Chapter 321 - Not bad (Patreon)

Noticing a presence coming closer, I take my eyes off the melted chunk of metal hovering in front of me and look towards the door.

"What?" I ask, quite a bit annoyed; it just started getting interesting!

The butler returns my gaze and, after looking around the room, he sighs, "Mister Gwyn, I would like to ask you again to please reduce the amount of damage you cause to the rooms to a minimum."

What is he even talking about? It's just some melted stone and metal plates because of the thermal energy I use here. Isn't it their fault for having such weakly protected facilities?

"The Armorer keeps complaining about the increased heat signature constantly triggering alarms and him having to turn them off."

"Good, it will keep him sharp. I think he started getting lazy over the past three days. So, what is it? Are we already near the Sanctuary?"

"As you said, Mister Gwyn. The Housekeeper has told me to ask you to join us on the walls. You might be inclined to agree to join the push against the Veil forces on the ground. She said it's so we won't waste the mana in the core, but I suspect you will know why she does that."

"Sure, I will be there soon."

After that, he leaves, and I look at the chunk of metal floating there. One of my experiments with one of the many metals I got from the Veil Ignition Station. In the past three days, I have decided to experiment here a bit, only leaving when something broke in the Bastion that hadn't flown in close to a hundred years.

And damn, it flies.

I still remember it so vibrantly when it lifted off. I even took Vega, and we went further away from the Skyhold Bastion to see it slowly hover into the air. Shaking, pieces crumbling, people screaming, and waves of mana rushing through inscriptions made by the Enchanter Guild so long ago.

Just seeing such a huge chunk of material with hundreds of buildings, towers, and even walls slowly float up was something amazing. I thought I knew what to expect, but when that sheer weight just floated, I was unable to not be amazed by it.

Yup, I will totally try to replicate it sometime in the future. Maybe I could even bully some Hard difficulty people to work for me and help me with construction. I should be able to handle plenty of them.

After the Bastion lifted off, the duplicate connected to the anchor in the Ignition Station to feed a trickle of mana to the Bastion's core, refilling what was spent. Even that much isn't needed as the sheer amount the core holds should last for weeks of floating and using the barrier and weapons, but we do it just in case.

Storing the metal away, I extend my domain, place an anchor at the edge of it, and teleport to it. I repeat it multiple times until I get on the wall where I sense others.

Arriving there, I look over the edge, observing the vast forest below us and even some mountains in the distance, noting that we're floating higher than their summits. Even the clouds seem to be so close, just a bit higher and I might be able to touch them.

As always, I'm loving it.

What I'm not loving that much is the Veil that is even more visible in the sky. It already got to the point where I can see it without my senses or trait, and soon enough, even people without good mana sensitivity will see it too.

The Veil is hundreds, thousands of lines encompassing the entire planet. Something akin to pathways or inscriptions hovering there in the air. And even after weeks here, I have no fucking idea how they did it. It annoys me.

"One Veil Guardian nearby and a few hundred veilshriekers," the Housekeeper breaks the silence.

"We will take care of the Veil Guardian," the duplicate appears nearby.

"Shouldn't you be working on your plan to keep yourself alive?" I ask.

"It's almost done. Now I just need granny healer or food source healer."

"Such a terrible name for the guy."

"I know, I just couldn't come up with anything better."

Even as he says so, I notice that his mood is better. "The preparations are going well?"

Taking a few steps and also looking over the wall, he nods, "It's not perfect, but it could work. I just need a tiny bit of help from the annoying big guy. He is looking for amusing stuff to do while he stalks the first Beyonder, so I will try something."

"Sounds good. For now, let's bully the Veil Guardian."

Not even waiting for the Housekeeper, he jumps off the wall and I follow him, the barrier letting us pass because of the identification bracelets on our wrists.

The Housekeeper jumps right after, and when we stop our fall and float in the air, she continues to fall, even doing something that increases the speed she falls with.

Like a meteor, she crashes against the ground, purple mana exploding into the surroundings, and from the small crater, she takes a step, no damage at all. The surviving monsters she crashed into immediately attack her.

That's when the Veil Guardian that kept an eye on the Bastion and communicated with the Veil attacks. The duplicate appears in his way, the armor surrounding his body. Voidsteel blades collide, producing a clear ring. They connect dozens of times before the Guardian's jump ends and he lands on the ground.

Both of us near him, the same armor and the same weapons in our hands.

Increasing the gravity in the area, the Veil Guardian growls and charges at me, only to be shot in the back of his head with a thin, concentrated cone of kinetic energy. In the middle of the step, the monster turns around, and that's when I do the same, releasing a stream of kinetic energy from the Vortex core, and the monster gets thrown into the air.

There, the Guardian increases its own gravity and quickly lands, lowering its posture and swinging the blades it has instead of its hands.

The forest around us gets cut apart, trees crashing against the ground, smooth cuts all over, and the two of us jumping and dodging the attacks we track with our senses.

My duplicate's heart beats, and he uses kinetic energy to power his armor, easily pushing against gravity and shortening the distance.

Another exchange later, the Guardian staggers back with a cut across its chest, and my concentrated stream of golden flames crashes against the blade it holds to protect itself. More mana flows into the voidsteel blade, and swinging its arm, the monster cuts the attack only to be hit by a compressed javelin filled with kinetic energy.

The monster staggers again, and more javelins crash against it one after another. Some filled with thermal energy, others with kinetic, and some only heavy, made of highly compressed mana.

