Bonded Summoner

Jake used [Arcane Eye] to scout around outside the room, but found that it could not go through the walls or the door. They would have to leave this safe area before they could scout the dungeon out.

They left the room and found that they were in a long hallway as the door behind them closed. They tried the door to re-enter the safe room and found that they could no longer enter it. There were sconces on the wall with torches, and there was even a wide red rug that went across the stone floor, heading into the distance.

Jake used the summon to scout around, and he even cast summon beast. He found the corridor was empty, and that there were no traps, as the dog he had gotten didn’t even trigger anything. It looked like the dungeon master once again was putting their full budget in a major confrontation where they would defeat Jake and his party.

Jake reached the end of the hall with his summons, with the girls in tow. They were in front of a large door, over five meters in height. The [Arcane Eye] could not pass through the door, and he tried all the walls. Jake looked to Fhesiah, hoping she’d be able to glean anything with her [Divine Sense], but she just gazed at the wall and shrugged. It appeared he could not get any intelligence on what lies in wait inside. Ophelia wanted to go first, the most defensible of the party, and he allowed her to go first with him and Fhesiah trailing behind.

When they all entered, the door slammed shut. They were now in a fairly large room, long enough to fit an entire football field. At the end, a dais with a throne, and Jake could barely make out the features of the creature that sat there. His skin was dark, and his hair was bone white.

“A dark elf,” Fhesiah said, her superior vision allowing her to tell what sat there. So, the Champion of Apophis was a dark elf. Jake knew that dark elves were known differently in various stories. Sometimes the race lived entirely underground, and they often worshiped dark gods of chaos. They would come above ground for one thing: capturing slaves. A matriarchal society, they lived and breathed thievery, deception, treachery and cunning. They were always malicious and enjoyed torturing both their slaves and even each other. Their men would often be just as vicious as the women, but they would often be treated as little more than breeding stock by the women.

These were creatures that often never knew love, as any actual amounts of it would be snuffed out with treachery and murder. It made plenty of sense for this race to team up with the outsiders, and Jake guessed this was one of the top members with intelligence to betray the other races of the multiverse and team up with it, though he knew there were many.

Jake became concerned that there were more invisible opponents in the room so he used his [Arcane Eye], but then he saw that many dark elves were lined up along the sides of the room, near the back. Many of them were dressed in similar equipment to the ones they faced, but others held staves, and there were even some wearing armor with curved blades in their hands. There were nearly two dozen in total. Jake’s party fanned out at their end of the hall, and the dark elves set out to match them. Jake looked over the area with the [Arcane Eye], and he thought he somewhat understood the trap.

Using the [Arcane Eye], he could see the magical energies around the room. The sconces that lined the sides of the room had a strange energy being emitted, and that energy was being fed or somehow interacted with what looked to be a ritual circle in the room's rear, besides the giant chandelier above the middle of the room. Jake guessed that something would happen when the encounter started, and this would be what was effective at harming those that relied heavily on fire. All told it was eight sconces, and the same number lined the eight spokes of the chandelier.

Jake made his plan. He conveyed it to the girls as best he could over the bond, and they nodded to confirm they understood. He made his plans for countering all the dark elves, who were content to wait until they started the encounter. Jake formed two sets of glimmering runes, one after the other, and Ophelia formed a runic spear of ice of her own, and even started forming the next. Jake launched one set of them: a giant earthen spike, right for the chains of the chandelier.

When the spell landed, a lot of things happened at once. The dark elves that looked like casters or clerics started chanting their spells, and some of the other dark elves disappeared from sight. The warrior types charged in their own direction as well. From the sconces, eight red and fat imps a little larger than the size of a child appeared in motes of fiery light next to them. The flames on the chandelier started to do the same, but the blow rocked the chandelier and caused it to fall onto the ground, shattering and otherwise stopping the spawns from happening.

