ALEXiThemiA: Chapter 156 Always Wear Underwear (Patreon)

Chapter 156

Always Wear Underwear

Thanksgiving

Charging forward, Alexa lashed out striking at the congealing blob that seemed like it was at war with itself. On the one hand the blob of mass that at one point the blob was clearly trying to revert back to its original elven form. Then the next, the blob would try to revert to a gelatinous form that was neither solid nor liquid, just an odd in between state that was highly unstable. Not unstable in the way a bomb would be, but unstable in the way baby Bambi was, all wobbly movements and uncoordinated muscular structures that might or might not be adept at pulling off the movements needed. What resulted was a truly pitiful form.

Charging forward, Alexa looked to take advantage of this time. Inwardly she knew that this was just a momentary pause, a temporary weakness that was brought on by rapid changes. If she left now, if she gave the monster time to adapt, Alexa knew that this one monster would be enough to battle an entire army of Elves, just as she had seen in the tenth stage of her Trials of Ascension. That time like this, she just had to battle one single demonic soldier. At that time, she had managed to do so, but only with the aid of a dozen of her Clones, and an army of elves to keep the demon distracted. This time things were different, for starters she had the whole pulsing orb of power that was somehow strong enough to unbind her Creation infused magic. Normally this would not be a problem, but since she had gotten so used to the versatility that Creation magic afforded, she had grown lax with a few things, namely like wearing real socks, or personally tailored Super suits. The result being that half of her uniform was gone from the blast and subsequently being hurled into the far wall. The other half was peeling off at an alarming rate and had she been in a more public area, she would have had the thought of getting away, to preserve both her modesty and her identity. Here and now though, she had neither concern. Here she was able to focus on just one concern at a time. First, she wanted to stop the demon from growing more powerful and capable in their actions, for that is what the stupid elf was now, a demon.

Alexa didn’t fully understand what was happening, or rather what had happened, but right now she didn’t need to. True discovery and understanding would come later, for now she would focus on the immediate dangers, then from there she would discover what happened, at least she would discover what could cause an elf to melt into a demon, for that is what this creature before her was, a demon. A weak demon, likely one of the lowest forms, but a demon, nonetheless. Then her second course of action would be to discover what source of energy the pulsing sphere of light was using; it was of a power and scale that Alexa had never seen before. It was also probably the most concerning element of everything Alexa had seen from the elves thus far, for if the elves were in fact capable of creating things that could completely unwind magic down to its foundational building blocks, then the upcoming battle with the elves would be a lot tougher than she had originally planned. Of course, that line of thinking was unproductive given the current situation, as she still had a demon forming right before her.

Flake off.

The rest of her uniform began to crumple and peel off, as she strode forward.

Flash.

As she strode forward, she was once again met with a flash of light from the giant orb at the center of this shack. Having felt the flash for a third time, Alexa had to note the fact that the energy felt warm, like pure rays of the sun against her bare skin. At first, she thought the beam to be some type of weapon, but this had mainly been due to the way she felt the burning sensation of the magical strands of material against her skin being burnt away by the bursts of light. Now that she had more of her skin exposed, she could discern that there was more to the sensation, that it felt warm and somehow pure. Just feeling the energy against her skin, Alexa felt her Absorber class coming alive and pulling in the golden energy, there was no other word to describe the flavor, it felt like she was Absorbing golden light. Not the light of Light Magic, for she knew what that was and what that felt like, but this was something different all together, something far more powerful.

Focus.

Alexa’s rational mind cut through the various sensations she was feeling by trying to understand the new energy type. Even as the light slowly burnt away her uniform, it didn’t matter, she still had a job to do. Just as Warder had to take care of Buggertron, she now had to take down this demonic slime puddle.

Charging forward, her now bare feet instantly contacted the puddle that was the demonic run off from the gelatinous demon.

Squish, splash.

Slime oozed up between her toes, and around Alexa’s feet. A wave of revulsion washed over her, but she fought down that impulse, as this was the best course of action for her. She was down to just her feet and hands. The sword was still in the room, in the ground, but the demon had already managed to peel its way off the sword and was now moving towards the box containing the remaining Void Essences. Seeing the slime working its way up the side of the unsealed container, Alexa reacted in the only way a true Psychic and Mage hybrid should but using every power at her disposal.

Telekinetic slam.

The lid to the box slammed shut, shaking loose the tendril that had been trying to work its way up and over the side of the box. That was the first action. Then the second action was to pick up the box and hurl it outside behind her, through the opening that she had been thrown out of and just come back through.

Thud.

The Void Essence filled box landed with a crash. Just as Alexa had expected, with the lid shut, the orb of light didn’t respond at all to the new item. Instead, if anyone was just watching it would appear like the giant orb of light only seemed to target magic, as her use of Telekinesis was somehow avoided, as she could still feel her grip on the box, her connection that allowed her to move and manipulate such a large crate was fully intact. Nodding to herself at the revelation Alexa felt other plans form in her mind, but was soon thrown off her feet, as the slime she was standing on, and absorbing energy from suddenly moved.

