Chapter 46 - Hated Mysteries

Aisling soared through the sky, the wind rushing around her. Garnet had finally stopped holding back and now she could truly enjoy a challenge as she called on the storm to assist her. Fire blossomed across the sky as Garnet rode another wave in. The flaming wave was just meant to limit her options though. The rain around her was drawn in as she cast Water Sphere on herself creating a spherical barrier of flowing water between herself and the wall of flames. The ball of water surrounding her continued to grow as more and more rain was drawn towards her. That was only the first step though. Fire Unity would let Garnet step inside her Water Sphere if it was hot enough, so using the wind she pushed out most of the air into the water surrounding her. It wouldn’t last long but it just needed to weather the wave of flames.

Lightning flowed into her spear from her body as she activated Lightning Spear. It was almost time. She couldn’t wait! The flaming wave roared in, at the last moment Aisling’s Lightning Tree unleashed a bolt of electricity that impacted her Water Sphere, turning it into an Electric Water Sphere. Aisling bathed in the lightning, letting it flow through her and empower her through Stormchild. The wave of fire and her electrified Water Sphere finally collided with each other, the water cool enough that it created a burst of steam as it doused the flames, the electricity released and arched out across the sky. Garnet came on uncaring, a few blasts of lightning burning her but it didn’t even slow her down, her flaming wings unleashing waves of heat and fireballs.

Aisling danced then, slipping below a flaming slash that moved far too fast. Sliding away on air as a kick blew through where her head had been a moment earlier. The speed of the battle was such that those below would likely have just seen a white-blue light contesting a flaming red one. As the exchange dragged on, she was finally able to figure out Garnet’s third class. There was a type of Class that pushed an individual's physical abilities beyond their natural limits. But doing so always came at a cost.

There were your standard boosting skills, that traded mana for power. The more power, the more mana it cost. You could offset that somewhat with other Skills to reduce the expenditure of course. A good Class structure was all about Skill Synergies. That said, these boosting skills existed on a spectrum. At one end of the spectrum were boosting skills that provided only a slight improvement, but could be maintained almost indefinitely with a small mana investment. At the other end of the spectrum, there were boosting Skills that bestowed powerful effects for a very short window, the mana cost for such could be considered excessive.

There was however, a final type, in their own category. They had a few names, but her favourite, and in this case the most apt, was Body Burners. They were the most powerful of boosting skills, without peer. But the way they achieved that level of power was by destroying the body, damaging the individual just by activating the boost, sometimes permanently. As they exchanged blows, her fiery opponent both faster and physically stronger than her, it was obvious Garnet was a Body Burner, which explained the Regenerator Class. It wasn’t just a clever combination - though it was that. It was an impressive combination, because from what she could tell the Body Burner type Class was her Secondary Class and that meant the Regenerator Class was Tertiary.

Aisling floated down away from a knee strike that blasted flame into the sky, swinging her spear around as she unleashed a glowing arc of lightning where Garnet would be, only to see the woman vanish as she leaned into her Concept of Fire Unity. It must’ve been hard. That was the thought she had as she moved with the wind, being blown out of the way of the flaming rapier thrust that came from behind her. Garnet had clearly gained the forty levels needed to earn the Regenerator Class, while having no way of naturally healing the toll her Body Burner class must have taken on her. It would’ve been either very difficult, mentally and physically, or it would’ve been very expensive. Fucking nobles. It must’ve been hard…on her hoarded wealth.

Aisling drifted in and out of direct combat, occasionally unleashing lightning bolts from her spear, while recharging her speed with her self-sustaining Lightning Tree blasts. The same blasts that continued to harass her opponent. Garnet was impressive, she could acknowledge that. She could even think of a few Guild Platinum Badges that the woman would likely have defeated. But Aisling was not on that list. Most didn’t realise it, but Aisling didn’t fight to win, or lose, quickly. She was like the storm, built to last. So long as she had time to set the field, of course. Storm Caller was a passive Skill and the heart of her Class build. It constantly drained and stored the excess mana she could bring in from the environment and when it got too much, a storm was called. Of course she could funnel mana to it to make it happen faster. But it meant that as long as she had time to prepare, she could make sure the weather suited her needs, and as long as the weather suited her needs, she was as untouchable as the wind and as unwavering as the storm.

