Unusual Enemies - A LitRPG Adventure (The Whispering Crystals, #2)
Page 26
I pull back my spear, then move my breath-balloon back behind me, quickly fusing my next exhale with it to maintain control.
Kaitlynn bursts out in loud cheers, while Alec starts booing, the little prick.
Jacob drops to his knees when my breath-balloon stops supporting him. He sits there for a moment, before getting up and turning to me with a complicated expression.
“What...” He stops and shakes his head. “Never mind. That was amazing. But it won’t work on me twice.”
I smile. “Guess I’ll have to get creative then.”
We take up our positions again.
Alec and Kaitlynn are getting into it now, loudly cheering us on. Actually, only Kaitlynn seems to be cheering both of us on, Alec appears to be exclusively cheering for Jacob.
Seriously? Maybe I can goad him into duelling me some time as well...
I clear my head of thoughts as Dave raises his arm once more.
“The score is one-nil to Emma. Second duel, begin!”
This time, Jacob is a lot warier about approaching me, so we start out slowly circling each other.
I could take the lead to attack, but my Breath Control techniques are actually more suited for defensive measures and counterattacks, so I stay my hand and wait for Jacob to make a move.
When it becomes apparent that I’m not going to do anything, Jacob jumps towards one of the wooden training dummies and lightly touches it with his sword hand.
A bright flash of yellow erupts from his wrist, and the dummy is launched towards me.
My first instinct is to jump over it, but that’s probably what he’s expecting me to do.
Instead, I move my breath-balloon in front of me and brace myself against it.
The dummy smashes into my breath-balloon, deforming it. I can feel its momentum try to push me back, and attempt to hold my ground. In the end, I’m forced to take a few steps backwards, but the dummy also bounces back towards Jacob as he comes rushing over.
It doesn’t have the same kind of speed as it had coming towards me, however, so Jacob manages to nimbly step around it and lash out with his sword while I’m still on my back foot.
His sword cuts into my breath-balloon, full of pressurised Aether, and it bursts.
That’s six of my maximally compressed exhales. Now, if I had seen this coming, I might have been able to use my remaining control to direct most of the resulting rush of Aether towards him. As I didn’t, the Aether bursts out in all directions and sends us both flying backwards.
However, this is exactly the kind of situation where the difference in our Agility becomes obvious. I nimbly land into a backwards roll and end up on my feet, ready to sprint forward, while Jacob lands on his back with a pained grunt.
Unfortunately, the distance between us is just large enough that he manages to get up in time to block my first jab with his shield.
I have the initiative now, however, so I stay on the offensive. I push him back with jabs and sweeps, keeping him on his back foot and off balance. Meanwhile, I’m rebuilding my breath-balloon behind me. Three breaths... four breaths...
Jacob finds himself backed up against the wall, and pushes himself off it, attempting to bash me with his shield.
However, I was waiting for something like that.
Instead of dodging, I reach out with one of my hands and grasp onto his shield, then let myself fall backwards, pulling him with me.
His eyes widen as he stumbles and tips over on top of me.
The breath-balloon below me bulges as our combined weights land on top of it, but I manage to hold it together.
Meanwhile, my feet find his hips, and as the breath-balloon bounces back up, I push.
Jacob sails high through the Aether, nearly touching the ceiling as I finish my backwards roll over the breath-balloon onto my feet.
Just before Jacob lands on his ass, a flash of yellow erupts from his Focus Crystal, and he stops and hovers above the ground for a split second.
Then he resumes falling and gently lands on his butt, with his back towards me.
He scrambles to get up and turn around, but I’m already there, gently but firmly pressing my glowing Focus Crystal against the exposed skin on the side of his neck.
He freezes.
“Emma wins,” Dave intones again.
We get back into position. A heavy frown mars Jacob’s face.
Now Kaitlynn begins exclusively cheering on Jacob as well. I glare at the blue-haired traitor, but she just sticks her tongue out at me.
The audacity!
