Day 61

Nicole Jorgenson

The night after their first day on floor five ended with a quick meeting of the Council. Waiting around to hear the plan for tomorrow, the storm mage had listened in on the discussion. She may have also been waiting around to see if Warner wanted a nightcap. Lucky for her the decisions that needed to be made were pretty self-evident.

There wasn’t a long wait.

It came as no surprise to her that the crabs were former sapients. The monsters had a distinct cooperative nature to them. That was a rare thing for animals, much less monsters without some form of higher intelligence. The study of war was also the story of intelligent conflict, even if they were sparked off by idiocy. The Kor Crabs showed every sign of that potential, or as it turned out, had once lived at that potential.

A sad story, but that didn’t change anything for the Sixty in Jorgenson’s eyes. Ape smart crabs didn’t mean there was a way to reason with monsters. They would remain enemies.

What was important, was that there was a queen to slay.

Once the door to the next floor was found, the blood of the crabs would be required to open it. That implication was pretty clear from Rueben’s carved words. A quick conversation revealed that the right ruins were probably already found. Warner revealed that to the Council and Jorgenson grinned at the win her curiosity had gotten them.

During their push toward the center of the floor, she had wandered off after seeing something in the trees. Her first look had been atop a hill, a spear of black stone rising from the middle of the forest. Being barely taller than the foliage around had disguised it from most eyes. The storm mage had noticed only because the branches shook just right. She had kept that place in mind until they got closer. Spacial awareness and eyeballing distances were a specialty of hers.

Jorgenson had encountered the black stone as expected and discovered it wasn’t a geological curiosity, but a spire. One that had sunken into the ground some unknowable time ago. There were signs that several geysers and springs had been active here sometime before the trees had overgrown the area.

Now everything was quiet and she was looking at a balcony with a stone door.

The storm mage had taken the time to look it over, but hadn’t figured on it being important exactly. Definitely not the door off the floor even if it had some use. The door was made of the same solid black stone and not an ounce of gold. Every inch of the spire was carved in great looping designs that made her think of mixing liquids. After that, she had simply told Warner about it and thought of it no more until Reuben's own discovery was revealed.

It was a strange placement for the floor exit, but no one else had seen any hint of another ruin. Still, Lola’s and Zariah’s parties would be sent out to double-check for other potential sightings. The rest of the Sixty would put their efforts into getting the necessary key of blood.

Jorgenson looked forward to another full-scale battle. She was certainly not alone in wanting to see what the Sixty could do in comparison to the hectic battle against the Ratsin King. That had been more desperate than anyone wanted, this fight would be all around better. They were more experienced and more powerful now. The odds were good.

A battle plan you could be confident in quickly spun together from there.

The next day she entered the fifth floor with a spring in her step. Warner had said yes to a nightcap and though nothing more than sparks, it had been a lovely evening.

Carlos Valencia

Having a key part in a plan was stressful, being the beginning of a plan was outright nerve-wracking. The entire battle towards the central lake he spent half distracted by his impending part to play. It was strange and bewildering to suddenly be playing with the top dogs of the Sixty. The Council had come to him themselves to ask for him to take part in turning the tides in their favor. An incredible weight that the ice mage felt was going to crush him.

Of course, between his magic and already working with Allen on dual casting, there was frankly no one else to do this.

He didn’t quite root for the crabs, but every pushback they got from the horde was a source of momentary relief. A few more seconds to keep him from risking embarrassing himself in front of everyone. Before a spike of guilt ruined it. Carlos wouldn’t flinch from trying. Not at all. What was coming seemed beyond him. Risky too.

Dual casting was powerful, no one could doubt that after seeing Allen and Analia drenching that demon bird. What worried him most of all was that those two mages admitted they had no idea what the spell would do during the original casting. The words and connection had just come upon them. They said the words and it happened. He had no idea why anyone would have any expectations about what would happen.

Yet, no one showed a second of doubt.

Not when they asked him. Not when Allen came to collect him at the final ridge, staring down into the bowl of the lake. Not when the Sixty fought as close as was safely possible to the shore. They pushed out onto a peninsula of solid ground to get him as close to the acidic lake as was possible. All this fighting was done for him, to support them. No frantic panic when the soldier crabs breached the surface in numbers to rival the small Kor Crabs. No doubt. None.

The earth quaked and the watered raged, the queen arriving with fanfare. It was his signal and horror to see the monstrosity rise from the emerald lake. The great hole at the bottom was barely large enough to allow the passage of the building-size crab. A scream cut the air as acidic water poured off in waterfalls and rising steam grew clouds above the battlefield.

Even then no one doubted.

