Amber | Chapter 85.  (Patreon)

Chapter 85. 

Asil, couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. That attack… was something that he was quite certain should have killed Amber, and yet…

She is alive. 

He swallowed in awe at the woman aiming her blue bow. It was the same technique he had taught her, and she had perfected it. 

In just the span of two days she had become a terrifying Essence user, and this confirmed it. While he had merely played a part in her development and couldn’t take credit for a lot of it, she still felt his chest swell with pride. 

She was a monster now after all. 

He craned his head towards the members of the Arcane Council, one was in better shape than the other, but it didn’t matter, because both of them would soon, die. 

She loosed the arrow, and he grinned. 

It was over.

  *

Death was coming and Zodos felt fear. There was so many things he did not understand about his encounter with this monster, there were so many things that needed to be answered⁠— answers that he wouldn’t be getting because he was going to die. This was his end, against a woman much lower leveled than him, and against a woman that had survived everything he could throw at her. 

And so, he accepted his fate. 

He had once been an orphan, someone with no aspirations, someone who was destined for death, that was until someone offered their hand. 

“Come, I shall take you in and show you greatness.” 

Famine had struck his town, his parents had died, and his neighbors refused to take him in, and yet a stranger offered him salvation. It only took one thing in return. It was a dark and dreary night, there were magic symbols shining⁠— etched in the air along with floating rocks, they were all surrounding him. 

And he, he was staring at his savior who had a stoic face. 

He lifted his staff. “Zodos, there is no turning back now. Is this what you desire? To serve me? After this you will never be able to betray me, after this, there is nothing else for you outside of me.”

Zodos nodded. “There is nothing I wish more to do than to serve you, Master Dargon.” 

“Good, then accept your destiny, boy.” 

Ever since then, he had served the person he was indebted to. He trained  night and day, he risked his life, he took in the teachings of the Arcane Council, and finally acquired the power to help. But, this wasn’t how he imagined his end. He didn’t imagine he’d fail on something so important his master. And yet, he had failed. He was soon to die. 

Without fulfilling his purpose to his master⁠—

No. Zodos’ eyes snapped open as the arrow loomed. I can’t die without fulfilling such an important duty. 

He forced all his skills to activate, he commanded them to even if some were clearly on cooldown, and at that moment, something inside of him snapped. 

[Overload has reached 6th Rank⁠—

[Flash Blink has reached 5th Rank⁠—

[Dynamo Spark has reached 5th⁠ Rank⁠—

[Strength Conductor has reached 5th Rank⁠—

[Arc Capacitor has reached 5th Rank⁠—

Over four skills broke the barrier of 5th Rank, and one reached the 6th Rank. 

Instantly, Zodos exploded with a burst of electricity, his attributes reached an unpredencented level as his body was pushed to the very limits⁠— and in an instant he appeared next to his companion with a single dash, grabbed his arm and blinked. 

An explosion echoed behind as his back was burned, and Ner was panting on the ground as Zodos dropped him, not intending to burn and electrecute his companion more than necessary. All he did was summon a health potion and drop it on him. 

His heart was rushing, and as he turned to see the woman walking towards him he felt his heart rushing. He coughed up blood as he met her gaze. 

“You… how are you even alive?!” Zodos gritted his teeth. “That⁠— that should’ve killed you!”

Amber blinked. “It did puncture a hole through my stomach, and it nearly split my body in half, but it wasn’t that hard to heal.” 

“What?!” Zodos couldn’t believe what he had just heard. 

She took a fatal injury and healed it in the span of three seconds? It… didn’t make sense, but considering her armor was basically falling apart… 

“Maybe if you aimed for the head, or just done that from the start⁠— either probably would’ve killed me,” she mused. 

Zodos gritted his teeth, and dashed to punch the woman. She blocked with her arm as a loud bang resounded.

“You know, you aren’t that hard to read⁠—”

And she headbutted. His world spun, his attributes remained higher than her’s and yet⁠— she punched. Her fist drove into his stomach, and he grabbed onto his arm as she pulled⁠, going right into a knee. 

