Mage Tank

Chapter 146: Anty Bodies

Nuralie and I had eaten our fill and then separated into our own corners of the room to pursue our individual interests. Nuralie had taken several clippings of the thickly growing ferns and picked several of the glowing mushrooms for study. She had flora samples from across the Delve lined up in front of her on the table, cleared of its dirty dishes, and now covered in a portable alchemy set.

She cut into one of the large fruits we’d found on the cathedral grounds, releasing a puff of gray vapor that swirled in the air from place to place as though it were inspecting the chamber. Nuralie gently coaxed the vapor into a bottle with hands that glowed with Spiritual power, then stoppered it. She gave it a gentle shake, frowned, then sat it down. She threw a mushroom into a mortar, pressed down on it with a pestle, then poured the bioluminescent juice that came out of the fungus into a beaker that she swirled around like a glass of fine wine. She placed the remains of the mushroom into a small, low-temperature oven to dry, then repeated the process with several more toadstools.

Meanwhile, I flipped through a text on Mystical Magic. My only spell in the school was Dispel, which I knew I wasn’t using to its full potential.

Dispel

Mystical

Cost: 50% of the mana disrupted

Requirements: Mystical Magic

Temporarily disrupt the flow of mana within a spell, object, or person. This can weaken or negate spells, halt the flow of magic within a magical item, or disrupt a magical effect imbued within an individual.

The cost of Dispel is reduced by 0.5% per level of Mystical Magic.

My use of the skill had primarily focused on countering spells cast by monsters or other Delvers. I’d used it a handful of times on mana-woven objects, but never directly on a person to disrupt magical effects imbued into their body. Etja’s Nullify spell was similar, but it hit in an area as opposed to Dispel, which was single-target. I’d fallen into the habit of letting the party’s dedicated mage handle most of the countermagic for that reason. She was also just better at it; Mystical Magic was one of my lowest intrinsics with a level of 17.

I also wanted the intrinsic’s level 20 evolution, which was close enough to taste. Mystical Magic was primarily focused on the manipulation of raw mana, and its evolutions reflected that. My level 10 evo in Mystical improved my mana shaping efficiency across the board for all spells. It might even apply to techniques if I shaped those as well since manipulating stamina in that way was also just called mana shaping.

Etja’s level 20 in Mystical had significantly improved her natural perception of mana and magical effects, upgrading an inherent feature of Mystical Magic that I also wasn’t taking advantage of. Again, that was because Etja was better at it in every way. But it was about time I started leaning back into the mage side of my build, especially since I was about to be plowing all of my next level’s points into Intelligence to boost my damage. I might as well learn some more fine control over the way mana operates while I was at it.

Both Grotto and Xim had access to Mystical, but neither focused on it. Xim was whole-hog into Divine, while Grotto split his attention between Divine and Spiritual. If Etja was disabled or, as the case was now, absent for some reason, I was the only party member who could pick up the Mystical slack. We needed redundancy.

The book had some insights I found interesting, but it was limited by the Hiwardian inclination to hoard the best secrets, lest one’s enemies discover them. Having spoken with Etja about the school a few times, it seemed like the former golem was more knowledgeable on the subject–or more willing to share the good stuff–than whoever wrote the book I held.

It was a bit frustrating, but there was a list of potential evolutions that was at least useful. Of course, there was no guarantee I was offered one that was listed, as opposed to being railroaded into something silly by the System or an uncaring eldritch being. Fortune might even interfere with my evolutions, for fuck’s sake. Still, it gave me some ideas about what I might run into.

As I heaved a frustrated sigh over the lack of useful material in the tome, Nuralie shot up from her alchemy work. Her bow appeared in her hand and she had an arrow nocked before I could dogear the page I was on. It hurt me to mistreat the book so, but I didn’t want to waste time finding a bookmark. Also, screw that book, it was mostly useless.

“What’s up?” I asked, pulling out Somncres and activating Gracorvus in shield mode.

“Something living is approaching from the northern wall,” she said. I began moving into position between the archer and the potential enemy. After a few seconds, Nuralie added, “It is profane, but not evil.”

“How does that work?” I asked. “It’s something the Eschenden rejects, but that isn’t automatically hostile to life?”

“Perhaps,” she said. “It is close.” She stepped away into the ferns and disappeared.

I focused on the wall, holding Gracorvus up and morphing Somncres into a throwing hammer. I kept a good distance from the wall, giving myself room to take advantage of my ranged options. I heard a shifting, scraping sound ahead of me and felt a soft vibration in the soil at my feet.

