-Lucilla Kite-
“Thanks for letting me join you gals on this,” I laughed as I cracked my knuckle duster-covered knuckles in excitement for low-key heroics. Mercury-Gardenia was such an interesting Remnant Saga to tower board into, especially since Tabitha and I didn’t need a modified SOP, service opening pylon, to get here like the two white bathtub lily gals from Neo Hollo Oceania, Tynna and Tymai. As for Margaret, well she was being super smart by sneaking in from New York City in Earth Griffin-13 with her Flasaporium hub proxy body. I wonder if they know if the weed-heads we have been fighting have been possessed by some sort of one-person patron spirits, I couldn’t help but think to myself as I conjured up a floating battering ram from my marigolds. Gladiolus for strength with knuckle duster conjurations and marigolds for stubbornness with floating battering ram was such a great pairing for me: Robert really knew how to give out gifts with that coded system slot’s connection he gave me.
“It’s no problem, we needed someone to fill in for Loria and Lyria since they are helping the Emrics train the other Sugar Hills sweet tooths in using this Hybrid System,” commented Tabitha as she stretched out her dragon head of an arm as a tiny Vertrala flew around her since she used two coded system slot’s connections in a multi-system slot that was synthesized out of all of Vertrala’s origin three system slots and her Mercury-Gardenia one: one part empowerment that give a flower to conjure him and one part power-link to his Alihi’a’Pounga system slot. “Especially since Tala is busy with work, we need another powerhouse.”
“You sure you can handle this though? I heard Mita said you and Daphne don’t really do system casting or system slot stuff,” questioned Margaret through her bevor as she conjured up her own new toy, a handgun from her new pale magenta prairie gentains.
“Hahaha, just because I don’t use a lot of system slot magic or system casts doesn’t mean I don’t have a lot of system slots with connection. I do have my brand new mirroring Grand Key that uses a bunch of different systems, plus I’m actually pretty good using the World System for manipulating nature spirits ya know?” I replied with a grin, not bothering to mention how much my Enigma made use of not only the World System but also the Grand System and a little bit of the Restrictive System to create and maintain mana irregularities.
“How about chronophasia? I know Robert has it bad enough he can’t do serious magic at times and we are going to go up against a member of Glory Daze that uses time dilations, the weed-heads and monsters they use will probably do the same…”
“Don’t worry I’ll be fine, I’m not like Robert who does nothing or Daphne who self-medicates, I don’t have chronophasia at all cause of some nifty Obscurus and World System casts I know. I may not be a healer but I know some good spells, system cast and otherwise.”
“That’s amazing… I didn’t think when I signed up to tower board with my sister that I would be the secondary healer, or fighting for the right to be a magi-sentient or partial-magi-sentient, or meeting people like you,” commented Tynna as she fiddled with her transmutation system casting brace from her wood lily. It was honestly pretty impressive that the two Alihi’a’Poungian both managed to get system slots facsimiles that gave white bathtub lilies as both a flower and primary spirit halo with the added benefit of using them in tandem. All the more complex stuff with system slots was beyond me: facsimiles, both pure system slots and hybrid; faux-system slots; using connections to empower other connections; and multi-system slots and their alternative forms, power-link, mandala-acquisition, object-binding, and service-share.
Making our way to the south side of Lake Serene, away from the local expansion of Mercury-Hyacinth-Johari, it was weird to see how known of the lifers and ignorants as the others called them didn’t pay our conjuration any mind. Some of them were even ignoring us, subconsciously from the looks of it! I wonder if it is like this around Johari’s other expansions and phases. Oh and I wonder what his Trapdoor’s birth point is like, I know it’s not too far from here, I thought to myself with a bit of excitement, this was scary for sure but it was also sort of thrilling to think about how conscious you had to be about this stuff. And now that Robert was allied with Johari Vogt, not only his Enigma but mine and Daphne’s had shortcuts to half of the worlds of Mercury-Johari along with routes straight to Starport Cyber and Witch Synthia!
“Try not to get swallowed up by this place,” chimed Jaffa from the back of my head as I took in the sights of countless multi-story buildings, a good deal of them being apartments and schools, and crisscrossing waterways and aerial trams.
