Water couldn’t keep the corners of his mouth from twitching up into a smile at Jelanos’s attitude.
“I have heard much about you from my people,” Water said, his words slow and melodic.
“I have to say that there were some issues in the beginning with people being a bunch of stereotypical idiots.” Jelanos’s face took on a dark color before he once again smiled. “But we got that sorted! They’re really studious, soak up information like no tomorrow! Even found out that a few of them have a higher Affinity to magics other than Water.”
Jelanos’s excitement was infectious. Anyone could see the pride and eagerness in him when talking about his students. He lived to teach the younger generation.
There was a knock at the door.
Jelanos once again composed himself again. “Come in,” he said, his voice imperious and powerful instead of the quicker, excited tones of before.
Another man entered and shut the door behind him.
“Alamos, this is Water. We have come into an agreement with each other,” Fire said.
Alamos nodded. His official-looking mask fell but he still looked at Water with a careful eye as he extended his hand.
As they greeted each other, Fire continued talking. “Water is coming here to access our records and vaults. I have already asked that the guards summon Professor Kujo.”
“Kujo is indeed the most versed in Water Mana techniques,” Jelanos said.
“Water does not have much time to waste. Anything he wants is to be given to him. Think of him as my honored guest,” Fire said.
“It will be done,” Jelanos said solemnly.
“If you desire, you can bring some champions to the island for your protection and to also gain knowledge from the libraries. I will allow no more than fifteen. If they will be here in secret or as your guards is your decision,” Fire said.
“Thank you, Fire.” Water bowed his head. To give not only him access, but his strongest champions also—although it might not directly increase their levels, it would increase their abilities and strengths.
The two gods who had fought each other for centuries looked at each other. The history between them was a rocky one. But as they looked at each other, they knew that they had stepped through another threshold—from allies in name to the path of friends.
A rare smile appeared on Water’s face. He had never thought that a moment like this would occur in his lifetime.
Chapter 36: Of Spirits and Beasts
The loot had been broken down and everyone was ready for the next level of the raid area.
Deia and Lox led them all forward, deeper into the Six Affinity Temple.
People gripped their weapons tightly as they readied themselves for the oncoming fight.
Induca looked at them all. She had been nervous herself when she had first come to the Six Affinity Temple. Now, after having fought the creatures and finding them weaker than the ones she had fought before, a sliver of confidence instead of nervous anticipation filled her. She might not need money or resources, but still loot held an interest for her.
The groups fanned out slightly, far enough that they wouldn’t lose the beasts pulled to them to another group, but close enough that they could support one another if they needed.
Suzy’s creations went off to pull in the beasts. There were rangers in the group, but after the recordings from the Stone Raiders-led raiding party, few wanted to run around with an Affinity spirit-controlled beast chasing after them.
The first beasts started to draw closer.
Those with good observation skills called out the different Affinity of the beasts, as Suzy guided them to the different groups that were specialized in attacking with one kind of Affinity.
The mages and ranged attackers unleashed their spells and attacks, violent light filling the room.
Induca, like Deia, used her concentrated Fire wisps. These white flames tore through the air in the blink of an eye, slamming into Water Affinity spirit beasts that approached their own formation.
The beasts weren’t able to make it into range before they collapsed.
A Light spirit within a saber lion unleashed a stream of light from the lion’s mouth at Malsour and his group.
A Water Affinity mage created a mirror, reflecting the light away as Malsour called down a tornado of shadows. The ground around the creature distorted, becoming part of the tornado as the creature was lifted off the ground. Rocks and debris slammed into it as the Dark tornado tore at the lion and the spirit within.
Malsour’s power was too strong, ripping the lion apart.
With a wave of his hand, his tornado sought out more Light Affinity spirits and their possessed beasts.
Dave and Suzy were next to each other. Suzy pulled the creatures with her Air creations while Dave looked over the field of battle.
Induca felt the currents of power that moved around Dave before Fire Affinity creatures were dropped to the ground. The gravity where the beasts were located increased, making it harder for them to attack and have to use an incredible amount of Stamina.
Dave’s role was to slow down the attackers so that the raiding group wasn’t overwhelmed.
Steve, Lox, and Gurren were each fighting in their own groups. Steve’s axe, with its glowing runes, threw the creatures back as Gurren and Lox’s bodies with different-colored auras suppressed the beast’s attacks.
Anna floated in the sky. Much like how none of the Water Affinity beasts ever made it within ten meters of the formation filled with Fire-attribute attackers, none of the Earth Affinity beasts made it to Anna’s Air Affinity formation. She stood in the air, unleashing powerful attacks. None of the beasts lasted more than three hits from Anna.
The air vibrated with power. All but Suzy and Dave were unleashing their power. In their faces, the fight was rather simple.
Focusing their attacks on one target, it was much easier to finish them off.
Their actions were not rushed nor hurried, instead making sure that everyone was in peak condition before they fought another creature. Within the Six Affinity Temple, fighting recklessly was just asking to fail.