A hand made up of 3 segmented digits and covered in chitin burst from the stone. It grabbed the surface of the wall and pulled. The rest of its body quickly followed, revealing a masculine, bipedal creature covered in the hard exoskeleton of an insect and the color of red clay. Two antennae swished through the air, angling around the room and bobbing in opposing up-and-down motions. A set of four translucent wings stretched out and flicked off dust and dirt before sliding beneath a hard covering on its back. Its features, however, were disturbingly human.

I held back on attacking, giving the creature time to emerge and study the room with dark eyes, its black irises and pupils formed from small, honeycomb patterns. I was hesitant to open hostilities with a creature that Nuralie hadn’t been able to identify as evil, especially after seeing its face. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t human, but it looked intelligent. I went ahead and identified it.

Deletar, the Doomed Aspirant: Abomination, Grade Fourteen.

All things considered, the name and creature type didn’t sound very friendly.

“Hello there,” I said. “You gave us a startle.”

I maintained my combat stance, hammer primed for a throw and Gracorvus held up between us. I was willing to see if this thing wanted to talk, but I was also ready to squash it at the first sign of aggression. It finished appraising the room and then looked at me.

“I am Deletar,” it said. As its mouth moved I could see sharp, serrated mandibles hidden within.

“I’m Arlo,” I replied. “Well met. May I ask what you’re doing here?”

The creature’s head twitched.

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“I smelled new candidates,” it said. Its antennae continued to scan the room. “You are alone?”

“My friends stepped out to grab some beer,” I answered. “They’ll be back any second.”

Its head twitched again.

“Very well,” it said. “Then I should make this quick.”

A longsword appeared in its hand, the sudden materialization strikingly similar to something pulled from inventory. It gripped the hilt with both hands, turning its body to a three-quarters profile and spreading its legs. It was a motion I’d seen hundreds of times when sparring with Varrin. The big guy’s technique with greatswords used different forms, but he’d stuck to smaller weapons when we dueled to give me a better chance. It hadn’t ever helped me win, but it was a nice thought.

I didn’t doubt that I could handle a grade 14. Shog had soloed an enemy of that grade and I felt confident that my capabilities exceeded my summon’s. Plus, I’d gained 4 levels since that fight. I was still on guard for tricks, but if a fight could be avoided, all the better.

“Sure you want to do that?” I asked. “I have no quarrel with you.”

“I must,” it said, “if I am to leave this place.”

Now that got me curious.

“Care to elaborate on–”

Its wings burst out and kicked up a storm of wind as they surged the creature forward. The sword it held ignited in blue-white flames, and its body glowed white as it muttered under its breath.

I recognized both spells. The first was Firebrand, a favorite of my former mentor Guardian Lito. It was a basic weapon augment but not one to underestimate. The second was Enhance Attribute, which raised one stat based on Intelligence, Physical Magic level, and the amount of mana dumped into it. If I had to pick, the latter was the more dangerous of the two. There were precious few skills that could enhance stats, and with the way stats scaled, the spell could place an opponent in a completely different league.

I threw Somncres, Layering Homing Weapon and Oblivion Orb for my classic Void Hammer combo. I also duplicated the weapon 3 times, trying to end the fight before it started. The combo was a resource hog, but it was devastating when it landed. With the bonus from my recent Flurry of Blows evolution, each hammer would also do more damage than the last.

However, I wasn’t prepared for the consequences of my actions.

My hammers finally broke the sound barrier.

A sonic boom erupted, a pressure wave striking my body nearly instantly after the hammer left my hand. A thunderous roar rattled my teeth and armor, but it wasn’t nearly as intense as I’d thought it would be. My Explosion! spell had been louder when I’d hit The Pit with its supercharged version. The sound my hammers made was only about as loud as lightning striking a tree across the street, as opposed to someone firing a handgun an inch away from my ear. Enough to make my ears ring, but not enough to deafen me.

The enemy was quick, that was for certain, but my hammers were quicker. Somncres prime collided with Deletar’s chest and a bright shield burst to life around him, some evolution or skill granting him a brief moment of invulnerability. The first copy followed an instant after, connecting with his chitin which lit up with runes. Mana weaves worked overtime to mitigate the damage, fizzling and burning out as they absorbed the impact. The second copy landed true, crushing into the exoskeleton and creating a dense web of cracks. Oblivion Orb activated, taking a large chunk of armor with it. The third copy collided with Deletar’s exposed flesh, crushing muscle and bone then shredding internals with Dimensional damage from my orb.

The damage dealt to Deletar was significant, but the momentum of his charge carried him through. His sword came down on Gracorvus with a two-handed swing, his enhanced might sending a piercing pain down the length of my arm. The flames burst out from his weapon, my shield glowing with heat and fire wrapping around its edges to scorch my armor.

