44 - The Ruin of Ruwena (Patreon)

“Well, you seem fit for battle to me,” the voxen man said with a grin as he added, “Now, I hope I don’t have to tell you not to go stacking recoil effects again; unless you think your death is the only way to win, that is.”

Phoenix’s eyes went wide as she blinked at the Emerald Caster before glancing over to where her mentor stood speaking quietly with the AOA Director, “You’re not going to tell me never to do something that reckless again?”

She was still being held in the warehouse-turned-clinic with many of the other Adventurers and guards that hadn’t fared so lucky during the assault. Meanwhile, her other party members had been helping where they could and Uriel kept her updated through their mental chat. Apparently, the damage on their side had been worse than expected due to the alliance of three noble houses that had flocked to Ruwena’s banner under the propaganda of House Wayland and Teras spreading lies in an effort to seize more power for themselves.

However, news was spreading through the encampment that they would soon break the hasty seal on the Reality Rift and be able to enter Tulisuda itself to continue the battle. Phoenix didn’t want to be kept on the sidelines again, especially when she knew Paul would be the one leading the charge. Even if she wouldn’t be that critical to reclaiming the rift, she wanted to be there for the man who had been there for her and who planned to always be a pillar in her life.

Everin followed her gaze before giving her a wink and saying in a hushed whisper, “Just don’t tell the Lord Paladin I said that. I don’t have your particular talents to come back from the punishment he might inflict upon me.”

“I–I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied… badly.

The Healer laughed and patted her head as if she was also a fluffy voxen kit, “You don’t need to fear, my little revolutionist. Your secrets are safe with me and my goddess. Now, go join your party and mentor. We’ll need all the heroes we can get in the Reality Rift.”

“Thank you, Cleric Starlark,” she said before hopping up to do just as the doctor ordered. Passing on the information to the others over the chat network, she approached Paul, slowing down the closer she got to the pair of very important people.

Her mentor waved her closer, putting a hand on her shoulder when she came into range as he said, “Agatha, I don’t believe you’ve met my Protégé before. This is Phoenix Fraser and soon to be Wayland.”

She couldn’t help but look up at him in surprise that he would introduce her already as part of his family. Then she was further surprised by the happy feeling welling up within her at the acknowledgment… Was he actually proud of her?

“A pleasure to finally put a face to the name, Miss Fraser. I’ve only read about your activities so far,” the runeforged woman said with an amused smile.

“You’ve read about me?” she asked in confusion, “I’m just a Crystal Caster though.”

“Who has fought above-Caste monsters, teleported half the AOA around the tundra, rescued hundreds of civilians both here and in Vallinsarvi, and discovered the traitors under our noses. It sounds like without your presence here no one would have raised the alarm in time to save our city from annihilation. So, yes, Miss Fraser; I have read much about you,” the director said as she continued to become speechless, “Now, I assume you will be joining your Mentor in the next advancement within Tulisuda, yes?”

Phoenix glanced up at Paul once more and said with a note of question, “Cleric Starlark said I was good to go. So it depends on if my Mentor approves the mission?”

Paul looked over her head and she followed his gaze to see Dazien who seemed to be getting yelled at by Rayna about something while Saiya nodded along with her.

Things still felt awkward between her and the Defender but they didn’t have time to sit down and talk out their problems; there were traitors to defeat and a city to save.

Then her mentor said, “Go let your leader know King’s Dream will be joining us.”

She nodded and scurried off as politely as she could. She informed everyone at the same time through the voice chat, however, rather than approach the gemite in person. Sometimes it was just easier to pretend like everything was fine instead of trying to address the giant wall between them. She promised herself that she’d find a moment later to talk with him privately and try to explain that she did trust him despite her secrets.

For right now, however, she decided to just make her way with her party to the staging area closer to the Rift where other parties were beginning to congregate as well. They had all been given the same mission: reclaim Tulisuda from within.

