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(Vol 5) Chapter 63: Test Steel!
🕑 Added 2024-07-10 14:29:13 +0000 UTC======================================================
Note: Your partial success for successfully convincing an army of Naugites of beneficial fabrications for your cause has been rolled into the next quest and increased its total potential gains. Lesser partial success is still possible.
New quest unlocked: “A Hillcrusher to Die On?” — Defeat Dreixia Hillcrusher.
● Rewards: +30-200 FE, 3-12 exp in [Goddess], 3-12 exp credit to most relevant sub-class used during quest, 0-6 exp in a different sub-class of choice, 0-3 exp in any other base sub-classes; over 75% reward grade only: +1 Avatar upgrade dependant on the novelty of success. Possible [Slayer] status.
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As fast as Dreixia was, Puck was more than ready for such a maneuver. She flew out of the way, and what was more, spawned Infravision-fooling illusory doubles in every other direction, with one double weighted with a subtle, tangible Phantom Construct frame that gave it presence. Dreixia’s follow-through — which was a flick of her bell-headed flail that caused a midair shockwave — wasted itself shattering a false Puck.
Puck ‘threw’ a slurry of phantom darts as she created distance. Dreixia was already pivoting and used another shockwave to block the dead-on blades… unfortunately for her, the ones that went past turned at right angles beyond her peripheral vision and came back to stab into her, slipping into the copious gaps available in the armor. Dreixia grunted from the wounds.
Falling through the air, the Naugite flicked her flail under her and bounced midair to angle for Puck once more. This was not something expected. Dreixia’s shockwave attack was narrow, as she appeared to be forcing it to travel further to be within range. Puck dodged it again… but even as she moved, Dreixia gave a supernaturally charged shout that channeled into the shockwave and widened it in one direction at the last second, catching Puck after all.
The sonic shockwave was like getting hit by a truck. A wound negation drained and her armor took damage as it was crushed. Thankfully, she didn’t need the breath that was knocked out of her. She was sent careening into a chaotic spin, completely disoriented.
You have been disoriented due to a substantial midair knock. -1 to actions and defenses for 5 seconds, and your awareness against attacks is greatly inhibited.
Despite not being ‘stunned’ as dictated by the System, she felt like she was anyway. Along with some ringing in her ears. Shit, I’m gonna get hit!
At the last split moment, Puck managed to right herself enough to see Dreixia on her, her massive arms wound back for a swing. Puck immediately reached out for the best thing she could: the phantom construct blades still embedded in Dreixia.
She pushed with all her might deeper into the Naugite's flesh, which caused spurting sounds as blood sprayed from multiple wounds. One of the blades snapped inside from the force. Dreixia seized from this heinous damage with a pained cry. Her attack was completely thrown off and Puck shifted away thanks to the hesitation and jerky movement she’d caused. Dreixia’s weapon whiffed and she dropped through the air.
Dreixia didn’t bother hopping this time. As she fell, she swung her weapon wide with her hand at the end and flicked it in reverse, bringing it to bear on herself. A shockwave rippled through her as she shouted again to change the effect. It took on a different sort of vibration that shattered the blades inside her. They turned to dust.
Remarkable! She’s exceptionally attuned and specialized to this weapon!
The Naugite heroine landed on the ground outside the walls of the fortress into a small crater she made, already turned toward her flying enemy above. Puck tried one narrow beam of ‘The Gleam’ at her foe and then another stacked after under illusory disguise, aiming for the eyes, but Dreixia was not fooled, flicking the wide bell of her weapon and absorbing both of them expertly, as if she batted laser beams all the time.
Dreixia kept in a defensive stance, ready to react and perhaps counterattack, which caused something of a lull as Puck lowered in her hovering flight a bit and got the measure of things. Above, many faces of Naugites looked on from the walls, though perhaps a dozen heroic sorts jumped down, whether by toughness or slow-falling effects. More were coming through a gate to see.
Spitting blood to the side, Dreixia grinned bloodily as she hefted her weapon. “The way it should be. No rules, no bullshit. I’m surprised you didn’t have your slave-things help you. Not even support-wise?”
Puck nodded soberly. “No interference. You and me, that’s it. I prove nothing otherwise. No one would help you, would they?”
Dreixia huffed in the bitter semblance of amusement, then coughed a few times as she shook her head. “No. I’d kill them.”
“Is this where you tell me I’d have no chance if you were at full strength?”
“No. Weaklings complain about weakness. What we suffer, we deserve, we own — we are.” After pausing to glare a moment, she rolled her neck and made a ‘come on’ motion with her hand. “Come here! Test steel! Take your shot. I’ll let you into melee if you have the lady-balls for it, runt!”
Despite the danger, I should probably answer it for the sake of the crowd. Besides, I want to see what happens when…
Puck narrowed her eyes. “Oh, you will, will you?” Her voice was loud and carrying. She moved in, taking advantage of the offer primarily to win the crowd, which cheered immediately at the maneuver.
Her shield floating to her left, she spun her staff around in her right and darted in at high speeds. She went for one hesitation flicker-feint, then struck a lightning-fast crack low targeting a leg, at an angle where the bell would most likely be the parrying part.
Sure enough, the bell slapped at her staff dismissively. But this was exactly what she wanted.
