Smoke that tasted like ozone filled Paul’s magical equivalent of lungs as he dove into the roiling storm of broken enchantments and disrupted rituals, which were mixing with the ambient mana and erupting in a violent reaction of nature. Despite not needing to breathe, Paul used the action to his advantage with each scent giving a signal of where danger might y.

  The feel of heat to his left helped him stay clear of the fire that was consuming a wall of odorous flowers leaking a sour stench. The tingle of static brushing against his right wing had him dodging in time to prevent an arc of lightning from jumping at him. The frigid stillness of an impenetrable patch of darkness stinging his throat reinforced what his tracking Bane was telling him, and he struck his target with deadly precision.

  A string of curses met his ears as he felt his sword impale the enemy’s center. He grimaced, not from the pain that he hadn’t quite learned to turn down all the way but from the sensation of even more Banes settling onto him from the daggers that were now embedded in him as well.

  One in his lower gut, between the crack in his armor along his waist, and the other in the side of his neck; a likely killing blow if he had been Sapphire or lower. At Ruby, it was more of an annoyance. The real threat was the burst of magical damage taking a chunk of his lifeforce and the negative effects of whatever litany of Banes had just been triggered.

  For a brief moment, Paul found himself staring at that glossy bck gss that the enemy’s helmets were all comprised of, but this one was slightly hidden under a dark cowl. Then he released the hold on his sword to grab the man he knew y within.

  He wrapped his arms around the Caster, invading the man’s personal space, all in an attempt to disrupt the teleporting magic the enemy was using while he cast another spell. This one also had an altered name since bonding with one of his Radiant Spirit Gems, and he hoped the additional effects wouldn’t make him regret his choice since he had never used it while grappling the intended target before.

  Css Ability: Swords of the Celestial

  Type: Spell (channel, construct, elemental, magical, blood, fire, light)

  Cost: Moderate mana per second.

  Cooldown: 5 minutes.

  Current Caste: Ruby 1 (1%)

  Crystal Effect: Channel mana to construct a sword each second to impale a nearby enemy target from above and inflict Light damage.

  Sapphire Effect: Each second constructs three swords and inflicts additional Fire damage and [Ignited Mana].

  Emerald Effect: Each second constructs six swords and inflicts additional Blood damage and [Bleeding Channels].

  Ruby Effect: Each second constructs nine swords and explodes upon impact inflicting additional Radiant damage.

  Ignited Mana (bane, elemental, fire, stacking): Inflicts ongoing low Fire damage for a moderate duration.Bleeding Channels (bane, magical, blood, stacking): Inflicts ongoing moderate Blood damage for a short duration.

  The seconds felt excruciatingly long as sets of nine long swords, shimmering with rainbow radiance and holy fmes, sequentially appeared above the pair to swiftly crash down upon them. The physical bdes easily sliced through them before exploding in a rapid series of concussive bsts.

  Paul was relieved that his health seemed unaffected by the damage of his own ability, but he was still pinned in pce as he held tight to the cursing rogue, who was becoming increasingly slick with blood and singed by the fire engulfing him. Each explosion threatened to shred the enemy to pieces as the metal wouldn’t allow the entire body to be tossed aside instead.

  The two Ruby Casters were suddenly drenched in a torrent of water as a giant maw consumed them both.

  The dragon had swallowed them whole, not caring about the fact that its massive body was crashing into even more of the hybrid wreckage, setting off another chain of wild explosions that Paul could sense even through the thick scaled lining of the monster’s throat.

  He hadn’t stopped channeling his spell, though, and swords continued appearing to impale the pair. It wasn’t until Paul felt the effects of the creature’s magical stomach attempting to break him down for nutrients that he released the Soul Reaper and triggered [Meteor Strike] again, bsting through the less deflective insides and piercing a hole between the silvery scales.

  Paul wasn’t completely surprised that the stealth specialist hadn’t followed after him, likely attempting to recover as well, and he downed one of the more expensive Emerald Caste Healing Potions he had in his hip pouch.

  As he flew through the air, he also tried downing a Cleansing Elixir to help his aura clear off the effects faster, but the Emerald Caste item didn’t seem to be enough to get rid of the Banes slowly killing him from the inside. He knew it was a long shot but thought it was worth the attempt, at least.

