Ashborn Primordial

Chapter 114: Breakthroughs

Yes. Yes! Show me the might of the Aprabomb! Vason roared as he hunkered down behind his tower shield. An onslaught of blades struck his shield, forcing him to defend with all his might.

Im not a bomb! Vir roared. Internally, he cursed at this pointless approach. Better to Leap around the big warrior, or sink into the shadows and strike from behind than to take Vason head on. Hed beaten the man repeatedly, but then Tia had handicapped him. No Talents.

With only Haymis Enhance Speed orb to augment his attacks, their duels had once again become far more equal.

That wasnt quite accurateVir still used Prana Blade. More out of necessity than anything else. He knew just how easy it was to ruin a blade by banging it on steel armor. Even Seric was no exception to that. Prana Blade not only augmented his attacks, but protected the blade against damage when striking hard things.

He wouldnt have dared use such a strategy were it not for Vasons Bulwark, but thanks to the mans Talents, they could spar without issue.

Tia had insisted he understand each members strengths and weaknesses firsthand, and Vasons strength was his defense. With Bulwark active, and with his armor enhanced by Haymis magic, the man was frustratingly difficult to harm. Even a surprise attack wouldve had trouble penetrating all those layers of defenses.

Clang Clang Clang!

Frontal attacks are going to have a hard time. But if you had no other choice, what would you do? Tia asked from the sidelines, where she watched.

If I didnt have Leap or Dance I need to deal with that shield. Ill never get through with that in the way.

Right.

Vir had an idea. They were currently on a beach, and he had an old trick that seemed to always work.

Calling a quick timeout, he knelt to fix the laces on his boots. Then he lunged at Vason, taking the man by surprise.

Or so hed hoped, but the warrior was ready. He brought his shield to bear, but then Vir ducked low and punched straight at Vason.

The man didnt bother to moveVir was too far to make contact.

But at the last moment, Virs fists opened, spraying a shower of sand into Vasons face. Though he wore a full plate helm, it offered little protection against the fine sand.

Agh! Sand!?

Vir had to give the man credit. Even blinded as he was, he kept his shield in front, anticipating Virs next attack.

But as good as his instincts were, he was unable to predict Virs next attack. Using this opportunity, Vir knocked Vasons shield aside and plunged his katar up against Vasons neck.

Alright! Now both of you against me, Tia ordered, twirling her spear. The first thing to know is that humans fight very differently from monsters. Sadly, I cant turn into a monster for you, but I can mimic some of the attack patterns Ive seen them use before. I want you to work together to take me on.

Cmon, Aprabomb! With our combined might, defeating Tia will be a cinch!

Im not a bomb, Vir muttered. Tia had had the brilliant idea of sending Vir charging in, katar blazing, to occupy their enemies. Previously, Tia had taken that role, but with Virs katar, he could attack far faster than any of them could. With Leap and Dance, he could evade any enemys attacks, allowing Tia and Vason to flank and destroy their opponents.

At least, that was the idea, but it was one thing to come up with a plan, and another entirely to execute it in perfect harmony with your team.

Tia began by activating Haste, allowing her to move even faster than Vir when he micro Leaped.

Use whatever Talents you like! Tia said as she flitted around them.

Aprabomb, go! Vason roared as he activated Bulwark.

Vir rolled his eyes. Fine. But if we lose, you owe me one.

Ahaha. You got it, friend! But if we win, the first drinks on you!

Deal.

Maybe I oughta lose on purpose But if he did, both Tia and Vason would chew his ears off. That option was strictly off the table.

Haymi? You ready?

Go for it, the convalescing mejai replied from her log nearby, where Neel kept her company. They kept these duels brief to avoid stressing her too badly; using magic took a toll on her recovery.

Deploying Prana Blade and activating micro Leap, Vir matched Tias agility, striking with a flurry of attacks.

After endless hours of repetition, hed finally begun to grasp the timing of Haymis Enhance Speed orb. The real issue was alternating between quickened and mundane attacksthe way he used his muscles and positioned his body varied drastically between them.

Shes really fast, Vir noted. But shes only attacking with simple strikes. Guess shes trying to imitate an agile beast.

Whenever he Leaped to her, shed simply run away, jabbing at him with her spear. The weapons long reach kept Vir from getting close; where Vasons shield protected him, Tias weapon acted like a shield of its own.

Apramor! I cant help like this. You need to pin her down! Lets attack from both sideWait! Dont act alone!

I got this! Vir shouted back.

There was one critical weakness that all spears possessed. Unlike swords, their blade was only on their tip. Get close enough, and the weapon would be rendered useless.

Vir pretended to retreat while he charged a fully powered Leap.

