CC 10: Thesaurize ~ Eight!

“Havoc, you madman! Novice spells don't work on Jotunheim!” Joe shouted just before he hit the ground. A small shockwave gave him some room as his ‘Superhero Landing’ title came into effect, the remaining damage being mitigated by his Omnivault skill. Realizing that not all of his skills were locked, only his spells, the Ritualist immediately launched himself toward the wall to get back up top.

As he pushed off, Havoc appeared above him, grabbing Joe's entire face with one hand and bodily hurling him at the ground. A passing Hoardling was kind enough to block him from impacting the packed ice of the ground, and Joe crunched through its icy outer shell with his breath getting knocked out of him. “No cheating!”

The Dwarf was gone, and the only thing keeping Joe alive for the moment was the fact that the enemy he’d landed on was as stunned as he was. Shoving himself forward, Joe used the monster as a kick pad, throwing himself out and away. “Someday I'm going to figure out how to hurt you, Havoc! Infernal Conflagration!”

His hands were outstretched in the somatic component required for the use of the spell. Mana gathered in front of him, but he was unable to force the spell itself to manifest. The sphere that was forming had a small hole torn in it, and power rushed out in a raspberry of sound. Joe would’ve found it funny, even going so far as to try to replicate it, if he didn’t have to roll backward to avoid the ice-coated fangs of the Hoardling trying to chow down on his proffered arms.

Joe's heart raced as he immediately got to his feet and began sprinting down the twisting killing corridors of the labyrinth. Behind him, the closest monster howled in fury at its free meal getting away. A strange feeling came over the human at that moment, as he tried to catch the line of Penguins in front of him: it was a bizarre knowledge that as soon as he got in front of one of the other contestants in this marathon, he would immediately need to evade the attack that was sure to come at his heels. “Omnivault!”

Gaining some distance from the Hoardling allowed Joe to turn part of his attention on to his new spell. His lungs burned from the cold, sweat beaded on his brow only to be frozen or whisked away by his passive auras, and he pushed his body to its absolute limits in sprinting and leaping over monsters when they came too close. He couldn't afford to slow down, though he knew if he managed to make it to the Town without properly using the spell at least once, his mentor would simply chuck him back into the thick of it.

As he moved, focusing his mind on the spell, Joe tried everything he could to bridge the gap between his current knowledge and the intricate web of energy required for casting Infernal Conflagration. “Follow that mana channel, it should be bridging across this area… Infernal Conflagration!”

His tiny amount of study wasn’t enough, and the spell backfired in his hands; the damage getting caught by his Exquisite Shell.

Exquisite Shell: 11,487/11,907 (210x2 damage. Infernal damage is twice as effective against magical shields!)

“Because of course it is, why wouldn't it be?” Joe grumpily spat as he dodged a clacking Penguin beak. Again he tried to grasp the intricate, delicate design that needed to be passed through his body before being manifested in reality. Each time his foot slammed into the ground and sent him careening forward, he took the moment of being airborne to concentrate on unraveling the mysteries of this new power, searching for what he was missing about it that was keeping it in the Novice ranks.

The creatures pursuing him, as well as those he was chasing, began closing in, their snarls and various screeches echoing wildly along the hard surfaces surrounding them. He took a moment to try and estimate how far he’d run, quickly realizing he was only half—the Ritualist dodged sharply as a strike of black lightning slammed into the monster in front of him and sent it spinning across the ice. “Abyss! Now I have to avoid my own defenses?”

Joe's eyes narrowed as he suddenly recognized where he was. This was the exact space where the Grandmaster had pointed out the holes in the attack patterns of the towers. The paper appeared in his hand, and he flipped to the right as structured mana slammed into the ground like an artillery shell where he’d been standing. “The good thing is that they aren't directly targeting me. The bad thing is they won't not hit me. I can't believe Havoc read me so well that he gave me instructions on how to get through here while practicing the spell he was going to stuff in my head.”

It was a deeply uncomfortable feeling to know that he was so predictable, but he got over it quickly with everything else going on. His Intelligence allowed him to remember the ways he needed to move, and so he barely had to think about it as he twisted and turned among the monsters and bombardment of magic. “Infernal Conflagration!”

Sparks flew out from his outstretched hands, not a complete spell, but not a backlash either.

Skill increase: Infernal Conflagration (Novice IX).

