Emerilia Series Box Set 3

by Michael Chatfield

  ***

  Jung Lee felt his perception dim slightly. He had been watching the different groups coming into the earthen dome, attacking the lowest creatures for loot and then retreating after they reached the Affinity spirit-controlled animals.

  He frowned, remembering the people who had put odd spikes around the perimeter of the earthen dome. With his senses, nothing that happened around the Six Affinity Temple escaped his notice. Although he couldn’t see outside of the dome, inside he knew everything that happened.

  His Intelligence was so high that his memory was almost photographic. He compared the different builds and Mana signatures of the people who had ventured to the mouth of his temple with these people who were running around. Three of them were the same!

  When someone appeared in mid-air above him, he looked to where the Half-Dwarf with gray eyes and runes covering his face looked at him.

  “Hello, Jung Lee.” The man smiled.

  “Sorry about this. When they all work together, I can’t control them! Dodge!” Jung Lee jumped upward. Gray wings extended from his back as his sword cut at the man, his weapon leaving a rippling gray light that howled through the sky.

  The man disappeared from one spot to another.

  The gray blade of force left a solid line in the temple’s roof.

  “So, you have all of the Affinity spirits in you?” the man asked.

  “Correct!” Jung Lee flipped in the air as he punched out with his sword. A vortex of gray energy in the shape of a drill lashed out at Dave.

  A hole appeared in the wall behind Dave, killing a number of the different mobs standing on the stairs. Again, he disappeared and moved to another location.

  “Do you know what you need to take back control?” Dave didn’t sound the least perturbed as he reappeared again.

  “Soul binding contract! Though I’m not strong enough to do it by myself! Cutting net!” Jung Lee called out the move that the Affinity spirits performed.

  His blades slashed through the air, creating a gray net that chilled those who were watching it. As if a cold knife had been unsheathed in the middle of a fight.

  Dave again changed positions.

  The net hit the floor, cutting it, creating perfect squares where the sections of the net had hit.

  “How do you weaken them?” Dave asked.

  “Need someone to help suppress the other Affinities one by one for me to take control,” Jung Lee said through gritted teeth. Finding a way to limit the strength of the Free Affinity spirits would be incredibly difficult. Although someone might be able to suppress five of the spirits, through their actions they would increase the power of the Affinity spirit that they resonated with.

  Pressure pulled at Jung Lee, as if it were pulling him apart. His wings changed into a rainbow of colors as vibrant Mana lashed out of his body.

  Orbs appeared around Jung Lee.

  “Sorry about this—bit of a pain in the ass fighting all over the place. My name’s Dave.” Dave smiled.

  Jung Lee looked at the orbs out of the corner of his eyes. A smile appeared on his face, his hope like an inferno within him.

  “My friends and I are working on a way to free you and let you regain control. It’s going to be a bit hard, but we’re not ones to do the easy thing. It will take us some time but we should be able to help you,” Dave said.

  Jung Lee grunted, the forces pulling at him too strong for him to fight.

  “Good. You’re strong as hell. Nearly out of power on my prison. Well, I’ll be seeing you soon, hopefully. If you find yourself somewhere strange, don’t worry about it,” Dave said.

  With that, he disappeared from Jung Lee’s vision and the orbs around Jung Lee disappeared with him.

  Now that there was no threat in the area, the Free Affinity spirits in his body once again started to fight one another and Jung Lee as they forced him to walk back to his chair.

  However, they found that Jung Lee’s crumbling resolve was suddenly much stronger, not letting in anything.

  ***

  “Does it seem that we’re in here more often than not?” Malsour asked.

  “You might be right on that one.” Dave smiled to Malsour as they worked inside the teleportation array within Pandora’s box.

  Malsour snorted, eating his sandwich, and looked at the new addition to the room.

  It looked like the skeleton of a box with pillars on every side.

  “Okay, so, we’ve got the gravity clamps in place so that we can hold him down.” Dave pointed to the large metal sections in every corner of the box. “And then we’ve got the magical suppressors.” Dave pointed to the different pillars that rested along the faces of the box. He looked over the runes and structure. “Well, I think we’re ready to give it a try.”

  Malsour moved to the command console at the side of the room, looking to Dave in the center. “Powering up the magical suppressors.”

  Dave stayed in the center of the square. Having all of the Affinities, he was the best test subject.

  Runes lit up along the different supports before the pillars started to glow and rotate into position as runes activated on their surfaces.

  Dave felt as if he had aged decades in just a moment. His entire body was weak as his Willpower and Mana was suppressed.

  “Yeah, that sucks.” Dave checked how strong his different spells were. Where he could have immersed himself in the different Manas before, now he could only summon a wisp of it on his finger. Barely a thousandth of his power and even then, the toll from casting these spells rapidly brought him to Mana fatigue.

  “Shut it down,” Dave said.

  Malsour cut the power. It felt as if Dave’s strength flooded back into him. The difference was heaven and earth.

  “So?” Malsour asked.

  “Yeah, it’s really damn effective,” Dave said, happy to have his power back. As he closed his fist, gray smoke appeared around it for a few seconds.

