Cherreads

Chapter 71 - Chapter 70

10/9 14:38 (Autumn, Night, Mysterious Island)

Terran Lightning condensed around Sider's left hand, before it collapsed in on itself, separating explosively into its components of Lightning- and Earth-Attributes, the two grinding against each other before exploding in a wave of force that the Werewolf was forced to defend herself from with more Earth-Attribute Mana, a dense layer of it remaining to surround her body.

"Tsk." Sider clicked her tongue at her failure, opening and closing her left hand a couple of times, bruises covering it as she held it to her gaze, quickly going over the Damage she suffered because of her brief loss of focus. "It's harder to control than I thought. Or hoped."

Her gaze quickly moved towards her opponents, the Kobolds moving to surround her and each of them Chanting for another Collective Spell, the air quickly filling with the smell of sulfur and embers flying gently in the wind of the room before they flowed together forming a glowing Magic Circle that filled the entire roof.

The silver-eyed one did not hesitate, her Earth-Attribute Mana flowing down to the ground before rising and bringing with it a dome of compacted earth, forming a shield to protect herself from the rain of flames falling down on the whole room, Sider needing to actively reinforce her body with Vital Energy to contrast against the heat, even despite her wall.

The sweating Werewolf scowled even harder, her wall protecting her while concentrating solely on herself and to properly bring her newest Composite Attribute, her Terran Lightning, to heel despite its naturally stubborn nature in preparation for her future battles waiting for her in the deeper layers of this damned island.

She joined her hands together in an instant, small electric shocks arcing around them while a small layer of Earth-Attribute Mana accumulated around her joined limbs, her silver eyes closed to help her concentrate better, small strands of Earth-Attribute Mana moving to join her Lightning-Attribute one's erratic movement before falling down on the greater mass, their metaphorical weight hardly allowing them freedom from their own gravity, the Attribute stubbornly refusing to combine with the much more spontaneous one.

At the same time however Sider was more than stubborn enough to continue trying to force the two opposing Attributes to work together in unison despite their protest, her hands starting to bruise with her skin flaking away, before her Vital Energy started repairing the damage immediately and, taking advantage of her training to become a Cultivator and since then, she decided to ignore it until she could deal with it safely.

What Sider was doing was not trying to recreate her Terran Lightning once but instead was understanding and mastering the process that she used to form the Composite Attribute in the first place as the faster and more successfully she could create it, the better would be her condition in future battles.

More and more strands of Earth-Attribute Mana flowed freely between and around her conjoined hands, the yellow of her Lightning progressively darkening in a dull gold, her silver eyes suddently opening, a golden flash ripping right through her own wall as the bolt struck one of the Kobolds, sending it flying back and creating an hole in the wall of the room from which it soon fell.

As the Werewolf's wall started to crumble around her starting from the point of exit of her attack, she jumped forward grabbing a bunch of rocks mid-fall, Shaping them into a mace before swinging with all of her strenght, activating her Unique Skill on it, impossible force rippling forth and severing the falling flames and the Magic Circle their origin in two, creating a safe zone for herself and forming an explosion of hot wind that expanded outwards.

She landed with a single foot on the ground before launching herself upwards, her feet landing on each part of the opening she opened on the roof of this room before launching herself back down, the ground shattering beneath her feet because of the force, black and gold bolts concentrating around her hands before her newly-created claws fell, piercing right through her opponents' wall risen in desperation before impaling two Kobolds in the chest.

The Terran Lightning exploded, ripping the two Fake-Qi users apart from the inside and slowing her down none as she turned around, her newest Composite Attribute being recalled around her before being launched forward in a spear intent on impaling the Kobold she previously threw through the wall.

This last one was fortunately for it saved by the efforts of the other three remaining Kobolds, pulling it away from the strike by causing the earth around it to erupt and sending it hurling away, making it bounce a couple of times painfully, sure, but saving it from what would be certain and immediate death, at least for right now.

