Inferno a litrpg adventu.., p.22
Inferno: A LitRPG Adventure (Elemental Mastery Book 2), page 22
“This would not have come to pass if not for your exploits,” she said, her words perfunctorily including Vincent and Nella, while her gaze was locked intently on Zephyr. “Turning the dragon to our cause. Repelling a force of drones large and formidable enough to crush Blackstone Keep. What feats will you perform next? I wait with bated breath.”
“Alright. She’s weird,” Vincent admitted as the mercenary stalked away without even waiting for Zephyr to respond. “I don’t like her.”
“I wonder what Lux will say when she arrives and sees this strange woman hunting Zeph down, be it in the hallways of Blackstone Keep or between tents during the advance to the Fennean Empire,” Nella said, pushing her empty bowl away. “I’m sure it’ll be entertaining.”
“I’m sure it won’t,” Zephyr retorted, getting to his feet and making a mental note to never sit at the corner of the mess hall again, where Marie could box him in. “Come on, let’s go. Gabriel says he wants to spend all day working on blazefire conjurations today. I could definitely use the practice.”
“I’ll be with Rina in the afternoon,” Vincent said. “We figured out a way to meld Tempest glyphs with Inferno glyphs seamlessly, and I’m keen to see how far we can take this.”
The Phoenix Knight met them in the sitting area outside their quarters, so that they wouldn’t be underfoot of the mages and mercenaries storming through the corridors of Blackstone Keep. It also gave Gabriel and Nella the chance to devour an obscene amount of the heavily sugared pastries Mister Hartor’s staff kept bringing them.
Despite her affinity with Inferno magic, Nella had the most difficulty with the blazefire conjurations. Vincent, in contrast, surpassed Defiance readily and attained Clarity less than an hour after the trio began their practice. Zephyr worked gamely at weaving the complex threads of Inferno ether, and by time they stopped for lunch, both he and Nella had arrived at Clarity and made some headway toward Stoicism. Vincent was already at Resolve and well on his way to Courage, the final and most complex blazefire conjuration.
“Just practice it yourself for a bit tonight, and I’m sure you’ll get it,” Gabriel said, waving the jeweler’s apprentice on his way. “Alright, you’d better get going. Brass is very eager to see what you and Rina can cook up.”
“I won’t disappoint her,” Vincent promised, before turning to Zephyr and Nella. “I’ll see you both tomorrow morning, then?”
“Morning? He’s not even going to have dinner with us?” Nella asked. She glared at Zephyr. “You were like this with Lux, too!”
“Let’s just have lunch and get back to work.” Zephyr sighed, massaging his temples with his thumbs.
The rest of the afternoon, then the evening passed in laborious tedium that had Nella groaning in despair. Zephyr struggled with the blazefire conjurations too, but he managed to form a proper Stoicism conjuration an hour before Nella did. Evening arrived, and then night fell. Zephyr felt confident that another few more hours of practice would see him attain Resolve, but Gabriel shook his head and called a halt to the day’s training.
“The two of you are mentally exhausted,” the Phoenix Knight said. “And entirely too hard on yourselves. The progress you made today would usually take a typical initiate at the Inferno School an entire year to accomplish. So yes, be proud of what you’ve accomplished. Now go get some food, take the rest of the night off, and we’ll spend a bit more time on this in the morning.”
With that, Gabriel got to his feet and walked away, leaving Zephyr and Nella in the sitting area. The ranger was slumped over on the table, and her only response when Zephyr asked her if she wanted to go to the mess hall was a long, pained groan.
“I’ll have a meal delivered to her,” Mister Hartor said, answering the bell outside Zephyr’s room. “Would you like your meal brought here too?”
“No,” Zephyr replied. “I think I’m going to stretch my legs. Thank you, sir.”
The chamberlain bowed deeply as Zephyr turned and left for the mess hall. The fog of fatigue began to clear quickly enough as he made his way through Blackstone Keep, and he found himself wondering how he should spend the rest of his evening. Perhaps he could visit with Master Sora and the brothers. A few rounds of brisk sparring would certainly refresh him. But the Wu monks were probably busy with their own preparations or tending to Brother Sparrow and Brother Wing’s injuries. They would welcome Zephyr’s presence, but they likely didn’t need the distraction. Alternatively, he could find Vincent and Rina and offer to help with their project. He discarded that idea readily enough as he recalled what happened the last time he’d walked into the armory uninvited.