“The score is two-nil to Emma,” Dave intones. “Third duel, begin!”
Jacob immediately storms towards me. I raise my spear to keep him at bay, but he half-jumps past it before bashing it aside with his shield.
His sword hand stretches out towards me, the Focus Crystal tied to the back of his hand glowing bright yellow.
My eyes widen. He’s planning to launch himself from up close so I can’t dodge!
I react by immediately forming a pink vortex around my own Focus Crystal, hoping to counter his move.
It could work too, to an extent. With both our inertial masses decreased, a collision between us would be like a collision between two dust bunnies. We might end up flying in somewhat unexpected directions, but it wouldn’t exactly be painful.
Unfortunately, I misunderstood his plan. And more importantly, the danger of mixing Increase Momentum and Decrease Inertia.
Jacob’s Focus Crystal flashes yellow as he uses Increase Momentum on me, right after I significantly lower my inertial mass.
For those unfamiliar with physics, momentum can be described as inertial mass multiplied by velocity.
As a result, I shoot back like a rocket.
Even more unfortunate is the fact that the Inertial Energy vortex still emanating from my Focus Crystal quickly dissipates as I fly, thus my inertial mass is making a rapid recovery. Now, if conservation of momentum would apply as it does in the Entropic Realm, that would cause my speed to decrease. Unfortunately, this is the Realm of Crystals, so instead, I’m only becoming much harder to decelerate.
I traverse half the living room in the blink of an eye. The only thing that saves me from splattering like a tomato on the wall is a reflex.
One that I thankfully practised for hours yesterday: I turn my breath-balloon into an airbag.
I smash into it, and the weakened sections of the balloon burst, allowing it to rapidly deflate, and absorb most of the impact.
My head still cracks on the wall, making my vision go dark.
When my eyesight returns, albeit blurrily, Jacob is kneeling in front of me, frantically shouting my name.
I wince as the tinnitus decreases and my hearing returns. “Oof, you don’t need to yell man.”
“Oh, thank god,” he breathes out.
“Emma, are you... okay?” Dave asks from the side, confusion and worry clear on his face as he leans down to study me.
I blink owlishly at him, before nodding my head and slowly getting up. I touch the back of my head. No bump yet, but it’ll be there soon.
“Guess that’s a win for Jacob,” I remark dryly.
Kaitlynn, tears spilling down her left cheek, begins checking the back of my head and body with shaking fingers.
“Geeze, Emma, how are you standing?” Alec asks, baffled. “You were going, like, eighty miles an hour!”
Ah. Well, he’s probably exaggerating.
I smile at him. “I carry around an airbag nowadays, in case of an emergency.”
“You-you’re really okay?” Kaitlynn asks with a sniffle.
I crack my neck and test my limbs before answering. My vision has returned to its normal clarity, and the tinnitus I was experiencing seems to be gone as well. “Yeah, I’m fine. Probably in part thanks to that,” I say, pointing at the Crystal of Restoration in the centre of the room. “Actually, that was very interesting,” I continue, “who knew the combination of our Skills could be so explosive? We should exper
iment with that sometime. But for now, let’s just finish up our match.”
“Aren’t you guys done fighting after this?” Kaitlynn pleads. “You almost died! Even if you just got seriously hurt it could mean the end; the next Trial starts in a little over an hour!”
I blink. “Well... technically neither of us has won yet.” I glance at Dave.
He shrugs. “If you guys decide to stop now it’s two-to-one to Emma, which means it’s Emma’s win.”
Jacob frowns, conflicted.
“How about this,” I suggest. “We continue, but without using Decrease Inertia and Increase Momentum. Actually, let’s make that without any Skills. Just plain combat. How about it?”
Jacob thinks for a second, then nods.
I glance at Kaitlynn.
She sighs. “Fine. Just be careful.”
We get in position.
To be honest, this deal is in Jacob’s favour, considering the number of Skills I have at my disposal.
Of course, I’ve still got Boost Physical active, but who’s gonna know?
