If they were merely Ash Wolves, Vir wouldn’t feel as bad. But these were obviously highly intelligent beings. And they were friends of Ashani’s.
“Their sacrifice was not in vain,” Vir said firmly. They’d done their part. It was now on him to make good on those words.
Vir took the lift up to the door, then made his way down to Janak’s pristine white lab.
Three empty cores. Three chances to get it right. Ideally, he wanted to fill all three for Ashani, but there was no doubt he’d destroy at least one in the process. There was the issue of understanding why the core he’d filled had crumbled, but moreover, he needed a way of charging them even faster.
There was a risk there—what worked at a lower rate might stress the orb too much when pushed faster.
Vir was sure the method he’d used to fill Ashani’s core was similar to how he used prana to power Talents. Until he’d learned Prana Channeling, which guided the prana carefully where it was needed, he’d simply thrown prana at the muscles in question, without fine-tuning the exact amount that resulted in the most optimal result.
Three filled cores were a success, but two was Vir’s minimum. With another two cores, Ashani would have enough power to stay awake, even without her hibernation cycles.
That way, she could tour the realms with Vir, just as she wanted. He could fill her up whenever she ran low, but even if she spent years on her own, she wouldn’t run out with two cores.
He laid each core out in front of him, then took a deep breath and got to work.
44CRIMSON WIND (MAIYA)
Two weeks.
Of the thirty days Maiya had to herself, just shy of fourteen remained. Two weeks to grow her skills before she infiltrated the Children of Ash. While she fully intended to continue her training even afterward, who knew how much time she’d have between all her obligations?
For the first time since coming into Ira’s employ, Maiya had managed a reprieve from her duties. She’d painstakingly convinced the princess that growing her strength was of utmost importance, and thus, she’d earned this precious time.
It is important, Maiya thought as she meditated just fifteen paces away from an Ash Tear. I can’t fall behind.
It wasn’t just keeping up with Vir that bothered her. She was about to infiltrate an organization on her own—at least initially. She was delving into the den of an insane cult. Honing her skills would help keep her safe for the hard times ahead.
Maiya grimaced as pain ravaged her body. Many had called her a fool for sitting so close to an Ash Tear, well past the Ash Wall, near the Boundary. It was true; monsters tended to pop through with alarming frequency, though many were maimed in the process, due to the Tears’ instability. And it wasn’t as though Maiya sat right next to the Boundary where she might be snatched up into the Ash. She was still a good quarter mile away. Far enough to maintain a margin of safety.
Of course, Ira wasn’t about to let her precious agent put herself in such danger alone. A company of thirty Balarian Elites stood only a handful of paces away, ready to jump in if Maiya got in over her head.
There was another reason Maiya desired to linger this close—the prana density was far higher directly next to a Tear. By subjecting herself to this torture, she actively increased her own blood’s carrying capacity. Mejai across the world claimed that the path to Mejai of Realms was by ‘purifying one’s body and soul.’ Terribly vague, and nearly useless.
There was a nugget of wisdom buried in there, though.
Maiya was almost fully convinced now that this purification process referred to spending time near the Ash, to boost blood carrying capacity. The pain was certainly commensurate with purification. Her body felt like it was being ripped apart. Like it was being purged of impurities.
Perhaps something like that was happening—perhaps her Ice and Water affinity capacity grew at a greater rate than her other affinities, thus ‘purifying’ her blood. She couldn’t know. Not without Vir around to peer into her body.
What she did know was that greater capacity meant she could run longer before saturating, and that she could create a stronger suction force inside her body. That let her charge orbs more quickly, and more importantly, charge higher grade orbs.
If I can learn to charge A Grades… Maiya’s Balar Rank would soar into the hundreds.
She felt bad for Vir, having to discover his own path, struggling alone, while Maiya benefited from the magic passed down by the gods. Mejai orbs were almost like cheating. They concentrated power and made her many times more deadly than she could ever be without them.
Nevertheless, Maiya knew that Vir would surpass her. He always found a way. It was why she refused to slack off, even for a moment.
A black form popped into existence forty paces away, breaking Maiya’s meditation.
She regarded the beast. It’s come through mostly intact. A perfect opponent for her.
“Spidorilla, huh? A rare one.”
Spidorillas were about as fearsome as they sounded. Sporting enormous gorilla torsos that stood atop an arachnid body, they were among the more bizarre monsters that spawned from the Ash. How such a being ever came into existence, Maiya couldn’t know. She didn’t want to know. She just needed to kill it.
A task easier said than done.
Maiya ran toward the enemy and launched two precharged C Grade Wind Blades, though she didn’t expect them to do much of anything against the beast. She’d learned that Ash Beasts fresh out of the Ashen Realm were far more durable than their counterparts who’d been in the Human Realm for a while. It was as though they had a layer of invisible armor protecting them.
The benefit of Wind magic was it was fast—fast enough to hit Ash Beasts, unlike her Ice Affinity magic. Wind was second only to Lightning. The downside was its range—the second-worst, that Maiya only had a lesser affinity for it. She was now only twenty paces away from a monster that could lop her limbs off with ease.
Her Balarian Guard moved in, but Maiya waved them back.
“It might be Balar 150, but that’s only in the Ash. I can handle this one.”
“Sixty counts,” the Balarian commander said, bowing his head. At Balar 100 himself, he was no pushover. “Any longer, and we’ll intervene.”
Maiya nodded. This was one condition Ira imposed on her. The danger of any fight mounted the longer it dragged on. If Maiya wasn’t able to best her opponent within a minute, her warriors would rush in to help, regardless of her orders. They took orders from the princess, whose authority outweighed Maiya’s tenfold.
She didn’t mind—it just made for better training, forcing her to fight as efficiently as possible.
The Spidorilla Leaped at her.
Maiya dodged in the nick of time, barely avoiding a vicious slash. Ash Beasts always made for difficult fights against mejai like Maiya. Even with Enhance Speed orbs accelerating her movement, Talent wielders simply had a better mind for the flow of battle. They understood their own bodies better and could predict enemy movements to a greater degree, perhaps because of how they fought. Up close and personal, rather than ranged like most mejai.
Maiya was good with strategy and tactics, not instinctual melee combat.
She slipped past the Spidorilla’s deadly limb but didn’t retreat. Conveniently, the enemy had brought itself within range, so Maiya brought out her deadliest weapon.
After months of training, capped by two weeks of torture, C Grade spells were hardly Maiya’s strongest anymore.
B Grade Hail Burst launched out. Like Icicle, it, too, shot shards of ice—coated with Ice prana—to shred enemies. It was just far deadlier. Instead of a single projectile, a hailstorm of a hundred ripped outward.