Mage Tank

Chapter 175: Planar or Spatial? The Subtle Nuance of Portal Magic

All is not lost for the Littan party. Nottagator’s merciless combo may have looked ruinous, but Sgt. Guar had Shielding granted to him by Captain Pio. On top of a health pool that I have judged to be close to 2000 and liberal use of his defensive buffs, Guar is not yet relieved of his living role in this mortal combat! The tank still has a lot of space before Nottagator hands the Void King Sgt. Guar’s head on a platter!

“Please don’t.”

While Nottagator tears into Guar, the rest of his team does not merely stand idly by watching the massacre. Staff Sgt. Baltae has taken to the air, keeping himself aloft with Telekinesis. The spatial mage has begun casting a spell and releases 4 bolts of Mystic Force at Nottagator. Given how severely the man’s mana was drained by the use of Mana Barrier during the fight with the Gekkogs, this may be the mage’s first and final contribution to this combat!

Force Bolt

Mystical

Cost: 10 mana + Variable

Requirements: INT 20, Mystical Magic 20

Create a bolt of force that seeks out your enemies. Make an INT Mystical attack against an entity you can perceive within a number of feet equal to 40 plus twice your Mystical Magic skill level with a bonus to damage equal to your Mystical Magic skill level. This bolt will seek out its target, curving around all obstruction.

You may create an additional number of bolts up to the number of Mystical Magic evolutions you possess for an additional 10 mana each. Each bolt can be assigned a target individually.

Despite being the party’s weak link last fight, Sgt. Baltae is once again showing his prowess as a tactical fighter. Force is Nottagator’s lowest defense, and a shower of quick attacks is often an exploitable weakness of tanks that rely on high-cooldown defensive abilities, as demonstrated by Sgt. Guar’s near-evisceration.

In case it was not clear from the Titan’s name, Nottagator’s highest stat is Fortitude, and its seeming immunity to damage is in no small part due to cooldowns similar to Guar’s. High Fortitude also means that Baltae’s normal repertoire of Dimensional attacks is significantly less effective against the beast, making the use of Force an even wiser choice. Let us see how effective it truly is!

As Nottagator ravages Guar, the Force Bolts thunder through the air, but amalgamated chunks of stone launch into the sky to intercept three of them! The bolts hit and explode through the rock, barely slowing on their way toward Nottagator. This attack has some significant punch behind it, more than we have seen thus far from the spatial mage! Still, some of the power behind the attacks is lost as they strike the defensive ability, and when they land upon Nottagator’s thick hide, the effect is minimal!

Nottagator takes 11 Force damage!

Nottagator takes 21 Force damage!

Nottagator takes 18 Force damage!

Nottagator takes 51 Force damage!

Nottagator gains 4 stacks of Rage!

While Force is Nottagator’s lowest defense, it is still higher than most of the adverse team’s Physical defenses! Still, Baltae’s attack did its job and deprived Nottagator of one of its defensive abilities and– What’s this? Sgt. Baltae is repeating the attack! More bolts fly out, pressuring Nottagator to spend more cooldowns!

Nottagator uses Face Tank and gains 70 DR All for one attack!

Nottagator uses Face Tank and gains 70 DR All for one attack!

Nottagator uses Face Tank and gains 70 DR All for one attack!

Nottagator uses Face Tank and gains 70 DR All for one attack!

Force Bolt fails to deal damage!

Nottagator gains 4 stacks of Rage!

While Baltae has certainly made an incredible contribution to his team’s chance of victory by shredding Nottagator’s mitigation, the spatial mage is clearly out of juice. He is barely capable of keeping himself afloat using Telekinesis. That man would do well to retreat, lest he fall into the pit of deadly spikes without the benefit of his Mana Barrier.

Let us hope he remains and tests his Luck. The Atrocidile Titan is not cheap to feed.

“Wait. What have you been feeding it?”

[Irrelevant!]

While bolts rain from the sky onto Nottagator’s back, the filthy curse mage makes themself known! Which is to say that status effects and stacks of Cursed have begun to appear from nowhere. I am still unable to find them at the moment.

