No.

Rain closed his eyes, straddling the line between his soul and body. His thoughts accelerated, and his sense of the world became muted. He’d been working on this ‘bullet time’ technique under Velika’s tutelage, but her philosophy when it came to the soul was very different from his. She had no concept of an inner world, instead using a more integrated model. It worked for her, clearly, but it made her instructions difficult to translate.

Reaching tenuous stability, he opened his eyes.

The onrushing Whale seemed to be moving at half speed as it fell from its breach. The scene had a certain unreality, a certain distance—as if he were watching through a computer monitor. The monster’s soul, on the other hand, felt very real. Even from here, he could see it pulsating like a corrupted heart. Monster souls were never pretty to look at, but this one took the prize. It was misshapen, bulging with imperfections and ugly, lopsided growths. It was also enormous, dwarfing even Halgrave’s gold-level soul, though it lacked the gemstone exterior.

The former branch leader would be able to kill it, probably. Despite their level, Whales were uncomplicated, all brute-force and direct-attack magic. Not the kind of thing Halgrave would struggle against. He had his orders, though, and this Whale was only the visible part of the problem. There could be more. The rest of the pod could be under the water, and without Detection, they would never know it until one rose to bite Temerity in two.

Still need to deal with this one, though. Can’t wait for plan B.

Rain shoved aside the memory of a Whale slamming one of the Adamant ships almost under the water, barrier and all. Temerity didn’t have a barrier.

Barely acclimated to double speed, he pushed his balance further. New plans spun into being and were discarded in the space between heartbeats.

He could clear the deck in an instant with Immolate or Radiance, but that would light up Temerity like a beacon. He could throw one of his anchors away as a decoy, but it would fail or be eaten long before the ship escaped, if not immediately. He could send Ameliah to lead the Whale away, but it might not choose to chase an evasive stamina user, not when it had the easy alternative of the ship, so full of magic and of life.

He could...

He could do nothing.

Hope that someone else would think of a solution.

No.

Progress. Status. Resistances. Accolades. Inventory.

Progress Report

marker_1: grannybrain_2 [3061 Light 16 05:00]

marker_2: whale_inbound [3061 Light 28 09:59]

Span: 12.2 days

Character

Total Exp: 2,936,316 -> 3,136,316 (+200,000)

↳Mana Use: 200,000

Skills

Anchor Aura: +25,250 exp, 8 -> 9 (+1)

Prismatic Intent: +51 exp

Tolerance

Speed: 14.0 -> 18.0 (+4)

Synchronization

Recovery: 11.0 -> 11.5 (+0.5)

Endurance: 31.0 -> 31.3 (+0.3)

Vigor: 11.2 -> 11.6 (+0.4)

Richmond Rain Stroudwater

CLASS

LVL

CAP

+STAT

Engine of Change

30

30

0

EXP

NEXT

TOTAL

+SKILL

130,422

130,423

3,136,316

1

Vitals

CUR

MAX

RGN

Health

12,400

12,400

700/d

Stamina

1,720

1,720

700/d

Mana

99,750

99,750

2.7/s

Attributes

800/2,690

EFF

TOTAL

BASE

ACCLD

MISC

SYN

STR

520

520

10

10

500/530

20.6

(103%)

RCV

40.3

70

10

10

50/770

11.5

(58%)

END

74.8

86

10

26

50/500

31.3

(87%)

VGR

40.6

70

10

10

50/1,140

11.6

(58%)

FCS

170

170

10

10

150/2,000

50

(250%)

CLR

330

330

320

10

0/2,500

330

(100%)

PER

20

20

10

10

0/0

47.1

(236%)

SPD

9.6

10

10

0

0/18

9.6

(96%)

Resistances

TOTAL

END

ACCLD

MISC

HEAT

1,508.6

0%

8.6

1,000

0%

0

0%

COLD

508.6

0%

8.6

0

0%

0

0%

LIGHT

8.6

0%

8.6

0

0%

0

0%

DARK

8.6

0%

8.6

0

0%

0

0%

FORCE

558.6

0%

8.6

200

0%

0

0%

ARCANE

5008.6

0%

8.6

0

0%

0

0%

CHEMICAL

383.6

0%

8.6

0

0%

0

0%

MENTAL

8.6

0%

8.6

0

0%

0

0%

31/31 Slots

Accolade

Bonus

10 [5x2]

Blackfoot Trench

+10 (+2x5)

All Attributes

4 [2x2]

The Icy Cellar

+1,000 (+500x2)

Health

4 [2x2]

Oh Gods!

Not Another Chem Lair!

