[Omen of the Witchblade] Chapter 132 - Iron Justice

The Iron rank orc in a black and white suit stepped out of the wreckage. He straightened his tie and brushed off his sleeves that bulged with muscle.

It didn’t matter that little of the debris touched him.

You’ve really stepped in it now, Mel, she thought to herself. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

His yellow eyes widened in recognition when he saw Mel and Charlie on the ground. Then he grinned deeply, tusks proudly on display. “What a lucky coincidence! Just the healer my brothers and I have been after.” He rubbed his meaty hands together.

“You can’t be serious,” Charlie snapped in exasperation.

“A healer like you deserves better than second place. With us, you’ll be guaranteed the top spot.” He waggled his thick eyebrows. “If you play your cards right, maybe you’ll even get to warm my bed.”

Mel sprang to her feet and summoned her twinblade with a wordless snarl. She glanced around to see if any of Charlie’s skeletons had made it and winced at the damage.

Her eyes sparkled with emerald light as Mel shifted her vision into the heat spectrum with [Gaze of the Serpent].

[Gaze of the Serpent]

(Serpent Aspect)

(Copper, Green/Ability)

(Grade 8 [72%])

Cost: Low Mana

Cooldown: None

Borrow the eyes of a serpent, allowing you to view the world in gradations of colorful heat.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Grants infravision, replacing your normal eyesight with gradations of color based on the heat of surrounding objects. There is a brief delay when switching from one mode of perception to the other.

“Ah, the so-called First Champion,” the orc drawled. “A winner of an introductory trial is nothing to be proud of. Sit yourself back down. My group doesn’t need any more hotheads.”

Charlie pushed herself upright, pressing a hand glowing with Life aspect to her bleeding side. Bits of stained red shrapnel fell to the floor.

She looked at Mel with deep worry, as if considering the impossible choice whether she should say yes and be taken away so they could get out of this alive.

Mel knew it would be a sacrifice. Chances were high that Mel and the Magi would never see Charlie again. There was no telling what this orc would do to her.

Power discrepancies inherently possessed a sinister facet to them.

Mel made the decision for her. She pointed her twinblade at him. “You’ll have Charlie over my dead body, you grass-stained bitch!”

The orc looked stunned that Mel would dare speak, much less insult him. He growled. A low guttural sound that was at odds with his civilized appearance.

“Very well,” he said gruffly. “Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bother with a Copper. For you, I’ll make an exception. Somebody needs to knock you off your high horse, and I’m willing to put in a little charity work.”

The orc cracked his knuckles. It sounded like the building’s supports were buckling.

“Don’t ever let it be said that Dernerd the Great was anything less than generous!” he thundered. Dernerd turned his head to Charlie. “One last chance. Join me and I’ll only beat your gal pal to teach her a lesson. Otherwise, you get to watch her bleed out.”

“Never,” Charlie snapped.

Mel doubled over laughing, which sort of spoiled the whole tense mood.

Even the orc sagged a little with confusion and hurt.

“Dernerd!?” Mel said between gasps. “Bro, who the hell came up with that name?”

It did give Charlie’s remaining skeletons time to pile into the building. A shield and staff appeared in swirls of ash in her hands.

The orc’s face flushed, turning a darker shade of green. “Dernerd is a proud and–”

Mel burst out laughing again. “Hold up, that’s not fair! You can’t kill me by making me laugh until I piss myself. That’s so cheap. I thought you were an Iron?!”

He lashed out with blurring speed. Mel braced herself to dodge the blow, but it wasn’t meant for her. Mel turned in shock. She expected he would try to shut her up, buying Charlie some more time.

It never crossed her mind that the idiot would attack the one person he was trying to recruit.

His fist crashed into Charlie’s half-raised shield.

Combat Art: [Blueblood Block]

Despite the defensive combat art, the shield shattered to pieces beneath an Iron ranker’s might. Charlie cried out in agony. A spray of blood splattered the floorboards littered with debris.

Even Dernerd looked shocked at what he had done. Maybe he let his temper get the best of him. His hesitation gave them precious seconds.

Despite sporting a severely mangled arm, Charlie managed to pull off some magic as Mel lunged forward and sliced into his legs with her twinblade.

Aspect Skill: [Gravestone Upheaval: Reversal]

Stone graves thrust out of the floor, forming rapidly widening fissures that collapsed the shop’s floor into an underground, cavernous space.

As they were pulled underground, Mel used [Omen Mark] on the orc and slashed again.

[Omen Mark]

(Omen Aspect)

(Copper, Yellow/Spell)

(Grade 7 [32%])

Cost: Modest Mana & Stamina

Cooldown: Short

Single out a target for death, marking it with an ominous and debilitating sign.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Mark a target, enabling you to sense where they are within a 100-foot radius and triggering the [Marked for Death] affliction. Only one target can be marked at a time. Upon the death of a target, the mark can be moved at no additional cost.

[Marked for Death]: Creates a glowing sigil above the target’s head that only you and those you choose can see. Reduces the target’s physical and magical defenses proportional to your own. Afflictions placed upon this target will stack regardless of their original properties. Physical contact applies stacks of [Decay].

[Decay]: Withers the physical vessel of a target, dealing stacking damage-over-time and depleting stamina. Stacks accrue at a greater rate the longer you remain in physical contact.

Mel quickly shared the mark with Charlie.

You inflict an additional stack of [Frostbite Toxin (2)].

[Omen Mark] triggers an additional stack of [Bleed (2)].

The dirt and graves subtly rearranged around them, forming a slightly different bend in the root strewn tunnel.