We square off one last time.
Jacob is quick on his feet, and the tip of his blade nimbly traces paths through the Aether. However, it’s not enough. My superior Agility and reach prevent him from closing the distance.
His shield bash was actually his best chance of taking me out earlier, but without Increase Momentum, the round piece of Greysteel is just an obstacle for me to work around.
I dart in and out of reach to take swipes at him. He parries a blow from the right, blocks one from the left.
I feint a jab at his feet.
He jumps back, but instead of following through on the strike, I snap the blunt end of my spear forward and sweep his legs.
He goes down in a tumble, rolling over the floor, then scrambling for his lost blade.
The pointy end of my spear touches lightly on his back just as his hand encloses the pommel. He lets go and drops his head with a groan.
Dave announces me the winner, at a score of three to one.
Standing over Jacob, I hold out a hand.
After a moment, he accepts it, and I easily pull him to his feet.
“Thank you for a well-fought match,” I tell him sincerely.
I release his hand and he rolls his shoulder, smiling wryly. “Yeah. You too.”
Dave quickly comes over with a Restoring pink glow radiating off his Focus Crystal, but Jacob waves him off.
Dave shares a glance with me. I just shrug. Honestly, Jacob seems fine. He appears pretty all right with the outcome, perhaps even a little relieved.
Well, I wouldn’t blame him, considering what ‘right’ we were battling over.
Anyway, now that the pecking order of our little gang has been re-established, it’s time for our final preparations.
And then, the next Trial.
CHAPTER 30
PoP! Goes my heart
FIRST, WE ALL BUY A Small Qi Pearl matching our affinity, to serve as an emergency Qi supply. Honestly, it’d be foolish not to keep one of those around, considering how limited our Qi Pools are. I’m really feeling that now that I’ve got a second Qi-based Skill.
Jacob also buys a spear, even though it brings him down to his last 4 Trial Points. He says our fight helped him realise it would improve the utility of his Increase Momentum Skill. He can launch himself forward with it to impale his foe or send it flying as a first strike and switch to his sword.
I’m glad he didn’t think of this before our match, because it definitely sounds a lot more effective. Also dangerous, for use in a spar.
We decide Kaitlynn should take the Medium Yang Focus Crystal into her Trial, so she can use it to cast the Mega Astreum Lance she’s been practising. A full 25 Onkh of Qi converted to a ridiculous amount of Heat makes for a real spectacle. Anyway, Dave insists she take it, saying he’ll be facing a lesser threat, and plans to focus on using his bow and arrows more than his Radiation.
I can see why, too. Though Radiation has the advantage of being near-instantaneous, and therefore very hard to block or dodge, it doesn’t have the kind of long-lasting, Lavi-consuming and weakening effect Toxic Energy has.
Which is why I give him a small bottle of Moonshade Sap, to dip his arrows in. I also give one to Jacob, for his spear, and to Kaitlynn, for her throwing knives. She has a full pouch again, after spending 6 Trial Points to refill her stock back up to ten.
I even give one to Alec, just in case. He can’t put it on the trident, of course, as that would interfere with its function as a conduit for his Electric Energy. I guess he could pour it on his enemy if it came to that.
After pouring a liberal coating on the blade of my own spear as well, I still have about a third of the contents of my 1,5-litre bottle left. I hope I’ll be able to replenish it at some point...
The final preparation Dave makes is giving me his Radiation Crystal. In case I need it.
Well. I certainly hope it doesn’t come to that.
I offer the Toxic Crystal in return, but for some reason he backs away quickly, saying he doesn’t want it.
Suit yourself, I guess.
Finally, I face my designated door—the one with the triangle—thrumming with nervous energy.
I keep wondering if there’s anything else we could do right now, but honestly, we’re probably as well-prepared as we can be.
I glance at the rest, lined up next to me, each facing a door. Kaitlynn’s in front of a door with a square next to mine, and Dave’s circle-marked door is all the way on the other end.
