Tales Of Gridarnia

Ray

A few hours earlier

“As you see Lord Ray, The beast has been patrolling back and forth not letting anyone leave.” Scuttlefly said in the conference room.

“Have we tried mounting an attack on it? Canons and other artillery?” Ray asked as he watched the beast through a telescope. Teams One, Two, and Three sat at the end of the table visiting. Kono, Scuttlefly and Ray were at the window looking out toward the sea.

“We do not have the manpower nor the firepower to put a dent in it. The last ship to attempt to get past had five sorcerer class mages with them. They brought down fire, hail, and lighting and it just shrugged it off and sent them all to the bottom of the sea.” Scuttlefly answered.

Ray scanned the entirety of the beast. It looked like a twenty-story alligator. Its head was the size of a castle with a large spiked body. It walked on its hind legs and its tail lashed back and forth in the water behind it. Its eyes glowed bright red and just to the left of the uppermost scale. Ray could see a silvery glint from the sun. Ray wondered if that was the key. Damn. Collin’s hunches always seem to be right. If Ray was able to activate the beacon, would that work? Would the beast just go away? Ray didn’t like that idea of killing colossal beasts such as this. He had to do it with a dragon back during the last war and he still regretted it. The thing with beasts of this size is that they tend to have magical properties and the ability to think and speak. They also have a large impact on the ecosystem. When the dragon was killed, it hurt the whole country of Regalia. The loss changed the entire density of the magic and everyone suffered because of it.

“Have we tried communicating with it? Ray asked.

“Communicating? It's a monster. It doesn’t communicate. Wait, could it communicate?” Kono asked.

“We have not been able to get close enough for any of that to be attempted unfortunately. It attacks us as soon as we enter its range.

“Lord Ray, Is it possible to bond with a monster that big?” Sasha asked feeding a nut to her Squirrel familiar.

“That would be so cool, you could ride on his back and just squash everything.” Dayton said excitedly

“Bond? Bond. Oh! A bond. That could be it, but if it were there would be a sign. A tattoo or brand like what Mace has. The short answer is yes, Sasha, someone could technically bond with it.” Ray said, taking another scan with his telescope.

Ray scanned around the neck of the beast. This is typically where the mark was on most bonds. There was no marking on the front portion of the neck or the torso. Scanning downward he did not see anything on the lower belly or the hind legs either. Ray looked further up to the shoulder area and noticed a darker set of markings.

“Turn around so I can see your back please.” Ray whispered out loud hoping the beast might turn on a whim. The Beast walked to the far end of the coast and slowly turned around before walking back in the other direction. “It's as if it is standing guard. The way it is pacing, it reminds me of the soldiers that guard the gates of the kingdom.” Ray said.

The beast began walking to the far right side. Ray was able to get a better look of its shoulders and Giant spikes coming out of its back. He noticed that the back portion of the beast was much darker than the front and rest of it. Ray focused a bit more on the middle of its back. There he could see lines moving in and out and around. The intricate pattern was so far away and so vast that it appeared to be just a dark spot on the beast but from zooming in, Ray was able to make out the markings of a bond.

“Ah Ha! Sasha you are a wonderful girl!! Ray exclaimed. “The Beast is in fact bonded”

“Really? That is incredible! Scuttlefly stated. “But that doesn’t explain why it is here.”

Ray turned to Scuttlfly and was about to speak but suddenly he felt the air go cold. The hair on his skin stood straight up and there was a sudden crash as the window in front of him was blown into smithereens. Scuttlefly and the Ray were thrown back to the rear wall. Everyone else ducked to the floor and more windows began exploding inward on them. Ray waited for the area to calm and then slowly checked Scuttlefly to make sure he was ok. He was breathing but his body was cut all over from the glass.

“Everyone ok?” Ray called out. He sighed when he heard the confirmation from everyone that they were fine. “Dimitri, Yugi, Kono take Scuttlefy to the emergency bay downstairs. He needs healing quickly.

