Chương 48

Training Montage"You dare to defile my domain?" Voklum, Allaria and Kaelis flinched at the sudden and unexpected voice, spinning to face the new threat with weapons raised. Kaelis lifted his axe. Voklum his warhammer. Allaria her bow. Their eyes widened as they saw the towering creature whose body was formed of interwoven roots and branches. It returned their stare, hatred and madness burning in its emerald eyes.

"This is the fun part," said Rel, his voice taking on the tone of a lecturer.

"In a moment, I'll zap the creature with a little bit of lightning. I won't use enough power to do it any real harm, but it'll enrage it enough to make it summon its army of tree warriors. Those, my disciples, are what you'll be training against." True to his word, lightning began to crackle and arc across Rel's paw. He waved it lazily and a rather unimpressive bolt tore across the clearing and struck the creature in the chest. It staggered back, trails of smoke drifting away from the charred bark.

"You dare str–" the creature began, but its words were cut short as another bolt slammed into its chest.

"Shut up and get on with it, dumbass," said Rel. The creature snarled and raised its wooden hand, an orb of crackling green energy forming on its palm. It expanded rapidly, growing to the size of a man's head. The creature drove it into the ground, and a wave of green energy raced out in all directions. Trees across the clearing didn't just fall – they were torn apart by the power of the spell. Roots ripped free, branches snapped, whole chunks of trunk soared into the air.

They hovered for a heartbeat before racing back down, whipping into a furious orbit around the creature. Green arcane light crackled through the storm of broken wood. Then the remnants began to pull together, twisting and fusing into crude copies of the creature itself.

"Do you understand now?" it snarled.

"Do you see what you've done by showing me such disrespect? But do not fear… your deaths will not be entirely in vain. Once my minions have torn you limb from limb, your broken bodies will fertilise the forest and help repair the damage you've caused." Rel stared at it for a moment, his expression making it clear he was thoroughly unimpressed by the creature's grandstanding.

"Your presence is no longer required." With that, another bolt of lightning tore across the clearing. There was nothing subdued about this one. It crashed into the creature. The creature exploded.

"Now, my disciples," said Rel, turning back to face them.

"Be careful. These tree creatures are dangerous foes – they are quick, strong, and have no regard for pain. The threat they present will only be neutralised when they are utterly destroyed. I'll keep a close eye on the fight and step in if I feel it's necessary to preserve your lives." With that, he rose into the air, arms crossed as he observed the battlefield, his eyes sparking with lightning. The three disciples shared a look. They nodded to each other, then turned to face their opponents.

Kaelis and Voklum roared a battle cry as they charged to meet them. Allaria drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it. A gentle arcane energy – the same startling green as her eyes – gathered around the arrowhead. Kaelis reached the tree creatures moments before Voklum, twisting aside to avoid an arm that ended in a jagged spike. His eyes widened at its speed as the tip scraped his breastplate, carving a jagged trench through the metal. Someone less experienced may have hesitated in that moment.

But Kaelis was a warrior. He used the momentum of his twist to sweep his axe around in a brutal swing, utilising every point of his strength. The blade crashed into the creature's back and bit deep, bark flying through the air as it stumbled forward. Straight into the path of Voklum. His warhammer slammed into its head, reducing it to little more than a shower of splinters. Kaelis whirled to face the next, leaping back as two more rushed him.

His axe lashed out to intercept the first blow, but he felt a flash of panic as he realised he couldn't stop the second. Allaria's arrow struck it in the centre of the face, sending it stumbling. The magical energy that shrouded the tip detonated. The creature's face exploded and its broken body collapsed. As Rel hovered over the battlefield, watching his disciples in action, he had to fight back the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. They would do nicely. Very nicely, indeed.

* Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I was both excited and a little nervous as I trudged through the demonic wasteland of red dirt and rock. I peered through the thick haze, searching for the now very familiar phallic-shaped rock – and, more importantly, the delightful demon lady perched on top of it.

"Would you look at this?" Evalria said, her voice smoother than silk.

"A new plaything for the king to enjoy." I grinned. There she was, as reliable as ever.

"I'm sorry I haven't visited in a while," I said.

"I felt like our sessions weren't really going anywhere and that you'd probably benefit from seeing a new therapist." She stared blankly at me for a few moments – her I'm smiling in a way that suggests I'm going to do awful things to you look temporarily replaced by one of mild confusion. When I visited the same Floors dozens of times during my two-week grind-a-thon, fucking with the residents had been one of my favourite forms of entertainment.

They were always very taken-aback when someone they'd never met before spoke to them like they were old buddies. She was, however, a pro, and quickly regained her composure. Her wings snapped as she glided down to the ground. At around eight feet tall, she still had to look down at me even after landing. She wore a very predatory smile, revealing impressively sharp and jagged teeth. As she stared at me with her glinting black eyes, I felt the familiar tug on my mind.

Back when I only had a few points in intelligence, it'd felt like a near irresistible force. Now, thanks to my training and incredibly stylish sunglasses, I had an intelligence of 15. It made Evalria's attempt at mind control feel more like a strong suggestion.

