NOVEL NEXT 36 - Wind Magic
Once they found a place to climb, they started their ascent. The climb was long and exhausting, leaving their bodies aching all over. Their arms, in particular, were sore from the effort. The palms of their hands had been partially worn out by the constant friction.
But they made it to the top without being attacked.
(We were worrying for nothing.)
[They do want us alive.]
(And we're going toward the first stone. If anything, they must be already there, preparing their messed up ritual.)
[I didn't think about this. Should we change course?]
(No, but we can take our time.)
They were too tired to continue anyway. They quickly found a place to rest for a while. It wouldn't be a full night of sleep, but it was better than nothing.
They lay on the ground, and it should have been easy to fall asleep. Their body longed for it. But the emptiness of their stomach and their dry throat made it more difficult than it should have been.
They hadn't eaten since finding the fruits during the pursuit. They hadn't drunk any water since they left the riverside. At least the fruits had been refreshing, but they didn't replace proper hydration.
Eventually, exhaustion overtook them, and they fell asleep.
As soon as they woke up, they lit a small fire to melt some snow. They felt relatively safe considering they hadn't been attacked in their sleep.
But as soon as they had their fill and replenished their gourd, Trap Detection triggered an alarm. They rushed into Blighted Passage and narrowly avoided Bird and Feline as they converged on them.
[That was close.]
(Why are they back now? They could have captured us easily while we slept.)
Ultimately, it was better not to waste energy figuring out what the guardians were planning. They were too busy trying to shake off their attackers.
Once again, they managed to do it without too much difficulty. They had taken a small cut on their shoulder but it didn't matter. A quick use of Echoes of the Rot Heart was enough to stop the bleeding.
With the mountains now visible in the distance, they were able to orient themselves toward the river. They knew this valley as they had spent weeks training inside. It was a simple matter of referencing the features of the mountains to determine the rough direction of the river. Precision wasn't even required. The river flowed in the middle of the valley, they would reach it eventually.
It was the only reliable source of food in the area. the only reliable one for them, at least. If they knew more about hunting or foraging, maybe they could come up with another solution. But as things stood, fishing was their sole option.
[En! I'm so hungry.]
(I know…)
[Are we there yet?]
(Please stop complaining, you're making it worse.)
Sharing the same body, En was just as hungry as his other half. All things considered, they shouldn't be far from the river. With Feline and Bird forcing them to keep using Blighted Passage over and over, they were moving at a pace vastly superior to when they first traversed the valley.
Sure enough, after a few dozen minutes of travel, they reached the shore. As usual, the waters were rich in fish. They were big, fat, tasty looking, and slow. Perfect for spearfishing.
Not wasting time, Div and En impaled the first one they found on their spear.
What had taken them so much effort when they first started in the Wildlands back then was now as simple as flicking their wrist.
Yet, there was a problem.
(It's rotting.)
At the point where the spear pierced the fish, the flesh was already turning all shades of green, yellow, black and white. Div and En shook their spear to remove the rotting corpse.
[I don't know what to tell you. I'm sorry.]
(It's not your fault. You couldn't have known, and besides, we needed the extra power to heal.)
[Still… How are we going to eat now?]
(It should be possible to turn off the rotting effect from our skill. Or turn off the skill entirely.)
[The former, maybe if we had Rot Magic. As for the latter, it should be possible, but would we even catch a single fish without Spearfishing's assistance?]
In theory, using a skill or not was all about the user's will. Every skill could be turned off. In practice, it was very dependent on the skill itself. In Div and En's case, if they didn't want to use Echoes of the Rot Heart, it was simple. They didn't need to do anything since activating the skill was a conscious decision.
But for skills like Spearfishing, or Rotten Spearfishing now, it was a lot more complex.
The crux of the issue lay in the dissonance between Div and En's actions and not using the skill. If they were using their spear to fish, using the Spearfishing skill was as natural as their eyes blinking. It took a focused effort to stop.
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(We won't know until we try. Unless you have another idea?)
[No, I don't.]
Thus, Div and En attempted to fish without using Spearfishing
The challenge became obvious right away. They could turn off the skill just fine, but it took a lot of concentration. Concentration they couldn't spare while trying to throw their spear at the fish. Furthermore, they weren't able to turn off the skill for more than a few seconds at a time.
[Good thing we did all this multitasking training.]
(Cassandra was really a genius.)
With two minds working together, the process became much easier. With a little bit of training, Div managed to ward off Rotten Spearfishing long enough for En to strike at a fish.
Hit!
Their first real attempt connected!
(We're not too bad after all.)
However, their success was quickly dampened by the sight of their catch.
It was rotting.
(How? Are you sure the skill was turned off?)
[It was. I'm completely sure.]
But if Rotten Spearfishing was turned off, why was the fish rotting? There was the recurring issue of corpses rotting faster around them, but it had never been that fast. Unless their tapping into the Rot Heart had amplified the effect?
