No.
Rain closed his eyes, straddling the line between his soul and body. His thoughts accelerated, and his sense of the world became muted. Heâd been working on this âbullet timeâ technique under Velikaâs tutelage, but her philosophy when it came to the soul was very different from his. She had no concept of an inner world, instead using a more integrated model. It worked for her, clearly, but it made her instructions difficult to translate.
Reaching tenuous stability, he opened his eyes.
The onrushing Whale seemed to be moving at half speed as it fell from its breach. The scene had a certain unreality, a certain distanceâas if he were watching through a computer monitor. The monsterâs soul, on the other hand, felt very real. Even from here, he could see it pulsating like a corrupted heart. Monster souls were never pretty to look at, but this one took the prize. It was misshapen, bulging with imperfections and ugly, lopsided growths. It was also enormous, dwarfing even Halgraveâs gold-level soul, though it lacked the gemstone exterior.
The former branch leader would be able to kill it, probably. Despite their level, Whales were uncomplicated, all brute-force and direct-attack magic. Not the kind of thing Halgrave would struggle against. He had his orders, though, and this Whale was only the visible part of the problem. There could be more. The rest of the pod could be under the water, and without Detection, they would never know it until one rose to bite Temerity in two.
Still need to deal with this one, though. Canât wait for plan B.
Rain shoved aside the memory of a Whale slamming one of the Adamant ships almost under the water, barrier and all. Temerity didnât have a barrier.
Barely acclimated to double speed, he pushed his balance further. New plans spun into being and were discarded in the space between heartbeats.
He could clear the deck in an instant with Immolate or Radiance, but that would light up Temerity like a beacon. He could throw one of his anchors away as a decoy, but it would fail or be eaten long before the ship escaped, if not immediately. He could send Ameliah to lead the Whale away, but it might not choose to chase an evasive stamina user, not when it had the easy alternative of the ship, so full of magic and of life.
He could...
He could do nothing.
Hope that someone else would think of a solution.
No.
Progress. Status. Resistances. Accolades. Inventory.
Progress Report
marker_1: grannybrain_2 [3061 Light 16 05:00]
marker_2: whale_inbound [3061 Light 28 09:59]
Span: 12.2 days
Character
Total Exp: 2,936,316 -> 3,136,316 (+200,000)
â³Mana Use: 200,000
Skills
Anchor Aura: +25,250 exp, 8 -> 9 (+1)
Prismatic Intent: +51 exp
Tolerance
Speed: 14.0 -> 18.0 (+4)
Synchronization
Recovery: 11.0 -> 11.5 (+0.5)
Endurance: 31.0 -> 31.3 (+0.3)
Vigor: 11.2 -> 11.6 (+0.4)
Richmond Rain Stroudwater
CLASS
LVL
CAP
+STAT
Engine of Change
30
30
0
EXP
NEXT
TOTAL
+SKILL
130,422
130,423
3,136,316
1
Vitals
CUR
MAX
RGN
Health
12,400
12,400
700/d
Stamina
1,720
1,720
700/d
Mana
99,750
99,750
2.7/s
Attributes
800/2,690
EFF
TOTAL
BASE
ACCLD
MISC
SYN
STR
520
520
10
10
500/530
20.6
(103%)
RCV
40.3
70
10
10
50/770
11.5
(58%)
END
74.8
86
10
26
50/500
31.3
(87%)
VGR
40.6
70
10
10
50/1,140
11.6
(58%)
FCS
170
170
10
10
150/2,000
50
(250%)
CLR
330
330
320
10
0/2,500
330
(100%)
PER
20
20
10
10
0/0
47.1
(236%)
SPD
9.6
10
10
0
0/18
9.6
(96%)
Resistances
TOTAL
END
ACCLD
MISC
HEAT
1,508.6
0%
8.6
1,000
0%
0
0%
COLD
508.6
0%
8.6
0
0%
0
0%
LIGHT
8.6
0%
8.6
0
0%
0
0%
DARK
8.6
0%
8.6
0
0%
0
0%
FORCE
558.6
0%
8.6
200
0%
0
0%
ARCANE
5008.6
0%
8.6
0
0%
0
0%
CHEMICAL
383.6
0%
8.6
0
0%
0
0%
MENTAL
8.6
0%
8.6
0
0%
0
0%
31/31 Slots
Accolade
Bonus
10 [5x2]
Blackfoot Trench
+10 (+2x5)
All Attributes
4 [2x2]
The Icy Cellar
+1,000 (+500x2)
Health
4 [2x2]
Oh Gods!
Not Another Chem Lair!