Foolmaker, under the power of the Echostrike enhancement, struck it like a bell — because it was a bell! The sonic power generated was massively amplified and made a crack like a mountain splitting. Furthermore, Foolmaker took in no vibrations, only reverberated it back, per the specialty of the enhancement.
The bell of Dreixia’s artifact cracked and she was pulverized by an overwhelming force that sent her flying like a Godzilla-sized hand had slapped her. There was a terrible crunching sound from her bones.
The crowd gasped — probably — right before the majority were knocked over by the shockwave of two artifacts meeting that perhaps were never meant to. Sammy could not hear anything, though. She’d been struck deaf.
Shit. Maybe I, um. Shouldn’t. Have.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem to hurt them. They were popping back up immediately, hair in disarray, most of them with amazed looks on their faces, many smiling.
Puck refused to let up despite it all. She surged after her knocked foe, who’d left a path of ripped-up vegetation and gouged earth. Finally, she’d stopped in a fallen heap over ten meters away, her weapon knocked free. She looked as if she’d been split open in multiple places, her armor ripped apart and hanging.
Just as she was pushing herself up and spitting blood, caught in a severe, dazed state, Puck put her full force into a charged blow with the staff, aiming for the head and a final knockout end to the conflict, if she dared to hope.
Dreixia flinched enough for the blow to take her in the jaw, producing a nasty crunch and a full twist to one side that flung blood up in an arc, including spraying Puck herself. She was not knocked out, somehow keeping conscious by some special ability of sheer grit.
She’s a tanky, tanky lady. I have to wear her down. Figured as much.
The Naugite beast of a woman held a hand before her and appeared to press her thumb into a ring. It flashed with red magical energy and she flung that energy out at Puck.
Dodging it failed completely as the magic flared out and enveloped her too quickly — she seemed to absorb it, and then an unbearable weight pulled at her every fiber, slamming her into the ground as though made of lead. Immediately it was pressing on her strong enough to push her into the dirt, unable to breathe or speak, much less to move. Her ‘floating shield’ was no longer floating either, pinned to the ground.
What the hell?!
Her armor was undamaged, but her second wound negation spent itself. Three Small Fortunes triggered as a Minor Contingency to give her another. She pushed with all her might to move — to no avail, even as she scrambled in her mind for what to do.
Dreixia was quick to take advantage. She flung herself over still on her knees, lifting a mighty fist. Her face was a bloody, ruined, sadistic rictus menacing above Puck. “I hate-” She smashed her hand down into Puck’s unmoving form, even as her other hand lifted. The fist caved in the runic armor and would have caved Sammy’s chest in but for a wound negation triggering. Sammy could feel a shockwave cracking the earth underneath her like an earthquake.
You have been stunned through your wound negation via a special ability. No actions for 5 seconds (reactions possible at -2 Effective Levels).
The world blurred and a strange fogginess took her mind.
No, no, no, no!
Meanwhile, Sammy’s second Minor Contingency triggered instantly: Mystic Armor, adding another wound negation.
“-Wound negations!” Dreixia roared with spite. The second fist dropped right after the first into Puck’s chest, crushing the armor even more, and depriving Sammy of her last wound negation.
I can’t do anything! I’m dead. I’m going to lose my Avatar. I’m going to fail everyone if I don’t-
Dreixia had a wicked grin as a two-handed fist lifted over Puck’s face. “Nice go, pipsqueak. It’s over.” The two-hander came down on her face in a terrible smash — her head might as well have been a melon for the resistance it would offer.
Sammy used [Alter Fate] to force Dreixia’s failure. Instead of a smashed melon, it was more like a soft caress, the force totally neutralized.
“The fuck?!” Dreixia blinked in abject confusion, briefly inspecting her hands. She appeared woozy, but it was clearly too much to ask for her to finally give out at the right time.
Think, Sammy, think! Did it automatically hit me? But I was offered no resistance! The effect is hidden. What is it operating off of? It- is it a principle? She recalled that the shield had been pinned, too. Why?
Even as Dreixia was getting ready to end her again, she felt through her control of the constructs briefly. It was the same! A few of her darts lay nearby, pinned to the ground.
Telekinetic control. Levitation? Anything?
“Let’s try this… again!” Dreixia brought her fists up and then down again to smash, this time perhaps superstitiously returning to the chest as a target.
Sammy instantly dismissed her spell that allowed her to levitate and fly, and suddenly all the weight holding her down was completely gone. She shifted and flung herself away, almost getting completely clear of the descending fists — but not quite. They caught her arm just above the elbow and smashed it like a pancake, pulverizing the bone instantly.
Mortal Wound reduced to Critical Wound due to spell. Critical Wound reduced to Major Wound as your maximum enforceable penalty due to limb injury.
Stunning penalty ignored for non-torso, non-brain physical energy. You are at -1 Effective Levels to all actions for 5 seconds due to shock and debilitation. Your limb is crippled and unusable. You are at -1 Effective Levels to most physical actions due to this.
She felt it as minor discomfort and a kind of ebbing weakness — which was somewhat surprising for what she was looking at. It had been a while since she’d dealt with fully physical injury…
Puck managed to slip away with her flopping arm and even to roll to her feet. Right arm. It was her right arm that was crippled.
Fuck! That’s super not good.
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