***

Rune of Bonding (Mythic)

[1]: Bond. Release seed onto or inside target and activate to Bond.

[1]: Alacrity. Bonded targets evolve runes with greater speed.

[1]: Bolster. Provides a powerful, temporary boost in strength to Bonded target.

[2]: Growth. Shards provide additional experience for each day spent between entry. Applies to both rune-holder and bonded targets.

[3]: Share. All bonded targets receive a small percentage of each other’s stats. Maximum bonds: {5}.

[4]: Solidify Bond. Amplifies and cements bond, turning it permanent.

 

Rune of Arcana (High)

[1]: First Circle. Cast spells up to one Circle in complexity.

[1]: Element: Ice.

[2]: Influence. Cast spells that inflame or mute internal statuses.

[3]: Arcane Link. Join with target and control their mana, allowing for greater castings.

[3]: Second Circle. Cast spells up to two Circles in complexity.

 

Rune of Sensuality (Superior)

[1]: Lust. Mana replaced with resource system Lust. Symbols are activated by expending Lust.

[1]: Harvest. Perform erotic acts onto self or others to harvest Lust. Bonded targets provide greater yield.

[2]: Pressure Point. Identify sensitive areas.

[2]: Accommodate. Tight spaces are more obliging.

[3]: Burst. Lust can be consumed in greater quantities to amplify potency of certain other skills.

[4]: Afterglow. Any bonded target's orgasm provides a long-lasting health and mana regeneration effect.

 

Rune of the Alchemist (Common)

[1]: Identify. Ascertain name and use of basic alchemy reagents when using Inspect.

[2]: Potent Additive. Sexual fluids can be used to amplify potions in various ways.

[3]: Resourceful. Potions created inside a shard from ingredients found within that shard are much more likely to catalyze.

[4]: Alternate Ingestion. Consuming a potion through less-common holes provides bonus effects.

 

Generalist Skills

[1]: Inspect. Discern basic information about equipment linked to the System.

[1]: Inventory. Store items in personal inventory-space.

***

"Okay, so," Maddy said. "Two squishy mages. Not ideal, but that's wayfaring. We hardly ever get 'ideal'."

"I make the better frontline between us, right?" Zoey asked. "Because of my ice armor?"

Back in Mel's shard, when they'd been coming to the slime girl's rescue, Zoey had done some solo delving for practice's sake. Her ice armor had kept her fairly well-defended. But that wasn't a great benchmark to go by, since that'd been a first-advancement shard when she'd been third. Now, they were in a third advancement shard, with Zoey hovering between third and fourth—most runes at four, but her primary combat one, arcana, still at three.

"Neither of us are good front-liners," Maddy said. "I mean, yes, technically, you would be better. But we want to engage physically as little as possible."

"How? Seems unavoidable."

"I'm an illusionist, silly. That's my whole thing." She scratched her cheek. "Well, no, we'll still have to be hands-on at least a little bit, but if I focus entirely on illusions and disorientation, then I can keep most monsters at bay. Maybe enough you can kill them before the effect breaks, and they get up close and personal with us."

Zoey pursed her lips. She could be honest with herself: she was hardly her team's star player. Leaving most of the damage-dealing in her hands was going to be rough.

"I'll do my best, but it might take a while for me to put them down, if it's just me."

"That's okay. I know you're a bit new, still. As long as we don't get hurt, we're good. And it won't be that bad—you have been getting better."

"If you say so."

"You have! I promise. I think you'll surprise yourself."

Maddy's optimism was endearing as always. Zoey would find out when the time arrived whether it was deserved, though.

"Should we link up?"

"Hm," Maddy said, considering that.

During their travels, she and Maddy had gotten some practice in with Arcane Link. But only some. Most of their effort had gone to Zoey adapting her current ice and influence spells to function with a second Circle, significantly empowering them.