+2,000 (+1,000x2)
Mana
3
The Lair of Embers
+1000
Heat Res
3
We Canât Just Call It
âThe Lairâ
+200
Force Res
2
Southshore Rat Warren
+1,000
Health
2 [2x1]
Badlands Cold Lair
3060 1 4
+6 (+3x2)
Endurance
2 [2x1]
Snow Sprite Lair
+10 (+5x2)
Endurance
1
Everdeep Fortress
+10
Perception
Slot
Item
Charge
Saturation
Durability
Head
Chest
Legs
Hands
Feet
Offhand
Myriad Plate
Bound
Durability
Hardness [12,047]
500 Heat Resistance
500 Cold Resistance
375 Chem Resistance
350 Force Resistance
5,000 Arcane Resistance
Lightness
Compression
Thermal Regulation [OFF]
Tactile Transference [OFF]
Facade [ON]
Obfuscation [ON]
Arcane Regeneration [OFF]
Kinetic Conversion
174,203 / 185,500
0 / 154,209
602,044 / 602,044
Ring[0]
Grand Malleable Ring
Bound, Unity
160/300 Attributes [Ë]
104 / 500
0 / 4,270
903 / 903
Ring[1]
Grand Malleable Ring
Bound, Unity
160/300 Attributes [Ë]
104 / 500
0 / 4,271
902 / 902
Ring[2]
Grand Malleable Ring
Bound, Unity
160/300 Attributes [Ë]
104 / 500
0 / 4,269
908 / 908
Ring[3]
Grand Malleable Ring
Bound, Unity
160/300 Attributes [Ë]
104 / 500
0 / 4,247
901 / 901
Ring[4]
Grand Malleable Ring
Bound, Unity
160/300 Attributes [Ë]
104 / 500
0 / 4,271
911 / 911
Ring[5]
Aura Collectorâs Ring
Bound, Unity
+1.12 Aura Synergy [OFF]
499 / 500
0 / 4,272
813 / 813
Ring[6]
Aura Collectorâs Ring
Bound, Unity
+1.12 Aura Synergy [OFF]
499 / 500
0 / 4,278
814 / 814
Ring[7]
Aura Collectorâs Ring
Bound, Unity
+1.12 Aura Synergy [OFF]
499 / 500
0 / 4,273
816 / 816
Ring[8]
Aura Collectorâs Ring
Bound, Unity
+1.12 Aura Synergy [OFF]
499 / 500
0 / 4,274
813 / 813
Ring[9]
Aura Collectorâs Ring
Bound, Unity
+1.12 Aura Synergy [OFF]
499 / 500
0 / 4,271
814 / 814
Amulet
Magewell Amulet
Bound, Unity
Mana Well
100% Import Efficiency
100% Export Efficiency
49,998 / 50,000
0 / 39,211
313 / 313
Mainhand
None
NA
NA
NA
Underwear
Forceweave
Mundane
NA
NA
NA
Overwear
None
NA
NA
NA
His rings were partially disabled or switched off to save charge. His stats were lower than they could have been. His accolade loadout was non-optimal, unchanged since his face-off with the Adamants. Ameliah had some powerful new ones, taken after dispensing some well-deserved justice. Heâd insisted she keep them. He hadnât bothered to trade with her for any of the weaker ones, either. Heâd told her to give them to others.
There was no time for regret.
It will have to do.
He brought his stat boosts up to full.
Richmond Rain Stroudwater
CLASS
LVL
CAP
+STAT
Engine of Change
30
30
0
EXP
NEXT
TOTAL
+SKILL
130,422
130,423
3,136,316
1
Vitals
CUR
MAX
RGN
Health
12,400
12,400
1200/d
Stamina
1,720
5,720
1200/d
Mana
99,755
184,250
5.1/s
Attributes
1,500/2,690
EFF
TOTAL
BASE
ACCLD
MISC
SYN
STR
520
520
10
10
500/530
20.6
(103%)
RCV
69
120
10
10
100/770
11.5
(58%)
END
249
286
10
26
250/500
31.3
(87%)
VGR
69.6
120
10
10
100/1,140
11.6
(58%)
FCS
270
270
10
10
250/2,000
50
(250%)
CLR
630
630
320
10
300/2,500
330
(100%)
PER
20
20
10
10
0/0
47.1
(236%)
SPD
9.6
10
10
0
0/18
9.6
(96%)
Dismissing the windows, Rain ordered his body forward. With the acceleration of his mind, it felt like moving through sludge. An outside observer would have seen him hurl himself forward from the flagpole, transitioning to an all-out sprint. His Strength alone would have dented the bridgeâs titanium roof had it been thinner. Perhaps he did dent it when he reached the edge. He neither knew nor cared.