Ray looked up and froze. The sea beast had stopped and was staring directly at them. Its nostrils were flaring and it looked like it was about to charge. Ray put the telescope he was still clutching up and peered through it. Standing on the right shoulder of the beast was a hooded figure in all black. The figure made a motion with its hands and the beast began walking towards the Harbor.

“We have to evacuate the town!” Ray yelled and they all ran out the door.

Collin

“Your Highness, Did you know anything about this sea monster?” Collin asked, still standing where he had been. The entire room had emptied except for the King, Draconis, and Collin.

“Yes!, Back before I became the King, I was an adventurer like yourself and we went all over the continent you see. There were many such giant beasts back then and it was a bit of sport to hunt them down and see if we could slay them. We were young and naive. Some of the smarter gents managed to bond with a few and Bessy was one of them. One of my good friends, Bartholomew, we called him Bart, managed to find a small cave and in there he found an egg and from the egg came this beast. We called her Bessy. She and Bart were put in charge of keeping the coast safe. They would swim out and escort ships and other boats and protect them from either the Demons to the West or the Regalian's to the south.

“Sir, do you think that the Bessy from then and the beast now are the same? If that is the case, why is she trying to attack the coast?” Collin asked. He had activated his system and scenes from the battle were showing to them while they spoke.

“At first I thought that it might be, but now that I look at it a bit more I do not think so. This beast appears to be a male. It's much more bulky and broader around the shoulders. The females did not have as many protruding spikes and were a bit smaller if I remember. No, this is most likely a male, but definitely of the same species of beast as Bessy was” The King stated.

They watched as Ray glided around the beast dipping and diving and dodging attacks that appeared to be coming from the Beasts shoulder. Ray was sending fireball after fireball but it was not doing anything to the thick hide of the beast.

“It appears that this one is also bonded. I wonder who the hooded figure is.” King Liam said out loud.

“I am not sure, but Ray may have to ditch the glider. He does not have any attacks he can use from there other than his elemental abilities, Collin stated.

The king seemed confused by this. He brought up his system and pressed a few inputs before looking at Collin. “You and Ray served in my forces right? In the Regelian War a couple of years back. This is a JT54 Class F Glider. Why would he not have any attacks?”

“Our Matrices were removed when we retired.” Collin stated, not looking away from his screen.

A Matrix was a small cube that was inserted magically by an artificer into a Pledge on their very first day of military service or when they began at one of the magical compounds. The matrix worked in a very similar way as the Lord system, or the Great Magifex as Collin now knew it to be called. It could boost your abilities and attributes and through a sort of class system, allowed the pledges to progress and grow stronger as they went up in the tiers of a certain class. It made actions such as learning mana control and meditation pointless as you could just draw on the matrix to use whatever abilities you wanted. It was also how most of the military’s large ships, gliders, and tanks were operated. The matrix held the accumulation of years of magical and physical training. Each Matrix had its own intelligence also. Ray’s Matrix, Max, could have covered the entire harbor in artillery fire within minutes. Max was locked away though.

“What? Why would those have been removed? The King asked, looking up at Draconis. Draconis began clicking on his tablet again trying to find more information.

“It was the decision that they came up with as punishment to Ray and I. They couldn’t just kill us. We were war heroes and Ray had slayed the Regalian Dragon and its rider…With my help.” Collin added. “The only option was for us to retire and have our matrixes removed.”

“What crime did you commit to have this happen?” King Liam asked

“Sire, It appears that they may have killed Colonel Tortatus and his entire troop? Is this true Vice Lord Collin?” Draconis asked

“They were torturing women and children. We did not have much of a choice. Ray and I were part of the glider team to search the area and issue the command to leave. This was shortly after the dragon was killed and Regalia had signed the treaty. We were all loading up to move out. We were on our way to one of the islands to tell this troop to leave. When we arrived, we found that the men were all cut up. The children were all locked up and the poor woman were being tortured and raped. Ray killed them all. He said that death was too easy of a thing to grant them but it was all he was capable of doing. We really did not have much of a choice. Tortatus said we could join them or die. Option three was chosen. They locked Ray and myself up. Guilty by association and what not. We had our matrices removed, spent a month in a prison cell, and then were told to go home.” Collin explained