The dungeon master shouted, “What? Impossible!” from his throne, as Ophelia had targeted two of the sconces in the room's rear, and both she and Fhesiah rushed for the ones near them to destroy them. The dungeon master could not imagine that a Tier 0 like Jake could spot the trap. Normally the enemy party would be surrounded by a non-stopping swarm of demons soon, but with just 8 child-sized imps and almost no more on the way, Jake and his party would not be in so much danger. They did not seem individually strong, and Jake guessed they were strong against fire just from looking at them.

Jake finished his second set of runes: [Runic Magic: Spear of Force]. This fifteen-rune word spell formed a spear of magical force, and he used it to smash into the downed chandelier. The massive chandelier was hit like a wrecking ball, and it whizzed through the air towards the rear of the room from where it was on the floor. It spun through the air like a flipped coin, knocking into two dark elves as it did, until it smashed into a barrier in the room's rear.

The barrier cracked because of the blow, but Jake could see as the dark elf priests and casters in the back chanted their spells, that the cracks had already begun to heal slowly. Jake watched over the girls with the [Arcane Eye], trying to spot where the invisible dark elves were heading. Most of them were heading for him, but one was sneaking up on Ophelia; them completely ignoring the demoness.

Jake cast more rune spears of both ice and earth at different demons to clear them out, and Ophelia started taking them down in earnest. When the invisible dark elf moved to attack her from behind, she was ready with a runic lightning attack, thanks to Jake sending her their location over the bond. Shocked and stunned, she tried to cut him down, but a dark energy reduced her slash of his throat to a slight cut. She went for the kill again with them trying to dodge, but she flapped her wings and corrected the attack to spear them straight through their throat and out their spine. This time, no energy blocked the attack, and so she left them to bleed out onto the ground.

Ophelia had already destroyed her four sconces thanks to her ranged capability, and the demoness was not far from destroying her last, a dark elf warrior harrying her. Another demon spawned and tried to surround the demoness, but she passed them with her speedily winged movements and destroyed the last sconce. Fhesiah continued weaving through dark elf and demon alike, only taking minor cuts and bruises in the process.

The invisible dark elves were upon Jake now, about to assassinate him when Ophelia used her [Consecration] ability. A wave of fire washed over them, originating from Jake, and he matched her fire with a [Runic Magic: Forked Lightning] on them. Ophelia had since slain the demons near her and only had some dark elf warriors to deal with, but Jake had one demon near him.

While the dark elves took damage and were harmed, the demon near him sucked in the flames, and ballooned up in size. The amount of fire looked too much for it, and Jake decided nothing good was going to come from that, and quickly used [Force Push] to shove it away. It was just in time, as the creature let out a shocking explosion as it slammed into a wall, like it somehow amplified the fire that it consumed.

Jake was glad he was able to spot these traps, as it would have prevented them from using fire at all or worse, getting caught surrounded by dozens of the demons. Jake guessed that, left alone, there would already be well over 64 demons by this point of the fight if he did not destroy them right away. They now only had a handful more dark elves to mop up, and a barrier to destroy. Most but not all of the cracks were healed on the barrier that was struck, but the Champion now stood, and he spoke.

“You might have spotted my trap, but you are still weak. You are nothing to me.” He drew a ritual sacrifice blade: a kris. He then stabbed one of his own dark elf casters right in the heart, and he moved on to the next, and began to laugh. “The divine spark Hestia gave you will be consumed, empowering both me and [Tartarus]. Thanks to your weakness, your planet will be doomed: soon to be contested. I will torture your women, and you will suffer!”

Jake was shocked: he had no idea that his failure could directly lead to Earth coming to harm, but thinking about it, it made sense. Jake didn’t like what was happening with these ritualistic sacrifices; each time he killed one of his clerics or mage dark elves, it empowered the huge ritual circle in the rear on the dais.

If the sconces and chandeliers were like a candlelight of magical power as observed by his [Arcane Eye], then this magic circle was a bonfire. He checked his and Ophelia’s notifications and smiled. Jake had other plans, but the dark elf’s statement of him being nothing without his women led him to choose this one; because Jake felt the dark elf was mostly right.

