In a matter of seconds, Bella had cleared enough of the stones to give me access to Claire. I reached in and grabbed her waist.
“Wait, don’t!” Claire said. “My neck.”
I frowned. “Right.” I placed my right hand on her chest and activated my Healing stone. Glancing into the corner of my vision, I watched my MP tick down to 120. I was getting low. A few seconds passed as I stood there, unmoving.
“I can’t hold this forever,” Bella said.
“Chet, forget my MP,” I muttered to myself and sent three more waves of healing power into Claire.
Bella grunted. “I’m losing my grip!”
I took hold of Claire’s waist once more, and her arms squeezed around my shoulders. With a great heave, I pulled her free just as Bella fell away, and the stones slammed down into the space where Claire had been only a moment earlier.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Claire.
“I’m—I’m okay,” she answered.
I set her down and steadied her as her legs stabilized.
When I turned around, Leon was still sitting on his rock with his eyes wide and mouth agape. “If you could do that, then why in the name of the gods was I killing myself for the last hour?”
Bella shrugged. “I was tending to Aren.”
“I could have sat there and stared at him sleep, too, you know.”
“You were watching me sleep?” I asked.
Bella turned away, and I felt heat race up to my cheeks and fill my chest.
“If everyone’s okay, let’s just go, all right?” Bella said, fast walking over to a pile of our gear that had been stacked against the wall. She picked up her sword and bag and without turning around, started off into the dark tunnels beyond.
Thirty-Seven
“Where are you going?” I asked.
Bella spun around, but continued walking backward. “Oh, right, while you were asleep McKenna told us this was actually the cave system we’ve been looking for. These tunnels will take us straight to Winkerk.”
“That's… fortunate,” I said as I furrowed my brow.
“Well, it wasn’t the exact entrance she was taking us to, but she’s pretty sure they’re all connected.”
“There’s that phrase again,” I mumbled. “Pretty sure.”
Bella turned back around and disappeared into the dark as she said, “It’s not like we have much choice anyway.”
“Fair enough,” I said as I grabbed my bow and quiver and slung them over my shoulders.
Leon recovered his gear while Claire was left with nothing.
“Where’s your sword?” I asked.
She looked back at the collapsed entrance.
“It’s all right, you can have the dagger. It's yours anyway,” I said, unclipping its sheath from my hip.
“Thanks,” she said as she attached it to her own belt.
I used the last of my MP and summoned another ball of light, but this time willed it to stay in my hand. I surprised myself when it worked.
Together, we all started off down the tunnels to find McKenna and hopefully, Winkerk.
“That was pretty impressive fighting,” Leon said after a long silence.
“Thanks,” I answered.
“Not you,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “Claire. I wouldn’t have thought a Summoner could have moves like that.”
“Well, I was taught to be prepared for any situation, and a Summoner without any summons is just one of those times. Besides, in my time, Omnis often have two major specialties, and my secondary just happens to be Champion,” Claire explained.
“Why two?” Leon asked, his curiosity apparent.
“As you can see, one is rather limiting, look at Bella.”
“Hey!” Bella said, casting Claire a glare.
“I’m serious,” Claire added. “Being just a Guardian makes you great at protection but not so good at killing things.”
“I did all right back there,” Bella snapped.
I raised my eyebrows. “Hey, that reminds me! How did you and Claire shoot that beam that killed the wraith?”
“I didn’t, Claire did, but I used a variation of the Shield spell to confine her energy to a small space, thus making it stronger,” Bella answered.
“Kind of like the magika stones,” I commented.
“Huh?”
I looked at Leon. “Didn’t you say that each successive Class is just more power condensed into the same space and that the spell is stronger because it’s more concentrated?”
Leon nodded. “Yes, and that’s fascinating and all, but Claire never answered my question.”
“Which was?”
“Why only two specialties?” Leon said. “There are five powers, why not master them all?”
“It’s simple really. One is too limiting, but three or four, and especially, five spreads you too thin. You can only have so many stones, and you’d need a lifetime to master them all. By focusing on just two, we can keep our skills balanced, yet fully functional.”
“Yeah, but what if there was a way to master them all?” Leon asked.
“I suppose if we had an infinite amount of time—or draughts of mana to allow us to continually replenish—that it would be beneficial, but there’s still the limitations on stone counts.”
Leon nodded. “But you already said that Sovereigns are outside of those limitations on both accounts.”
Claire frowned. “They are, but you don’t understand the potential threat that Sovereigns pose to the whole—”
“No, I get it. I do...” Leon said, his voice drifting off toward the end.
“Why does it—”
An ear-splitting scream interrupted Claire’s thought.
We all drew our weapons and dropped into a fighting stance.
Silence.
“Charlotte?” I called down the tunnels. “Was that you? Is everything okay?”
No response.
Leon took a step forward, but I shot my hand out, staying him.
I cocked my head to the side, listening.
“What is—”
“Shh.”
Tick tick. Tick tick. Tick tick.
“There,” I said. “Do you hear that?”
“Charlotte!” Bella shouted as she barreled full speed down the tunnel.