“I skipped Novice eight? Yes! Hooray for setting up shrines before doing this!” With renewed resolve, Joe continued to channel his magic and attempt to force the spell’s progression. Each time he had to throw himself into the air, he attempted to create an unholy flame; limited only by the cooldown of the spell. Thanks to reaching Novice nine, he was able to attempt a casting of the potent magic once every five and a half seconds.

With an abundance of mana, and almost nothing to spend it on, he was able to put all of his intense focus into casting. A stray thought crossed his mind, and Joe shook his bald head with a shiver. “I'm so glad whatever Havoc did to me didn't cancel my active spells. I probably would’ve frozen to death already without the elemental resistance my Exquisite Shell gives me!”

As quickly as he was moving, even while dodging monsters and practicing a spell he couldn't use, Novusheim was quickly approaching. The Ritualist was intimately familiar with the interior of the labyrinth, having built a good chunk of it with his own rituals. Hours and hours had been spent carefully and meticulously placing the walls, so even though there was a fresh coat of blood and several layers of snow, Joe knew he’d be seeing the Town in under three minutes at his current speed.

He forced the desperation away, knowing that casting while in an improper frame of mind was going to cause a misfire of the spell. As truly neutral as he could cast—logically, coldly—he devoted every ounce of his being to the spell, leaping into the air as high as he could to have a moment of safety to focus. His mana surged through his channels, and he felt a breakthrough as the spell boiled through the barrier from Novice nine to Beginner zero.

A triumphant cry escaped his lips as he completed a flip, his feet perfectly perpendicular to the ground as he aimed the ramping-up spell at the stampeding creatures following him through the maze. Dark energy crackled around his outstretched hands, black wisps of flame leaping out of his palms and gathering into a swirling orb of static-y black and white energy.

“Infernal Conflagration!” He unleashed the wicked incantation, and the now-empowered spell shot forth with a faint hint of malevolent glee washing back and causing Joe a bit of concern. As the power roiled through the air at his target, it screamed like a mortar shell before erupting into a maelstrom of searing flame.

With a current range of eleven meters, the infernal fire caught several of the monsters in its initial detonation, but to Joe's great concern it hung in the air for several seconds, causing any of the following creatures to light up as they passed through, forced forward by their compulsion to destroy the Town Hall. Any affected monster screamed, and Joe's stomach churned as an additional high-pitched whistle sounded. It took him a long moment to realize that sound was steam escaping through small tears in their skin as their flesh cooked under their hide.

“I can see why this would cause issues if a paladin or the like saw me use it.” He whispered as he landed on the ground once more. He pushed that thought out of his head, grimly focusing on continuing his sprint towards safety. With the immediate threat on his heels diminished, but certainly not vanquished, Joe wasted no time in Omnivaulting along as fast as he could.

On his third leap forward, a Leopard caught him in mid-air, both of their trajectories impacted as they flew into the wall. A characteristic snarling erupted from the Leopard as it tried to maul the bald human with tooth and claw, getting in a good half-dozen attacks before they slid to the ground. The human felt his Exquisite Shell shatter, and the cat’s natural weapons open deep wounds in his abdomen.

Already knowing better than to Infernal Conflagration at close range, Joe reared back and slapped down at the beast, hitting its nose as directly and forcefully as possible.

Very few creatures were immune to pain, even if it was unlikely he’d done much damage. The cat flinched back for an instant, and that was all Joe needed to throw himself into the air once more. He took a deep breath, slightly sickened by the spell but knowing it was his only good option for combat at the moment. “Infernal Conflagration!”

Once more, there was an approximate charge time of one and a half seconds before the malicious energy had coalesced enough to form the spell. Then it rocketed down, hitting the Leaping Leopard dead on, and engulfing three passing Penguins at the same moment.

Exquisite Shell: 0/11,907

Damage taken: 2,390 (Heavily bleeding, internal organs damaged! -30 health per second!)

Damage dealt: 300 Infernal Damage (six enemies burning at 50 infernal damage per second! Caution! Infernal damage debuffs continue until mitigated!)

Skill increase: Infernal Conflagration (Beginner IV)

Joe landed on unsteady feet, right at the entrance to Novusheim. He took one stumbling step in, toward the safety of the Town, just as the last of his health ticked away. Just before being sent to respawn, he hissed out a few final words. “Abyssal… Havoc! Where's my Neutrality Aura? I haven't died to damage over time… in ages.”

You have died! Calculating… Experience lost: 28,080.

You have lost a level! Current level: 26.