While Jake has come a long way, and he could stand up against probably some of the best human warriors in melee now, it was only because of his sessions with Ophelia, and that he stood side by side with her. While he could nearly outclass spell-caster types, it was only thanks to Fhesiah helping him form his core, otherwise he would simply not have enough mana to accomplish anything meaningful in a fight. Before the demoness and valkyrie came into his life, Jake was truly nothing, just a lone man trying to better himself, hoping to find a family. He had found it, and he would not let the dark elf take it away, not when they were so close to finding true happiness.

Select a Spell Specialization

Offensive, Buffing, Healing

Jake selected the buffing specialization he had decided on since the very beginning, and he felt a pulse run along his concentrated buffing spells that were already on his party. Their effectiveness increased, especially one of them.

Buffing Specialization Selected: Buff Effectiveness +35%, Mana Cost -35%

Spell Advanced: Bolster -> Advanced Bolster

Effect: All Attributes +30% (Old +25%)

Spell Advanced: Summon Beast -> Advanced Summon Beast

Jake’s reserved mana released back for his consumption, restoring all that he had used in the fight so far because of choosing his specialization.

Jake also saw that upon reaching level ten, a staple summoning spell had also improved, and the Framework presented the effects of the spell to his mind. He grinned, as it was time to see an old friend.

Previously, the spell was restricted by a random factor based on the biome, but now Jake could select from a list of creatures within the rank of the spell upon spell-casting. Jake made his selection, and a familiar figure emerged, even larger than previously: the badgerdillo. Jake cast his new [Advanced Bolster] spell on it, not wanting to invest any more in the creature, and the badgerdillo went about its savage business with vicious glee, blurring forward and slicing at the remaining dark elves furiously, ignoring their futile attempts to counter or stop the creature.

Jake once again sighed wistfully at the thought of what could have been. If Jake had taken the beast specialization, would this be a king badgerdillo or something? Would there be five now? Jake could feel the mirth and excitement from Fhesiah at seeing a familiar figure which his feeling matched, and the valkyrie looked at the creature in question and confusion; just why was Jake so nostalgic and excited about this creature?

There were only a few dark elves left, and Jake had everyone move towards the barrier. The summoning ritual was reaching its conclusion, and while Jake doubted their ability to stop it at this point, he wanted to be ready. The dark elf healers and casters could somehow affect this side of the barrier. What if this summoned creature could as well, with it remaining standing?

Jake cast his Runic Empowerment spell on both the Fhesiah and Ophelia, and they quickly mopped up the last dark elf warriors. His specialization now made the spell even more powerful. The dark elves were not a match for them before being buffed, just how could they be after? The four of them slammed into the barrier, slashing and pounding on it. Cracks formed, and it shattered after a few seconds, but the Champion had finished his last sacrifice, and the magical circle lit up, visible to the naked eye.

From inside it came a giant red demon, through a portal in the void. It was smaller than the giant yeti that they had fought, but it still towered over them. Jake could tell it was like a giant version of the child-sized demons. It immediately roared, and shot a large flame at Jake’s party, them standing near the dais and where the demon appeared. Jake and Ophelia both put up runic barriers in front of it, and it shattered the first, but was rebuffed by the second.

Jake sent both the badgerdillo and Ophelia at the demon thinking they would be best equipped to handle it, and it started preparing another fire attack. Jake tested if it had the fire eating capabilities by sending a small flame spear at it, and sure enough, it breathed it in like it was nothing, empowering it ever so slightly.

Fhesiah said, “I’ll take on the Champion. I’ll show you I will never be the one to drag down our family.”

Jake was worried, but he knew she was just a [Call Summon] away if he needed to help her retreat. He nodded, knowing that this was her fight to win or lose. He observed her over their bond, and realized that she had already spent around twenty or thirty percent of her Qi up to now.

Jake joined Ophelia and the badgerdillo in taking on the giant demon. The badgerdillo charged in, and Jake and Ophelia sent bolts of runic lightning at the demon as they charged in as well. The lightning only washed over the demon barely affecting it. The demon swiped at the badgerdillo, and Jake and Ophelia blocked the attack as the smaller creature latched onto the demon’s leg and began clawing furiously at it.

