PSTH: Chapter Twenty

Ice, ice, children! A popular song from before magic came back, as well as the topic of our particular conversation today. Some essence types lean more heavily toward a pneuma focused build, like combat, while others lean more heavily toward anima and spellcasting as a whole. Ice definitely falls into that latter category. Its physical powers aren’t anything to write home about, though it can work as a secondary element, but it’s got a huge number of spells. They range from battlefield control, to elemental beams and spikes, to debuffing, and beyond. Frankly though, the best spell of all of them is simple: chill. It can be found in most of our homes for a reason, after all!

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Intro to the seventh in a video essay series about essence types and their unique factors, 454 Modern-Era

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Gawain and I stepped through the doorway and were led through a long, winding staircase, until we finally emerged at the top of the building. The flat rooftop had a garden around its edges, but most of the space had been cleared out to create two distinct paths leading across it, to where I assumed that I took a second to cast my gaze around the city, looking at everyone moving around from wooden bridge to wooden bridge, through the streets, and biking around. 

My thoughts were interrupted as a faint buzzing nose emerged from Gawain. I glanced to see an orb about the size of a golfball hovering over his shoulder. The camera drone was emitting the soft buzzing as it powered its flight cores and trained on Gawain. I sighed and pulled out my own augpad, then started setting it up. The path was designed to be a fairly straight line of sight, but I’d have to reposition my target a few times. Gawain gave me an odd look as I fiddled with it. 

“Do you not want to go professional?” 

I thought for a moment that he was taunting me, rubbing in the lack of money like some wannabe Obsidian King that thought they’d worked for their power and privilege, but actually listening to him, he seemed genuinely confused.

“Of course I do, but I don’t have the money for a fancy little camera drone or implants or anything like that. The recording software they have here and my augpad’s camera is fine, though. I’ll just have to stitch them toge–” 

I let out an indignant sound – one that definitely didn’t sound like a squeak, no matter what the recording made it sound like – as Gawain stepped right up to me, basically pressing my body against the large metal bin that was currently growing parsnips. I only had a moment to register that he smelled like oakmoss and rosemary before he stepped away, and I realized he’d stolen my augpad.

“Hey!” I said, and he just shushed me, which set me to fuming. I reached for the augpad, but he lifted it out of my reach, using his too-long legs and arms to evade my grasp. I was debating yanking on his hair when he handed it back to me. 

“There,” he said.

“There what?” I snapped. 

“I linked your augpad to the drone so you’ll be able to download the recording of our trial and fights, then stitch that together,” Gawain said with the kind of forced patience of talking to someone who was deliberately being thick. I stared at him, processing what he had said, before I let out a huff and stowed my augpad away. 

“You could have said that, instead of pushing me against the parsnips,” I admonished, shoving my hands in my hoodie pockets. “But… thanks.” 

Gawain flashed me a grin, revealing teeth that weren’t quite normal looking, though I wasn’t sure why. He sent the drone spiralling up into the air above us to get a bird’s eye view, then stepped onto the right-hand path. As soon as he did, I felt a group of powerful people stop restricting their essence. One of them was a tamer, but there were also four magians of assorted elements and elemental combinations. 

Blue light started to spark in front of Gawain’s form, and then a massive torrent of water formed in front of him, followed by a second, and a third, fourth, fifth, and so on, until there were twenty pillars of water crashing down in a spiral pattern. In the center of the pillars, I spotted a glowing piece of oddly rounded metal floating within the center of the dancing pillars, which I assumed would be what got the water magian to stop casting their spell. 

It also explained why Gawain had tried to strongarm me into having Scales help him with the first challenge on his side. There was a certain mathematical pattern and precision to the movement, and I was certain that with time someone could figure out a way to weave through without getting knocked to the ground. Buttt… having a water Primal did make this a lot easier. 

For a moment, I contemplated being petty, as revenge for him just shoving me against the metal bin and his generally haughty attitude, but I sighed and nodded at the pillars, then pointed to the weirdly curved bit of metal.

“Scales, fetch!” 

My oldest companion bounded forward, diving into the thundering waterfall. He waggled and writhed contentedly, enjoying the pressure, which probably felt like a shower that could actually get under his crystalline scales. I couldn’t help but smile and watch as he played under the streams, before finally leaping up and grabbing the metal. As soon as he started trotting back to me, the flows of water faded away into nothing, not even leaving the roof wet. 

I took the metal chunk and tossed it to Gawain while scratching Scales’ belly and praising him. Gawain caught it and then looked down on me as I scratched Scales, an inscrutable look on his face. He waited for a few moments, then took off deeper into his path. I sighed and stood up, then headed down my side. As soon as I passed within, the plants on either side of the path began to squirm and writhe, forming a wall of tree roots in front of me. 

I grinned. This was easy! The roots had left deliberate gaps that would let me climb over and around them. I grabbed hold of the roots and started to scramble upward, only for the roots to start to shift and buck, twisting in an attempt to throw me off. They succeeded once, but I leapt back up and managed to scramble up to the top, where I spotted it: another oddly rounded bit of metal, though this one looked to have a small, jutting off straight bit that almost immediately ended. I reached to snag it, only to be thrown off again an instant before I grabbed it. I scooped Hex onto my shoulder, leapt back up, and this time I managed to scale upwards even faster, then nod to Hex, who jumped into the air and grabbed the metal piece. I snagged it from her mouth, and the plants underneath me slowly faded away into nothingness, gently depositing me on the ground. 

