Chương 34

As the Gelid flapped its wings, Alex focused on it with his soul senses. He felt the ice mana in the air around it, in a nine-foot-sphere, suck inward —into the ice-diamonds. The Gelid itself dimmed as it flapped, and the ice-diamonds shined brighter, like all its charged-up mana was transferred in as well. The diamonds descended. Beckett gasped, staggering a step; his hand was on his spear and it seemed he'd tried something at the last second, but his body was too iced up. Two Mana Shields filled the air above.

Shields placed one on top of each other; the two almost seemed a singular very thick shield. Initially Alex's intent was to place one above himself, one in front of Beckett. But it felt clear to Alex, after sensing the sheer mana in the diamonds, that would've been a very bad idea. Three diamonds struck his first shield, which froze and shattered in a fraction of a second; his second shield froze and shattered in a fraction of a second as well. And in the final fraction of a second, all the two could do was brace.

Ice-diamonds struck the ground around them. Several struck Alex and Beckett directly. Wherever the ice-diamonds struck, they shattered. Shards of ice-mana flew in all directions. It felt like dozens of icy knives lanced three-quarters of Alex's body, all at once, and he clenched his jaw very tight. Acutely he felt dozens of spheres of icy mana invading his body, freezing up his mana and flesh anywhere they touched; he instantly started working to clear it, cycling Pure as quickly as possible.

It felt sluggish, like an ice-filled river, compared to the Pure flow he was used to, since there was so much foreign mana to break up. He circled his left arm, felt it crinkling with ice-mana, but— I'm fine. I think. He stepped back and forth, suppressing winces as he did, feeling pain shooting through dozens of points in his body. I can still fight. Alex chanced a glance at Beckett, and saw icy-blue veins crawling up the sides of his face. Fuck. Beckett let out a shallow breath, which frosted in the air.

Staggered again, and Alex was almost sure he'd be forced to take a knee, but Beckett gritted his teeth; his eyes seemed to refocus, and he stabilized himself. Silence. Alex was pretty certain the Gelid wouldn't be able to try another ice-diamond-barrage—quickly, at least. The Ice Wargs were nearing again, and their eyes were like cold, passionless marbles. Alex cycled furiously, forcing himself to think. Two against three, but with these conditions— Beckett let out a tight breath, staggered a step, and Alex winced.

The action seemed robotic, like all his joints had welded together. —it's more like one against three. Or even less. About fifteen seconds ago, it seemed like they might genuinely be seizing the initiative in the fight. Alex started, reluctantly, to think about the emergency crystal in his ring, eyes flickering between the Wargs. A tiny part of him was very much against the idea of using the emergency crystal Clarissa had given him, but glancing at Beckett he wasn't sure he'd have a choice.

Fresh Mana Spears materialized above his head, and fire lances materialized above Beckett's. Beckett's body might be almost a statue, but a glance at his eyes and Alex was certain his mind was still there, as was his ability to Mana Manipulate. The crystal materialized in Alex's right hand." Wait." Beckett sounded almost—panicked?

"Half your body's frozen," said Alex, incredulous.

"What do you mean, wait?" Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Yeah," said Beckett, like they were talking about a tweaked ankle.

"It's just—" The guy grinned, wincing a bit as he did—the action seemed to hurt a few muscles in his face.

"I have an idea," said Beckett.

"I've—I've realized something. Give me a chance?" A second's hesitation.

"I can fight," said the guy. His eyes were bright." Three exchanges. Please." Before Alex could say more the two Ice Wargs attacked, and Alex was forced to focus. Charging, fangs bright and streaming ice-filled breaths, claws bright with ice mana. Two Shields materialized, forcing the Wargs into the air, at which point they were greeted by spears and lances. It was significantly easier to hit the things while airborne, but his spear scraped their pelts, and Beckett's fire lances only partially landed.

Clean damage, but nowhere near sufficient.

Alex ran the Ice Wargs into two more Mana Shields, and new Spears materialized behind him. His sword's edge slicked with Swordforce.

"It's the ice," said Beckett. He seemed— delighted?

"Dude, what the hell are you—" Beckett staggered forward three steps, and gasped. Lurching, sudden movements—and then it was like all his muscles deactivated at once. Alex was forced to grab him to keep him upright. His own Pure cycling had cleared a significant portion of his ice at this point.