Zephyr was still weighing his options and starting on his platter of steamed vegetable dumplings when Marie sat down across the table from him.
“Something I can help you with?” he asked uneasily, reluctant to meet the mercenary’s intense gaze.
“Yes,” she said, picking up a fork and a knife and going to work on a grilled steak. “There is something you can definitely help me with, Zephyr.”
“I’m not interested,” he replied immediately.
“You haven’t heard what I want from you yet,” Marie protested, annoyance flashing across her eyes. “I thought followers of the Wu were supposed to be more polite.”
“Being polite doesn’t mean suffering rudeness from others,” Zephyr said, before sighing and shaking his head. “I am sorry. I’m just tired. I’ve had a busy day. I think we all have.”
“Of course. The attack on Betrayer’s Bay is crucial. I’ve had my tacticians running all kinds of contingency deployments and my sergeants drilling their squads relentlessly, but we know too little about where we’re going to formulate any meaningful strategy at all. Perhaps we will just deploy a small group of specialists alongside the Phoenix Knights.”
“His Excellency has only been to Betrayer’s Bay once, hasn’t he? And it was so long ago,” Zephyr said. “I’m sure things must have changed a lot since then. He wouldn’t be able to say much about the terrain or how the buildings are laid out over there.”
“And this doesn’t bother you? The prospect of heading into peril utterly blind?” Marie demanded. “Avora won’t be joining us on account of his injuries. What if he is sending us all to our deaths?”
“His Excellency wouldn’t do that!” Zephyr replied, frowning. “You shouldn’t accuse anyone of treachery without proof!”
“I have made no accusation. Merely a speculation. But I see now. No, you’re not bothered. Not overly so, anyway. That’s because of your power. You and your friends possess greater magical mastery than most Archmages, and it is this power upon which the fate of the world hinges.”
“Fate of the world?”
“I’m not making an exaggeration, Zephyr,” Marie said. “Consider the last attack on Blackstone Keep, the Phoenix Knight bastion that has kept the Fennean Empire in check for centuries. It would have fallen, if not for you three and the dragon you bound to our cause.”
“With the Phoenix Knights broken, the iron drones would pour out into the rest of the world, and nothing would be able to stop them,” she continued. “Every nation, every realm would fall beneath the shadow of the Unliving Emperor, and soon, all of humanity would be drones or chattel bred for conversion into drones. So yes, the fate of the world does hinge upon the power of you three, for if you fail us, and we all perish at Betrayer’s Bay, then...”
“Everyone dies or becomes a drone,” Zephyr finished, struggling to keep his words untainted by the sense of irritability welling within him. “I know what’s at stake, Lady Vensk. I know everyone’s depending on us. I know...”
He looked at Marie Vensk and really saw her for the first time. Zephyr took a deep breath and pushed his food aside calmly. When he spoke again, he did so in hushed tones.
“I know you’re scared,” he said. The cold, hard light in the mercenary’s eyes told him all that he needed to know. “The iron drones are terrifying foes, perhaps even more fearsome than the Shadowswarm in some way. The Shadowswarm are just monsters, but the drones... they used to be people. Every drone we see isn’t just an enemy trying to kill us. It’s a promise of what the Unliving Emperor wants to do to the world, to everyone.”
“But it also helps us make a promise to ourselves, too,” Zephyr continued. “A promise that we will not let the Unliving Emperor have his way. A promise that we will protect those we love from him. A promise that the day will come when there are no drones and no Slave-Masters left in this world. I make that promise now to myself, and I will make it to you too, Lady Vensk. I don’t know if I can keep it, but I will fight with every last shred of ether in my soul and every last drop of blood in my body to do so.”
Marie remained silent for several moments before her lips curled into a crooked smile.
