Chương 125: Chapter 124- The Proto Fracture

Elias, Astra, and Tia scrambled back from the ritual, taking shelter behind a nearby mound of stone that had slumped from the castle wall above, settling in to watch Mira as she worked. They peered around the edge of a boulder leaned up against the mound as she slowly paced back and forth in front of the ritual, occasionally stopping to flicker a finger towards the ground in front of her. A flash of light would flicker across the ground as dozens of individual lines were cut in succession.

Another pulse of crimson would ripple across the ground repairing the damage, and in the blink of an eye another flash would go out as another pattern of slashes flashed across the ground. Eli leaned over and spoke to Astra in a low voice, " Any idea what she's doing?" Astra shushed him and shook her head, holding up a hand for him to wait.

The speed of the tests or trials being conducted rapidly increased, and in less than a few minutes it devolved into a series of white and red flashes lighting their faces as they watched. Astra leaned over to answer Eli, " I suspect she is trying the same things we were, just much faster." The flares of light halted as the crackling sounds dissipated, the air growing still as the shattering sound of another pane echoed across the valley from above.

Eli strained his senses and attempted to parse the low murmurs coming from Mira." … interesting."

"... not from the imperial tradition…"" Older? Maybe, the second or third cycle…." Eli looked over at Astra as she shrugged, confusion trickling down the tether, but only a small taste compared to the brimming confidence that Mira would figure something out." … never seen these in any lexicon…"" Wrong." They both looked up as Mira took in a sharp breath." … damn, must be from before the cycles…"

She knelt, pulling a sheet of paper from a pocket to take a quick rubbing and return the sheet to a pocket as she murmured to herself, a small smile on her lips, "... a little present for Weatherby." Mira stood, her voice rising to a more normal volume, " Mind yourselves, there may be some backlash." A wave of her hand sent a thick sheet of ice across the circle, a red flash melted it a second later.

"... hmph…" A second wave sent a carpet of flames burning the etching from the ground, only to be dispersed, and another wave of tests began. Invisible blades of air scoured channels, a long low barrel of stone reminiscent of a large steamroller crushed runes, and Eli even saw the pale yellow of a small spatial distortion plane cut one arc. Albeit after a massive gout of lightning followed that attempt he never saw another.

The small flickers from before became a riot of color that filled the air as flashes danced across the ground, Mira applying forces in rapid succession one after the other.

Acids scoured the earth only to have the fumes sublimated by brilliant beams of yellow light, some effect that Eli was unfamiliar with caused the color to fade from the stone as it crumbled, only for the grey to wash back out from the center of the ritual as the murmurs picked back up, difficult to hear amongst the din of the various clashing elements." … no…"

"... no…." Pressure descended as the air thickened around the ritual and, as the clash escalated, where the different casts had been trying to scour stone or dry blood, now thick strands of energy drove into the ritual by the dozen. A pattern of crackling sounds filled the air as different colored strands pushed down multiple channels at a time one after the other.

"... closer." Mira's casting halted as a wash of energy in a variety of colors surged down a couple channels, and a hum built in the air." … interesting." Mira waved her hands as multicolored threads of energy sprouted from the air, weaving into a technicolor tapestry before coiling in upon itself, compacting into a single point before being ejected out the other side as a thick ribbon of mana in all the colors of the rainbow.

With a gesture the ribbon split into a dozen versions of itself and lanced back into the ritual coursing down the channels of the ritual and the hum increased.

"... very interesting." The ribbon stopped pulling forward, and with a come hither gesture from one hand, the hum rose sharply as Mira froze. The weave dissolved as she craned her eyes skyward, peering through the gap in the cloud cover above where she had made her entrance, and if Elias did not know any better he would have guessed her gaze was fixed on the ring above.

"... that will do. It seems I have been going about this the wrong way." Eli and Astra exchanged looks as they turned back to watch Mira, a trickle of worry crept down the tether as they watched, rising as Mira turned back to look at them for a brief moment. Her eyes lingered on Astra for a moment, her expression unreadable at least to Eli, but the spike of worry and fear from Astra at Mira's expression turning stony as she turned back to the ritual was telling." Stay behind me."

Mira dropped into a wider stance as she leaned forward, the technicolor ribbon from before making its appearance once more, but this time instead of a thin ribbon it was thick rope, one weaving before each hand. The one in her right hand split once more into myriad threads which swirled, spiraling outwards, before plunging into ritual in unison writhing with a mind of their own as they shot down individual channels to latch onto some part of the magic that Eli did not understand.

