Ar'Kendrithyst

The four of them reappeared in a flash of magenta light on the western side of the South Central Tribulations, and a bit more north than their previous latitude. The ground under their feet was an expansive, bare hillside, high up on the mountain, where trees had yet to encroach. But down in the valley, the trees were as large as the smaller ones in the Forest of Glaquin.

It was as though they had appeared on a rocky island amid a sea of green and darkness.

The wind blew with a gentle force, whistling on scattered boulders and sharp grasses. Odin, sitting upon Ezekiel’s shoulder, joined in the whistling as more and more of his bodies rejoined the team, to watch down from high above.

They were only a few kilometers from the start of the Blood Weaver nest, but they were already in the monster’s territory. Close enough that they needed to be on alert in case the monsters prowled this far, but they were in no danger of an imminent attack. And besides, Tiffany and Odin kept the best lookout that was possible for mortals and [Familiar]s to keep.

Tiffany sat down on a boulder. Paul joined her. Julia stood nearby, watching.

It was time for a small bit of magic making.

“Here’s how this one is supposed to go.” Erick discarded his magenta affectation as he held up his hands, projecting white light through them. “[Interception] on one hand. Blood Altering with Destruction in the other.” An Ophiel alighted onto the ground in front of Erick and sang one song, while another Ophiel sang a different one. Erick said, “[Conjure Force Elemental], and [Ward]. From there, it’s a matter of joining them all properly.”

He heard the sounds before him, and they were… strange.

“Ah.” Erick said, “There are some oddities here. There might need to be some adjustments to the plan.”

His audience watched as two more Ophiel came down and took over the sounds for [Interception] and Blood Altering—

He found two problems.

The first one was an easy problem to fix, but it would require certain bloody sacrifices that were easy enough to sacrifice. Looked like Erick was finally getting to use his Blood Mana Class Ability.

The other problem came from Destruction, so Erick focused on Destruction for Blood Magic, himself, while his four Ophiel took up the rest of the song. Soon, they were singing the sounds of a primordial life rushing to defend its creator from the worst kind of mutative magics; of surrounding the holder of the charm with absolute [Interception] of all harmful Blood Magic.

Blood pulsed in Erick’s ears as he listened to the sound of life.

The mana bade him raise his arm. He did.

He cast, molding songs into substance. Mana rushed out of him as blood slipped out from burst capillaries in his hand, and pushed through his skin, appearing like dew. The bloody dew detached. It floated upward.

Life gathered into a thumb-sized drop of bright red blood.

Erick’s arm stopped bleeding when enough blood had gathered. It barely hurt.

And then mana flickered through the floating plasma and red blood cells and otherwise, turning liquid life into something less real, and more Real at the same time. Magic crystallized into a perfect red sphere that was cracked inside like broken dreams. It was bright, and it was powerful.

Erick swept a [Cleanse] across his upheld hand, dispersing the bloody beginnings of his spell into so much thick air.

The glowing charm descended into his grip.

A blue box appeared.