Chapter 232 - Upgrades (Patreon)

By the time Jiran caught up to Mayalyn, she was howling with laughter, flipping end over end. Her legs flailed and flexed in jerky motions that sent her chaotically flying through the rainy air. Jiran blocked the distracting weather around her while she rapidly learned to control the new boosters built into her suit. 

They weren’t as good as the real thing since he didn’t have the skill the Meersvant’s used to create their formations. Instead of the released distortions that pushed against the framework, Jiran had created a formation that expelled pure mana, which could do the same thing though not as efficiently.

Mayalyn would never know the difference, and she clearly didn’t care. She sent him a dazzling smile as she zipped by upside down, yelling at the top of her lungs, “This is amazing!”

“Yeah, figured you'd enjoy flying on your own for a change. The others are here, if you stay inside my aura, I’ll keep the rain off you.”

She shooed him away with a wave of her hand, which promptly unbalanced her. She spun sideways through the air, laughing all the while. Jiran shook his head, smiling ear to ear. When he remembered Olive wasn’t with them to enjoy the show, a dark scowl deepened the shadows across his face. He watched her for a few more seconds, then dropped back to the platform right as Niya and Cameron arrived, “Cameron first,” he crooked a finger, prompting the noble to step forward.

“First?” Cameron questioned.

“You wanted upgrades, didn't you? Let's get this over with,” more than a hint of impatience had worked its way into Jiran's tone.

“Sure, sure. Usually, this is the point where you’d make a joke about accidentally blowing me up. Something happen?” Cameron frowned, sizing up Jiran’s fouled attitude.

“Ugh, boys,” Niya rolled her eyes, “He's worried about your cousin. Something you seem incapable of.”

“Oh, c'mon there's nothing to be worried about! Dominus will probably take care of things before we even show up.”

Jiran's hand fell on Cameron’s shoulder, “As powerful as Dominus is, I wouldn't trust him, or anyone, when it comes to making sure one of us is safe.” 

Mana Confluence, Elemental Castigation, and Enthralling Touch went to work reforming Cameron's suit from the bottom up. The mass and density tripled as he brought the materials in line with his increased tier. He also massively increased the bulkiness to the point it was even larger than his new suit. He countered the additional weight with multiple formations circling the torso and joints, each packed with automated versions of his jury-rigged Meersvant boosters. 

After seeing Mayalyn’s struggles, it was an unnecessary risk to force the rest of them to acclimate so quickly. Her ability to control her body bordered on the unnatural and was certainly not a feat the rest of them could emulate. 

Next, he replaced the underlayer with aura-resistant material and then threaded the visor with a transparent screen of Mana Omnis.

“Woah! Why do I feel so light all of a sudden?” Cameron lifted his heavily-armored arms, turning them to test the mobility while eyeing the new formations that ran the length of his limbs. They ended with two barrels below his wrists. “What are these?” He stuck his face next to one of the suspicious holes.

Jiran smacked his hand down, “Very dangerous weapons. Not sure even you would survive a direct hit to the face like that. Point that end toward whatever's about to eat you, then squeeze your fist hard as you can. Each cannon can only fire once before I’ll have to recharge them. If I stuff any more mana into that suit, you might blow up for real.”

While Niya mouthed the unfamiliar word, Cameron planted his fists on his hips, “Hah! There’s the exploding joke we were all waiting for. Seriously though, what do they do?” Cameron wore a goofy grin, spinning in a circle on one foot to test the weight reduction formations.

Jiran ignored his joke, continuing in as serious a voice as he could summon, “Don’t fire them both at once, that might kill you too. Okay, Niya, you’re up.”

“Hold on! You were serious?!” Cameron’s arms snapped to his sides, fingers spread as wide as they would go. “Why would you give me a weapon like that?!”

“Because if I’m right about the enemies we’re about to be facing, you’re going to need it. Just make sure you don't miss and hit one of us.”

Jiran repeated a similar process with Niya’s armor, though with only one cannon arm. The other he restructured to take advantage of her unique Layering skill that allowed her to stack and combine multiple elements atop a small section of her body. 