  Grimacing, he tried navigating further away from his [Nemesis] Bane to perch on a ledge of the sundered ship that wasn’t being completely ravaged by the magic storm and pulled out a small canister.

  “Waynd hasn’t needed to use that for quite a while,” Orebe noted in his mind.

  “I haven’t found myself bleeding out for quite a while,” he retorted, dipping the tips of his fingers into the specialized salve, the pungent scent of cut grass and the coppery tang of spilled blood assaulting his nostrils. He winced slightly as he stretched his torso to rub the Maniac’s Sorrow across the wound refusing to close on its own.

  “I wish the golden skin you gave me did more for Piercing attacks,” he grumbled as he repeated the action on his shoulders and neck wounds as well once it proved successful in removing the Blood magic Bane that had been forcibly leaking his life force. He could sense that his aura wouldn’t be able to cleanse that one while other Banes remained. That particur stipution on a Bane was a rare modifier he had only come across a handful of times, and it made Bane specialists particurly fatal.

  The divinely blessed salve he had used was specifically designed to handle bleeding wounds like that after his old party had run into a particurly nasty enemy, who had been very fond of exsanguination and hoarding sacred weapons.

  “This One wishes Waynd wasn’t so tired that he forgot how to dodge.”

  “I didn’t forget,” he compined, “I’m just a bit off with my timing, and it’s been decades since I’ve been at the bottom level of a Caste. I’m not used to things moving that much faster than me or evading my aura senses to the degree he’s capable of.

  “Even when I was around Ruby Casters as an Emerald, you know I never fought any by myself like this. It requires different tactics,” he expined.

  “Yes. Mainly dodging because Waynd doesn’t have a Healer to heal the hits or a Defender to take the hits instead. Now Waynd has nasty Banes destroying what little hasn’t already been destroyed by your refusal to recover.”

  “My aura can handle most of what I would normally come across,” he said in his defense as the aura handled the Dark Banes that remained after just a few moments. “And it’s not like I could walk into the Purifier’s temple to buy one of those Divine Cleansing potions that don’t care about a person’s Caste. I would have been sughtered as soon as I walked through the door,” he pointed out.

  He silently admitted, though, that he had been disappointed that the Ruby effect of his aura hadn’t been cultivated to cover one of his gring weaknesses.

  Passive Ability: Fmes of Purification

  Type: Aura (cleanse, elemental, fire)

  Current Caste: Ruby 1

  Crystal Effect: Periodically cleanses Elemental Banes for allies within your aura.

  Sapphire Effect: Increases Fire resistance for allies while decreasing Fire resistance for enemies.

  Emerald Effect: Periodically cleanses Magical Banes for allies within your aura.

  Ruby Effect: Periodically inflicts Fire and Light damage to enemies within the aura. Extra effective against targets with the [Corrupted] status.

  Unfortunately, it did nothing for the Divine Void Banes he could feel still weakening and draining him, but at least he bought himself a bit more time with the salve.

  At the sight of the dragon seemingly fighting with the wild storm itself along with the magic of the ship shing out against the beast that had attacked it, he gave a small grin and thought, “I can do this. I can win.”

  “This One does not understand what Waynd is smiling about,” his Familiar chided, “This One told Waynd to buy Ruby Cleansing potions back in Blomstra, even at that outrageous price.”

  “I know, Be. You’re much wiser than I and usually right,” he conceded as he looked at the massive spectacle before him and added, “But I can’t help but smile when I remember what Everin said: that this is a battle they’ll sing songs about.”

  “Songs about the foolish man who never listens to his Familiar when it matters most and finally lost his mind from refusing to rest,” the monotonous voice managed to say bitterly.

  He chuckled, but it was quickly cut off by the feeling of his [Nemesis] blinking out of existence to reappear behind him. He turned while lifting his rger bde and managed to block the two smaller ones that had been aiming for his back.

  Paul took one of his hands away from his hilt to construct and throw a [Fme Javelin] at the enemy’s head, but hit only smoke as his tracking Bane moved further away again.