For the next ten minutes, we test our skills against the monster, looking for weaknesses and the attacks it's weak against. The guardian tries to fight back, but every time it pushes one of us, the other one uses the opportunity, so in the end, it's not even a challenge.

"It could be an enjoyable fight 1v1, but after learning its skills and how it fights, it's not that fun anymore. It also isn't that smart," the duplicate finally takes off Flamebearer, the heavily damaged arcane graded axe.

Together we use [Redistribution], and the monster becomes unable to move at all with our combined effort. Well, more of my effort as I activate the trait to pierce through its protective field.

The black axe with red glowing inscriptions lights up, the thermal energy dancing across the blade. The weapon seems to strengthen the flames, and the heat the axe radiates can be felt even where I stand, and the trees in a circle around us get set ablaze, the air becoming dry.

"As expected, even damaged, the weapon feels like an upper epic one," the duplicate swings the axe, and in front of him, a huge patch of trees gets washed over by flames, turning to ash right after.

"The axe is doing most of the heavy lifting, and I only feed it thermal energy. It seems to work with mana as well, and it transfers it to fire, but with thermal energy, it's more efficient and the effect is stronger," he takes a step towards the Veil Guardian.

At that moment, all the heat from the area disappears, pulled towards the blade of the axe that shifts its color. There is no heat I could sense, and even the blade itself feels ice cold. Then the duplicate swings and buries the axe in the monster.

With a short burst of flames, the body of the Veil Guardian is set ablaze, turning to a charred husk in a single attack.

[You have defeated Veil Guardian - lvl 291]

[Lvl 227 > Lvl 228]

"Took most of the thermal energy from the Vortex Core, but the damage seems to be highly concentrated," the duplicate judges while examining the weapon. After that, he disappears to help the Housekeeper finish the veilshriekers.

I, on the other side, return to the Bastion to look for Vega. I have noticed a few lower-level veilshriekers; it's time for her to level up.

 ***

Vega dodges to the side in a noble movement and then jumps up, her jump higher than it should be because of the use of kinetic energy. There, the hiding veilshrieker she failed to detect crashes against her, trying to tear her apart.

I watch as the monster's attacks fail to pierce Vega´s [Kinetic Barrier] and she stores part of the attack's kinetic force in her passive.

Crashing to the ground with the monster, she coats her weapon with mana, extending the blade, and stabs it into the monster's side. She then pulls her legs to her chest and kicks the monster off her. Immediately, she throws the dagger, boosting it with kinetic energy, and it lodges deep inside the monster's head.

This time, she senses another presence from behind her and ducks under the swing, a dagger made of mana forming in her hand, and she stabs it repeatedly into the monster while absorbing its attacks with her barrier.

Not bad, if I have to say so myself.

I watch as she fights while keeping stronger monsters further away. We don't have that much time, and in the past few days, it's really rare to find weaker monsters, so we try to use this opportunity as much as possible. There is no need for much feedback either. Unlike me, who likes to switch between ranged and close-range attacks, Vega prefers fighting close range.

She relies on her barrier and her kinetic energy to give her short bursts of power. Having her heart and passive that generate and store kinetic energy, it doesn't seem that bad an idea.

Seeing that she is at the last monsters, a small orb forms near her, and I feel her transfer kinetic energy into it. She ducks, jumps backward, and slings the orb in between two last veilshriekers, where it explodes, tearing sizable chunks out of both of the monsters.

With a last push of remaining kinetic energy, she boosts herself at the monsters with a dagger in her hand.

"Your handling of kinetic energy is good, but your mana control is lacking, minion," I say when she wobbles to me, her senses still scanning the area.

"I know, but it's master who is weird; mana is not that easy to control."

"It's only because you like your kinetic energy more, minion. When we return to the Bastion, I want you to stop training kinetic energy for a week and focus on mana. You can't even create a proper barrier, and your mana weapons are a disgrace."

"I don't need a mana barrier, master! I can use [Kinetic Barrier]!"

"Even against mana-based attacks? What if someone uses fire or lightning?"

"I…"

"Yes? You?"

"I will train mana more."

"Good, I will show you some basics on inscriptions and give you some mana stones with information. When you return to your world, you can try inscribing weapons and make a lot of money."

That seems to catch her interest now, "A lot of money?"

"Minion, a shitload of money."

"Shitload of money!" she shouts happily.

"Language. You are ruining the girl," the Housekeeper, followed by my duplicate, join in. Neither of them wounded.

Immediately, Vega's expression changes and her face becomes even less readable, like every time it's not only me or the duplicate around. My cute minion is still really distrustful of other people.

"I got the message from Butler; someone called Nina contacted us on the open channel. It seems like they are under attack." the Housekeeper says.

The moment she says that, a side quest pops up.

Side quest: Help the survivors in the Sanctuary.

Reward: 1000 shards.

Some time ago, I would be happy, but now, when I have close to 30 thousand shards, it doesn't seem that much.

"I need the granny or that healer guy," the duplicate turns to me.

Knowing the duplicate, he will pay me back if I help him save them, and that's not that bad. I have a few ideas that won't work without him, and he might refuse otherwise or ask for some stuff.

"Minion." I reach my arms towards her, and used to it already, she lifts her arms up in the air so I can grab her and hold her against my chest.

There, she nestles like a little animal, and the familiar sensation of her pointy horns poking my chin is back.

"Three of us will go first, you guys can follow us," I say to the Housekeeper, and we lift off.

***

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