+2,000 (+1,000x2)

Mana

3

The Lair of Embers

+1000

Heat Res

3

We Can’t Just Call It

‘The Lair’

+200

Force Res

2

Southshore Rat Warren

+1,000

Health

2 [2x1]

Badlands Cold Lair

3060 1 4

+6 (+3x2)

Endurance

2 [2x1]

Snow Sprite Lair

+10 (+5x2)

Endurance

1

Everdeep Fortress

+10

Perception

Slot

Item

Charge

Saturation

Durability

Head

Chest

Legs

Hands

Feet

Offhand

Myriad Plate

Bound

Durability

Hardness [12,047]

500 Heat Resistance

500 Cold Resistance

375 Chem Resistance

350 Force Resistance

5,000 Arcane Resistance

Lightness

Compression

Thermal Regulation [OFF]

Tactile Transference [OFF]

Facade [ON]

Obfuscation [ON]

Arcane Regeneration [OFF]

Kinetic Conversion

174,203 / 185,500

0 / 154,209

602,044 / 602,044

Ring[0]

Grand Malleable Ring

Bound, Unity

160/300 Attributes [˃]

104 / 500

0 / 4,270

903 / 903

Ring[1]

Grand Malleable Ring

Bound, Unity

160/300 Attributes [˃]

104 / 500

0 / 4,271

902 / 902

Ring[2]

Grand Malleable Ring

Bound, Unity

160/300 Attributes [˃]

104 / 500

0 / 4,269

908 / 908

Ring[3]

Grand Malleable Ring

Bound, Unity

160/300 Attributes [˃]

104 / 500

0 / 4,247

901 / 901

Ring[4]

Grand Malleable Ring

Bound, Unity

160/300 Attributes [˃]

104 / 500

0 / 4,271

911 / 911

Ring[5]

Aura Collector’s Ring

Bound, Unity

+1.12 Aura Synergy [OFF]

499 / 500

0 / 4,272

813 / 813

Ring[6]

Aura Collector’s Ring

Bound, Unity

+1.12 Aura Synergy [OFF]

499 / 500

0 / 4,278

814 / 814

Ring[7]

Aura Collector’s Ring

Bound, Unity

+1.12 Aura Synergy [OFF]

499 / 500

0 / 4,273

816 / 816

Ring[8]

Aura Collector’s Ring

Bound, Unity

+1.12 Aura Synergy [OFF]

499 / 500

0 / 4,274

813 / 813

Ring[9]

Aura Collector’s Ring

Bound, Unity

+1.12 Aura Synergy [OFF]

499 / 500

0 / 4,271

814 / 814

Amulet

Magewell Amulet

Bound, Unity

Mana Well

100% Import Efficiency

100% Export Efficiency

49,998 / 50,000

0 / 39,211

313 / 313

Mainhand

None

NA

NA

NA

Underwear

Forceweave

Mundane

NA

NA

NA

Overwear

None

NA

NA

NA

His rings were partially disabled or switched off to save charge. His stats were lower than they could have been. His accolade loadout was non-optimal, unchanged since his face-off with the Adamants. Ameliah had some powerful new ones, taken after dispensing some well-deserved justice. He’d insisted she keep them. He hadn’t bothered to trade with her for any of the weaker ones, either. He’d told her to give them to others.

There was no time for regret.

It will have to do.

He brought his stat boosts up to full.

Richmond Rain Stroudwater

CLASS

LVL

CAP

+STAT

Engine of Change

30

30

0

EXP

NEXT

TOTAL

+SKILL

130,422

130,423

3,136,316

1

Vitals

CUR

MAX

RGN

Health

12,400

12,400

1200/d

Stamina

1,720

5,720

1200/d

Mana

99,755

184,250

5.1/s

Attributes

1,500/2,690

EFF

TOTAL

BASE

ACCLD

MISC

SYN

STR

520

520

10

10

500/530

20.6

(103%)

RCV

69

120

10

10

100/770

11.5

(58%)

END

249

286

10

26

250/500

31.3

(87%)

VGR

69.6

120

10

10

100/1,140

11.6

(58%)

FCS

270

270

10

10

250/2,000

50

(250%)

CLR

630

630

320

10

300/2,500

330

(100%)

PER

20

20

10

10

0/0

47.1

(236%)

SPD

9.6

10

10

0

0/18

9.6

(96%)

Dismissing the windows, Rain ordered his body forward. With the acceleration of his mind, it felt like moving through sludge. An outside observer would have seen him hurl himself forward from the flagpole, transitioning to an all-out sprint. His Strength alone would have dented the bridge’s titanium roof had it been thinner. Perhaps he did dent it when he reached the edge. He neither knew nor cared.