The knife-sized claws caused blood to fly everywhere, and the demon roared in pain. It swung its fists at both Jake and Ophelia, and they used their shields in tandem to block the massive fists once again. The demon then spewed fire at the three, and Jake met the flame with a runic barrier as they both punished the demon with attacks of their own with their spears.

Fhesiah was alone, facing the enemy champion. The Champion’s helmet was down, now covering his face and he had drawn two wickedly curved blades. Dark plate armor covered the man from head to toe. A malicious aura washed over her, making her feel weak, and making her stumble as the dark elf champion charged her. Fhesiah filled herself with Qi to push the effect out of her body and met their charge with one of her own.

The enemy champion had more reach than her, but she was a little faster, despite being weakened. She punched out with her gauntlet, and the dark elf blocked with their blades. These shaved pieces of her gauntlet off, but she infused her hand with her Qi, keeping her from being cut. She grimaced at losing Qi just from the enemy blocking.

She continued to probe the enemy, looking for an opening. The Champion's weapons were viciously sharp, and her opponent was both skilled and powerful. She met every attack against her wing or robes with Qi expenditure to keep herself from being cut, and she could not find an opening, even using her tail. They traded blows, and Fhesiah found herself on the back foot, trying to find an advantage.

Fhesiah decided she had enough, and she rose off the ground above the dark elf. She coalesced her Qi into a flame and instilled it with her will, her Dao of dragon flames. Her will was made manifest, and the flame’s weight on reality pushed down on the dark elf before she even sent the flame at her enemy. She said, “That demon shall not stop my flames. My dragon fire is Heavenly Law. Burn!”

She molded the flame into a giant fireball and lifted it above her head. She had infused over half of her remaining Qi, and taxed her soul in creating this attack. The dark elf activated some kind of dark aura barrier as she sent the ball of fire at him. The demon roared and tried to suck in the fire, which Fhesiah held true by pushing harder on her Dao of dragon flames.

Fhesiah’s ball of fire struck the dark elf and shattered the barrier before surrounding them. However, the flames couldn’t find purchase, and while the dark elf screamed in pain, she saw through her divine sense that the damage was being reduced. They winked out, and she felt a wave of exhaustion from the expenditure. The dark elf said, “This armor is resistant to dragon flames. I prepared it just for you! What’s the matter, cultivator? Your weapons and robes are in tatters!”

Before she could ruminate on what was going on, the dark elf launched themselves into the air at her.

Jake and Ophelia had kept harrying the giant demon as the badgerdillo went crazy attacking the demon’s leg, laughing viciously all the while. Ophelia laughed and said, “What is this creature? It’s really vicious!”

The demon roared and filled their body with flames, finally having enough of dealing with this creature. It released the flames in a wave radiating from itself, and Jake quickly cast a runic barrier up in front of him and Ophelia. Unfortunately, he could not protect his summon, and it became engulfed in flames. Despite being lit aflame, it kept going slashing furiously until the last moment it disappeared into motes of light. The demon now went down on its knee, having taken so much damage on one leg.

Jake and Ophelia had stabbed it a few times, but the amount of damage the badgerdillo had put out was substantial. The demon roared and used some of its flames to heal itself, but the demon shrunk a fair amount as a result, making it weaker and easier to manage.

“I think you should help Fhesiah, as she doesn’t appear to be doing well. I can take it from here.”

“Thanks, Ophelia. I know I can always count on you.”

Jake approached Fhesiah, who was fighting the enemy champion, and found that Ophelia was right. Fhesiah already had minor cuts all over her body, and while there were scratches, burn-marks and scrapes on the dark elf champion’s armor, things were not looking good for her. She was now taking wounds instead of expending Qi, and she had spent much of hers already. He could tell the dark elf had spent little of his mana being in a much better position than her.

Jake looked over at Fhesiah in question. She had wanted to take on the champion herself, but they proved to be more difficult than she had imagined. They had even prepared a special armor that Jake doubted could even normally exist within their Tier. Surely, this was enough for her? They would need to give their best in order to defeat this enemy. She nodded her head in frustration, but he could feel that she was relieved that he was coming to her aid now.