“How are you not dead? The Matrix removal kills most people.” Draconis asked

“The Matrix makes it difficult to continue on as you were, but it doesn't kill you. Ray and I went back to the compound after being discharged. We spent months rehabilitating and studying up on subjects such as Mana Control, Mana Transportation, Ancient mana usage, and other such things. Ray was able to get most of his natural elemental control back. He had it prior to starting at the compound so it was easier for him. We managed to fix up some gliders to fly without a system,, but we do not have our old abilities anymore. The classes, titles and accomplishments we had achieved in school. Wolf assassin, Dragonslayer, my awesome ability to control shadows. All of that stayed with the Matrix. I was lowered to a dual elemental tier one mage Class. Ray is a Master Elementalist but also dropped to the tier one, Mage class. We are still pretty decent with weapons but nothing like we were. We moved back home about two years or so after the war ended. No one knew anything about what we did so we just moved on and returned to adventuring and dungeon diving.” Collin explained to the King and his assistant.

The king and Draconis shared a look and then returned to viewing the system window.

“Sire, Can I ask you something?” Collin said. The King nodded.

“Do you know anything about these chess pieces wearing thugs going around killing other chess pieces wearing people?” Seems like there are people with black chess piece tattoos and then there are some with white chess piece tattoos. Why are the black trying to kill the white?” Collin asked

“Those demons already killed the whites if I remember correctly. I do not know of any white chess pieces that still live today. The black pieces or the Black Court as they are collectively referred to, are a mixture of humans who allowed the worst of the demonic race to possess them. The whites were those who shared their physical form with the angels. Sadly, the whites were all hunted down and killed. It was a very dark time back then. Some churches still believe that they will return, but I honestly do not know. I made it a point to stay out of that conflict. Our kingdom was not in any sort of position to partake in a holy war.” The King said. "If there are any white left, I imagine they are hiding. The blacks have no way of knowing. They just continue to hunt them.”

“Sire, you should come visit sometime. I think you would like to meet Lord Ray.” Collin said.

“He does seem like an interesting fellow. I think we may come watch this battle in the upcoming months. It might be the only time to do so, come to think. The Duke, I am sure, will most likely kill Ray if he does manage to survive today that is. He is very much a brutal man. A utterly ruthless brawler if what I hear is true. I am sure the Generals are going to enjoy betting on this one.” The King said.

Just then, the glider collapsed and Ray jumped out of it. His body began to transform in front of them as he manifested a sword and stabbed it deep into the beast's shoulder before pulling himself up and facing the hooded figure. The glider teleported away landing back on the cliffside where it had taken off from. A black puppy landed and started walking to a group standing close to the Pillar of Saltman.

Collin Smiled at that. “ A Brawling Duke Vs a Berserker Lord? You might lose if you put money on it, sire.”

“Berserker Lord? What do you mean?” Draconis asked.

“Ray has a white queen chess piece on his inner arm and his bond, the puppy that just walked away from the glider, has a white king chess piece branded to his neck. Never met a bond capable of teleporting but he can.” Collin said. He pulled up his system and pressed a few buttons transferring the screen to the King's control. He then turned and began walking out of the room.

“Sire, I am going to leave this to you. I need to get back to the village. If I leave now, I should make it by the time Ray does. We have a lot of preparation to do. Please consider visiting. I think you would love how our village is progressing. You wouldn’t even know it had been utterly flatted a couple years ago, by that man on the screen as a matter of fact. “ Collin laughed to himself as he exited.