Sider breathed heavily a couple of times, sighing, before stomping down hard, the ground rising violently into a series of spikes that tried to skewer her remaining four opponents at once, forcing them to jump away or risking opening themselves up for further attacks.

Not that this was not a potentially dangerous move, sure, but better a potential danger than a sure one, especially considering how their opponent could Channel her Lightning-Attribute through it to strike at them, mistake that they certainly couldn't afford in as dangerous a situation as they found themselves in.

Mid-air they once again started Chanting together, a much longer process, reduced as they were from their initial numbers, but they were still able to produce a large wall of wind to deflect the spear of Lightning-Attribute Mana that Sider sent forth to impale one of them, protecting themselves from the immediate strike while landing with their feet on the ground and being able to quickly move again, preparing to dodge further assaults from the Werewolf.

The silver-eyed one didn't hesitate any, bending down slightly, the floor beneath her feet soon exploding and lending her an even greater speed when she combined it with her own jump, a couple of lances in her hands, one made entirely out of Thunder Gems in her right one while her left wielded one made out of Terran Lightning, throwing them at once, towards the same location, deciding to try out what would happen.

The two thrown spears impacted mid-air, collapsing in on each other in a single mass of Earth- and Lightning-Attribute Mana before destabilizing in an explosion of Terran Lightning, more electricity that was contained within the Thunder Gem and all of it converted perfectly in Terran Lightning.

Black and gold branches erupted immediately, shattering the wall they impacted in an instant, causing a rain of debris to fill the room together with long thunder bolts, destruction spreading chaotically all around the room and beyond, the floor and roof of this room both shattering at once while forcibly distracting all the Kobolds to shield themselves from the attack.

The black-haired one didn't wait an instant, crossing the distance between herself and the previously wounded Fake-Kobold, grabbing it by a shoulder with one hand before punching it through its back with her other one with a Mana Burst, ending it and their defensive spell in an instant, the body much too quickly dissolving into a purple mess that was quickly drank in by the ground beneath them.

-

10/10 5:55 (Autumn, Day, Midrar, Base)

Amber and Sabel led this last one's friends down to their base and their Mates, exchanging greetings while Jay was studying the way it was constructed, rapidly drawing on his notepad various notes for one of his future drawings, his gaze moving everywhere around him while also drawing in another page a draft for Amber.

"Could you create a little bit of fire around you?" the artist asked, ignoring their current conversation entirely and causing both Sabel and Hale to sigh, the first in resignation and the second in embarassment.

"Ah, I don't mind." Amber reassured mostly her Mate's friend, as it would cost her nothing, understanding well what it seeked, golden flames surrounding her and forming her wings once again, showing herself off in as majestic pose as she could, the air immediately around her rippling because of the heat while she perfectly controlled it to make sure not to affect either the Humans or any nearby object.

Jay moved around her, quickly drawing more and more notes on his notepad about the Phoenix and her flames while the four walked in deeper, flames artefully moving all around the blonde, quickly reaching the other two. "You are a Phoenix with the blood of a Succubus, correct? In that case, are you able to use both Blessed and Cursed Flames?" The rogue asked casually intent on drawing them too.

Silence stretched out as everyone else looked at him, wondering what he was talking about long enough for Jay to notice their gaze and turning up. "What? She should have more than enough Affinity towards the Fire-, Holy- and Curse-Attribute to create those Composite Attributes."

"What is a Composite Attribute, Jay?" Hale asked, his curiosity being shared by all other People in the room to Jay's own surprise.

"Why don't you know? No, why do none of you know?" His gaze moved from Person to Person, before proceding to explain all the same. "A Composite Attribute happens thanks to the combination of two different Attributes, excluding Holy- and Curse-Attributes, with the Form of one and the Substance of the other. The Holy- and Curse-Attributes together cannot be merged together as they tend towards strenghtening the other Attribute they are merged with."