Zodos reeled, and then his arm was ignited in blue and purple fire as he screamed. There was a lot he didn’t understand. From her true strength, to the fact she was humiliating him. But he tried to fight back as he kicked, only to be tripped. 

“How are you so strong!” 

“It’s a secret,” she grinned and then⁠— 

Punched. 

Her fist drove him into the ground as it shattered. Rock went flying, and for a moment he lost vision as the woman craned her head to look in a different direction. 

“Your partner seems to be out for now, so…” She turned to look at him as his eyesight came back. “How about I make you repay for how you killed my friend Ian?”

At her question, Zodos shivered, her eyes had no sympathy for him, in fact they were inhumane. Wasn’t he some random necromancer? 

“He’s the first person to give up his life to save me, so it is natural I avenge him to the best of my abilities.” She flicked her hand and the cube he wanted appeared on her palm. “You wanted this right? Here, catch it with your teeth⁠—”

And she bludgeoned him, his jaw broke as Zodos shrieked. His electricity flared as the ground crackled, but it didn’t seem to have an effect on Amber. Instead she followed up with another hit, and another⁠— the cube constantly shed blood as his consciousness faded in an out. 

She⁠— He couldn’t complete his thoughts, but once more, fear settled into his mind as he screamed, his magic blaring⁠—

“Blast!” 

And an explosion of electricity hit her. The surroundings evaporated and Amber⁠— her skin was burnt but healed before his eyes as she hit him again without pause. This was an act of revenge on her part, and while he didn’t understand how significant the plague monster or the weird necromancer had been to her, what he did understand was that he had to survive!

He electrocuted her, unleashing as much of his skills as he could but aside from burning the woman it did nothing to stop her from breaking his nose with another hit⁠—

It was too much. 

The woman continued to beat at him as his life began to slip. This was his fate. And while he regretted not being able to fulfill his duty to Dargon, he at least had to solace of knowing that eventually⁠ the Arcane Council would kill her due to her connections to Primordial Spirits.

So, he accepted his fate as she hit again. 

The woman continued beating him, all while his consciousness gradually faded. This was his end⁠— 

And he caught sight of a figure holding a vial with bright green liquid, and he threw it. The vial hit Amber and splashed onto her with a sizzling sound, and Zodos recovered just enough to see his partner pulling out another flask, this time with the a potion of Regeneration that he threw at him. 

“Zodos, survive and⁠—”

“Fuck off.”

And she swiped. A flicker of white passed and hit Ner, and then⁠— he exploded, dying in a single moment. Chunks of flesh streaked, and Zodos blinked. His companion was dead, and he had to survive⁠— he had to report back what had happened here. 

That hadn’t been magic, that hadn’t been her class either, that had been the alternate energy to the System. 

It was something that the Arcane Council was still trying to comprehend, but now, this was a lead right in front of him. And so, he used blink given Amber’s brief distraction. 

He appeared as far away from her as possible, and⁠— she appeared in front of him.

“Going somewhere?” 

And she punched⁠— his ribcage shattered as he hit something warm and solid. Zodos threw up blood, and⁠— his head was held, all while purple light surrounded his vision. 

“You are taking way too long with this, and also that is no way to handle my cube,” an ethereal voice said. 

Zodos blinked, and Amber seemed shocked too. And that was because… he looked down seeing white legs that were shining with a purple light.

A Primordial Spirit was holding him. 

“Why are you even here?” Amber asked.

“Because you have to leave, and you can’t leave if you keep on bludgeoning this guy to death, so here⁠—” 

And Zodos’ neck snapped, he hit the ground and screamed with unimaginable pain, even though he should’ve died, he didn’t. Instead, he continued to scream as his life slowly drained from him. 

“I’ll just give him a painful death for you, now leave.”

  * 

Amber blinked, she stared at Sid’fril who had his arms crossed. At his feet, the Arcane Council member was writhing in pain. And she frowned.

“Why would you even do that?”