With the wind constantly in motion she could sense everything around her, could tell when Garnet moved and where she moved too. Coupled with the way the winds resisted her opponent's movements while aiding her own, a self-sustaining spell that was both empowering her while also targeting her enemy, and she was able to outlast almost anyone at the same level. That was finally starting to show. Garnet was definitely meant for quick and explosive fights. Garnet was built for decisive wins, or when pitted against foes like Aisling, devastating losses. Aisling drifted away from another three strikes from the flaming rapier as though she could see them before they happened, because in a way, she could. She retaliated by calling another lightning bolt from her tree to strike her, exploding in an electric ball and forcing the noble back.

Floating lazily she called out, “You seem to be growing tired, Garnet. There’s no way you’ll become infamous if you start slacking off now!”

She could hear Garnet’s scream of rage pierce the sky as a hail of fireballs struck at her Lightning Tree. More wasted mana for her opponent. Good, let her rage. She could waste as much mana as she wanted. Burn the sky down for all I care! In response to the damage to her Lightning Tree she simply activated her Even Spells Grow skill again, feeding a little mana to assist the growth as the storm itself did most of the work. The Lightning Tree visibly rebuilt itself. Aisling hoped that made Garnet even angrier. In response, Garnet seemed to be using her Body Burning ability to its limit. Draining her resources as her mana was likely being funnelled to regenerate the damage to her body she was causing. The Fire Mage was clearly almost done. It was time for her to end this.

There was something most people didn’t seem to realise. Electricity, in small doses, could interfere with an individual's thinking. The Lightning Tree served four purposes. It kept her Stormchild constantly supplied with electricity to speed up her movement, her own boosting skill that gave a moderate boost to her speed for a moderate mana cost. A mana cost the storm was paying for - though she supposed she had paid the mana cost for the storm, over the last few weeks.

Secondly, it harassed her opponents. The damage from the lightning bolts was unlikely to truly stop someone at her level, but for those it could damage, that damage would accumulate as she dragged the battle out. The third purpose was to slowly fill the arena of battle with a low level of electricity that for those unused to the interesting quirk of the lightning mana, would find their thoughts slower or more erratic. The fourth, and final purpose, was one few knew about. The lightning accumulating across the sky would slowly give rise to an affinity in the mana she had barely touched upon. Static. The gentle hum almost unheard to most, though, she could sense it through Daughter of the Storm, and having sensed it, crafted a spell around it. Her battle ending spell, Static Convergence.

She watched as Garnet started to slow down, perhaps finally trying to pace herself. It was too late for that. The spellform she had been preparing was finally ready. Aisling flew at her opponent, lightning flashing across her body as her Lightning Tree fed her another bolt. Garnet didn’t flee, the woman clearly preferred close combat so Aisling was playing into her preferences. The attacks from the Fire Mage came quick but Aisling always knew where to move to avoid them. Two seconds later and the spellform was complete. The first hint was the rising humming noise. Garnet instantly vanished, using Fire Unity to escape, but there was no escape. The spellform was already locked on. The static electricity gathered and converged on Garnet’s location and subsequently sought release. A blink of the eyes later and a flash of light erupted, the source so bright it lit up the night sky till it shone like the noonday sun. It came accompanied by a thunderclap loud enough to cause one of Aisling’s ears to start bleeding.

Aisling looked surprised. She couldn’t see yet, her vision hadn’t recovered from the flash despite closing her eyes at the last second, but her senses already told her the truth. Garnet had somehow survived the spell.

