Mark and Daphne burst into the second-floor chem lab gasping for breath. They had managed to wipe out the Corrupted chasing them by leaning into one another's strengths. Daphne covered their retreat, while Mark made sure none of the crystals stuck and dealt with any stragglers. The fact that they had cleared out the area beforehand lent to their retreat being fairly uncomplicated.
The lab was empty, but numerous workstations and glass equipment littered the surfaces. Evening light shone in from the small windows near the ceiling. One corner looked as though it had been singed by an errant flame and the toppled Bunsen burner nearby had to be the culprit.
It was at this point an interleading door clicked open and Chloe poked her head in from another classroom. When she saw it was them, her shoulders sagged and she turned to whisper back into the room behind her.
Cara then materialized into existence next to them with a relieved grin. Stepping into the room Chloe left the door ajar and Mark saw Sam getting up from a stool in the lab beyond. She hobbled to the threshold unsteadily and Mark went over to assess the rest of their injuries.
Except for the pinched nerves in Sam's leg, the rest were fine.
“Jonathan not back yet?”
He asked Sam while finishing up.
They had only just arrived, and Jonathan would have probably had the hardest time loosing the guardian. The thing looked as though it were built for speed, but Mark had no doubt Jonathan could escape if he put his mind to it.
Sam just shook her head.
“This is going to be even harder than we first anticipated. Chloe, do you know which one of those things you need?”
Chloe, who was usually so confident, shifted her shoulders uncomfortably.
“I apologize that I never saw this coming. I was too focused on the item, I never expected there to be two of them.”
Sam shook her head.
“Chloe, it's fine. Really. We took this deal knowing there would be difficulties. The fact that you can guide us is enough. Now do you know which one we need, because if we do manage to kill one, the other will benefit from the system’s protection for a twenty-four-hour period.”
Mark realized she was right, along with the mark, the system also prohibited the killing of more than one Guardian at a time, but then letting them gather like this felt like cheating.
Chloe chewed at the inside of her lip but nodded
“The percentages are leaning towards the female one, the system called her the Crossbearer of Miasma, that’s the one we need.”
Sam began to speak when a window near the roof shattered inwards and Jonathan dropped into the lab, staggered his landing before falling into a seated position, winded. Giving a drained huff he looked around at their readied stances.
Mark was relieved as he pulled the construct back in.
“Glad you’re alive.”
Jonathan just hummed his response, then thought better of it.
“That thing is insanely fast, I just barely got away, how are we killing these things.”
Mark scanned over Jonathan but only found minor wounds.
After that they took a small break, shooting ideas back and forth. For a while, it didn’t seem like they could agree on a way forward, but Chloe then finished a reading.
“Right, so our best precentsages would be for Jonathan to lead one of the Guardians away, while the rest of us ambush the other. Mark you’ll have to act as an in-between.”
Once the idea was out, they could all see the benefits of the plan but both Sam and Mark still had their doubts about leaving Jonathan to deal with that lizard thing alone.
Running away was one thing, but purposefully remaining within murder range, was another.
After a lot of arguing and hashing out the details later, it was decided they would go with this plan, with one alteration on Mark's part. He had an idea to give Jonathan at least a fighting chance, but he needed time to work with [Animated Mind], so they decided to rest for the night. Mark then went to the other lab to refine his spell. Sam of course joined him to watch while the others recuperated.
Luckily what he wanted was straightforward and didn’t require as much direction as the orb he had instilled with [Force bolt].
“You’re sure it’ll work?”
Sam asked him.
Nodding confidently he began moving his energy.
“The descriptions explicitly state that these two spells can work together.”
Shrugging she watched as Mark began to gather the Mana and Prana in his hands. Creating a shell was easy at this point, it was the next step he had to focus on.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
First things first, he had to reinforce the walls of the [Animated Mind], he didn’t want it to be destroyed and released all the power he was about to store in it.
So thickening the barrier he wove it into a tight net of threads, strong enough to take a beating. Then he began to give it instructions.
Its only goal was to protect the energy within itself and then freely channel that power at a constant rate into whatever it was directed toward. In its simplest form, it was a battery. Mark had gotten the idea from the spell's description.
Resources can be stored up to a limit of the caster's natural ability shared amongst all instances.
Meaning that as long as it didn’t exceed his natural reserves, with these [Animated Minds] around he could the equivalent of his natural resources, so around six hundred Prana and two hundred Mana. Of course, he still needed to be the one to generate the energy and store it for later use. So if he was pressed for energy then these things would not be a lot of use, but as tools of preparation, they were godsends.
The [Animated Mind] took on the instructions easily, Mark even installed some basic evasion into it so it could avoid outright attacks if it were ever targeted. The downside was that it was still contained his will, so giving it to another caster was probably impossible without him helping them. However the same could not be said for his spells persistent.
Mark began to channel power into [Bestowal], setting up a well-structured barrier with a modifier. He wanted to increase the receiver's speed as well, as there was enough spare energy, but the complexity was too great so he had to settle for a powerful shield. Then as it formed he had the [Animated Mind] slot into the magic. As a spell, [bestowal] had its own internal energy that Mark gave it when he created the threads, however, the [Animated Mind] acted as an extension of this. Capable of keeping the spell going for much longer, all while handling much harsher abuse.
