108: Prana Blade (Patreon)

Prana can do damage, Vir thought. Or rather, prana combined with intent could do damage.

Riyan’s Blade Projection flung Earth prana from the blade, extending its reach. Kamna’s Blade Launch took the concept even further, firing off a concentrated burst of prana that ripped through the ground. And Ash Beasts wreathed their bodies with prana to toughen their hide and sharpen their claws.

Vir had already finished marking the Ash Biter’s corpse. He looked around the pitch black space, illuminated only by the Magic Lantern that hung around Neel’s neck.

Most would call him insane for training at the bottom of a dark mine where arcane horrors roamed, but then again, it was the most ideal training ground Vir had ever had. While the prana density wasn’t quite what it was at Valaka Amara—the hidden outpost of the gods under Daha—it was noticeably greater than at the surface.

If there was any place that would help Vir master the secrets of Prana Blade, it was this place.

“Keep an eye out, Neel. If anything comes close, you let me know,” he said as he crossed his legs on the cold stone and closed his eyes.

The bandy barked in acknowledgement, slowly patrolling a perimeter around Vir.

Sinking into thought, Vir trained Prana Vision inward. He already knew from prior experiments that launching his body’s Ash Prana outward accomplished little—the prana merely dissipated the instant it left his body. He also lost control of it the moment it exited, making it quite useless.

And with Ash Prana being such a limited resource, he couldn’t afford to waste it inefficiently.

But lately, he’d been thinking about ways to counter that. An arrow thrown by hand dealt minimal damage, but when launched by a bow, it became a lethal weapon.

What if I ‘launch’ prana out of my hand?

Granted, Vir doubted this was how Prana Blade actually worked, but it was the only lead he had to work with.

The only reason this worked was because of his body’s prana saturation. Most creatures existed in equilibrium with their surroundings—Ash Beasts excluded. They seemed to do what he did, though he suspected it came naturally and subconsciously to the beasts.

Most Talent wielders had to channel prana from the ground to fire off a Talent, but with the amount of prana he kept trapped in his body, unleashing his stored up prana as a weapon became viable. Or at least it ought to be. Except for Toughen, all of his existing Talents relied on ground prana to operate.

Vir held out his arm and inhaled. He allowed the prana in his hand to dissipate, but this time, he actively pushed the prana out of his hand.

To no effect. If the prana went any further, he certainly didn’t notice.

But as Vir had learned, it was far more effective to allow prana to flow as it wanted, rather than force it to go somewhere. Thinking back to his first experiments with prana, Vir released his hold on the prana in his palm—but only through a tiny opening in the very center. By restricting the size of the opening, prana rushed out at a much faster rate.

This time, he could see the prana shoot forth—but even then, it only extended a handspan away before dissipating.

Vir targeted a nearby rock and launched his prana attack, willing the prana to slice through.

The prana surged out of his hand and into the rock, carving a small line through it.

It worked… but as it was, the ability was hardly useful. Even his katar could do as much damage, and the katar’s blade was longer.

Well, if it was that easy, I would’ve figured it out already.

Feeling like he’d overstayed his welcome, Vir stood up. Though no other mercenaries had bothered him, it was only a matter of time. He needed to press on.

“C’mon boy.”

With Neel leading, they set out deeper into the mine.

As they walked, Vir ruminated over what he was doing wrong. He wondered if it was simply a prana density issue—Talents like Blink had been off limits to him due to the low Ash prana density. Could it be that? Or was there some fundamental difference between how Ash prana worked that he’d overlooked? He’d assumed it operated the same as Earth and Shadow prana since he could use Talents from those affinities, but maybe there was something he was missing.

After seeing how naturally Ash Beasts wreathed their bodies in prana, he had to wonder what prevented him from doing the same. After all, they used the same prana he did, and it wasn’t like Ash Beasts were especially intelligent—in fact, the Dahan Bestiary claimed the Ashen Realm had broken their minds, making them incapable of higher thought.

Vir wasn’t sure if that was true, as the ones he’d fought until now showed at least some intelligence, but he was confident they weren’t using some complicated strategy to pull off their Talents.

The end of the mining tunnel came sooner than Vir had expected. But instead of a dead-end, it led into a cavernous space, several stories tall and wide enough to fit a half-dozen Ash’va. Elaborate carvings decorated the walls, but it was the blue-and-white lighting that gave it away.

This is an Imperium ruin…

Once again, memories of Valaka Amara flooded into Vir’s head. He focused on Prana Vision, searching for a Prana Swarm…

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Whatever was out there was large.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Vir braced himself, readying his chakrams.

It wasn’t a Prana Swarm that rounded the corner, thumping on its four paws.

Hundreds of obsidian-like spikes covered the beast’s back. While not as large as its footfalls had made it seem, Vir identified the Ash Beast instantly.

Phantomblade Alpha.

