CHAPTER SIXTY

  Amidst the tentative ceasefire which followed her Rapturous Address, Robin found herself in an impromptu staring contest with the biggest, meanest reptile out of the bunch—an obsidian scaled giant, with what looked to be jagged pockmark scars peppering the left side of his face. His slitted green eyes practically burning holes in her from seventy paces away.

  As if willing her heart to stop beating through sheer malice alone. Really, you would’ve thoughtshe’d been the one to inflict those terrible wounds, the way he was looking at her.

  And yet, despite the palpable hate wafting from its very posture—slightly hunched and tightly wound, as if ready to spring forward at the slightest provocation—Robin did not flinch. Oh, by all means she wanted to. Desperately, in fact. But circumstance, it would seem, would not permit her any such signs of weakness. Of course that didn’t mean she wasn’t absolutely terrified. Her mind was working a mile a minute trying to formulate a plan that wouldn’t end in one or more tragic death’s.

  And all the while, she could feel her mana rapidly dwindling. The depletion headache she’d been warned about beginning to batter away at her temples. Finally, just in time, her “eureka moment” arrived. Swiveling her head to take in the cordon of armed soldiers, cutting off all avenues of retreat, she thought she knew how they should proceed.

  Turning her head ever so slightly, she met the gazes of her people, and hissed her instructions.

  “Eva and Marlene, you two are with me. Cover our rear and make sure none of the children get left behind. Maya? You and I will cover their flanks, while Denise, you act as our spear head. If we sprint due east, we can take advantage of a gap in their formation, while also steering clear of that big guy over there. I have a seriously bad feeling abou-!”

  “Can you hold them like that?” Denise cut in. “Keep them deaf, mute, and ugly like what you’re doing right now?”

  “Huh? Well, yes but-!”

  “For how long?”

  “Another twenty seconds, or so? I really don’t see what that has to do with-!”

  Her words were interrupted by a barking laugh. An invisible force rippling out and away from Denise as she chortled. Impacting everyone present like a weak slap to the chest. Bearing an unmistakable impression. Somehow tasting of bloodlust and unchecked arrogance.

  “Well why the swell didn’t you say so?! Ha! Honestly, what are you so afraid of? Give me ten and I can promise you, there won’t be an army left to terrorize.”

  “Wait what-?! I really don’t think that’s a-!”

  Before Robin could even finish, Denise was already sprinting ahead. Towards the big lug she’d specifically warned against.

  “Marlene! Cover me!”

  “Y-yes!” the girl replied, before chasing after the headstrong woman—cloak flowing languidly in her wake. Torn blades of grass kicked up by her scuffed gray sneakers.

  “Or… we could do the exact opposite. That works too…”

  Maya and Eva immediately snapped their heads in her direction. Looks of alarm plastered plainly on their faces. Out of her periphery, Robin saw the soldiers beginning to stir. The entranced looks of starry eyed wonder rapidly diminishing as clarity returned. Maya was the first to speak.

  “So, uhh, should we…?” she gestured towards the two of them, then the rapidly retreating figures.

  Robin was forced to make a snap decision.

  “Alright go! Support her as best you can! We’ll be right on your heels!”

  The two merely shared a knowing look, before swiveling their eyes to the kids and back to her with obvious frowns. As if to say, “you’re sure?”

  “Go! We’ll be fine. I suspect she’ll need your help a lot more than we will in a minute.”

  Sharing one last inscrutable look, the two girls merely shrugged, before Maya slid Farceur’s Mask over her face, and Eva primed her Imperium Gauntlet. The device emanating a high pitched whine, as the power-core in its palm pulsed with golden light. Looking to the sky, Maya shook her head at the sheer unfairness of the universe, before readjusting her five dollar Party City jester’s mask, and dashing after an already sprinting Eva.

  Robin made a quick survey of their surroundings.

  Not good.

  More than half of the alien mercenaries had already come to their senses, and the other half weren’t far behind. It took them a second to remember what it was they’d been doing, but once they did, it seemingly came back all at once. Brows were furrowed and weapons were raised.