The weave in her left hand did not descend; however, instead it rose with a seemingly infinite length spouting from her palm as it shot into the air dodging past the budding fracture, lancing into the gap in the cloud cover above. As the weave disappeared far into the sky Mira stared at the ritual and gave a single tugging motion with one hand. A groaning sound filled the air and, for the first time since the ritual had completed, the crimson glow flickered.

Astra took in a sharp breath as Mira tugged once more, and the rope in her palm glowed as the crackling in the air quieted and pressure building to the next shattering pane slowed. The glow passed along the rope, and the dull white glow of the runes on Mira's armor grew slightly brighter as she gritted her teeth as the glow passed out through the other arm to travel up the rope heading towards the sky above. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The ground vibrated slightly as the crimson glow of the ritual brightened, whatever force was driving the magic, apparently trying to eject the threads that she had woven throughout it. Mira grunted in effort, more threads apparating as the rope thickened, and she gave it a sharp tug. A series of pulses began seeping up from the ritual and as they gathered into a bright glow and slammed into her, she groaned as she released the energy, passing up into the sky in a steady stream.

The groaning sound grew, and the vibration grew into the rumble, as the scene before them turned into a battle of wills. Mira slowly drained energy from the core and released it in a steady stream, as a staccato beat of rhythmic pulses wrestled for control over the flows of energy. At moments the crimson glow would appear to have marshalled control of the energy as the stream would dim, only to release once more in a flood that would elicit a groan of strain from Mira.

At other times instead of a flood, it would release a series of rapid pulses, the repeated impact causing the glow on her armor to brighten sharply before fading back into a steady stream once more. The rumbling of the ground grew louder and, as the shaking grew, clods of earth and stone from the crumbling walls began falling into the crater once more.

Elias smiled slightly at the ripple of elation from Astra, at there finally being some progress to halting the ritual, but it could not ease his tension as it all seemed too little too late. The wind rose, the flows of mana thickening as Mira wrestled with the surges of energy, waves energy dense enough to coalesce forming into a thin mist along the ground.

A breeze started to blow outwards from the center of the ritual and, as her long black hair flowed in the wind, Mira's blazing white eyes were fixed on the core as she glared at it, a frown fixed on her face. A growling crackle came from the crimson energy rose as she struggled with it, the groaning sounds rising again sharply before halting entirely.

Nowhere near enough energy had been drained from the ritual to halt it completely, even Eli could tell, but as the trio looked on in confusion all resistance seemed to halt entirely. Mira rose slightly from her crouch as her frown deepened, her grip on the ropes of energy tightening. BOOM.

A roaring burst of crimson energy rocketed outwards in a flare, the pillar of light into the sky drifting into a deep crimson as a pressure wave burst forth, sweeping the clouds outwards from the sky as Mira's weave unraveled in her hands. The rope of mana frayed, unravelling and tearing as the wave spread, the delicate threads unable to weather the sudden surge of pressure. The woman herself was unharmed, simply buffeted by the wind, but as her magic unravelled she snarled a low growl ripping from her throat.

Mira's eyes widened as the crimson orb resurfaced from the center of the ritual and a heavy pressure began to blow outwards, steady and strong, but instead of the swirling winds of a storm, the buffeting winds seemed to originate from the core itself. The crimson glow grew steadily brighter to the point where Eli winced against the bright light. Mira's eyes narrowed, and after a moment's pause she strode into the budding maelstrom, gaze fixed on the core as she pressed through the buffeting winds.

The nearby vines whipped in the air, and the occasional clatter could be heard as lighter stones were picked up by the winds and tossed clear. It spoke to Mira's immense strength that her steps never faltered as she stepped into the outer layers of the ritual. Crackling arcs of energy struck outwards from the core glancing off her armor as sparks rippled across her form.

The white glow grew brighter as the arcs of electricity slipped, shedding from her armor like water rolling off of a duck's back, as she stomped forward, the pressure causing each step to crack the stone beneath her. Mira paused just outside the core for a moment, glancing backwards, the briefest flicker of a smile gracing her lips as her eyes caught sight of Astra, and with a bellowing roar she plunged both hands deep into the dense orb of crimson mana rippling in the center of the core.

