Evocation has gone up by a rank!
Evocation (Novice Rank/ Level 1-25)
The ability to mix one’s spiritual energies with the physical elements of the world, achieving the power to manipulate them through thought and will alone.
At the current rank, aether and elements may be properly fused with one another.
Known Elements: Fire
Due to controlling great amounts of AP, your MND stat has gone up by 2!
Aetheric Attunement has gone up by *2* levels!
Kurt threw another Fireball at the crater-riddled wall. Big as his own head and devoid of any impurities, the deep red sphere of power crashed into the bedrock, carving a deep crater-big enough for himself to almost crawl into- with inner walls of shinning pink stone. The color and heat disspated from the rock before Kurt's eyes with unnatural quickness, and far faster than Galton's.
Dispelling his wand with a thought, the boy took a look at his SP, which was now almost empty.
"Good job." said Galton, who was sitting next to the bonfire. "With the time we have these are the absolute best developments we could hope for. All that’s left is resting and strategizing."
"The former is going to be difficult with all this noise. Trust me"
Both sorcerers looked at the origin of the new voice. It was Conrad, with a sleepy-looking Mila not far behind.
"Is he going to be ready?" Asked Conrad, looking at Galton.
The adult sorcerer shrugged."As ready as he can possibly be. He’s definitely a better fit for the job than me now, so long as we take his physicality into account."
"Will it be enough?" Asked Mila, looking at her best friend.
This time it was Kurt who answered. "It will have to. As he said, this is our best shot at killing that thing. No need for you to worry though." he said while materializing his wand in his hand, and a Fireball the size of his head above it. "I am stronger than ever."
Galton looked at him, his expresion oddly serious. After a moment he looked at the two new arrivals.
" You kids want something to eat?" He finaly said. "We could cook some beef."
"Sounds good" said Conrad
"Sounds great." Agreed Mila.
Kurt looked at the three of them for a moment before walking away. "You guys do that. I'm going to get some extra training done."
Galton and Conrad both looked at him, one with worry and the other suspiciously. Mila simply walked towards him, expression neutral.
"Kurt." Called Galton. "It’s not healthy for someone your age to go skipping meals, so please sit down."
"What is not healthy, Edward, is for me to get killed by a demon because I didn’t train hard enough. So you guys eat while I-"
A small, soft hand closed around his, not strongly or violently, but its grasp was still firm.
"Kurt, come eat with us, please." Requested Mila. Not ordered. Not demanded. A simple request.
"Mila," Started the boy, trying to appease his friend. " I really should keep practicing. Spellcasting is still new to me and-"
Her grip tightened slightly. She looked him in the eye, and he gazed back into her own.
They both walked back to the bonfire.
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In the end the meal had consisted of an arm-long slab of beef, which had been amongst the supplies found in the shack, cooked on an electric grill also taken from the shack. They laid the meat on the grass, over its own plastic wrapping, and Galton took a knife to it, trying to cleanly cut it in four portions.
And failing miserably. He used the knife like a saw, damaging the meat with each stroke.
"No, no!" Corrected Kurt while taking the knife from Galton’s hand. "You to cut swiftly and against the grain so that the meat's more tender." He then procceded to slash three times at the thing, dividing it into four perfect slices. Then cut slightly into them, taking nail-sized portions of fat off them.
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"You know what? I'm just gonna let you do it." said the man, letting the boy take over the cooking and sitting back.
"Don’t take it personally Mr. Galton." said Mila. "He’s quite strong opionated when it comes to cooking."
"Yeah, yeah. It’s fine girl." Answered the sorcerer, waving a hand lazily. His tone was somewhat sour.
Mila didn't miss this.
"Did… something happen?" She asked. "Between you two, I mean. Did you guys argue or something?"
Both Kurt and Galton looked at her, then at each other. In the end neither answered her question. Kurt placed the fat on the oiled grill, adding some salt and pepper and meat juice before letting it mix in a sauce. Then he placed the meat, letting it sizzle.
