Delve

Chapter 70: Skating

Snow fell from a dark sky as Rain made his way to the city using the fires atop the wall to guide himself. He’d woken two hours before his normal alarm as he had planned. Now that he had a clock, forcing the system to change the timing of the training dialog hadn’t been that difficult. He was already thinking of ways to exploit this newfound power. Assuming he could set it to go off whenever he wanted, it basically meant that he could rank up his skills whenever they were ready, instead of waiting for a full day. That wasn’t that useful to him at the moment, but once he raised his cap, it would be a game-changer for leveling things like the seasonal auras.

His plan for today started with getting to the Guild before all the good quests got picked over. He knew that he should be resting, but he simply had too much to do in the city to be able to justify spending another full day sitting on his ass. He was still sore, but it was a good soreness. The soreness of progress. He glanced at his menus, which were hovering off to the side as he walked.

Training Overview

General Experience Earned

Mana Use: 1090

Skill Experience Earned

Aura Compression: 508 [Rank Up]

Attributes

Richmond Rain Stroudwater

Level 18

Experience: 22749/22750

Dynamo

Health

400

Stamina

400

Mana

5700

Strength

20[10]

Recovery

30[10]

Endurance

20[10]

Vigor

20[10]

Focus

20[10]

Clarity

200

Free Points

0

Statistics

Total

Base

Modifier

Health

400

400

0

100%

H.Regen

300/day

300/day

0/day

100%

Stamina

400

400

0

100%

S.Regen

200/day

200/day

0/day

100%

Mana

5700

5700

0

100%

M.Regen

2.02/s

0.212/s

-0.05/s

975.5%

Movement Speed

10

Perception

20

Resistances

Heat

Cold

Light

Dark

2

0%

2

0%

2

0%

2

0%

Force

Arcane

Mental

Chemical

2

0%

2

0%

2

0%

2

0%

He smiled and dismissed the menus. Taking it easy for him equated to what was probably several days’ worth of hard training for a normal mage. The lack of progress on Mana Manipulation didn’t bother him. Once he ranked up Compression and got used to the ring, he’d be able to charge his armor faster than ever before. Losing a day or two of contribution now wouldn’t make that much of a difference in the end.

The cold wind gusted, making the heavy snow change direction. The visibility was practically zero in the darkness. Despite the horrid weather, Rain was warm and dry. By shrinking Immolate down with Aura Compression, he’d created an almost skin-tight bubble of warmth surrounding his armor. Auras were always circular down to one meter in radius no matter what he did. Below that, they would stop a few centimeters beyond his skin, clinging to the shape of his soul. He’d yet to decide on a final name for this state. For now he was calling it his Cloak of Immolation.

Trying to compress things further would create a singularity, which had turned out to be useless for Immolate. The spell affected entities and the environment, but not the user. When used as a singularity, that meant it had no valid targets whatsoever. All it did was consume mana. Where that mana was going, he had no idea.

Using his new technique, he’d refined his space heater into something approaching personal climate control. The mana cost was trivial for the purpose of fighting off the cold. Better still, the low cost meant that the glow of the aura’s interaction with the armor was too faint to be seen, even if it hadn’t been hidden by his cloak.

The armor was currently discharged of course. The darkness was sufficient to activate the regeneration rune and drain the capacitor. He was a bit uncomfortable that the hardness enchantment wasn’t active, but Ameliah was right, he needed to relax. Lavarro was gone. He’d charge it once the sun rose. Detection would warn him if there was anything approaching. He hardly needed to keep his climate control running constantly, after all.

The gate was guarded by a pair of hooded and cloaked Watch officers. One of them shouted in alarm as Rain approached. He stopped, thinking about what his own reaction to a black-hooded form emerging from a snowstorm would be. He cleared his throat. “Hello!” he shouted, trying to sound friendly.

“Who goes there?” came the response. “Approach. Show me your hands.”