HP: 1220 -> 1125

The clang of the insectoid spellblade’s hit was nearly as loud as the sonic boom, but I easily tanked its supercharged attack. Deletar flowed into another form, the gaping wound in his chest making his movements sloppy. I prepared for a second exchange, Somncres reappearing in my hand. However, before we could trade more blows, Deletar went limp and collapsed to the ground.

I blinked, confused at first, then spotted an arrow sprouting from the creature’s neck. Deletar’s eyes flitted from side to side, his lips working as if to speak, and gray-blue energy pulsed from the wound. I had Mystical Magic on my mind, so I focused and tried to follow the flow of mana from Nuralies arrow. It looked as though the energy was attacking Deletar’s mana matrix, which was rapidly dissolving. My skill level was too low to discern any other notable details about the process. After a few seconds, the creature went completely still.

I nudged the bugman with my boot, getting no reaction. I hit him with another Oblivion Orb-empowered swing to the chest–Fortune’s Folly’s signature double tap–erasing most of his chest cavity. I looked at the wall and prepared for more enemies, but Nuralie stepped out of the shadows and gave me the all-clear.

I lowered my weapon, then bent down to inspect the arrow. It had hit near the base of Deletar’s skull, toward the back of the insectoid’s neck. I was no doctor, but I estimated the projectile had severed the base of its spine, assuming it had one.

“Damn,” I said. “Two attacks and he went down.” I scratched at my short beard, then looked at Nuralie’s bow. “What did you hit him with?”

“Broadhead arrow tipped with Spectral poison fired at a critical point identified using Weak Spot with my aim assisted by Calculated Shot, Flawless Precision, and Sniper. I used the skill Nightstrike to add additional Spectral damage, which I discovered that it was weak to by using Target Analysis.” Pause. “The attack was further empowered by Rot, Plague Doctor, and Haunting Poisons, although I do not think they added much.”

I stared at her, mind running down the mile-long list of abilities she’d just rattled off.

“Well,” I said, “it was effective.”

“I am satisfied with the results.”

Your party has slain Deletar, the Doomed Aspirant: Abomination, Grade Fourteen. Your party receives the following rewards:

1) 14 Emerald Chips

2) 1 Insectoid Essence

3) 1 Longsword of the Bluewren

Party Leader has set chip and currency allocation to: Even Distribution.

You receive: 7 Emerald Chips.

Party Leader has set item allocation to: Master Looter.

Party Leader receives all other rewards.

“Seven chips!” I said. “Loot split 2 ways goes a lot farther than 5, eh?”

“Perhaps we should start a side venture,” she said dryly.

“A & N Exterminators. If you’re infested, we’re invested!”

“When bugs become squatters”–pause–“then we come to slaughter.”

I chuckled, then pulled out the sword to inspect.

Longsword of the Bluewren

An heirloom that has been passed down for generations and thought to be lost with the disappearance of its wielder, Deletar Bluewren. This sword is made from an alloy of Frozen Steel and Madrin, making it highly resilient and receptive to mana.

Requirements: STR 20, AGI 10, INT 10, WIS 10

Effects:

1) Beneficial spells and techniques that target or buff this weapon are 25% stronger.

2) Negative spells and techniques that target or debuff this weapon are 25% weaker.

3) +20 Mana, +2 Mana Regen

My humor dissolved as I studied the item.

“Bluewren is one of Hiward’s main houses,” I said, tone somber. “It says the owner was Deletar Bluewren.” I looked down at the insectoid creature we’d just slain.

“Was he corrupted somehow?” asked Nuralie. She looked like the idea made her ill.

“No idea. But this is certainly something to loop Varrin in on. If Deletar is one of the Delvers that disappeared inside this Delve, then if someone gets stuck in here for too long or fails a challenge…”

I trailed off, leaving the thought incomplete. Neither of us wanted to consider the idea that we might become the insectoid pawns of whatever twisted Delve Core ran this place. I felt my pulse quicken as the notion settled, but not out of fear, out of anger. It was one thing for a Delver to die within a Delve, it came with the job. It was something else entirely for the Delve to twist them into a monstrous slave.

Deletar had even kept some level of his prior intelligence, making whatever happened to him all the worse. He’d said that he had to kill me in order to escape. Were there more Doomed Aspirants wandering the halls of this place, fallen Delvers who sought to kill those who entered for a chance at salvation? Even if they could escape, would they remain trapped in such a twisted body? It was perverse.

It was made worse by the notification we received.

Delve Objective Updated:

Your group has successfully navigated the trial placed before you, but your allies have yet to emerge from their own. The time for your allies to complete their challenges has run its course, but you may extend that time limit for so long as you survive.

Time until you are challenged by the next camp of Aspirants: 16 hours.

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