Jake charged and did his best to harry the dark elf Champion with his shield and spear. Dual wielders held no real advantage over someone with a shield, and Jake’s spear work was now deadly thanks to Ophelia. He aimed at extremities with his spear, going for legs or his weapon hands. He also interposed his shield in front of the dark elf any time he went after Fhesiah, becoming a general nuisance.

The dark elf was fast enough to block or redirect any attack, but he could not capitalize on Fhesiah, thanks to Jake’s efforts. She had a look of frustration on her face, and her gauntlets and robes were now in tatters from small slices caused by the dark elf simply blocking her attacks. The Champion could not land a decisive blow because of Jake’s harassment plus Fhesiah’s speed, but he could still move faster than them now that Fhesiah had to conserve her Qi even further. In addition, Fhesiah could not guard against his slashes and stabs without functional gauntlets.

They continued their two on one, and Jake wounded the dark elf with [Mana Blade] added onto his spear. The dark elf then hit Jake and Fhesiah with another wave of weakness, weakening them both. [Purifying Flames] immediately began working against it, and she stumbled a second time. This emboldened the Champion by the two becoming weaker somehow, and he blurred towards Fhesiah and landed a wicked slash on her shoulder, despite her doing her best to block with her wing. She shouted in pain, and Jake did his best to cast [Cure Wounds] on her.

Jake checked on Ophelia and found that she sported some scorch marks in places, but was otherwise fine. If she didn’t hurry, she could not help them with their fight against the Champion, and the giant demon would keep limiting Fhesiah. He signaled over their bond he needed her to end this quickly. She nodded, and she began working to activate her new level 10 valkyrie skill.

Jake could see how frustrated this fight had made Fhesiah. Jake felt like Tartarus really lead them into a false sense of security. He didn’t understand how the Trial could be this challenging and still be fair, but this was exactly why Jake wanted Fhesiah to be as prepared as possible.

When Fhesiah first declined wearing armor, she had explained Heaven’s Path and why she should not rely on things that didn’t use Heavenly Energy. That her strength, her conviction in her path would weaken and eventually crumble, and eventually, she may fail some tribulation and die in the future.

Jake understood this. For a cultivator living in a world filled with cultivators that fought similarly and even beasts followed the same path, it made perfect sense.

But Fhesiah was a part of Jake’s family, who were all joined to the Framework, used mana, and fought Tartarus. Even the buffs Jake had on her now, were they not mana? Somehow, this fit her sensibilities, her doing mental gymnastics to see it as Jake’s power added to her, and Jake found this dubious. She joined the Framework without really being given a choice, but she was still now a part of it.

Jake also knew that she was now immortal. Could she even die failing a tribulation anymore? Jake thought the answer was no. She needed to accept that she needed to find a new Path, one assisted by the Framework and one where her family was a part of it, as she had already deviated from this Heaven’s Path. Jake thought that this was her clinging to her old life in which she was a proud Nascent Soul cultivator, and she needed to accept the new one.

Both Fhesiah’s cultivator and dragon pride were now holding her back in this fight. They long since had enough funds to upgrade her gauntlets, but wearing those cheap ones in the first place was something she considered as a concession. She is a dragon. What dragon needed to wear claws instead of using its own?

Her not having them because she hadn’t yet re-awakened her bloodline didn’t matter. She was too prideful to upgrade the claws before she could reawaken her bloodline, where her hands, her claws, could become as strong as any weapon. She looked down on the dungeon, thinking that the enemies prior to the Trial were too simple.

Jake allowed some disappointment to leak over the bond, and Fhesiah’s face looked pained. He signaled his intentions: he would distract the Champion, and she would do what they needed to achieve victory, even if she didn’t like it. Ophelia had finally finished her preparations, activating her new level 10 ability. [Sacrificial Flames: Valkyrie Champion]. Jake smiled; Ophelia’s choice of the chosen specialization would really pay off here.