Rain pulled aside his cloak, freeing his arms and letting all of the wonderful warm air escape out into the storm. He reached up slowly, lowering his hood to reveal his helmet. His guild plate hung against his chest, visible in the flickering light cast by the pair of evertorches by the gatehouse. Now that he was closer, he recognized the officer on the right, catching a glimpse of her face within her hood. He’d met her when he’d fixed his mess over at the Watch stronghold. “Oh, hello Melka,” he said. “How’d you get stuck with the early shift?”

“Oh, it’s you,” Melka said, relaxing. “What the hells are you doing out of the city at this hour? And didn’t I tell you to call me Mel? I only make jerks like Sarl here use my full name.”

“Uhh, Melka,” said the other officer, presumably Sarl. “That armor… You know this guy? He looks like the description…”

Melka laughed. “Sarl, this is Rain. He’s the purification mage, and also the Guild’s new cat-three. You didn’t know it was the same person?”

“No, I didn’t,” Sarl said, sounding a little unsettled. “He looks way too nefarious for a purification mage.”

Rain laughed. “I get that a lot.” He reached up to raise his visor before offering Sarl his hand. “Hi, nice to meet you.”

Sarl edged back. “Stay away. Don’t try anything.”

“Oh, push over, Sarl,” Melka said. “He’s not dangerous. And besides, there’s way worse than him in the Guild. He’s not even silver. Stop being such a coward.”

“Melka, you need to take your responsibility more seriously,” Sarl said. “You might be quick to trust, but I’m not. It’s people like him that are why we need to stand guard out here in the first place.”

Melka rolled her eyes. “Ignore him. Come on in, Rain. We’ve got bigger problems to worry about than you. You didn’t happen to run into any monsters while you were out there, did you?”

Rain dropped his hand, giving up on Sarl as a lost cause. He put him out of his mind and turned to answer Melka’s question. “No, why? What problems?”

“There’ve been more monster sightings than usual in the hinterlands,” Melka said. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard. Just yesterday, one of our patrols had to save a farmer who was being chased by a pack of k—uh…monsters…” She shook her head. “Anyway, it’s unusual. It’s got people concerned.”

Kin, huh? Why didn’t she want to say it? Are they uncommon around here? “Humm,” Rain said. “I did run into some Kin north of the city like a week ago. I’m not from around here, so I’m not really sure what is and isn’t normal. Where are they coming from, do you think?”

Sarl cursed. He looked at Melka. “You trust what he just said? If that’s true, then that’s the third report of Kin that we’ve gotten in three days. That’s not good. Combine that with this storm and the war and the thing with the baths…”

Melka shrugged. “I don’t see a reason for him to lie. It’s probably just a new lair, Sarl. I don’t see how that other stuff is related.”

Sarl shook his head, looking unhappy. Thunder rumbled in the distance, causing all three of them to jump. “See?” Sarl said, gesturing vaguely at the falling snow. It looked like the storm was picking up. “That’s not normal. And if it was a lair, one of our patrols would have found it by now.”

“It all depends on how deep it is,” Melka said. “What else could it be?”

“Rank shift,” said Sarl. “You know the signs.”

“Shh,” Melka hissed. “It’s bad enough that the peasants believe that trash. Watch what you say. If someone hears an officer say something like that, it could cause a panic. Fel Sadanis is safe. It is stable. There is no such thing as rank shift. Not here.”

Rank shift…that’s what Ameliah and Val thought might be happening. I need to talk to Staavo. If that really is what’s going on…

Melka sighed. “Please don’t mention the Kin in the city, let alone rank shift.” She spared a glare for her fellow officer, then looked back at Rain. “Come on, we’re supposed to be guarding, and you’ve probably got places to be. Before you go, though, do you think you could…you know?”

Rain raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“The baths are shut down for the winter, and there’s an issue there besides. Go on, use the thing you used before. I feel gross. Sentinel Phoss made us do a patrol of the sewers and I can still smell it in my hair.”

“Melka, did you seriously just authorize a category three to use magic in the city because you feel gross?” Sarl said incredulously.