King’s Dream was briefed a bit on Tulisuda while they waited. It was ideal for resource farming as the quality of the magic was higher, being High-Sapphire Caste, but the magical quantity, which determined the rate of spawns, was extremely low due to the magical infrastructure put in place that siphoned it to power the surrounding city. The main uses for the space within were to mine the uncommon and rare minerals in the area and collect the Elemental Shards that would naturally accumulate over time.

The exceptionally rare times that a monster did manifest, they had procedures in place to lock down the Rift from both sides until a suitable party could be called in to clear it out. The lockdown procedures, having been so well documented, were actually one of the main reasons they were even able to subvert them so quickly after the Ruwena family had triggered the defenses in their retreat. That and Paul’s apparent antipathy of using doors.

As her party was listening and waiting, Phoenix caught some motion out of the corner of her eye and noticed one of the other cinderen women in a nearby party smile pleasantly and wave at her. She blinked owlishly for a moment, glancing behind her to see if there had been someone else the stranger was gesturing to, and when she confirmed that there wasn’t, she hesitantly returned the wave causing the pretty stranger’s smile to widen cheerfully.

She didn’t have time to try and find out who the other Adventurer was, however, as Director Agatha Trayvious, flanked by Lord Wayland, Lord Teras, and Cleric Starlark, stepped up to address the group, “The seal has been broken. Once inside we expect heavy resistance but our goal remains the same. We will root out the traitors and keep our city safe. The Lord Paladin will be striking first along with Cleric Starlark and the selected Sapphire Caste parties. Crystal Casters will bring up the rear. Good luck and gods’ blessings, Adventurers.”

With that, Paul turned and conjured his greatsword and black feathered helmet as he stepped through the rift in reality that was a brightly glowing mixture of red and orange. Everin and the strongest Sapphire Caste party quickly followed behind. Once one of the members reappeared to inform them of the hostiles on the other side, the second team moved to promptly reinforce the first group, expecting sudden violence to be right on the other side.

After all the Sapphire Casters had entered, the party with the woman who had taken notice of Phoenix earlier went next while her own party would be the last through as the newest adventuring group since getting together after the blood moon’s beginning.

As King's Dream entered through what appeared to her like the gate to hell, she wasn’t surprised by what she found but didn’t have much time to process everything as they had indeed walked straight into a battle zone. Fire and brimstone, ash and lava were everywhere and the heat was stifling to the extreme but that was less adrenaline-inducing than the chaotic mass of spells and projectiles being flung around them.

She reactively expanded her aura and could feel all the little [Starlight Companions] go to work, getting destroyed almost as quickly as the [Sun Shells] that had appeared around all of her allies. Phoenix spent the mana to renew them as quickly as she could, knowing they were likely the most effective thing she could offer at the moment as she attempted to follow her party in finding a more defensible position.

Paul was a devastating force among the enemies as he tore through their attempts at teamwork further empowered by the Boon-focused Cleric on his side. The vengeful paladin was fueled with wrath towards the traitors who had dared to ally themselves with the very clergy that had spurned him, made extremely evident by his aura radiating out over them all.

Passive Ability: Flames of Purification

Type: Aura (cleanse, elemental, fire)

Current Caste: Emerald 10

Crystal Effect:  Periodically cleanses Elemental Banes for allies within your aura.

Sapphire Effect: Increases Fire resistance for allies while decreasing Fire resistance for enemies.

Emerald Effect: Periodically cleanses Magical Banes for allies within your aura.

The flow of the battle was hard to sense while in the thick of things but, as they were able to extricate themselves from the arrival zone, they could clearly tell that the Adventurers were pushing back the displaced nobles and their lackeys. Unfortunately, as they gained distance from the Rift, the environmental hazards became a much larger threat.

While some infrastructure had been created to assist with the mining efforts, much of it was currently being destroyed by magically empowered attacks and devastating spells. The crumbling stone of what seemed to be the ruins of a small village was becoming further ruined as the battle raged around them. Stone bridges crossing lava flows made pursuing the retreating forces even more dangerous and Dazien led them away from the hazard and towards the direction Phoenix pointed. She had sensed a few Crystal Caste auras in one of the stone buildings that had seemed more recently refurbished.

