Amber | Chapter 119. (Patreon)

Chapter 119.

Amber had expected a lot of things, but not this. She had expected the Arcane Council to show up, even the Saints of Truth would’ve been more normal. But researchers from the Magic Association that were here to steal as well? She would’ve never expected that. 

Lubaum fired a streak of lightning and Aveline raised her staff as a barrier was erected, and a moment later it exploded, dissipating along the attack. 

“Hand over the staff, thief,” the highest level mage said. He was a man dressed in black robes.

“Above 300…” Remmel clicked his tongue before turning to Amber. “Do you think you can deal with the other three? Aveline can’t get us out.” 

Amber glanced at the nervous ex-noble and hesitated. Asking for her to deal with three mages way above her level was a bit too much. However, before she could even decide the highest level mage screamed. 

“Disappear!”

Amber felt danger and yanked Aveline before using the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash, and behind an explosion of purple went off. They weren’t curses, but something else. Aveline squealed and Amber, naturally, threw her away from her as two more spells were flung at her. 

Aveline hit a pile of gold with a loud groan, and Amber raised her Cursewelder as a deluge of fire hit her, then a moment later she was flung against the back wall as her bones cracked. She gritted her teeth as the three mages appeared in front of her, and the first one to speak was the one she was acquainted with: Grand Mage Lubaum, and the same person that had taught her Lightning Storm. 

“Amber, you’re a disappointment,” he growled. “You could’ve become an amazing mage, and yet you’re but a filthy warrior.”

She smiled. “But I can be a mage to⁠o.”

She raised her hand as the old Staff of Demons appeared and then she swung Wind Cleave and Fulminating Slash.

“Ripper.” 

Their eyes widened and they raised their staff to put barriers, and a moment later Amber used the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash again, having just gotten out of cooldown. The two attacks struck as she landed behind the group of three mages, and without wasting any time she raised her staff and used Cursed Battery. 

In a single moment, all of the attacks hit as they were engulfed in an explosion. Amber heard the sound of glass shattering before the mages went flying out of the explosion site, rolling on the ground. She smiled at that, but quickly switched back to Cursewelder. 

She didn’t waste any time and chased after the weakest and most injured looking mage. Because she knew she’d be fucked as soon as she lost momentum, and so; with all bodily enhancements in tow, she reached him in a split second as his eyes widened and she kneed. 

His face dented in and he went flying into the wall with a loud explosion, and Amber turned sensing danger only for her body to be hit by lightning⁠— her muscles convulsing as her nerve endings were charred in a moment, making her fall to the ground. Then, a fireball exploded as she simply looked up to face it and enhanced the toughness of her body with mana. 

“Amber!” Aveline called in a panic. 

Amber was blasted, her body sizzled as she dully hit a wall, but she didn’t panic. Instead, she simply used the active skill of Recovery of Curses, doubling its effectiveness. And then she got up, her body crackling as she heard gasps. 

“How are you even alive?!” the fire mage asked, shocked.

Amber smiled. “Magic.” 

“Bullshit!” Lubaum screamed and flung a lightning spell at her, but Amber didn’t let it hit her. 

She used the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash and landed in front of the mage she had just kneed. He was gulping a potion and his eyes widened as she reached for him⁠— and he screamed. 

“Repulse!” 

Amber was blasted back with basic kinetic energy, and then she turned as a fireball came for her. She was mid-air, meaning that she couldn’t do all that much. She sent it a gust of wind to deviate it, but it did nothing as it hit her⁠— and blasted her into a pile of gold. Some of her bones broke from the impact as she grunted. 

As much as she wanted to one-sidedly dominate a bunch of mages, it wasn’t that easy. Not when all mages involved were level 200+.

“Did we get her?” 

“No, she’s still alive,” Lubaum said gravely, “Distract her so I can end her with my spell.”

She grunted, “Annoying.” 

Amber dodged out of the way from a mana concentrated spell. It felt weird to know what type of spells were being used against her, but she didn’t read a ton of books for nothing. And more importantly, she had to deal with the incoming attack, because it was Lightning Storm. 

She couldn’t do it yet, but she could certainly stop it. 

