Sworded Affair

Chapter 120: Mountains out of Molehills

It was Emma's first time riding on the back of a pickup truck; she'd only ever seen them in passing before, when tradesmen visited the house to repair one broken appliance or another. It didn't take long at all for Emma to decide she didn't enjoy the experience; it was a bumpy ride on concrete, and even worse during the frequent stretches where damage ahead forced the truck to go off-road. She'd somehow managed to stay on her feet thus far, but the convoy was only going thirty miles an hour, and she didn't like her odds should that change.

Her truck was in the middle of the convoy, with one in front and one behind her, the soldiers on the back on high alert. There had been no enemies until now; which made sense, given the damage to the road indicated they were still within firing range of the town's fixed emplacements. Predictably, the calm didn't last long; as they looped past Oxford's front gate and started on the third layer out, red dots began to appear sporadically on Emma's minimap.

"Soft contact on the right!"

Belatedly, Emma realised nobody else had radios on them either, making screaming the only available form of communications. Shaking her head slightly, Emma fell to a crouch, relying on the lower centre of gravity to keep her aim stable as she prepared an arrow with 2% of her anima as the first demons emerged from the ground.

[Mole Demon - Level 5]

Oversized moles, each big enough to tower over an adult man and blessed with razor sharp claws three inches long. Their menacing appearance was somewhat undercut by beady red eyes and pink noses upturned into the air, sniffing for prey. Emma's first arrow went wide, sailing far into the distance. Her second fared a little better, though it still struck dirt a bit too close to home. Third time's the charm, as the old saying goes; a direct hit opening a hole in the nearest mole's throat.

[10 EXP gained.

Objective: Eliminate 1/25 Lesser Demons]

Emma didn't get much experience from the kill, due to the level difference, but it was still worth the attempts if only to gauge the difficulty of firing from a moving vehicle. It was a lot harder than it looked in the movies, and also harder than firing from her own mount; at least for the latter, Emma was in full control of her summon's movement, whereas here she had to account for the actions of a separate driver. Emma wasn't too upset though, as the two soldiers weren't doing much better with their rifles, needing half a dozen shots each to down their targets. The heavy machine guns hadn't fired at all, their operators deciding to save ammunition for bigger prey.

The deaths of their compatriots made the remaining moles start moving, fifteen of them waddling their way towards the trucks. They were roughly as fast as Sir Bearington at a sprint; that is to say, no more than thirty miles an hour and easily kept away from.

[10 EXP gained.

10 EXP gained.

10 EXP gained.

Objective: Eliminate 4/25 Lesser Demons]

Emma didn't have to worry about conserving ammo; her anima returning fully so long as her aim was true. On the other hand, her rate of fire was still lacking compared to an SA 80 rifle; so she only managed to take down three more moles compared to six a piece for the riflemen. All in all, it was surprisingly relaxing, more like a day at the archery range than live combat.

"See? This is why speed is king!" The driver cackled up front. "Critters like that can outpace a tank, but they've no chance against a decent four wheeler."

"Yeah, I see that now." Emma agreed, eyes on the horizon in search of the next enemies to try their luck.

---

[Saint - Level 10 Druid of War]

"Congratulations?"

It came out as a question, because true to his words, Felix still wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Saint wasn't volunteering any information either, curled up as she was in Jen's lap and getting her ears rubbed.

[Academia Mortalis Leaderboard

1. Revenant

2. Saint]

The System recognised her as a legitimate contender, and she'd blasted through all three trials with ease, which left only the problem of a suitable reward.

[ERROR: Access denied.]

It was a problem, because for some reason, Felix's permissions as Dungeon Master were failing him, and nothing he tried to give the damned cat would stick.

[ERROR: Access denied.]

Felix had tried to offer a suit of custom-fitted armor, a spell from the Lore of the Wilds, and even some of the Thrones now sitting in his treasury after signing a franchise agreement with the Empire's Ministry of Leisure.

[ERROR: Access denied.]

He got the same error every time, without even a useful description to help him diagnose the issue.

[ERROR: Access denied.]

"Food doesn't work either huh?" Felix sighed.

Worst of all, his obligations as Dungeon Master wouldn't allow him to depart until Saint received a System reward for completing the trial, which meant they were both stuck in the Colosseum until further notice.

"Maybe cat food?"

[ERROR: Access denied.]

---

Emma almost missed the arrival of the next enemy, two circles later. It was hard, spotting a small red dot that overlapped entirely with her own on the minimap, but Emma had just enough presence of mind to look up when it happened.

[10 EXP gained.