Kaitlynn’s chattermouth-of-an-AI Kai let slip that there will be another communal living room after the Sixth Trial, so the plan is to meet up there as quickly as possible.
Of course, that’s only possible for those who make it through. We’ve already hugged out our goodbyes, just in case. We’re trying to stay optimistic, however, so it wasn’t a complete tearfest.
[300 seconds remaining,] Suri chimes.
Dave breaks the oppressive silence by clearing his throat. He lifts his heavy Greysteel bow and draws and nocks an arrow dipped in Moonshade Sap. “Well, I guess there’s no sense in delaying the inevitable any longer. See you guys in a bit. Begin Trial!”
The door in front of him grinds open, revealing a hallway that curves off to the right. He steps through, brow set in grim determination, and it slams shut behind him.
Jacob is the next one to step forward, brandishing his spear and shield. “Right. I give it ten minutes before I’m in the next living room. Don’t keep me waiting. Begin Trial!”
Alec twirls his trident and shoots me a big grin. “Last one there’s a rotten egg! Begin Trial!”
They both step through.
Kaitlynn turns to look at me with a watery smile. “Whatever’s in there... I know you can do it, Emma.”
I smile at her with more confidence than I feel. “Don’t you worry about me, Kait. Just focus on blasting your opponent straight to hell.”
She grins, hefting the fist-sized Medium Focus Crystal tied to her wrist. “That shouldn’t be an issue. Begin Trial!”
I face my own door. The engraved danger triangle seems to be staring back at me intimidatingly. “Begin Trial!”
I glance at Kaitlynn one more time. Her eye rakes over my form, drinking in my appearance one last time, with her hands clenched into fists.
I shake my head, trying to ignore the lump in my throat, and smile at her, giving it the meaning off, ‘See you soon.’
She smiles back. ‘Not soon enough.’
I turn towards my own door, and step through, watching from the corner of my eye as she does the same.
Our doors slam shut.
A pop-up appears in front of me.
Sounds straightforward enough. I was worried there might be a maze or something.
The hallway I’m in curves to the left. I follow it cautiously, spear at the ready.
A short distance ahead, the hallway ends in another door, which rumbles open as I approach.
Right. Must be due to the wonky gravity of this Realm.
As I watch, a droplet of Hydrum falls off the end of a curved stalactite and is drawn further sideways during its descent, onto a stump on one of the tree-like, merged stalactites.
I cautiously approach the door, to take in more of the cavern.
There’s a door on the other side, which is nice. To the right, there are mostly more stalactite trees, and to the left, there’s a pool of Hydrum.
My heart skips a beat when I notice the mini-van-sized conch shell that lies in it.
My first thought is: They know.
Then my rational mind kicks in. I mean, we have been in aquatic-themed Trials for a while now, and while they certainly share some similarities, this conch shell isn’t black, but rather a shade of broken white. Perhaps even eggshell. It’s hard to tell in this poor lighting.
Anyway, unless I’m sorely mistaken, this probably isn’t an oblique reference to my dream shenanigans. It’s ‘just’ the guardian, a giant sea monster I have to face in single combat.
Thank goodness.
Steeling my nerves, I activate Boost Physical’s second mode and step through the door. It slams shut behind me.
I flinch at the sound, which echoes in the mostly empty cavern.
Stupid doors. Couldn’t they have given me a quiet one for once?!
The conch shell stirs. It rises, revealing a mass of blue limbs beneath it, followed by two black eyes on stalks.
It’s a hermit crab.
I idly wonder what kind of silly name this one has. Hermie? Crabbypants Junior?
Junior draws himself up to his full height and starts hissing and waving his massive claws menacingly, clearly incensed at the intrusion of his territory.
Sorry, bud. I haven’t much of a choice, I’m afraid.
He bears down on me, so I spring into action and move towards the centre of the arena, where the stalactite trees grow most densely.
I don’t immediately spot any places those long spindly arms won’t be able to reach, but at the very least, Junior’s too large to comfortably move around in here.