“You should’ve accepted my offer, instead of lying to my face,” Lubaum spat. 

Amber rolled out of the way and cast away Cursewelder raising her hand towards him. 

“I really don’t give a shit for a staff to turn me into the ultimate mage,” she retorted.

Focus. 

Amber took a deep breath, and her fingers crackled as she drew runes in the air and the Great Mage’s eyes widened.

“Impossible—”

Thunder. 

A rain of five lighting bolts hit the spot where he had been standing, melting the nearby gold and exploding the floor, causing the mage to use a barrier. Of course, Lighting Storm was a shadow of what it was, but it was good enough for now. 

After all, once I level up my core, it’ll all change. 

Amber dashed towards him, crossing the distance in a single moment. She raised her hands as Cursewelder manifested within her grip before she swung down, the barrier protecting the Great Mage cracking almost instantly. 

He gritted his teeth, his body was bloodied and full of cuts, bleeding continuously and some of the wounds looked rotten. Such were the effects of her curses. But they weren’t enough, in fact they were far from it, which was why⁠ she raised her hand and⁠—

Blast. 

Abyssal Channel kicked in and the Grand Mage was blasted with half of the abyssal energy she had access to. He screamed as she heard a crack, and then from within the flames, he swung his staff hitting her side and screaming.

“Die!” 

A blast of electricity imploded upon her. Her mind stopped for a moment, her heart almost flatlined, and her body was torn apart by the level 250 spell. Then she was blasted away with a kinetic blast, hitting something soft. 

“Are you alright?!” Aveline had stopped her from crashing into a wall. 

Yet, Amber was confused. That should’ve killed the Grand Mage, but instead he immediately retaliated. She looked up, her body in deep pain, and saw the Grand Mage ripping a collar off his neck. 

Some kind of artifact. 

“Give up,” the mage who she had kneed, walked out from behind a pile of gold. “It’s three against one. Lubaum has told us about your talents, it’d be a waste to kill you.”

Grand Mage Lubaum growled, raising his staff. In comparison to the other two mages, he seemed more than willing to kill her. 

“Hand over your friends, and we’ll spare you,” the fire mage said. 

And Amber smiled. “What do I gain from this?” 

“Is your life not enough?” the fire mage asked incredulously. “Surely a child like you can understand its meaning.” 

“That is right.” 

Amber nodded very slowly as if understanding but not giving any confirmation, before moving her voice to a mere whisper.

“Aveline, can you kill our presence?”

“I can but⁠—”

“Do it then,” Amber interrupted. “I’ll kill at least one of them with that.”

At that, the ex-noble hesitated but ultimately nodded.

“You gave up, huh?” Lubaum said, his voice full of disdain. “In your dreams, in your pursuits, you’ve just chosen death. You disgust me, human.” 

All of them raised their staffs and Aveline whispered. 

“Vanish.” 

Their presences vanished and Amber grabbed the mage⁠— now unable to see her⁠— and teleported her out of the way as three spells hit the spot where they had just been. The entire chamber rocked, and a moment later Aveline used the spell to allow for visibility, or whatever. 

She gasped. “I thought, I was going to die.”

“Go help Remmel, I’m fine here.” Amber looked back at the mages that were on guard. 

Aveline rose to protest, “But⁠—”

“Just do it.” 

She hesitated but ultimately left. Amber heard a loud blast inside the room, blowing apart a wall in the distance and showing a melting metal plate. In the end, Remmel was the one with the harder battle, because unlike her, he didn’t have access to…

Flames ignited on her hands.

Essence. 

A bow of flames formed within her hands as an arrow was made, nocking it into the fiery string, and then she pulled with all her strength as it began to shine brighter and brighter. 

She was going to end this now. 

Amber took a deep breath. She couldn’t entertain this battle. It wasn’t a matter of the fact that she was weak, but rather that she was getting overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

So, I just have to cut them down. 

The flames on the arrow reached a new peak as the stealth was broken, and all of the mages turned in horror but it was too late. 

Primordial Blazing Bolt⁠— 

She loosed the Essence filled bolt, nearly emptying her core, and it streaked like a star, impacting the middle of the group. All of them screamed, and tried to teleport but only one saved themselves, the other two⁠— were⁠— 

Blasted. 

