T. A. Star
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49 - Wild Story
🕑 Added 2024-05-03 00:00:03 +0000 UTC
Phoenix had another reason to be grateful for Everin’s presence other than saving her from death and that was his carrying capacity. As an Emerald Caster, he could lift the slow boys and carry the pair while Saiya went piggy-back style on her sister as they sprinted across the tundra, turning what would have been days of travel into a few hours before reaching the main forces.
The red moon, Krafti, was just rising into the cold night sky as they crested one of the larger hills and were able to see the pitched battle taking place in the distance. It was a chaotic mess of teeth, blades, claws, arrows, and magic being flung from both sides. Some of the fights had even taken to the air as the Casters blessed with aerial powers attempted to handle the flying monsters and Soul Reapers that also had some flight advantages; though, it didn’t seem like all of the black-clad military-esque personnel had the capability.
The scariest thing, however, was the fact that their group of Casters, despite being even more numerous than she had seen during the Battle for Tulisuda, was a pond compared to the ocean of Caged monsters spreading out to the east from the loose line they had seemed to form, trying hard not to become surrounded.
As her gaze moved eastward, the crowd of enemies seemed to thin out, like they had originally been staggered and the Adventurers were causing a clog that was backing them up. There was a single massive ship still a bit off in the distance that she could barely make out but its looming presence sent a ripple of fear through her.
It really was the size of a village like the reports had claimed and she pulled out her [Crystal Spyglass] once more to try and get a better look. It seemed an odd mixture of sleek black metal and glass connecting to organic flesh with leaves and vines hanging off its exterior that more monsters hung from; apparently opting to catch a ride rather than walk. The melding of the natural plant life with the artificial futuristic windows and plating was somehow even more unnerving to her because it somehow spoke of an even higher level of understanding than most things she had seen in some science fiction shows.
Phoenix continued staring in disbelief at the throngs of creatures that for some reason seemed to obey the enemy Casters near them and she whispered to the others who seemed just as stunned by the sight, “How can anyone stand against an endless army like this? How do we win a war against the infinite monster army of the Soul Reapers?”
Dazien grimaced, still awkwardly being held in a single arm by the older voxen, but said resolutely to the party, “We don’t need to defeat them all. We only need to keep fighting till Paul does. I know he won’t rest until the city is safe.”
“Let’s hurry and help fight then,” Everin said, not waiting for her and Rayna to follow as he moved towards the frontlines, but he continued speaking to her over the mental communication Dazien provided, “Why don’t you add some distractions and let our allies know you’re here with those pretty birds you like to conjure?”
“Why would letting them know we’re here matter?” she whispered back, pushing herself along after him to not fall so far behind.
“They’ve seen you fight before, have heard of your divine favors, and know your House,” he replied, “You’d be surprised how much hope you give people. They need you to become the beacon for them.”
She grimaced but nodded as she unleashed her aura, not fully understanding what exactly others expected from her, she was still only just a Crystal Caster after all, but if even Everin seemed to think her mere presence would help then she wasn’t going to argue anymore. She would be the best night light this tundra had ever seen!
Paul was making decent progress as he cut down every single monster and Soul Reaper he came across without even a hint of mercy. The Crystals and Sapphires were a single sword strike, no power even needed to take those out. With their very vulnerable organs, namely their brains, still fully intact, he merely decapitated ninety percent of the ones he came across; looting with a single brush of his finger, scooped it into his hip pouch, and moved on.
He was glad these didn’t require his powers, though. Despite the overwhelming power disparity he had over them, he was still exhausted and had already been pushing for an entire two days now since ascending. Two days of miscalculating the few Emeralds he found and missing when he shouldn’t have or taking hits he definitely should have been able to dodge. Two days of wanting to crawl into the nearest hole to sleep for a month.
The Paladin was still slightly worried about how his kids were faring but he had decided to trust the Rebel Fox, despite the man’s seeming frivolous exterior. He knew serving any deity or making an Oathbond of any kind took a certain level of dedication and Everin had certainly proven his dedication towards Phoenix. Which was good enough for him.
Then he finally saw it. His first real challenge since ascending. A grin crept across his face as he flew through the dawn-lit sky and took in the sight of the town-sized vessel that was slowly moving toward Tulimeir. This might actually be fun.
“That’s the short-term euphoria caused by sleep deprivation talking,” Orebela said in his mind, causing him to roll his eyes but not manage to hide the yawn that escaped. “Wayland is slowly losing his mind due to postponing the ascension recovery.”
“I don’t think that’s actually a thing at Ruby,” he replied, not slowing down at all as he adjusted his trajectory straight towards the traveling half-organic land-ship.
“That is definitely a thing,” the Familiar retorted, “Fen told This One about one of his friend’s past summoners going insane from it.”
“I thought Familiars had their memories sealed when they chose to become Familiars? Isn’t that why you don’t remember about your original world’s technology?” he asked right before triggering his newly upgraded opener that had bonded to his [Consecrate Spirit Gem].
Class Ability: Meteor Strike
Type: Special Attack (combination, movement, elemental, fire)
Cost: High stamina and mana.
Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Current Caste: Ruby 1 (1%)
Crystal Effect: Accelerate through the air towards a target. When used with other combination attacks, any physical and Fire damage is increased during the combination.
Sapphire Effect: An explosion is produced from the impact point, inflicting Fire damage and [Burning] on any enemies in the area.
Emerald Effect: Any enemies in the area are also knocked back from the impact point and inflicted with [Condemnation].
Ruby Effect: An additional shockwave is produced from the impact point creating a larger area of consecrated ground, periodically inflicting low Radiant damage to enemies within for a moderate duration.