“Yes, I did,” Melka said. “I’m the ranking officer here, Sarl, whether you like it or not. Go on, Rain. Please.”

“You’re sure it’s okay?” Rain asked. She nodded. He turned to Sarl. “Don’t be alarmed. You’re going to see a white light. It’s harmless.”

Sarl grumbled. “Fine.”

Rain activated Purify, keeping the radius small, just large enough to encompass both of the Watch officers. He brought the intensity up slowly so as to not alarm them. Melka sighed happily. Sarl just stared at him with distrust. Of the Watch officers that he’d met, he’d gotten similarly mixed reactions. Some of them were open-minded and easy-going like Melka, but for every one of her, there were two more like Sarl. It remained to be seen whether the best spell ever would be enough to bring this one around.

He briefly considered offering to warm the air up for them with Immolate but discarded that as a top-tier stupid idea. That could lead to a whole bunch of unfortunate questions. They didn’t seem to be that bothered by the cold anyway, the awakened probably having enough points in Endurance to just ignore the discomfort of standing out in the storm.

He nodded to Melka and made his way into the city, feeling Sarl’s eyes on his back as he walked away. He lowered his visor again and pulled up his hood, adjusting his cloak to cover his armor. The snow really was getting worse. Thunder rumbled again in the distance.

So, the Watch is edgy and the city is primed for a panic. Great. This is just what I need. I’m feeling like Tallheart’s property value is sinking as we speak. Maybe building a house isn’t the best use of our time right now…

Damn, I forgot to ask her what the Watch wanted. Oh well, she probably didn’t know anyway, or she would have mentioned it.

Rain’s thoughts lingered on the potential for rank shift as he made his way toward the guild, but he didn’t let that distract him from his use of Detection. He hadn’t forgotten the monster that he’d sensed in the city before. He was getting quite a few signals coming from below him in the sewers. A more selective scan revealed them to be slimes—nothing to be worried about. It sure does seem like there are a lot of them, though. If I get some free time, I should go do something about that. I could use the Tel.

A sudden ping coming from ground level brought him to a halt in the middle of the bridge over the river. He repeated his scan, using more power this time. There was no mistake. There were monsters in the city. It hadn’t been just one. There were hundreds of them, though he didn’t know what kind. He looked in the direction of the signals.

The baths?

He checked the time. It was still dark, the swirling snow and the clouds hiding the sunrise. Damn it, I’m going to miss all the quests, but I can’t ignore this.

He turned on his heel and hurried back across the bridge, heading in the direction of the bathhouse. He scanned for Kin, coming up with nothing. Next, he tried slimes, feeling slightly relieved as the signals re-appeared. Why are the baths filled with slimes?

He was stopped at the entrance by another pair of Watch officers. This time, he didn’t recognize either of them. “The baths are closed,” said the one on the left.

“Why?” Rain asked. It didn’t look like they’d realized he was an adventurer, concealed as he was within his cloak. For now, he wanted to keep it that way, not wanting another conversation like the one at the gate.

“Because it’s winter,” the guard said, giving him a look like he was a complete moron.

Asking about the slimes would be a really dumb idea. They’d want to know how I know, and that could turn into a huge mess. I need to be circumspect. He cleared his throat. “Not ‘why are they closed?’. Everyone knows the baths close in winter.” Except me, apparently. “I’m asking why the Watch is here guarding the door.”

“Nothing to concern yourself with. The Watch has it under control,” said the man on the right. “Move along.”

Rain shrugged. He’d only hurried over because he’d been concerned that there were monsters loose in the city. Clearly, the Watch already knew about it and had blocked off the area. He turned around, heading back for the Guild. Good, I can still stick to my plan. I’ll see what quests there are, then come back. For all I know, this is what they wanted my help with in the first place. From how many of them I’m sensing, the mess has got to be unspeakable.

