FMH ~ 34!

Taylor had been trapped in the same spot for the last few hours as the Fissure crawled along and snuffled. It was clearly searching for her, as it kept returning to the spot where she had entered stealth. It looked like an abstract cross between a giant lizard and a mole, and she wanted nothing to do with it. The words that made up its body were sharp and full of scribbles, like a twelve-year-old’s drawing of something ‘scary’. Every once in a while it would screech and charge in a random direction; clearly attempting to make her break stealth and run away.

“Why is it after me?” There was no reason that a spell at this level should be continually hunting for her. If she had come into its territory, it should have looked for her but eventually determined that she left. Hunting her like this… that was something that only blood, tracking, or curse spells usually did.

The Fissure chuffed, a sound she hadn’t heard before. Then it grunted a few times, and Stone Spikers started pouring out of the tunnel that it had made. Realization hit Taylor hard enough to make her wince. The Fissure must be an evolved form of the spikers, and she had unravelled as many as she could before making her escape. She realized her mistake clearly right now. “I should have unravelled all of them so that there were no witnesses.”

If she had run and not unravelled the spikers just because she was frustrated, they would have stayed in their area and left her alone when she got far enough away. However, the instant that she turned one of them into a goopy mess of ink and stone, she should have made sure they couldn’t seek revenge. How many times had Don told her to do exactly that? He was righ- 

“No.” Taylor stopped that traitorous thought before she could finish it and narrowed her eyes. She had chosen her own path, and she was determined to walk it.

There was a reason that she had chosen to do the things she had done. She had abilities that were apparently incredibly rare. She wasn’t just a Mage, she was a Namer. So why would she take the same path as the regular Mages? Taylor stood up, and walked away from the area. Anyone looking in her direction would only see a vague shimmer in the air, only hear the paper streamers that replaced grass rustling in the wind. Scent? Removed at all times by Purify. Taylor believed that only by touching her would anything be able to find her location.

However. The Fissure stiffened as she carefully walked away. Its sensitive hairs trembled in time with her footfalls as Taylor stepped on the bare earth and sent the most minute of tremors through the ground. It screeched and charged after her, this time not bluffing. Taylor realized that she was caught, so she sprinted away. The ground around her started to break, walls of rock shot out of the ground, and yawning chasms opened up in an attempt to ensnare her.

“Focus harder!” Taylor hissed at herself. “If I want to survive, I need to be perfect! Not just here, but in everything I do!”

Her footfalls lightened, and she ran faster. Taylor was working so hard to control her body perfectly that she missed the moment when her Physical Reaction characteristic went up by point-two. 

Physical Reaction has reached 21!

All Taylor really knew was that she was faster and more able to avoid the stone shards that were peeling off the walls and flying at her. She started to pull away, and in ten minutes could hear the Fissure bellow in fury at having lost her. There was no slowing down. All she wanted to do was put as much distance between them as possible, and maybe start looking for a defensive spell that could be used more than basically once per day.

“Where do I even start?” At that moment, the sigil on her forehead flashed and released a loud:

*Chime*.

There was clearly one thing that she could do, and that was to retaliate against the Fissure. It was still hunting her, she knew that much. Perhaps it was time to let it ‘find’ her? Taylor needed to make sure that it was never a threat again. “No. Wait. I just got away… why am I thinking like this?”

However much she tried to avoid the thought, the knowledge that the spell would be after her spurred her into doing something that she really hoped she wouldn’t regret. Taylor looked for a book stack and tossed a fireball onto it. There was a huge *Fwump* as the air ignited, and Taylor felt the ground shake from the aftershock. 

Beyond that, the books on the shelf flew into the air with a mad flapping of pages, creating a plume of smoke and flying books that could be seen for miles around. If this didn’t draw in the spell that was after her, she’d take a bite out of her Grimoire. The next step of her plan was to get into position, and prepare her ambush.

This part was deceptively simple. All she needed to do was wait, and not get caught. Then, kill the Fissure and everything it brought with it. Not even realizing that she was doing it, she whispered the words that Don had told her every day since they had arrive in The Library. “Everything here is a step on the path to power. If it doesn't join you, take its Potentia.”

Her body started trembling, not in fear, not from any realization of moral failing, but because the Fissure was moving so fast under the ground that the whole earth felt like it was falling down. She started preparing an attack, holding the spell and wrapping mana around it until it seemed almost cocooned. “Here we go.”

The beastly Fissure exploded out of the ground in a shower of stone and dirt, screeching as it saw that the commotion was a basic fire. Taylor finished her spellcasting, and Shatter Shot zipped away from her hand trailing dense mana like a spiderweb. The icy spell penetrated the Fissure, and Taylor started dumping power into the connection, screaming as weakness started overtaking her. “Let me read you!”

A screech was her only answer, and the Fissure started to turn. To her benefit, the spell was fast only in straight lines, giving her a few extra seconds to make her attempt at Naming the creature. “Come on. Come on!”

The childish scribbles that made up a large portion of the spell started to twist. It stomped the ground in a fury, and Taylor was forced to five to the side as a field of stone spikes shot up from the ground in an attempt to impale her. She maintained the mana connection, even though it was empowering the spell. Taylor returned her full attention to the Fissure as it charged at her… just as the scribbles formed into words.

“Crus clypeos et hastas saxa!” Taylor’s eyes slammed shut as the creature rammed her.

Health: 32/81.

“I’m gonna die!” Was the only thing she could think as she hit the ground and blood welled up through her teeth.

She went flying, but the follow up attack she was expecting didn’t land on here. She watched as the fissure unfolded, the ink it was made of splattering all over papers that seemed to come out of nowhere. The papers reached her Grimiore and were absorbed by the suddenly cheerful-and-active book.

Spell Named: Fissure. (T5): 0/100 to level 1! Mana cost: 30/second. 

Effect 1: Perfect stability. No matter how much the ground shakes, your balance is perfect. 

Bonus, at range: so long as you are walking on dirt or stone, you will be able to walk normally no matter the condition, movement, or angle.

Effect 2: Send a spike of stone at a target, dealing 10n damage, where n = spell level. This is maximized at the start of the next tier.

Bonus, Multitarget: create a field of stone spikes that can be left on the ground as a hazard, or fired as projectiles. These deal 10n damage each, where n = spell level. This is maximized at the start of the next tier. 5 Second cooldown.

Effect 3: Earth shaping. Take direct control of the ground within ten feet of yourself. You can use mana to shake the ground, raise or lower slabs of dirt and stone, or create stone spikes. Damage is limited to prior tier maximums. No cooldown.

Spell prerequisites: Body: 20. Mind: 30. Presence: 51. (Overridden, Named.)

“Alright, this ‘being a Namer’ thing is pretty awesome. Fine... I will admit that not everything Master Don told me is absolute garbage. I will take the advice that works for me, and use it as I need to use it. I will be the best, I will be powerful, I will be perfect.” Taylor sat up and looked at the Stone Spikers that were starting to emerge from the hole in the ground that the Fissure had left behind. Her eyes flashed dangerously, and a Flame Lance appeared in her hand.

“As for not finishing them all off the first time around…” The fire left her hand at high speed, slamming into the first rank of stone spikers and detonating. Another spell was already prepared and in the air before the first shrieks of pain were able to reach her. 

“I will never make the same mistake twice.”