Jump Good!

The macro activated, his recently-added stats shifting into Strength and Endurance.

Velocity (15/15)

15703.50% boost to speed for all entities

Range: 0 meters

Cost: 120 mp/s

Pain radiated from his ankles, but he ignored it. This was not the time to hold back. Likewise, he ignored the small drop in his health, the force of his launch surpassing his resistance. He dragged his arms upward against the blasting rush of the air, using them to guide his flight. He hoped the spell hadn’t been too loud, spiritually speaking. It was compressed and had only consumed a tiny sip of mana.

A sip bigger than half an unawakened’s pool. He grimaced. No choice. Winter.

Winter (15/15)

Boost M.Regen by 27057% for all entities

Range: 0 meters

Cost: 480 mp/hr

He began losing altitude, hurtling over the waves as mana rushed into him, some of which he directed into recharging his equipment. The Whale was still coming toward him, at least as fast, skipping off the water like a flat-bottomed stone as it came down from its breach.

It was...large.

He forced himself to look down at the rapidly approaching surface of the ocean.

One thing at a time. Refrigerate.

focusboost.sh: info: secondary stats are locked

focusboost.sh: Focus: 270

modmon.sh: [‘amplify aura’, ‘channel mastery’, ‘aura compression’, ‘ethereal aura’]

autocompress.sh: Target: 5 meters

autocompress.sh: Compression Applied: 82 meters

iff2.sh: offensive aura detected

iff2.sh: foes: unknown_entities

iff2.sh: friends: !foes

iff2.sh: ignore: none

autopower.sh: Target: 9999 dps

autopower.sh: CM Setting: 80.77%

ethmon.sh: Environmental Output: 100%

ethmon.sh: Environmental Occlusion: 25%

Refrigerate (15/15)

9999.00-11427.43 cold (fcs) damage per second to foes and environment

4999.50-5713.71 cold (fcs) mitigation per second to friends

Sufficient damage causes slow

Aura resists 75% of environmental occlusion and absorption

Range: 5 meters

Cost: 242.313 mp/s

The blue glow of his armor was blocked from his vision as the humid air exploded into snow. As the sphere of the spell touched the ocean, salt water froze, cracking as the aura’s effect sunk below the waves. Under normal conditions, ice took up about 9% more space than liquid water, and indeed the expansion drove the growing iceberg to erupt to meet him.

Ice shattered on impact, shards exploding around him as he triggered Velocity and jumped once more, using a lower setting for greater control. Soaring again, he disabled Refrigerate to avoid wasting mana, replacing it with Winter.

By the depth gauge clipped to a console in the bridge, this area of the sea was rank one. They’d known that was a problem but could do nothing about it, forced to follow their chosen ridge. Down here at the surface, his senses told him it was closer to rank two. It still felt like a desert. Watching monsters dying in the battle behind him had been like watching raindrops falling on parched ground. Mana tracked essence, and while he couldn’t sense it, he knew he’d need as much as the desert had to give.

Having stabilized his flight, he took another look at the Whale, then used Prismatic Intent to fill his second slot with Detection, Wards, and Winter. He hadn’t managed to level the metamagic, but with it untangled and cleanly linked to his auras, he could finally use it at its rated potential. As he added Purify to the mix, he released a tiny sigh of relief. Despite what he’d jokingly told Bluewash, Temerity did have bathrooms. Redundancy was important.

The ban on magic had forced him to do...unclean things.

Dozer could never know.

His next landing was less forceful, as was the one after that, transitioning into a steady sprint along the icy causeway freezing ahead of him. He tweaked Refrigerate and Velocity constantly, minimizing the power burn as best he could while trimming down his interface verbosity. Winter was more than keeping up, but not nearly fast enough to have refilled his pool already. It hadn’t been even thirty seconds. His thoughts flickered like lightning, making him feel like a prisoner in his sluggish body.

It’s not enough.

He pushed his temporal balance further—further than he’d known he could—and the world slowed to an agonizing crawl. It was more than discomfort. It hurt.

*Tick*

It was only pain. His health hadn’t fallen since the jump.

Health: 12,291 / 12,400

Stamina: 1,687 / 5,720

Mana: 112,770 / 235,250

The Whale filled his whole horizon, vaguely humpback-like in appearance, though too squat, and its thick skin was more knobbly and cratered. It had two colossal eyes, the pupils alone wider than he was tall. There, things took an even sharper turn from National Geographic. Hundreds of smaller eyes pebbled the skin surrounding the two main ones, pivoting and darting in wild directions. As the leading edge of Refrigerate came into contact, every single one of those hate-filled eyes locked onto him.