“Wait! It might not be safe!” I cried out, but she had already turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
I took off after her, the others right behind me. When I rounded the corner, I had to force myself to jump back, or I would have run straight into Bella, who had already stopped.
“Why’d you—”
“Aren, what is that?” Bella asked.
“What is what?” I started to ask, but then I saw it.
Standing over McKenna’s body was a giant mechanical spider.
“Chet,” Leon said.
No, not a spider. Not exactly. At the sound of Leon’s voice, it lifted its head, and I saw that it was another cybernetic being. Its top half was human, but in place of legs and a torso was an eight-legged apparatus akin to a spider’s. Blood dripped from its mouth.
“Double chet,” I muttered.
It bared its teeth at us and hissed with an almost otherworldly voice.
I raised my bow, tapped the Lightning stone, and loosed an arrow in a single breath. The projectile was true to its aim and slammed straight into the creature’s eye.
It wailed in pain, then reached up and snapped the arrow in half, leaving the tip embedded in its flesh. All eight legs compressed and pushed off the ground, launching it through the air.
Everyone scattered.
A moment later, the cave lit up with all sorts of colors as magic flew in every direction. I shot a blast of ice, Claire threw a fireball, and what could only be described as a green slime, spewed forth from the creature itself.
The ground sizzled as the green liquid landed a foot to my right.
I tapped my neural link and let it scan my opponent.
CYBER SPIDER<
br />
LEVEL 41
AFFILIATION: BALGYRA
PROFESSION: NONE
All right, not as dangerous as the brute, but more so than the wraith.
However, it would also stand to reason that since this was indeed a cyber most of its body was impervious to pain. That arrow had been a lucky shot.
I tapped the Lightning stone on my bow, deactivating it. No use draining my MP if the creature couldn’t feel the shock.
Nocking another arrow, I let fly, then rolled out of the way to dodge another spray of its putrid poison.
While the cyber’s focus remained on me, Bella raced in from behind and sliced at the creature’s back. Her blade bit deep, causing the spider to spin around in a flash. The force of the movement wrenched the sword from Bella’s hand at the same time that the spider’s legs slammed into her chest, sending her tumbling away.
“Bella!”
I tossed my bow aside and tapped the Enrage stone, mirroring exactly how I felt. Screw the terrible aftereffects, this thing deserved to die and die now.
Racing forward, I lowered my shoulder and prepared to ram it. A second before I hit, I summoned my shield to prevent any breakage of bones.
The spider sailed into the air, but it turned, and its eight legs accordioned as it hit the wall, all but mitigating the impact. It pushed off of the stone and ricocheted right back, smashing into my chest.
My shield dissipated, leaving me open to damage as my back slammed into the wall behind me. Thanks to the Enrage spell still being active, I quickly jumped to my feet as if nothing had happened, but I knew that as soon as it wore off, I was going to be in a world of pain.
New tactic.
Enrage wasn’t only good for strength, it was excellent for speed, too.
I darted to the left and scooped up Bella’s discarded sword, then spun around to face the spider as another one of Claire’s fireballs collided with its head.
Before the spider could even fully turn to see who had hurt it, I was on it, driving the sword through its side. The added strength from the Enrage allowed me to drive it all the way to the hilt. Holding on tightly, I ran in a circle. The sword cut through the cyber’s flesh as if it were butter and came free a moment later.
I jumped back and fell into a defensive posture, half-expecting it to counter-attack, but instead, its upper body slid off of its metal legs, both pieces crumpling to the ground.
My affinity mark pulsed, notifying me that I’d leveled up. Since my neural link was still active, I glanced into the upper, right-hand corner of my field of vision to check my stats.
AREN HALLAND
LEVEL 27
AFFILIATION: ALLYRIA
PROFESSION: GUARDIAN
270/270 MP
7,360/27,000 EXP
2 AP AVAILABLE
-31,745 FAME – DANGEROUS
0 RIFKELS
I was thankful for the level up, if for no other reason than my MP getting replenished. I had come dangerously close to using one of the draughts of magic I’d purchased. Which I didn't want to do yet, especially knowing what lay ahead, but I would if need be.
Tapping my neural display off, I turned around, my first concern being Bella. When I looked to where she had fallen, I saw that she was already beginning to stand.
I then searched around for where the spider had left McKenna.
But a soft blinking blue light on my chest arrested my attention. I looked down and noticed for the first time, that it was a warning for the Enrage stone. The blinking grew faster.
Oh, chet.
The power ran out, and I fell to the ground, writhing in pain. My back was on fire, and every inch of my body felt like the energy had been sapped right out of it.
“Heal, Heal, Heal!” I shouted, part of me hoping the louder I hollered, the faster it would work.
Three waves of blue light coursed over my body, and the pain ebbed away. I lay there with my eyes closed, breathing heavily for a few moments until Bella came over and squatted next to me.
“You really need to be more careful with that power. Izaiah—” Bella stopped short and looked away, quickly wiping her eyes, then turned back to me. “Izaiah never let himself get hit while using Enrage.”