Nottagator gains 1 stack of Cursed!

Nottagator gains 5 stacks of Rage!

Nottagator fails its WIS check! Nottagator is Paralyzed!

Nottagator gains 3 stacks of Cursed!

Nottagator gains 5 stacks of Rage!

Nottagator spends 10 stacks of Rage to become immune to Paralyzed for 1 minute!

Nottagator gains 1 stack of Cursed!

Nottagator gains 1 stack of Cursed!

Nottagator resists Fear with its Atrocidile racial bonus!

Nottagator fails its WIS check! Nottagator becomes Psychotic!

Nottagator gains 3 stacks of Cursed!

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Nottagator gains 5 stacks of Rage!

Nottagator spends 10 stacks of Rage to become immune to Psychosis for 1 minute!

Nottagator gains 1 stack of Cursed!

Nottagator takes 86 Psychic damage!

Nottagator fails its WIS check!

Nottagator is immune to Psychosis!

An incredible battle of wills is happening between Nottagator and the cowardly hidden curse mage! The curse mage clearly has passives or other buffs that increase the Cursed stacks they apply. They also punish targets for cleansing debuffs by applying more Cursed in retaliation. Meanwhile, Nottagator gains Rage whenever a debuff is successfully applied to it and can then burn those stacks to purge itself of the debuffs! The ability is not limitless, and Nottagator can only cleanse itself so fast, but it is enough to hold off the curse mage’s craven attempts to manipulate the beast from the shadows!

Although Nottagator has prevented itself from becoming Paralyzed, Psychotic, or Feared, it can do little to stymie the flood of Cursed stacks building up on it.

Cursed: Whenever a Cursed entity makes an attack or contest, they receive a -6 penalty for each stack of Cursed.

Cursed may appear to be a death sentence for Nottagator, but the debuff includes hidden soft caps normally overlooked since it is difficult to run up against them.

This effect has diminishing returns when reducing the attack or contest below the base value of [Attribute] + [Intrinsic Skill].

With 9 stacks of Cursed, Nottagator will receive a penalty of up to 54 points to its attacks and checks, but any further stacks of Cursed will do little to halt the monster’s onslaught! Still an incredible blow to the beast’s combat effectiveness, but Nottagator has plenty of other ways to make its enemies suffer!

“Well, Grotto, I gotta say, this is a defensive battle if I’ve ever seen one. Squad Pio is throwing everything and the kitchen sink at Nottagator and has managed to tickle its hide for less than 10 percent of its total health. Nottagator is also struggling, and although it got some good licks in against Sgt. Guar, Captain Pio is closing in fast with Heals, Shielding, and Cleanse to get rid of that nasty Paralyzed status. Something on this battlefield has to change quickly or we’re gonna be in it for the long haul.”

[While I agree with the thrust of your analysis, Arlo, I disagree with your conclusion. Squad Pio is putting up a competent enough showing, but you have failed to account for their low resource pools. The team has been through a gauntlet of endless traps and sneak attacks with little to no rest in between, and the consequences of their lackluster regeneration are beginning to show.]

[Sgt. Baltae no longer has enough mana to meaningfully contribute to the fight, Pio has been casting Heal and support spells nearly nonstop, and Guar has been forced to serve as the party’s primary source of AoE damage to the detriment of his stamina pool. It is difficult to know where the gutless curse mage stands, but I suspect they are suffering as well, given how many curses they are throwing around and especially after soloing that den of Gekkogs.]

[The only party member in good shape is likely Lt. Madel, who appears to have a Fortitude in the mid-30’s. However, she has yet to display any abilities that take significant advantage of her large stamina pool. That is 300 points worth of expendable resources the team is not making use of.]

As predicted by the unsolicited commentary of the Delve’s co-administrator, Captain Pio is casting Cleanse to rid Guar of the Paralyzed status. Pio also grants herself Haste and hits Guar with 2 uses of Heal, which will return Sgt. Guar to a full complement of Blessed stacks. He will need those if he plans to survive Nottagator’s grip. The beast is suffering from a large number of Cursed stacks, but my money is on the Atrocidile when it comes to a raw contest of Strength.

