly well balanced form so far. As I activated it, my skin hardened into dark stone, though not the impenetrable kind I had with Mornax. This stone was hot to the touch, and I had to step onto a pair of Ripple Running platforms to prevent the branch I’d been on from catching fire.

Without waiting for the thing to notice me, I activated Mephistopheles, waltzing forward to appear before the monster. It whirled on me, roaring indignantly…and I waved a hand.

The ground below it turned to ash, my black flame infusing this new Pit of Despair with the heat of infernal destruction. The creature was too stupid to avoid it and it dropped into the pit. Agares made not only using but holding Pit of Despair much easier, and expanding the normally ten foot pit into a veritable lake of burning ash was almost effortless, forming the technique to utilize the form instantly without much thought.

An infernal lake that consumed everything it touched. A new technique that used two of my strongest forms. It was so powerful I felt a new pseudo Domain forming without even meaning it. The technique shaped by the powerful imagery and the intense focus I’d put into every aspect of the form. The third circle of Hell. Wrath.

The monster screamed and flailed, desperately trying to escape as it was consumed by the burning dark ash. Once it ended I released the domain, letting both it and the two forms I was holding fade away.

“That got a bit more out of hand than you expected, huh?” said Callie in amusement. “Were you planning to use some of your domain time for that?”

“Not really,” I admitted. “Something about those two forms just…clicked. Creation and destruction merging together. Maybe I should show that one to Chelsea. Might help with her Path.”

Still, the new form AND the new domain had been worth using up another minute of today’s allotment. I still had one left, and I kind of wanted to test it on the nest. I wasn’t under the impression the lake could destroy ANYTHING, but it seemed pretty suited for mobs of weaker opponents. As for bigger monsters…well it could soften them up at least.

Heading back to meet Vesper, I got another assignment, and this time I just used Agares. I wanted to figure out a new stance for it to teach Bella. I worked through a few variations, eventually settling on low, solid movements utilizing the ground to lend me momentum. A bit like Mornax but less defensive. I figured my apprentice would pick it up pretty quickly with the other as reference.

Whips of boiling tar, clouds of burning ash, spears of super dense black stone. I learned quite a few uses for Agares, not to mention my excitement about possible construction projects. I’d successfully created a wide skillset based around this form, and I couldn’t have been happier with the results.

Meeting back up with Vesper and Bella, I was pleased to see my apprentice none the worse for wear, and Archie seemed smug about his ability to keep her safe. I didn’t correct my cocky little bird brain, he’d earned a little swagger.

With every straggler destroyed, it was time to move in on the nest.

“Alright, there will be a small army of them here,” said Vesper sternly. “We need to make sure we get them all.”

I grinned, stepping forward as the nest came into view. It was a huge twisted abomination, like a mix between wax and flesh molded into a grotesque imitation of some kind of home. “Just be ready to pick up the stragglers. Archie, might want to start charging up a purification nova, see if you can wipe out the Queen when she emerges.”

The other two looked a bit confused, but I’d earned the benefit of the doubt, so they shrugged and let me do my thing.

Triggering Agares and Mephistopheles, I reached for my new domain. Wrath came quickly and without resistance, and with a wave of my hand, the entire clearing dissolved, the ground beneath the tree becoming a lake of burning ash.

The twisted abomination of a nest began to sink, slowly being consumed by superheated ash and the black flames of destruction Screams echoed from the nest, and I noted that Vesper was right, it WAS bigger on the inside. As a few of them emerged, a flex of my will sent whips of tar licking up to drag them into the lake, screams rose from the destruction as they were dragged under and burned to death…but sadly it didn’t last.

My one minute was up, and I had to drop the domain lest I damage my own soul like I’d promised Callie I wouldn’t. I staggered a bit, Bella catching me, and laughed as I realized how exhausting that had been, even without the soul weight. As the Queen burst out and Archie trilled his battle cry, flying out to meet her, I couldn’t help but be smug. Today had been a good day.