It was an odd feeling, being overpowered and manhandled by less than a centimeter of liquid, but that is what happened. Despite the slime having a clear aversion to her mere presence, it seemed that the slime, for that is what it was at this point dissolved elven parts made into a demonic slime mixture suddenly reversed course. Rather than going away from her, and further into the room, it immediately reversed course and tried to lunge through and past Alexa to get to the box that now sat in the middle of the hallway.

Whoosh.

A slimy tidal wave crashed into and then coated Alexa, as it swam and wiggled its way over her and into the hallway. She felt an intense flash of panic fill her, as she was quickly coated by a thin slimy layer of elven and demonic slime. Everywhere the slime touched, she could feel her body absorbing the Void Essence from the thinly moving flesh of the creature. As the Void Essence was drained, it created a thin dry layer of flaking skin that was left behind. The entire process was equal parts disgusting and revolting, yet Alexa focused. First, she made sure to hold her breath, with her Regeneration and magical abilities, breathing would not be a problem, despite being completely coated in monster slime. Then she made sure to watch what happened when the Void Essence filled slime entered the open hallway.

Flash!

“SHREEEK!”

The slime monster was instantly burned by the rays of light that came from the orb, and that was when a few things clicked in Alexa’s mind. First, she understood the purpose for having such a powerful device right at the center of a building like this, that orb was a failsafe device, something that would protect others should the Void Essence get out of hand. Alexa still didn’t understand why the elf consumed it, surely the elf didn’t intend to turn into a demonic puddle, but maybe those were directives given to the elf for some odd reason.

With the slime’s ability to quickly increase in power cut off, and that was something Alexa was certain of, if this slime had gotten hold of the remaining Void Essences, then they would have likely grown in power. As far as Alexa could tell, just turning into a gelatinous puddle took two of the crystals, there is no telling what would have happened if the elf had been able to somehow consume all of the crystals. That was the good part, as it meant that her opponent was unable to increase in strength dramatically. The bad news was, now that the path to immediate power was over, the demonic puddle had nothing better to focus on than Alexa who was still fighting and struggling to get her way free of the gelatinous cocoon that now covered her body.

With just Alexa present to focus on, the remainder of the slime surged over and around Alexa, covering her face, her hair, and every inch of her body.

Burning and sizzling.

Alexa could hear parts of her skin being melted off. Her hair was gone, instantly dissolved by the slime monster. Realizing it was now a battle of attrition, Alexa knew she could win, but she wanted to win this quickly before things got too out of hand.

Realizing there was but one wall separating this storage room from the rest of safehouse, Alexa acted.

Telekinetic Burst!

Focusing on the thin wall of sheet metal that separated this room from the rest of the safehouse, Alexa used Telekinesis to grab the wall and pull it in towards her. The force was so violent and destructive that Alexa even managed to peel back part of the roof as well. Her plan was simple, starting with he base of the wall, she would simultaneously lift up and in, peeling back the wall and revealing this room to the all seeing destructive orb. Though destruction was not the appropriate word for the orb, it was just a disassembler of magic. Somehow able to find magical strands and dissolve them into a more perfect form. This was what Alexa had been banking on, what she had been hoping to happen, and she was not disappointed.

Flash!

A warm light enveloped Alexa and the giant slime demon that now coated her. A monster that had been up until a few minutes ago been an elf.

Warmth.

The light flashed brightly, seeming to grow and glow with intensity the longer it stayed on. This was far longer than it had been active to dissolve Alexa’s uniform and part of her weapon. Even now, out of the corner of her eye, she could see the near immediate effect the light had on her poly-woven sword, a sword that was made up of all the schools of magic that she knew, just as her suit was also made from the same interwoven threads of magic.

Calming rays of light.

The light that now coated her was deeper and far grander than anything she had ever felt, anything that she had ever experienced. Some of her earliest memories, those that came before she was abducted, held elements just like this. Elements where she remembered the sudden warmth of light coming through and filling her with warmth at her very core. She remembered moments of peace and contentedness, memories where her father hugged her just because he could. Memories of mother humming while baking breakfast. So many thoughts came trying to provide meaning, to provide examples of something similar, or moments that seemed similar, but all failed in comparison. In this moment, she felt full of light and life on a scale she never had before. It was pleasant, for a moment.

Burning.

Then she felt the moment the slime coating her burst into flames.

SHRIEEK!

Even in a gelatinous form, the slime somehow managed to make sounds, how exactly Alexa did not know, but she felt the creature crying out with a form of mental pain and anguish that was hard to deny.

Burning!

Alexa first saw the signs of the slime catching fire, then she felt the intense heat erupt from the body of the creature.

Whoosh!

Flames, burning and bright.