In an hour, all of the spirit-controlled animals had been killed off.
Everyone let out a ragged cheer as loot was collected and people slumped down to rest.
“Still haven’t been able to unleash all of our power,” Induca said to Deia as they descended slightly.
“I don’t think that we could unless we were fighting a massive boss. If Jung Lee was still here, then we might be able to go all out. Even then some of us still have secrets.” Deia gave Induca a deep look.
Induca smiled. Her Human form directly correlated with the power of her Dragon form. When she was in Human form, she was pretty powerful, but once she threw off the shackles of her Human form, her power could surge upward until it was ten times her Human form’s strength. The creatures she’d killed with two or three hits would barely stand up to a wave of her hand.
Some of the Players exchanged friend requests with one another so that they could meet up later. A few of them logged off, their bodies turning into motes of light and dispersing or they commanded their body in zombie mode to return to the outpost.
Induca saw Dave frowning at the Players who turned into motes of light. When one logged off, they could pick to come back at the position they’d left, or at one of the nearby Altars of Rebirth.
“What happens when they log off completely? Not just let their zombies go back?” Suzy, who stood next to Dave, asked.
Induca reached them, smiling at Suzy but not interrupting. She was also interested in the answer.
“Those motes of light is the system copying their patterns then transferring it to a brain held within a storage facility. When they log back on, their body is regenerated and their gear is moved to the Altar of Rebirth, where they revive. When we get a loading screen when logging on, that’s because it’s taking longer for the altar to recreate our bodies or for the gear to reach the Altar o
f Rebirth that we’re entering the game from,” Dave said.
Induca shivered slightly at these words.
Dave sighed and shrugged. There wasn’t anything they could do about the current situation.
Induca and Suzy’s hands found each other’s as everyone prepared to fight the Affinity spirit-controlled shades.
***
Once again the raid party stood from their rest, eyeing the Affinity shades. The Stone Raiders-led raid had been able to clear them out but hadn’t advanced any further.
The numbers had thinned out as lower-leveled people who had barely made it to this level had left for the outpost, knowing that they would be a liability. Others looking to try to milk some experience and loot out of it, even if they were a lower level, stayed around.
They had confidence in their abilities. Some of them were ignored, however; their low level and the way that they were talking made the others doubt they would be anything but a liability. After gaming for a while, Dave, as well as other veteran gamers, had a very keen bullshit radar.
The group was much smaller than the first raid group; however, it was made up of mostly strong people. For this next stage, they were all going to group together to take out the first couple of shades, get a feel for the fighting, then they could possibly change into smaller groups so that they could share the experience around more.
Deia looked over everyone as the first Affinity shade was pulled from the front of the temple.
It raced after the Air creation Suzy had sent out. Its ethereal body unleashed powerful magical blasts.
“Air Affinity!” an observer called out.
Deia drew an arrow on her bow, pulling and releasing with ease. People started changing weapons and readying themselves for the shade possessed by an Air Affinity spirit.
Its speed left behind afterimages; there was but a few moments before it arrived. Thankfully, everyone had hotkeyed their different gear sets by the Affinities that they might fight. With the press of a button, everyone had weapons that were best suited to deal with Air Affinity creatures.
Mages unleashed their spells. Earthen lances shot outward as large flowers appeared from the ground, spraying a green gas at the Air Affinity shade.
Its speed was incredible as it moved its body in ways that a living being never could.
“Fire at the same time! Don’t give them any way to escape!” Deia said.
Spells became more concentrated, mages working together, so that, although not all of their attacks hit, some of them did.
The ranged fighters did the same. Arrows came from several directions, boxing in the Air creation as it had to slow its forward momentum to try to dodge the incoming attacks.
After being held back for just a few moments, it charged forward again with a shriek. Spells and attacks hit its Mana barrier as its shriek turned into an attack. Waves of cutting air slashed out at the raid party.
Melee types raised their shields while the Air mages tried to defuse the Air attacks. Shields were pressed backward as the people behind them resisted the powerful attack.
The shade continued to scream. The tanks blocked the attacks, allowing the mages and ranged fighters the freedom to attack without worrying about defense.
Curses and hexes weakened the shade. The potency of the attacks increased as they were chained together by groups for the maximum effect as buffs further increased their striking power and reduced the times between calling up spells.
The shade’s hands turned into claws and unleashed vicious Air blades outward. Its Health plummeted under the concentrated attack, until finally it slumped down. The last of its attacks drained out as it dropped to the ground, a pool of ectoplasm and a Mana core on top.
Everyone started to recover themselves. A number of the weaker Players who had boastfully barged their way into the raiding group now had pale faces. Just facing one of the Affinity shades showed just how strong they were compared to the Affinity animals they’d defeated before.
Even if someone was a Level 800 in stats, as the Stone Raiders and the other guilds recommended to fight these Affinity shades, these were not easy creatures to kill. For those hovering around the Level 500 mark, they were seriously re-thinking their plans. If they had been at the front with the other high-leveled tanks, then they’d been tossed away or outright killed by the Air Affinity shade.