Ray

A few hours earlier

Ray strapped into the glider and made sure that Mace was secured. He motioned to the younglings to head back. Teams One and Two were to help evacuate the harbor and get everyone as far inland and out of the monster's path as possible. Team three, minus Ray, was to stay with Reese and Sir Scuttlefly. They were doing what they could to secure all of the important documents of the village before also getting the heck out of there. Ray was to distract the beast as long as possible to give them time to get away. Using the Lord System, Ray was able to manifest his old Military Glider from the Armory back at Golden Leaf Village. Unlike the one he used back in the fall, this one was capable of taking off without the need of the pulley system. It used to have a full automatic system and an array of weapons such as explosive bombs, flares, and a type of gatling gun that shot metal spikes. These systems had to be removed however when he had lost his Matrix. Without the Matrix’s complicated algorithm and targeting functions. All those fun things were practically dead weight. Dropping them increased his speed and maneuverability significantly and allowed Ray to install the pod for Mace to sit in and an omnidirectional Mana barrel. The latter allowed Ray to input elemental Mana for long to mid range firing. For short range he would just have to throw a fireball and hope for the best.

With the younglings out of the way, Ray concentrated an air and fire orb into the thruster cylinder and blasted into the sky. He made a quick circle around the town to check that everything was moving smoothly and then beelined it straight to the beast. At this point, the beast had about four hundred yards to go before landfall. It was moving at a slow and steady pace, probably due to all the mud and seaweed the harbor had. This was one of the many reasons why people did not come here for the kingdom's main source of export and imports, the earth and heavy vegetation were so thick that only the best were able to get in and out. This gave Ray an idea. Climbing a bit to make sure he was out of range from the beast, Ray made a hard left descending spiral keeping the speedometer just below redline and orbiting the beast to get its attention. With the mana barrel he shot off a couple fire blasts and managed to dodge an attack from the Mage on the shoulder of the beast. Pulling up from the dive, Ray formed a Water and Air orb and shoved them into the mana barrel. Ray formed a rock orb and threw it down into the ocean right around the beast's feet. This caused the earth to solidify and rise up pushing the beast off balance. He then began firing ice beams at the waves being formed by the beast's attempts to steady itself. Ray angled his glider to the left and pulled back into the direction of the town hitting as much of the water as he could with the ice. This managed to do exactly what he wanted.

The harbor was completely encapsulated in ice and the beast was struggling to keep its footing. Ray pulled up on the stick and added more thrust to get back to altitude. He made a wide arch around the beast and began shooting fire blasts at the direction of where the cloaked figure should be standing. With a swish of its tail, the beast pivoted and blocked the incoming blast protecting its master. It gave off a large roar which caused the earth to shake and the ice to break up into pieces. The bad news was the beast was moving again. The good news was that he was at a much slower pace as he was before as he had to wade through mud and floating ice. The cloaked figure started throwing fireballs at the ice to try and blast them out of the way. Ray knew he needed to take the guy out but it was getting a bit tricky with the lack of firepower.

“System, open Berserker King’s Mount Options.’ Ray said. The system brought forth a list of mounts that he could summon. “Horse, Horse and Carriage, Small Boat, Medium Boat, Large Vessel, Mountain Climbing Goat, Nope. None of this will work”

“System, Open Berserker Kings Armory and Lord’s System Armory, Include the Prior Lord Personal Items as well as my own stores. I need to know what I can use on this thing.” Ray screamed over the whirling wind. He made a dive under the right arms of the beast and sent another fireball to the soft spot below the joint. He made a last second barrel roll to miss an oncoming fireball and leveled out flying in the opposite direction of the beast. The system pulled up all the information and he mentally scrolled through it while making a right banking turn to head back to the beast.

System, Show me projectiles. Arrows. No. spears. Maybe. Harpoons. Possibly, but I don't want him pulling me down with it. Ray scrolled over a blue looking arrow with yellow tips and paused. Weren't those the electric arrows we shot at the deer a couple months ago. This might work. Ray thought to himself and immediately began forming a plan.

Kono

“What in the hell does he think he is going to do in that glider?” Scuttlefly yelled as he shoved more documents into the waterproof safe.