I dusted the dirt off my pants from the times I’d fallen, then quickly started making my way down the path. This time, there were sparks of red light, before a massive wall of fire erupted before me. It was hot, but less hot than real fire should have been. I suspected the magian powering this was deliberately toning it down so that if I did something stupid like jump in, I’d hurt, but probably wouldn’t be truly injured. 

As I examined the wall of fire, light began to spark and shift, then a familiar looking spreadsheet appeared in the air before me. A blank version of the element alignment chart and the interactions between them. Well, I supposed there was nothing for it. 

I reached out and began tapping on the chart, starting with null element and making my way down to mark how each other element interacted with it, before moving onto fire, water, earth, so on and so forth. Though it felt more like a school quiz, rather than a proper test for taming, I did manage to fill it out accurately. As soon as I’d finished, the wall of fire began to compress and condense into a small, straight looking piece of metal that had small holes on its circular portion. 

The bottom half of the cylinder was the same size as the flat part of the bent piece, so I tried to click it into place, but nothing happened. I shrugged and tucked away the pieces in my pocket before pressing forward again. This time, I emerged in a clearing where the two paths met, and saw an impatient looking Gawain tapping his foot. 

“Took you long enough.”

“Unlike you, I didn’t have the first challenge cleared for me,” I sniped back, but before either of us could argue more, there was a booming noise as someone floated down from the sky.

“Welcome, rebellious fools, to the domain of Makus Bufferton!” he boomed, wings made of wind swirling around him. The name rang a bell in my head – some really bad Obsidian King that had lived far to the west, in Skytouched Fields, I thought? It was two full countries and an entire mountain range away, so I hadn’t really paid that much attention. I really hoped that I wasn’t going to be quizzed on trivia on this Markus guy, because if I was, I’d be failing this challenge. 

“If you wish to die like the rest of those who think to stand in my way, then die!” the magian boomed again, and the shape of the challenge became clear. He was level forty or so, which meant that the four Primals working together should be able to beat him, but if we couldn’t coordinate, we’d lose to the stronger opponent. 

I dropped my center of gravity and began to channel power into Hex and Scales, both of whom burst into their battle forms. Next to me, Gawain did the same, Gryphon and Gabis both forming their own pneuma shells. Hex’s power rushed out, shutting down the gifts of everyone on the battlefield, and for a moment, I saw a look of annoyance cross Gawain’s face. I wasn’t sure what to make of it before the battle began.

The magian pretending to be Markus rushed down, thrusting his hand out and forming four windblades, which shot at our Primals as one. I thrust my hand out and empowered Scales to cast Anima Bubble, forming the thin shell of magic to weaken the incoming blades, even as I instructed Hex to leap to the side and unleash a Weakening Smog over the guy. Next to me, Gryphon was firing off small balls of fire, each one the size of a cherry, while Gabis seemed to be forming a defensive spell as well. 

I had to admit it was a little bit funny to see such a similar approach from Gawain as to what I’d taken, and I decided it was best to lean into it. I glanced at him, even as Hex leapt out of the way and Scales tried to dodge while forming a second layer to his Anima Bubble. 

“Hold off on attacking for a moment, don’t waste the anima!” 

“Why?” 

“Just do it,” I snapped, then poured anima into Hex. Shadows exploded out from her, then boiled forward, moving right at Markus’ head. The wind magian was fast, flicking up into the air to avoid it, and if I hadn’t spent buckets of anima on training the Shadow Cloud spell with Hex, that would have been it. As was, Hex and I worked together and managed to shift the cloud of darkness up, where it enveloped him.

I didn’t need to give a signal. Gawain thrust his hand out, and spinning sparks of lightning formed around Gryphon’s antennae, then a lightning bolt ripped from between them, slamming into the cloud of darkness. It was a good call – Gryphon’s gift might be shut off by Hex’s presence, but the lightning attack would still hurt Markus more, even if it cost more anima to fire it. 

Our moment didn’t last long, however, as Markus managed to cast something that exploded him out of the cloud of shadow and toward us. There were a few thin cracks in his pneuma shell, but he landed and swept an arm out, sending a massive crescent of wind that knocked us off our feet. 

But he had landed right in front of us. Scales and Gabis had been sitting on the ground, limited in ability to fight against a flying opponent, but even as I hit a tree and Gawain tumbled into what looked like a blackberry bramble, a loud chomping and ripping sound resounded as a Frosted Bite and Ice Claw connected to the pneuma shell around Markus. An instant later, a bolt of lightning hammered into him, and his shell began to glow. 

I leapt to my feet and grabbed Gawain’s arm, yanking him up as well. He looked dazed, though more like he was shocked he’d been attacked than like he’d had a concussion, and there were brambles all in his hair. 

While I had, Markus had spun and unleashed windblades point blank at Scales and Gabis, who were moving and dodging the best they could, but both relying on their built up Anima Bubbles to absorb the power of the spells. Gryphon was firing off bolts of lightning again, but Markus was dodging too quickly, the wind helping him move. 

Hex launched herself across the battlefield and sunk her claws into Markus’ form, even as Gabis and Scales moved in for more ice attacks. There was an explosion of ice and shadow, then silence.