So he couldn’t

Carlos gripped Allen’s waiting hand and they reached out to each other another way too. He couldn’t allow any doubt that they couldn’t pull this off. A small connection wasn’t enough this time. A true bond had to happen for a spell to be born. From his deepest well the ice mage demanded for it to happen. Willed it so, beyond a shadow of a doubt. No doubt at all. None.

Fire met ice and the world heard their words.

“I Am The Flames, “I Am The Freeze,

Fire Lights My Path, Ice Shows My Path,

We Seek Together, We Seek Together,

To Annihilate Our Foes, To Annihilate Our Foes,

Feel the Lost Of Heat Feel The Sap of Cold

Domain: Glacial Freeze

A pulse rushed across the bowl around the lake, revealing or creating a line of red and light blue. The temperature in the air dropped immediately and the crabs screamed together in fear instead of rage. Frost began to rapidly build on anything wet, mud froze, and the steam above turned to rain then snow. Ice grew at the edge of the lake with increasing speed until it was as if the season changed to winter.

The Sixty roared with approval as Carlos successfully turned the tides for them.

Anastasia Pascal

Frost covered everything in sight, solid ground spread outwards as ice thickened mud and water. The Sixty no longer had to fear their footing. Further, the furious battle against the Kor Crab horde snapped decidedly to their advantage. As the magical cold burned the monsters and they paused to scream. The Sixty’s frontline didn’t hesitate. Their foes were slaughtered en masse before interlocking barriers were raised. Dividing man and monster.

The mages had something prepared for this moment.

It was time to isolate the queen as the ice had purposefully prevented reinforcements. Boiling water misted the air as the crabs shot beams of water at the barriers. When the queen added her own enraged strength, Leon stepped in to hold the line. No one wanted the mages distracted.

Damien stood upon a runic circle of violet. Written with pure Mana, it hovered an inch off the ground. A simple construct that would empower his casting by refining power and sharpening focus. He made to cast and Anastasia gave him a further boost. Her silver Mana took the budding spell to a new height. The obsidian thaumaturgist sweated under the strain, though his face never showed it.

Violet stars appeared in the sky of their imposed winter day. They shone bright enough to sting as each swelled before the eye. Streaking downwards with doom as Damien willed them to fall. Into the masses of crabs, each orb impacted and exploded outwards. The monster warbled in terror as the unrelenting power slowly passed over them. Burning and searing without a speck of heat.

Anastasia had seen this spell several times and every time she felt something was missing in her understanding. A gap. Making it impossible to copy because of some small speck of intention. She had begun to think it beyond her. Despite the similarity to the foundational spells, this marvel was simply beyond her ability. An aspect of Damien’s Will that was unknowable.

Looking at the stars falling in the snow changed that.

The blue mage saw/felt the way open. Filled with the insight that understanding was often just a trick of perspective. You just needed to tilt your head the right way or your heart. She understood now. The wonder of the cosmos that filled Damien and had been expressed in every spell.

No wonder my attempts are poor imitations. I was only copying, a snapshot that would never be the same as the original moment. It is clear now. The root of my power, copying is but the surface. I am a mirror of imitation.

Confidence surged in her chest like never before. Fears washed away as a silver circle drew itself around her feet. Damien’s words became her words and she spoke them to the snowy sky. Silver stars bloomed across the sky and then they too fell. The crabs had hardly recovered from the first bombardment when a second one fell. Equal in strength.

She turned to Damien with a dreamy smile, “The stars are beautiful aren’t they?”

Her friend seemed stunned for a moment, as if understand the depths of the words. A beautiful smile broke like the sun. “Yes! Gorgeous! And infinite!”

They laughed as the other mages began to target the remaining clusters.

The obsidian thaumaturgist stretched as the laughter petered away into isolated chuckles. “Tell me, Anastasia, can you copy this?”

His staff surged with power as he began to build something. A streak of layered Mana. To her eyes, it was like a gash of violet in the air, but there was a sliver of darkness running down the middle. To her understanding it was just a manipulation of his bubble barrier, she was once again missing something. There was an extraordinary pressure involved. Coming together to create something, that line of darkness, but even Anastasia’s enhanced eyes could not make heads or tails of the effect. The result was created by Mana but not of Mana. She had no insight to build off.

Damien aimed the streak at the queen crab. The massive monster was beginning to break through Leon’s restraining barriers. The violet line flew over the battlefield and grew larger with every second. It hit, flashing bright. Then there was a thunderous quake in the air. Anastasia was reminded of a jet passing the sound barrier, but this was sharper, deeper.

Darkness lashed out from the gash of violet. Deep black cracks whipped about the queen like tentacles. Where they struck chitin broke or fractured. That precious blue blood the Sixty had come for began to flow from a scattering of wounds.

The queen screamed in a thousand octaves and the obsidian thaumaturgist fell to his knee.

