Chapter 49

“Why are we leaving so early?” Galan complained. “It’s half a day’s walk at the most.”

He went flying across the street and landed in a puddle with a tremendous splash.

“What the hell! Jules!”

“You jinx us, you get wet.”

Adrian looked at the man in the puddle. “You deserved that. We’re starting earlier because our oracle didn’t tell us to take it easy.”

Kiyoko cleared her throat. “To be fair, your oracle didn’t tell you to leave this early, either.”

“Kiyoko, I’m not sure you are helping.”

Galan tramped toward them, water sloshing in his boots. Joanne sniggered.

“I…” Galan sat down on the ground pulled off the boots and poured the water out. “Did not even say it would be easy.”

“It was implied, in you dismissing how long it’ll take.”

“It won’t be easy,” Adrian agreed. “There’s always something.”

“Nah,” Kiyoko said, grinning.

“You did that deliberately,” Jules complained.

The old lady grinned.

“Why didn’t she go swimming?”

Wind gust.

His aim was off, but the spear responded to his intention and Galan slammed into the same puddle he had just picked himself out of.

“I can’t throw a ninety-year-old into a puddle,” Jules finished.

“I just got the water out of these boots.”

“No one threatens the oracle,” Adrian told them. “She’s critical to get us all through this safely.” Then in a stage whisper. “She’s also has got a very fragile ego so you need to be careful.”

”That was fun.” Kiyoko said, pointedly ignoring Adrian. “Let’s go.” They set off listening to Galan curse under his breath followed by hurried sloshing behind them. The moment he got close enough, Adrian wrapped him up in his heat aura, to evaporate off the liquid.

“Hey, hot.”

Adrian included a tiny bit of cold to stop the boiling from burning him. Steam billowed up around Galan and it stunk like a swamp.

Charlotte waved the gas away. “Gross.”

The spear grabbed four points of mana and the wind blew the offensive smell away.

“Too hot!”

“I can stop,” Adrian offered.

“No, all good.”

Forty seconds later Galan was dry, and they commenced the journey.

Adrian did not travel directly with his friends. Instead, he took the opportunity to gather herbs. It was moderately successful with a mixture of expert finds but nothing too exciting.

“We have a problem,” Kiyoko said suddenly over his communication band. Adrian was instantly hyper-vigilant. “There’s a fast-moving mana storm about to hit us.”

Adrian’s stomach dropped and his mouth went dry. “Can we avoid it?”

“No, come back.”

“This is your fault,” Adrian accused. “You know that, don’t you? Jinx doesn’t care about jokes.”

“Absolutely,” Jules agreed.

‎ “Jinxs are not a thing,” Kiyoko protested.

“Bulldust,” Jules proclaimed.

“Mana storms are random even to oracles.”

“That is why you don’t say things like it’s going to be easy.”

“Let it go Jules,” Adrian interrupted her, laughing. “I’m on my way.”

Battle wraith triggered and less than a minute later he found the others all huddled together. They had positioned themselves on top of a giant rock in a small circle facing out with the two healers in the centre. Weapons were out and the storm to the west was moving fast. Funnels of energy were descending from a glowing storm and connecting to the earth. Adrian and Jules knew firsthand the sort of havoc each of those touchdowns would be delivering. Tornados pre-event were nothing compared to the destruction involved in unleashing uncontrolled magical energy.

Adrian switched on Magic Focus and then deactivated the attempt immediately. The storm was blinding, and the levels of energy trapped within those thick clouds were astronomical. This thing was going to rage for hours over thousands of acres of land. He prayed it would not hit a town.

“When in the storm raise an attribute?” Kiyoko yelled. “Don’t go for experience. The storm itself will not kill. It is what comes after that’s the issue.”

In the far distance, another funnel came down. It only touched for a second, but when it pulled away, the grassland had been transformed from scraggly green to a twisted mass of purple vines. There was something large amongst them and Adrian saw bat-like wings unfurl.