To some, this may just seem like extra steps, but it allowed Mark to stay in perfect condition while still casting a very powerful [Bestowal]. Not to mention he could call that power back at any time and use it in whatever spell he needed. Seeing as Jonathan was going to be in the most danger he decided to make one [Animated Mind] with 75% of his energy and another one he would use for himself.
Once they were made Mark explained to Sam how he had gone about it, and the next thing was to charge them. This was the part that took the most time, but with Jonathan and Sam helping him he was able to charge them fairly quickly.
When they all gathered to head out Jonathan had a tennis ball-sized sphere orbiting him. When he got in real combat the little thing was programmed to affix itself to his back and keep out of the way.
“Alright, we ready? Link us up.”
Mark brought all six of them into the [Telepathic link] and they left the chem lab almost a day later.
Jonathan, Daphne, and Chloe had gone out to hunt during this time, getting rid of any stragglers in the vicinity. Cara on the other hand had been out further, but she did not engage the Corrupted, choosing to instead map the area and keep watch on the Guardians.
After the Progenitor of Chaos could not find Jonathan, it had returned to the spire and the golden flames had reignited.
Cara had taken it upon herself to monitor if there were any changes to the Guardians. The only thing she could report with certainty was that while the Progenitor did not move from the flames, the Crossbearer would routinely roam around the base of the spire. She would never move too far from the golden flame, but the fact that she showed instinctual habits was strange. Cara said she felt like she was watching a mother bird protecting her nest. Mark hoped that was not the case, because he did not want to know what kind of twisted monstrosity would come from a creature like that.
Heading back toward the battlefield saw that they had cleared a good number of Corroupted from the campus. It was almost disturbingly silent as they made their way through the crystal-choked streets. Where forsaken belongings and scattered pages baked in the morning sun. The light of dawn was comparable to the golden light and when they got to their agreed-upon location Mark stopped walking while the rest of the group went forward.
Climbing the steel railing was necessary to avoid detection, as they weren't taking any chances these things caught their scent.
Mark walked on the glass roof of what he assumed was either the mathematics or engineering department, judging by the intricate calculus equations sprawled across the blackboard below.
From this vantage point, Mark had an unobstructed view of their target. Neither of which had gone too far from where they had first spotted them. The Progenitor remained surrounded by glowing Corrupted. Threads of black, connected it to everything within the brilliant flame. The Crossbearer had its back turned to them, its plam resting gently on the spire. From up here Mark could see the rest of the group below getting into place and Jonathan splitting off to get closer to the Progenitor. The plan made use of the terrain, the building Mark was on was within range of the spire. But at the same time, there was an open quad that Jonatan could draw the Guardian to. Two battlefields and Mark was between them both.
Despite the proximity to the quad, Mark's attention needed to remain on their offensive against the Crossbearer, he was only there to pull Jonathan out if things went sideways.
Letting them know he was in place. Mark began to draw power from his [Animated Mind], sending it into his construct.
At that, Jonathan raced out of one of the side areas making a mad dash for the Progenitor. Its
response was faster than the last time, turning to block Jonathan's advance. It placed itself between him and the Crossbearer, this being his goal Jonathan put on a burst of speed and crashed right into the giant's knee joint. Using it as a springboard and launching himself back in the direction he had come. A primal hiss issued from the creature’s throat and it chased after Jonathan with abandon.
So far so good.
The seconds it took for Jonathan to run back and jump down the alleyway felt like they stretched on forever. The Progenitor dove in after him when Mark saw them arrive in the quad he gave the next signal.
Daphne and Chloe dashed out with Cara and Sam hot on their tails. At the same time, Mark triggered his construct and sent it cascading down the side of the structure. Pushing it forward in an amorphous blob. Normally Mark tried to keep to stable shapes as it proved to be more energy efficient, but right now was about speed. And sending it forward unrestrained, he matched his group's speed. Knocking the crowds of Corrupted aside, and making them room to travel unobstructed.
A crash in the quad below signaled a start to Jonathan’s dance.
Mark maintained focus and drove the construct onward, washing through the Corrupted like a tide. The opening they created was ideal, the Crossbearer had not had time to turn from her spire before Daphne jumped, and crashed into one of her arms, bringing the full weight of her charge onto the appendage. The crystal of her arm cracked and shattered, and the Crossbearer let out a high-pitched wail that was disturbingly human.
Daphne, who was still ten feet up in the height of her jump arc, got slapped from the air by one of the other nearby palms. A defensive skill flashed from Daphne's body and cracks spread through a second arm.
Mark caught her with his construct and brought her to the ground while sealing the bone fractures.
Sam also used this opening to send forth guillotines of ice and darkness, cutting off two more of the Guardian's arms, and eliciting another screech. A spear of crystal came at Sam for her troubles, but Mark blocked it with a grunt, he did so with a vicious grin. Separated or not this was doable.