Sworded Affair

Chapter 138: Too Soon

[Blackflame Elemental - Level 20]

It was a towering being, of dark orange flames mixed with molten rock, held together by magic and an outer layer of black obsidian that writhed and warped, stretching nonsensically before snapping back into place moments later.

“That’s not real, is it?” Emma wondered, after seeing the same phenomenon repeat three times in a minute. “A mirage, maybe? Dad used to talk about them, how illusions in the deserts led unwary travellers to their doom, dead from dehydration.”

[It’s the same effect, more or less. Intense heat refracts light in funny ways.]

Emma continued to stare, and the more she looked, the more oddities she found. Even putting aside the illusions, there were parts of the elemental that didn’t make much sense. Its limbs were remarkably thin, looking like twigs about to snap, and a massive contrast to its bulky torso. More than that, it was barely moving, its lower body still stuck inside the burning remnants of a house, merely turning its head to and fro as a high pressure fire hose pumped a constant stream of water into its face. A few anaemic fireballs shot from its arms every thirty seconds or so, each quickly swallowed up by runic circles suspended in the air, vanishing into swirls of nothingness.

[Noah Knight - Level 17 Invoker (Forbidden Arts)]

“Dad’s suppressing the flames,” Emma realised, seeing his name pop up whenever she examined one of the runes. “Is he somehow weakening the elemental as well? Because it's barely putting up a fight; nothing like the bosses I’ve fought so far.”

[Suppression? Invokers light fires, he shouldn't have anything to suppress them with.]

Curiosity prompted Emma to slip through the kitchen wall, heading in the direction of the battle. In the few minutes it took to get close, the elemental was missing several pieces of its torso; none of it caused by incoming water either, as chunks of obsidian fell from its torso at random. Noah was also adding damage between defensive casts; every time he pointed towards the elemental, a fist-sized chunk of its body cooled, burning no longer.

“Something’s definitely wrong here,” Emma concluded, calling Epitaph in bow form and adding her own arrows to the fray, aiming at the holes already present in its torso. “A Level 20 encounter shouldn’t be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.”

There was no reprisal for Emma’s actions, even as her shots tore deep gouges along the elemental’s molten body; its head didn’t even turn Emma’s way the entire time. The one thing going for it was sheer durability; even with Emma draining four fifths of her anima with every arrow shot, she managed only to inflict slow, incremental damage over time. Every little helped though, and ammunition wasn’t an issue here, so Emma was happy to keep chipping away, knowing that it would fall sooner or later.

Sooner or later turned out to be twenty shots later, as Emma’s aim improved with every arrow. Five consistent hits to the head proved decisive, as the elemental gave a rumbling growl, sinking to its knees and swelling up like a balloon.

[Ah, that makes more sense. Noah wasn't stopping the flames, he was delaying them for later!]

Then, because nobody could have nice things in the apocalypse, it exploded.

[100 EXP gained (50% split).]

Emma saw Noah teleport away in a flash of light, half a second before the shockwave knocked her flat on her back.

[-100 Anima]

An unpleasant surprise, but barely damaging for her; between Emma’s distance from the epicentre and her own durability, she was back on her feet in moments. But not everyone was nearly so lucky. Nothing remained of the burning house except a crater, while the fire truck lay a crumpled wreck on its side. Of the firemen who’d stood to man the perimeter, not even ash remained.

“What the hell?” Emma stared at the wreckage, trying to understand what just happened. “None of this makes any sense. Why deploy such a big elemental and have it barely do anything? Why send it to certain death in a frontal attack, when it could have done far more damage just rolling around and setting things on fire?”

[Agreed, this summoning doesn’t feel like a coordinated attack. If anything, it reminds me of the accidents I saw, back when I taught at the magical academies. The kinds caused by dozens of students with powerful magic, little common sense and the risk assessment skills of a teenager, all crammed together in the same wooden building.]

Emma stared at the damage for a while longer, but when neither her eyes nor the System offered any answers, even she had to call it quits eventually and head back home.

—

[Another ten miles to go, then you can rest until nightfall.]

Mr. Fox huffed, but continued to run, ignoring the aching in his limbs that even his newly strengthened body could not ignore. He’d been running for hours by now, as far away from Oxford as he could manage. He wasn’t sure exactly what would happen if pursuers caught up, but he doubted they’d be very happy with him. Setting a house on fire tended to leave a bad first impression.

[This is necessary; there’s only so much room for animal companions in a single household, and Saint doesn’t like to share. No, you’ll be far better placed in the wilds, where property rights aren’t as a big a deal.]

Don’t get me wrong, I like stealing, Mr. Fox protested. But I like food even more.

[Oh, don’t worry about that. Your new Master will give you all that you can eat and more. She’s gotten very good at hunting since awakening her heritage, and has combat power to spare. What she needs now is a scout and infiltrator, so you’ll fit right in.]

If you say so. You’ll still be around, giving me hints?

[Of course. So long as you live, I will be here.]

That was good enough for Mr. Fox, so on he ran, through empty streets, over a river and under countless trees. Until at last, he caught a scent both familiar and different to Emma, and heard a growl in the air. Looking around, Mr. Fox couldn’t see where it had come from, but one again, the System provided for him.

[Anna Culling - Level 8 Tamer]