She was there at his side in an instant and helped him rise.

“Did you see that?” asked Damien.

“I saw, but I uh don’t understand,” replied Anastasia. “Yet, um at least. There is still so much to learn.”

A grin. “Always is.”

Julia Sarcos

The battlefield between the Sixty and the queen was littered with dusting monsters. There was hardly any space not covered by the dead crabs. Where the ground was visible, it was scorched in a variety of arcane ways. In a few moments, the dusting would clear their way and they would be free to confront the massive crab directly. It was all alone.

There were no unsealed openings anywhere nearby. They had made certain of it.

As Julia began to lead the melee fighters forward, she sheathed her sword. The weapon was well suited for close-quarters fighting, but not what was coming next. The shieldmaiden had learned from Rueben about versatility. She unslung a warhammer from her back. Iron with a bronze core to increase the heft. A few months ago lifting it would have been impossible and now she had the thought of getting a heavier one.

“Time to deshell this crab!” roared Julia and her people roared back. The slow march forward turned quickly into a charge. They would be depending on long-range support to get up close. All the melee fighters could do was run.

Ice covered a large part of the expanse that needed to be crossed, but Carlos had noticeably altered it to be rougher after the dual casting. Each step crunched through the frost, creating a racket as over a dozen pairs of feet stormed in sync. Mana glowed from everyone as they prepared to butcher the legs on one side to collapse the great beast.

The queen crab screamed at them and a jet of water fired at them. Leon’s shields blocked the impact, though unable to prevent a rain of runoff. Barriers from shield users flickered in and out of existence as they passed under. Bullets of electrified air rapidly fired into the face of the crab in retaliation and Damien added his own weight with streaks of starlight.

Moments later they arrived at the closest leg, some branched off while the bulk ran past to the next leg. Targets had already been laid out. Julia had willingly taken the furthest leg. A claw came down to crush them, but was intercepted by Leon. Malachi’s chains disabled the claw further by locking it to the ground. The Kor queen shrieked and used the other claw to smash at the chains. It tried to skitter away from the swarming melee fighters.

Just delays.

Vincent’s rose Mana flared and the second leg lost a section as the first leg crumbled from an avalanche of attacks. The third cracked as Warner punched with a wild blast of power. Eye on the prize, Julia sized up the fourth leg as it wildly danced about. She felt confident, blue Mana poured into the head of the warhammer. A beacon of her strength.

The shieldmaiden leaped, her Form switched to assault mode. Power surged down every limb as she aimed herself at a limb joint. A blink and then she swung for the stands. Her hammer hit with a moment of hesitation before bowling completely through in an explosion of blue blood and crab meat. The queen trumpeted in alarm as the last stable limb on her left was taken away.

At that signal, everyone fled from underneath as the massive monster careened from a lack of support. Malachi cried out, she would always hear him in a crowd, as the translucent chains shattered under the sharp pressure of the fall. The ice cracked and rumbled at the impact of the Kor crab. Some acid water seeped through, but froze immediately under the influence of the Domain. The Sixty regathered to register the change.

Julia saw Porsha appear from the swirling frost kicked up by the fall. The scout hurried over to the groaning queen with a container. From one of the seeping wounds, blood was collected and then the blonde woman hurried away from the battlefield.

She could see from here the red lights at the treeline around the lake that marked the trailhead that would lead straight to the ruins. The core might open the seal just fine, but no one wanted to take the chance. It had been decided to take the words literally and use the blood before finishing the fight, if possible. Should the parties that were out there searching find another, Francisco would do the same as his fellow scout.

The queen crab didn’t stay stunned long. Despite mangling half her limbs, the monster wasn’t any less menacing. Those claws became even more violent as the wounded creature lashed out at the humans sizing her up. Leaning to one side meant it would be harder to strike the other legs, but its mobility was a complete loss. All within expectations.

This also triggered their next trick. Crabs glowing purple rushed madly at the cripple queen. They began to hack at the monster that had ignored them at first. Molly’s corpse army didn’t slow when the massive claws crushed and tossed them away. Their berserk attack played out well for them. The puppets were destroyed, but the other side of the legs had been effectively clipped. As an added bonus the claws were showing wear as well.

Buffs were recast as the Sixty reformed for another charge. They took their time preparing, their target wasn’t going anywhere and the scout needed the time to get to the ruins. Should that spire prove not to be the right one there might be a longer delay.

Everything was checked over and the mages began to charge up another barrage. It was time to start anew.

Julia felt weary and energetic all at once. They had spent most of the day preparing for this fight, fighting down wave after wave of crabs. This was the last bit of the fifth floor. She felt it in her heart.

The shieldmaiden lifted her sword, “Charge!”