Chương 61: [The Tank and the Shroud]

Luka was quiet throughout the exchange, his eyes fixed on the scorch mark Leo had left on the target. Both Parmo and Leo had succeeded and he refused to be last. He turned back to his own and raised his hand. Standfast hummed into existence, the translucent barrier holding steady in front of his palm. He'd spent the morning testing its limits, finding exactly where it responded and where it resisted. This was his usual routine when trying to get the spell to shift. He'd noticed the improvements.

It was clearly stronger than it had been a week ago. More responsive. He pushed again, feeling the mana drain faster than usual. His mana pool, like the rest of the lads', had grown larger over time, but the spell still took a large chunk out of it. The edges of Standfast flickered, but he held the intent and kept pushing. The barrier curved. It moved slowly at first, the edges bending inward at the top, then it snapped into place.

The translucent force wrapped overhead until it closed above him in a wide dome, faint and shimmering. The morning light caught the curve from every angle. It held for three seconds before he started to feel the drain pushing towards those early signs of nausea, so he stopped. The dome collapsed, the force dissipating into a quiet ripple of air. Luka stood in the empty space where the barrier had been and looked up. The chime sounded.

[Enhanced Standfast] Type: Force Barrier Spell Difficulty: Low Skill Level: Apprentice Range: Self [EXPAND] Effect Summary: – Controlled force barrier projecting from the hand – Low to moderate damage absorption – Low mana cost – Elemental signature: Force System Analysis: – Mana pathway stable and widening – Force attunement confirmed – Current Power Level: Developing – Progression method: Repetition through tab, intent refinement Potential Threads: → [Bastion Dome] — Full surrounding barrier, high mana cost → [Force Shove] — Directional force burst, minor impact damage → [Gravitas] — Force pulse radiating outward, disorienting effect → [Gravity Well] — Pulling field, draws targets within range toward caster [Bastion Dome] Type: Force Barrier Spell Difficulty: Medium Skill Level: Novice Range: Self, 3m radius [EXPAND] Effect Summary: – Complete surrounding barrier enclosing caster and nearby allies – Moderate damage absorption, degrades under sustained impact – High mana cost – Elemental signature: Force System Analysis: – Mana pathway active, early stage – Force attunement confirmed – Current Power Level: Foundational – Progression method: First successful cast, intent driven Potential Threads: → [???] → [???] → [???]"It's a branching one," Luka said, his eyes moving between the two entries on his screen. He looked at Sam.

"Same setup as Leo's." Sam was already drawing. He sketched the two-circle diagram then held it up beside the drawing of Leo's skill tree.

"Bastion Dome is the new unlock," Luka said.

"Full surrounding barrier." He looked at the grass where the dome had been.

"I only held it for a few seconds. The drain was pretty intense."

"It'll get cheaper," Leo said.

"Same as our starter spells did." Luka read out the other three names off Enhanced Standfast. When he got to Gravitas and Gravity Well, the lads shared a look. They'd played enough together to spot crowd control when they saw it.

"Sounds like an AOE taunt and a pull," Parmo said, nodding at the diagram.

"You going to try for those two next?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Definitely," Luka said.

"I have two different shields now. Having two ways to hold aggro is going to be huge." Torren looked at Luka, his brow furrowed.

"I have no idea what Ay-oh-ee is, but you sound happy, so I assume these spells help you protect everyone?"

"Yeah, definitely," Luka said.

"Those two let me keep the enemy focused on me. If they work how I think they do, they won't have time to look anywhere else. Combine that with the maul and the shields, and I should be able to hold them for a while once I get the hang of it."

"That does sound impressive," Torren said. He grinned for a moment.

"I look forward to seeing how well you hold up when we start sparring. But you are choosing a difficult path. To be the one who stands between the danger and the rest of the group requires more than just a strong arm." Luka gave a small, confident nod.