He made it to the Adventurers’ Guild without further incident. It looked like the wall that Carten had stress-tested was in the midst of being repaired, though no one was working on it yet this morning. The inside of the guild was dim, lit by candlelight and the glowing runes of the heater plates. He wiped his feet on the mat by the door, then made his way over to the old man who was busy pinning slips of paper to the quest board. He hadn’t seen Rankin since he’d been kicked out, but he wasn’t exactly expecting a warm reunion.

“Oh, it’s the troublemaker,” Rankin said, glancing over his shoulder at Rain. “Before you ask, no, our deal’s off. No free lodging for you. You’re lucky we’re not charging you for the wall.”

Rain sighed. He’d expected as much. “Hello, Rankin.” Damn it, why is everyone an asshole?

Rain had started forming a theory about Rankin. He’d only barely interacted with the man, but thanks to overmana, he was able to retroactively translate some of the conversations that he’d overheard before he understood the language. It wasn’t perfect and he wasn’t sure how much he could trust it, but what he did recall seemed to line up with Gus’s more recent comments about the man.

He looked at Rankin’s back as he worked. The old man was wearing the standard blue guild uniform. He didn’t have any obvious jewelry or signs of wealth to indicate what he was doing with all the money he was skimming from the guild. That I think he’s skimming from the guild, Rain corrected himself. I can’t prove it yet. No matter how I slice it, though, there’s got to be something going on here.

He looked around the shabby guildhall, then back at Rankin. He activated Detection, finding a small pouch of Tel at the man’s waist, but only after he boosted the power to sharpen the signal. Interesting. Staavo said arcane resistance would be one way to avoid things like Detection. I guess it extends to what you’re carrying. Anyway, there aren't enough Tel in there to be suspicious. He’s richer than me, but that’s not saying much.If he is embezzling the guild’s funds, he’s being smart about it at least…

“Stop hovering over my shoulder,” Rankin said, continuing his work. “You can look at the board once I’m done. There’s a special request for you, too. I’ll get to it in a minute. Go clean or something. That’s all you’re good for.”

Rain clenched his teeth. You know what? No. Fuck this. I’ve had it with every asshole thinking that they can just push me around. “Why should I?” he snapped. “If you’re not going to hold up your end of the deal, then I’m not cleaning a damn thing.”

Rankin laughed. “As if I care.” He pinned the last notice to the board, then turned to look at him. “You are an illiterate fool. Halgrave was right to throw you out. I’ve got no idea what he’s thinking, returning your plate. If I was in charge, I’d have never even let you back in the door.”

Rain strangled his angry response. There was no point to getting into a shouting match. He was already regretting snapping at the man. It made him sound like a petulant child, angry at not getting his way. He took a deep breath. “What happened with Lavarro was not my fault. I know you don’t think so, but that is the way it is. Halgrave and I have reached an understanding. I won’t cause any trouble for you if you don’t cause any trouble for me.”

“Fine,” Rankin said. “Now get out of my way.” He pushed Rain aside. The old man was strong. Very strong. Rain’s armored boots slid against the floor as Rankin shouldered past him. “Take a minute and see if you can find a nice quest with some pretty colors on the posting. I’ll read it to you when you’re ready, don’t worry. I’ve got your special request, too, cleaning boy.”

Seriously? Rain stared after the man. How do I keep finding these people? His mouth twisted into a malicious grin beneath his helmet. Okay, if you can be an asshole, so can I. It’s time to get petty. I’m still going to use Purify in here whenever I want, except now I’m adding in a rule. He opened up the blacklist for the skill. It was blank as he’d never seen a need to use it for this particular spell. He added Rankin’s name to the list. The rule is: ‘nobody poops but you’.

Rain pulled the door shut behind himself and stepped back out into the storm. The thunder had stopped, but the snow was still falling heavily. Thundersnow was something he’d heard of, but never experienced himself. The rumors of impending rank shift might have some credence to them, unless the odd weather was just a coincidence. There was also the fact that there were slimes in the baths. He’d been right in his guess that the Watch had requested his assistance with the issue. The request hadn’t specified exactly what they wanted him for, just that his Purification aura was required. The reward of 30 Tel was nice, but not enough to get his mind off what monsters appearing within the city might mean. If the slimes climbed up into the baths from the sewer, that’s one thing, but if they spawned there…

He increased the level of his climate control, fighting against a chill that had nothing to do with the storm. He tried to put it out of his mind.