Tia struck him with her spear, but he activated his Talent before she could react, surging right up to her.

If he was fighting alone, hed have gone in for an attackwhich likely wouldve missed.

But he wasnt alone. He grabbed the shaft of her spear, pinning her in place, and awaited Vasons charge.

What now, Tia? Take Vasons attack, or abandon your weapon?

Only Vason was a moment too slow.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Apramor, back away! Vason replied, but Vir was unable to react in time.

Tia darted forward, smashing into Vir and taking him to the ground. Vason, not having expected such a move, charged right past where shed been.

Straddling Vir, she then did something no one couldve expected. She snapped her teeth together and lunged for Virs neck, stopping just short of it.

There. If I was an Ash Beast, Id have bitten your neck off.

Vir just stared at her, too shocked to even reply. Then he burst out laughing.

Hey! Im being serious here! Tia said, pouting.

Sorry. Just didnt expect that. If you really were an Ash Beast, I could always escape with my shadow ability.

Hmm. True. Still have no clue how that works. But its fine, I wont pry.

T-thanks, Vir said. Now, do you mind getting off me? Haymis giving us dirty looks.

O-oh, she said as she stood up, blushing. Sorry.

Vir took her hand. Guess this ones our loss, Vason, he said.

The warrior hung his head. Guess so. Guess so.

That was a good show, Apra, but you need to synchronize better with Vason. He was trying to match his movements to you, but you need to coordinate better with him.

Yeah sorry. Still working on that.

Its fine, Tia replied. Weve all fought a lot together, so we kinda understand each other without having to communicate. Until you get there, make sure youre both aware of each other at all times. Ash Beasts rarely use complex attacks. Theyre fast and theyre sturdy, but by working as a team, we can take them down.

I really thought the Aprabomb would work, Vason said, scratching its head.

Maybe it can.

Vason, Vir said, huddling next to the warrior. Can I have a word?

He explained his plan, ensuring Tia couldnt overhear.

Yes? Oh. Oh! Thats a fine idea, Apramor, Vason replied. Yes. Lets go with that.

Done strategizing? Im up for a rematch if you are. Haymi? You good?

The mejai waved tiredly. Im good, but lets call this the last one, okay? Oh, and please dont mount Apramor again. Im afraid I might accidentally cut your magic at the worst possible moment, Tia, she said with a smug smile.

Uh, noted

Lets go, Vir said, facing off against Tia.

This time, the first thing he did was Leap away, allowing Vason to charge.

Hed had a realization after the last fightuntil now, Vason had been responsible for keeping the enemy occupied. True, Tias Aprabomb strategy with Vir blitzing the enemy could work, but not against such an agile opponent.

Theyd been chasing their prey instead of letting her come to them. Vason simply wasnt as agile as Vir or Tia, and so such a strategy was doomed to fail.

This time, Tia faced off against Vason, and their familiarity with each other's styles became immediately obvious.

Tia would predict Vasons actions, and Vason would predict Tias. Their duel became less and less violent until slight movements from each other would cause the other to reposition in turn. To an untrained observer, it would've looked as though they stood still, but each was focused on the minutia of each other's body language.

Tia finally broke the stalemate when she lunged at Vason.

Leaping at her from behind, Vir fired off one attack after anotherthis time without Prana Blade to avoid injuring her.

Against the deadly onslaught, Tia immediately aborted her attack to defend, but Vason then Leaped into her, hurling her back right at Vir. Right into the Aprabomb.

His thrusts contacted with her Gambeson armor, slicing through the thick fabric.

Tia twisted her body, avoiding the brunt of the force, but then Vason swept her legs, sending her crashing onto the sand.

Stop! Tia shouted, panting heavily, but grinning despite the exertion. Good! That was good! Nice teamwork there. Gotta admit, I got too preoccupied with Vason, there. Good usage of the Aprabomb.

Vir rolled his eyes. Thats such a terrible name for it, Tia. All Im doing is attacking really fast.

But it just sounds so seric, doesnt it? Aprabomb! Itd have been tragic to waste such a great name.

Uh, huh.

Well, Im pooped, Vason said, removing his helmet to reveal a sweat-covered face. What say we head back, get cleaned up, then hit the pubs?

You all head back, Vir replied. Think I want to work on some stuff on my own. Ill join up with you later.

Suit yourself, overachiever! Vason said. Cmon, Haymi. Lets head home. You too, Neel! Youve been such a good boy. How about some treats for the good Bandy?

Neel wagged his tail excitedly. Awoo awoooo!

Tia? Vir asked.

Im gonna stay back with you. Curious to see what youll get up to.

Vir shrugged. Suit yourself, but its gonna be pretty boring for you.