"Don’t worry." said Conrad. "They probably are stressed and tired from all the training. Preparing to slay a demon with a deadline like the one they have would sour anyone’s mood."
Mila looked at Kurt, who averted his own gaze. "Yeah." He murmured. "We’re just tired" He got to to cooking again, flipping the slices over to expose the gold-brown surface of its cooked half. He let them rest for a moment before pressing and poking at them with the knife, so that they wouldn't grow stiff.
"No need for worry missy" Added the sorcerer.
"Okay…" she said, sounding unconvinced.
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After the tasty meal (which no one fully enjoyed, on account of the sheer tension between sorcerers), Kurt and Galton retreated back in the shack, where they began to discuss the best way to slay the creature within the seal.
"The biggest problem is going to be the seal itself." Explained Galton. "Now, normally the way to slay or at least vanquish a demon is to whittle down their bodies with sorcery or holy power until they can’t keep a physical form anymore. Demons, being creatures of entropy and destruction in all their forms, are subsequently very poor at creating physical vessels. That’s why they posses people so much, it’s one of the few ways they can physically manifest. The other way being saturating a determinate space with so much Abyssal Energy that demons can construct themselves a body out of it. So when one faces a demon, dispersion’s the name of the game."
"But…" Interjected Kurt. "The seal doesn’t allow for that, right? It’s designed to keep abyssal energy in, no matter what."
"Exactly. And that leaves us with the second, riskier way of exorcising a demon: Destroy its core. You see, demons construct their bodies completely out of magic, making them into something akin to living spells."
"And like any physical spell…" Theorized the boy. "… there’s got to be some kind of foci holding it together, right? Their core."
"Correct." Confirmed the man. "If you take that core to it’s breaking point, then the demon is disspelled, no ifs or buts. But the problem with that is that the core is buried deep into the demon’s body, where the energy flow is at its strongest and thus, its hardest to get through."
"So I'm going to have to break through this thing’s toughest defenses if I want to kill it?" Galton nodded. "Well, if this thing’s core is acting as a foci, then it must be a physical thing, right? My sword ought to work on it."
"That’s correct, but that thing isn’t just going to let you reach it and stab into it, and the rest of its body is going to be mostly impervious to your sword or fists. That his why I taught you sorcery in the first place."
"So I can cripple it with spells before going for the kill with my sword."
"Exactly." Conrad confirmed. "The area surrounding the core is going to be quite resistant to magic, so a physical attack is going to be the best way to get through it."
Kurt nodded."I’ll make sure to remember"
…
"Hey, kid." Called Galton after a moment. "About our chat around the fire…"
"…Yes?" Asked Kurt, sceptical.
"I’m sorry. I really don’t have any space to talk about protecting children when I'm having you do this on my behalf. And I really wasn’t looking down on you because you are a late bloomer or something. Like I said, you’re definitely a better fit for this job than me."
Kurt remained silent for a moment before answering. "Thanks, I appreciate it. But you forgot about Mila."
"Mila? What about her?"
"You said that, since she’s a fae, she must be in her element when it comes to gruesome stuff. You just insulted her and didn’t think anything about it."
Galton stared at him. He blinked once, then once again. "Boy, I'm sorry if you took offense to that one but, do you know exactly how are fae born?"
The boy in question just glared at him. "She told me herself. Both how fae are born in general and how it was for her. And she sure has hell didn’t look ‘in her element’ when she was recalling it to me. She started crying in the middle of it"
"Oh…" Galton gasped, a flash of realization and horror crossing his eyes. "Kid… I-I’m sorry. I wasn’t saying she can’t be a normal girl or anything, just that as a fae she must have already… urgh, I'm starting to hear how I sound." He raised his head, looking at the other sorcerer in the eye. "I’m sorry. I didn’t think I was being disrespectful, but I clearly was."