In addition to the Watch’s special quest, he’d picked up two more postings: A generic quest for hunting slimes in the sewer, and a request to harvest a particular type of moss that grew down there. Nothing too strenuous. Still, he felt like he was pushing himself. He was still sore and hesitant to use his spells at a high intensity. What he really wanted to do was to sit down and play with the ring some more. He’d tried to get a display of his adaptation level, but the system had fought him. The resistance meant it was possible, but the system was unyielding when he pressed against it. What he was asking for wasn’t straightforward. It would have to wait until he recovered.

It was odd. He was dreading the walk through the sewers more than fighting the slimes themselves. With Refrigerate at rank 10 and Aura Compression allowing him to control the range, fighting them would be trivial. He was just hoping that whatever was lurking in the baths wasn’t another Mucus King. If it was, he’d have to come back later. He definitely wasn’t up to fighting something like that at the moment.

He activated Detection as he came into range once more. There were a bunch of signals coming from the bathhouse, but each one felt small. Smaller, even, than a regular slime. Unless there was something in there with the ability to avoid Detection, it looked like this was going to be an easy job.

Swarm slimes? Slimelings? Baby slimes? Wait, do monsters age?

He shook his head and lowered his hood before approaching the door to the baths. He wanted to be recognized this time. The guards at the door were barely visible in the driving snow, but they came to attention as he approached.

“Well, I’m here,” Rain said, coming to a stop. “What do you need me for?”

“You’re the purification mage, right?” said the officer on the left.

“Yes,” Rain said. “I received a request to come here, so here I am.”

The man nodded. “Inside. Speak to the sentinel.”

Chatty fellow. Rain shrugged and entered. The building was deserted, snow swirling in from the archway that led to the pool. The pool itself was in a large, open-ceilinged room. While it had high walls that screened it from the city, there was nothing to stop the cold wind and the snow from getting in. It seemed like a poor design choice for a city that got this cold, but he reserved his opinion. They probably had some way of draining the pool during winter months. If he were in charge, he’d have installed some heater plates under the water so the baths could run year-round. He had no idea how much something like that would cost, though.

Rain stared as he stepped through the archway. The pool had been drained halfway, the inflow from the river blocked. The remaining water had frozen into a solid sheet of ice. There were small blue slimes everywhere in the pool, each no larger than a football. They clung to the sides and squelched their way across the ice, leaving smooth trails behind them as they cleared the snow. He took a step back as three of them started moving in his direction. Well, this is a thing…

He was startled by a sudden flash of red light. One of the three slimes was blown away by a blast of flame. He looked for the source, spotting a woman in a red robe walking toward him. He recognized her.

“Sentinel Lamida,” he said, backing away from the slimes. They were slow, hardly a threat. His HUD listed them as Ice Slimes and they were only level one. “I have to admit, this isn’t what I was expecting.” He flinched as Lamida blasted another slime.

She raised an eyebrow. “And what were you expecting, exactly?”

Rain shrugged. “A mess or something. Why do you need me for this? Those don’t look dirty. They just look like little blobs of ice.”

Lamida stopped in front of him, crossing her arms. “They are as foul as any other slime, and besides, you aren’t here for your Purification aura alone. The main reason you’re here is for the other one. The one that got you your category three rating.”

Rain frowned. “That’s not what the request said. I feel lied to.” Damn it, they’re jerking me around. I need to get stronger so I can stop worrying about people playing games with me like this.

“Would you have come otherwise?” Lamida asked, raising an eyebrow. “Besides, they’re still slimes.” She launched another firebolt, leaving a sooty smear on the tile floor and sending chunks of burning slime everywhere. “There’s still going to be a mess when you’re done.”