Jump Good!
The macro activated, his recently-added stats shifting into Strength and Endurance.
Velocity (15/15)
15703.50% boost to speed for all entities
Range: 0 meters
Cost: 120 mp/s
Pain radiated from his ankles, but he ignored it. This was not the time to hold back. Likewise, he ignored the small drop in his health, the force of his launch surpassing his resistance. He dragged his arms upward against the blasting rush of the air, using them to guide his flight. He hoped the spell hadnât been too loud, spiritually speaking. It was compressed and had only consumed a tiny sip of mana.
A sip bigger than half an unawakenedâs pool. He grimaced. No choice. Winter.
Winter (15/15)
Boost M.Regen by 27057% for all entities
Range: 0 meters
Cost: 480 mp/hr
He began losing altitude, hurtling over the waves as mana rushed into him, some of which he directed into recharging his equipment. The Whale was still coming toward him, at least as fast, skipping off the water like a flat-bottomed stone as it came down from its breach.
It was...large.
He forced himself to look down at the rapidly approaching surface of the ocean.
One thing at a time. Refrigerate.
focusboost.sh: info: secondary stats are locked
focusboost.sh: Focus: 270
modmon.sh: [âamplify auraâ, âchannel masteryâ, âaura compressionâ, âethereal auraâ]
autocompress.sh: Target: 5 meters
autocompress.sh: Compression Applied: 82 meters
iff2.sh: offensive aura detected
iff2.sh: foes: unknown_entities
iff2.sh: friends: !foes
iff2.sh: ignore: none
autopower.sh: Target: 9999 dps
autopower.sh: CM Setting: 80.77%
ethmon.sh: Environmental Output: 100%
ethmon.sh: Environmental Occlusion: 25%
Refrigerate (15/15)
9999.00-11427.43 cold (fcs) damage per second to foes and environment
4999.50-5713.71 cold (fcs) mitigation per second to friends
Sufficient damage causes slow
Aura resists 75% of environmental occlusion and absorption
Range: 5 meters
Cost: 242.313 mp/s
The blue glow of his armor was blocked from his vision as the humid air exploded into snow. As the sphere of the spell touched the ocean, salt water froze, cracking as the auraâs effect sunk below the waves. Under normal conditions, ice took up about 9% more space than liquid water, and indeed the expansion drove the growing iceberg to erupt to meet him.
Ice shattered on impact, shards exploding around him as he triggered Velocity and jumped once more, using a lower setting for greater control. Soaring again, he disabled Refrigerate to avoid wasting mana, replacing it with Winter.
By the depth gauge clipped to a console in the bridge, this area of the sea was rank one. Theyâd known that was a problem but could do nothing about it, forced to follow their chosen ridge. Down here at the surface, his senses told him it was closer to rank two. It still felt like a desert. Watching monsters dying in the battle behind him had been like watching raindrops falling on parched ground. Mana tracked essence, and while he couldnât sense it, he knew heâd need as much as the desert had to give.
Having stabilized his flight, he took another look at the Whale, then used Prismatic Intent to fill his second slot with Detection, Wards, and Winter. He hadnât managed to level the metamagic, but with it untangled and cleanly linked to his auras, he could finally use it at its rated potential. As he added Purify to the mix, he released a tiny sigh of relief. Despite what heâd jokingly told Bluewash, Temerity did have bathrooms. Redundancy was important.
The ban on magic had forced him to do...unclean things.
Dozer could never know.
His next landing was less forceful, as was the one after that, transitioning into a steady sprint along the icy causeway freezing ahead of him. He tweaked Refrigerate and Velocity constantly, minimizing the power burn as best he could while trimming down his interface verbosity. Winter was more than keeping up, but not nearly fast enough to have refilled his pool already. It hadnât been even thirty seconds. His thoughts flickered like lightning, making him feel like a prisoner in his sluggish body.
Itâs not enough.
He pushed his temporal balance furtherâfurther than heâd known he couldâand the world slowed to an agonizing crawl. It was more than discomfort. It hurt.
*Tick*
It was only pain. His health hadnât fallen since the jump.
Health: 12,291 / 12,400
Stamina: 1,687 / 5,720
Mana: 112,770 / 235,250
The Whale filled his whole horizon, vaguely humpback-like in appearance, though too squat, and its thick skin was more knobbly and cratered. It had two colossal eyes, the pupils alone wider than he was tall. There, things took an even sharper turn from National Geographic. Hundreds of smaller eyes pebbled the skin surrounding the two main ones, pivoting and darting in wild directions. As the leading edge of Refrigerate came into contact, every single one of those hate-filled eyes locked onto him.