He’d read about it in Daha’s library. Balar rank estimated between 150 and 250. Resembling an oversized tortoise, it moved rather slowly. Unlike a tortoise, it could shoot the spikes on its back like projectiles, making them highly dangerous. In addition, it wielded prana as a weapon, firing a concentrated beam from its maw.

Vir wondered whether it’d be able to use that attack without the prana density of the Ashen Realm, but he wasn’t about to take any chances.

One look at its back told him he’d be at a disadvantage if this battle ran long. The Phantomblade had nearly a hundred spikes, all of which were potential weapons.

How do I even hurt the thing? Vir wondered. The spikes functioned not only as weapons, but as armor, too. He could tell at a glance that its entire body was tough.

Neel boldly dove into the fray, running circles around the slow-moving beast. The Phantomblade kept turning to match Neel, but it was no match for the bandy’s speed.

Growing frustrated, it launched its attack—four blades fired off with far more force than Vir would’ve thought possible. One nearly nicked Neel, making the bandy whimper.

“To me, boy,” Vir ordered. The bandy obediently returned to his side, tail between his legs.

“My turn.”

Vir Leaped, putting him behind the beast, but the Phantomblade anticipated his move. It fired off three spikes, forcing Vir to dodge them with micro-Leaps, but he didn’t break off his attack.

With another Leap, he closed the distance and plunged his katar into its back. He aimed precisely at the spots where the Phantomblade had fired its spikes.

The katar struck hide… and stopped dead in its tracks. It was as if he’d struck a rock.

Then it launched a half-dozen spikes at point-blank range. The distance meant Vir had no chance to escape—he barely managed to Toughen his forearms before a spike slammed into his bracers, sending him flying back.

The impact rattled his very bones, stunning him.

Several more spikes followed, but Vir rolled into a shadow and sunk into the Shadow Realm.

This is bad, Vir thought, analyzing the battle. Prana Vision showed him no weaknesses, and his attack had confirmed it. Even if he could last until the Phantomblade exhausted all of its spikes, he still wouldn’t have a way of harming the beast.

He considered all options. Vir’s katar was ineffective, and he feared to Empower it, lest the blade break on impact. Nor could he bring the beast into the Shadow Realm—the beast was far too big and heavy to fit. Neel was a good distraction, but that was it.

Vir reached an arm out of the Shadow Realm, allowing time to proceed at a crawl.

The Phantomblade launched another spike at Neel. Vir wasn’t worried; the bandy was already reacting, but there was something about the way the spike flew that intrigued Vir.

It didn’t fly straight. Rather, it spun. Like a drill. An air drill.

It’s using the spin to make its spikes even more lethal.

Similar to how Vir spun his chakrams, though the axis it spun upon was different.

And that gave him an idea.

If projectiles became more lethal when… What about prana?

With time still slowed, Vir tested it. He fired his prana blade from earlier, but this time imparted a spin to it, spiraling the prana through his hand before allowing it to leave his body.

And this time, the prana went double the distance—nearly a pace—before dissipating.

I can work with that, Vir thought.

Using the precious few seconds he had left within the Shadow Realm, he snaked his hand out from beneath the Phantomblade—where there were no spikes—and fired his prana blade.

His prana met no resistance, scything through the Phantomblade’s hide as if it were paper. Clearly, though its hide appeared tough, it wasn’t anywhere near as solid as actual rock.

The Phantomblade roared, attempting to find the perpetrator, but it had no eyes in its belly.

Vir struck again… and then his prana ran out. While in the Shadow Realm, it was as if the rest of his body didn’t exist. The only prana he had access to was what he’d stored within his arm, which wasn’t much.

The timer ran out and Vir was ejected from the Shadow Realm, but he wasn’t worried.

He now had a means to defeat this monster, and he was going to exploit it.

The best part? There wasn’t even a need to place himself in danger to do so. He sunk back into the Shadow Realm, and this time extended his left arm, gouging the Phantomblade’s belly three times before the prana in his arm ran out.

Luckily, he had two more limbs. He extended his left leg, kicking the Phantomblade’s belly as he lanced out with his prana discharge.

With his leg being far larger than his arms, the discharge was proportionally larger, skewering deep into the Ash Beast.

He got six strikes from his left leg, and another six from his right.

By the time he exited the Shadow Realm, the Phantomblade lay in a pool of its own inky black blood. The light from its eyes slowly winked out.

“Yeesssss!” Vir roared, pumping his fists.

Arooo! Neel echoed, as the Ash Beast breathed its final breath.

Vir looked upon the corpse and saw only silvers and brotherhood karma. Refilling his body with prana from the ground, he etched his mark into the beast’s hide, claiming it as his own.

“Let’s go see what else this place has in store for us,” he said, cracking his neck.

Then an enormous roar filled the entire ruin. Vir froze in his tracks, filled with fear.

The confidence Vir had just mustered snuffed out like a candle against a hurricane.

And deep in his heart, Vir knew.

Whatever that was… it was on the same level as the Prana Swarm.