Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter 526: Not lighting up

POV The First Disciple of Nathaniel Gwyn, minion Vega

“You shouldn’t do that. Your master tailored it to aid in your growth.”

The red-haired human woman has appeared again, as she tends to do.

“Creepy woman!” I call out to her.

As usual, I can’t feel her heartbeat, and she insists it’s because she’s just a projection. But I wonder if she’s not really sick and hiding a weak heart out of shame? My master told me never to trust strangers—especially when they act nice.

“Why don’t you come up with a better way of addressing me,” she says, jumping up to sit on a fallen tree nearby. All the while watching me with those strange yellow eyes of hers as she speaks.

“No.”

The woman shakes her head, and I look back to the mana stone Master gave me. Even the first level is packed with information about these seven stances. Master says he got them from a super powerful demon. I wish I could see him. He’s probably not as strong as Master, since Master managed to force or trick him into giving up his secrets. But it would be amazing to see them fight!

“Creepy woman, do you know how to unlock the secrets of the stone Master sent me?” I ask lifting the stone toward her.

“Yes, but I won’t do it.”

“Ha! Probably because you can’t. My Master’s techniques are too much!”

Instead of answering, she only smiles.

Tsk. So she hasn’t fallen for it? I could try acting cute. Master said I’m good at that. Or maybe I could try to play on her sympathies; which worked against Master before we opened up to each other. But the way she’s looking at me tells me she won’t be swayed. Well, it’s up to me again. I know the way I’m supposed to do it is probably best, but if I could just tweak it, even a little bit, I’d feel like I was winning against him. Just a little bit.

“Does that envious guy still want to hurt me?” I ask as I start moving my mana the way I was taught, as I continue to examine the stone.

“Sometimes.” She nods.

“And Master knows?”

“A little.”

“So he’s going to kill that envious guy.”

The red-haired woman chuckles and moves the hair off her face. “It’s not so simple. He might not look like it, but he is very powerful.”

“But Master wants to kill him, right? Because that guy said he would kill me, and because he’s always messing with him?”

“Yes.”

“Then Master will kill him.”

“Or die trying,” the red-haired woman states bluntly.

I smile and jump to my feet and leap back onto the tree to take a seat next to her. “Yes,” I confirm.

After another twelve hours of scouting and killing some mimics, I follow our leader. Even now, I can’t sense where the camp is, so I just keep my eye on him. As before, he reliably leads us until we pass through the first layer of defenses, then we wait for Serabeth’s elites to test us with the Signature Isolation Framework.

While we line up for the Framework test, a palpable tension coils through the air. One of Serabeth’s elites mutters something to one of the others, quiet enough that I can’t quite hear, and they glance in my direction. It doesn’t bother me at first, these elites are always looking for threats, always suspicious.

A cold breeze whistles around us, and the other scouts fidget restlessly. Our leader peers over at the technicians manning the control crystals linked to the Framework and taps his foot as if waiting for a signal.

“Good job this time too, Assistant Nathaniel. To be honest, I was iffy about you, but you did well. I can see why the technicians like you,” the lumoran scout leader says, standing beside me as the others pass through the framework.

“Because I’m cheap.”

He laughs shortly and points at my crown. “That too. But also because of that. He says, pointing at my crown. We lumorans have our own methods of storing mana, so [Mana Crown] is extremely rare for us.”

“So you like me because I’m a good mana battery.”

“The fact you’ve acquired a crown shows you have a strong connection to mana, something we also have. Plus, your obsessive nature might anger the technicians, but they like you for it too.”

“All craft-people are a bit weird.”

“I agree,” he says, smiling and gesturing me onward.

I’m one of the last to step into the framework and take my chance, “Maybe you could tell them to show me more. I could help...”

Something in his expression changes—first surprise, then shock, and finally regret. I follow his gaze to the framework around me.

Unlike before, it’s not lighting up.

A sudden hush falls across the area, as though everyone has stopped breathing at once.

Before I can open my mouth to protest, Serabeth’s elites spring into action. In an instant, multiple mana circles blaze to life around me. A swirl of crackling electricity arcs from one side, while jagged shards of ice take form, hovering in midair on the other. Someone hurls a sphere of raw kinetic force straight at my chest—no hesitation, no mercy.

I react on pure reflex, drawing Fracture in one swift motion. Its blade devours the surrounding air. The first barrage of spells collides with the shortsword. Lightning fizzles, ice shards dissolve into mist.

I catch a glimpse of the scout leader’s face twisted in regret. But it’s too late. The rest of the elites move in, each brandishing weapons or spells, determined to finish me off as quickly as possible. My heart pounds in my ears, and my mana surges again, feeding me with power. A thrill races through me; my entire body hums with the influx of mana, as though my blood had caught fire.

They attack to put me down before I can retaliate. I feel each assault like a drumbeat, slamming into my barriers and into my passives with relentless force. Yet I hold on for that little bit. The world shifts to black and white, my thoughts racing so fast that even the movement of my mana feels sluggish. Sparks erupt across the clearing as spells collide with the barrier, fracturing it. A harsh wind whips up snow and dirt, obscuring the edges of my vision.

In the split second of calm between attacks, my eyes dart around, searching for an opening. The camp’s defenses activate, and the scout leader acts alongside Serabeth’s elites.

No one waits for an explanation. The Framework’s detection is absolute.

I swing Fracture, the blade appearing to devour the very air around it, and I swing it to defend against the onslaught. The mana in the crown above my head compresses, instantly turning pitch-black. It shatters the array surrounding me and begins devouring a dozen extremely powerful attacks, each one adding a surge of mana to my stores.

The air grows heavier as the crown’s black mana pulls in the surrounding mana like a whirlpool.

I lift my blade once more.

If they want me dead, they’ll need to do better than this.