“One day...I am going…to kill you…” whispered Garnet, her body in tatters, most of her hair gone and bone showing on her legs and one of her arms. Lightning burns covered every inch of her exposed skin.

Aisling was impressed. The Regenerator hung on. Still, she would struggle to have enough mana to restore herself, and it wasn’t like Aisling was going to give her the time to do so. Aiming her spear she began her dive towards Garnet. One second, Garnet was holding nothing and the next second, she held a small blue stick as long as a candle. Aisling watched as Garnet glared up at her, knowing she was too late. With a flick of her fingers, Garnet snapped the Teleportation talisman and vanished from the sky. Turning with a sigh, Aisling began her descent towards the clearing. She’d won, but had she? Where in the Nine Hells did Garnet get something as expensive as a Teleportation talisman? There was a mystery here. More than one, and by the Gods, she hated mysteries.

*************

Deverell stepped back into the clearing. He’d warned Jorge but he couldn’t hear the sound of any more fighting and if the flash in the sky he’d just seen was anything to go by, then Aisling was just about done as well. If the fight here had been won, that meant the Enchantress was no longer in play. That had been one of the most irritating fights of his life. He’d heard of the power of Suggestion before. A Skill that allowed the user to implant a belief into someone's head. A belief that they couldn’t resist.

The belief she’d put in his head was that he couldn’t attack anyone. So he’d been forced to constantly block and defend for the Silver Badge teams while they remained outnumbered. Only Kiri and Nate showing up had freed him up to follow the original plan and assist Jorge in taking down Vallis. The children had done well, even if Aisling and Jorge were unlikely to see it that way. A knife didn’t get sharp if it was kept in a draw. It needed to be taken out and honed.

With the situation under control now, that meant it was clean up time. Organising the two Silver Badge teams was easy enough. They knew their business, already tying up the team that turned traitor. As for the other enemy team, well, they hadn’t been shown any mercy or care and that made his life easier. You had to ‘organise’ prisoners. The dead just required paperwork. Simple. Easy.

“Check them for anything identifying,” he said, motioning to the dead Silvers. “I want all the details in your reports.”

Seeing two of the Silver Badge Adventurers move over to handle that problem, he commandeered the other two members of their team as he made his way through the illusionary rock and into the cave. It was as Jorge described it, a natural cave that ran twenty or thirty metres down a steep slope into the ground before opening up into a cavern. The ten makeshift cages were only half filled, totalling around fifty dirty, unwashed and no doubt hungry people. One however stood out to him immediately, mostly due to how much cleaner and fresher she appeared.

“Rania, what are you doing here?” He asked.

His words were enough to rouse the rest of the prisoners and they immediately moved to the edges of their cages, clamouring from freedom. Well, that was what he was here for so he might as well get it done. He’d get his answers later anyway.

Glancing at his two ‘helpers’ he motioned to the cages.

“Well, go on, get them all free. Do not however go anywhere else in the cavern. Just see these people out. The Guildmaster will handle anything else including traps these bandits,” he said, stressing the word, “might have set to protect their ill gotten belongings.”

He added that last bit with a wink. The Silver Badge teams were due a bonus for their work here and what better way to pay them than by laying claim to all the ‘bandits’ had possessed. It was just efficient. Walking back up the slope he exited the cave as Aisling landed.

“All in hand?” She asked him.

“All in hand, Guildmaster. Rory’s team is currently freeing the prisoners but I thought it best for you to search the cavern for anything else they may have hidden down there or any belongings they have now left behind,” he paused for a moment, swishing his straight black hair as he looked at the sky. “Is she dead?”

“She got away. Teleportation talisman. Look into it Deverell. Things aren’t adding up around here and I hate mysteries!” Replied the Guildmaster in a huff before she stormed down into the cavern.

She was always more irritable when she didn’t get closure. He’d worked with her long enough to recognise that. It was going to be a trying few days. Looking around as the prisoners started making their way out in ones and twos he quickly headed towards where he had last seen Torian’s crew. Hopefully the children were okay.