Refrigerate Nova!
Refrigerate Nova (15/15)
9999.00-11427.43 cold (fcs) damage per second to foes and environment
4999.50-5713.71 cold (fcs) mitigation per second to friends
Sufficient damage causes slow
Aura resists 75% of environmental occlusion and absorption
Range: 696 meters
Cost: 3353.61 mp/s
*Tick*
A full slot for a full second. Thatâs what he gave it, a smattering of kill notifications pouring in to be ignored. When his senses returned, he was flying. With only a second to freeze, and nowhere for the water to expand into, it was less like someone had summoned a glacier and more like someone had exploded one with ANFO. Unlike his initial landing, where the leading edge of Refrigerate had gradually come into contact with water, here, the occlusion-resistant spell had swallowed an enormous bite of the ocean in an instant. With explosive results. Force Ward registered a massive draw, shards of ice pinging from ripples in the air as the spell saved him from becoming nothing more than a jelly center to his armor.
Force Ward (15/15)
Increase physical resistance by 120% for all entities
Range: 0 meters
Cost: 2.03776 mp/dmg mitigated
*Tick*
Health: 12,291 / 12,400
Stamina: 1,687 / 5,720
Mana: 104,681 / 235,250
The Whale had been well within the radius, but its health bar hadnât budged. Rain couldnât see its body through the whiteout, but its soul was still in his normal range, so he kept Refrigerate going, boosting the proportion of Force Ward in his rotation at the same time.
Refrigerate (15/15)
9999.00-11427.43 cold (fcs) damage per second to foes and environment
4999.50-5713.71 cold (fcs) mitigation per second to friends
Sufficient damage causes slow
Aura resists 75% of environmental occlusion and absorption
Range: 100 meters
Cost: 1041.49 mp/s
Force Ward (15/15)
Increase physical resistance by 120% for all entities
Range: 0 meters
Cost: 0.3184 mp/dmg mitigated
Second by second, he tweaked the settings, trying to be as optimal as possible.
*Tick*
*Tick*
*Tick*
*Tick*
Health: 12,291 / 12,400
Stamina: 1,686 / 5,720
Mana: 99,249 / 235,250
Finally, he was out of range and deactivated Refrigerate. Force Ward was already back to normal, the ongoing damage at a level his armor and Foreceweave could handle. The Whaleâs health, meanwhile, was still full.
Rain grimaced, his mouth lagging behind the sentiment. He knew he had no real hope of soloing a level forty-three monsterâlegendary class or not, on the surface or notâbut heâd hoped his ace would have done something. The fact that it hadnât meant the Whale either had Ward-like skills of its own, or all that damage equated to no more than a pixel of its enormous health bar.
Filth, maybeboth, andmaybe it can regenerate health faster than I can hurt it for good measure. Hard to tell fact from rumor.
*Tick*
Health: 12,291 / 12,400
Stamina: 1,686 / 5,720
Mana: 99,590 / 235,250
Nearing the top of his arc, Rain glanced at his recovering mana as the air cleared. He just needed to survive long enough for Ameliah to realize heâd pulled a Val and come save his stupid ass. After that explosion, she was probably already on her way.
*Tick*
*Tick*
*Tick*
Health: 12,291 / 12,400
Stamina: 1,686 / 5,720
Mana: 100,580 / 235,250
In free fall, Rain would have had no way to dodge the spear of water even if he hadnât been distracted looking for the ship. The projectile flew with such force that it carved a tunnel through the blizzard, a resounding boom telling him the sound barrier had been broken. The ability was infamous; in this universe, Whales harpooned you. Force Ward activated, though a good bit of the damage went to his armorâs saturation instead of his mana.
Knowing better than to try to prevent it, he let himself be blasted back. As he tumbled, he glimpsed the Whale crashing toward him, its swim speed impeded not at all by the frozen ocean. Before he could right himself, another supersonic spear of water struck.
Then another. Then another. And another.
*Tick*
*Tick*
*Tick*
Content to be juggled, Rain tweaked his Ward settings, balancing the mana draw from Force Ward against the risk of the Arcane attack Whales were rumored to use rarely. Looking at his steady total, running out of mana wasnât the danger. Running out of essence was the danger.
As his perspective on the problem shifted, so did his interface.