With a tremendous cry she wrenched one hand free, something indistinguishable wriggling in her fist, and with a savage grunt she crushed it in her palm as a dense corona of crimson energy surrounded the hand. Her brows furrowed as she clenched her eyes shut in concentration and, as the cloud above the hand shifted from crimson to a riot of color as she lifted the hand towards the sky. Mira groaned and with a loud crackling sound a dense beam of energy shot forth from her palm vanishing into the hole in the clouds.

The rumbling vibration of the ground took on an ominous tone, and the stone began to buck and heave beneath their feet. The crimson glow of the orb grew brighter as snarling, crackling arcs of energy rippled over her armor searching for any point of entry. She cried out, growling as an arc of energy found purchase and arcs of crimson began skitter across her skin.

Mira bellowed out another wordless cry and the crimson energy began to stream across her into the beam as it widened from a wrist thick beam to a massive column of scintillating light, several feet across. Another pressure wave shot outwards, and where the previous waves had only disturbed the clouds above, this one fully dispersed them. Eli pressed himself into the boulder they were sheltered behind, Tia nestled against his chest lest she be blown away in the tempest.

The stone of the boulder groaned and cracked as the fingers of Astra's gauntlet punched through the surface in her attempt to hold herself in place, and they both shared a glance as the wind whipped through their hair before they looked skywards. Brilliant sunlight poured downwards falling heavily upon them like a waterfall as the true nature of the summer day broke through, revealing an open sky with a far too cheery blue for the deep terror of the moment.

The snow was swept free from the ground surrounding them as the winds scoured them clean and for the first time they could see the other half of the beam as the overcast sky was suddenly clear. The wide column of energy shot far into the distant sky until it connected to the arch of the ring high above, the energy pouring forth from Mira shooting outwards in massive streams as it rippled and coursed outwards from the point where she had tethered herself to it.

Rivers of energy washed across the sky, enormous flows that were both stunning in their beauty and terrifying with the immense amount of dense energy that Eli could see within, practically whiting out his [Mana Sense] as the Mira short circuited the ritual, grounding it into the only thing around that was more powerful." Master!" Astra gasped in horror as a pained scream echoed through the crater, and Eli whipped his gaze back to the ground as a fresh pressure wave surged forth.

Mira stood in the center of the ritual, one hand planted into the crimson core, the other lifted to the sky, and as he watched as she began to glow with an incandescence like a filament carrying a current it had never been meant to bear. Rampant energy coursed over Mira's armor, her pained scream cut off as the muscles in her jaw locked shut for a moment, and the runes of her armor glowed such a blinding white that Eli's eyes began to water.

A loud thrumming sound boomed through the air as more and more energy coursed skyward, a river of mana flowing through, with her own body as the conduit. Cracks began to form in her armor, crimson rivulets shooting between the runework as sections began to fall dark, but the dense core of energy at the center of the ritual was beginning to dim.

The smell of singed flesh and hair blew past them as they clung to the boulder, a wave of fear and dread for her mentor washing down the tether as they watched, unable to muster any assistance as this had gone far beyond their pay grade. A deep bassy bellow filled the air as the light brightened to a fever pitch, Mira roared in defiance to the sky, as a coruscating flood of light poured upwards.

Eli winced as the ground shook, the air quaked, and his vision failed as if a new dawn had risen in the crater in front of them. The moment seemed to stretch on for an eternity, until suddenly, everything fell silent. The ground settled. The air stilled. The light slowly faded and dimmed. Eli braced himself as he cracked open a single eye, wincing against a glare that never came. The only thing before him was a single figure standing in a crater, the stone white hot and cracking as it met the cool air.

Mira stood, singed and blackened, her armor cracked in some places and glowing hot in others, lines of blackened skin tracing patterns across her face, significant patches of her hair missing or still smoking, but still on her feet. Eli gaped, marveling at the indomitable force of will it would take to weather such a storm, as she slowly stood, her tortured armor crunching and squealing with the movement.

The brilliant white glow of her eyes dimmed as she rose, but as she tried to straighten to her full height her knees buckled. Mira drew a deep breath, pained and rasping, as her eyes darted around the crater and gave a slight nod to no one in particular. She pitched forward without so much as an effort to brace herself, as she landed full weight face first on the sizzling hot and still glowing stone. Only then did the Frostwarden collapse.