Sworded Affair

Chapter 53: Stack Overflow

[Antipode - Level 14]

I can't even approach the boss without freezing up. Maybe he'll close in and do me a favor?

Sadly, the boss showed no inclination for fisticuffs, instead choosing to begin the battle with a spear forged from ice and thrown with considerable force. Even so, the straightforward trajectory made dodging easy enough for her; Emma evaded three throws with little difficulty simply by stepping a little to the side each time. The fourth spear plunged into the molten orb behind her and melted on the spot; seeing this, Emma backed up further, placing said sphere between herself and the boss.

"So now he can't hit me, but I can't do anything either." Emma frowned. "A stalemate's not great, not when the snowfall will catch up to us eventually. Swap out."

Sir Bearington vanished from the audience as The Leech King emerged, narrowly missing the latest projectile thrown Emma's way.

"Blast him!" Emma ordered, pointing dramatically at the boss for emphasis.

Inhale, draw the boss and sphere in, Emma conveyed her actual instructions by thought, the System ensuring that they took precedence over her posturing.

As she'd hoped, the massive ice elemental halted its volley of spears, instead forging a massive two-handed shield in anticipation of a frontal attack, and by the time he realised what was happening it was far too late to change approach. Whilst the heavyset boss barely moved under the Leech King’s suction, the burning sphere behind him was much lighter, and duly struck him in the back, bringing some much needed warmth to the situation. No longer stymied by a fear of freezing, Emma closed the gap with a single leap, and battle was finally joined in truth.

An exploratory swing from Epitaph was stopped dead by the shield of ice, showing it was very much fit for purpose despite the boss having been deceived into making it. Icy spikes emerged in retaliation, missing Emma as she backpedalled but segueing smoothly into a shield bash, the boss demonstrating surprising acceleration for something so large. She phased through his charge with a well-timed Oversoul, the Leech King now a viable target for the tactic, being only Level 8 compared to her Level 9. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Emma managed a heavy slash across the boss’s back that nearly split him in two. Regrettably, such a wound was not instantly fatal to an elemental, though it was undoubtedly serious judging by the purple rivulets pouring from it, courtesy of the Weeping Scar enhancement. Perhaps retaining the benefit of insights from previous floors, or simply more intelligent than the Earthbound Immortal had been; the boss wasted no time rushing at the Leech King, knowing that Emma was untouchable whilst he was in play. When the boss was only an inch away from striking her summon, time ground to a halt.

[Honestly, I’m impressed. Abusing a supportive power interaction with such effectiveness; I should probably have done this earlier, but congratulations nonetheless. Most users don’t discover an exploit of this degree until they’re at least a year into their tenure, whereas you're barely a month in. Now, I have no issues in principle with you going intangible, but being able to do it without any time limit is rather suspect, so let's break things down into something more manageable.

Ability modified - Oversoul: Instantly possess the body of a living, lower-level target within the user's line of sight. No component of this ability will activate unless the target can be possessed.

Ability added - Ardent Ephemera (Cost: 1% base Anima /second): Become intangible while active, able to pass unhindered through physical objects and blows.

For making me issue a System patch, 500 EXP gained.]

"A hundred seconds of intangibility, before even taking into account my healing?" Emma raised an eyebrow. "Not dependent on a summon either; if anything, this is better than what I had before?"

[In battle, yes, but what it won't do is give you potentially limitless intangibility outside of battle, so long as nobody notices a summoned cockroach or similar. That would turn you into one of the greatest infiltrators to ever live, which was very much not my intention when I designed the Revenant class. Anyway, that's enough of my rambling for now, go ahead and finish your trial.]

Emma recalled the Leech King the moment time resumed, electing to preserve him from harm now that his presence wasn't needed any longer.

"Tilt the scales," Emma demanded, summoning the Earthbound Immortal to the stage.

The ground beneath the boss trembled as flatland became a steep incline, sending Antipode tumbling; a very cathartic sight, given Emma's repeated struggles with balance over the course of the floor. The burning sphere Emma initially hid behind followed course, landing directly on top of the ice elemental and beginning to burn away its outer shell. Now visibly shrinking, the boss attempted to pull himself upright despite the damage, but Emma wouldn't just let him have his way.

"Throw me," Emma ordered, promptly finding herself airborne as the Earthbound Immortal happily tossed her at the downed boss, descending at just the perfect angle for a downward thrust straight through his head. As a burst of Death magic reduced said head to powdered ice, the cold - ever present since first reaching the floor - began to dissipate at long last, having lost its source of power. Emma didn't relax in the slightest however, as her tried and tested instincts were telling her the fight had yet to end; that, and the fact her reward for the boss just fallen was far too paltry to be happy with.

[50 EXP gained.]

Sure enough, whilst all the ice was promptly melting, Emma quickly realized that the twelve burning orbs summoned alongside the boss were still very much in play, and in fact were drifting together. An irritated slash through the nearest orb did nothing except send a wave of heat through her, not unlike her first experience with wasabi; it seemed this particular intermission could not be interrupted.

"I hate scripted encounters," Emma sighed, forced to watch as the transition played out.

Unlike the giants that had featured prominently in recent encounters, the fire elemental forming now was of human proportions: her proportions, Emma realized with a start, coming face to face with a glowing orange mirror of herself. Emma tensed as her duplicate raised both hands, expecting a volley of fireballs heading her way, only to be surprised when the duplicate flipped her the double bird.

"Made you look!" The flame elemental declared, before fading into nothing.

[150 EXP gained. April fools!

Weapon Enhancement - No Pal of Mine has updated.]

"It's not even April first!"