She cast the spell, consuming nearly thirty percent of her current reserves, surrounding her and Jake in the flames of Hestia. Ophelia became larger until she was nearly three meters tall, and it coated her wings and hair in flames, while her armor, spear, and shield took on a divine glow and changed as they became larger. Jake did not become larger, but he received a fiery holy glow around his armor, shield and weapon, and he now had wings of fire as well. Jake felt stronger, and now he wished he had practiced with [Winged Combat].

The giant demon tried to suck in the flames, but could not find purchase; their flames were more solid and stuck to them. The demon roared, and the valkyrie blurred into a thrust right into the demon’s gut with her now giant spear, reaching deep into its torso. She retrieved her spear and could easily block and redirect its return blow, the size difference much less substantial to where the effect of her shield was more than enough to stop it. Jake knew she could handle the demon from here, no matter what ability it pulled out.

Jake rocketed at the dark elf with his new wings and smashed into him with his shield, and Fhesiah retreated to arm herself. Jake’s movements had increased thanks to the divine glow, and he was now a proper challenge for the dual-wielding dark elf. Jake pierced one of the dark elf’s legs, to which he grunted and returned the attacks with murderous dark energy surrounding his blades. Jake blocked them all and even used a runic barrier against one that might have slipped past his guard. Fhesiah finally joined the fray and scored a deep slash across the dark elf’s back.

The dark elf retreated, and when he was no longer blocking Jake’s line of sight to the demoness, Jake couldn’t help but stifle a laugh as he saw her: she looked ridiculous, her dainty pale arms ending in giant blue furry hands. She sensed this and blushed. For the first time since he met her, Jake thought she looked embarrassed.

Jake guessed the dark elf sensed that keeping up with the status quo would no longer work, as Ophelia should have the demon defeated in mere moments. Jake couldn’t see the Champion’s face, but his voice projected his sneer, “You think you’ve won? But you are not yet a true Champion until you pass this trial, unlike me. I call upon the god Apophis. Make use of my body as your vessel and crush them, so that we can bring them torment and suffering.”

A malevolent aura emerged from the dark elf champion, and Jake felt a different divinity than he had felt before. It was much weaker than Hestia or Odin’s that he had felt, perhaps because of the limits of this Champion’s vessel, but he was certain that it was evil. His stomach roiled at the feeling given off by the evil god, and he was just covered with a sense of wrongness that he could not explain.

Two snakes emerged from inside the dark elf's armor, and they snaked up his body to sort of mount themselves around his shoulders to attack; it was like the dark elf now had four limbs, with two of them having the head of a snake.

Jake and Fhesiah had tried to stop the transformation, but the malevolent energy rebuffed their attacks easily. Once the transformation was complete, he charged Jake with supernatural speed. Jake only barely got his shield up to block an attack from the dark elf’s sword, but a snake whipped around and bit Jake’s shoulder. Jake grimaced, as the feeling of a painful poison was getting pumped through his veins.

Jake felt agonizing pain in his shoulder, and his vision blurred. Even trying to watch what was happening through his [Arcane Eye] was a challenge, as he felt dizzy besides. The purifying flames started working against this, but it would be after Jake had taken a lot of damage before he cleared it from his veins; a poison powered by divinity, and Jake could tell that the poison was causing him to bleed mana.

The dark elf once again spoke with a sneer, “You cultivators think you are so special, above everything else, even [The Framework]. But in the end, your pride is nothing but food for the dungeon. Dragons are especially delicious for Tartarus, I hear.”

Fhesiah flew into a rage. She was beyond frustrated the demon and the armor the dark elf was wearing made her dragon fire useless. On top of that, her pride had really put them in a dangerous position. Without this fight concluding, she already saw that she was wrong. She had underestimated Tartarus, and she had weakened her family.

She had conviction in Heaven’s Path, but demons from another plane and a higher Tier being brought down to their level: this was not a fight she could avoid using all the tools available to her. Even with those things, this fight would have been more than challenging enough to temper herself.

If she had just worn the gauntlets Ophelia made and armor from the beginning, perhaps her reserves of Qi would be higher, and perhaps Jake wouldn’t have been poisoned. Her righteous fury powered her blows, and they came faster and with more strength with each attack.