“I know, I know. Not going to stick around until I level up my system influence resistance skill up,” I replied back giddy with the fact I found out that skill was an actual thing: the Hybrid System of Flowers had a lot of stuff hidden that had to be learned, but there was nothing like randomly guessing into the account menu to brute force results.
“Good to hear, I wouldn’t want you getting stuck here. I’d have to pester you back to being lucid! Oh also, Mercury-Hyacinth-Johari’s birth point is actually the sister capital of this city’s nation,” noted Jaffa, knowing I would be happy to know that tidbit of information, before closing the connection and going back to work managing Treant Orchards and our recent expansions into Neo Hollo Oceania and Miriam Port Slums.
It wasn’t too long before the five of us reached our target, Clockworker University, the base of one of the stronger Glory Daze members that Robby and Johari suspect will be attacking the ascension event: Clockwork Witchwork. Of course even though we arrived when they weren’t currently here didn’t make our plans even easier: Clockwork Witchwork wasn’t just from Witch Synthia and had more than one way to use the Hybrid System of Flowers but also a children of locale who covertly turned the entire university into a system lair.
“There are a lot of enemies here…” whispered Tynna, taking note of all the weed-heads walking around with a clockwork-and-flower styled monsters flying around, not attacking any of the students. Feeling out the ambient mana, dungeon-mana, and desire the best I could with this simulated body and the dungeon-like distortion sense skill I put a few levels into, I could tell there multiple sublayers and phases, hidden or otherwise. This might be tricky.
“That doesn’t mutter, they are plebeian before my might,” scoffed Vertrala, flapping his wings boastfully; I couldn’t help but giggle a little but at how prideful Tabitha’s dragon-shaped fruit was, even he was technically empowered by four different legacies and a Grand Key.
“Not when you’re in this form,” sighed Tabitha dismissively. “I can barely even keep you conjured in that form. No way you are using one of your transformations… Ugh, let’s just get to trimming these weed-heads.” With that, the five of us got into position: Tabitha and me at the front with Margaret protecting Tymai and Tynna in the back.
“Don’t make too much of a ruckus, we don’t have the Vraglixian Blossom Rebellion’s concealers with us, and Tynna and I can only revive so many people,” followed up Tymai as I neared the first weed-head, a loner from the looks of it with a metallic flower that looked like weedy clock gears shooting out of his neck and chest.
Stepping closer to my target with a grin, I started to circulate manas through my knuckle dusters: it wasn’t my usual blend or amount but it should do just fine. Before the weed-head could end point its chronomancer’s staff at me, I was already throwing the first punch. With a resounding crunch, my fist connected with his flower-covered face and sent him flying: I could sense the weird patron spirit be destroyed. And Daphne thought I was stupid for using the experience I’ve gotten with the coded system code’s connection to level up a sensory skill for these patron spirits, I thought to myself with a grin before realizing I accidentally killed the person, not just the weed-head part of him. Oh maybe that’s why…
“I’ll revive him, don’t worry. Vitum lacum, ho’opau pe’pae papala,” chanted Tynna with a quick line of true magic. I didn’t know the exact magical languages used but I could feel what it meant, ‘pond of life, revive white blessing.’
“Be careful, just because the Hybrid System of Flowers makes use of the Game System does not mean lifers get the same quality of benediction. True death is a possibility for not only them but ignorants also,” chastised Tymai as she used her halo of life to give the freshly revived person a small heal.
“Then it should be a-okay if I go all out on the monsters?” I asked, pointing to the floating clockwork-and-weed octopi shimmering into existence from the system lair’s Phases. Would have been nice to have my usual blackzone manager magics to analyze it, but I guess I’ll have to keep due with beating them to a pulp and using the experience to pick up a monster analyzing skill. Let’s see if I can actually hit the maximum weight of these system slots, I thought, excited at the idea of maxing out a system slot’s potential for once.
“Yeah just don’t attract too much attention.”
“That shouldn’t be an issue.” All the lifers and ignorants were already filtering out of the courtyard and the few visitors and awakens remaining were keeping their distance and their heads down.
