Chapter 842: Beware of Chicken

The first wave of elemental messengers were wiped out by the powerful but barely controlled lightning storm created by the weather machine. The clouds it had erupted from quickly dispersed, ending the artificial twilight as sunlight shone directly onto the battlefield. Fresh clouds started converging on the tree in a massive spiral but it would take time before the weather machine was ready to act again.

The crystals embedded in the tree proved resilient against attack, but team Moon’s Edge were gold-rankers and it did not last long against their assault. Fresh messengers immediately emerged from the tree, passing through the bark as if it were a sheet of water.

The only member of the team not to deploy was the leader, Miriam, commanding the forces of the alliance. She did not set the rest of the gold-rankers to engage, instead calling for the silver-rankers to move up and for their scavenged assets to engage, testing their effectiveness against the enemy.

Belinda managed the slapped-together contingent from the hover tank. She couldn’t drive it without facing feedback from the higher-ranked item, but she could sit inside and yell at people through voice chat. The hyper-kinetic rounds fired from its magnetic rail cannon were fast enough to hit even gold-rankers.

The other eclectic weapons proved a mixed bag. The miniature drone-spitting volcano on a wagon seemed excellent at first, its hard-light constructs proving highly effective. They were short-lived, however, as was the volcano itself. Its detonation sent the brightheart manning it limping for the healers.

One that seemed innocuous was a thick iron pole, propped up at an angle by a smaller pole. At the end of the main shaft were eight small white balls, slowly orbiting the end of the pole. When activated, it fired eight spheres of electricity that moved slowly but sought out targets, blasting anyone who came near with arcs of lightning. After a few false starts where allies had to be shielded from the spheres, the brightheart using it learned to direct the spheres more or less at the enemy. Most of them ended up orbiting the tree, blasting at any messengers that emerged from it until the ball lightning’s power was spent.

The elemental messengers kept emerging from the trunk of the tree, a full kilometre and a half in circumference. They streamed around it from all sides to attack the adventurers and their allies. While their numbers were vast, they were still weak and fell rapidly to area attacks, especially Gordon’s butterflies. The gold-rank adventurers held back, letting the silvers do the work for now.

Miriam directed their forces to further attack the crystals embedded in the tree trunk. With each shattered crystal, the elemental messengers grew a little stronger. Their auras marked them as gold rank, but their level of power was still in the silver range, at least for the moment. Miriam called off the attacks on the crystals when the elemental messengers showed a strength close to the peak of silver-rank.

“Our silver-rank forces won’t be able to handle much more than this,” she said.

“These elemental messengers can’t fight worth a damn but power is power. The adventurers will still hold, but we need to start pulling back our allies. Adventurers, too, once the enemy starts touching on gold-rank strength.”

Jason had long since joined the fray so he responded through the voice chat’s command channel.

“It’s good training for the adventurers,” he said. “We’ve seen some real cracks in the silver-rank wall in the last few months, but we have other priorities today. Are you worried that something will change when the enemy messengers hit a gold-rank power level?”

“It’s a consideration, but I’m more concerned about transitioning our forces out of the fighting without losing people. The adventurers can handle the current strength and numbers but the silver-rank brighthearts, cultists and our messengers are struggling. We need to pull the non-adventurers back and bring the golds forward before escalating further. I’ll get the gold-rankers organised and move in with my team. You’re out there, so assess the silvers and signal them to start withdrawing, prioritising need and safety.”

“I might have to stop slacking off and do some actual commanding,” Jason said. “I’ll organise — HOLY CRAP!”

“Jason?”

“This messenger just exploded into fire and ash, then the ash reformed back into a messenger. Did you see that?”

“This whole battlefield is magical explosions. Are you alright?”

“No worries; I’m super-good at fighting. That was crazy awesome, though. Is anyone recording this battle? Shade, grab a recording crystal and—”

“I believe you were saying something about being a responsible commander,” she said pointedly, cutting him off.

“Responsible was your word. I never said that and you can’t hold me to it. But yeah, I’ll direct our adventurer forces to cover the withdrawal of the others. You want to crack some more of those crystals once we’re done?”

“Once we’ve settled after the force transition, yes.”

***

Clive’s tortoise familiar had expanded to full size, akin to a large cottage. His shell was being used as a mobile recovery point while Clive stood atop it, acting as the gun to Onslow’s tank. Rather than the usual open sides, Onslow had his shell more secure. The hole where his head would poke out was sealed over with only the holes for his legs serving as entrances.