"I was raised in an orphanage and concentrated only on Clerical Spells, they are based on the Holy-Attribute alone and are very time-consuming to learn and mantain." Hale defended himself.

"And I suppose I was never taught because I have terrible Affinity with any Attribute except the Light one." Sabel sighed with a small pout before turning her gaze towards Luna, thinking she should have been aware of them only to find her thinking.

"I see…" Luna thought aloud to herself before noting the gazes on her. "What? I recieved only a single lession before being deemed too dangerous to be taught anymore than that and I was just three. I figured out everything I know myself, even reading by using a combination of my System page and various books that I stole when I was a child." She proudly affirmed.

Silence stretched before Mafel decided to distract them all. "My highest Affinities are towards the Holy- and Curse-Attributes and they don't mix."

"Blessed Flames are somewhat natural for Phoenix to create as are Ominous Winds for Lust Demons. I never thought about what they are especially because without Luna my Affinity towards both the Air- and Curse-Attributes would be insufficient to use them in combinations so I guess I was never taught." Amber figured out, wondering about the possible Composite Attributes she could now access.

"Seriously?" Jay murmured. "Well, I am a noble with enough Air- and Water-Attribute Affinity that with a little training I would be able to wield a Composite Attribute and was taught the basics just in case I needed them for some reason."

"What would this be then?" Luna asks, her Blitz and Core being summoned for just a couple of seconds, her Black Lightning forming around her hands curious of the difference considering how it was a combination of "Electrify", "Elemental Manifestation" and her No-Attribute Affinity.

"That is probably an Altered Attribute, not a Composite Attribute. It's a non-standard Attribute that is not a direct combination, like a Being that uses Earth-Attribute to manipulate magma." He explained before murmuring to himself. "How is it that the non-Mage knows all of this and none of the Mages do?"

Luna ignored him completely, moving towards their gym and Summoning five of her True Images, summoning within each one of her Familiars except for Spirit.

At the center of the group of five Images was her Core-Image, a copy of Luna in a much more Draconic version, a pair of horns crowning their head, a long tail moving behind them while a large pair of Dragon wings opened behind them.

On their right stood her Vision-Image, a third eye on their forehead, their nails sharpening to a paint while their hair now ended in something like arrow-heads while her Warden-Image was on their left, a slightly taller and more muscular copy of Luna covered in metallic scales.

On the far right stood her Ash-Image, clad in violent flames that formed in a pair of large wings behind them with on the far left instead was her Blitz-Image, an exact copy of Luna if you were to not count the sparks of electricity surrounding their body.

Luna looked at her Images satisfied, before starting to experiment with combining the Attributes, opening fully her False Domain with her Core functioning as such for this process thanks to the combination their "Draconic Affinity" and "Elemental Manifestation" with two of her other Images serving as sources for the Attributes, quickly figuring out the Composite Attributes she had access to with her four Attributes before gradually moving on to her current exercise.

Four masses of Vital Mana floated behind her, each of them maintaining their Substance as a different Attribute while constantly cycling between the Forms she had currently access to, Casting various attacks to her targets with a miriad of effects thanks to her Composite Attributes, all this only possible because of her immense Control over Vital Mana, her constant Deep Meditation and the efforts of her Familiars.

Amber, having studied the way that Luna was making her Composite Attributes from both her observations, "Heat Sight" and the feelings being freely shared by Luna and her own previous efforts with her Blessed Flames and Ominous Winds was able to invert them, figuring out how to create both Cursed Flames and Revered Winds, black and purple flames surrounding her body and flowing together with gentle golden winds.

Relatively nearby the rest of the group could only watch in dismay the fruits of a single somewhat-basic explanation to Luna, Lunarian that quickly grew to dislike the way she needed to fully Summon almost all of her Familiars when she could demonstrate a much higher destructive potential alone, soon deciding to work on a work around.

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