Chương 54

"The situation below appears stable," Maylor observed.

"The front pair of sites are enduring well. I can't see any casualties."

"I'd hope its going well now." Ranya shook her head.

"It's been a minute. The whole ritual should last an hour."

"You'd be surprised how often people can falter in the first minute," Maylor shrugged.

"This is good. If they make it the first minute, they probably will make it the first ten. Until the second series of Ascensions."

"Speaking of, that's my cue," Healer Michaels said. He pointed to the center-right fortification.

"Someone just went down. Let's see if I can save some fool's life." As the Healer departed, Maylor frowned. Ranya, her nerves humming from the overwhelming swing they were taking, of course noticed it.

"Is something wrong?"

"Not wrong, but- well, public Ascensions reveal your number of Refinements," He said. He pointed back to the center-left fortification, which had begun the ritual.

"Look. While the later-starting Ascensions are wrapping up, that girl Clara's has one more. The pressure on that fortification will be dangerous for as long as it continues."

"And we can't start the next round of Ascensions, the Tier Is, until she is done. Or those bigger Ascensions will cannibalize the energy." Ranya sucked her lip.

"Well, if that's the biggest problem we encounter, I'll dedicate the rest of my life to spreading the word of the Architect."

Kirk's smashed a group of geos with an Ember. He released a long breath; his empty energy pool quivered, begging him to take a break. But he forced himself to reach up and draw the Larian Saber. Yet when Kirk moved to the front of the fortification, Gerard stopped him.

"Young Master Albion, wait. I fear that we will need you elsewhere. At this rate, while Miss Clara has one more Refinement, the other ritual sites…" Kirk raised his head and felt the flowing energy. While the vortex above their location remained strong, the ones behind them waned. He looked out along the slope, seeing quite a few geos scattered around.

"All their attention will come here. We might get flanked."

"Besides," Gerard gave Kirk a tight smile.

"With that massive Larian Saber, won't the geos rue meeting you with space?" So Kirk released another breath, sucked in as much energy as he could manage, then walked off the side of the fortification. Even as he stepped onto the slope, the other Ascensions waned. Which left the geos previously heading to wing sites confused. Until the continued pull from Clara brought them rushing toward their fortification from upslope. Kirk raised the saber.

The geos already engaged with other fortifications would attack the Conduits they saw, but it was the scrabbling remnants he would have to handle. A quick count put the loose wave of angry geos at twenty, but Bestial Senses warned him of more drifting away from other fortifications. Ignoring that information, Kirk stepped forward. His skin began to tingle. The first geo galloped down and swung its bulbous leg toward Kirk's head. He sidestepped and cut. By the time the geo hit the ground, it was dead.

But Kirk had no time to celebrate the easy first victory. Ignoring his hollow Runic Battery II, Kirk faced the next duo of geos. They pincered him, one coming from slightly below him on the slope, one even. Kirk took several quick steps up, so he could unleash a massive sweep of the saber, hacking off the first's legs and the second's head. But those upslope steps meant that more geos arrived almost immediately.

He wheeled around, bringing his saber up, and had to just use the flat blade to smash the face of the next attacker. As he adjusted toward the second, Kirk grimaced; in just a few moments, he would be assaulted on four sides by the scrabbling geos. I need to be faster. Sharper. Kirk's Archetype growled. Almost in approval. Kirk chopped. A geo died. Blurs rushed at him on both sides. As he shifted his weight and pulled the weapon back up, he spat out the necessary syllables.

An Ember I, scraped together from the dregs of energy he had recovered, smashed aside the left geo. Which gave Kirk just enough breathing room to slash at the next. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Taking advantage of the momentum of his heavy weapon, Kirk kept spinning, his heels grinding on the slope. He barely managed to face the fourth geo, which he kicked away. Kirk kept moving.

He stepped closer to the geo whose face he had bashed and stabbed down into it, finishing it off. Then he planned on doing something similar to the geo that he had kicked, but after chopping up so many geos, the stones were wet with gore; he slipped. By the time he straightened, he looked around and felt at least nine more geos rushing toward his position, with more behind them- There was was a cracking noise.