Refrigerate Nova!

Refrigerate Nova (15/15)

9999.00-11427.43 cold (fcs) damage per second to foes and environment

4999.50-5713.71 cold (fcs) mitigation per second to friends

Sufficient damage causes slow

Aura resists 75% of environmental occlusion and absorption

Range: 696 meters

Cost: 3353.61 mp/s

*Tick*

A full slot for a full second. That’s what he gave it, a smattering of kill notifications pouring in to be ignored. When his senses returned, he was flying. With only a second to freeze, and nowhere for the water to expand into, it was less like someone had summoned a glacier and more like someone had exploded one with ANFO. Unlike his initial landing, where the leading edge of Refrigerate had gradually come into contact with water, here, the occlusion-resistant spell had swallowed an enormous bite of the ocean in an instant. With explosive results. Force Ward registered a massive draw, shards of ice pinging from ripples in the air as the spell saved him from becoming nothing more than a jelly center to his armor.

Force Ward (15/15)

Increase physical resistance by 120% for all entities

Range: 0 meters

Cost: 2.03776 mp/dmg mitigated

*Tick*

Health: 12,291 / 12,400

Stamina: 1,687 / 5,720

Mana: 104,681 / 235,250

The Whale had been well within the radius, but its health bar hadn’t budged. Rain couldn’t see its body through the whiteout, but its soul was still in his normal range, so he kept Refrigerate going, boosting the proportion of Force Ward in his rotation at the same time.

Refrigerate (15/15)

9999.00-11427.43 cold (fcs) damage per second to foes and environment

4999.50-5713.71 cold (fcs) mitigation per second to friends

Sufficient damage causes slow

Aura resists 75% of environmental occlusion and absorption

Range: 100 meters

Cost: 1041.49 mp/s

Force Ward (15/15)

Increase physical resistance by 120% for all entities

Range: 0 meters

Cost: 0.3184 mp/dmg mitigated

Second by second, he tweaked the settings, trying to be as optimal as possible.

*Tick*

*Tick*

*Tick*

*Tick*

Health: 12,291 / 12,400

Stamina: 1,686 / 5,720

Mana: 99,249 / 235,250

Finally, he was out of range and deactivated Refrigerate. Force Ward was already back to normal, the ongoing damage at a level his armor and Forceweave could handle. The Whale’s health, meanwhile, was still full.

Rain grimaced, his mouth lagging behind the sentiment. He knew he had no real hope of soloing a level forty-three monster—legendary class or not, on the surface or not—but he’d hoped his ace would have done something. The fact that it hadn’t meant the Whale either had Ward-like skills of its own, or all that damage equated to no more than a pixel of its enormous health bar.

Filth, maybe both, and maybe it can regenerate health faster than I can hurt it for good measure. Hard to tell fact from rumor.

*Tick*

Health: 12,291 / 12,400

Stamina: 1,686 / 5,720

Mana: 99,590 / 235,250

Nearing the top of his arc, Rain glanced at his recovering mana as the air cleared. He just needed to survive long enough for Ameliah to realize he’d pulled a Val and come save his stupid ass. After that explosion, she was probably already on her way.

*Tick*

*Tick*

*Tick*

Health: 12,291 / 12,400

Stamina: 1,686 / 5,720

Mana: 100,580 / 235,250

In free fall, Rain would have had no way to dodge the spear of water even if he hadn’t been distracted looking for the ship. The projectile flew with such force that it carved a tunnel through the blizzard, a resounding boom telling him the sound barrier had been broken. The ability was infamous; in this universe, Whales harpooned you. Force Ward activated, though a good bit of the damage went to his armor’s saturation instead of his mana.

Knowing better than to try to prevent it, he let himself be blasted back. As he tumbled, he glimpsed the Whale crashing toward him, its swim speed impeded not at all by the frozen ocean. Before he could right himself, another supersonic spear of water struck.

Then another. Then another. And another.

*Tick*

*Tick*

*Tick*

Content to be juggled, Rain tweaked his Ward settings, balancing the mana draw from Force Ward against the risk of the Arcane attack Whales were rumored to use rarely. Looking at his steady total, running out of mana wasn’t the danger. Running out of essence was the danger.

As his perspective on the problem shifted, so did his interface.