Rain sighed. He’d known there were monsters in here thanks to Detection, but she didn’t know that. He didn’t want to reveal the fact that he could basically see through walls. Well, if they aren’t going to be straight with me, I’m not going to be straight with them. Time to fish for some information. “How did they get in here? They didn’t spawn, did they?”

Lamida skewered him with an expression colder than the driving snow. “No. They came in from the river.”

I’m…not sure I believe that. Even if they were in the river, how did they get there in the first place? That’s just moving the problem. He narrowed his eyes. “Let’s say I believe you. What do you want me to do?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she said. “Clear them out, and do it without anyone outside of the building noticing. You can do that, can you not?”

Damn it. I mean, they are paying me, but still, this feels like a setup. Something is hinky here. “Just so we’re clear, I’m going to go in there and use an AOE skill to kill off all the slimes. I’ll keep it under control and I should be able to do it without damaging anything. It won’t extend beyond the pool. You said you’d punish me if I ever used the skill in the city, so I’m making sure we don’t have a misunderstanding before I do it.”

“Today, please,” Lamida said.

Rain shook his head. “Say I have approval to use the skill.”

Lamida uncrossed her arms. “Fine. I thought you were an adventurer, not a lawyer. You have my approval to use the skill.”

“Can I get that in writing?”

Lamida stared at him silently. He waited. You aren’t winning a staring contest, lady. I’ve got my helmet on.

“No. You cannot.” She held up a hand to interrupt his response. “There is another condition to this request that I have yet to explain. You are not to reveal the presence of the slimes to anyone in the city. There is a reason the request was phrased as it was. We don’t want this becoming public knowledge. I should not need to tell you why.”

Rain froze. “So they did spawn then. It is rank shift.”

“No,” Lamida said, staring at him like he was an idiot. “But it does not matter. If you can think that, so can others. We are not unaware of the rumors in the city.”

Rain shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. If you were worried about people thinking this was rank shift, you would have just dealt with it quickly and quietly, not waited around. Using it as an excuse to see me use my skill is reckless.”

“I do not need to explain myself to you,” Lamida said. “We have our reasons.”

Rain shook his head. “No. Explain, or I’m leaving.” He was already in a bad mood from dealing with Rankin, and 30 Tel wasn’t enough to tolerate being jerked around like this. He wasn’t going to let her walk all over him. He’d gotten the measure of the Watch. Their rules were strict, but they stuck to them. It wasn’t like she would attack him or anything. I just hope I’m not wrong about that. She is silver, after all.

Lamida sighed, the first sign of any emotion from her other than frigid disdain. “Fine. I will admit that it was my idea and that it was not necessarily the best tactical decision. The slimes got in when the workers opened the sluice to flush the pool before draining it for the winter. If we had actual proof of rank shift in the city, we would not be hiding it. We would be organizing an appropriate response, possibly an evacuation depending upon the severity. Had you not responded by noon today, I would have dealt with it myself and just left the cleaning to you. Even if news of the slimes gets out it will merely be…inconvenient.”

Rain thought about it. I suppose I’ll buy that. I don’t particularly like the way she’s jerking me around, but it makes a certain sense. This job really is perfect for me. She’s just capitalizing on it to learn what I can do. Still, I’m going to be careful. No novas, even at low power. People would notice the cloud of steam. I’m worried about this causing a panic, even if she doesn’t think it’s likely.

“Well?” Lamida said.

Rain nodded. “Fine. I get to keep whatever they drop. Tel or otherwise.”

“Fair,” Lamida said. “Now hurry up. I’m regretting this idea more every moment. It’s bad enough that you made me wait this long. At least it looks like the snow is finally letting up.”

Rain nodded and walked through the arch, surveying the area to see what he was in for. It was dark because of the storm, but thanks to his enhanced perception, he wasn’t having any trouble picking out the slimes as they moved, leaving shiny trails of clear ice behind them. They’re like little Zambonis. They’re almost cute. They just need some anime eyes and we’d be set. He breathed in deeply through his nose. Nope, maybe not. They’re not nearly as bad as the ones in the sewer, but still. It smells like wet dog and urine in here.

