179: Blade Launch (Patreon)

NOTE: Now that the $10 tier is at 40 chapters ahead, all lower tiers get +1 chapter, bringing the $3 tier to 10 chaps ahead, and the $5 tier to 20. Enjoy!

Also, if you've been waiting for Vir to get strong, this is where the fun begins :-D

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He can’t be right, Vir thought. Strength isn’t everything.

The mighty Mahakurma took a step, shaking the ground under him.

Okay, maybe it can help, Vir relented. Ugh. Why is he always right?

He meditated cross legged on the second domain lord’s lair, acclimating to the denser prana. Meditating in this environment accelerated the process, but even now—a full week later—his body hadn’t yet fully adjusted to the three-fold increase in density.

It had been a lonely process, with only Cirayus and his pet Ash Tear to keep him company. The Tear had grown bolder lately, edging closer, but never so close that Vir felt in danger.

One week, huh? Vir thought, keeping a wary eye on the Tear. Another month in the Human Realm, gone.

Vir shook off the thought, turning his mind to the lecture Cirayus had given him about his tactics. Or more accurately, for having relied on tactics to such an extent. While the demon made it clear he was a proponent of preparedness, he’d harped on the importance of strength.

‘Sound tactics and good technique can close the gap in power, but some chasms are simply too wide to cross. If you insist on fighting this way, you will find yourself outmatched by your foes before long.’

It hadn’t been long at all. The very next domain lord was in a league of its own. Like the Tuskers, the beast was absent from the bestiaries Vir had read.

It resembled a cross between a crab and an armored gorilla, capped by an insect head. Twin thick, metal-bladed forearms ended in powerful fists, while the rest of the beast stood on four primate legs the size of tree trunks, also covered in metal. A domed steel carapace covered its whole back, making the creature look more like an assemblage of metal parts than anything organic.

Vir wondered if its body could be harvested for use as weaponry, but that was putting the cart before the Ash’va. He’d have to kill the thing, first.

It was obvious at a glance that his existing offensive armament was insufficient. Even ignoring its prana armor, Vir doubted his attacks could penetrate its metal hide deep enough to matter. Nor could he rely on his chakras.

So, instead of rushing headlong into a fight he had no chance of winning, Vir had spent the majority of his time with Cirayus, meditating on the Foundation chakra while his body acclimated, but his progress felt glacial. Never had any ability taken so much time and effort to achieve. Though Cirayus assured Vir his progress was well above average, he still couldn’t stand it.

Even if I did open the Foundation Chakra, I don’t know how much good it would do.

It’d heighten his metaphysical senses and allow him to cycle prana better, which, while helpful, didn’t seem nearly as useful as a new Talent.

The only area he seemed to have an advantage in was speed, but while Haste would serve him well in this fight, it wasn’t even close to enough. It didn’t matter how fast Vir moved if he couldn’t deal damage, and without prana armor of his own, he couldn’t risk taking a single hit.

He could picture it well—the battle would drag on, he’d eventually tire and make a mistake, and that would be the end of him.

Which was why long-range offense was foremost on Vir’s mind. Distance allowed him more options while also keeping him safe in a fight. When his enemies could end him in a single strike, that margin of safety was no longer a luxury; it became a necessary.

While his chakrams had still been of some use in the Human Realm, they simply weren’t strong enough anymore. Vir either needed a way to imbue his chakrams with prana, or some other means of attacking at range. Like a tattoo.

Based on his existing knowledge, the primary purpose of tattoos was not simply enhancing abilities—they allowed one to project power at a distance, like with Balancer of Scales. Vir wondered if tattoos may in fact tie in to the 144 minor chakra points around the body. It’d certainly explain why tattoo placement mattered so much.

Nevertheless, Vir didn’t have access to tattoos right now, so his chakrams were still his best bet.

There was, however, an obvious Talent waiting for him. Blade Launch. The ability Kamna—Princess Mina’s bodyguard—had used when he’d fled from Daha’s castle.

Prana Blade was the first step of this progression sequence. Vir had mastered that, and now he also had Blade Projection, which doubled the length of his katar, sacrificing some of its deadliness.

Humans liked to call Talents by many names, but several shared similar underlying fundamentals. Leap, Blink, Empower, and High Jump, all used the same basic principle of supersaturating one’s muscles with prana, combined with intent.

Prana Blade and Blade Projection both relied on priming prana within the body before shooting it out, so it made sense that Blade Launch would be an extension of Blade Projection.

Grasping his katar, Vir gave it a shot. Kamna had pulled Earth Affinity prana from the ground out of necessity, but Vir saw no good reason to do that when airborne Ash prana was so abundant. It’d allow him to avoid moving prana through his whole ability, like he was normally forced to.

In his mind, the main difference between Launch and its lesser variants was the amount of prana it consumed. The amount in Vir’s body wasn’t nearly sufficient to power it. He’d suspected that was the reason he’d never obtained it in the Human Realm. A theory that would now be put to the test.

Vir grasped his katar and allowed his supersaturated layer of prana against his skin to lapse around his arms. Airborne ash prana rushed in, but Vir was ready for it. He sent it spiraling, shooting out of his arm, wreathing his blade.

The first stage—Prana Blade. Except now, it used ambient prana.

