Incremental Torture - Chapter 82

What followed was mesmerising to watch. Mei had never seen Kayla in action before. She had known the woman was athletic and likely powerful just from her muscular build and the confidence with which she carried herself, but seeing her flash and vanish from view before reappearing twenty metres away was mind blowing.

And she knew it wasn’t some kind of teleportation skill, because there was no magic in the air afterwards. She would’ve seen the trail.

No. The woman was just that quick. Well, if she had to pick anyone at least she chose someone capable. She glanced at the frozen ice sculpture of her daughter with a taut smile.

A dull thudding in the back of her head reminded her to push more of her mana into circulation around her skull to maintain the makeshift shield against Zork’Karu’s magic. Her unusual skill also played a large part in her ability to stay sane against the overwhelming mental attack.

~~ Status ~~

Mei Han

Race: Human

Class: Initiate of Frost (Uncommon) Lv.11

|Attributes|

Power: 16

Speed: 11

Stamina: 4

Vitality: 5

Mana: 61 (85)

Fortitude: 7

|Skills|

~Passive~

Kiss of Jotunheimr (Unusual), Mana Wielder (Rare), Arcane Feedback (Rare), Arcane Feedback (Uncommon), Arcane Feedback (Common), Enhanced Sight (Uncommon), Bargain Hunter (Common), Stargazing (Uncommon), Star of Mana (Uncommon), Ice Affinity (Uncommon)

~Active~

Glacial Storm (Rare), Frostbolt (Uncommon), Frost Lance (Uncommon)

~Hybrid~

Ice Body (Uncommon)

Her class had also advanced a solid number of levels since she had arrived in Haven. Just four more until she reached another of the requirements to ascend. Her daughter had said it was a magnificent experience, though had forewarned all of them to be prepared and ready for what would happen.

Mei wondered if it might be worth trying to push Kiss of Jotunheimr to the next tier. It was such a potent skill. However, the ascension was her priority, which meant acquiring two more unusual skills first was more pressing.

Kiss of Jotunheimr (Unusual) - You have been touched by the primordials of frost and darkness. Your affinity for ice magic is overwhelming and all the frost you create is nevermelting and tougher than steel. The influence of the Jotuns keeps you shielded from outside interference, but beware you don’t fall too far into their clutch. There is no cost for fusing frost related skills and the cost of synthesising new skills with frost components is reduced.

When the time came her skills and attributes would be stripped, stolen away. In their place she would receive boons to improve her strength even further. With the knowledge granted by Evelyn, she planned to make the most of the process when her time came.

Many corpses lay at the feet of her husband and daughter. Some were monsters of the tower, caught in their blind rampage as they rushed to assist their leader in its furious rampage. Most however, were members of the other guilds. Their fault for being so weak, she supposed.

Kayla had already made it to the beetle and wasted no time in engaging the colossal creature, darting up one of its legs towards the rune-encrusted carapace. Her focus wasn’t required to keep Anthony and Evelyn restrained, so she let the blizzard die down and started to whisper words of power while moving to join the plucky young woman.

***

~ Evelyn POV ~

She felt groggy. Her head was ringing and her thoughts jilted. It was like she had brain freeze. I didn’t have any ice cream though? I was just fighting the hyper boss. Her limbs wouldn’t respond to her commands.

Evelyn couldn’t move.

Before she gave in to the throes of panic, she first tried to open her eyes. It was difficult - something had glued them shut but it broke apart after a few attempts, falling away in flakes. Snowflakes.

Fragments of memory clicked into place as her mind whirred into consciousness, beating back the clouds of fog that slowed her thoughts. She had been battling against the hyper boss and its monstrous thralls alongside her guild, and the others.

One of her arms finally came free with a ricochet of cracks and she glanced down to see sheets of ice falling away, not melting or breaking further when they hit the ground. Mother’s handiwork.

Evelyn wondered why her mother had turned her magic against her, but she was sure that it wouldn’t be without good reason. Or perhaps she shouldn’t have been so trusting of her parents. Her father hadn’t given her reason to doubt him, but there was no guarantee her parents would have the same agendas here in the tower.