The spaces were open as Onslow himself was in his adorable, child-sized humanoid form. Inside the shell he was running around, making himself useful to the healers and resting or injured combatants. He delivered medical supplies like alchemically treated bandages and tins or healing unguent. He handed out oversized mana and stamina potions, the larger-than-normal bottles looking enormous in his tiny hands. He even gave out drinks of water and collected empty glasses.

While there were healers out in the field, there were also some inside Onslow’s shell, led by Healer high priestess Hana Shavar. Farrah was taking swigs from a large mana potion as the high priestess reattached Rufus’ arm which was held in place with magic. They all occupied the simple wooden chairs Clive had set up inside the shell, along with a few tables and standing shelves to hold supplies. Simple rituals held the furniture in place against the occasional shake as powerful attacks struck the shell.

“You’re lucky I could even find your arm,” Farrah told Rufus. “It’s getting hectic out there.”

“I appreciate your efforts,” the priestess said. “Having the arm to reaffix is much faster and less mana-intensive than growing a new one.”

“I was, perhaps, a little reckless,” Rufus admitted. “I’m not sure how much longer we can hold against the strength and numbers they have.”

Taika came in through one of the corner doors and crashed into a seat next to Farrah. The fact that it didn’t buckle under his massive frame as he carelessly threw himself onto it proved that the wood was magically reinforced.

“The gold-rankers have started moving in,” he said, panting as he took a mana potion from Onslow and nodded his thanks. He removed the stopper and took a swig.

“These big mana potions are good,” he said, holding up the large bottle. “They top me off pretty well without having to wait between drinks to avoid potion toxicity. That helps when this is my third time coming back to rest.”

“Fourth for Farrah,” Rufus said. “She’s mana-hungry, even for a brawler.”

“Has Humphrey come back in?” Taika asked. “He’s a brawler too.”

“Not once,” Farrah said. “He uses a lot of mana recovery items.”

“It’s more than just items,” Rufus said. “I’m not sure you understand how well-trained Humphrey is. And that’s coming from someone whose family runs a school.”

Farrah and Taika shared a look and Rufus glared at them.

“Don’t even think about pulling out drinks in the middle of a battle,” he said, pointing at them with the arm not held in place by Hana’s magic. “My point is, it’s easy to look at Humphrey swinging that big sword and think he falls short of Sophie in terms of skill. He doesn’t.”

He grunted and looked at the priestess.

“Stop shifting around,” she told him.

“Sorry,” he said, then turned back to the others.

“Using Humphrey’s huge sword on a silver-rank battlefield is harder than you think. A lot of enemies are blindingly fast, but that’s not his real skill. His real skill is judgement. You don’t notice it unless you know to look, but Humphrey’s management of his mana and cooldowns is perfect. Scarily perfect. That matters when you’re a brawler, as you both demonstrate every time you go out there. Or come back here for a rest.”

“Actually,” Taika said, “What’s going on with cooldowns? It’s not a video game, bro, even if Jason can pull up your character sheet.”

“It’s about meridians,” Farrah explained. “Your body moves away from lungs and heart and veins as you go up in rank. You develop a new system that channels your blood and mana.”

“Meridians,” Taika said.

“Yes,” Farrah said. “In an essence user, meridians develop in accordance with your abilities. Certain meridians become optimised for certain powers, allowing you to use more mana to greater effect. Your soul reshapes your body so you can use your powers better. It’s more complicated than ‘this is your lava cannon meridian,’ but that’s the basic idea.”

“That’s how ranking up works?” Taika asked.

“That’s part of it,” Farrah said. “When you use a power, it puts a strain on related meridians if it’s strong enough. The actual mechanics are complicated, but it basically means you can’t use the same meridians in the same way until they recover. If a power is minor, like Jason’s special attacks, the cooldown is short or non-existent. Humphrey’s Immortality power is on the other end of that spectrum, badly straining the related meridians.”

“And that’s how cooldowns work.”

“Kind of. Clive would tell you that everything I said was an oversimplification and wrong, but I gave you the ‘I didn’t spend a decade studying magic theory’ explanation. It’s all about meridians. Powers that manipulate mana costs, lock out abilities or affect cooldowns all work by impacting meridians. Ones like Belinda’s that can reduce or reset cooldowns are very specialised healing powers that help meridians recover faster.”

“Learning to manage your cooldowns and mana costs effectively is crucial,” Rufus said. “Especially for brawlers like you. You’re tougher and more powerful than the average adventurer, but your mana costs and cooldowns are high, meaning you’re out of the fight earlier.”

“I bring more power to the table than most brawlers,” Farrah said.