The slope in front of him broke in half; bodies were torn like loaves of fresh bread, spraying crumbs everywhere. A bald man strolled forward, nodding to Kirk.

"Admirable, Young Master Albion. But I'll handle the dregs." Kirk recognized him as one of the Tier III individuals participating in the Ritual. Kirk felt tension slowly drain from him as the man threw out punches, breaking stone, shattering ground, leaving geos splattered across the slope. As Kirk turned away to return to the fortifications, he felt the strangest flicker in his heart: disappointment. How far could I have gone? Kirk wondered. How many could I have killed?

Still, Kirk knew how that would have ended; his absolute limit would probably have been his death. His stamina would have given out before the geos ceased charging. Yet the Ancient Bladed Beast released a noise of dissatisfaction.

"Plenty more geos," Kirk reassured himself as he walked back past the other Conduits, who gave him a sharp salute. Gerard and Heron were giving more orders as the energy vortex above them dissipated. He looked down the slope. Divided into seven groups for the seven sites, the geo numbers had proved manageable. Perhaps a score continued to harass each area, with about fifty just lingering on the blessedly empty slope, confused without the energy vortices to draw them.

But the break would only last until the next ritual began. Kirk headed straight for the middle of the ritual site. A Conduit waited, a Tier I preparing to grow to Tier II, but Kirk's eyes were only for Clara.

"Four Refinements," Clara whispered. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes an almost piercing blue.

"An Archetype I've never even heard before: Novice Grove Tender. A new Rune and two Manifestations!"

"Congratulations." Kirk grinned at her. Then, following an instinct, stepped forward and hugged her. Clara laughed and squeezed him. Then she pushed him back, laughing.

"You are covered in geo blood! Don't wipe it on me. Yeah, wow, I'm so- I can't believe- without your help-" Then she seemed to lose the adrenaline.

"But it's strange. The only reason I could do that many Refinements was because I got a very strange Feat, right as the Ascension began: Tragedy's Glee. Do you know why that would have happened? It just sounded so ominous." Kirk frowned.

"I don't know. I also have a strange Feat like that: mine is Finality's Admiration. But if it's not attacking us, it can wait. Now that you have a new Archetype, ready to test it's limits?" Clara winked.

"Obviously. Watch this." As they moved off of the ritual circle, she worked her way through a twenty-two-syllable Rune. Kirk's jaw dropped; only Michaels had a runic phrase that long. He could tell by the flickering light as the Rune condensed that it was imperfect. But honestly, succeeding in one try was impressive. The rune was a shimmering blue-green and broke with a light popping sound. Then strands of that blue-green fell on the surrounding area. Kirk looked down at his hands in wonder.

As a strand hit him, he felt himself recovering stamina. Not too quickly, but enough to maintain a fighting state for longer. In addition- Some of the small aches in his body, from the brief and violent confrontation on the slope, began to fade. It seemed like the Rune could both heal and assist with Stamina.

"Did you just create that Rune?" Suddenly, Gerard was next to the two of them. Clara jumped.

"Uh-? Oh, hello. Yes, I'm Clara-""I know who you are. Come with me. That's a strategic resource." Gerard rumbled. He nodded to Kirk and dragged Clara away. Clara made a helpless face over her shoulder, then mouthed the words thank you. Kirk grinned, looking at the red stains he'd left on her armor. That thanks is for something I actually did. He felt a warm glow. Then he rolled his shoulders, turned down the slope, and moved to join the defensive line.

Behind him, on the ritual site, the next individual began their Ascension. A huge vortex of energy formed, almost twice as large as the ones from the Tier 0 individuals. Simultaneously, Ascensions began on all six other sites. Kirk had to admit the Administrator had chosen the distances well; even with these powerful vortices, there was space to spare between them. In response, a new massive roar once more shook the Rift.

The few lingering geos became rabid, but it was the next wave behind them that made Kirk sweat. A current of energy had been formed. As these energy vortices started on the heels of the other ones, that current strengthened. Conduits Ascended and pulled energy away from the treasure forming below. The mist began to boil as geos charged up for their next assault.