Given the distance, that creature had to be huge, summoned from another world just like the Bird. It was too far away for his new boss sense to trigger so he could not confirm it was a classed monster, but he would have been willing to bet on it. The purple vines reacted and reached out to grab the creature. That massive body got half off the ground before crashing down. In moments, it was covered.

He was sure that he heard a cry of rage, disbelief and horror for just a moment, despite the distance separating them. Adrian could see the movement under the vines as the giant fought to escape, however it was going to be unsuccessful.

“Brutal,” Charlotte whispered. “What’s the chance of one of those hitting us?”

“High,” Kiyoko told them. “Almost certain,” she corrected. The massive storm was heading straight for them, with the edge of the clouds already swirled above them. “Our concentration of power makes us like lightning rods. Remember to promote an attribute.”

The clouds kept rolling forward, and the sun vanished, and it went almost instantly from late autumn sunshine to deep dusk.

Not a natural storm.

Magic focus flicked on, driven by his curiosity. The sky was the brightest white he had ever seen. Blinding, in fact, he shut his eyes. It was this sort of energy that could summon a wyrm or something more terrifying than even that.

They all watched the sky apprehensively. Above, three funnels formed, and all were like questing voracious tentacles reaching for them. They were all going to hit them one after another. When Kiyoto had talked about them being a lightning rod, she had not joked.

Then the first tendril reached them and the world stopped making sense.

It was the third time he had experienced the effects of a mana storm. Every sensation in his body went haywire, and his mortal mind could not cope. Adrian did not know how the interface kept his consciousness together, as it felt like the energies were ripping him apart or maybe deconstructing him at an atomic level.

He fell to his knees or didn’t. Was crushed and blown up and popped like a bubble gum bubble at the same moment in time. Then he was plunging to his death and having a doctor’s penlight flashed into his eyes. His skin was being licked by a wet tongue as fire ants consumed his foot.

He screamed.

It was a matter of survival. Mana, Mana control was all he cared about. Just boost those two. The energy was too much. He felt like he was going to burst.

And intelligence…

And strength…

“No,” his voice called haltingly. His eyes were open and there were shapes around them. Thin, willowy, with widely alive eyes. After the zxeatra experience, nothing was truly terrifying. The appearance of these things was unsettling in a deeply visceral way. He felt sick like he had potion toxicity. Beyond the thin humanoids, through the flickering mana storm, there was something bigger. Size did not always mean more dangerous, but it was a pretty big clue. His monster detector went off three times. One in front, the second close to it but more to his left and the third behind him. That one was right at the edge of his range.

Oh god.

The world distorted again.

The second.

His core, focusing on it. Air, fire and ice. Physically, he was being scrunched up, and it felt like he was a mouse being tossed around by two playful cats. Thrown one direction and then battered back the other way.

Expand his personal core. There was only a little capacity left in his attributes and he did not want to waste this boon on experience.

The mana storm ended and his mouth tasted of soap.

He had fallen to the ground.

His domain, the close-in and the long-range one restarted once more. Senses assaulted him. The willowy shapes were not as numerous as before. It felt like three-quarters of them were dead. There was something wrong with Praveen. One of the class monsters in front of him was dead or maybe just dying, but five new ones had appeared behind him.

How powerful was the storm?

Adrian wanted to find out more, but the third funnel hit. He saw pink and tasted broccoli.

Without hesitation, he focused on agility, vitality, magic and physical resistance. The energy washing over him was stronger than the second but weaker than the first. He was still stretched, folded, heated, cooled and assaulted with smells that did not match the bitter then salty taste in his mouth.

The storm receded abruptly.

He looked around in a daze. There were no funnels near them and the sun was shining. To the east, the storm was receding into the distance. It had passed right overhead. His domain sensing technique spread out.

Herb sensing went wild. There was grandmaster material to gather. There was more than one, and it swamped his senses for a moment before pragmatism kicked in. He pushed away plants and focused on monsters.