  “Okay, so Suzy has that soul binding contract that will allow Jung Lee to control the Free Affinity spirits,” Malsour said.

  “I think we’re almost ready to free him,” Dave said.

  “Never thought that I would be doing something like saving a man from being possessed by Free Affinity spirits.” Malsour shook his head.

  Dave made a noise of agreement. What freaks me out the most is that from the quest screen, if we were to kill him, we would still win it. I don’t think that there would be many or anyone else who would have thought to try to help him gain control over the spirits that are raging through his body.

  It was an outrageous plan. Most people would go for the easiest solution; what Dave and Malsour had created circumvented having to eliminate Jung Lee. It came with a lot more risk, but the rewards could be imagined.

  “Okay, one last check.” Dave slapped a metal disk to his chest and stepped out of the teleport array.

  “Ready?” Malsour looked at the console.

  “Ready,” Dave agreed.

  Malsour pressed a button and the teleport array activated. Using the metal disk, the teleport array was able to lock onto Dave with ease, using it as a beacon much like the teleport pads used the drop pads in being placed.

  Dave flashed into existence within the square he had been standing in moments ago.

  “Okay, looks like all the preparations are complete.” Dave pulled off the metal disk as the glowing runes of the teleport array faded away.

  “Now we just have to hope it all goes according to plan,” Malsour said.

  ***

  Jung Lee was once again sitting in his chair. Instead of an impassive look, he had a smile on his face. His face had taken on a healthier glow, looking like a person instead of an empty husk.

  The disrupting field around the earthen dome switched on again.

  Jung Lee’s heart beat quicker as he looked up.

  “Hey, Jung Lee!” Dave’s voice came through the temple. “Time we got you out of here!”

  Jung Lee’s body was already
turning when a massive force was brought down on him. He was forced to the ground as he couldn’t move.

  “Sorry about that,” Dave said from behind Jung Lee now.

  He felt something attach to his back and then there was a flash. The weight on him disappeared for a split second before he was looking at a different floor. Beneath him there was a runed pillar.

  He was suspended in mid-air but the pressure on him didn’t allow him to move. Even with the great gravitational force upon his body, he felt as if he was being suppressed.

  The Free Affinity spirits within him were greatly weakened, allowing his mind the kind of freedom he had not known for centuries. Where his mind had been automatically fighting off the Free spirits, it was only now that he realized what pressure he had been under every day since he had been possessed.

  The gravity changed, moving his body so that he was no longer kneeling in mid-air.

  He looked at the five different people in the room with him.

  A High Elf held out six different contracts with runes on the back of them.

  “Hello, Jung Lee. My name is Suzy. I am a summoner. I’ve made up these contracts so that you can gain control over the Free Affinity spirits within your body,” she said without pause. “Now, the process of soul binding a creature to your command is not easy. First, you will initiate the contract. By this, I mean I will present you with these contracts. You need to agree to them. Once you do so, then the different creatures will fight you in a battle of will. With the magical suppression on you, it should be a lot easier to gain control of the different spirits within you. Once you defeat one, then the contract will be completed. You will lose part of your Willpower to bring them under your command. Then we move onto the following spirit. You should get better at suppressing them with your power, but as you will lose some Willpower each time, you’re going to need to do it faster and faster as your Endurance will decrease in large fights of Willpower.”

  Jung Lee took all of this in. He couldn’t even blink he was so suppressed.

  “All right, well, let’s get started.” Suzy held up a contract.

  Suzy had made these contracts herself; usually one could make a contract within their heart, their interface translating it into a contract for the person to accept. Here, Suzy had simplified it. She’d written up the contract so that there was no need to mess around with the details that would be held within a contract mediated by their interface.

  Malsour had also worked with her to make the contract stronger. If it was agreed to, the power of the contract’s seal on the creature would be many times stronger than that of a contract made through one’s interface.

  Jung Lee read the contract and accepted it.

  Runes that had been painted onto the contract glowed, their power so great that they turned the contract to ashes.

  Jung Lee fought with the first Free spirit, Light. He unleashed his pent-up anger and rage. Under this century-old anger, the Light spirit was quelled.

  It didn’t have the ability to even fight back.

  Jung Lee took control of the creature. A golden light fell over him as his aura increased in power. The raging Free Light Affinity spirit was suppressed, turning from a raging beast into a calming and docile power.

  As the glow finished, Suzy held up another contract.

  As he accepted it, once again it was burnt to ashes.

  He took control of the Dark Affinity spirit. It fought him like a dog unwilling to give up its meal.

  Jung Lee’s aura was oppressive, making the others in the room break into a cold sweat as a dark light surrounded Jung Lee for a moment.

  Although the fight felt as if it had lasted minutes, it had been hours.

  Everyone was tense, their weapons out and their Mana circulating in case something went wrong.

  The fights started to get harder and longer. Even as Jung Lee was exhausted as he suppressed Fire and Water, he continued onward.

  His drive to gain control over himself once again surpassed the limits of his Endurance.

  Another contract was burnt as Jung Lee started to fight with the Free Air Affinity spirit.

