Sworded Affair

Chapter 22: A Fun Guy

[The Colony - Level 7]

A problem became apparent fairly quickly as Emma moved to engage her spherical foe; namely, her inability to actually land a blow. Emma knew she was having some effect, as she felt a thin trickle of Anima flowing in with every strike, but Epitaph’s swings simply passed through as though it wasn’t there. Thus far, her target hadn’t reacted at all, allowing her to strike freely even when her blade passed through the facsimile of an eye. Each strike would part the cloud, only for its form to be restored moments later, leaving no trace of her efforts, nor any sign the boss had even noticed her existence. This was problematic, given that its mere presence was beginning to affect Emma, a foul miasma beginning to bubble at the edges of her armor.

[-1 Anima

-1 Anima

-1 Anima]

“Well that’s awkward. Amal, got anything that might help?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.” Amal replied, waving her over to the bubble from which he was observing her sorry excuse for a battle.

As Emma approached, a faint weight lifted from her shoulders, coinciding with a welcome set of status updates.

[Spatial block ended. Inventory access restored. Fast travel restored.]

“I knew bringing this was the right choice; here, pour it onto your blade.” Amal instructed as he snapped his fingers, and suddenly Emma’s free hand was occupied with something she'd seen not long ago.

“Your kettle?” Emma raised an eyebrow but did as she was told, pouring deftly to coat Epitaph’s edge with a thin trail of cold tea.

[Temporary weapon enhancement applied. Holy attribute gained.]

“Really? My sword got more out of the tea than I did?”

“Sentient beings such as you and I are complex, filled with the contradictions that come with self-actualization. Whilst beneficial in many ways, it certainly makes enlightenment much harder, as pesky traits such as bias and doubt creep into our thoughts and actions. A sword, on the other hand is forged for a singular purpose; there is power in such simplicity and surety of self.”

Pushing her incredulity aside, Emma returned to The Colony, stabbing once more right into its over-sized pupil. This time the reaction was immediate, Emma having to throw herself back to avoid a burst of toxic green liquid. Globules fell to the floor, eating their way through solid stone with extreme ease whilst most of it dissipated into the air around her. The Colony reformed once more, seemingly repairing the damage done, but Emma noticed it was slightly smaller now despite its best efforts.

“Hit and run is the name of the game.” Emma decided, darting back in to take another stab at it, this time preemptively ducking low to avoid the foul spray that predictably followed.

[-3 Anima

-3 Anima

-3 Anima]

Emma’s armor was beginning to melt now; the miasma growing stronger the more foul gas her strikes released into the atmosphere.

“An unprotected mortal would be long dead by now,” Amal mused, still safely ensconced within his bubble. “No traces of a ritual however; nothing to indicate this summoning was planned. An accident, or another rite gone wrong? Or perhaps an automated defense system, placed to ensure this building's secrets remained as such?”

Keeping one ear on Amal’s monologue, Emma continued to hack and slash at The Colony, which was now roughly half the size it had been at the start of the ordeal.

“This is the worst designed final boss I’ve faced since my first playthrough of Skyrim.” Emma muttered.

[-5 Anima

-5 Anima

-5 Anima]

Emma could see the underlying logic behind The Colony: the more damage it took the more it would do in return. In theory, this ever increasing, pulsing damage would force the attackers to carefully calculate how quick and hard to strike; requiring them to realize what was happening and back-load their burst damage to the final stages of the fight, so that they could bring the boss down before being overwhelmed. Unlike when she fought against Romulus however, Emma’s self-healing wasn’t restricted, making the battle fairly trivial as soon as she’d obtained a weapon capable of harming the boss. Conversely, a party lacking such a weapon would find victory impossible; as an encounter, The Colony seemed like the very definition of an all-or-nothing roll of the dice.

Then a brick fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing Emma on the way down. Sparing a glance up, she saw tendrils of green running across the length and breadth of the rooftop, eating away at support structures and severely eroding the building’s load bearing capabilities.

“Dammit all.” Emma sighed, realizing she had been duped.

Now suddenly pressed for time lest she be buried alive, Emma tried something she’d long believed possible but had never used. Burning half her anima; a second copy of Epitaph appeared in her off-hand, identical to the first right down to the slight shimmer of holy tea on its edge. Redoubling her efforts, Emma found that she couldn’t quite strike twice as fast as before; her lack of experience with dual wielding showing through, which incidentally was why she’d never tried this against an opponent capable of fighting back. Against an unmoving target though, she was able to do a decent job hacking away at her target, all whilst dodging bits and pieces of falling masonry as the building began to come apart at the seams. As The Colony was reduced to roughly a quarter of its original size, the sphere pulsed once, and unceremoniously exploded into a fine mist.

[-10 Anima

-10 Anima

-10 Anima]

With a mighty groan, the center column holding up the chamber split in twain, followed by the four corner beams as The Colony’s final parting gift increased the rate of structural decay to staggering levels.

“Got a way out?” Amal shouted, a portal already opening behind him to secure his own escape.

“Yes, the exit's far away though!” Emma replied, already priming fast travel in her menu, ready to launch at any moment.

“That’s fine,” Amal shook his head. “This is my home; I’ll deal with the cleanup, you go find your father.”

With those parting words, Amal stepped through his portal to safety, and Emma likewise activated fast travel as the roof came down around her. With mere inches left before impact, the underground chamber finally vanished from view, replaced with the rain-soaked front gate of the Academia Mortalis.

[For surviving a dubious encounter, 100 EXP gained.

Level up! You have reached Level 5.

Select one of the following three choices.

1) Ability - Hand of Aeons (Cost: X Anima/second): Anything your hand touches whilst this is active ages X years every second. Potency varies according to the amount of Anima invested.

2) Ability - Oversoul: Become intangible and possess the body of a living target. Only works on those with a lower level than the user. Effectiveness varies based on the willpower differential of user and target.

3) Ability - Consumption: Ingest living brain matter to gain the victim’s recent memories, along with increased EXP for their death.]