Anything ~ 12!

“Spells relating to elemental forces are always incredibly powerful and difficult to subdue.” Taylor looked at the others as they ran. Andre dropped Zed a half-mile from the site the lightning was striking to make sure the physically frail man would have a chance to recover while also gaining valuable information. “They only appear when they are working to either defend their territory or find something they want to absorb. If they’re about to be captured, they’ll often fight to the last drop of mana, so sneak attacking is one of the best ways to make it happen.”

Andre snorted rudely, shocking Taylor right out of information mode. “I can tell you that there’s nothing natural about that lightning, Taylor. It may mimic lightning, but that is merely mana in a structure we are familiar with. Someday, let’s test out natural versus arcane lightning.”

That put a small smile on the Mage’s face. “I think that might be fun. Perhaps we could test it on various materials to see which is more effective! The real question is, who gets first author credit on the research?”

“Whoever deals more destruction, of course.” Andre laughed along with her, and it appeared that Luke had gotten too bored while they went back and forth.

The Murderhobo shot forward, getting far ahead of the others in mere moments. He was sprinting and leaping after the lightning each time it flashed, screaming incoherently as he swung his fists at the afterimages. Each time he missed, it seemed his speed increased. Even so, he just wasn’t fast enough to catch the lightning. “Andre! How do I fight those clouds?”

“Ranged weapons, Luke!” Andre held out his bow to show him what he meant. Luke zipped over and grabbed the bow, twisting and flinging the wood like a boomerang into the sky. The weapon vanished instantly, missing his target completely. They watched for a long silent moment.

Luke turned slightly and glanced at Andre. “Didn’t work.”

“If I could hurt you just a little, that would make me feel a lot better right now.” Andre leaned onto his Livingwood Staff and bonked his own head onto it a few times. “I’m so glad I grew that one to use when my Ability was upgrading, or I’d make you search for this until we found it. Here.”

The Druid grew a new bow and handed it over. “Take this arrow, nock it on that vine, pull back-”

*Crack.*

Luke looked down at the shattered bow in his hands and shook his head. “Doesn’t work for me. No. Don’t make another. Try throwing spears.”

Andre nodded in understanding, changing the seed he was reaching for. He scattered a few on the ground, and they sprang up into small saplings shaped as perfect spears. Luke grabbed one after another, pulling and throwing them all in one motion. They hissed into the sky, the first throw incredibly off-target. One after another, Luke threw; getting more practiced at an incredible rate. Finally, the spears were hissing into the cloud overhead one after another with nearly unerring accuracy.

Taylor tried to talk some sense into these men that were practically giggling as the spears punched holes in the cloud and Luke used that knowledge to draw uncouth shapes. “Physical damage like that can’t do anything to a spellform, Luke. Only mana-constructs really interact with magic at this level and - no!”

The Murderhobo had understood her words and acted on them too fast for her to stop him doing something incredibly reckless. Luke had grabbed a spear, snapped the top off, poked a hole in the stave, then opened and poured liquid mana from a waterskin into the hole. Taylor shouted at him to stop just as he hurled the glorified stick.

*Hiss…* the stick left a trail of blue vapor as it traveled upward and the mana dispersed slightly. The broken spear was hidden as it entered the vaporous spellform far above, and for an instant Taylor thought that the pure mana hadn’t been able to make the journey upward. Then lightning detonated so hard that the shockwave cleared all other clouds in the sky as far as her eyes could see.

“You don’t release pure mana in a world where literally everything is made of mana, Luke.” Taylor weakly exclaimed as she watched power zip around the sky for a few long seconds before returning to swarm together into a mountain of lightning that wriggled together as if they had uncovered a snake’s nest. A long moment later, the arcing bolts snapped into its true form, no longer hidden by a cloud: a cat’s eye made of lightning.

The flickering image couldn’t have been more perfectly designed if a master painter had somehow been able to take his brush to the sky. Worst of all, the eye was staring at them. Luke nodded solemnly. “Got its attention.”