“Which is why we give her a treat if she stays in the fight a whole minute,” Rufus said with a grin. Farrah got up to slap his arm but was driven back by a look from Hana so sharp it almost required healing.

“Humphrey’s cooldown and mana management is perfect,” Rufus said. “And I mean perfect. People always get better with experience but he was better than most silvers at iron-rank. Now...? His mother built that boy up from the ground. I’d put money down on her planning the mana recovery gear he’s wearing now before he learned to walk. Probably before the church of Fertility cracked him out of the vat. If you haven’t seen thousands of adventurers at all ranks, and aren’t looking for it, you’ll probably never notice, but Humphrey Geller is the most skilled person on our team.”

“Really?” Taika asked. “More than Sophie? More than you?”

“Yes,” Rufus said. “Humphrey isn’t just working around his own limitations and gear. He adapts in the moment to every tweak to his mana recovery and cooldown times. If he’s in range of Clive and Belinda’s auras. What buffs and debuffs are on him. How many potions he has, and how long until he can drink another.”

“He’s thinking about that the whole time?” Taika asked. “While also directing us in combat?”

“Yes,” Rufus said. “And he keeps his cool so emotional decisions don’t throw him off. It’s how he stays in the fight while Miss Lava Cannon here stops to rest faster than you can say ‘mana efficiency.’”

“I don’t see Humphrey firing off a lava cannon,” Farrah said huffily.

“No, he doesn’t,” Rufus agreed. “You might all be brawlers, but you have different roles. Taika is an initiator and you’re a deleter. You make a problem go away. Humphrey is a stayer, which is rare for a brawler.”

“Because of how hard it is to manage powers as well as he does.”

“Exactly,” Rufus says. “Brawlers are common because they’re great, but they’re also basic. Especially one that is more rounded than specialised, like you two. That specialisation is what keeps you effective at higher ranks.”

“Which has people wondering why Danielle Geller pushed her son into one of the most commonplace, bread and butter roles in adventuring,” Farrah said.

“Yes,” Rufus agreed. “What they don’t realise is that what she’s done is take one of the most useful-but-basic roles in adventuring and create the greatest version of it that there is.”

“Like how really good bread and really good butter is simple but also fantastic,” Taika said.

“Exactly,” Rufus said. “Like any brawler, Humphrey hits harder and survives more than most adventurers. The trade-off is endurance, which is why you two are back here resting, but Humphrey doesn’t stop. He has less explosive power than either of you, certainly, but he’s always out there, always putting on pressure. Farrah, you are the best there is at intervening in critical moments. He intervenes at every moment, not just the critical ones. Not as much as you, but he’s always there; a perpetual influence. Next time you’re outside, look at the impact he has. Not just on the fight he’s in but the whole battle. The way it moves around him like water shifting course around a rock.”

“But isn’t that kind of bad for typical adventuring?” Taika asked. “An adventuring contract is go out, kill maybe three things and go home. Farrah is way better for that.”

“Yes,” Rufus agreed. “It’s almost like his mother wasn’t training him for typical adventuring.”

“Oh,” Taika said, realisation in his voice.

“She was building him for some weird Jason stuff,” Farrah said. “Long before Jason ever came along.”

“Yes,” Rufus agreed. “Danielle and I spoke about Jason days after he first arrived.”

“And then she glued her son to the outworlder the moment he showed up,” Farrah said. “That lady is kind of scary.”

“Yes,” Rufus agreed.

Farrah stood up, took a cleansing breath and stretched.

“Oh well. Time to get back to it.”

“See you back in a minute,” Rufus said.

“Hilarious,” she said, then turned to Hana. “How long will this one be?”

“Another few minutes to make sure the arm reattached properly,” Hana said.

“Out of curiosity, did you know his family runs a school?”

“He mentioned it,” Hana said, drawing a snorting laugh from Taika.

Farrah grinned at Rufus’ glare until her conjured armour covered her face in a helmet of black obsidian. She moved to the door and leapt out as wings of fire appeared at her back. Much of the battle was happening in the air as the elemental messengers could all fly, although not all chose to. Many had earth powers that were more useful while grounded.

Her eyes picked out Humphrey with ease. He was forming a defensive line with an army of condor-sized bird skeletons made of dragon bones. They were on fire and wearing armour that somehow didn’t interfere with their flight. Humphrey’s summoning power was most useful in pitched battles and his magic dice that altered them randomly had provided good results this time.