Their leader bulldozed his way through, not even bothering to open the door as his weaker and slightly bent back-up shield bashed through it with the momentum built up from his [Lead the Charge] ability. Rayna and Phoenix followed quickly behind him to whittle away at the enemies gathered together while Saiya and Uriel blocked the exit to provide ranged damage and healing support.

The music didn’t last long as they overwhelmed the poorly trained Casters who were quick to surrender rather than fight, having attempted to hide away. King’s Dream quickly came to realize that they were members of the House who were more interested in magical research than combat and Dazien quickly accepted their surrender, conjuring the doorway to his storage space and retrieving the Chains of Silence each party leader had been given earlier from the AOA for just such a situation.

As Phoenix stepped out of the building to let the others handle the capture, her ever-helpful, totally not trying to murder her at all, book appeared to give an update about the progress of her recent quest.

Quest: Tulimeir Traitors

Objective complete: Helped defeat thirty traitors.

Bonus Objective partially complete: You’re still alive.

Objective reward increased from rare to epic.

[Judgment Spirit Gem] has been added to your collection.

Additional objective and bonus objective are still remaining.

She frowned at the reward and wondered if she should just sell the extra Spirit Gems since she no longer needed them to unlock abilities. She would need the higher Caste versions once she hit Sapphire and would require more of them to unlock the next tiers in her abilities which she guessed would be costly if her book wouldn't provide them.

The Astromancer wondered why her book thought she needed these current Crystal ones, however, since it had been fairly consistent with giving things that would be useful to her. Then she recalled a certain gemite who still had an ability that needed to be unlocked and reassurance that she still wanted him to be her friend. Perhaps, this could help her break down the awkward wall they had both helped create from their own insecurities?

‘Later’, she reminded herself, then began to walk down the path away from the building to attempt to ascertain which way they should head next. She suddenly froze, sensing a familiar, yet slightly confused-feeling, Sapphire Caste aura heading in their direction and she noticed that she could finally make out the tainted presence of [Monster Seeds] within it that Paul had told her about. It was like little roots spreading throughout the intangible shroud in tendrils that tried to both strengthen and siphon it in some kind of ethereal symbiosis.

Distracted by the observation, she didn’t react to turn back towards her party before Arktis Neired appeared a few meters in front of her. The katar-wielding juggernaut’s face was filled with disbelieving fear that morphed into anger before settling into pure hatred.

“You… You did this… You were the one that told Lord Wayland and brought his wrath down on my family,” the cinderen spat at her.

Phoenix felt the slight dread that had entered her mind at the sight of her captor quickly shift into indignant anger as she retorted, “I wasn’t the one who kidnapped an innocent person in an attempt to murder them… twice.”

The woman seemed irate and yelled, “I will not let some outsider that should already be dead be the ruin of Ruwena’s long and noble history! I was going to be a part of that legacy and you stole that away!”

Then Arktis charged at her faster than her body could react, just as Phoenix was able to process the fact that she would get impaled by the Sapphire Caster, she was knocked to the side and heard the odd sound of a punching dagger piercing metal. Discovering that Dazien had shoved her aside to take the oncoming blow with his raised shield.

After the brief surprise, she reacted to the onset of combat remembering her leader’s words; that she wasn’t alone.

Rayna was already moving, her [Stepping Tune] and [Percussion Strike] beginning to ramp up as her [Gem Encrusted] armaments attempted to pummel the traitor with fists and tails. Large gems began to periodically appear, floating in the air in the voxen’s wake that Phoenix knew were charged by the ambient magic to be used for later.

Ability: Arcanist Gem

Type: Utility (construct, elemental, magical, arcane, gem)

Cost: Low mana.

Cooldown: None.

Current Caste: Crystal 10

Crystal Effect: Construct a floating gem that quickly absorbs ambient mana which can be used to fuel rituals or the mana cost of abilities before bursting upon reaching capacity or if destroyed and inflicting Gem and Arcane damage to nearby enemies.