“Right… remember how I just said that natural forces spells only appear when there’s something they want?” Taylor laughed nervously as a static charge began building on her skin. “Pure mana is considered the most nourishing of all things to spellforms. There’s nothing they’d rather have, as it allows them to use themselves constantly without fear of using themselves up.”

Luke dived to the side, and an instant later the space he had stood exploded. Superheated earth geysered into the air, only to be blown away from the point of impact by the concentrated sonic wave that followed the deadly path. Andre looked at the Murderhobo incredulously. “How’d you dodge that?”

“As soon as your arm hair stands fully upright, heavens’ might will alight.” Luke muttered a children’s rhyme they had all learned decades ago. “Don’t know the reason. It’s just true.”

“Oh! In fact, the reason is a static-” Andre looked at his arms in horror and threw himself to the side, yelping as some of the vines holding his clothes together burst into flame from the superheated dirt that was flung into the air.

Taylor looked into the distance as a sudden commotion erupted. Hundreds… thousands of books had just burst from their roosts on the ubiquitous shelves as the flavor of pure mana dispersed into the environment. “So… I’d really like to take a few minutes to talk about the well-known taboos of the World of Names-”

She yelped as Luke tackled her and three bolts struck one after another along the path they rolled. Luke bounded to his feet and lifted her into the air as if he was using her as a shield, shaking her and bellowing, “Tell me how I fight lightning!”

“Ranged weapons!” she yelped, then amended herself, “Enchanted ranged weapons! Structured magic that will damage other structured magic!”

The first of the massive flock of books flew into the area, darkening the sky and filling the world with sounds the largest library in all the worlds would be proud to hear. Unable to find a source of pure mana, the Grimoires began bickering and tearing into each other. Lightning penetrated the unnatural gloom, creating bursts of flame in the sky and scattering embers across the plains below as the stricken volumes were destroyed and fell from the heavens.

“Can you deal with this?” Luke bellowed into her face as Andre began rapid-firing arrows into the sky. Dozens of tomes fell from the sky in the next few seconds; some alight, some with arrows in their spines.

The shout and hard shake pulled Taylor from the stupor he had been trapped in. A plan formed in the next instant, and she nodded at him. “I need liquid mana.”

A waterskin was in her hand by the time she finished the sentence. Luke dropped her and ran into the distance, punching books and causing them to explode into bits of leather and loose-leaf paper with each attack. Taylor looked at the bag in her hand with trepidation: if she accidently got this on her, her fate would be no different than Zed’s almost was. There was no flower growing out of her nose that might let her survive the experience.

Calm logic filled her mind. Fear of possibilities had never held her back. Her mind and body in alignment, Taylor popped the top off the waterskin and flung the precious liquid away from her in a controlled arc. With a smooth motion, she covered the bag and waited for the world to notice her actions.

It only took a moment.

The liquid mana erupted upward as a dense fog of power, and the books caught the flavor in the next zeptosecond. Thousands of books remained in the sky despite the efforts of the team and the spell they were fighting. That many manuscripts could bury them, crush them… and also hide them.

The spell lost sight of its original targets as the swarm blocked its sight, and they moved into an advantageous position. Ready to make her move, Taylor stared into the heart of the spellform far above, watching it as it shifted and changed; as it did its utmost to hide what it truly was. Bolts of power rained down as that glowing eye tried to feast on the miasma the Mage had released and was blocked by both the weakest inhabitants of this world. Books: the natural predator of even the strongest spells. Hundreds of books were obliterated with each strike, but a thousand more took their place.

Even such a powerful spell had limits, and couldn’t sustain itself forever. The lightning flashed out less and less frequently, and the books managed to stack themselves in the air more densely. Every participant of this battle was focused on a different thing, but only Taylor was going to get what she wanted. Her eyes locked on to the root words of the spell, and she lifted her personal Grimoire up with both hands as she shouted its true name.

“Tigris veridian oculus ad meridianam!” With that phrase, she bound the power to her will and yanked it downward. For the first time ever, the spell she was binding fought against her will and tried to destroy her before it was completely bound. She snorted a laugh as Nullify sprang into place around her and simply caused the attacks to erode before they could deal a single point of damage to her.