“If I were truly scared, what you just said might actually work to banish my fear,” the mercenary said. “I wasn’t wrong about you, Zephyr. I have a proposition for you, one that will only be relevant if we all live through this crisis and emerge victorious at the end.”
“Uh.” Zephyr frowned and leaned away. “I didn’t want to say this, but I already have a lover. She will be here in just over a week. I don’t wish to be rude, Lady Vensk, but I will decline your proposition.”
The mercenary blinked in astonishment, only to break into loud peals of musical laughter.
“That is not what I was referring to, Zephyr,” Marie said, after her mirth had run its course. She coughed into her fist and met his gaze. “I want to start my own mercenary company. I need a champion, one possessing both martial skill and magical power. As a sellsword, you would be free from the shadows cast by the Archmages of the magical orders. Your life would be far richer than it would be within the confines of a monastery. Your wealth would rival even that of Xila Brass! But that’s only if you have a captain. Only if you have me.”
Zephyr cleared his throat uneasily and hoped fervently that he wasn’t blushing. “I follow the teachings of the Wu, Lady Vensk. I have no intention of waging war for riches. I am sorry, but I will have to turn down your offer.”
“Take some time to consider it, at least,” Marie replied, finishing the last few bites of her steak. “Or not. After all, if we all die at Betrayer’s Bay, everything we’ve talked about here would be moot, wouldn’t it?”
“I already said I—” Zephyr began.
“You’d protect us all. Defeat the Unliving Emperor and save the world,” the mercenary finished for him. “I heard you the first time, Zephyr. I’d like to believe you. In fact, I fervently hope you and your friends get us all through this. But you’ll have to excuse me for not falling to my knees and proclaiming you our destined savior.”
“I would never ask anyone to do that!” Zephyr said, aghast at the very notion.
“Of course you wouldn’t.” Marie stood. “And about that whole spiel regarding your lover? Here’s what I have to say about that.”
“I... what I meant to say was...“ Zephyr stammered.
“I don’t mind sharing.” The mercenary winked at him. “And I don’t care if she doesn’t know. Have a good night, Zephyr. We will speak again, sooner rather than later, hopefully.”
Before he could reply, Marie walked away, her lithe figure disappearing into the mess hall’s ever-present crowd within moments.
Chapter 25
After another morning of blazefire conjuration drills, the trio met up with Rina in Blackstone Keep’s armory. The quartermaster was eager to show off the results of her collaboration with Vincent, and she hopped from foot to foot as the jeweler’s apprentice buckled his newest creations over Zephyr’s hands.
“This is amazing work, Vincent,” Zephyr said, holding up his new gauntlets of sleek black steel, their surfaces laced with lines of crimson and cobalt light. Twinned Tempest and Inferno glyphs adorned the back of the fists. He unfurled a codex display.
Illumination & Fury
Enchanted gauntlets +8
Greater Inferno Amplification, Greater Tempest Amplification, Impact
“We couldn’t save your armor, but Taphir managed to forge those from the wreckage,” Vincent said. “I was thinking about the Dragon Strike Techniques you told us about, and I thought that these would help make them even more powerful.”
“The Amplification glyphs double the effects of their respective corresponding magic,” Rina added. “Vincent said your Lightning Infusion spell makes you faster, while your Inferno Infusion spell increases your strength. So with those, you’ll be even faster and stronger.”
“You’ll hit harder too,” Vincent said. “I know you can already cut through drone bodies with Lethal Swiftness’s Burning Horizon Aspect, but these will still come in handy just in case you want to punch some drones.”
“He should punch some drones,” Rina said, chuckling. “Your gauntlets bear intertwined Tempest and Inferno glyphs, which could very well be the first of their kind! Your blows will carry with them Tempest magic to shred away any dark magic barriers and Inferno magic to burn and crush anything they hit.”
“That will definitely come in handy,” Zephyr said. “Maybe we should just focus on fighting with weapons like these and not worry so much about trying to combine Tempest magic spells with Inferno magic spells.”
“Maybe we should!” Rina put her arm through Vincent’s and drew the jeweler’s apprentice close. “I don’t mind, as long as Vincey’s here with me!”
“Vincey?” Nella guffawed. “Didn’t Clarissa call you that too?”