  “NOT ANOTHER MOVE!”

  Her earrings briefly tinkled like little bells, and again, it was as if she could feel the mental pressure sweep out and away from them in a wave. Colliding with the thick, reptilian skulls of their enemies. And instead of rebounding off the hard bone like she’d feared, it instead sank home effortlessly, like water into fertile soil. The soldiers froze, eyes glazing over and jaws going slack, as her little coercion trick took effect. Unfortunately, she could already tell that there would not be a third time.

  Not for a while yet.

  Robin nearly swooned from the sudden waves of weakness and vertigo which overcame her. The pulsing migraine hammering at her temples, only one of several indications she’d just bottomed out her mana pool.

  Perfect.

  Turning her sudden faintness into opportunity, Robin went down on one knee, reaching out and grasping Jimmy and Donald by the shoulders to steady herself.

  “I need you two to do something for me, alright? But, in order for that to happen, you’ll need to be big boys. Can you do that?”

  Wide eyed, both boys shared a look, before their mouths firmed into a hard line, and they nodded decisively.

  “Good. Now, Donald, I need you to give Jimmy your ring.”

  “But-!”

  Robin gave him a stern look. After only a moment of hesitation, he acquiesced, if with a bit more of a pout than was necessary. Jimmy slipped the ring onto his finger with an apologetic look. Robin flicked her eyes towards the cordon of stunned soldiers, heart rate spiking when she realized they were recovering much faster than before. Already, a few were unconsciously lifting their weapons, if arduously—as if they each weighed a hundred pounds.

  “Alright, now Jimmy,” pressed for time, and a bit out of breath, Robin still tried to formulate her words carefully. God forbid she stumble over her words now and have to explain it all again a second time. “In a minute, Auntie Denise is going to open a path for us. When she does, I need you to take as many of the other kids as you can, and use that ability of yours to dash into that tree line over there. Do you think that’s something you can do?”

  Surprising her, the little soldier didn’t even hesitate before he was nodding his head in the affirmative.

  “Alright,” Robin maintained eye contact. “I’ll tell you when. Everyone!” Robin urged the others into a trot, eyes always trained on the status of the enemy. “Get ready to run! Pump those legs as fast as you can in three! Two!”

  Just then, Denise and the others reached the first line of soldiers, and decimated their ranks like a lobbed fragmentation grenade.

  +++

  Denise ran.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Legs pumping, heart racing, her breaths coming fast.

  It was a truth which she’d only come to realize about herself recently. That it was in moments like these wherein she truly felt alive. Eyes alight with the thrill of battle. Perilous problems galore, yet all with very simplistic solutions. All with the same solution, really. Kill them till they’re dead.

  It was a novel concept.

  Her worldview expanding in these brief moments of clarity. From the head of a thimble, it quickly swelled to encompass just about everything there was. Scents, sights, tastes, and sounds taking on entirely new meanings. The feel of the wind on her skin a beckoning caress.

  Anticipation pushed her ever onward.

  In the background, yellow smoke billowed from grass fires. Pillars of caustic fumes which reached high into the sky. While before her stood a contingent of stock still soldiers. Denise hammered her Black-Steel Vambraces together at the wrists. The sharp clang of metal accompanied by the activation of a skill.

  Hit them fast and hard. A whirlwind of blades and violence.

  A dark grey complexion raced up along her forearms. Up her shoulders, up her neck, down her torso and beyond. Covering every inch of her body before hardening. Turning her skin as hard as steel, without losing out on flexibility. Immediately her pace slowed noticeably, the extra weight taking its toll.

  She paid it no mind. A ripple of space later and in her hand she held her Singsong Rapier. The hieroglyphics inlaid into the metal reflecting hypnotically in the distant firelight. Briefly, she caught her own reflection in the flat of the blade, and only stretched her smile wider when she saw the manic grin mirrored there.

  She swept the blade through the air twice, reveling in the way it sang, before the first of the mercenaries came within range, and the words were torn from her throat, almost unbidden.

  “Singsong Rhapsody!”