The Champion powered by his god was now on the back foot, and Jake could feel something different coming from the demoness. Jake did his best to move to harass the champion once again, but they were both moving too fast for him to really aid in the melee, or to land any spells while the fighting was so frantic; their blows swinging wide, and their movements too fast to keep up with, along with the poison still weakening and disorienting him. He instead focused on purifying the poison out of his system, taking a sort of universal antidote from his storage bracelet that he thought he would never need, hoping it would help.

Jake felt a new type of energy being emitted from Fhesiah growing: some kind of heavenly truth of claws, or dragon claws, Jake guessed. Fhesiah channeled the pride and power of dragons with each blow; their ferocity and intensity increasing.

She sliced off one head of the snakes, and eventually, that power congealed into a visual manifestation. Jake saw an eastern dragon appear behind Fhesiah, very similar to the one on the back of her robes. The snake-like dragon was rippling with power, and it weaved its body, transferring all its energy into a powerful attack. It swiped its right claw downwards in an overhead strike as she did the same, and Jake’s soul shuddered like it was going to be cut in two from just looking at the sharpness and power of the dragon’s claws.

The dark elf brought up both of his swords and the remaining head of the snake to block. The dark elf might as well have been trying to stop a mountain, as the snakehead sheared off and their guard crumbled down. Their body collapsed down to their knees as her claw slashed across their chest, causing five lines to spread across inches apart and deep, the armor completely shredded.

Blood sprayed from the dark elf’s chest, and Jake used the opportunity to land a spear blow with [Mana Blade] in their gut as well, now that the frantic melee had stopped, and he was already feeling better from the antidote and [Purifying Flames] working on it.

Fhesiah moved for another blow and Jake retracted his spear and was going to go for another, but suddenly a wave of evil darkness blasted him and Fhesiah away from the dark elf champion, sending him and her a dozen meters away. Despite Jake having his shield up, his body was battered all over from the explosion of darkness, bouncing and rolling across the ground. Luckily, Jake could feel that Ophelia had just finished the demon off for good, but the [Valkyrie Champion] ability had just now worn off, them both losing their divine glow.

Fhesiah was not looking so well, with her reserves of Qi having nearly run out. She had been furiously absorbing the kill energy throughout the fight, even if her efficiency would be much better if she could put her full attention on it. She even held a Qi crystal in her hand and was absorbing it from where she tried to stand, but could not: her wounds were too heavy from the evil explosion. The divine glow protected Jake, but she took the blast without help. Ophelia used her [Renewal] spell on Fhesiah, the flames of Hestia healing her wounds. Jake received a mirror of the same spell, bringing Jake back into a fighting state. Fhesiah couldn’t mount a decent offensive because of being too drained, however.

Jake got up and found that purifying flames removed the mana bleeding poison from him, but not before he lost nearly a quarter of his mana. He drank a mana potion, one of the top-quality ones available to him from the [Multiverse Market]. Mana Siphon furiously absorbed the mana as it entered his body, and he recovered a large portion of it.

The Champion himself wasn’t looking so good either, having lost a fair amount of blood. Whatever divinity they had dwelling in them had disappeared with Fhesiah’s shocking blow, and the evil eruption must have been the remaining energies. Jake could see that some of their wounds had healed perhaps as some kind of life drain effect from the evil explosion, but they had wounds on their back and their front, along with a deep gut wound that Jake had hit him with. Jake could still feel that the enemy champion would be a challenge for any of Jake’s party members, but only that. The Champion was alone, but Jake and his lovers were not.

Jake still remembered what the Champion had said about him being nothing without his women. Jake’s entire plan for his specialization originally was to buff and heal others, and make them be the best they could be, and if Jake never swung a spear or cast an offensive spell, that was okay with him. But Ophelia and Fhesiah had made him better, so that he could do those things and be so much more. Ultimately, the enemy champion was wrong. Jake was amazing in his own way now that they made him better; it was just that his girls shined so brightly that it was easy to forget it.