  The Air spirit was elusive, dodging his attempts to hold it down and overpower it with his strength. Even when he felt he had it cornered, the spirit would escape his grasp, exhausting him and his strength.

  His anger ignited and new slivers of power started to fill him. He paused in shock, realizing that this power was coming from the now soul-bound creatures. Feeling their master’s need, they supplied him with power. Instead of being controlled by the power, he could direct and use it.

  He was shocked by it so much that the Air spirit nearly hit him with an attack that would have made the contract fail.

  The other spirits defended him, beating the Air spirit back as Jung Lee pounced on it.

  The Air spirit quivered, unable to stop all of the other spirits that were as strong as it, as well as Jung Lee.

  Working together, the fifth spirit was contained.

  The last contract was held up in front of Jung Lee; he accepted it.

  The Earth spirit located in his feet trembled as it felt Jung Lee focus on it. It didn’t even try to fight as it accepted the contract.

  Jung Lee didn’t have time to celebrate his victory as unconsciousness overtook him, a slight smile on his lips.

  Chapter 33: New Partnerships

  Deia, Anna, and Quindar floated in the air, watching the Devil’s Crater Army. Now, the aerial and ground forces were working together in two teams to defeat one another.

  Vrexu and Efri’s brigades had come together after fighting side-by-side on the way to the Six Affinity Temple.

  Now that they were working together, they had been able to increase how effective they were. Instead of just having the aerial fighting the ground forces, they were working together to defeat other mixed groups.

  Kala, Alkao, and Malkur’s forces rotated through the outpost, learning new skills from the trainers there as well as some real world experience. If they weren’t at the outpost then they were providing security in Unity or the keeps.

  The changes that the DCA had undergone under the three women’s instruction had been incredible.

  As they watched the two forces fighting in the forests to the northeast of Unity, they had somber looks.

  The event was fast approaching and the DCA would be heavily involved in the fighting. Many of the people they had taught might not make it through. However, they knew that with their training, they had a much better chance than before.

  They just hoped that it would be enough.

  “They’re much more cautious, sending out probes instead of just stand up fighting,” Anna said with approval.

  “It’s about time that they started fighting that way. Their whole tactics are built around small groups and squads. Finding out where the enemy’s supply areas are, where they’re positioned and then hitting them in lightning raids—that’s how they can use their skills to the max,” Quindar said.

  “They’ve certainly come a long way,” Anna said.

  The trio once again fell into silence. Left with their own thoughts, they looked down at the ongoing battle. Unlike the fights before, this one looked as though it wouldn’t be decided in a matter of hours but a few days.

  ***

  Sola looked at the few dozen people who stood in front of her. These people had competed within the Dwarven tournament and lost or they were people whose reputation had been so great that the Council of Anvil and Fire as well as the war council had heard of them.

  They looked to Dwarven Master Smith Sola, their faces filled with respect. A number of them were of a higher level than Sola.

  Though she had crafted some of the finest weapons and armor in Emerilia, a warrior knew that to keep a smith like Sola in their good graces was a smart idea. With her position, she was more powerful than most kings and queens.

  They all waited as she studied each and every one of them.

  “Many of you are
wondering why you have been asked to come here, why you have been allowed entrance into a Dwarven mountain, and then brought into this secure location,” Sola said, her words passing over all of them.

  “The event Of Myths and Legends will begin shortly. This kind of event has never been seen before on Emerilia. As you know, we Dwarven Master Smiths pride ourselves on the weapons and armor that we make. None more than our Weapons of Power.”

  The room seemed to still. Each and every person held their breath, as if the faintest movement would break the hopes that swelled up within them.

  “We have protected and held onto Weapons of Power for centuries. These items are so powerful that they would be able to topple kingdoms and allow people to fight the strongest creatures of Emerilia. The war council, as well as the Council of Anvil and Fire, has determined that we will allow you entrance to our vaults. Weapons of Power are not like normal weapons. They hold a part of the soul of their creators. They cannot be used by just anyone, but only by someone who is compatible with the soul that is within the weapon. Binding yourself to the weapon will not only take your blood but a part of your Willpower. If you accept these terms, please step forward.”

  Everyone in the room took a step forward without hesitation. Their faces were grim. For the Dwarves to go this far, they were starting to realize just how different this event was going to be compared to the other events they had lived through.

  Sola nodded and looked to the Dwarven guards who looked after the Weapons of Power vault.

  These Level 1,500s bowed to Sola before they cut their hands and pressed them against the wall.

  A shimmering light fell over them for a few moments. There was the sound of ancient gears moving and locking mechanisms releasing from the massive metal door that the two guards stood in front of.

  Finally, the last lock was released. The door opened and ancient air flowed out. The warriors standing in the hall felt their hairs stand on edge as a wave of focused Mana passed outward.

  Sola moved into the room and led them in.

  Their breaths were fast and short as they looked over the massive vault that was filled with Weapons of Power.

  There were all manner of weapons, armors, and items. Each of them gave off an ancient and powerful feeling. These were weapons that had a historied past, being held in the hands of heroes who had overturned battles. Had defeated the most powerful beasts on Emerilia.