"No, I don't think so," Maddy finally said. "The combined spells are stronger, but we each have specific roles to play. When Rosalie and Delta are back, we can make use of that skill more. Besides, it turns me into a battery—you control the spells. While there are some situations that'll be amazing, I think it won't be a staple in a typical fight."

"That's fair."

She and Maddy got down to the nitty-gritty details of how they wanted to engage, considering their unexpected two-person composition. Powerful single-target monsters, a few weaker ones, or swarms—how they would handle each. They discussed possible encounter types coming up based on the rocky, magma-infused surroundings. And other wayfaring particulars. Maddy guided the conversation, with Zoey mostly listening.

"And be ready for weird stuff," Zoey added, after they'd hashed out the 'real' half of shard exploration. "We've only been through two shards, but both had some … uh, interesting encounters. You know what I mean. Could be anything. So keep an eye out, especially for traps."

"Right," Maddy said, obviously flustered by the idea. "Don't think I could forget about that." She idly tugged at her unyielding neckline, and Zoey's eyes flicked down her lithe, hugged-tight body. Maddy's nipples stood out against her flat, glossy chest. It really was a flattering look.

"Then we should get to it?" Zoey asked.

"We don't want to keep them waiting," Maddy agreed. "So yeah. Let's do it."

The two of them set out, picking across rocky terrain. The glowing red veins guided their way, illuminating the space and radiating heat. Zoey intended to collect some of the material, but seeing how abundant it was, the task could wait. She wanted to get a feel for the monsters they were up against first. Especially since she didn't have Rosalie and Delta there to guard her. The training wheels had come off.

Though admittedly, Maddy's presence meant she still had some safety net. Just, if a monster came rampaging toward them and Maddy's confusion and illusion spells didn't stop it, there wasn't much the mage could do. She was powerful, but in indirect ways, in contrast to Rosalie's phenomenal strength and physical prowess.

They took a cautious pace down the tunnel, going slow and searching for traps. It didn't take long for the shard's dangerous nature to reveal itself.

The rocky golem peeled itself out of the wall with the noise of tumbling rocks, having camouflaged itself by embedding itself into the natural terrain. Pebbles pattered into the ground as the rocky surface splintered to let the creature detach. The beast turned, and rather than just rock, glowing orange crystal made up its front: like a geode split open. It had a spiky, alien face with four onyx eyes.

Maddy didn't hesitate, and to Zoey's credit, neither did she. Both had their weapons drawn and arcane lines being etched in the air before the monster let out its first deafening roar—which bounced down the hall, loud enough to make Zoey wince.

Zoey might not be able to match the smaller girl's alacrity in casting—Maddy had a second-circle complexity spell fully formed before Zoey was halfway done with her own—but she could at least take pride that her instincts were getting there; she had responded mostly at the same time as the more experienced wayfarer.

Maddy's spell activated first. A shimmering copy of the golem materialized from thin air, ten feet away from it. The illusion rushed forward, arms outstretched, snarling its own hostility. Not more than a heartbeat passed before Maddy's staff was leveled downward, and her next spell circle had been completed: this one simpler, a stream of confusion bolts rocketing toward the golem.

Zoey, for her part, hadn't gone straight for damage. Rather than initiating an ice spell, she called on her Influence branch of magic—which allowed the inflammation or muting of internal statuses. In this case, she targeted the golem's rage, frustration, and bloodlust: something she and Maddy had found highly effective against even people, much less lower-sapience creatures like shard monsters.

The spell seized the golem, and its rock-and-orange-crystal form shuddered in induced outrage. It let out another shriek, even more infuriated than the first, just before Maddy's charging golem illusion impacted it.

Confused, enraged, and with a snarling illusion of a hostile monster rocketing toward the golem, the monster reacted as expected of a half-intelligent beast. It ignored its actual enemies—her and Maddy—and instead scrambled forward to meet Maddy's illusion.

Its charge passed straight through, and it stumbled, but—in its twice-over addled state, both from Zoey and Maddy's contribution—it spun and screamed again, not dissuaded by its opponent's apparent incorporeality.

