Underworld - Book 4 - Chapter 22

There was no reason for Trevon to remain as the only person to take advantage of my buffs. Catching my attention as she entered the room, the orange of Audrey’s bracers matched the glow of her eyes. She joined Trevon and me as he was meditating. Skyler had entered with her, but he didn’t join us on the second floor of the Bridge. Waving, he began to stretch.

“What’s he doing?” I said after Audrey greeted us.

“He’s always training for stats.” She replied without even glancing in his direction.

Before I could say anything about it not being a good place to train, Skyler squatted down. Mana built up in his legs. Suddenly, he was airborne and rocketing toward the ceiling. As he neared it he slowed. Reaching up, he placed a single palm on the stone above him and began to fall back down toward the ground.

“Jump squats.” Audrey said, now standing at my side and watching him as well.

I often forgot to credit our bashers with the abilities they now possessed. My stats were inflated because of my buffs and Drain ability, but that didn’t make him any less of a strength monster.

As Skyler fell to the floor, mana built up in his legs once again and he caught himself with a cushioned dip of his legs and waist. Rebounding from the impact he launched himself back toward the ceiling without a second thought.

Turning to her. “It’s probably a good idea to let him know that he isn’t jumping in a safe place.”

“Yeah. That would probably be the nice thing to do.” She smirked, before calling out to him. “Hey, big guy. Move it.” Taking a step toward the ledge, she swung her arm like she was tossing a ball. A fireball the size of a volleyball shot toward his feet.

Skyler landed right before the fireball greeted him. It struck him square on the boot. He didn’t jump or flinch—only turned to look up at Audrey and waved that he’d heard her. He was happy enough to comply. He headed back toward the Inner Chamber.

Seeing the fireball do absolutely no damage to the earth infused armor that Russ had made him, I wondered if I should be giving more consideration to my gear. I still doubted it could compare to my Fire Incubus armored skin but adding another layer couldn’t hurt. Although, I wasn’t sure how his armor would handle my transformations.

Trevon was up from his Meditation and standing beside us before Audrey began training her Fire Magic.

“What level is your Fire Magic?” I said.

She frowned. “94. It’s leveling slower than everyone else’s.” 

Tossing her an Advanced Mind Buff, I saw her eyes light up. It was the same for her as it had been for Trevon. There wasn’t much of a physical change as her Wisdom and Intelligence shot up to over 1,000, but the purity of her mana was on a whole other level.

Perhaps, I should have had her test the extent of her powers before buffing her. In the excitement, she didn’t wait. Throwing out her hand, a jet stream of flames burst from it. Reaching the middle of the room in a split second, her flames didn’t stop there, but built upon each other and turned into an infernal cloud. Instead of growing out of control, she began to close her fingers like she was squeezing it, compressing the flames into the smallest possible space.

Her flames continued to flow from her as she emptied her power into it. Instead of growing in size, the watermelon-sized orb seemed to devour all the flames she gave it. When she’d finished, her hand was closed tight in a fist and the orb shone like a small orange sun.

How it affected me in my Solar Mage state wasn’t a good example, but even I could feel the heat. Turning to Trevon, I saw him straining. His fists were at his side and just as tight as Audrey’s. Ice Magic covered his body as he fought the heat. He’d already turned away from looking directly at the light.

Audrey herself was hiding behind the very hand that was supplying the orb its power. Even if she was able to handle the heat, the light to create was not something she had expected. She didn’t stop despite not being able to look at her spell directly. It had taken less than ten seconds for the orb to form, but she continued to hold it in place for more than a minute before collapsing to the floor. She wasn’t done. Her hand was still outstretched, and I knew immediately she was trying to keep the orb from exploding.

With Mana Sight at full power, I guessed that the orb had over 500,000 MP condensed into it. If it blew, I could destroy all the work that Clarissa had done in repairing the room, and then some. Not to mention, I had their safety to worry about. Mine as well. The blasted thing could easily kill me if I was caught unaware.

