NOVEL NEXT 81. The Draco Lily
Morph looked more bestial than human as they advanced deeper into the tunnel system. All of his clothing, except for trousers, had fallen apart after failing to contain his bulk. The clone managed to display stealth and grace despite his bulk and the lack of spells, leaving Lukas to question Biomancy's capabilities.
Spellweaver clearly boosts arcane recovery even though the description doesn't say so. What if Biomancy or Mimicry does more than allow the copying of physical capabilities? He can't have learned to move like that without me knowing. Perhaps instincts of the copied beasts?
The clone moved just as smoothly on the walls as on the ground. He wasn't just keeping up with Lukas and El-Four but taking over, moving past them, and speeding ahead. Lightning-enhanced Haste provided the necessary speed to not fall behind too much. The Shock Trooper's personally cast Haste was the same as Lukas's, but his internal magic's attunement to lightning made the spell, somehow, especially potent.
Lukas liked staying light. He built shadow constructs out of Shade's Mantle, mostly long sashes and tethers, but barely added any solidity to them. Keeping everything light and with minimal drag. The shadows carrying his hands and forearms also thickened, forming gauntlets much like what Morph first created against the owlbear. He wished for close-ranged weapons and defences in case something saw through Shade's Mantle and Silencing Shadows.
Things grew more chaotic around them as they advanced. Crystalline projectiles flew. There were snowmen, larger and significantly better armed than the specimens Lukas had encountered before. An aged female with sagging breasts, braids, and wearing an elaborate orange feathered headdress stood in their midst, singing and chanting. She carried a grand staff with a gold-green crystal at the head. A similarly colored aura surrounded her. Injured snowmen retreated to it, and their wounds swiftly stitched themselves closed.
They weren't the only intelligent species present. The creatures fought a small party of Elder Wyrmkin—four heavily armored males with large plumes of colorful feathers, two female casters, and a young skinny one that seemed to serve as the latter's servant. The snowmen, a significantly larger force, attempted to advance on the group but struggled. They were mostly at a standstill. It was tempting to watch their fight, but Lukas didn't. The longer they remained distracted, the better, because there were also other humans in the cavern.
The party was small, four people at most. A swarm of millipedes of varying sizes surrounded them, attempting to overwhelm the group, but failed to cover the final dozen or so feet. The group had no trouble keeping them away. Lukas slowed for a moment, letting the clones speed onward, watching the team. He saw no recognizable crests and couldn't tell whether they were independent, served an organization, or a lone master. He didn't stick around long enough to find out.
Then, Lukas turned the corner and almost ran into Morph. The clones had come to a stop. The skull of a dragon lay on the ground, and behind it was a field of bioluminescent flora. The way it spread out in the giant open space reminded him of a flying dragon. One piece of flora stood out to him more than others. A head-sized bulb grew out of one of the skull's eyes, pulsing with a blinding white light in a strong contrast to all other plants.
There were greens, golds, blues, pinks, and reds, but no silvers or whites. Lukas knew without a doubt that the pearlescent teardrop was the Draco Lily. It trembled and moved. The growing and shrinking gaps between the tightly wrapped petals almost looked like an egg on the verge of cracking.
The journal's trembling intensified, behaving like one of the old pre-smart device mobile phones with its vibrations set at maximum. Lukas released the relic, letting it float an arm's length from his body. It moved as he moved, as if spatially locked to him. He didn't need to read the pages to know what he needed to do. The draconic energy in the air urged everything inside of him to flee, but Lukas knew that he needed to keep moving forward.
The Draco Lily looked like it was going to bloom at any moment. Much to Lukas's surprise, none of the beasts dared to approach it. He didn't know whether they were protecting it or waiting for just the right moment.
"Is the draconic essence keeping them at bay?" He whispered.
Morph shrugged. He couldn't quite see the edges of El-Four's form through Shade's Mantle, but was pretty sure the clone also did the same. None of them knew what lay ahead. A game of rock-paper-scissors followed. Morph lost.
"I can't."
"You lost. Rules are rules."
"Yes, but these transformations take time, and I'd need to find new biomass."
"Fine." El-Four sighed, trudging forward. He got close to the edge of the field of glowing flora, but didn't quite wade into them. He moved to advance, but his leg trembled. When Lukas followed to join him, he struggled. The draconic essence intensified, growing denser with each step.
"It's repelling the fauna," Lukas whispered.
"We—"
A burrower burst from the ground, shooting at El-Four. The hole appeared so suddenly and silently that the clone didn't have the time to react. Fortunately, Morph was close. His long, bone-plated arm shot forward and caught the creature just below the head. The open maw tried to get at his face, then his arm, and finally his shoulder, but failed. The rows of teeth moved rapidly, accelerating until they were almost a blur, looking like spinning saw blades.
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Another lunged at the pair, and Morph used the first burrower to knock the other out of the air. He launched both into the field of growing plants. Giant vines sprouted from the ground and drew them through it, interrupting the draconic essence but only for a moment.
"That explains it," Lukas whispered.