The Primordial Spirit craned his brow. “I have literally just told you.”

Amber felt angry at that. While Ian hadn’t been her closest friend, or even much of a friend at all, hearing the Arcane Council member mention torture and the fact that he refused to even utter a word about her made her feel in a way she didn’t expect. And now, rather than just feel the need for revenge, she yearned for it. That was because it was the least she could do after hearing that. 

She gritted her teeth, this fight had been more dangerous than what she had expected. And if she didn’t have Inexorable Body she’d pretty much be dead. The resistance to continous attacks had practically saved her. There was also the fact that she had used considerable Essence during the fight. 

“You women, no matter the race, are hard to understand.” He shrugged. 

Amber scoffed. “If I killed someone you really want to kill you’d be upset too.”

Sid’fril didn’t respond to that, instead he looked over to the member of the Arcane Council who with a final scream died. 

“Fair enough,” he said before pondering. “I’ve been observing you, you should try to incorporate Essence into your System skills, that way no matter how you finish an enemy off, you’ll be rewarded.”

Amber noted on that, but didn’t give a reply. Instead, she touched the Essence emanating from the other mage’s body. Which gathered all of the Essence in her surroundings and⁠— it was a lot. She could sense that she was two-thirds into her next level up. Finally, she moved to loot the electricity mage, given the remains of the other had splattered all over the buildings. 

“An army is coming, you should hurry.”

“I got that, yeah.” 

She took the man’s storage ring and tried to store it, which failed, so she just put it on and then began to walk back to where the elf was only to hear a scream⁠—

Amber tensed and she rushed with a burst of speed, appearing in no time on the plaza, only to see Asil backed into a corner as she saw a familiar Primordial Spirit leaning over with her hand extended, frozen. 

It was Val’leri. 

“Are you here to seal me away too!?” Asil freaked out. 

“No, I’m not one, the kind of god, to do that.” And she grabbed his hand as he was enveloped with red energy, his wounds immediately healing. “Just healing you, I’d restore your core but there is a chance I kill you, so I shall not.”

“Nor, will I allow you to do that,” Sid’fril said. 

And Amber blinked. “Val’leri…?”

In response, the spirit teleported and Amber was embraced into a hug she didn’t expect. “You terrified me, I thought you were going to die.” 

Sid’fril scoffed, and Amber for a moment felt lost. 

Didn’t Sid’fril hate Val’leri? What is going on? 

She quickly was let go, as the Primordial Spirit urged her. 

“Leave before the army comes.”

Amber slowly nodded. “Are you two⁠—”

“No I still hate her,” Sid’fril began to explain. “She came her to observe you.” 

“Huh, right…” Amber wasn’t too sure what to reply to that, and she didn’t feel like inquiring about some thousand year old drama. 

Instead, she went to grab Asil who seemed as tense as ever seeing Sid’fril, he was completely locked up. 

“He taught me Essence, so⁠—”

“He’s fine to leave,” Sid’fril said simply. “I planned for him to teach you and he mostly fulfilled his duties, even if he left a bit too early.” 

“Oh.” Amber blinked. “Right.” 

On one hand, it was a good plan, on the other it still made Sid’fril a terrible teacher. But she decided not to mention that. She turned around and paused, remembering something. She glanced back towards the two Primordial Spirits.

“Who is Ishtar, the Cursed Inexorable Berserker? Why was Essence called Qi in the past?”

Val’leri blinked, and Sid’fril immediately frowned. 

“Ishtar is someone you should forget about,” he said simply, yet his voice sounded displeased. “But if you want to research it on your own, go ahead I suppose.” 

Meanwhile Val’leri laughed. “It seems that she saw some interesting visions, revelations, during her advancement.” 

Amber nodded. Looks like they aren’t going to tell me anything about it. Then as she was about to turn around, Sid’fril spoke. 

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” 

“What is⁠—” And she felt a tug within her ring. “Right, sorry.” 

She let go of Asil for a moment and approached Sid’fril who stood almost two heads taller than her, and handed the cube. 