"…It's fine." Kurt said after a long moment. "Just be more careful."
"Sure thing." Galton said, earnestly… before his mouth twisted in a mischiveous smile. "Wouldn’t want to disrespect your girlfriend."
"Y-you…" Stammered the boy, blood beggining to color his factions. "You asshole! Don’t say that"
As a response, Galton just laughed."What’s up? Hate the idea so much? Man, now I'll have to tell poor Mila. She’s gonna be devastated."
"Devastated?" Asked Kurt. " Why?"
"You… are you serious?" The man looked at him as if he had grown a second head.
"Yes, why would she care about… that?"
Another smile overtook the sorcerer's features.
"…Ha. Hahaha! Holy shit man! Hahaha!"
"Hey! Stop laughing at me. Answer the question!"
"Hahahahahaha!"
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The group stood in front of the seal, which looked bloated with that demonic yellow energy. It had already outspaced the green energy that held it together.
"We’re running out of time" Muttered Galton.
"It’s about time." said Kurt."Galton, how do I get in?"
"Just walk into the seal. It’s designed to keep stuff in, not out."
"Okay." said the boy, steeling himself. "Oh, but before I go, could you lend me your-Ohmpf?!"
While he was looking away Mila had approached and, with surprising strength, she glomped him so tight that one of her cheeks was positively smushed against his collarbone. "Please come back alive." she said. Her tone sounded the most vulnerable that he had ever heard from her.
"Good luck." He heard Conrad say. Kurt turned his head towards him. The older swordsman had both arms crossed below his chest, and his expresion was one of tension-maybe even worry- as he looked at the soon-to-be demonslayer. "Do your best."
Was…Conrad worried about him? Mila worrying about him, now that made sense. But, Conrad? Conrad was supposed to… what? Not care Kurt was risking his life? Be happy at the prospect? Neither really sounded like him, even if they didn’t get along for…reasons that felt rather insignificant in the face of everything that was going down.
The boy pondered these thoughts as he wrapped one arm around Mila, the other raised in a silent and, he hoped, reasuring gesture to his other quest companion. Conrad gestured back, but his expression remained the same.
Galton placed a hand on his shoulder."Boy?" he said. "What were you asking for?"
Kurt took a moment to answer while he gently separated from Mila. "Oh, yeah" he said. "I need your staff."
"My staff?" The man repeated. "What for? You’ve already got the Tighearnais."
"I’ve got a plan to lure that thing." He answered. "But I need your staff as a decoy."
Galton looked at him for a moment. Kurt honestly thought he would inquire more about this plan of his. Instead, he handed him the staff without any further discussion.
Solomonic Order Staff
Quality: Uncommon
A wooden staff issued by the Solomonic Order to its members to be used as a foci for physical sorcery. This one in particular is specialized on conducting and focusing fire and heat-based sorceries, making them easier to control.
"Thanks." Kurt said while storing the tool in his inventory, much to Conrad's and Galton's surprise. "I’ll be sure to give it back."
After a moment of perplexed silence, Galton answered. "Better make sure you come back boy. The staff’s just an enchanted stick I got for free."
With that, and after take one last look at the group, Kurt walked up to the seal while unsheathing his sword. He could feel heat radiating from it, and a faint smell like vinegar and bleach. He stepped in, feeling the barrier caving in to his stride before shooting back to its original position, washing over him to do so.
Suddenly, the dark. And then, a voice.
"Hmm? A visitor?" He heard the voice say. A voice both very human and disgustingly wet, as if phlegms had taken over the speaker’s throat to the point of barely allowing breathing.
Kurt’s eyed, aided by the Od that was now cycling all over his body, adjusted to the darkness, allowing him to take a good look both at the inside of the seal-a perfect semisphere with a radius of about 50 feet and a perfectly smooth stone floor- and the demon he was to slay.
He almost regretted taking that look as soon as he had done so.