  +++

  Denise was still reeling from the first half of his unbelievable story, when the kid—grown man?—brought up something she’d actually been wondering about for quite some time now. Still unsure of what to think, following the back to back to back revelations, Denise latched onto the familiar topic like a drowning man to a life raft.

  “You’ve already formed a named skill?” Richard asked.

  Immediately, her hackles raised at the mild accusation lacing his tone.

  “Should I not have?”

  The boy- man, blinked.

  “Well, I’d say that depends entirely on the skill in question. Did I really fail so utterly as an instructor as to not even mention the very basics? What makes regalia so special in the first place?”

  “You mean, that they’re alive?” Denise said, rubbing her palm up and down the flat of her rapier, and relishing in the way it purred.

  “That they’re-” his young face screwed up in a look of stupefaction, so profound, that it actually made her laugh. “Goodness no! My goddess, that’s more of a- oh, I don’t know, more if a quirk than anything. A happy little accident, you could say. But by no means is it the selling point!”

  Richard blinked, looked down at the contentedly rumbling sword, and dipped his head in apology.

  “No offense.”

  The rumple her sword gave in response told her no offense was taken.

  “Alright, so, if it isn’t that they’re alive, then what exactly makes them so special?”

  Upon hearing this question, the bizarrely mature one month old’s eyes sparkled. Crinkling at the sides with glee, and a tiny bit of mischief.

  “Aspects.”

  +++

  The space around her rapier blurred. The air warped and whined. Visible sound waves and vibrations radiating outward to pool into the air like spilled ink. Gritting her teeth, Denise pressed down hard on the stupid impulse. Contracting the vibrations till they sat much closer to the blade. Of course this came with the unfortunate side effect of turning her very sharp weapon into a particularly uncooperative viper.

  Nearly wrestling itself from her hands for every second that passed.

  Denise merely held on tight and endured.

  One step, two steps, three steps and she was before the first frozen soldier. Glassy eyed and drooling, he was in no position to defend himself. Like the lunging viper that it was, her blade lashed out crosswise. The wildly oscillating blade flicking across the giant’s midsection in passing. Her stride never even slowed as she blew past. There came a wet slapping sound from behind her, as the top half of the creature fell limply to the ground. Entrails spilling out to coat the manicured lawn.

  +++

  “Aspects?” Denise sounded dubious.

  “Just so!” Richard grinned. “Aspects!” he exclaimed, finishing with a pair of jazz hands.

  Denise rolled her eyes.

  “And, by the way you’ve described it, and after what I’ve already seen,” he nodded towards the sword which was even now giving off the specific frequency which would shield their conversation from prying ears. “Your aspect relates to sound in some way. Actually, given that it’s a ducal regalia, there’s a good chance you have the entire aspect of sound to play around with. A very good start.”

  “Okay… and this relates to me creating- what was it you said? A named ability how?”

  “Well, to make a long story short, every regalia is given a fixed number of skills. We called them ‘named skills’ because the only way to really set them in stone is by naming them. Like you did with your- what was it called again?”

  Denise blushed before mumbling.

  “…Singsong Rhapsody.”

  “Ah! Yes, your singsong rhapsody, great name by the way.”

  Denise’s flush only deepened.

  “It was from a show I used to watch- actually you know what, we really don’t have to get into it. So, what, I forked up is what your saying? By ‘locking in,’ one of these named skills?”

  “Well, yes and no. Quickly, describe to me what your singsong rhapsody looks like.”

  Denise did so. By the time she finished, Richard had a frown on his face.

  “Hmm… a bit basic.”

  Her eye twitched.

  “Care to elaborate?”

  Richard scratched his chin.

  “Okay, so, effectively all you’ve done is limit yourself unnecessarily. You weren’t thinking in broad enough terms, I guess you could say. It’s an honest mistake. One many beginners make. It’s just so hard to know what’s truly possible until you’ve actually seen it happen. Until then, most are very limited in the scope of their imaginations.”

  Denise pursed her lips.

  “Well. It sure would’ve been nice to know that before I went and named the ability.”