Oh, dont you worry about me. Pretend like Im not even here! Tia said, kicking off her boots and digging her feet into the sand.

Vir glanced at the horizononly a couple of hours of daylight remained. Time enough to work on Prana Blade.

Hed wanted to experiment with it more upon learning it during the mission in the mine, but with all the squad training, hed just been too exhausted.

Plus, he needed appropriate targets. The Talent was far too dangerous to practice in his room; an errant swing could easily slice furniture in two.

Vir trudged up to the edge of the forest where it met the sandy beach and began.

HIs first strike was as normalleveraging the prana density in his body, he released a small burst of prana, spinning it so it clung to his katars blade as he slashed into the tree trunk.

Tia sauntered up to look at the damage.

This is odd, she said.

What do you mean?

Prana Blade isnt supposed to leave such a rough wound. Every time Ive seen it used, its more like a scalpel, razor-sharp and great for slicing. Yours seems I dunno, blunt? Youre doing quite a lot of damage with it. It's just not concentrated.

Interesting, he thought. If she hadnt pointed it out, hed never have known. Vir didn't fail to notice how she called it Prana Blade.

What's so funny? Tia asked, drawing close to Vir's face. Too close. He took a step back.

Oh, nothing. Just that it's called Prana Blade, even though Talents don't use prana.

Oh, that. Yeah, couldn't tell you why.

Was it a holdover from an age when people had more knowledge? Or was it simply a misnomer, because it gave the blade a similar effect to that of a magic Enhance Sharpness orb? Either way, it was just a curiosity for Vir.

Flaring Prana Vision to its max, he sliced again, paying careful attention to the prana that coated his blade.

Once, twice he kept his eyes peeled for anything abnormal.

By the twentieth slashand after felling two large treeshe finally noticed it. Prana was dissipating from his blade. Compared to the total amount, it wasnt significant, which was why Vir hadnt noticed until now, but it almost looked like excess prana, bleeding off the blade.

Am I using too much prana? Vir had been so obsessed with making the ability as powerful as possible, hed always poured as much prana as he could into the ability, but perhaps that strategy worked against him here.

With each subsequent slash, he lessened the amount of prana used bit by bit, until the ability failed to function entirely.

The results were surprising. Instead of a weaker attack as hed anticipated, his slices penetrated deeper and deeper, leaving less of a visible wound behind.

Thats more like it! Tia exclaimed. Thats now looking a lot closer to the Prana Blade Im familiar with. What did you do?

Just uh, allowed things to flow actually. You were right, there was too much effort before.

It was a lie, of course, though Vir couldn't say he'd adjusted the prana.

Hmmm. Curious. Im not aware of anyone who can modulate Prana Blade like that. Thats a pretty unique ability, yknow?

Is it? I dont know why Id ever use the old version, though.

Not only was his new variant deadlier, but it consumed nearly a third less prana. With Ash prana always being in such short supply, that was an advantage he couldnt ignore.

Hmm. I dunno about that. Go back to your original version. I wanna see something.

Vir complied, pouring more prana into the attack than necessary. As expected, the blades penetration was far shallower than his optimized strike.

Okay, now put even more force into it, if you can.

Sure but I dont think thatll help.

Vir sliced again, pouring more prana, spiraling it faster so that it clung to the blade. Even then, much was wasted but the result surprised him.

The attack was even shallower than normal, but his swipe took a chunk of the tree with it. Almost as if vaporizing the area around the blade the wound looked like it had been caused by a far thicker, heaver weapon.

This is amazing, Tia said, inspecting the results. The sharp versions great for piercing flesh, but you could easily use this blunter version against armor. See how wide the wound is? Its almost like youre hitting it with a maul or something. Slashing attacks are nearly useless against tough armor, but blunt force works really well. Its why most polearms have hammers on them.

Shes right, Vir thought. In fact, this discovery allowed him to overcome one of his primary weaknessesdealing with armor. Mundane armor was rarely ever a problem, but against Vason and his Bulwark, Vir had little recourse. But this augmented, blunt Prana Blade might very well be exactly what he needed.

Thanks, Tia. I dont know if Id have discovered this without your help. This is seriously useful.

Tia clapped his shoulder. Hey, what are friends for? she said with a smile. Just glad I could help.

Its not just that, though. Ive never really been able to bounce ideas with anyone before.

Even with Maiya, their discussions were one-sided, with Vir explaining his breakthroughs, and Maiya listening. With Tia, things were far more equal and constructive.

Which made him wonder just how many insights hed missed. Friends, huh He felt like hed just glimpsed a whole new world.

Well, if you really wanna thank me, why dont you buy me a drink? I dunno about you, but Im just about ready to get slammed.

Vir sighed. This is going to be a long night, isnt it?