More burrowers appeared, some leaping at Morph and El-Four. Others came from under the ground, appearing directly under each clone. Neither of them stayed in one spot for too long, escaping dispelment. Lukas considered assisting but held back. The snowmen, Wyrmkin, and the human party had detected Morph and El-Four. Members of each seemed to be trying to break away from their individual fights and get to the dragon's skull. None moved toward Lukas, who now stood an arm's length from the dragon's giant snout.
The draconic essence was so dense, Lukas could barely breathe. The Draco Lily's pulsing also intensified. He struggled to break his eyes away from it. He reached toward it, and the flower's petals began to unfurl. It seemed to be inviting him. The sensation was enticing. Enchanting. Lukas bit his tongue, resisting. He didn't trust the flora-covered ground ahead. Something was waiting just under the surface, he was sure of it. He couldn't be sure if the skull was safe.
Pearlescent light flashed through the cavern. Roars, screeches, and growls followed. The calls sounded closer, and the footsteps were rapidly approaching. The groups threw all caution aside. They fought each other on the move, advancing towards the blooming Draco Lily, and the pair fighting almost on top of it.
The bloomed Draco Lily made Lukas's breath catch in his throat. The number, shape, and spread of petals made it look more like a cross between an orchid and a lotus than a lily. Fine stomata grew out of the center, and the draconic essence radiating from it didn't carry the same unnerving aura.
Lukas blinked away the spots, spared them a glance, and then put his arcane manipulation to the test. The shadow tethers growing out of his back and sleeves came alive. A pair extended toward the Draco Lily, gaining solidity. One unravelled into a five-fingered hand, and the other sharpened into a spike.
The hand generally wrapped around the flower's stalk, six inches below the flower. A quick cut followed before he reeled the shadow tethers in. The journal reacted as soon as the flower came within arm's reach. It opened, the pages blackened, revealing a dark void, and then sucked the Draco Lily in.
Screams. Yells. Roars. Screeches. Endless distraught cries echoed through the cavern. Lukas turned around to find several sets of eyes scanning his general area. They advanced toward him and the clones who were still fighting off burrowers. Lukas doubted they were going to make it out. He left them to fight and fled along the edge of the field, putting it between himself and the approaching crowd.
El-Four knew not to let his face be seen, especially by the humans. He left them to it and moved along the cavern's walls, retreating toward the curving paths they had used on their way in. Things had gone smoothly thus far, but that didn't mean things would continue in the same manner. He needed to get as far away from all of them as possible before the clones perished.
The journal opened, floating in front of Lukas.
Can you please not block my line of sight? I need to get the hell out of here.
Immediate upgrades might help you survive, and there is a pressing matter that demands your attention.
It can wait. Survival takes priority.
You don't care about rewards from two quests? There might be a nice bonus in it for you?
What the fuck are you on about? Lukas frowned.
Your remaining clones have wandered close to the other quest objective. In fact, the arcane material deposit that the Union desires might also have driven the target beast to move its nest.
Unless you give the clones the ability to summon and use you, I don't see how we can communicate that to you.
What if you sacrifice upgrading my capabilities from this quest reward? It will be a strain, but I could defer the points and part of my recovery to the next quest's reward. You won't just get another round of ability-rank upgrades, but more points to upgrade me and perhaps more.
And I still get to upgrade an ability?
Correct.
Fine. Put it all in Shadow Clone and give the clones the ability to summon you. But will they know to do it?
I'll appear to one and inform them of the upgrade.
Do it!
Shadow Clone has progressed to Tier 7!
The cost of creating specialized clones is reduced.
Shadow Clone has progressed to Tier 8!
The range of clone creation has increased.
Shadow Clone has progressed to Tier 9!
Shade's Mantle manifests with more shadows for you to manipulate.
Despite the tense situation, Lukas couldn't help but smile. He needed to create or upgrade a couple more specializations. Then, the ability would be ready for upgrade to the next tier, increasing the number of clones, and, hopefully, improving the capabilities of Shade's Mantle.
Hopefully, the tier breakthrough won't take too long. At least this time, I know how to pull it off.
Even though he didn't ask, the journal's pages flipped to the Pillars of Self. He needed to figure out a way to hasten the growth of Thunderstorm's Eye and Spellweaver. The latter felt like a greater priority, but training metamagic was more challenging than he initially believed. One didn't often come across spell threads to manipulate in the wild. Lukas needed to work harder.
Thunderstorm's Eye: Tier 1 | Rank 4
Spellweaver: Tier 1 | Rank 7
Shadow Clone: Tier 2 | Rank 9
Shade's Mantle
Shadow Steel
Steel Weave
Altered Metal Mass: Tier 2 | Rank 3
Miscellaneous:
Arcane Smithing: Tier | Rank 3
Biomancy: Tier 1 | Rank 6
El-Four died. Memories of a snowman's spear impaling him flooded Lukas's mind. Morph's death followed soon after. He pulled off an interesting move, launching a sonic blast from the limb shaped into a launcher. It blew away the burrowers, but one of the female Wyrmkin hit him with golden flames a moment later. They burnt through one of his arms, shoulders, and into his chest. The clone dispelled himself before more attacks could land.