The pool itself was rectangular, about the same width as an Olympic swimming pool, but twice the length. He turned, heading for the wall where the river normally flowed into the building. The inlet was closed by a metal sluice gate as Lamida had said. He kept back from the edge of the pool as best as he could, but some of the slimes still noticed him. They skated toward him across the ice, moving much more quickly than they could on the tile floor of the bathhouse. He heard wet plopping noises as they slapped into the near wall of the pool. After a brief delay, the first of them hauled itself up over the edge and started squelching toward him once more. He wasn’t concerned. He could keep ahead of them easily. His armor was still discharged, but he had no intention of letting them anywhere near him.

As he neared the sluice gate, he paused to look at the trail of slimes heading his way. He had a few moments to prepare. He opened up the skill card for Immolate. It was already active at a low level in the form of his climate control. That meant Channel Mastery at 1% of normal output and Aura Compression taking 17 meters off the range.

Immolate (10/10)

2-2 heat (fcs) damage per second to entities and environment

Sufficient damage causes ignition

Range: 1 meter

Cost: 0.5 mp/s

Right. I need to get out onto the ice and get to the middle. Then, I can open up the range and boost the power. Extend Aura should get me to 36 meters in radius. More than enough to sweep the whole thing if I’m in the middle. As for the slimes, they can’t have more than a hundred health or so, judging by the ones I’ve fought before. They might even have less. They’re smaller, after all. Also, this is fire damage, which Ice Slimes should be weak to. This is gonna be easy. Here we go.

Rain hopped down onto the ice, steadying his footing as the slimes skated for him. He relaxed his hold on Aura Compression slightly, extending it out to four meters. That would be enough to keep the slimes off him until he got to the center. He brought the power up until the damage read around 30 per second. If the slimes could cross four meters in less time than it took the aura to kill them, he’d just boost it further.

Immolate (10/10)

30-34 heat (fcs) damage per second to entities and environment

Sufficient damage causes ignition

Range: 4 meters

Cost: 10 mp/s

The aura formed a shell of warm, clear air around him, the heat melting the falling snow moments after it crossed the boundary. His armor shone with crimson light as the metal disrupted the mana flow. The ice beneath his feet started melting, his metal boots losing traction as the water spread across the surface.

He smiled as the first of the slimes entered his range. The moment it crossed the boundary, it burst into flame, just as the skill’s description promised. It lasted less than two seconds, its health bar vanishing as it went up in a plume of greasy smoke.

Oh shit, that might be a problem.I don’t think they’ll catch on fire once I lower the power, but if they do, I’ll have to stop and use Purify. One or two going up like that is fine I guess. There’s plenty of smoke over the city already from all the wood people are burning. A hundred of these guys on fire at once, though…yeah, people might notice.

He hustled for the center of the pool, his sore muscles protesting as he slid on the melting ice. At this level, Immolate was definitely an attack. He could feel the heat pressing in on him. It was tolerable only because he was just getting the blowback from the heated air, not the effect of the skill itself. It was somewhere around the intensity of a hairdryer at full blast, just coming in from everywhere at once. An unawakened human that he’d blacklisted would have had no trouble, though it would hardly have been pleasant. Rain missed a step, almost falling on the ice as he considered what would happen to someone who he hadn’t blacklisted. At 200 health, they’d be dead in seven seconds.

Yikes.

He stopped in the center, reducing the intensity further as he simultaneously deactivated Aura Compression. More slimes died as the aura swept over them, the icy blobs unable to cross the distance before succumbing to the low, yet steady damage. Looking up, he checked to make sure that the effect of the spell wouldn’t be too noticeable from outside. The walls of the bath were high, but not that high. The snow was being pushed back as the spell expanded, but it wouldn’t be obvious from a distance thanks to the poor visibility. The spell itself didn’t have a visual component; it could only be seen by the effect on the environment. It was most obvious with metal. The light was much brighter than what his armor was currently giving off, protected as it was by his soul. That wasn’t a concern in this instance. There wasn’t any metal around other than the sluice gate, which was out of range. He nodded to himself, satisfied. It should be fine.