Mel landed lightly on the balls of her feet, her twinblade out and ready to defend against the orc. He wasn’t far from them, but he was now separated by earth and stone.

Using [Hidden Mist] again, Mel was pleased at how well the thick soupy fog filled the narrow tunnels around them. The guards weren’t going to help them and the other Magi were too far away.

They were on their own.

Two High Coppers against an Iron is still a tough order, Mel thought. Gonna need to pull out all the stops.

Charlie’s breathing grew ragged as she struggled to heal herself. Blood pooled around her torn robes and damaged chainmail beneath.

Mel knelt beside Charlie. She was no stranger to wounds, and she did a quick assessment to see if Charlie was able to be moved. Once she was sure moving her wasn’t going to make Charlie worse, Mel picked her up and began trotting away from the Iron’s presence.

Confused and disoriented in the complete darkness of the underground, the orc defaulted to his primitive nature and let loose a snarling warcry. The sound reverberated through the tunnels of dirt and stone, losing little potency by the time the skill’s magic slammed into them.

Mel felt her bones shiver. She suddenly felt as fragile as spun glass.

Aspect Skill: [Cruel Shout]

Affliction: [Frailty]

I can take a guess at what that means, Mel thought sourly. New plan: don’t let him hit me. Easy.

When Charlie used [Premonition of the Reaper], Mel got a good look at how bad the damage was. It seemed that the bones showing darkly through were an accurate, messy picture.

“You know,” Mel said as she turned down a tunnel at random, “this isn’t exactly how I wanted to see you undressed. I was thinking a little smooth jazz, some drinks, maybe a back rub with oil. Fancy oil. None of that bargain bin olive oil from the kitchen. Real planning would go into this. Besides, I don’t think your bones are supposed to look like talcum powder.”

Despite the agony, Charlie laughed weakly. “...Sounds like an evening to long for.”

Mel kept up a stream of inane dialogue. She knew from firsthand experience that having a distraction helped tremendously with pain and focus. It kept you from spiraling, and right now Mel needed to keep Charlie focused on her voice.

And not the 3,481 bone fragments in her arm.

Life Aspect guttered out of Charlie’s hand, then flickered back into a rich golden glow as Mel gave her something else to concentrate on.

Aspect Skill: [Lifeweave]

The broken, bloody mess disappeared before Mel’s eyes as if time was rewound on her arm. With a wince, Charlie gingerly flexed her restored hand. “Always hardest to mend myself.”

“How’s your health doing?” Healing a wound that severe was nothing short of a miracle, but the damage was already done. Healing outside of a Haven only mended wounds. Health wasn’t restored.

Having a wound at all made you weaker, slower, and more prone to taking even more damage. So not having a healer or a [Health Potion] to shore yourself up was about as idiotic as you could get.

Besides, knowing how much damage the Iron orc dealt with that strike was crucial information. Though it wouldn’t be an exact one-to-one if Mel got hit.

The volume of vital resources between classes varied greatly. Gwen’s Berserker class had a vast quantity of health, whereas Thomas’ Warmage had significantly less.

Acolytes, as far as Mel understood, were on the low side of the spectrum for health reserves. That might be the case for Necromancer too.

“Halved. With [Life Shroud], it’s a false full.”

“How long does that last?” Mel asked. Shrouds granted false health, a sort of barrier to prevent further harm. They didn’t last forever though.

“Longer than this fight, I’m sure.” Charlie looked up at Mel, studying her with a hint of vulnerability. “My vigor is Grade Eight.”

Mel took another turn and stopped in a small room with two exits. It was as good a place to stop as any. “Can you change the shape of the tunnels at all? This is a bit of a maze. Which is good for us, but it also provides nearly zero benefit. I’m just as lost as Hulk-light over there.”

“It’s keeping him away for now, but yes, I can.” Charlie took out a [Small Mana Potion] from her inventory and downed it quickly.

Mel nodded and set her down where the floor curved up to meet the wall. “Let’s set you down. Now, where are your skeletons?”

One emerged from the dirt wall, stepping out, not unlike an undead emerging from a grave. It headed over with a lopsided gait. One of its arms was missing.

Mel looked over. “Creepy, but I like it. How many more you got? I’ve got an idea.”

“Four, making five total.”

Kneeling beside Charlie, Mel sketched out her plan in the dirt. She used her often underutilized [Ghostflame Lantern] to light up the room. Mel had a feeling she would need as much mana as she could get her hands on, and the cost of illuminating her [Hidden Mist] was too high.

After Mel finished drawing in the dirt with her [Simple Knife] (see, knives are useful!) she looked over at the five skeletons waiting for her orders, then back at Charlie.

Charlie’s expression was hard to read, but she seemed to be coming around to Mel’s way of thinking.

“That’s a terrible plan,” Charlie said.

“I said, ‘I’ve got an idea’ I never said anything about it being good. Besides, it’s the only one we’ve got. How long can you really keep him occupied before he just Juggernaut’s this bitch and runs through the walls?”

Charlie looked away. “There’s something you’re forgetting.”

“Do tell.”

She didn’t need to say anything when Charlie held up her Legendary [Kindling Branch of Divinity (Green-White)].

“Bitch, are you just showing off now?”

“Mel! I know you haven’t used yours yet.” She leaned in threateningly. “Trade.”

Mel threw up her hands. “Here I am, telling you my brilliant plan to sacrifice myself so your bony boys can ferry you away to get help, and you’re like ‘heh, look at my cool new branch, bet you wish you had one, hon-hon-hon! Baguette!’ Rude.”

She glowered. “Why did you make me French?”

“Why do I do anything, Princess?”

“Just trade with me,” Charlie snapped.