“Why is this arm so weird?” Niya questioned, lifting the solid block of a gauntlet on her left hand.

“Test it with your Layeri-not here!” Jiran almost drained her mana when he saw her skill activating.

She had the decency to blush, pursing her lips, “Right, obviously.”

He gave them a few more seconds, then his aura secured their new helmets and he snapped his fingers to get their attention away from ogling the new changes, “Blink three times, want to test your visors’ mana vision.”

Both of them complied, then jerked back as the world sprang to life with the myriad colors of Jiran’s mana flowing through the air. They turned their heads left and right, shocked speechless by the millions of drifting motes of energy that swirled around and through each of them. Thanks to his evolution’s instincts, seeing mana had been as natural as breathing. He felt a little jealous at the raw, first-time experience they were getting.

When Cameron got his first look at Niya, he fell back and would have fallen into the pond if his armor hadn’t automatically corrected his flailing, “Aarrgh?! Why can I see inside her?! I don't want to see inside her! Jiran, how do I turn it off? Turn it ooooofffff!”

Jiran shook his head with a sigh, “Blink three times again. All right, that’s enough playing around. Too many new toys at once will just backfire if we end up in a fight. Get used to moving and I’ll add the rest. Mayalyn, you ready?”

She would have crashed if Jiran didn’t slow her fall with his aura. She regained control and landed softly with a flashy front flip. She shot him a serious, yet triumphant nod, then stood and walked unsteadily to the pedestal.

Knife chose that moment to speak up for the first time, “What about me? New armor, I fail to see.”

Jiran shook his head, “You’re not coming.”

“What?! But I wish to fight, this is not only your plight!”

“Knife, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you're still tier three. When I figure out how to help your people tier up I won’t leave you behind again. Promise.”

The leaves adorning her face cycling through several seasons before falling to rest on the pond’s surface, “You’ll do this tiering for us soon? I'll be most displeased if you wait until the moment is opportune!”

“If not for rescuing Olive, it would have been on the top of my list. Your mother certainly figured it out, so I know it’s possible for you too.”

“So be it, I will submit to your wisdom, Great Spirit,” Knife stepped down from the platform, sinking to her thin waist in the rippling water.

Jiran swept his gaze across each of them one final time, attempting to impart how serious he was taking their mission, “We'll be moving quickly, straight to the southeast and into the Undead Plains. I'm expecting tier nine opposition to find us before long. Use your visors to pick your targets. Don't fight above your capacity, and if you have no other choice, remember the cannons. They'll hit hard enough to instantly kill a tier eight but I can't promise they'll be enough for anyone beyond that.”

All three of them sucked air through their teeth at the revelation of the firepower they were packing. Seeing the glimmer of excitement in their eyes replaced by steely resolve, Jiran nodded, “Questions or suggestions?”

“Why do you think we'll have to face the rankers?” Niya asked.

“Not the rankers. I was attacked by a tier nine after leaving Morothin. He tried to collar me with some kind of bone artifact. It was… less than pleasant. Anyway, he mentioned others like him and while I don’t have any proof, I think they were working for the church. If we keep our auras in and don't leak any mana, we can hopefully sneak into Sanctum without a fight.”

“Does that mean you plan to use the army as a distraction?” Cameron correctly guessed.

“That's right. We'll summon them at the edge of the Outlands for ‘training.’ There's no way they'll be missed with how empty that place is.”

“What if they're attacked by the mysterious tier nines?” Niya asked, clearly worried about a few specific individuals and not the entire army.

“The church won't throw away so many soldiers like that. They captured Olive because they have some kind of plan. Senselessly killing thousands of Imperial defenders would backfire so spectacularly that I doubt they'd even consider it. Far more likely they try to rope the colonel and her forces into whatever plot they're scheming.”

“Solid reasoning. But what if the colonel wags her tongue about what we’re up to when these tier nines show up?”