“He is giving us time. Hurry up! We have to get out of here.” Reese said, throwing his bags to Dayton and Theo and rushing everyone out the door. They exited the main building and followed the herd of people out of the town's main gate. At that point everyone scattered and moved further inland. Teams One, Two, and Three minus Simpy, met on the hill near the Pillar of Saltman and watched as the villagers fled. They did not know where she went.

“Any troubles?” Kono asked the group.

“We had a bit of an issue getting the horses out but other than that no.” Demitri stated.

“Good work everyone. Now we just need to see what we can do to assist the Lord.” Kono stated.

“I don’t know if we can do much sir. That thing is huge.” Kimberly stated, peering out from her binoculars.

“Just keep scanning the Beast. The Lord said the key to this beacon may be on it. If we can somehow get it. Then the Lord might get a new ability that could help us.” Kono Said, taking his telescope out to also look.

“Does the key shine bright like a diamond?” Theo asked.

“Yes!! But it’s not a diamond Theo, It’s more like those pretty Rubies mom wears on her ears to church on Sunday.” Dayton said.

“Where are we looking boys? Reese asked, putting his hands around his eyes to try and see. Dayton handed him his binoculars to help.

“Left of its head, uppermost scale. Lord Ray said it was silverish but I think it has got some red in it.” Dayton stated.

“Looks like he is making a move.” Sasha said. She was supposed to be monitoring Ray and giving updates. They all turned and watched the glider make a dive heading straight at the Beast's head.

“Get ready to move guys, I’ll issue orders as I think of them.” Kono said

“Excuse me, Can one of you tell me where I can find someone who wears a White Chess Piece tattoo? A voice said from behind. The group turned to see a man standing next to the piller. A black knight's tattoo, glowing on his hand. A hand holding a knife while the other held Simpy in place.

Ray

Ray made a dive at the beast face and manifested a yellow tipped arrow shoving it through the cylinder and firing it downward. It made impact with the top of the beast's head and lightning streaked down its entire body holding it in place. Ray kept diving downward along the side of the beast's belly and manifested four harpoons shooting them into the beast's legs. With a jerking motion, he pulled up and spun around the right side of the beast spinning around the legs and narrowly missing the tail. The cords pulled until they were as tights they could be and Ray let go and pulled off in a rapid incline, thrusting as much air and fire orbs as he could into the thrusters. Ray felt something was off and looked over to the cliff to see everyone facing a strange figure next to the beacon. He tried to focus but was unable to make out who it was

“Mace, something is going on over there. Do you think you can handle it?’ Ray asked the pup who had also sensed the pressure over by the cliff. Mace made a low growl. “Good boy!”

Ray continued to climb as much as he could right up until the glider lost flight. Hitting a switch, the Glider collapsed and Ray flung himself towards the beast. Mace Teleported and landed on the cliff. The Glider landed shortly after and rolled a bit before stopping off to the left. Mace began walking in the direction of the group while Ray activated his skills.

“Berserker Kings Armor Equipped, Berserker Kings Sword Equipped, Berserker Kings Transformation activated” The system said. "Ten minute time limit begun”

Ray felt power rush through him and he completed his transformation and stabbed the beast in the shoulder bringing the sword deep into its muscle before pulling himself upward and onto its back. Unlike when he usually transformed, There was no voice, There was no other entity taking over. Ray felt the power flow throughout his body but it was not overwhelming like it used to be. It was powerful but manageable and he had full control of it. Ray let go of the sword and manifested his sword and a half moving forward at above average speeds. He slices the back of the beast's neck and slammed himself into the cloaked mage. Knocking him back in between the spikes. Ray manifested his great sword and it came flying through the beast's shoulder through the thick muscle and into Ray's other hand. He thrusted it back down into the soft part of the back between the shoulder blades and using it as a foothold pushed off and after the mage who was struggling to get through the spikes in an attempt to flee from him. The mage jumped off of the beast's back and managed to land on its tail. Issuing its own commands to the beast, It was hurled upward into the sky. Ray Manifested a spear and threw it as hard as he could at the mage. He looked down in the process and noticed a silver object flapping around one of the spikes.

