Saintess Summons Skeletons

Alith looked at the pink pastures that Sofia’s attack had barely harmed, then back at Nicet, “Say, didn’t Orvod tell us to fly up in case of rain? And now you’ve told us the sky is full of space vortexes and we shouldn’t go there. Which is it?”

“Both. Again, this is why I’m with you. If it does ever start raining, it’s best if you drop anything you’re doing and follow me.”

With these last words of caution, the group started flying slowly a few meters above the surface.

“According to my map and your story, the river you fell in should have been one of the three main rivers in this region. These are pre-tide maps, so they’re inaccurate now, and the rivers no longer exist, but we can still follow the general direction. Our best bet is to check every flying mountain in the region, there shouldn’t be too many, maybe ten. Do you think you’ll be able to recognize it?”

“Unless it has drastically changed, I will know the second I see it on the horizon.”

“That would make things easier. Look at this map, we’ll be checking these two forks in the mountain chain first. If it’s not there, we can follow the main line deeper into Sovuln, but considering your story, I doubt it’ll come to that.”

The trio quietly flew over the pink fields and forests. It was eerie how quiet everything was, there were no floating islands around these parts so the flying monsters weren’t active either. The Ebb had overtaken everything. The land was ruptured and upturned in many places, but when it wasn’t, it offered a disturbing spectacle of stillness.

Soon they found a dirt road. It was well maintained, in fact it was in the same state it had been before the tide, the Ebb had parasited all the vegetation around, so there was no new grass to reclaim the land despite the absence of maintenance.

Are the cities going to be the same?

Every so often, Alith asked random questions, “Would the grass attack us if we landed?”

“No, the Ebb rarely moves if not exposed to water or direct danger like a random lightning strike… What you really risk is getting contaminated, though the suit should prevent that, even if you’re not really wearing it.”

“Well, maybe it’s the best time to test Dopple’s abilities while it’s still somewhat safe. What do I do if I get some on me? Amputation?”

“That’s an option but not if there’s still Ebb around when you do it. The best practice is to burn it away before it spreads, but essentially the instant it gets into your bloodstream, you’re done for.”

I feel a sudden urge to carve a rune right now for some reason…

Alith gradually switched back to being fully human and landed amidst the pink grass.

“Nothing’s happening. Guess I can still trust Dopple. But I guess if the best cure is burning then I don’t really have anything to worry about.”

“I am almost offended that you still had doubts, master.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” Her testing done, Alith flew back up, “Hey, how long are we going to fly like this?”

“Hmm, I say we should find the mountain in three to ten days, depending on our luck? We usually work in the eastern and northern regions, so this place is a bit of an unknown.”

 

Nicet suddenly ordered the group to stop.

Sofia could only see a vague tall and pink shape on the horizon, “What is this, do we need to avoid it?”

Nicet turned around, shaking his head, “No, we should kill it. That’s a windmill.”

Squinting her eyes, Alith still couldn’t see anything, “You can see that from here? I don’t. And killing it?”

“Sovuln’s windmills were mainly wood. Notice how there are no fields around here, only sparse forests? They move when it rains. Their level can be anywhere between 100 and 249, they are a pain to get rid of without the right skills, but with someone who can throw lightning, we might as well get the free experience as well as making this area safer.”

So I’m killing a windmill today? I’m not against it. “I can do it, but what if it survives?”

Nicet heartily laughed, “That won’t happen, maybe it’ll come speeding toward us, but it’s definitely going to die. It’s best if you can kill it on the spot, but if not I can slow it down enough for us to flee and wait until it goes down to the fire.”

The scepter appeared in Sofia’s hand and she started charging a bolt, “I don’t need to aim anywhere in particular, right?”

“Wait,” Nicet paused, “You’re not going to fly a bit closer?”

“I should manage to touch it from here, my aim is quite good.” And [Heat Death] supposedly should make it easier to hit distant targets. I think the staff also helps. Now how much do I charge this?

Sofia checked for any spatial anomalies nearby but couldn’t see anything, so she took the liberty to go forward and up a little to get a better line of sight. As the lightning started to be a bit loud, she looked back, “Tell you what, I’m going to make it as big as I can, enjoy the show.”

When Alith heard Sofia, she started taking her distance, but seeing Nicet not moving, she went to grab his arm and pulled him away too. “You don’t wanna stay too close or you’ll be a grilled snake.”

“Oh, thanks, sorry. I find this skill fascinating, don’t you? I’ve known lightning mages at the academy but it’s nothing like this.”

“I come from a world where mana doesn’t even exist, this whole world is fascinating to me.”

“Ah, right. Well, shared feelings, being born here doesn’t make it less incredible… Let’s go a bit further away, the heat is…”

“I was more worried about the blinding light, but sure.”

“Right, how can she aim when it’s like this?”

“It doesn’t blind her as much, the skill also protects her from the lightning and the heat.”

“Hmm. Is she about done?”

“No idea.”

Sofia wasn’t done, the bolt was currently at forty-five thousand mana points worth of destructive power. This used to be her maximum potential before the plasma started melting her body into oblivion. With her new stats and the sturdier bone armor, she was barely starting to feel the burn.

Sixty

Seventy

Eighty

Can I push it to a hundred?! I should work on the channeling speed because this is quite slow. I’ve been at it for like almost a full minute. And that’s ninety thousand. This is starting to really hurt. A hundred might be around the most I can hold.

One hundred! I can still push it a bit… A hundred and five thousand will be the same as seven bolts in one.

Right around 105 000 mana spent, her hand started disintegrating under the armor. Sofia let loose the monster she had created after a full seventy seconds of casting. Her final thought before a third of her mana flew off in the shape of a destructive spear of plasma was ‘Shit, I should have used the Deep ring to make it even stronger!’ Right away, a loud thunderclap pierced everyone’s eardrums and Sofia was sent flying back with a force she had rarely experienced before.

The wooden scepter was still red and crackling with electricity after the bolt departed.

‘You have defeated [Ebb colony (Windmill) - lv. 228]’

‘You gained a level!’

‘Remaining debt : 132 Levels’

Almost instantly, a huge blue explosion occurred in the distance. Alith couldn’t see the windmill but it was impossible to miss the huge ball of blue fire and smoke rising into the sky. The clouds above shifted from the immense force.

The trio was mesmerized, looking at the disaster Sofia had just created, after about forty seconds, the ground rumbled. Then it hit them, a shockwave of deafening sound, the sound of the explosion, breaking their freshly healed eardrums for the second time.

Maybe let’s not do that with the ring active. I don’t know why it wasn’t that bad when the Angel was the one doing it in the trial, but… Oh no, I know, his bolts didn’t explode for the most part, they ripped straight through the Alphageid and kept flying off into the sky… I might need to learn how to do that too.

I kind of want to try that on Pareth and see how much damage that does. But maybe it’s best not to attempt that.

Sofia turned around to see Nicet chugging on a healing potion. She could see blood running down the sides of his face, “Are you alright?”

“Ah, hum. Yeah, it’s nothing. Say, are you really level 200?”

“Fresh out of the trial, yes.”

“Oh. If I may ask, what is your rank?”

Alith answered for Sofia, “She finished first. Rank one.”

“No wonder you could have a deal with the boss… Try to never show this skill to a lightning mage, alright? They are rare enough as it is… Also I have contacts at a magical academy that might be interested in speaking with you. Ever thought about becoming a teacher?”

Me, a teacher? Did the lightning fry his brain?