In an odd shift in strategy, Lt. Madel is backing off from the Atrocidile and making her way toward the edge of the arena. It appears she is having a psychic conversation with Sgt. Baltae, who is urging her to change position. The Atrocidile is once again tearing into Guar, who receives Shielding from Pio–which is immediately shredded by Nottagator–only to be refreshed by Sgt. Guar himself using a Heavy Armor evolution! But it is still not enough to save him from having a third of his health bitten off by the Atrocidile!

And with that health goes the man’s arm! Sgt. Guar is down a limb! The Atrocidile feasts on the flesh of its foe, roaring in delight at the vengeful carnage!

Sgt. Baltae teleports to the edge of the arena, holding himself above the surface of the water with Telekinesis. A small bird lands on his shoulder, the pusillanimous Littan mimic finally showing themself. The mimic uses Scapegoat on Captain Pio, causing the Atrocidile to become Distracted and abandon its assault on Guar. Guar crashes down to the ground, and Baltae begins pulling the injured man toward the edge of the cavern with Telekinesis, aided by Lt. Madel’s meager Strength as she swoops in to help carry the party’s tank.

“I have no idea what they’re trying to do. Are they going to burrow through the wall?”

[That would be impossible. The Delve is built to abut the edge of the dimensional space on the opposite side of the Closet from your living quarters. That wall is the edge of the Closet, and nothing exists outside of it.]

“I mean, I can survive in a vacuum. Maybe they can as well?”

[You do not understand. There is nothing on the other side of that wall. It is a non-space, devoid of even the fabric that makes up reality. In this dimension, the Closet is all that exists. Beyond that, the System restricts all long-range planar travel while within a Delve. Even if Sgt. Baltae were able to cross dimensional boundaries, he will be unable to use that capability within the Pocket Delve. I also doubt he has enough mana to attempt anything so intensive.]

In a surprising twist, Captain Pio shows herself as a capable defensive fighter! Her shield is not just for show, but withstands a punishing series of attacks from Nottagator while the rest of her team is in full retreat! Chunks of her health are peeled away while bursts of healing keep her in one piece. It turns out she is not just a healer, but an acceptably talented off-tank!

A heavy swipe comes in from Captain Pio’s left. She leaps into the air and angles her shield to take the hit. Nottagator connects and sends Pio hurtling through the air. Incredibly, Captain Pio’s flight is taking her directly toward her allies! She smashes against the invincible dimensional boundary, her body crumpling against the implacable wall. She holds onto consciousness as she falls, splashing down and resurfacing beside her group. A fierce psychic exchange occurs, with Baltae gesturing vigorously at the wall.

“Captain!” the man shouts, breaking their vigilant silence for the first time. “Please, trust me! There is something here!”

The Atrocidile spins to find its prey, then rushes across the water toward the group. It closes the distance in under a second! Baltae’s hand is on the wall, but I have no idea what he is trying to accomplish! He casts a spell!

Worm Tunnel

Dimensional

Cost: 5 mana

Requirements: Dimensional Magic

Create a temporary tunnel through a mundane substance no thicker than 40 plus twice your Dimensional Magic skill level in feet. This tunnel can be traversed in a single step, regardless of the thickness. The tunnel lasts for a number of hours equal to the number of Dimensional Magic evolutions you have but can be ended at will.

It… it works? A tunnel forms at the boundary of the dimensional space! The Littans are flooding through it! They are making their escape to an unknown location!

“Grotto, what the fuck is through that portal?”

[It is technically not a portal, but compressed space. Shortcut, for example, is planar magic, whereas this is entirely spatial in nature. It is a subtle, yet important distinction.]

“Grotto! Why do I see plants through that portal? Plants, steamy water, and a carefully cultivated atmosphere of sublime relaxation?! Grotto?!”

[Curious. It appears that the edge of this side of the Closet adjoins the edge of the opposite side of the Closet. Rather than there being nothing on the other side of the wall, it is a continuous self-contained spatial loop separated by a normally impenetrable barrier.]

“Grotto! They’re in the fucking hot spring!”

…

[One moment, please.]