“The Key!” Ray said, grabbing it and quickly sending it away to his inventory.

The mage managed to dodge the spear midair and discarded its cloak in the process revealing a beast with wings, sharp claws and a face similar to the sea beast Ray was standing on. Ray Summoned a fire orb and thrusted himself off of the beast. Using his sword he slashed upward at the miniature winged beast, managing to clip one of its arms. The beast howled in pain and Ray noticed its brand. A black chess piece, a Bishop? Yeah a Bishop. Positioned on its chest above the left breastplate. Ray grabbed the beast by its neck and threw it downward onto the spikes of the large Sea Monster. He raised his sword and using his power summoned a force of lightning from the sky before directing it forward at the beasts. Hundreds, Thousands, millions of volts flowed through Ray’s sword and out his other hand that was pointing at the beasts. He cut off the flow of mana and, thinking of Theo and Dimitri’s sparring match, summoned his ax and swung downward spinning as fast as he could, increasing the force of the heavy object as much as he could with his Fire and wind mana. Ray hit the beast and continued to travel through the base of its Neck, ripping through the skin and severing the spinal cord before coming out of the other side and landing into the ocean. He quickly resurfaced and flung himself onto one of the floating Glaciers below the beast's feet. He managed to look up just in time to see a large head fall into the water next to him. The body of the beast collapsed on its knees and fell to the side. There was a piercing scream and Ray saw the smaller beast rushing forward towards him. Rage showing in its bloodshot eyes. Ray manifested his hand and half sword paring the mages strike before spinning and bringing the sword down in a fluid and powerful strike, cutting the beast in half from neck to pelvis.

“I have to get back to the group” Ray said to himself and he shot off toward the cliffside using as much of his remaining mana that he could muster.

“Berserker King’s Transformation time limit reached, reverting back to normal, Berserker armor unequipped, Berserker Sword unequipped” The system said before he could get off of the ice. He fell flat on his face and looked up.

“I guess I am out of Mana, Mace please protect the others.” Ray said before collapsing onto the ice.

Mace

Mace walked up to the group of people by the beacon. He stared straight at the man holding Simpy. His teeth bared and a low growl resonating from him.

“What is this? A little puppy comes to fight your battles?” The man said.

“Mace, we can help you!” Theo said. He and Dayton stepped forward and unsheathed their daggers.

“No! Boys don’t. It’s too dangerous. Come back over here.” Reese said, trying to grab and drag them back. They kept walking and stood next to Mace who’s growling hadn't stopped.

“Guys, this is not something you need to do lightly. Let Team 1 handle this. Come back over here and protect Reese and scuttlefly.” Kono said moving sideways to see if he could get a better angle.

“This is stupid, you all can’t take me on. I’m a bloody black knight.” The man said. He raised his knife up and brought it down to stab Simpy.

There was a flash and Mace jumped forward accessing his transformation ability. He transformed into a Silverback wolf three times his normal size and rushed forward to bite the arm holding the knife.. In that split second, Theo teleported, grabbed Simpy, dropped his dagger and teleported away. Dayton also teleported but instead of grabbing Simpy he grabbed Theo’s Dagger and stabbed the two deep into the man’s side between the third and the fourth rib activating their runic abilities with his mana. Dayton touched Mace’s fur and teleported them away. The man was shot back by the daggers wind effect and landed hard on his back before getting up. He looked at his side which had a large gash to it with blood steadily flowing. He ripped both daggers out and threw them over to the boys.

“Why didn’t my Dagger work? Theo asked Dayton.

“I don’t know, I did it how we practiced. I must not have had enough mana for it.” Dayton Said.

With a grin, the man ripped the rest of his shirt off and transformed. His wounds instantly healed, his body grew to to double its size and turned in color to a dark brownish red. A horn grew from the top of his head and a sword manifested itself from thin air. He looked at each of the group before focusing in on Mace who was growling and preparing himself to pounce.