  “Yes and that’s one hundred percent my fault. I take full responsibility.”

  Denise accepted his apology, if begrudgingly.

  “Do you at least want to tell me where I went wrong?”

  “Oh, gladly!” her left eyebrow twitched. “Basically what you did is take all that sound aspected cosmos dust granted to you by your regalia, ball it all up until it was bunched around the blade of your rapier, whereupon you then release all those pent up sound waves in a concussive, hyper destructive blast.”

  “That… doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “Well sure, when you don’t have a full list of the options available. But just think about it for a second. Just how many applications sound could have if used properly. You could create areas of complete silence. Detonate auditory bombs inside the eardrums of your enemies. Direct targeted blasts of sound vibrations, shattering bones and liquifying organs without you even having to lift a finger.”

  Denise’s spirits fell. Yeah those actually did sound rather handy.

  “Okay, but then, how am I doing this then?” she gesticulated wildly. “You seemed certain my regalia could produce this note, without even knowing I had a named ability. What gives?”

  “Ahh! I see where the confusion lies. Until you’ve locked in all of your named skills, you should have access to a small degree of universal sound manipulation. Obviously, this is so that you can explore all of the possibilities sound has to offer, and make an informed decision on what you wish to specialize in later on.”

  Denise slumped.

  “So… what? I’m stuck with this trash ability for the rest of my life?”

  “Trash? Who ever said it was trash? I mean, sure, it may not be as versatile as some of the others I’ve seen, but where it lacks in versatility, it surely makes up for in raw power. Really, at this point it’s just a matter of learning to regulate said power, and push it in a meaningful direction.

  “Something which, I believe, you’ve already begun to explore. Properly communicating with your regalia was the first step. It helps bridge the gap between visualization and reality. Now, it should only be a matter of practice makes perfect.”

  +++

  Her blade licked out to the right this time. The ranks of the comatose enemy so densely packed, that it really was as if she could not miss. Another body hit the ground. Her blade slashed, sang, arced through the air, and a third invader was laid low. Then a fourth. Then a fifth. Half a dozen and then more. Laughter bubbling up in her chest at the most inappropriate of times. A diagonal slash chopping the legs from a creature, before a horizontal one lopped its head clean off. Blood splattered her widely grinning face.

  And all the while, the experience notifications continued piling on.

  ?-|—(You have slain an enemy: Unknown Ra’ak Neerian Combatant [Lvl 28])—|-?

  Experience Gained. Participation Points Gained.

  [+280 Participation Points]

  ?-|—(You have slain an enemy: Unknown Ra’ak Neerian Combatant [Lvl 26])—|-?

  Experience Gained. Participation Points Gained.

  [+260 Participation Points]

  ?-|—(You have slain an enemy: Unknown Ra’ak Neerian Combatant [Lvl 31])—|-?

  Experience Gained. Participation Points Gained.

  [+310 Participation Points]

  By this point, her blade was moving almost of its own volition. And Denise, for her part, just barely able to hold on. Hands going numb from prolonged contact with the vibrating hilt. Fingers turning white and bloodless from much the same. And yet, despite all of that, she reaped a bloody harvest. Scaly bodies mowed down like chaff. Their reinforced nano-weave body armor—meant primarily to distribute kinetic force and energy fire—like tissue paper before her regalia’s oscillating edge.

  Eventually, her berserking rage cleared enough for her to realize that she was no longer alone. Wiping blood from her eyes, she shot a glance to her right. To where Maya was- well Maya was doing her own thing. While to her left…? A brilliant blast of golden radiance sent several of the giant lizard men flying.

  The sudden flash catching Denise off guard. Nearly blinding her to the fact that the closest lizard men had begun to shake themselves from their stupor. For a brief instant, Denise panicked. Snapped her head around to scrutinize the straight path of devastation she’d left in her wake. Her gaze lifting to the hundred odd untouched beast men currently shaking their heads to clear them of brain fog.

  At which point she ruefully acknowledged that she might have bitten off a bit more than she could chew.