The disabling status effects would only last so long. Zoey needed to work efficiently. If this turned into a physical fight, things could go off the rails fast. Neither she nor Maddy could take more than a few hits each. Especially without armor.

Her second spell came to life, glyphs etching onto the perimeter of the first circle, then the second circle—her Lust noticeably dipping in the back of her mind. As soon as she finished, she activated the magical working, and her newly designed ice spear flew forward. Longer, thicker, and faster, it streaked toward her enemy, aimed by her outstretched wand.

A second Circle allowed both greater complexity and infusion of mana, making it an all-around improved ability. Before, Zoey's first-Circle ice spear had been a simple javelin of ice. Now, the shard of ice flew forward and met the golem's tough rocky back—it was turned around, thanks to its scrambling fight against Maddy's illusion—and the two-foot projectile exploded. Freezing crystal sprung up all across its shoulder, seizing one of the monster's arms in place. The second Circle had allowed her to work in a disabling effect.

The beast reacted reflexively, scrambling at the thick material with its other hand, trying to unlock its frozen joints. It was only half successful. Zoey had also applied Burst to the spell. While the improvement came at a steep resource cost, the ability had been greatly empowered—strong enough to temporarily disable even a third-advancement monster with a single blast.

From there, Maddy kept up a steady stream of illusions, confusion, and other disorienting spells to keep the golem as distracted as possible while Zoey chained together ice spears. There was something to be said for diversity in attacks, but at the same time, a high-damage easy-to-cast projectile was simply her best option. Zoey had other spells in her kit, but they were better used in other circumstances.

Bolt after bolt of exploding ice crashed into the creature—though subsequent ones were weaker than the first, not using Burst on all of them. Chunks of rock and orange crystal flew from its body with each impact, and before long, it was struggling more against the ice coating its body than the illusory double that Maddy kept dancing around it, taunting and snarling to keep its attention.

By the time Zoey's inflame and Maddy's confusion effects were wearing off, it was too late. The beast struggled toward Maddy and Zoey, but they kited the creature back, the ice coating its legs too thick for it to pursue in any meaningful manner.

One final well-placed ice spear shattered the monster's skull, ending its life. The amalgamated collection of orange crystal and dull brown rock shuddered, then fell still—having shed most of its body across the floor, chipped off by fast-moving elemental spears.

Zoey panted in exertion, as did Maddy. They weren't truly tired, not physically at least, but magic drained the mind and body in a way hard to describe.

Plus, it was sweltering inside the magma cave system. Initially, she'd thought it merely uncomfortable, but it turned out that fighting for their life added a few degrees. She wiped her forehead of sweat, then faced Maddy, who was also flushed and red-faced from both heat and supernatural exertion.

Seeing Zoey look over, though, she gave a beaming smile and stuck two thumbs up into the air. "Great job! I told you it'd be easy."

Zoey couldn't help but shake her head in amusement at the over-the-top encouragement. Maddy was seriously way too sweet. How did this girl fight monsters for a living? Rosalie and Delta could be cute too, but they showed a certain intensity at times where their professions made perfect sense. This girl, on the other hand, was a cinnamon roll through and through. Or was Zoey only looking at her superficially?

"Went better than I thought," Zoey agreed. She scratched her cheek. "Though, I burnt through a lot of Lust. My mana pool is much smaller than most mages. With me having to do all the damage, we're going to have to recharge a lot."

It took a second for Maddy to understand what that meant. Her beaming encouragement faded, replaced by a deep flush.

"R-Right. Well. Just a part of the job, so let me know!"

Maddy cleared her throat, straightened her back, and strode forward.

"Let's work efficiently until then. You're good to go for a few more?"

"Yeah," Zoey said. Though her lips quirked up at how—despite everything—Maddy was still flustered by the idea of 'recharging' her.

She didn't tease the girl about it, though. That would come later.

At this pace, in only a few more fights.