The laughter of the demon ended, and he sneered, "You cannot command me, Broken Celestial. I am not lightning or made of materials of your Plane, your will is a candle, and I am a star."
With a growl, he threw me, no magic, just pure physical strength, but it was as if the heavens themselves had slammed into me.
The vertebrae in my neck were creaking as I flew backward, tumbling across the crater, and came to rest against the broken body of a Khaazim. My head was pounding, my depth was empty, and all of my channels were dark. I had spent everything I had, and there was no more lightning left inside me.
Vrakth walked toward me. His chest was a ruin of blackened flesh and weeping dark fluid. I could even see a part of his massive heart beating, but this injury was not slowing him down.
"You have wounded me," he said. "No mortal has wounded me in seventy-five thousand years. I will remember you, Elric Voss. I will carry your face into the next age."
He raised his hand, and dark flames gathered into a spear, and he aimed it at my heart.
I could not move, and I thought to switch to the Avatar, but that would barely buy me a second of time. I had nothing left, but I had the loop.
"I’ll be back," I said.
Vrakth’s eyes narrowed. "What?"
"I’ve killed your Coven hundreds of times. I’ll kill you too. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But I’ll kill you, Vrakth."
The demon’s lips curled. "Empty threats."
"Watch."
He snnered and threw the spear, the dark flame pierced my chest, and began to unmake me. My heart, the core of Cor Telluris, stuttered, and all my channels collapsed as my Anima Depth imploded.
I died.
∞
The darkness came, and I felt the engine turn, and my broken soul was drawn into the depths, beginning to reassemble.
"I’ll be back."
∞
I woke to Mel’s voice.
"Up, up, lazy cur. Elric, I say, wake up!"
The silver orb floated beside my pillow, the canvas was grey, and the sound of the morning camp entered my ears as I lay still and let the notifications come.
After a death this hard, they never arrive at once; they line up and report one at a time, and I had never gotten used to it, even after seeing it many times.
[ Anima Depth: 76 → 78 (Adept) — Broken-Celestial ]
[ Endurance 91 → 93 (Arcanist) — Broken-Celestial ]
Two points each, that was all. The easy growth that I gained at the beginning of my journey had begun to change.
The higher a thing climbed, the harder the climb became, each step approaching a transformation rather than an accumulation.
I had emptied my Depth to nothing twice over, dumped a full-power Tribulation bolt that matched a Vrakth’s shield, sustained the Loom-net and Soul-Forge against a soul as dense as metal, and detonated my whole body into raw lightning, and I had gained two points for this effort.
No wonder Adepts had lifespans of two centuries, and Arcanists were a thousand years. They would need all of this time to make progress in their magic; however, every point I earned led to a massive leap in power, unlike when I was an Acolyte.
[ Mortal Shell 89 → 91 — Broken-Celestial ]
[ Hollow Avatar 56 → 58 — Broken-Celestial ]
[ Lightning Incarnate 51 → 54 — Broken-Celestial ]
[ Soul-Forge 38 → 42 — Broken-Celestial ]
The Celestial-tier line moved the way the high ranks move, slowly. Soul-Forge climbed the most, four points, because melting through a soul with the solidity of metal was nothing like dispersing the clouds of the lesser ones; it had been made to work harder than it ever had, and it had grown to match.
Mortal Shell and the Hollow Avatar gave two each. Lightning Incarnate three, for the flight, the flank-blink, the one second I had held it past its half. However, Mortal Shell had just crossed into the Arcanist Tier, and that meant I had two skills now at this Tier, and it did not surprise me that both of these skills were meant for me to survive.
After all the beating that I had endured in this loop, I would be amazed if Endurance and Mortal Shell were not my greatest attributes.
Then the disciplines, and these I watched closely, because the disciplines were the spine of what I was, as they gave me the ability to crush those who hurt me.
[ Lightning Tribunal — Legendary 55 → 60 ]
[ The Loom of Lightning — Epic 64 → 68 ]
[ Lightning Edict — Legendary 58 → 62 ]
Legendary and Epic, and still they answered to the same ladder every mage climbs, a number, and a rank. The Tribunal gained the most, five points.
[ Demonology 62 → 65 (Adept) — Rare — Registered ]
[ Lightning Resonance 81 → 84 (Adept) ]
[ Concentration 72 → 75 (Adept) ]
[ Observation 70 → 73 (Adept) ]
[ Anima Sensitivity 66 → 70 (Adept) ]
[ Force Resonance 31 → 35 (Acolyte) ]
[ Marksman 61 → 63 (Adept) ]
The smaller skills came in their column after — the ones still low enough to move easily took four or five, the ones near the top of Adept only two or three. Force Resonance, the lowest of them, climbed the fastest. That was the shape of growth: cheap at the bottom, dear at the top.
Then the screen settled into its full shape, and I read it the way I always do.
[ Name: Elric Voss ]
[ Age: 16 ]
[ Title: Demon Slayer (Epic) — Ascendant Earth Gate (Third Gate Open) ]
[ Available Titles: Death-Touched, Lightning Adept, Storm Bearer (Legendary)]
[ Anima Depth: 78 (Adept) — Broken-Celestial ]
[ Disciplines: ]
Lightning Edict — Legendary 62 (Adept)— Broken-Celestial
The Loom of Lightning — Epic 68 (Adept)— Broken-Celestial
Lightning Tribunal — Legendary 60 (Adept)— Broken-Celestial
[ Attunement Skills: ]
Lightning Resonance 84 (Adept) — Rare
Staff Resonance 64 (Adept) — Rare
Force Resonance 35 (Acolyte) — Rare
[ Auxiliary Skills: ]
Endurance 93 (Arcanist) — Broken-Celestial
Concentration 75 (Adept) — Uncommon
Observation 73 (Adept) — Uncommon
Anima Sensitivity 70 (Adept) — Uncommon
Meditation 64 (Adept) — Uncommon
Marksman 63 (Adept) — Rare
Demonology 65 (Adept) — Rare — Registered
Inscription 21 (Initiate)
First Aid 18 (Initiate)
Cooking 16 (Initiate)
Cartography 6 (Initiate)
[ Celestial-tier skills: ]
Mortal Shell 91 (Arcanist) — Broken-Celestial
Hollow Avatar 58 (Acolyte) — Broken-Celestial
Lightning Incarnate 54 (Acolyte)— Broken-Celestial
Soul-Forge 42 (Acolyte)— Broken-Celestial
[ Cor Telluris — Channels: 2,500 / 10,008 ]
[ Laws: Lightning Law Shard (1/9) ]
[ Stored Essence: 31,000 / 100,000 — Fourth Earth Gate ]
[ Blessings: Anansi Web (Consumed) ]
[ Soul: Welded — Condition: Stable]