The puddle burned the way one would expect vampires to when pierced by the sun. Instead, this light just continued to burn brightly, as its heat and efficiency were fueled by the source of heat and energy behind it. The more the light shone, the more Alexa felt the strange energy infusing her body with power and then she turned away from the light. Not because it was too much to absorb, it was, but that wasn’t the reason she turned. The reason why was because she could feel the remainder of the slime hiding on her back, trying to shield itself from the blinding light that was burning it away.

Seeing the light, she focused her mind and biting her teeth to avoid stopping herself due to the pain from the burning corruption that was writhing in burning pain all around her, she lay there, panting. Until finally all that was left of the demonic slime was burnt to char, then she turned and turned some more.

Finally, after a long moment, she stood, still feeling the intense beams of light piercing her and sparkling against her pale skin she stood up and let out a deep breath, and breathed in, only to immediately regret that decision.

Filth.

The scent of burning skin and viscera covered her, permeating her pores and filling her nostrils with sulfur and other burning chemicals. Still despite the smell, it did feel amazing to be able to breathe once more. In all the entire fight, if one could call it that, took less than a minute. Though looking back on the event it was more of Alexa getting slapped around, seeing how vulnerable she was without her magic assisting her, and then how utterly unprepared she was to handle fighting slime, though she felt that fighting slime was a no win game for everyone involved, including the slime.

Blink.

The light at the center of the now broken hovel of a safehouse winked out of existence. With a quick glance, the reason for it blinking out was readily apparent, as all the charred and burnt chunks of slime had been dissolved down to ash. For a moment the sight reminded her of snow. This illusionary effect was further encouraged by the fact that the now open roof let in a chilling wind that suddenly seemed to bite just a bit harder due to the blindingly bright light no longer gleaming against her bare skin.

A quick glance showed that despite concerns her undergarments, while charred, did manage to stand up to the acidic coating of the slime demon and the subsequent flames that happened thereafter. Still, it was not her best battle, far from it, in fact.

“Mistakes were made.” Alexa said to herself as she took in her state. This battle had been a wakeup call, at least Alexa wanted to make this a wakeup call. Despite having a class, despite having superior magical firepower, she was nothing compared to some monsters, to some foes, to the true enemies that she and those of her planet would soon be forced to fight against.

Normally, she would think about creating items to help, but clearly enchanted magical items could be countered. Worse, they could be burnt away.

This made Alexa realize something very important, just what was that strange orb exactly.

Fully distracted by the glowing orb, she made her way closer to the orb. As she moved forward, she could feel the residual heat still enveloping the area. Being this close she could see the steam rising upwards from the orb, as it too was now being exposed to the cold autumn air.

Tingling.

As she walked forward, her hair had the decency to begin growing back to its preferred length. This was nice as it made it so not all her body heat left the top of her head. As she moved forward, she got to the orb and reached out a tentative finger to touch. She expected heat. She expected the orb that had been so blindingly bright a moment ago to be scalding hot, hot enough to cause near instant burning on her fingers. Instead, what she was met with was a slightly warm surface that felt metallic, even though it looked completely clear.

Instantly, Alexa felt her mind trying to use Creation magic against the orb, at least to perform a diagnostic approach to the elements being used, this was when she was met with a sharp spark as light burst out from the orb, striking her fingers, and subsequently burning away any traces of magic. Feeling this, she then tried to touchthe orb with her psychic power Telekinesis. To her surprise, the ball lifted easily, even though it was clearly heavier than its small size would normally indicate. The ball no bigger than a standard basketball had to weigh in close to a thousand pounds. More than just the size and the weight, the ball still radiated power and energy in a way that Alexa had never experienced before.

Curious, Alexa touched the sphere, all while holding it in flight with her Telekinesis.

So engrossed was she in trying to understand this foreign object, that she failed to keep aware of her surroundings. Only realizing someone was close, when they entered the now broken-down entry doorway, one that stared straight past the entry way with a strange healing table, past the second broken door that allowed a direct view into the viewing room where the orb was located, along with a very beaten and bedraggled Alexa.

Crunch, crunch.

The sounds of movements caused Alexa to instantly try to reach out with sensory magic, something that was now ingrained into her by impulse.

Flash.

“Gah!”

Just as Alexa tried to send out sensory magic, it was quickly dispelled by the floating orb.  Fortunately for Alexa, despite having her sensory magic broken, she heard and recognized the sound of the person who stumbled upon their little shack in the woods. She almost wondered how she was found, but then remembered how bright the orb was, along with the fact that there was now a giant skylight in the shack, meaning that they must have lit up like a Thanksgiving Day beacon.

Hearing the sound of the speaker, Alexa instantly knew who the person was.

“What is that thing, and probably most importantly why are you naked in a rundown shack in the middle of the woods?” Gina Rojas asked, still dressed in her L.I.R. outfit that Alexa had made. Seeing her, and the fact that she was coming through the broken-down rubble, Alexa called out.

“Stop!”

But her warning came a half second too late.

Flash.

Instantly a burst of dispelling magic shot out, from the floating orb, revealing that Gina had also been given the invaluable life lesson of always wearing underwear, even while wearing a Super suit.