Chaos
88 kESS
Potential [>]
946 kESS
Soul [>]
3.13 GESS
A battle on the surface was a battle of attrition. As Halgrave called it: a slog. According to him, being a goldplate was about becoming well-rounded. Covering your gaps in offense, defense, and utility. And above all, it was about the ability to endure.Velika had a different philosophy, but no matter the philosophy you subscribed to, anything could be killed. It was just a matter of how long it would take.
*Tick*
Chaos
86 kESS
Potential [>]
945 kESS
Soul [>]
3.13 GESS
Even if the health regeneration thing was true, it would consume the Whaleâs potential as fast as mana regeneration was consuming his own. It wasnât just that, though. Whenever damage clashed against resistanceâor soul against soul in generalâboth were subject to strain. No matter the damage the system listed, an attack from a weak soul had no weight.He didnât have numbers to quantify it, but heâd lived it. Once when heâd broken his soul testing Suppression on Ameliah. Again when heâd cracked the Incarnâs soul open with it and his will. Those were just the most relevant examples.
Nothing was absolute. Eventually, potential would run out. Resistances would fail.
*Tick*
Heâd fail first, he was sure. The Whale would be burning extra power simply to exist at such a shallow depth, but heâd heard they could stay up for as long as thirty minutes. He didnât have thirty minutes. He didnât have one minute. In fact, he probably wouldnât even get to find out if his potential would last.
*Tick*
Below him, the Whale was opening its maw. Its teeth were...multitudinous. Row after row after row, colossal, wickedly sharp, and in constant, grinding motion. As distressing as it was to realize the Whale had an industrial woodchipper for a mouth, more distressing was the fact that the juggling seemed to have been done with purpose. Shot after shot, his horizontal velocity had been killed.
*Tick*
As he feared, the spear of water didnât come this time.
He began to fall.
Refrigerate Nova!
*Tick*
There was no second explosion to greet him when his senses returned. Though the Whale and the water around it were well within the novaâs impressive radius, the environmental Cold mana was all used up. His magic was not without effect, locking the shattered bergs from the first detonation into place, but it did nothing to resolve his situation.
Immolate Nova!
*Tick*
When sight returned this time, snow and ice had been replaced by steam. The glacial surface, however, remained unmelted. His second ace had failed. Heâd known it would. Ameliah had been keeping him up to date on the local mana concentrations, and this far out to sea, environmental Heat mana was almost nonexistent. Heâd had to try, though.
*Tick*
Now would be a great time for that rescue!
Spreading his arms to slow himself as best as he could, Rain again searched the horizon for Temerity. Instead, he found three more enormous souls below the surface. They were foggy, growing clearer as they rocketed up from the depths.
Oh, great. The rest of the pod.
*Tick*
A flash of gold caught the corner of his eye, and he tore his gaze back upward, feeling like he pulled something in his neck doing it.
There she is!
Ameliah was hurtling in his direction, but not fast enough. Elation turned to horror. She wouldnât get here in time. Beyond her, he finally spotted the ship, and horror became relief. The spray from the vesselâs breakneck passage told him Halgrave was hard at work on plan B. Center of Mass was for equipment, so he couldnât exactly get out and carry the ship to safety, even on the off chance his Golem form made him strong enough to do so. Airwalk, however, was more than enough for him to get out and push.
*Tick*
Rain looked down at the approaching souls of the pod, then smiled. They were coming for him, not the ship. His distraction had worked. If he died, he could die knowing heâd done all he could. He didnât know if plan B would be enoughâif Halgrave would be able to outrun his metaphysical wakeâbut running was better than dying.
Dying was something he had no plans of doing, either. Heâd promised.
*Tick*
With calm urgency, he searched his mind for options. He had a skill point, but nothing he could put it in that would help. Even outside auras, nothing leapt out. Airwalk. Flight. Levitation. Even Redirection. All of them had prerequisites.
*Tick*
The Whaleâs jaws were getting close now. Abruptly, Force Ward pinged as something punched him in the side, and it took him a moment to realize it hadnât been another water harpoon.
She shot me!
Rain stared at the tumbling shards of the shattered arrow. The hit had been heavier than it had any right to be according to physics, but no matter the skills and the weight of Ameliahâs intent, it was still just an arrow. It wasnât enough to alter his trajectory. What it did do, though, was give him an idea.
Equal and opposite! If I summon Dozer and huck him sideways, it might be enough toâ
*Tick*
Light faded as he passed within the Whaleâs yawning jaws. Not content to wait, it had surged up to meet him. With barely enough time to lament the lateness of his ideaâan idea that probably wouldnât have worked anyway, if he was honestâthe milling teeth snapped together.
Drat.
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