Ar'Kendrithyst

The horizon was an orange sandpit in every direction, with few clouds hanging in the blue above. Warm winds flowed from the north, and sand had gotten into Justine’s shoes. In a few hours, she’d have chafing. She was only level twelve; most of her points had gone into the few spells she needed to advance, and to get up to 20 in Willpower and Focus, as well as the tripling Skills for more Mana and Mana Regen. Thank Erick for his rings and that extra Strength, else she’d have blood blisters, for sure, as well as a horrendous sunburn. Her white skin burned rather easily under full sunlight, and 600 Health helped to mitigate much of that possibility. Her eyes were still at risk of sun blindness, but she’d only be out here for a little while. All this place could offer her was level 32, or maybe 34, if she wanted to spend five hours in the sun, instead of two.

The road to high level was long, and dangerous, but even with all of that in front of her, she couldn’t help but feel happy. She smiled at the sky, and then turned toward Ophiel, and the white map hovering above the sands. Studying it had not taken long; there were no people within a hundred kilometers. Justine and Ophiel were alone out here, in the middle of nowhere. Erick was here in spirit and in the eyes of the Ophiel flying high above, but he wasn’t really here.

The Ophiel currently controlled by Erick pointed north west.

Erick said, “It’s a hundred meters that way. I could blip you closer?”

Justine chuckled. She began walking north west, saying, “I haven’t walked more than the length of your house, in a week. This feels good.” She said, “The sun. The wind.” She smirked, as she kicked the sand. “The sand.” She admitted, “Though I do need to make myself a better pair of shoes.”

“I could get you shoes?”

Justine shook her head. “No thank you. You’ve done a great deal for me already.” And he had. Justine arrived at Erick’s house with nothing. But he had given her fabrics and plants and shelter from the Darkness. One of the only ‘non essential’ spells she picked up since then was [Fabricate]. Her shoes were self-made, along with her brown pants and white blouse. She was not a seamstress, but she could get by, and [Fabricate] helped to smooth out the small mistakes that hand creation would have caused. Justine would never be selling her clothes in any sort of shop, but not many people could. She said, “I’ll make myself a better pair, once I get back and I have the mana to spare for more [Fabricate]s.”

Ophiel floated forward, slightly, as he casually wreathed himself in light.

After a moment Erick said, “Only about sixty meters ahead, past those dunes.”

Justine smiled, and headed up the first of many dunes. Sand scattered down the slope as she trudged upward, her feet not sinking in too far at all. This was fine. When she reached the top, the vista of the Crystal Forest stretched out before her; undulating waves of orange under a blue, windy sky. Here and there sat crystal mimics, like splashes of glitter interrupting the horizon. The nearest one was only a dune away, its stigma barely visible on the other side of the sand. It was moving.

Gently, like it was simply repositioning itself, the stigma of the crystal mimic rose above the dune. It was probably positioning to get into the sun better, but whatever the case for the movement, it didn’t really matter. The upper spikes of the mimic were coming into view.

Justine waited for a good angle, and hoped that the mimic wasn’t preparing to attack her before she got a chance to attack it.

But honestly, though, she wasn’t in any real danger. The worst case scenario here, was that she embarrassed herself in front of Erick; unable to kill a mimic in one or two shots. Erick would certainly kill it if it got within ten meters of her. He had even said so, many times, probably to assure both her and himself that he wasn’t going to let her get hurt on his watch. That was good, and fine.

But Justine hoped to Koyabez that she wouldn’t embarrass herself. Erick might be an archmage, but Justine was twice his age, with many times his magical experience. She had killed much worse things than crystal mimics in order to survive, and at much lower levels than 12. The spell she had made for today was created in a corner of her room, against two expendable plants. It was adequate, but it wasn’t great.

The mimic came fully into view. It stopped atop the dune, and dug in with its bottom crystal spikes, securing itself to the crest. Ah, Justine realized, it was just repositioning for the sun. She knew that mimics positioned for the sun. Why had she thought that it was coming for her? She was too far away. Of course she was too far away.

She breathed. She could do this.

She did not point. She did not move, to give a hint that she was attacking. She just cast from the air around her body; from her aura. Red splashes of bright Decay pulsed from her body, one after the other, the first one still arcing in the air, toward the mimic, as Justine fired the third red Bolt. Red magics hit the mimic, center mass, like a rotten melon, splashing red light onto crystalline limbs, as Justine cast again, and again.

The mimic chimed into action like jumble of angry greatswords, clashing against itself, briefly, before it rotated and saw Justine.

She had no idea how these particular monsters could see their prey from this far away, and yet, if you didn’t disturb them, if you just walked outside of ten meters from them, they would leave you alone, most of the time. But strike at one from well outside of their range, and they instantly recognized who had attacked them, from even this far away.

Justine’s red splashes kept striking as the mimic tried to rush down the dune. Red soaked into crystal. Crystal broke. Red splashed across the mimic’s central spike, finally doing enough damage to crack the stigma. The top spike of the monster fell to the ground, like so many other crystalline spikes, as the mimic kept rushing toward Justine, clawing forward on whatever crystal spikes it could.

She almost smiled. Her spells were actually doing enough damage, thanks to Erick’s rings.