The first of the octopi rushed me with a surprising burst of speed. I could practically feel the chronos and time dilations wrapped around it as I kicked myself out of the way with a side step. Keeping my fists close to my head, I manipulated my battering ram in the background to keep the other monsters and weed-heads away with the help of offensive transmutation spells from Tynna, gunfire from Margaret, and a small spurts of dragon breath from Vertrala.
A lunge with two of its tentacles, the monster tried to strike again with its insane manalogically-enhanced speed. Dipping under the blows, I gave a quick jab to one of the clockwork tentacles, only to feel the slimy sensation of a bane on impact: these guys were coated in some sort of magics that inflicted chronophasia. Well this is going to be tricky, I thought to myself as I felt the chronophasia bane infect the simulated body: if this kept up it would reach my real body, talk about some cursed magic right there.
Circling around the floating clockwork-and-flower monster with a flurry of short steps, I throw another punch at the back of the head. If I couldn’t physically touch them, then all I had to do was make sure that was enough mana in front of my blows. A surge of last second mana and the octopus’s head was caved in.
Wishing I had more ranks and levels in these knuckle dusters so that I could fight more like I did with my Honorary Goddess of Earth’s Enigma, I went to fighting the next nearest monster: a floating ghost-like one with floral patterns on its tattered robes and clockwork tentacles coming out of its bottom.
Moving in from across the courtyard with to strike at it with a pincer attack between my fists and battering ram conjuration, I felt time slowed down as I suddenly entered its passive bane field that slowed down time. From the corner of my eye, I saw one of the weed-heads take a chance to fire off a bolt of chronos and basic curses; not being able to dodge it in time I went to intercept it with a punch.
“Fast octopuses, slowing ghosts, and annoying weed-heads,” I muttered with a wince as I took the blow to my knuckle dusters: this simulated body really couldn’t take a hit. At least the experience was worth it and we were trimming the monsters that Clockwork Witchwork had at their disposal.
Focusing back on the ghost before it could do any funny business, I brought the battering ram straight down on its head, pushing enough mana into this simulated body that its mana circuitry started to sizzle from overuse and cross-karmic retribution. Why do the manalogical forces of cosmic and karma have to be such bummers?
“Hey girls, I think we have incoming,” commented Tabitha as she slew another octopus while I finished off the ghost. I didn’t even need to ask to feel what was happening as the space above us started to ripple. Pulling back I watched as a giant boss monster that looked three of the oversized octopi fused together with the weed-head’s flowers shooting out from where their heads overlapped slid in this layer of reality. Getting a feel of it, I noticed that this thing had a patron spirit also, but it wasn’t just an one-person one and was started to influence the other monsters and weed-heads.
“Is that a weed-head monster?...” gasped Tymai in shock, stepping back on instinct and almost bumping into her sister.
“Whatever it is, it’s bad news ya know?” I shot back before looking over to Tabitha and nodded in agreement to the sweet tooth: we need to leave the courtyard. Calling back to Margaret and the Alihi’a’Poungian, the five of us started to make a mad dash out of the university and head back to safety.
“Crap, I think I’m going to be sick,” muttered Tabitha, swaying a bit after a few minutes of sprinting. “I didn’t even know that chronophasia could be this bad.”
“I can give ya a message later, show ya my cleansing skills.”
“I wish I could help you with that, but medical, actual curse, and hex stuff is beyond me,” replied Margaret with a sigh as she dispelled her flower-patterned bevor.
“Well we are going to need more than cleanses to deal with that… thing.”
“Yeah, we gotta get more ranged stuff, those octopuses and ghosts are too much of a hassle. Watcha gals think we should do?” I followed up with a nod: I didn’t want to deal with chronophasia every time we fought those monsters. How were we supposed to help out and gum up Glory Daze’s work if we couldn’t handle this?
“Maybe another empowerment?” noted the sweet tooth as she weighed the options.
“We gotta be careful though, don’t want to end up getting a surprise cursed system slot like Robert and Ras ya know?”
“Yeah… We’ll have to be careful.”
“Well then! We’ll look into getting more empowerments, maybe mess around with one of those derivative Hybrid Systems. But til then, let’s grind some more!”
