Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 96: Smoke on the Water

Toren Daen

As my bond slowly accepted sleep, I surveyed the tide of undead approaching on their makeshift rafts.

The numbers on the water had been reduced significantly by the resistance of the ascenders I traveled with, and then further decimated by the sudden emergence of the leviathan below. This gave me the time I needed to prepare.

I watched as several corpses toppled into the water, jostled by their clumsy allies. They never rose up again, sinking like stones to the lakebed. The lake had truly cut off their ability to advance: amidst the horde, which loomed with flickering violet eyes on one end of the shore, only a few seemed to be able to conjure solid platforms. This prevented me from being rushed by thousands of corpses all at once, keeping instead to a still-petrifying hundreds.

Despite this, there was a uniformity to their slow approach that reminded me of the acidbeam hornets I'd faced so long ago. There was a weave of intent that I could almost taste on the air, coating each and every entity in its thick, tarry smog.

These creatures were operating under a hivemind.

My eyes, which felt hot under the effects of my Phoenix Will, flicked over the water, searching for my targets. They were easy to spot: colossal monuments of gray flesh that stood imperiously along the waterline. Their eyes alone carried true intelligence.

Cut the head off the snake, I thought, shaping an orb of solid fire in my hands, And the body will wither.

I took a few seconds of precious time to mold the shape I wanted, stretching out the familiar orb into a foreign shape. The sphere slowly became a shaft, then formed a solid top of orange. I hefted a lance of flame, feeling its haft sizzling warmly against my palm. The spearhead flared visibly, ready to sear and sunder.

The undead weren't far from me now.

I lined up my sights, my eyes boring into the bonfire of slate-gray lifeforce that this flesh titan held in its chest. Then I threw my spear of fire, adding a final flare of telekinesis to accelerate it on its way.

There was a blurring streak of orange as my spell sought its target. The water parted around it as it traveled, steam rising from the surface of the lake as my fire spell honed in on the undead.

But the thing seemed to be expecting my attack. A dozen mana shields popped into existence as the intent threading from its heartfire like puppet strings directed the minions to raise their barriers.

My fire lance ignored them like they were paper, searing through earth, ice, water, and even more fire as it traveled on its way. Unfortunately, each defense it shredded sapped away a little more of its mana. Motes were chipped off as it scoured its way forward such that once it reached its target, the projectile merely splashed against putrid flesh with minimal harm.

I ground my teeth, then forcibly settled myself. Long-range fighting wasn't my specialty, and I needed to save my mana to ward off the true monster under the water. I couldn't use plasma recklessly or try and overwhelm these things with power lest I tire myself out too soon.

The place I shined was at medium to close range, where my telekinesis was most effective in assisting me. My mobility was superb, so I could be where I needed to ward off these monsters.

I internally checked my core. It was lined with silver cracks, heralding another advancement, but I ignored those for a moment. I was at little more than half my maximum mana capacity, but it was draining fast.

My Acquire Phase wasn't usually this demanding of mana, but without my bond to stabilize its effects on me, my own mind and body were left to shoulder the burden. The latter was more than up to the challenge with my new physique, but with the former, I had to keep my thoughts from racing in uneven directions under the effects of my primal Will.