The massive spell was compressed into a sheet of power, and pulled into her Grimoire. She slapped the covers closed, and hoped against hope that it would survive the flailings of the wild spell she had Named.

Utter silence filled her ears, even though there were a thousand battles happening on all sides. She waited. One second. Ten. Slowly, carefully, she cracked the cover, and read over the new information that had been fully tamed. Tears filled her eyes, and she screamed at the world in utter joy.

Spell Named: Thunder Beast’s Eye. (T7): 0/800 to level 5!

Effect 1: Generate arcing lightning that deals 15n lightning damage on touch, where ‘n’ = spell level. Maximum of 135 damage. The electricity is inherently unstable, and will damage you unless given a target within .5 seconds of casting. Mana cost: 100 mana.

Bonus, at range: Control of this particular lightning spell greatly increased. You are now able to send the unstable energy at a target up to 5+5n meters away, maximum of 50 meters.

Effect 2: Control of this particular lightning spell increased to the utmost. This spell is now completely soundless when cast. Damage increases to 25n lightning damage, maximum 225 damage. Mana cost is decreased by 5n, maximum of 50 mana reduction. Current Mana cost: 50 per use.

Bonus, Multitarget: The collected vibration from the lightning passing through the air is added as sonic damage, which impacts .25 seconds after the bolt lands. This deals 5n sonic damage in addition to all other damage.

Effect 3: This spell can be overfilled with mana, at 50 mana per second to create a ball of lightning. For each 50 mana invested, an additional bolt will be generated. The ball of lightning will hover above the caster and strike any target the caster designates. Lasts a maximum of 5n minutes after casting, or until all attacks have been used.

Bonus, AOE: Each bolt of lightning will reach its maximum range no matter how many targets are in the way, dealing maximum damage to each. This will be blocked by any structure at least three feet thick, or of sufficient density to absorb it.

Effect 4: Your control of this spell has reached the pinnacle, and it obeys your will as a sentient pet would. At the cost of 250 mana, an eye of lightning will form above the caster and search for any targets or threats to the caster. This eye can release up to 5 bolts of lightning per each additional 250-25n mana invested, and lasts until all bolts have been cast.

Taylor looked up at the hurricane of books that were voraciously eating the pure mana in the area and cast a single bolt of lightning into their midst. A flash of light was the only indication that a spell had been cast. At first. Then every book fifty meters in a straight line from her either burst into flame or directly exploded into loose-leaf paper. Even though her heart was soaring, she waited for two seconds to regenerate a small amount of mana, then focused her will and poured a full two hundred mana into the air above her.

The spell formed over two seconds, but she was unable to add additional mana after she had designated a certain amount of it for use. She needed to add a full fifty mana, and apparently it couldn’t be done piecemeal. A ball of brilliantly shining power appeared above her, and in the next instant four bolts of lightning shot off in cardinal directions, obliterating countless tomes.

She fell to her knees as mana exhaustion rocked her. Taylor gasped for breath, hating her impatience… all the way until she saw that she had just earned twenty-eight hundred and four Potentia. Then a smile covered her face. Still, she was entirely helpless right now, entirely reliant on her physical strength to solve any issues that might arise.

A glance at the Tier seven effect caused Taylor to sigh. The initial spell initiation cost wasn’t possible for her right now. Even though she was a mere four mana short from the total, she simply couldn’t form the entire spell structure without paying the entire cost up front. This spell didn’t allow her to channel lesser amounts in to fill in the lines slowly. This was the first time Taylor even slightly regretted focusing on her Senses…

“No, none of that.” she quietly pushed those thoughts aside. “I wouldn’t have even Named the spell unless I had followed this path. I can always get a deeper well of magic from leveling up later.”

“We need to get out of here.” Zed’s voice floated to each of the team’s ears. “Someone out there is guaranteed to realize something huge was going on over here. I’d really not let us get wiped out just because we were at anything less than full strength.”

“I’m so good with that, I can’t even tell you.” Taylor whispered joyfully.

“Oh good. Cause, you know, I like life.” Zed’s words made Taylor remember that he could also hear her at a distance, and she blushed furiously as she turned and ran with the others.