"Wait," said Beckett, slurring a little. His arms were at his sides, all the way back. He felt incredibly weak to Alex, but they locked eyes, and his eyes were very clear." Step back." Alex realized what Beckett was trying; he felt the energies rising through Beckett's body, which confirmed it. The Ice Wargs leaped. A Warg was aiming for him, a second for Beckett. Alex's Mana Spear was close-quarters enough it was impossible to miss; he crashed it into the Warg's face. Its claws descended, and Alex slashed at it.

Simultaneously, a second Ice Warg descended on Beckett, which Alex watched out of the corner of his eyes. He could've Mana Shielded Beckett, but he didn't.

Beckett's spear was still gripped in his fists; and as he turned, blading his body, Alex realized his spear, in this position, was cocked pretty far back. Beckett stepped. There was a CRACK-CRACK!, and Beckett screamed, and Alex saw white lightning spasm over frozen muscles. The spear screamed forward. There was an explosion; the Ice Warg went reeling. Beckett sank. This time Alex couldn't catch him on account of the giant Ice Warg in his face. Beckett's spear slipped almost out of his fingers, and he gasped.

He glanced at Alex." Works," he gasped. He grinned pure joy.

"It works!" The Ice Warg was picking itself back up; it regarded Beckett with confusion, and a bit of hesitation. Probably lucky, since Alex was almost certain Beckett couldn't have managed something that big a second time in a row. Beckett's fingers were trembling and he could barely hold onto his spear.

"I'm fine," said Beckett, and Alex was certain the guy had just tanked whatever the lightning had done to his body." Go!"

"Fine," said Alex, who couldn't keep a bit a smile off his face. Christ. Alex still kept an eye on the guy—he'd add a Shield if he felt it was necessary. At least Beckett's Warg seemed a little more nervous now, and for decent reason. If Beckett's thrust had been a little lower, and slightly to the side, it might've struck the Warg's heart. Two new Fire lances coalesced around Beckett as well, to make it think thrice.

Alex was forced to step back as a Shield shattered in front of his face; his Shields had suddenly gotten noticeably stronger, mid-fight, and he had a feeling he knew what that earlier ping! was. It seemed to take this Level 5 Warg a few seconds—and about three swipes—to crack a single Mana Shield, which was more than he'd expected; the first two swipes injected freeze into his Shield, which seemed to mess with its structure, making it brittle.

The third swipe then shattered it, forcing Alex to deflect with his sword. He was forced to brace with his entire body to deflect a single slash. If a Level 4 Warg was stronger than him, if a Level 5 caught him even slightly badly, it'd send him flying. Every slash felt like he was trying to hold against an ocean of force. He was pushing his Pure cycling furiously, which helped his physical capabilities.

He wasn't sure if it was because he'd just seen what Beckett had accomplished, but he was pushing Pure cycling as hard as he'd pushed it all fight. He was still deadlocked against the Level 5 Warg, as he'd been with the Level 4 Warg—except this Warg seemed uninterested in biting for his blade at all; Alex suspected it was also a little cleverer than its ally. Objectively this fight was still quite dangerous, especially with Beckett in such uncertain condition, but something about Beckett's attitude relaxed him.

Surely I can think a little more—I don't know, more creatively? What else is there? Because there wasn't a chance this was all he could do against this thing. The Level 5 Warg broke through another Shield and this time as Alex braced, right before the moment of impact, as he applied Swordforce to the front, he also applied a little Force mana to the back of his blade, like his sword itself was a Mana Spear. CLANG!

The Warg was deflected sideways about as hard as he'd ever deflected it, but it almost took Alex's sword with it. It was only somewhat successful, and it was so timing-dependent Alex wasn't sure he wanted to try it again—he realized he might end up throwing his sword straight out of his hands—but it did make him wonder. What about to my muscles? Or like, a limb? But Force is linear and bodies don't move linearly, it's all arcs. Still, maybe there's—like, maybe 'force bracing' is a thing?

There's so many possibilities. He also felt freer to try new ideas because of the ping! he'd felt right after he'd connected with the Warg; this time a golden warmth flooded his limbs, and he knew what it was. Finally, his Class Level up. Beside him Beckett was finishing a second exchange with his Ice Warg, which still seemed flummoxed. Was it just Alex, or did his lances seem a little sharper, cleaner? The Gelid circled above, screeching, but it was relatively dimmed. The fight entered its final stages.