“Check your quivers, Mana, and Health,” Deia said to everyone. Most were already working on readying themselves for the next shade.
Although the experience gain hadn’t been much over so many people, there were fifty of them standing in the Six Affinity Temple’s grounds.
So the grind for experience and loot continued within the grounds of the Six Affinity Temple.
By the time they got to the fifth Affinity shade, they were starting to come together, acting stronger and stronger. They were also opening up a bit more, using their more powerful attacks and not only relying on those that they had used for a long time.
People were experimenting, but only slightly. Although they had got into something of a rhythm, no one was overstepping their bounds so far that they might completely mess up.
If a creature was too powerful, then Dave would step in to help out with his suppressing magic. He didn’t gain much experience, but for him, his strength came in using his abilities and creations in new and different ways. Just by suppressing creatures, he was able to gain insights into his gravity magic and refine the effects of it.
Deia looked over to Party Zero. They might be fighting hard but they weren’t using their trump cards. All of them were testing out their new moves, spells, and strengths while not calling on their full power.
If they were to, then Deia thought that they could fight two or three Affinity shades by themselves. However, if they were to do that, then the other people with them might not be able to hold out.
Also, it wouldn’t allow them to refine their moves; it would simply make them have to fight with everything.
“The experience gain might not be much but people are still gaining a few levels here and there,” Dave said from beside Deia. If he didn’t have to, he didn’t leave Deia’s side. As the end of her pregnancy came closer, his protective instincts continued to make him stay around Deia as much as possible.
“These are pretty high-leveled beasts. Just by themselves, these creatures would be the boss monsters in most other dungeons,” Deia said. The wind howled around her as a flaming arrow shot outward, a red flaming streak that slammed into a Light Affinity shade.
Dave cocked his head to the side suddenly. His eyes thinned and he looked up at the Six Affinity Temple.
Deia followed his gaze, her eyes widening.
There were thirty-seven remaining Affinity shades under the pillar-supported landing outside of the actual temple. These floating shades now slowly halted.
As one, the shades’ faces whipped over to look at the raid party. The action made her scalp itch as Deia went cold.
A screech rose from all of the shades at the same time. Different attacks lashed out from the Affinity shades as they charged forward together.
Everyone’s faces paled at the enraged wave of shades.
What the hell is happening? Dave waved his hand. Orbs appeared in a line and a Mana barrier formed between them as they covered the raiding party.
The attacks slammed into the barrier, making it flare with impacts.
“Deia, get out of here!” Dave yelled.
Lox, Gurren, and Steve, seeing the oncoming creatures, stepped up. They moved faster and faster, their images blurring as their attacks landed on the Affinity spirit that was holding their attention.
“Run!” Deia yelled to the raid party.
People raced away from the temple and toward the crack. Those who had been focusing on the battle looked around to try to figure out what she meant. Once they saw the shades, they raced after their fellows.
Malsour cast massive area of effect curses that should slow the shades as Anna
appeared behind the Earth Affinity shade. Her sword cleaved it in two, revealing a Mana core.
Lox waved his ring, sucking up the ectoplasm as well as the Mana core.
Dave grabbed Deia’s hand as they raced backward. Dave created a gravity field to hold himself and Deia so that the baby wasn’t thrown around. The outer field pulled them along while the inner made it feel as if they didn’t move.
The remaining fighters put on all their speed; support classes threw out speed buffs as if it were candy, not caring about depleting their Mana reserves.
“Why are they all attacking at once?” Deia asked.
“I don’t know but I think we should ask Jung Lee when we get back. He might know more,” Dave said, his face grim as they continued to pull back. The rest of Party Zero was cruising away with their magic except for Lox, Gurren, and Steve.
The Devastator armor allowed the two Dwarves speed that matched Malsour’s surfboard.
“You’ll never catch me—I’m the fucking gingerbread man!” Steve yelled at the shades, running backward as he threw his middle fingers up and shook them at the Affinity shades.
The shades, sensing their prey getting away, once again let loose with their ranged attacks. The Air Affinity shades were gaining on the group as they fled.
Dave’s orbs that had been following the group once again flared to life, the runes on their bodies lighting up as the Mana barrier between them was activated. The Mana quickly changed colors dangerously.
“Need to work on that energy dissipation,” Dave muttered to himself. With another wave of his hand, four cylinders were thrown out of his bag of holding.
These cylinders rushed outward. A whirring noise filled the air as the cylinders cut into the ground. They moved from place to place, carving something into the ground.
The Mana barrier behind the raid group continued to flash angrily with the shades’ impacts.
A section failed as an orb fell from the sky, burnt out from the power consumption.
The other orbs moved their positions, compensating for the burnt-out orb, but the Mana barrier was much weaker as it lacked the support that it had just a few moments ago.
Time of Change (Emerilia Book 7) Page 44