Burning (bane, elemental, fire): Inflicts ongoing Fire damage.
Condemnation (bane, divine, radiant, stacking): Decreased Fire, Light, and Radiant resistance.
“They are when we first become a Familiar,” Orebela corrected as he impacted into and through the top of the Emerald Caste vessel that was struggling to move the way it wanted to in the lower Caste zone. “We do remember things that have happened to us and the people we interacted with. Our other-worldly knowledge is locked so as not to inadvertently alter realities we get sent to.”
When he finally stopped exploding his way through floors inside the ship, he glanced around briefly. He found an odd sort of beauty in the exotic greenery that decorated the rooms and halls, the unfamiliar yet vaguely spicy scents surprisingly pleasing, before he proceeded to repeatedly cast one of the abilities that bonded to one of the [Radiant Spirit Gems] he had used earlier.
Ability: Flame Javelin
Type: Special Attack (construct, elemental, fire)
Cost: Low mana.
Cooldown: None.
Current Caste: Ruby 1 (1%)
Crystal Effect: Construct and throw a javelin of flames, inflicting a moderate amount of Fire damage.
Sapphire Effect: Inflicts additional Light damage. Has increased penetration against resistance to Fire and Light. Inflicts an instance of [Sunburned].
Emerald Effect: You can construct additional javelins that will follow the original for an exponential mana cost.
Ruby Effect: Inflicts additional Radiant damage and [Celestial Radiation].
Sunburned (bane, elemental, magical, fire, light, stacking): Decreased Fire and Light resistance.
Celestial Radiation (bane, divine, radiant): Inflicts ongoing low Radiant damage for a short duration.
As he threw the divinely enhanced weapons indiscriminately around the area, completely collapsing the odd fibrous walls and shattering glossy doors of black glass, he asked, “So you think I’ll go insane from this just because of some third-hand Familiar rumor?”
“Fen said it was a reliable source,” Orebela seemed to object to his insinuation of her unreliable methods.
“Did he say who or what this other Familiar was?” he pressed, running out of the flames to spread more, exploding the lower Caste monsters and Reapers that appeared with a poorly-aimed Javelin, “It could have been some shifty kitsune trying to prank him or something.”
When his Familiar didn’t answer right away he laughed, causing a woman to stare at him in horror after having just appeared in front of him as she ran from one of the burning side rooms into the hall. The fact that he could clearly see her face startled him. So far the enemy had all been wearing those weird glossy onyx helmets, but this woman was obviously an elf, dressed in a shimmery purple tunic with emerald leggings.
It was so disconcerting to see what he thought of as a civilian here that he actually halted throwing the freshly constructed spear of flames in his hand as they stared at each other in shock.
“The Reaper elf is Emerald Caste,” Orebela stated calmly, breaking through his momentary hesitation as he hurled the javelin at the enemy.
The woman was knocked off her feet by the impact and pinned to the far wall where the hall split into perpendicular directions. She didn’t die immediately though; letting out a pained scream as her skin started to become charred from the [Sunburned] Bane and she started pulsing with an inner glow with each tick of Radiant damage the [Celestial Radiation] inflicted.
Then he quickly followed his previous attack with an Execute now upgraded by Vengeance, “You have been weighed, measured, and found guilty.”
Class Ability: Judgment of the Zealous
Type: Execute (combination, purge, divine, radiant)
Cost: High mana.
Cooldown: 1 minute.
Current Caste: Ruby 1 (1%)
Crystal Effect: Enchants your weapon so that its next attack inflicts additional Radiant damage on impact. Damage scales based on the amount of health missing from the target.
Sapphire Effect: Deal increased damage to enemies with Dark, Death, or Void attunements, or have the [Corrupted] status and purge a random Boon on impact.
Emerald Effect: If used at the end of a combination attack, the weapon is automatically enchanted again at no additional cost and slightly enhanced effect.
Ruby Effect: Base damage is increased by a percentage of the amount of damage the target has previously inflicted upon you. If no damage has been previously inflicted, you gain [Instant Karma].
Instant Karma (boon, divine, retribution): The next attack against you will be reflected back at the attacker.
The screaming stopped shortly after that. He always disliked looting people since they didn’t always turn to ash based on how high of Caste they were. A Ruby, like him, would likely turn completely to dust immediately. The Emerald however… well it was a bit disturbing to watch as her skeleton was left behind, half-melted into the fleshy wall, while other bones clattered to the metallic floor, vaguely reminding him of the unpleasant way he had to execute Lord Ruwena.
He found his mind drifting for a second, idly wondering what possible motivation drove an elf here in the first place. His eyelids grew heavy, the moment of calm making them not want to open again, but they snapped wide once more when Orebela said, “He was a dragon.”
“What?” he asked in utter confusion.
“The Familiar friend that Fen mentioned. He was a blue dragon.”
Paul gave a weak laugh as he shook his head, turning to leave the elven woman’s remains to eventually turn to ash as the fire claimed the ship, and he said, “Well that’s completely unreliable information then. Dragons are notorious for boasting. I bet he told that story just so you would repeat it.”
“He would not know that Fen would tell This One.”
“No, but he knew it would spread. Wild stories have a tendency to do that.”
“Well, This One does not want Wayland to prove the wild story true.”
He chuckled, throwing another spear into a room that hadn’t caught fire yet and ignoring the very human screams from within as he continued moving, “The only wild story I plan to prove is that a Ruby Caster can take on an army of evil invaders and live to tell the tale to his kids.”
Comments
Custus
Thanks for the chapter!