“Oh, I'm planning on it, and that's exactly what I'm going to tell her to do,” Jiran nodded confidently, not ready to verbalize the rest of his plans just yet.

The party shared confused frowns but didn't raise further concerns so Jiran turned and dropped his hand on the pedestal. A flicker of mana activated the platform, creating a portal to the Finlest Empire. Jiran’s heart wasn't the only one that skipped a beat when they laid eyes on the scene revealed through the hole in space.

A gap in the stormy densoon allowed a single beam of sunslight to shine down upon the floor of the People’s cavern. Except it wasn’t at all the home any of them remembered. Devastation could be found in every direction. Dust hung in the air like a fluffy blanket, obscuring the massive crack running the length of the ceiling. Powerful winds swept through the upper reaches of what could now only be called a canyon. The People’s homes—hovels painstakingly cut from the stony walls—lay in such ruin that it was hard to spot them amidst the rubble.

Jiran’s aura and mana were blocked, unable to penetrate the portal. However, the same wasn't true for his Armament. As his energy sprang into being on the far side, one of his minds speculated that it must be due to the nature of the storage space that Armament utilized. Since it both did and didn't exist in reality as he understood it, then distance might not affect it, only his ability to see. And since he could see through the portal, his skill functioned there.

Armament: + 4

He ignored the notification, his focus centered on the two guards who had perked up the instant his mana invaded the canyon. They Teleported high into the air, leaving his range and he immediately withdrew his Armament, not ready to reveal its true capabilities. The world on the other side of the portal heaved and rocked as an explosion collapsed the canyon walls. Thousands of tons of falling stone quickly buried the platform, obscuring their view entirely.

“Jira—”

Mayalyn’s voice cut off as Jiran blasted through the portal and into the stones beyond. He tore through them as though moving through thickened air; with his weight and strength, the presence of mere rock was unable to obstruct his passage. Behind him, a wave of aspect erected a three-meter-thick wall of ice that even the new weapons he’d made would have a hard time chewing through.

Jiran looked up, through the ground, to where Mana Omnis revealed the presence of two brightly shining beacons of mana. Gaze of Pediamus tagged them both as tier nine, and every bit a match for the man he’d met with the numbered brand. Their manapools flared, activating easily recognizable Channelings. Energy flowed out of their chests, slithering through their arms as they prepared to release waves of elemental destruction on a scale he wasn't foolish enough to face head-on.

He dove to the side, his aura parting the ground and silencing his movements, yet their arms followed him with unerring accuracy. He was fairly certain they couldn't see or hear him and they were charging their attacks far too quickly for him to figure out the mystery.

The mana in their hands cascaded out of control, causing expanding rings of force to blast from their fingertips, racing to the far reaches of Jiran’s sight. They were far from the real threat, merely a prelude to the massive bolts of elemental lightning that exploded straight toward him. The bolts held such power that each of the thousands of arcs they released reduced the stones they touched to rapidly expanding clouds of ionized gases.

Jiran pulled himself into a nearby synapse, Teleporting as far from the impact zone as he could. He felt the strange energy field in his abdomen expand to cover him as his body shrank. He appeared nearly a kilometer away. Fire and smoke obscured his view of the ground far below but he could still see it heaving in waves from the growing explosive forces. Jiran’s aura was relentlessly bombarded by waves of radiation, making him feel like he was underwater.

Before he could counter, the tier nines Teleported as well. One appeared nearby, the other further away. The framework directly around Jiran rippled and he tightened his aura, preventing several paper-thin formations from appearing right on top of him. He only managed to stop the closest ones, dozens more appearing all around him and each packed with enough elemental mana to kill him if he didn’t think of something fast.

The closer tier nine charged boldly toward the minefield and Jiran, moving so fast he might as well have turned into a beam of semi-solid matter. The further wasted no time either, his manapool draining to less than half, filling his channels with churning energy several times more potent than their previous attacks.

Jiran was far from idle, and just as he was about to release his first counter, the field of talismans detonated, creating an explosion hot enough to briefly mimic the surface of a star.