“Sorry it’s in this state, it just happened after I ignited my core…” she felt awkward, but continued. “And thank you for teaching me Essence.”

Sid’fril laughed. “It’s nice to see you be meek for once, and you are welcome.” 

Amber sighed. “I do appreciate it.”

She got a nod in return and she turned to Val’leri.

“Thank you for coming to see me as well.”

“You’re welcome, just so you know if you ever come back to my tower you will be offered the option to reach the final floor rather than climb it. So feel free to swing by at any time.” She smiled. 

Amber felt happy at that, and Sid’fril continued. 

“Once this war blows over, you should come here as well, you should be able to sense my oasis now.”

She blinked. “Okay, I will too.” 

The two spirits seemed to share a chuckle at that, and then said their goodbyes. Amber bid them well and set off with the very tense Asil, but as soon as they were out of sight. She ran, finally breaking the elf out of his stupor. 

It took less than a minute for them to get to the plaza, but even then she could hear alarmed voices. 

“Hurry, let’s leave!” 

“The army is coming!” 

“We can’t wait for your friend!” 

Thankfully Amber arrived, sparing Cecile the situation, who seemed really relieved. Narnt scoffed at the people.

“She saved our lives, douchebags.”

Some lowered their gazes while others retorted, but Amber ignored all of that. Instead, she rushed to the wyvern and flung Asil along with her to its neck. 

As soon as she did that, the wyvern immediately began to flap its wings and set off, not needing a command to do so.

The large beast was filled to the brim with people, but Amber still found a spot to sit on, all while Cecile gave Asil a surprised look for a brief moment. Then, a worried look at her. 

Amber blinked looking down at her completely battered armor and blood filled body. 

“Are you… okay?” Cecile asked.

“Yeah I just fought some level 190 mages, it’s fine,” she reassured. 

But Cecile just blinked. “Are they coming after us?”

“No, I killed both of them, well⁠— technically I killed one and the other died of other causes.” 

She didn’t think saying a Primordial Spirit intervened was a good idea, but nevertheless, her words seemed to stun Cecile. 

“You killed level 190 mages and are fine…?” The merchant blinked. “Just… what kind of monster have you become?”

Amber didn’t have a reply to that, and Asil had been quiet after meeting the gods; evidently, he was still suffering from emotional whiplash, especially after meeting Sid’fril face to face. So, she decided to give him time. 

Cecile seemed to stunned to say more so she instead, looked down at the city. They were still flying overhead, and even though they were quite high into the sky Amber could see the army down in the alleyways, fighting against the soldiers of the Grand City of Torl. It was a grim sight. While she was kind of used to death by now, at this scale it still made her feel some level of sadness she didn’t quite understand. 

Amber turned to the edges of the city where the army was pouring in from, and there were dozens of thousands of soldiers invading. Thankfully, Amber was sure that Sid’fril wouldn’t let them take over his tower or anything, so that helped her thoughts a bit⁠—

And then a spell flew into the air, missing the wyvern. 

Amber looked down and she saw easily over a thousand mages aiming their staffs in the air. She paused, and Cecile called out⁠—

“Mages protect us!” 

Asil tensed at that and raised his staff, she also saw a few people in the crowd raise some staffs, and a barrier was erected protecting the wyvern. Numerous spells passed and some hit the shield, but for the most part it seemed fine, which relieved Amber. Even if the civilians were screaming in terror. 

Still, they are attacking us? That seemed ridiculous. 

She looked down at the flurry of spells, it seemed that she had underestimated how bloodthirsty the nation of Ofril was. That said, Amber also disliked that she lacked the ability to protect everyone here⁠, but she wasn’t a mage. For a moment, she considered lending her Essence to Asil, but she didn’t have the time to because⁠ the barrier shattered⁠—

The wyvern screeched as an explosion of fire engulfed it and Amber sensed curses, ones she immediately absorbed and shut down, but everyone shrieked and the wyvern was injured as well. 