  A ripple of exhaustion passed through him as he stumbled slightly. The slight falter caused a mild surge of panic to rush through him, and his body reacted by unching himself up into the sky where he unsteadily wavered in the air. It was a harsh reminder that he was still on an internal countdown towards an inevitable sleep. He couldn’t afford to waste any time or energy chasing the rogue around the precarious battlefield.

  Instead, he focused on the enemy he could see, which was nicely distracted by its fight with a ship he was starting to wonder was sentient somehow. Or maybe the magic was going wonky and making it sentient? Perhaps the technology was just so advanced that it looked purposeful as it fought back? Paul wasn’t sure, but he did know that whatever was happening was something he could take advantage of.

  Another [Meteor Strike] ter, his renewed assault on the massive dragon began again. Piling on the damage as the ship’s vines entangled the once-flying creature in pce, and the dragon’s magically infused water attacks fought back, all while the storm raged around them in a chaotic cacophony of elements.

  Wind buffeted Paul around as he maneuvered through the air. Fmes caressed any surface they could find purchase on. Rain and snow spattered his face and soaked his hair, turning it a darker auburn. There was even the rare flicker of illusory images of the people that had once inhabited the vessel floating among the wreckage, and the haunting song of their loss entwining with the flurry around them.

  The serpentine body filing wildly didn’t help Paul take less damage from stray hits and too-tired reaction times, but it did help him chain combination attacks until, with one st explosion of Radiant damage from his greatsword, the dragon gave out a final death wail. The vines of the vessel finished slicing through the scaly body, leaving piles of fishy flesh scattered all over.

  Before he could celebrate the moment, however, an unlucky hit from a stray lightning bolt threatened to ruin him. As he was mid-flight in his descent toward a nding, the momentary jolt gave the Reaper—who he had felt shifting around nearby—the opportunity they had been waiting for. Curved bdes struck from behind again, right at the joints where his wings extended from his shoulder bdes, and pinned him against the angry vessel.

  In a final act of desperation, as soon as the bdes were pulled back for another attack, he triggered [Flicker Strike] again with the ship as his second target.

  Paul felt like he had become the lightning itself as he chained attacks in brilliant fshes of light, consuming his enemies with fmes and holy wrath.

  He pushed himself harder and harder. Even as the teleporting effect ended with his twentieth attack, he kept swinging; weaving his attacks with javelins thrown at the ship, which was now attacking the pair of them.

  Paul felt the ship groan as the metal supports seemed to give out and the vines stopped moving on their own, the temporarily infused construct having finally exhausted its mana.

  The brief glimpses that he had gotten of the shifty assassin let him know that the Caster wasn’t faring much better than the ship at this point, having been caught twice in the devastation of his [Flicker Strike], and he saw the vessel itself manage a few critical blows to their mutual enemy. His [Nemesis] Bane was turning out to be his greatest advantage against the stealth specialist attempting to ambush him. Letting him defend or nd blows that he normally wouldn’t have had time to react with.

  Then it was his turn to finally have some luck as he alighted on the topmost level of the now-still vessel. He sensed his [Nemesis] move in closer, only to halt suddenly as a bst of wild Ice magic caught the enemy’s leg, and Paul executed the Soul Reaper where he stood.

  Now shining with a Radiant light, his gleaming onyx bde rent the enemy in two at the waist. Cutting through the final sliver of life force the Soul Reaper was holding onto, the halves colpsing to the ground at his feet.

  In an unceremonious moment of triumph, Paul roared at the sky still raining down on him and kicked the upper torso to trigger the looting effect. Ruby red ashes quickly fell into a puddle that was reminiscent of blood, and a small pile of treasure appeared at his feet.

  He had won.

  His city was safe.

  His family was safe.

  Perhaps now he could rest…

  “Waynd should return now. Find a cleansing Healer and—”

  “You know there isn’t one there, Be… We just killed the only other Ruby Caster on the tundra.”

  “Then head straight to Blomstra. The Ruby Healers there will—”

  “It’s too far,” he countered. Another wave of fatigue washed through him, and he mentally murmured to his Familiar, “I just want to see my kids again…”

  Paul stumbled atop the nding as he bent to pick up the loot, instead falling to his knees in utter exhaustion, and he realized that he had finally run out of the rarest of Divine magics: Time.