Div was sure they would have noticed during the battle against the faceless army.
There had to be something else.
[Oh…]
(What is it?)
[Rotten Spear.]
(You mean that with Rotten Spearfishing deactivated, Rotten Spear is taking its place.)
[Why would it not? We're hitting something with our spear.]
(Right… That must be it. Do you think you can deal with that?)
[Turning off two skills at once is going to be difficult. With some training, maybe.]
Unfortunately, they didn't have time to train. As they were about to get back to work, Trap Detection triggered once more.
Div and En dodged an aerial strike from Bird, turning to face their attacker. Feline was nowhere to be seen, but it didn't mean he wasn't there. He could very well have a skill to hide from them.
"Can you not?" Div shouted, taking over the mouth as En dodged wind blades the flying faceless was conjuring.
Bird shook her head and increased the frequency of her attacks.
Bombarded by wind magic, Div and En had no choice but to flee again. They stepped onto Blighted Passage and started their escape as usual.
But the wind wasn't so easily stopped. Slippery as ever, it managed to follow him into the fifth direction. A blade of wind hit Diven's back, sending him tumbling to the floor.
The pain broke Div and En out of their concentration. They rolled on the floor for a moment that seemed to stretch forever until their body came to a stop in the snow.
Blood flowing from the massive gash in their back, they stood up and tried to leave through Blighted Passage again. But Bird wasn't about to let them, she continued firing an uninterrupted stream of wind blades toward them.
Tipped off by Trap Detection, Div and En abandoned their attempt to flee. Instead, they hid behind a rock, letting the attacks crash harmlessly into the stone.
As powerful as Bird's spells were, they weren't enough to cut the rock in two.
[We need to fight back.]
(We can't. She's Evolved Rank.)
[I don't think her Wind Magic has evolved yet. Instead, it's probably the skill that gave her wings.]
Div was basing his reasoning on the assumption that evolved Wind Magic would have killed them outright once they had been hit. Furthermore, since faceless didn't have wings, Bird's had to come from a body transformation skill. He didn't think a Basic Rank skill could produce something so impressive.
(We can't be sure she doesn't have a second Evolved Rank skill.)
[That's right. But since she's not letting us go, we don't have a choice.]
(Fine. You're right. Should we channel Echoes of the Rot Heart first?)
[I'd like to since the pain from our back is really bad. But I don't know if we can afford to split our attention.]
They would have to withstand the pain for now. While they could spare one of them when fighting someone at their level, an Evolved Rank was just too much for them to take the risk. Especially since she was likely near the top of her rank like Feline.
Speaking of Feline — he still hadn't shown himself. Div and En were worried he would interfere. If he did, they didn't stand a chance.
So many things could go wrong.
(Well, let's do this. No choice. No choice…)
[We can do it, En! We're strong now.]
En smiled inwardly. They were going to fight an Evolved Rank monster. They might as well believe in their chances.
Bird stopped firing her wind blades.
(Div. How are we going to reach her if she's flying?)
[Oh. No. Hmmm… I don't know.]
She was coming closer. It wasn't Trap Detection telling them, but somehow they knew it.
(Play dead. Let's ambush her.)
Div and En let their body slump to the floor. Their back rested on the stone. Their hand was lightly wrapped around their spear. Their eyes were almost closed, only letting a trickle of light reach their pupils.
Working together to control every muscle, they presented a near-perfect image of unconsciousness
Bird wanted them for the ritual. She would come pick them up.
Soon, the shadow of her flying body passed over them, then she landed in front of them. Examining Diven from a distance, she stood still for long minutes.
[This is unbelievably stressful.]
(Just hold on. One surprise attack is all we need.)
[I know. Can't she come closer already? If she wants us alive, she'd better hurry before we bleed out.]
She wasn't moving. Did she suspect something? It was possible, it wasn't Diven's type to go down without a fight. But after all he went through since being chased by the faceless army, it should be believable that he was too exhausted to continue.
Finally, Bird stepped closer to him. She was walking slowly, but she was coming.
When she arrived in front of Diven, she crouched down and placed a hand on his neck, checking if he was still breathing.
(Don't move. I'll give you the signal.)
Visible relief spread inside her body once she confirmed Diven was still alive. Carefully, she removed her hand and took out a vial filled with an unknown liquid from the satchel hanging at her waist.
She was about to pour it into Diven's mouth when En mentally shouted.
(Now!)
Div rushed into their inner garden and put his hand on the Rot Heart. Exerting all the will he could muster, he directed the flow of rot-attuned mana toward Rotten Spear. Unlike before, maybe because it was already attuned, the skill welcomed the stream of mana, helping Div direct it.
While this was happening, En snapped their eyes open, grasped their spear inside the hand that was hovering around it, and armed his strike.
Taken by surprise, Bird was barely able to put her wings in front of her before the bone-spear pierced them.
Div returned to the real world and was welcomed by a shriek so loud and piercing that their ears were ringing.