Cecile blanched and Amber looked down only to see a squad of mages gathered, they wore completely different armors, and they were preparing a new big spell⁠— 

Amber frowned and stood up, slowly walked past Cecile who looked at her weirdly. Thankfully, she knew what to do, and it was because now, she had changed. Amber clapped her hands and pulled them apart making a bow of blue fire. 

Cecile paused. “Wait, what are you doing?”

And Amber ignored her, instead she aimed down as she pulled down with an already made arrow of flames. Thankfully, her Essence was full after killing the members of the Arcane Council, which meant she could go all out.

The air twisted and Asil also took attention. 

And thanks to her Core Advancement, it took less than two seconds for the arrow to gather its full power. Everyone was staring at her, but Amber just took aim and the mages⁠— fired. 

A gigantic fireball was hurled and Amber smiled to herself.

Primordial Blazing Bolt⁠—

And she loosed it. 

The blue arrow, streaked through the air like a shooting star, breaking through the fireball as she saw the people on the ground panic⁠— some teleported away, some made a barrier⁠— and it hit. 

A blue explosion engulfed everything, going upwards over a half a hundred meters into the air, and with a blast radius of similar size. In a single moment, a section of the army lost formation, and hundreds of people died.

Amber shook her head and sat back down as notifications came, all while everyone just stared at her in silence. 

Moments later, all the spells stopped, and the mages ignored them, allowing them to leave the Great Desert in peace. 

Later, she went on to look at her notifications, completely skimming the hundreds of kill notifications. Instead, she focused on what mattered. She smiled at the fact that General Weapon Mastery had reached 4th Rank, and she also noticed the fact she got the full experience for the electricity mage. 

[You have defeated a [Mage. Lvl. 195].] 

For defeating an enemy 35 levels above your own, you have received bonus experience!

[You have defeated a [Mage. Lvl. 193].] 

For defeating an enemy 30 levels above your own, you have received bonus experience!

[You have defeated a…]

…

[Quick Dash has leveled up from 4th Rank level 3 to 4th Rank level 4.] 

[Inexorable Momentum has leveled up from 4th Rank level 4 to 4th Rank level 5.]

[Inexorable Body has leveled up from 4th Rank level 4 to 4th Rank level 5.]

[Recovery of Curses has leveled up from 4th Rank level 3 to 4th Rank level 4.]

[Curse Battery has leveled up from 4th Rank level 3 to 4th Rank level 4.]

[Cursed Rage Synergy has leveled up from 4th Rank level 2 to 4th Rank level 3.]

[Inexorable Manipulation has leveled up from 4th Rank level 3 to 4th Rank level 4.]

[Crimson Fervor has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 2 to 2nd Rank level 3.]

[Crimson Fuel has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 2 to 2nd Rank level 3.]

[Crimson Sense has leveled up from level 9 to 10.]

[Crimson Destruction has leveled up from level 8 to 9.] 

[Crimson Break has leveled up from level 6 to 7.] 

[Toxin Resistance has leveled up from 3rd Rank level 8 to 3rd Rank level 9.]

[Elemental Resistance has leveled up from 4th Rank level 2 to 4th Rank level 4.]

[Physical Resistance has leveled up from 4th Rank level 2 to 4th Rank level 4.]

[Magical Resistance has leveled up from 4th Rank level 2 to 4th Rank level 4.]

[Sharp Instincts has leveled up from 4th Rank level 3 to 4th Rank level 4.]

[Quick Recovery has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 6 to 2nd Rank level 7.]

[⁠General Weapon Mastery has reached 4th Rank — level 1. 

You’ve grown used to wielding the weapons you come across! And now, you can do it better. What? It’s a mastery skill. 

2nd Rank ⁠— Weapons feel 30% lighter on your hands.

3rd Rank ⁠— If your weapon mastery is higher than the opponent’s, parrying and deflecting becomes three times easier.

4th Rank ⁠— You gain a deeper understanding of your weapon and technique, optimizing it to make your weapon have 50% more durability and 20% more sharpness. ]

[You have reached level 160. 10 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.] 

…

[You have reached level 164. 10 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]