Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (139/?) WiP 1

Author’s Note: Hey everyone! Here is the Work in Progress for Chapter 139 I hope you guys enjoy! :D The revised version for Chapter 138 will be releasing tomorrow some time before the full release of Chapter 139! :D

My survey drones took flight.

Whhiiiiirrrr!

Just as the world exploded into a sea of pyroclastic fury.

FWU-FFWOOOOOSHHHHHH!

There was no hesitation.

No clemency.

And not even an ounce of mercy to be had, as Thalmin lit up the lightly wooded patch of forest in front of us into a raging inferno.

All seventy meters of it.

Temperatures soared—

ALERT: EXTERNAL TEMPERATURES EXCEEDING SAFE LEVELS. 827… 982… 1227 DEGREES CELSIUS. 

—while my thermals cut off, causing the colors of my composite imaging overlay to de-tint as a result.

Though thermals weren’t strictly necessary now… not when the night was now lit up by the orange and yellow glows of a raging forest fire.

Trees snapped and cracked as their bark blackened in seconds.

Whilst dense and impenetrable foliage were reduced to an ashen cinder in a blink of an eye.

I watched as the world burned in front of us.

And yet—

[STATUS UPDATE: 7 TARGETS. RANGE: 50 METERS AND CLOSING.]

—it wasn’t enough.

A fact confirmed by the establishment of the local battle-net.

I turned to Thalmin, head snapping in an urgent shake while I leveled my sights on the first target.

The prince responded shortly thereafter, but not with words nor a reciprocal gesture, no. 

ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 450% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS

Instead, he responded in a way only a mercenary prince could.

ALERT: EXTERNAL TEMPERATURES EXCEEDING SAFE LEVELS. 1400 DEGREES CELSIUS. 

With more firepower.

[STATUS UPDATE: 6 TARGETS. RANGE: 45 METERS AND CLOSING.]

There we go…

[ETA: 23 SECONDS]

My turn… 

=====

Thalmin

I thought I had more discipline.

I assumed I’d be immune to this draw to novelty.

But I wasn’t.

My eyes were inexplicably drawn to the motions of Emma’s hands, her index finger remaining unflinchingly still behind the trigger to this alien construct of steel and manaless alchemics.

I knew exactly what would happen when her finger was drawn.

Indeed, it was the sheer stillness that came with her ‘trigger discipline’ that put me on edge.

It was unlike the dueling of a mage, where manafields could be read, and enchanted weapons could be anticipated.

This dynamicity of manasense was key to the perception of a battlefield, as the flow, direction, or even misdirection and masking of both manafields and auras were both quintessential factors in the martial arts and the art of warfare.

None of that was present here.

Neither in the warrior or her weapon.

And yet… her weapon held the capabilities comparable only to those of enchanted make.

It was… as jarring to see as it was nerve-wracking to fight alongside.

Perhaps even more so on that fateful encounter with the null.

For it was one thing to see and grapple with the capabilities of a weapon… but it was another thing entirely however, to intrinsically comprehend what mechanics were behind such an artifice.

I tried focusing on the creatures approaching us, as I let loose both flame and lightning—

BANG!

—before thunder quickly followed.

I felt a disturbance in the local manastreams immediately following that, confirming her kill.

Though it quickly became clear to me that this was merely the start to a thunderstorm.

As shot—

BANG!

—after shot—

BANG!

—after shot—

BANG!

—was made in accompaniment to the unnaturally quick movements of her arms.

Movements which could be achieved by certain species… but most often found, and eerily reminiscent of the flinching motions of arachnous creatures.

BANG!

This rapid pace of relentless and nigh golem-like concentration came to an abrupt halt however, just as I myself realized a radical and unexpected shift in the movements of these vorpal creatures.

One of them began burrowing.

Forcing the rest of the bleeding, singed, and hole-ridden to follow suit.

=====

Emma

I got one of the bastards.

The EVI confirmed as such.

But the rest of them? I just didn’t get why they didn’t die.

I’d shot them smack-dab where their puny little brains should’ve been.

The basilisk? Headshot.

The wyrm? Headshot.

The maned komodo? Double headshot.

Heck, the only one that was actually taken out by the headshot was that weird marsupial-feline hybrid.

What made the rest of them so different?

I was about ready to keep going if not for the unexpected development.

…

Their big escape underground, following the mole rat-like creature.

“What the fuck’s going on, Thalmin?” I turned to the mercenary prince, who looked at me with the same expression of bewilderment I had beneath the helmet.

“This… is something I haven’t yet encountered Emma.” He acknowledged. “I have no clue if it’s fleeing or—”

ALERT! LOCAL SEISMIC ACTIVITY DETECTED.

“Wait.” I stopped Thalmin in his tracks, as the EVI began pulling up local vibration readings, and I quickly put two and two together. “It’s doing something undergr—”

chrrrrrrrr

It began with a tremble, then a grinding shriek.

THRAK!

“JUMP!” 

At which point, the earth suddenly peeled open.

Soil, rock, and even flaming foliage was sucked into the split earth — the entire ground beneath us opening up like the lid of a predator’s jaw.

We both landed ten meters from the epicenter of the gaping sinkhole.

But before we could even catch our breath—

KRKKK-CRACK!

Something exploded from beneath the upturned dirt.

Dust, debris, and the smoke of snuffed-out flames temporarily obscured our vision.

Though it was clear from Thalmin’s expression, and the outline the EVI drew around this creature from the composite sensor readings, that we both saw what had just emerged.

Still riddled in bullet holes, singed from fire, and burned by electrocution — was the creature.

Singular.

Not plural.

Indeed, this reforged chimera towered over us, its komodo-like head leering over us both, while its… limbs wiggled, flinched, and wobbled ominously towards us.

The weird uniformity of its grey and mottled scaly skin made sense now.

Indeed, its lack of eyes — save for the komodo at its head — now made so much more sense.

“It’s a lesser chimera.” Thalmin uttered darkly, as he readied himself for another attack.

“A what-now?” I shot back.

Though that was the last few words I managed out before the beast surged forwards with a deafening screech.