Fire Incubus Form took shape as I moved to place my wings between them and the explosion. This would take an even thicker bone shell to help protect us. I wasn’t sure if I could save them, especially Trevon, from the heat. I was about to activate Master Rejuvenation for the first time when I saw the intensity of the orb’s mana starting to dim.

Audrey was lifting her hand as she struggled to come to her feet. I wanted to help, but for some reason I stopped myself. It was a gamble, but she needed to know that she could handle this all by herself. 

She rose up, and lifted her fist into the air, high overhead. As if throwing something to the ground, her fist dropped toward the floor and opened, releasing all pressure. It was as if she pulled the heat directly out of the orb. It fizzled out and was gone.

What should have been the end of a frightening situation proved to only be the beginning. There was a moment of peace, before Audrey caught on fire. It wasn’t like some of her equipment was simply flammable and her exercise had caused it to burst into flames. The only thing that didn’t seem to be on fire was her equipment itself.

“Get back!” I cried, directing Trevon.

He hesitated for a moment before doing as I said. He was still radiating cold as he had while fighting off Audrey’s heat.

I saw the change in the mana realm but could help but to still be concerned. She’d been 6 levels from mastery, so I didn’t trust what I saw. Had she somehow internalized the power she’d filling the orb with?

“Audrey?” I said, not hiding my distress.

She didn’t answer with words, but her mana began to grow and refine itself.

I breathed a sigh of relief. That confirmed she wasn’t in any immediate danger. But how was this possible?

Shaking herself like she was fighting the shivers, Audrey turned around to face me. Her brown skin didn’t seem to have changed color, but, like a live coal, it glowed orange when the air hit it just right. Over every inch of her face and neck was a rolling layer of fire which certainly warmed her appearance in more ways than one.. It was her hair, which had been completely burned up, that now blazed with an always moving few inches of flame.

What was strange was that I didn’t feel as much heat coming off of her as I thought I should.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she inclined her brow which burst into expressive flares. With a flick of her wrist, she showed me her popup.

Congratulations!

You have reached the Master Rank in Fire Magic!

Jinn

True Form

Fire Magic is lauded for its ability to destroy, but it also possesses the ability to dazzle the eyes. Jinn are as misunderstood in the Underworld as they are on the surface world. This is primarily because of their rarity and the power of Illusion that they possess. Illusion Magic brings with it the power to deceive, but also the power to delight. It is a long hard path to master such magic, but it is only limited by your imagination.

Holding up her other hand, she snapped her fingers and the fire covering her body disappeared in an instant.

“This is so amazing!” She said, before squealing to herself in absolute glee. Even her hair had returned to normal. Throwing her arms in the air, she was inflamed once again.

Her popup remained where it was, so I continued to study it for another moment. Not only had she unlocked some kind of Illusion Magic, but her destructive ability was 2 times what it had been just a moment before. Remembering the danger of the orb she had dismissed, I had to admit that here was another person that could give me a serious challenge. It was possible that she possessed the single most destructive ability in Sanctuary—including me. That was something I hoped we never had to test.

“Seriously?!” Trevon said, rejoining us. “You got six levels in one go? Of course, I’m going to be the last person to master. Ice is slow, so Trevon is slow. I’m officially the weakest mage here.” He was looking up while shaking his head to himself.

Instead of consoling him, Audrey offered a challenge. “What are you going to do about it, ice boy?”

Looking down his nose at her his mouth hung open. “Oh no you didn’t!” Walking over to the ledge, he looked back at her with emboldened eyes. “What am I going to do? Ice boy about to make some iced tea up in here.”

Redirecting my Advanced Mind Buff to him, he threw out his hands and mana exploded out of them. Just as this spell reached the center of the room, he turned back at looked at us with a crazed expression on his face. Unlike last time when he tried to control his power, this time he unleashed all of it without any thought to his own safety or ours.

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This chapter was getting long, so I decided to cut it here. It's a decent break. The rest of this one, or the next chapter in other words, should be ready tomorrow. 

Sorry for the delay. This morning I  was finally feeling a bit better and clear headed. If there are any weird editing things I missed, feel free to mention them. Like always though, don't feel like you have to. My editor and I will be going through it, taking care of it then.

Cheers!