I slowly sat up. “I know the impacts cause the excruciating pain, but I also always feel so drained afterward. Is that normal?”
“That’s the speed wearing off. It passes after a minute or so. It takes your body a few moments to recalibrate,” she explained.
By the time I was on my feet, Claire was already kneeling beside McKenna.
“Is she…?”
“She’s alive,” Claire replied. “Nasty head wound, but she's otherwise unharmed. The blood on that thing’s mouth must have been from something else.”
Claire placed her hand on the commander's injury and tapped her Healing stone.
McKenna groaned, and her eyes blinked open. “What happened?”
“It doesn’t matter now, can you stand?” Claire asked.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Claire got up and extended her hand, helping McKenna to her feet.
It wasn’t until we were completely out of danger, that I’d noticed Leon standing off to the side.
“You know, you’re never going to level up if you don’t get in on the fun,” I said.
Leon chuckled nervously. “I’m all right. Really. Engineers don’t normally see this sort of action.”
“But you’re not an Engineer, you broke your Oath.”
He scratched his head. “Once an Engineer, always an Engineer, I guess.”
“More EXP for me,” I said.
“What’s a cyber doing down here all alone?” Bella asked. “Do you think there are more?”
McKenna shook her head. “No, we should be clear from here on out.”
“How can you be sure?” I asked.
“Remember the footprints at the top of the gorge?” McKenna asked.
I nodded.
“There were five distinct sets. Tr—” Her voice broke. “Trevon was one. Then there were the three cybers outside. That left this one. And if you look at its feet, or lack of them, they seem to fit that strange set of tracks you had mentioned.”
I looked at the spider’s legs and noticed round tips. I’d seen hole-like tracks on either side of the footprints. The legs on the left-hand side must have made one column and the legs on the right the other.
“So, this thing was still inside the tunnel and…?”
“It must have followed me when I ran off after...” McKenna's voice trailed off briefly, before she cleared her throat. “It took me by surprise.”
I must have had a look on my face because McKenna furrowed her brow as she replied, “What, are you expecting a medal?”
I shook my head, my words catching in my throat.
“I'm sorry.”
McKenna stared at me, trying to keep her own composure.
“I'm sorry about Trevon,” I repeated hoarsely.
She nodded before her eyes quickly returned to the cold, hard stare I was used to. "Let's get going. Just because there aren’t any more cybers doesn’t mean these tunnels are empty.”
Thirty-Eight
We walked on through the tunnels for a few hours.
I knew because I’d figured out my Light magika stone only lasted for thirty minutes, and I’d refreshed it six times now.
I also discovered that the light was sticky. I could put it wherever I wanted, and it would stay there until it ran out. To free up my hands, I placed the light sphere on my forehead. It worked kind of like an old miner’s lamp but about ten times brighter.
We encountered no more enemies of any kind, cyber or monster. It was a bit of a relief and gave us some much-needed rest after the constant stream of fights we’d found ourselves in the past couple of days since our crash landing outside of Valeria.
The break also allowed Claire’s MP to fully replenish. She was still our highest leveled party member even if she was missing her
summons and her sword.
“What are we looking for anyway?” I asked.
“A pedestal or a statue,” Claire replied.
“Will it be in a room, by itself, surrounded by bad guys, or what?”
Claire pursed her lips. “I’m trying to remember. I’ve been to three of these temples now, and each one is different, yet oddly the same. This was the only one underground, though, so I’m pretty sure we’re looking for a small pillar about waist-high and sitting up against a wall.”
“Kind of like that?” Leon asked as we stepped into a large cavernous room.
I shined the light in the direction that he indicated but didn’t immediately see what he was talking about. My attention was otherwise drawn to hundreds of shimmering crystal stalactites and their glinting reflections on the surface of an underwater stream gently running through the room.
“Whoa,” Bella said slowly.
Even though my light was pure white, the room had a soft bluish-purple glow about it. It was hard to say whether the crystal had any light of its own or if my light was just changing color after interacting with it.
We’d encountered other vast rooms along our journey, but they were as dark and damp as the tunnels, nothing like this visual wonder surrounding us.
“Yes, I’m remembering this now,” Claire said. “The entrance to the temple is right over there.” She pointed in the direction that Leon had mentioned a moment ago.
I looked once more across the room and saw a raised platform with a set of stairs leading upward. At the top sat a pedestal against a bare wall, just as Claire had said.
“How is it that you forgot something so beautiful?” Bella asked.
“Hey, I’ve been through a pretty big ordeal these last few days,” Claire said, pointing a finger at Bella. “I’d like to see how your brain is working after nearly dying and seeing the world destroyed then waking up a year earlier and having to wrap your head around the fact that everything was different than you remembered it.”
“All right, point taken.”
“And to be fair, the first time I came here, two Balgyran elites were chasing me after I had stolen the president’s sword. I jumped down to the temple’s lowest floor as a means of avoiding them. There wasn’t exactly a lot of time for gawking.”
Sworn Guardian: A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (Forbidden Magic Book 1) Page 28