"This is a rather exciting moment," I said, turning my attention inward to the power that stirred in my chest.

"In the past, the mental invasion has always been a one-way street. This time? I get to play too." The moment I unleashed my Aura, I realised exactly what my Sensei meant when he said my path to mastery was all about control. It turns out that I had absolutely none. I won't go into graphic detail, but let's just say this: Sensei wasn't speaking figuratively when he talked about melting brains. *"Would you look at this?" Evalria said, her voice smoother than silk.

"A new plaything for the king to enjoy." She glided down to stand before me, her ability already probing at my mind. I didn't bother with conversation this time, instead focusing on my Aura. C'mon, Pete. Nice and gently does it. I unleashed it, and I let out a sigh of relief when it didn't come crashing out like water from a collapsing dam.

"Ohh, my," Evalria purred.

"Aren't you a fun one." I looked up to find her staring at me, her gaze still predatory, but in a very different way. Fuck. For the very first time in any of our encounters, the whip appeared. When she licked her lips and cracked the whip against the floor, any semblance of control over my Aura vanished. Her brain melted again. *"Would you look at this?" Evalria said, her voice smoother than silk.

"A new plaything for the king to enjoy." Right, Pete. You've got it this time. Not too much. Not too little. You need to be like the goldilocks of Aura Manipulation – the amount of power unleashed needs to be just right. You don't want to melt her brain, and you don't want to make her think you're flirting. I released my Aura… She collapsed to her knees, clutching at her face as unintelligible whimpers tore free of her throat.

You have progressed to Rank 2 Aura Manipulation Novice Rank 2 You have gained 1 intelligence. Current intelligence: 13 A double whammy? Fuck, yes. As I stood there, watching the effects of my Aura, I wondered if Derek would be able to make me some porridge the next time I visited the Guild Hall. * First wave spawns in: 00: 55: 19 Bathed in the pulsing blue light of the portal, Rel paced back and forth impatiently. It was still unstable, expanding and contracting at random. An hour between each wave?

What a waste of time. If only there were some way to speed up the process… Rel turned to face the portal. At first, he only gazed upon it with his normal sight. Then he truly looked at it. It was a similar effect to that granted by Pete's sunglasses – though that was little more than a cheap gimmick, using different intensities of light to hint at a spell's potency. It did not reveal the true nature of the magic empowering it. When Rel looked upon a spell, he saw so much more.

His awareness expanded and suddenly the magic sustaining the portal was laid bare. The rhythm and flow of the arcane energies told a story, spoken in a language he understood as naturally as a native speaker. He stood there for some time, smiling softly as his gaze traced the patterns holding the portal together. It was powerful, yes. But it was also crude and inefficient. Rel thought back to his and Pete's first visit to Floor Seven.

Tarlin had said the Lord's sorcerer claimed it would require the combined might of all the kingdom's sorcerers to close it. He scoffed. That might be true if they were intending to do it through brute force. Rel, however, saw the truth of it. The magic sustaining the portal was riddled with inefficiencies and points of weakness. He knew that he could close it in mere moments by picking apart the threads through which the magic flowed. He had a far better idea.

He injected a tendril of magic into the spell's formation, temporarily stabilising the portal. Then he darted through it. Rel found himself in a world where the air was thick with foul energies. A rocky, barren landscape stretched around him. It was a land of dips and rises punctuated by twisted rock formations. Veins of sickly light ran through the dark stone like a disease, glowing faintly in shades of blue, purple, and red. It was from these that the twisted arcane energy originated.

Other than the portal itself, they were also the only light source, and without them, the land would have been swallowed by darkness. The sky above held no sun, or moon, or stars. It was like an endless sea of black. Lurking just beyond the edge of the portal's light, stretching far into the distance, was a numberless horde of monsters. There were some that he and Pete had encountered before – crabs, stone giants, kobolds, and spiders – but there were many more besides.

Perhaps different Tower runs resulted in different waves of monsters? He pushed the thought aside. It was an experiment for another time. The entire place fell silent upon Rel's arrival, the monsters clearly surprised by his unexpected appearance. They quickly regained their composure, the air filling with a chaotic mix of noise. Though the sounds differed, the meaning was the same. They all conveyed a cruel and hungry amusement. Rel turned to face the portal and waved a paw dismissively.

It winked out of existence, and the horde fell silent once more. Without the portal's pulsing blue light, the darkness deepened. Then Rel's eyes transformed into roiling blue orbs. Arcs of lightning crawled across his fur as he slowly rose into the air. He turned as he drifted upwards, looking down at the teeming swarm of monsters.

"When I first arrived, you were excited," he said, his voice booming across the land, carried by the power of his spell.

"You were under the misguided impression that I was trapped here with you. The truth is…" The first bolt of lightning crashed into the horde, sending charred and broken bodies hurtling through the air." You are trapped here with me." And then the world was illuminated by a blinding storm of blue.