"Yeah, I know. In our world, we call it being the Tank. I'm fine with it. Besides, I wouldn't trust any of these idiots to do it better than me." The group laughed, the sound briefly cutting through the steady thud-crack of training across the grounds. They settled back into a rhythm, the morning sun climbing higher and starting to bake the dust of the training field into a fine haze. Sam had been casting Concealing Veil constantly when not drawing or listening.

The fog sat low around his feet, thicker than it had ever been. He'd spent the session pushing at the edges, feeling the density shift. The movement was responding more to his intent now, rather than just bleeding outward. He pushed the fog in a wide circle as far as it would go. He held the perimeter while focusing on the centre, feeling the mana cost climb as he forced the mist to obey. The pressure of the spell changed.

"Luka, stand still a second," Sam said, his eyes fixed on the mist coiling around his mate's trainers.

"I want to try something." Luka stopped and looked down at the grey wisps.

"What, you going to make me disappear?"

"Something like that. Tell me what happens to the sound." Sam focused. The fog didn't just thicken and move; it followed Sam's intent. He watched the mist wrap around Luka, the grey deepening into a heavy shroud. To Sam, the air remained clear, but Luka's head cocked to the side as if he was straining to hear a distant noise. After a few seconds, Sam nudged the spell again, mentally tagging Luka as an ally. Luka blinked and his shoulders dropped.

"Bloody hell. Everything just went dead for a second. Like I'd put on a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. The sound from the training field just vanished." He looked at the thick wall of fog still surrounding him.

"I can see you properly now, though. Before you did that, it was like I was stuck in one of the fog doors from Elden Ring."

"I can toggle it," Sam said, feeling the connection to the cloud.

"I decide who the fog blinds and deafens. Imagine that with your dome and Parmo firing his ice shotgun thing from inside it."

"Yeah man, holy shit," Luka said.

"That sounds so fucking OP." Sam smirked, then let the connection go. The mist thinned out into nothing. The chime sounded.

[Concealing Veil → Umbral Shroud] Type: Area Concealment Spell Difficulty: Low Skill Level: Apprentice Range: 10m radius Effect Summary: Moderate density mist generation, directional control available Selective visual and sound concealment within affected area Caster gains innate perception of movement within the shroud System Analysis: Mana pathway stable and widening Specialization: Selective Area Control Current Power Level: Developing Progression method: Repetition through use, refined intent Potential Threads: → [Snare] → [Phantasm] → [Zone of Dominion] → [Venomous Snare] Sam read through the entries without speaking, then looked up.

"Four branches," he said.

"Single circle, same as Parmo's upgrade. It's called Umbral Shroud now." He listed them while sketching the diagram. When he got to Zone of Dominion, Rika's wings shifted.

"What does that one do?" she asked.

"Total awareness," Sam said.

"Anything inside the range, I know exactly where it is, what it looks like, even what weapons they're holding. That sort of thing. It seems like an amazing utility spell." He looked down at the last wisps of his fog.

"I felt something similar just now. I can see through the shroud like it isn't there, but I can also tell exactly when something moves in the mist, even if it's behind me." He paused.

"This new spell seems like that, but on a way bigger scale, just without the concealing nature of the fog." Nobody said anything for a moment.

"Yeah, because that's not creepy at all," Parmo said.

"I better not find out you've been using that while I'm in the shower."

"Why the fuck would I want to sneak a peek at your ugly arse?" Sam laughed.

"That's going to have so many uses, though. It's kind of like a UAV in Call of Duty. Like a constant radar or something."

"Forget the radar," Leo said, leaning in to look at the other names on the paper.

"Phantasm sounds even more OP. If that's a confusion spell, it's going to be nasty."

"Yeah, think about it," Luka added, nodding.

"If you trap them in the fog and hit them with a confusion debuff, you could basically keep them wandering in circles forever. As long as you have the mana to keep moving the fog with them, they aren't going anywhere."

"That is evil as fuck," Parmo said, looking at Sam.

"I love it."