An infernal explosion of blue ruptured through everyone’s eardrums, breaking through the floor, melting the ceiling and the surrounding gold. And the two mages went flying across the room. Amber panted for a moment, before dashing forward with the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash, and she arrived before a gasping mage. 

Wind Cleave. 

Her slash decapitated him as she heard someone scream.

[You have defeated a [Mage. Lvl. 233].]

For defeating an enemy 45 levels above your own, you have received bonus experience!

Less experience for defeating an enemy as a group. 

Amber ignored her notifications as her armor regenerated and Essence entered her core, helping her replenish it. 

“M-Monster!” Lubaum screamed, flinging a bolt of lightning towards her.

She stepped out of the way with a quick dash as it hit the wall, and the mage fell on his back. He was the only one to have survived the blast, and yet his composure was gone. His hatred for her was gone. All she saw within his eyes now was pure primal fear. 

“Y-Your power, it makes no sense,” he stammered. “W-What kind of deals with devils did you make Demonkiller?” 

Amber tilted her head. “A demon tried to make a contract with me and I rejected them. Does that answer your question, Grand Mage? I’m but a mere future god.”

“Future g-god?” his eyes widened. “N-No.”

Amber grinned. “And I’ll be the one to cast judgment upon you, for your transgressions.” 

Cursewelder appeared on her hands, as she raised it over the mage; all of this was redemption to her. 

She swung down⁠—

The wall exploded and her strike was deflected by a barrier that cracked. Amber frowned as the Grand Mage Lubaum was teleported out and she turned only to see a bloodied Remmel kneeling and panting, bloodied and enveloped in curses. She raised her hand and stopped them all with the mere flex of her mind, which brought immediate relief for the assassin. 

“Seems I underestimated the Cursebearer.”

“Since he was a Cursebearer you should’ve let me deal with it, my Identify level sucks so I couldn’t tell,” she said, looking up towards the center of the room. 

At this point the vault was torn asunder, the gold was nothing but mere sparkling decoration serving to set the stage for the grand battle that had occurred. And in the center, there was the curse mage along with the other two, the fire mage and Lubaum; they were very much alive, and it seemed their curses were gone. 

“I underestimated you two,” the curse mage said. “It seems that your group has more things under their sleeve than I thought, but it doesn’t matter because this is where it ends.”

He raised his staff, preparing a spell and Amber pointed her finger at the Fire mage and whispered⁠—

Reignition. 

In an instant he exploded into flames, torn apart by the reignited curses as blood exploded, and the curse mage panicked but it was too late. 

[You have defeated a [Mage. Lvl. 223].]

For defeating an enemy 35 levels above your own, you have received bonus experience!

Less experience for defeating an enemy as a group. 

Lubaum just stared at the corpse and paled, meanwhile the curse mage gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at her. 

“Fine,” he spat. “If you want to die so badly, then I will fulfill your wish. I can do more than just curses.” 

He raised his staff, and Remmel and Amber shared a glance. One that pretty much confirmed they were on the same page. 

Kill this guy first. 

And so, before he could fire his spell, both of them rushed at him. Amber reached him with a teleport and he flicked. 

“Crush!” 

She was slammed into the ground as multiple bones were broken, gravity magic pressing on her. She tried to move but the ground cracked, making her lose her grip and Remmel appeared, stabbing at the mage as he instantly shattered the barrier. The mage grumbled and turned, casting a curse on him and Amber focused. 

With the help of Inexorable Will Amber immediately shut down the curse that the mage was using, and his eyes widened as Remmel slashed a second time, nicking the man’s arm. He immediately teleported and pounced on the man’s back as gravity magic lost grip on her. 

“Lubaum!” he mage screamed. 

Amber immediately bolted forward and⁠—

“Repulse!” 

She was blasted away as Remmel was electrocuted, making him freeze up as he drove his dagger into the mage’s neck. Then a moment later, he was sent crashing against a wall with a loud bang with gravity magic. The mage screamed grabbing at his open neck, the dagger hadn’t gone all the way in, but it was enough. 