“Yeah, well. Now it’s my turn!” Rina huffed, tightening her grasp on Vincent’s arm. He chuckled weakly, his face turning bright red.
“What about me?” Nella asked. “You haven’t forgotten me, have you?”
“Of course not.” Vincent picked up Nella’s bow and handed it to her. “Before you snap at me for touching your bow, you did say I was free to take it out from our mage band whenever I felt like tinkering with it.”
“I did,” Nella said, a curious smile spreading across her face as she noticed a crimson glyph woven seamlessly into the cobalt one just above the grip. She flipped the bow over. There was a similar pair of glyphs on the other side.
No, not similar, Zephyr realized as he took off his gauntlets and put them into his mage band. They’re inverted.
The ranger summoned a codex display and held her bow up.
Heartseeker’s Wrath
Enchanted longbow +11
Wielder Resonance
Facet Shift
Tempest Equivocation
Inferno Equivocation
Current Aspect: Burning Horizon
“The Equivocation glyph-pairs we added means that when you loose a lightning arrow, your bow will infuse it with enough Inferno ether to match its Tempest magic effects,” Vincent explained. “The reverse is true too, although right now, your fiery arrows aren’t nearly as powerful as your lightning ones.”
“It does draw upon your personal ether reserves to make up for the shortfall, though,” Rina warned. “So be careful with this enchantment if you’re unable to channel Inferno or Tempest ether for any reason at all.”
“That’s why you can render these glyphs dormant by pressing these switches here,” Vincent said, pointing to the raised ridges beneath the paired glyphs. “You can press the switches again to reactivate the glyphs.”
“This will come in handy,” Nella said. “Thanks, Vincent. You’re brilliant.”
“Oh, isn’t he?” Rina cooed, hugging Vincent and ruffling his hair. “Sometimes, he’s so smart I just want to gobble his brain up.”
“Good choice,” Nella said. “That’s the largest part of him.”
“Hey!” Vincent protested. He sighed as the two women tittered merrily, took out something that appeared to be a small pin of polished steel, and passed it to Zephyr. “Pin this somewhere to your robes, Zeph. It’s a minor Swiftness glyph. It’s not quite as potent as the one on your old armor, but it’s still better than nothing. Once I figure out how to miniaturize full-powered glyphs though, things are going to be different.”
“I’m sure you’ll get there,” Zephyr said, pinning the glyph to his collar. “I can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with.”
“Me too.” Vincent beamed, then passed another pin to Nella. “Here, Nella. You get one too. If there’s anything I’ve learned in the fights we’ve had so far, you can never be too fast, which is why I’m adding a swiftness glyph to my own armor as well.”
The ranger accepted the pin gleefully. “Great! Now maybe we’ll be able to keep up with Zeph,” she said. “Someone as big as he is shouldn’t be allowed to move so quickly.”
“Alright, now that we’re all here, should we decide how we’re going to use our essence orbs?” Zephyr asked.
Vincent and Nella nodded in unison.
“I think we should just focus on enhancing our overall mastery of Inferno magic,” Vincent said. “What do the two of you think?”
“I agree,” Zephyr said. “Nella?”
“Yes, of course. We should have done this earlier,” the ranger said. “Then I would have learned more spells during that entire day I spent stuck with Gabriel.”
Zephyr extended his will to the essence orbs and expended their power upon the trio’s mastery of Inferno magic. His codex display flickered.
Magic: Inferno (Mage)
Progress to Master: 800/4,000 essence orbs
+1,650% personal Inferno ether reserves
+1,650% Inferno spell casting speed
+1,650% Inferno spell learning rate
+1,650% Inferno spell efficacy
“We still have some left, don’t we?” Vincent asked. “Why don’t we just fully enhance all the Inferno spells and spell variants we’ve learned so far? I don’t see any point in holding anything back at all.”
“Neither do I,” Zephyr agreed. “Nella, you were the one who’s learned the most Inferno magic spells so far. Do you want to do the honors?”
“Sure,” the ranger said. A few moments later, she adjusted her codex display and angled it for Zephyr and Vincent to see.