He upped the flow, pouring more prana into the Talent.

The prana grew so dense, it became visible to regular vision, like a razor-thin film of death that wrapped the seric edge.

It destabilized when the prana became too great for it, but Vir then willed the blade to extend. Prana short forth, doubling, then tripling the length of his katar. Blade Projection. While not as dense, it was still far deadlier than his Prana Blade in the Human Realm.

The question was what to do now. He knew extending it any further would just make the prana dissipate harmlessly.

Vir closed his eyes, picturing Kamna’s motions. She’d swung… and the prana had left her blade, ripping across the ground like a Wind Blade, only made with Earth Prana instead.

Vir mimicked the motion, swinging his blade, but the prana clung doggedly on.

It’s the intent. I need the right intent here.

Talents always relied on his will to direct the energy. Instead of a blade, Vir thought of a vertical line ripping through the air.

Same result.

Over the next minutes, Vir went through several images and intents.

In hindsight, he’d over thought it. It was right there, in the name. Blade Launch.

Launch, Vir thought, swinging his superpowered katar. He thought he’d been ready for what happened next, but the inrush of prana stunned him. The ability wasn’t satisfied yet. It thirsted for more.

Vir could feel the blood in his arm reach capacity, then surpass it. Just as he worried that his blood might rupture, it stopped, and a deadly blade of physicalized prana tore through the air, searing the ground over which it passed. It continued relentlessly on, as if bent on ripping a hole in reality itself, until it finally dissipated in the distance, some twenty paces away.

Sweat dribbled down Vir’s brow, and his breaths came heavy.

What in Vera’s name was that?

The prana consumption was unlike anything he’d predicted. Neither Prana Blade nor Blade Projection consumed anywhere near as much.

With fresh blood cycling through his arm, Vir tried again, this time bracing himself for the torrent of prana that was to come.

It was hardly any easier. Prana flooded into his arm and out his hand, surging out of the katar’s blade and leaving his blood stretched and strained.

Vir hardly cared. His prana capacity could always be increased. In fact, he’d always planned exactly that.

Goosebumps flared all around his body. The power! It was in another league entirely, easily making it the most powerful attack Vir had ever learned.

Not only that…

If I can get it to launch from my blade, what about…

Vir’s eyes landed on the disks that lay on the ground beside him. Sheathing his katar, he kept his expectations low as he picked up the throwing disks.

It won’t work. It has every reason to fail. This is foolish, he thought. But what if…

There was a chance. It might work.

Gripping the disk, Vir closed his eyes and fueled it with prana. When he’d first attempted to wreathe the disks with Prana Blade, his control over prana had been far less refined. Since then, he’d learned to modulate how tightly prana spun as it exited his arm. This time, he barely spun the prana at all, letting it arc lazily across the edge of the disc.

It’s still the wrong shape, he realized.

So instead of envisioning the prana spearing out in a line, he willed it to become more fluid and dynamic. Like flowing water, bending to the curvature of the circular blade.

Vir knew he’d succeeded, even before he’d opened his eyes. Energy surged around the disk, and unlike with his sword, didn’t dissipate once it reached the end—it was a circle. There was no end. Prana spun around endlessly, growing denser as Vir fueled the disks with his power.

He threw the chakram, wondering if it might not even need the benefit of Blade Launch.

As it turned out, it did.

The moment the disk left his hand, the prana dissipated harmlessly, so he grabbed another and tried again. This time, he did activate Blade Launch.

The same deluge of prana tore through his arms, powering the disk. This was the tricky part. If he threw it too early, before the ability had formed, it’d do nothing. If he was too late…

Grak it!

Pure prana surged out ahead of the steel one. With his sword, Launch had taken the shape of a vertical blade, ripping through the landscape.

With the chakram, it took the form of a disk. A disk of prana the exact size of his chakram. Far more compact. Denser. Deadlier.

It didn’t travel far, though. The prana dissipated after only thirty paces, while the actual chakram sailed fifty, overtaking it.

Vir tried again, and this time, he did time it right. Blade Launch activated the exact moment he threw the chakram.

They sailed together, as one—prana overlapping steel. For a long while, they were indistinguishable, but the actual weapon had weight. Prana did not.

The chakram fell to the ground, while the prana version simply dissipated.

Vir walked over to retrieve his disks. He found the first lying fifty paces away, but even after an extensive search, he couldn’t locate the other.

Did I lose it? He thought in panic. It was the fatal flaw of these disks. Using them meant the possibility of losing them forever. And here in the Ash, there were no blacksmiths who could forge another.

Vir expanded his search area, and after another ten minutes of frantic searching, finally found it lodged in the ground… nearly double the distance the first one had flown.

A hundred paces. And I didn’t even Empower my throw.

Blade Launch had somehow lengthened his throw.

Vir’s mind ran through the possibilities. There was so much to test. Where just an hour before, he had no long range options, now he had not just one or two, but three. Which was superior? Was his chakram’s Blade Launch just as powerful regardless of whether he threw the actual weapon? If so, he’d just solved their biggest weakness—having to recover them.

Unfortunately, his barren domain offered few targets to test his newfound skills. He needed something sturdier. Something that could take any attack he dished out.

Vir looked over at the bladed Domain Lord.

“He’ll do.”