The curse mage screamed as he grabbed at his neck, looking towards both of them, as they picked themselves up. His eyes were bloodshot, and it didn’t help that the Grand Mage was recovering just now. 

“Hey, do you think you can deliver the killing blow?” Remmel asked. “Otherwise we have to run.”

Amber looked at the angry mage raising his staff. 

“I think I can kill him, assuming he isn’t particularly sturdy,” she said. 

Remmel nodded. “His Legacy Branch makes him harder to kill, so give him all you got, blue explosion if you can.” 

Amber nodded, seeing the Grand Mage preparing Lightning Storm, and Remmel grinned.

“Don’t disappoint me.”

She smiled. “Don’t worry, if I do, you’ll just die.”

He laughed and disappeared and Amber focused. 

She focused on the spell happening before her, she wished she could do it even now, but seeing the runes seemed almost elusive to her. Yet she wanted it bad. But right now, it wasn’t the time to think about how to do Lighting Storm, but rather, it was the time to kill the mage. 

Amber gripped the Cursewelder and accumulated her Essence at her fists, as they combusted into flames already charging a Primordial Blazing Bolt⁠ fist version. And her eyes narrowed as the mage raised his hands into the air.

“I will extinguish you all⁠— all of you along with this accursed vault! And then I shall take the staff for myself!” 

A heavy gravity pushed down on her as the gold began to creak, she heard Aveline scream from nearby and Amber felt the pressure on herself as well. Yet she remained steadfast as she saw the vague silhouette of a shadow appearing behind the mage. 

“Fallen⁠—”

Remmel appeared and he raised a black dagger and stabbed, making the barrier creak. And the curse mage laughed as he continued his chant.

“Destruction of⁠—”

“Extinguish,” Remmel’s voice echoed and⁠—

The lights went out, the gravity magic vanished and all of the mages stumbled as his dagger exploded, and Amber grinned. He had just suppressed all of the mana in the surroundings, and Amber took the chance. 

She appeared before the mage as he tried to re-cast his barrier, but she used Inexorable Will causing him to freeze and she swung. Her sword dug halfway into his neck and he laughed.

“You think that’s enough to kill me?!” 

“No.”

Amber pulled back, dashing to his side with her flaming fist and punched the Cursewelder’s back. An explosion of blood and fire engulfed her as the divine sword went flying across the room along with a head. 

“Great Mage!” Lubaum screamed. 

[You have defeated a [Curse Mage. Lvl. 305].]

For defeating an enemy 115 levels above your own, you have received bonus experience!

Less experience for defeating an enemy as a group. 

The notification echoed and Amber grinned as her core was filled to the brim, it hadn’t leveled up, and yet she had flashes. Suddenly, Essence started to click for her as she felt a rush of excitement. And that’s when she knew she was at the apex of leveling up her core. 

I can probably do it now. 

At that moment, the door of the vault burst open, and well over twenty guards stormed in as Amber knew that this was it. 

“Shit,” Remmel cursed.

Amber raised her hand. “Remmel, give me the divine staff.”

He hesitated, but looking at how she was looking ahead, he relinquished and Amber grabbed it as the guards screamed. 

“Halt!”

“Stop right there!” 

She tuned the sounds out as she let out a deep breath, writing runes into the air. 

The reason she had struggled so hard was because Essence was fundamentally different from mana and magic in general. Sure, it interacted with the runes the same, but the way it read them was different. Rather than logic, it followed intent. 

And now, with all the runes she knew she could do it. 

Lighting Storm.

“Shock”, “flare”, “burst,”... Amber continued making her circle and as the crystal of the staff shone with a green light, blue lines appearing throughout.

“She’s resisting kill her!” the guards screamed. 

And as Amber finished, she knew this staff was special, for it could also be used with Essence⁠— 

“Storm of Destruction.” 

Amber swung, and the whole chamber was shrouded with lightning as her Essence drained, the attack easily exceeding anything she had done before and the vault exploded. 

She grinned and her core⁠— 

Shattered. 

Granting her a level up, and also a new skill, one she didn’t expect. 

God’s Dynamo. 

And as she saw all it could do, her adrenaline spilled over the edge, making her feel excitement like never before.