He would make more preparations just in case, but he removed another rod from his belt, and started preparing the spell, [Einherjar]. The dark elf charged Fhesiah, and she could barely stand and properly block an attack. Ophelia went to protect Fhesiah and she blurred with [Charge] as she slammed into the enemy Champion and knocked him away from her.

Jake finished activating the runes for his runic spell, [Einherjar], using up most of what was left of his mana, it being enhanced and the cost reduced by his specialization. He would [Mana Transfer] some of Ophelia’s mana after she too drank a mana potion, if things were not looking good, or simply allow her to finish him with the flames of Hestia. A cascade of different colored light surrounded Jake, and he felt strong, like he could take on the entire world.

Jake launched himself at the enemy champion, crossing a dozen meters in a single step, and the enemy champion could barely raise their swords in an effort to block Jake’s attack. It was almost like the dark elf was moving in slow motion because Jake was moving so quickly. Jake covered his spear with [Mana Blade] which was larger than usual because of the powerful buff, and stabbed right at the enemy champion’s heart.

With a combination of twisting their body and angling their swords, the dark elf had only barely been able to direct Jake to miss his exact target, piercing the champion above his heart and into their shoulder. A large chunk of their shoulder was removed by the strength and size of the Einherjar-enhanced mana blade, enough to where the champion had dropped the sword in their left hand.

The dark elf tried to attack Jake with their other sword, but Jake had already taken another powerful step and slammed his shield into them, ripping his spear out of their body in a shower of blood and sending them flying. They spun and rolled as they hit the ground, but Jake could tell his shield slam had probably broken some bones. They could hardly stand at this point, and Jake charged them once again, arriving just a step away in a mere instant.

The enemy champion had gathered some shadow flames in their hand and aimed where Jake was, but he sidestepped the shadowy bolt with ease, able to easily see the energy gathering and guess his goal using [Arcane Eye], the bolt striking the wall behind him harmlessly. Jake stabbed out once again, and this time they were unable to block. He achieved his goal of stabbing him through the heart this time. He sent a spear of runic fire through his spear-staff, cooking the body inside the armor.

The Champion of Apophis fell lifelessly to the ground, and the light surrounding Jake faded.

Trial Completed: Champion of Hestia. Exit in 30 minutes.

They had done it. They won, and against a Champion of Apophis. Jake wasn’t sure what this meant, exactly. Was a champion supposed to face another in their first trial? The Champion claimed to have killed many paladins and priestesses of Hestia, if he could be believed, and he was already a proper Champion, whereas Jake was not. That did not seem fair for a level ten trial, and Jake wondered if this guy was dead for good, or if he would be like Jake and revive once again to prey on others. Questions for later.

Jake looked over to Fhesiah and Ophelia, who was helping hold Fhesiah up. Ophelia was absolutely beaming, reveling in her victory, and despite her embarrassment and shame, Fhesiah was also smiling.

Jake wryly smiled at the result, and his plans that he had made before going into the fight. He had consumables in the form of expensive potions, scrolls of various kinds to produce effects that Jake felt could change the tide of battle, and even doping pills that would temporarily increase his and the girl’s capabilities. He used none of them, and he was reminded about how, in role-playing games growing up, he would get to the final boss and they would all remain unused until the end, being hoarded and saved until they were no longer useful; the threat vanquished, with 99 elixirs he was saving for a tough fight in his inventory.

They set about looting the dead, and Fhesiah set to absorbing the kill energy. Thirty minutes was not enough time for that, but he assumed she could continue consuming the energy back at their [Refuge]. Jake restored everyone’s health and also began cleaning their armor. It was a long run, and they would be happy to be home. Their victory would require the biggest celebration yet. They kissed and held one another, glad that they had come out as victors, and that all their hard work had finally paid off.

Instead of a portal opening when the timer went off, the inside of the dungeon was pulled into a single point of light, and they felt the effect of teleportation when they arrived back home in their [Refuge] in front of the portal. The three of them received a ton of notifications; It would take quite some time to review them.

They had done it. They won and were safe at home.