Objective: Eliminate 5/25 Lesser Demons]

Epitaph turned back into sword form, just in time to impale the enemy descending overhead. One of the soldiers managed the same, catching a bird on his rifle's bayonet; the other wasn't fast enough, and took a claw to the neck.

Shit.

Emma had a number of powerful abilities by this point, but none of them were able to heal an ally; that was bad, when bright red arterial blood flowed freely. That left only one option to guarantee the soldier's survival: grimacing, Emma extended her will and absorbed him into Eden's Echo.

[Soldier (Level 3) stored]

The storage item would hold him in stasis and gradually heal him, but in the meantime, that left them a man down to face the enemy.

[Crane Demon - Level 5]

---

Status Update

Practitioner Emma Knight - Level 13 Damned Apostle

Anima: 5000

EXP: 6410/7000

Abilities

Summon Unholy Sword {Epitaph} (Cost: 20% current Anima)

Toxovolia: Epitaph can transform into a Bow, firing arrows made of anima. The more anima invested, the more powerful the shot; the arrows can also apply the effects of other Weapon Enhancements.

No Pal of Mine: Capture the souls of the worthy, gaining the ability to summon a simulacrum of equal level as the User. Maximum 1 active per 10 levels, rounding up. 1 hour cooldown when simulacrum is defeated. Captured:

The Leech King, Sir Bearington, Earthbound Immortal, Antipode

Weeping Scar: Wounds inflict periodic poison damage until they are healed.

Can I Play with Madness?: The first Wound dealt to an enemy inflicts a random Status Condition.

Oversoul: Instantly possess the body of a living, lower-level target within the user's line of sight. No component of this ability will activate unless the target can be possessed.

Ephemera (Cost: 1% base Anima /second): Become intangible while active, able to pass unhindered through physical objects and blows.

Angel of Extinction (Cooldown: 12 days): Summon an Angel within line of sight. The Angel is invulnerable and departs after 12 seconds, inflicting Instant Death to anyone who saw it.

Null and Void (Cost: 5% base Anima): Disrupt a spell before casting completes.

Parallel Lives (Cooldown: 1 minute): Swap places with your active Summon.

Return (Cooldown: 24 Hours): Teleport Home.

Traits

Arcanivore: Enemies restore Anima when wounded or slain.

Wolf, Ram and Heart (TOGGLE: OFF): When active, attacks are imbued with Death magic, significantly increasing damage and carrying a [Level]% chance of inflicting Instant Death.

One with Everything (Cooldown: 1 hour): If Anima would be reduced to 0, stop at 1.

It's About Time: Immune to Time Magic (ineffective against casters 30+ Levels higher).

Babble Fish: You are fluent in every language known by the System.

Divine Conduit (Anathema): ?

Rorschach's Blot: Attempts to observe you remotely produce inaccurate, nonsensical images to those bearing ill-intent towards you. You will be alerted when observation commences.

Inventory - Eden's Echo

A ring containing fifty cubic meters of storage space, capable of instant item transfer. Living beings stored are held in stasis and gradually healed of any ailments. All sapient creatures are less likely to attack the wearer. This item is invisible except to the wearer, who may not wear any other jewellery. Currently contains:

Homunculus (Level 0)

Wren (Level 0)

Saddlebag

50 Thrones

Canned Cat Food (Open)

Victorian Gown (3-piece)

Lighter (Half-full)

Soldier (Level 3)

Quests

All Mart (Time Limit: 5 Days)

Bonus Objective: Acquire a divine artifact compatible with Saint.

Bonus Rewards: Upgrade a random Ability and/or Trait, A large sum of Imperial money, Trait - Babble Fish upgraded to include non-humans.

One Small Favour

Objective: Eliminate 5/25 Lesser Demons

Objective: Eliminate 5 Greater Demons

Bonus Objective: Get the patrol home with no casualties.

Bonus Objective: ???

Reward: 500 EXP

Bonus Rewards: Random upgrade for Homunculus (Level 0), ???

Level Up

Level 13 - Select one of the following three options:

1) Ability - Curse of the Broken Mirror: May you live in interesting times. Afflicts targets with a curse that turns luck against them. May be active on [Level/10] targets at a time.

2) Ability - The Promised Hour: Dulce et decorum est, Pro patria mori. Declare an hour of the day; until that hour, you cannot die. Once you reach that hour, death is certain. Once the hour is chosen, it can no longer be changed.

3) Item - Black Candle: All shall be well. When lit, this candle consumes all nearby light, leaving a bubble of impenetrable darkness.