Chaos

88 kESS

Potential [>]

946 kESS

Soul [>]

3.13 GESS

A battle on the surface was a battle of attrition. As Halgrave called it: a slog. According to him, being a goldplate was about becoming well-rounded, covering your gaps in offense, defense, and utility. And above all, it was about the ability to endure. Velika had a different philosophy, but no matter the philosophy you subscribed to, anything could be killed. It was just a matter of how long it would take.

*Tick*

Chaos

86 kESS

Potential [>]

945 kESS

Soul [>]

3.13 GESS

Even if the health regeneration thing were true, it would consume the Whale’s potential as fast as mana regeneration was consuming his own. It wasn’t just that, though. Whenever damage clashed against resistance—or soul against soul in general—both were subject to strain. No matter the damage the system listed, an attack from a weak soul had no weight. He didn’t have numbers to quantify it, but he’d lived it. Once when he’d broken his soul testing Suppression on Ameliah; again when he’d cracked the Incarn’s soul open with it and his will. Those were just the most relevant examples.

Nothing was absolute. Eventually, potential would run out. Resistances would fail.

*Tick*

He’d fail first, he was sure. The Whale would be burning extra power simply to exist at such a shallow depth, but he’d heard they could stay up for as long as thirty minutes. He didn’t have thirty minutes. He didn’t have one minute. In fact, he probably wouldn’t even get to find out if his potential would last.

*Tick*

Below him, the Whale was opening its maw. Its teeth were...multitudinous. Row after row after row, colossal, wickedly sharp, and in constant, grinding motion. As distressing as it was to realize the Whale had an industrial woodchipper for a mouth, more distressing was the fact that the juggling seemed to have been done with purpose. Shot after shot, his horizontal velocity had been killed.

*Tick*

As he feared, the spear of water didn’t come this time.

He began to fall.

Refrigerate Nova!

*Tick*

There was no second explosion to greet him when his senses returned. Though the Whale and the water around it were well within the nova’s impressive radius, the environmental Cold mana was all used up. His magic was not without effect, locking the shattered bergs from the first detonation into place, but it did nothing to resolve his situation.

Immolate Nova!

*Tick*

When sight returned this time, snow and ice had been replaced by steam. The glacial surface, however, remained unmelted. His second ace had failed. He’d known it would. Ameliah had been keeping him up to date on the local mana concentrations, and this far out to sea, environmental Heat mana was almost nonexistent. He’d had to try, though.

*Tick*

Now would be a great time for that rescue!

Spreading his arms to slow himself as best as he could, Rain again searched the horizon for Temerity. Instead, he found three more enormous souls below the surface. They were foggy, growing clearer as they rocketed up from the depths.

Oh, great. The rest of the pod.

*Tick*

A flash of gold caught the corner of his eye, and he tore his gaze back upward, feeling like he pulled something in his neck doing it.

There she is!

Ameliah was hurtling in his direction, but not fast enough. Elation turned to horror. She wouldn’t get here in time. Beyond her, he finally spotted the ship, and horror became relief. The spray from the vessel’s breakneck passage told him Halgrave was hard at work on plan B. Center of Mass was for equipment, so he couldn’t exactly get out and carry the ship to safety, even on the off chance his Golem form made him strong enough to do so. Airwalk, however, was more than enough for him to get out and push.

*Tick*

Rain looked down at the approaching souls of the pod, then smiled. They were coming for him, not the ship. His distraction had worked. If he died, he could die knowing he’d done all he could. He didn’t know if plan B would be enough—if Halgrave would be able to outrun his metaphysical wake—but running was better than dying.

Dying was something he had no plans of doing, either. He’d promised.

*Tick*

With calm urgency, he searched his mind for options. He had a skill point, but nothing he could put it in that would help. Even outside auras, nothing leapt out. Airwalk. Flight. Levitation. Even Redirection. All of them had prerequisites.

*Tick*

The Whale’s jaws were getting close now. Abruptly, Force Ward pinged as something punched him in the side, and it took him a moment to realize it hadn’t been another water harpoon.

She shot me!

Rain stared at the tumbling shards of the shattered arrow. The hit had been heavier than it had any right to be according to physics, but no matter the skills and the weight of Ameliah’s intent, it was still just an arrow. It wasn’t enough to alter his trajectory. What it did do, though, was give him an idea.

Equal and opposite! If I summon Dozer and huck him sideways, it might be enough to—

*Tick*

Light faded as he passed within the Whale’s yawning jaws. Not content to wait, it had surged up to meet him. With barely enough time to lament the lateness of his idea—an idea that probably wouldn’t have worked anyway, if he was honest—the milling teeth snapped together.

Drat.