Another echoing round of cracks saw the rest of her upper body freed. Her muscles ached and it took a few stretches to loosen them up before she felt comfortable again.

It was then she finally took stock of the state of the battle. And what she saw made her stomach churn. Mangled corpses littered the ground, mixed in with the rubble and debris of destroyed buildings and the occasional slowly dissolving body of a monster. She looked down and couldn’t hold back the bile any longer.

It spewed out and dribbled down her frozen legs, which of course made her throw up again at the gross nature of the whole thing. There was a human body right beside her foot, but it wasn’t the simple sight of the corpse that made her so ill. She had seen plenty of death in the tower.

What had repulsed her so deeply was the way the skull was caved in, with a roughly rectangular imprint from where a war hammer had smashed the man’s head in. Spinebreaker. Her hammer.

Grappling with the memories she had and the reality before her was sickening. She had been fighting the beetle - Zork’Karu - and his monstrous allies. Not the other guilds. Looking further she saw more corpses sporting similar wounds. Too many more.

Most of them belonged to Ventura and a dark part of her mind said she shouldn’t feel guilty for slaughtering them after they had attempted the same. She squashed those thoughts.

If she was going to take on Kyron and his cronies it would be on her own terms, not like this. Under the influence of some insidious mind magic. She wrenched herself free from the remaining frost and unleashed a bellowing roar of anguish.

She pounded the war hammer against the frost wracked earth until she had excavated a small crater. There was a pounding in her ears. The magic of the hyper boss was still trying to creep its way in. She turned her furious gaze on the gigantic creature and some of her rage washed away when she saw a familiar blonde figure locked in fierce battle with it.

Kayla’s fists pounded against the beast’s carapace, each heavy blow leaving a small dent and sending a pulse of shimmering blue washing across its exoskeleton. It was sturdy, which was to be expected. It wouldn’t be able to stand up to their combined might.

Leaving the carnage and the bitter taste behind, she rushed to join her allies in their battle. Enough was enough.

***

~ Kayla POV ~

It had been too long since she was able to truly let loose with the raw power of her body. There were too many restrictions, too many wandering eyes in the city. Everyone in Haven was a challenger, but that didn’t put them on equal ground.

Far from it. Even amongst her allies. Even with Evelyn she had held back the full force contained within her. She wasn’t sure why. The fierce woman wouldn’t judge her. Watching her go berserk earlier had been magical.

Each swing of the war hammer was done with such deliberation, lacking any wasted movement. Considering she had been under the control of this disgusting insect it was a miraculous thing. Kayla had known Evelyn was special since the first moment she laid eyes on her.

A jolt shuddered through her skeleton as her fist smashed into the tough chitin of the monster. Less resistance than the last time - it was growing weaker.

Each time she pounded her fists against its carapace it sent a ripple of magic racing across its body, lighting up the glowing runes that covered it. That was a little worrying, but she could deal with the consequences when they arose.

There was a crunch when her next punch smashed into the same spot. Small cracks ran outwards from the imprint of her knuckles. Another punch landed in the exact same spot, filling the indent. And the cracks grew wider and further.

Another punch brought a shocking change. Seven of the glowing runes exploded with azure light and beams shot outwards, carving through the air and slicing apart whatever they trailed through. Humans, monsters and buildings - none were safe from this lethal counter attack.

One of the beams carved towards Kayla. To dodge it she would need to throw herself from the creature’s back, but she was so close to breaking through its shell. She didn’t want to give in.

Could she survive a direct hit? Perhaps. The air around her shimmered as the beam whizzed towards her, but she never found out if she was tough enough to tank the searing hot spell.

A familiar silhouette appeared in front of her and the beam burned into the woman’s shoulder. It barely cut beyond the skin, however and her saviour didn’t even make a sound. Kayla grinned.

“I wondered how long it would take you to snap out of the spell, darlin’. Howdy,” she said.

Evelyn grunted as the beam fizzled out and turned to face her. Spinebreaker, her glimmering war hammer hung loose at her side. Instead of replying she simply raised it high above her head, a fearsome glare painted on her visage. She swung it down at the exact point Kayla had been hammering with her fists.