He activated Extend Aura, using Aura Compression once more to keep the boundary within the pool. He reduced the intensity further, dropping it down to around 10 damage per second. There was no need to get carried away.

Immolate (10/10)

9-10 heat (fcs) damage per second to entities and environment

Sufficient damage causes ignition

Range: 26 meters

Cost: 9 mp/s

Humm, I have around 5,000 mana left and it’s using 9 per second right now. Call it 10 for fast math. That means I have around 500 seconds to get to the other end. Plenty of time. I don’t need to worry about being efficient.

Nevertheless, he walked briskly, being careful not to slip on the ice. At this level, the aura wasn’t anywhere near strong enough to melt through the ice in any reasonable time frame. It was, however, plenty strong enough to cover the surface with a thin sheen of water that made it even more treacherous. Rain wished for ice skates as he slipped and slid along, feeling less like a skater and more like one of those rocks that they used in curling.

He started picking up speed. The slimes skated toward him, heedless of their own demise. Their health steadily dropped under the influence of the skill the moment they entered the aura. None came anywhere close to reaching him before dying. Fortunately, he didn’t need to deal with the smoke. At the lower heat level, they didn’t burst into flames, merely melting into puddles of a blue oily substance that spread across the ice. In addition to smelling horrible, the liquid reduced the friction even further. He traced a wake through the oily layer of filth, focused entirely on staying upright at this point.

All according to plan. He windmilled his arms, then lowered himself down into a crouch. He needed to kick off every once in a while, digging the edge of his metal boot into the ice. It worked well enough. It was actually somewhat fun. He lowered the intensity of Immolate further as he saw that the slimes weren’t making it anywhere near him despite his increased speed.

The last of the slimes died as he reached the end of the pool. He scrambled to a stop, managing to arrest his momentum before he slammed into the metal grate that blocked the water from flowing down into the sewers. From this close, he could see that there was an additional sluice gate beyond the grating that was normally raised to maintain the water level in the pool. It was lowered now, sitting at the level of the ice. He dropped Immolate completely and scanned for slimes, coming up with none outside of the sewers. The far end of the pool was out of range, but he was still pretty sure that he’d gotten them all.

He activated Purify, letting the spell start to work on the layer of oily slime that was coating the ice while he checked his kill notifications. The scent of urine and wet dog vanished. With a thought, he forced the system to give him a summary.

You have defeated [Ice Slime] x132, Levels 1-2

0 Experience Earned

Wow, there really were a lot of them. All in a day’s work. Oh, oops. Zero experience, probably because I’m at the cap. I should have unlocked a tree or two. Oh well. Not like experience is a problem for me.

“Well, I saw something new today,” Lamida’s voice came from the edge of the pool. Rain looked up at her. She looked, well, not amused. Perhaps slightly less stern. “Impressive. I thought you would fall.”

Rain smiled, then remembered his helmet, flipping up the visor. “Satisfied?”

“That was Immolate, was it not?” she said, looking at him. “Not at all what I expected. I’ve never seen anyone use it before. How do you deal with the mana cost?”

Rain shrugged. No way I’m telling her that.

“Alright then, keep your secrets,” Lamida said. Rain fought back a laugh, picturing a certain hobbit talking to a certain wizard. He flipped his visor down to hide his grin. Her tone had been anything but playful.

She turned away and walked toward the arch. “I’m leaving. Deal with the mess, then get one of the officers to check once you’re done. You can collect your reward from the Guild.” She paused as she reached it, looking over her shoulder. “We’ll be watching.”

A sudden crash of thunder tore apart the silence immediately after she finished speaking. Rain jumped. I thought the storm was passing…unless…she did that somehow. He looked at Lamida, but she was already gone. Thunder rumbled again and lightning flashed across the sky. The temperature slowly fell with the falling snow, no longer held at bay by his aura. Well, that isn’t ominous or anything.