Six class four monsters and… he was sure it was at least a class two.

“To me,” Omala screamed.

Adrian responded by standing and taking a single normal step towards her so their arms were almost touching. Joanne was on the ground, unresponsive but alive. He snatched her up.

Lay of Hands.

Praveen!

He would mourn him later. Adrian knew he was dead. Jules didn’t and grabbed him.

“Get close,” Omala yelled.

The willowy shapes were watching them. They were sort of like humanoid snakes, and their neck and trunk had too many joints. He had seen them squat with the torso thickening and then expand to get taller as it stretched out. The closest one to them started to shape magic, a force attack that was being aimed at Omala.

Internal haste

He triggered his ring, encasing her in an unbreakable shield.

The creature threw the spell, and it was fast. It crashed into the shield and the energy was absorbed.

Adrian looked at the aggressor.

Watlicuu Strider

This near-sapient to sapient species exists on broken worlds and will often attempt to harness the energy of mana storms to get to new planets.

Risk level - Low.

The sapient or near-sapient he was looking at was a magic caster, focusing on force magic at a level equivalent to about thirty. His domain told him there were five including the caster within forty metres. Three got encased in pillars of flame while the other two got assaulted by falling ice that was as sharp as a samurai sword.

None of them would survive the attack.

Power surged from Omala, and he felt a moment of dissociation that he associated with portal magic and then he was standing somewhere else.

Omala was on her hands and knees, clutching her head.

“Emergency group teleport skill,” Kiyoko said, looking queasy.

His Mind processed the information and concluded that Omala’s sapient interface had saved them by giving her a skill to let them escape. If Jaracol hadn’t been locked away, he was sure he would have got a similar push to gain that skill.

Adrian’s monster domain tagged a class four still right at the edge of his range, so he immediately knew the teleport had not taken them fully to safety. He glanced in that direction and the landscape was transformed. There was no more Australian bush, and deep down he knew the mana storm had been extreme even by the chaotic event’s own standards. Instead of grass and sporadic gum trees, there were twisted columns of crystal and heaps of monsters, even denser than what had occurred in the original event.

Adrian knew which way they needed to run.

Away from that.

He snagged the stealth necklace from the plant, finding it slightly amusing that the rewards from his last run-in with a mana storm might have provided them with the tools to escape this latest one. The necklace fell over his neck and he immediately engaged Ambusher’s Steps.

There was no time for thought. Still holding Joanne he started running.

“Don’t fight it,” he heard Kiyoko snap behind him and then one by one he felt each member of his team willingly submit to the necklace’s power.

Apart from Kiyoko. He glanced at her. She was still somehow seated on her horse.

Mutated Earth Horse (Bonded to Kiyoko)

This horse has increased inherent healing, speed, agility, stealth and magic shielding.

Her steed had upgraded further. The stealth and magic shielding were both new, and the speed had also been boosted.

“I will see you in town,” she said. “Giddy up.”

The horse exploded forward, galloping away escaping from danger far faster than it was capable of before.

Adrian knew he could do the same, but his job was to save as many of his friends as possible. Kiyoko went off at right angles to him, which was helpful. She would draw attention that might otherwise have come after him. All of his skills folded around him. The sensory domain had upgraded his Ambusher’s Steps. The clarity of his vision was used to pick foot placement.

Then Adrian ran with the others, mimicking his movements as perfect puppets. He did not have a target. He just needed to get away from what was going to happen behind him. There had been too many powerful monsters, too many incredible herbs. Monsters wanted the plants. Monsters wanted space.

It was going to be a bloodbath.

Not to mention there had been a class two creature. When Omala teleported them, it had been disorientating, but that would not last. The only sensible thing was to flee. Behind him, the others mimicked his steps. His magic forcing them to move soundless, scentless and leaving no tracks. If they were quick, they might get away before drawing the attention of something deadly.

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