Humphrey and his forces were flying, enormous dragon wings spread out from Humphrey’s back. He and his summons were close to the ground as they covered the withdrawal of a silver-rank brightheart contingent. Silver-rankers were pulling back across the battlefield, but Farrah could see that none were doing so as efficiently as those shielded by Humphrey. He was effectively blunting the elemental messenger assault, aided by some of the team.

Sophie was everywhere and nowhere, almost impossible for anyone below gold-rank to track. Any time Humphrey’s line of summons showed vulnerability she was suddenly there, stopping attackers dead until the line was reinforced. Jason was amongst the enemy, also hard to track as he flicked like a shadow. He was thinning them out as they approached, making sure they couldn’t overwhelm Humphrey’s summons with raw numbers. One of Belinda’s familiars was present as well, the astral lantern helping with the group’s mana recovery. It was behind the line with Neil who was standing atop a giant bird, a moustache perched incongruously on its beak.

“WHY ARE YOU A GIANT CHICKEN?” Neil’s voice rose over the sounds of battle.

“I’m a cockatrice!” Stash yelled proudly. “Look, I turned that guy to stone.”

“That guy was already stone!” Neil yelled back. “He’s a stone elemental messenger. YOU’RE A GOD-DAMNED CHICKEN!”

“Humphrey, Neil’s being mean to me!”

“Both of you shut up,” Humphrey told them.

Stash flapped forward, past Humphrey’s dragon bone condors.

“What are you doing?” Neil yelled, gripping huge feathers to keep his balance. “You better not drop me in the middle of the enemy!”

Stash let out a rooster crow that sent shock waves blasting through the elemental messengers. Metal bodies warped and stone bodies cracked while other types bled from their eyes and ears, many dropping to the ground. Stash then curved his flight back behind the lines.

“See?” Stash said. “Not a chicken.”

“You just yelled out ‘COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!’”

“And now you did too,” Stash said. “At least I’m a chicken. You’re the guy who yelled ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’ in the middle of a battle.”

“I told you two to shut up,” Humphrey scolded. “And Neil, stop using chicken noises as a battle cry. You’re making us look bad.”

The giant chicken somehow managed to look extremely smug as Neil glared down at it.

“Oh, you little bast—”

***

The more vulnerable silver-rankers pulled back, being the brighthearts along with most of the cultists and allied messengers. A few stayed, Boris and Beaufort judging which of their people were strong enough to stand with the adventurers. Once the withdrawing forces were safely en route to extraction points Miriam ordered a fresh attack on the crystals.

As had happened previously, this prompted a fresh wave of elemental messengers coming from the tree, more powerful than those that came before. This time they did not come alone, however. A hulking figure emerged from the tree that looked startlingly like the avatar of Undeath. Instead of skinless flesh, it was made of roots that looked like ropey muscle. The glow coming from its eyes was molten-steel-orange instead of purple, but it shambled like the zombie had. Towering over the battlefield, only next to the tree did the fourteen-storey figure look anything but outrageous in scale.

“Gary,” Jason said over voice chat. “I’m going to do you a favour and take all the little ones. That just leaves the one for you.”

“Oh, thank you so much,” Gary responded.

“You’re very welcome.”

Gary had been easy to spot already, wreathed in golden fire, but he became unmissable as his size grew to match the root avatar.

“Oh, come on!” yelled Rick Geller. He’d been standing beside Gary and had been half-buried in displaced dirt in the growth process.

“Sorry,” giant Gary rumbled before moving forward in massive steps, careful to only tread on enemies.

Gary hefted his hammer, hoping this root avatar was easier to kill than its undead counterpart. The fire shrouding the hammer in his hand grew brighter and brighter until he finally threw it at the root monster. When the hammer landed, a massive blast of golden fire sent the root monster hurtling back. It struck the tree with enough force that even the geographically scales trunk shook, freeing leaves on branched kilometres above.

The explosion of flames outright disintegrated the messengers it washed over. The adventurers it touched were instead given a magical boon, enhancing their power and speed. The hammer, its flames diminished, flew back to Gary’s hand as the root avatar pushed itself to its feet. Its root flesh was blackened and it had a rectangle indent in its torso, matching the shape of Gary’s hammer. There were cracks on its body leaking orange light.

***

Miriam watched as the root monster struggled against the golden chains binding it as Gary hammered off parts of its body, chunk by chunk. She reflected that Gary’s stalemate against the avatar of Undeath had made her forget how much power flowed through the leonid demigod.

“Looks like he’s got us covered,” Jason observed through the command channel.

“For now,” Miriam said. “I just hope we handle whatever the tree has for us next as easily.”

“Wow,” Jason said. “A real bundle of sunshine, you.”

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