“Good job on the save, boys. Now please do as I say and get back to Reese. Let team One handle this.” Kono said, pulling his sword up in a defensive stance. The rest except for Simpy, jumped into action taking their positions.

“Team Two can assist.” Dimitri said, pulling out his sword and moving into position. Both teams circled the man turned demon. Swords and knives drawn.

“I’m gonna kill the younglings first and then the rest of you, but first I need to destroy this mut. The man said, jumping forward and slashing diagonally at Mace.

Mace manifested a sword, holding it in his mouth and leaped forward to parry the blow before teleporting and slashing the back of the man with his claws. Kono took this chance to lunge forward, thrusting his sword into the lower rib where Dayton had stabbed earlier. He ducked and rolled to the left as a fireball came hurling where his head used to be blasting the demon in the chest. Mace jumped to the side as the demon was pushed back into a wall of rock, Dimitri had created. Arrows and knives came flying and pinned the man to the wall unable to move: Using his abilities, Yugi enveloped the man in shadows hoping to stall while the others regained their positions. Dayton and Theo moved with Reese and Sir Scuttlefly further up the edge to check on Ray.

“Where did Ray go? Reese asked.

“Look, over there. He is on the ice.” Theo said.

“He is not moving. His mana must be out.” Reese said.

“We need to get to him.” Dayton said. “Theo can you make it?”

“I can’t warp that far Dayton. I don’t see a line for me to get to him” Theo said, searching desperately through the coast. “The waves and the ice are moving too fast.”

“I can do it. Stay with dad.” Dayton said. Closing his eyes and preparing his mana for the jump.

“You can't get that far can you son?” Reese asked.

“Shhh, he’s concentrating. He’s got to find the line to Ray.” Theo said, turning to make sure they were still safe from the demon who was preoccupied with the others.

“The line? What line? What are you talking about?” Reese asked

“The series of jumps to get to Ray. It’s like climbing a mountain. You don’t just start climbing it. You have to visualize the line that will get you from here to there. If you just started jumping or climbing then you might hit a dead end which would cause you to turn back. That’s reckless and you are more likely to waste mana or put yourself in a position where you might fall and die.” Theo explained. "Not only does he have to get to Ray, but he has to get back to us. The ice and waves from the monster’s dead body make that almost impossible.”

“I found it. Dayton said, opening his eyes. “Theo hand me my dagger.”

Using his telekinesis, Theo recovered their daggers and handed it over.

“I’ll be back.” Dayton said and jumped head first off of the cliff.

Theo turned away and continued to scan the area for more threats while watching the group battle the demon. A few moments passed by and he heard a pop. Smiling but not looking, he waited for Dayton to return to his position. “How many Jumps?”

“Fifteen, It should have been ten but one of the blocks floated left instead of right.” Dayton said under ragged breath before hitting his knees. “I am tapped out.”

“Good job son!” Reese exclaimed “Ray, are you okay?” Reese rushed over and put Ray's arm around his neck and held him up.

“Get me to that beacon Reese.” Ray said, pulling what looked to be a key out of his inventory.

“I told you it was a ruby color.” Dayton said. Still huffing while trying to get a mana crystal from his satchel.

Sir Scuttlefly came forward and grabbed Ray's other side and together he and Reese carried him over to the pillar. Ray took out two mana crystals and drained them before placing his hand on the beacon and inserting the key along with as much mana as he could muster. He turned the key and there was a flash.

The flash seemed to distract the demon long enough for Kono and Dimitri to see an opening. They slashed the demon's head and left arm clean off. Jumping back, Dimitri formed a fireball and blasted the remains with as much fire mana as he could. Mace leaped up into the air and with a focused roar, he blasted the corpse downward through the earth. All that remained was a large indentation of dirt and blood. Mace shrank to his normal size as he descended to the ground. He landed with a light thud before walking over and laying down beside Ray who was hunched over the beacon. A system message read

“ Congratulations! Beacon Three Activated!