Due to their explosive tendencies, the bard had been forbidden to use them in the corridors under the city but here, in the open space within a pocket dimension, they all had much more freedom to rain havoc upon their enemy.

Phoenix, for her part, conjured her own weapons and began to strike as she incanted with a chill in her voice, “Gaze into the abyss.” She also remembered something she wanted to test and had Tala stay merged while fighting this new Sapphire threat.

“A touch of frost and your death follows," Phoenix heard Uriel say from a few meters away and the enemy seemed to gain patches of frost but the amount of slowing seemed negligible to the quick and powerful woman.

They all continued exchanging blows and spells with the solo enemy. An occasional [Arcanist Gem] would burst apart to deal damage to anything nearby, which was usually Arktis as their tank continually maneuvered her near to one with his own well-placed sword strikes.

In a move that didn’t shock the Wayfarer, the Sapphire Caster triggered another ability and punched Dazien’s shield so hard that it simply shattered into pieces, and the shockwave that was created sent the gemite flying backward. Only Phoenix’s quick use of [Ruler of Relativity] on the Defender to pull them towards each other managed to keep the tank from falling into an open lava pool.

Rayna took advantage of the enemy’s split focus and the space left by the teammates to trigger a sonic attack that was normally difficult for the voxen to use with Dazien and Phoenix nearby.

Ability: Siren's Cry

Type: Spell (channel, magical, song)

Cost: Moderate mana per second.

Cooldown: None.

Current Caste: Crystal 9 (96%)

Crystal Effect: Let out a cry, inflicting Song damage and [Deafened] to anyone in a cone in front of you.

- Deafened (bane, magical, song): Hearing is greatly impaired.

The cinderen reactively clapped her hands over her ears and Rayna triggered another area ability with a stomp that sounded like the clashing of a gong and reminded Phoenix of Uriel’s [Scorch the Shaken Earth] ability.

Class Ability: Sonorous Stomp

Type: Special Attack (magical, song)

Cost: Moderate mana.

Cooldown: 1 minute.

Current Caste: Crystal 9 (86%)

Crystal Effect: Stomp the ground causing a shockwave in a radial burst inflicting moderate Song damage and knocking back enemies.

As the now beleaguered cinderen stumbled back from the bursts of damage, also heavily ladened with various Banes, Rayna angrily growled at the assassin in a voice Phoenix had never heard, “This is for hurting my friend!” then the Striker triggered the effect of her stacked Boons before landing a final tail strike on the weakened traitor.

Class Ability: Swift Encore

Type: Utility (movement, magical, song)

Cost: Moderate mana per second.

Cooldown: None.

Current Caste: Crystal 9 (82%)

Crystal Effect: Accumulate instances of [Impetus] while attacking.

- Impetus (boon, magical, song, stacking): Your speed is slightly increased. Consume all instances to deliver a burst of Song damage with your next attack that scales with the number of instances consumed.

Class Ability: Shatter

Type: Execute (magical, song)

Cost: High mana.

Cooldown: 1 minute.

Current Caste: Crystal 9 (98%)

Crystal Effect: Inflicts moderate Song damage in a sudden burst. Damage is scaled based on the amount of health missing from the target.

Arktis’ chest imploded as one of the voxen’s glowing gem-scaled tails buried itself within it and the look of shock on the Sapphire Caster’s face quickly became frozen in death as the cinderen slumped onto the rocky ground.

Phoenix and Dazien returned to Rayna’s side as the pugilist glared down at the corpse that began to start dissolving into blue ash from Rayna triggering Dazien's [Tribute] looting ability through the brand on the back of a paw-like hand. Saiya then quickly claimed her sister’s arm in a hug as Uriel was once more at his best friend’s side and the pair also stared down at the fallen enemy.

“You killed her,” Phoenix said in quiet observation with a glance at the bard.

“I heard her admit that she hurt and tried to kill you,” the voxen responded coldly. Rayna finally looked away from the dead cinderen to meet emerald eyes with her amber ones as she stated firmly, “No remorse.”

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