Delve

When faced with an unknown monster, striking first was a time-honored and proven tactic.

And so, Jamus chose violence.

Arcane Bolt!

He’d come a long way since joining Ascension, and while he hadn’t progressed in the traditional sense—via cap-ups and additional skills—there was simply no comparison between the him of then and the him of now.

Part of it was equipment, but more than that, it was conditioning. Through renting accolades to train his synchronization; work with stat-rings, first, then the Malleable Earring later; and endless hours spent under Winter’s influence, he was a changed man. As such, when he released the quick-fired blast of purple-blue energy, he did it with the benefit of Guide Sending. Using the metamagic was as easy to him now as breathing, whereas before, even attempting to do so would have promised a crippling headache for days to come.

It was to his complete shock, then, that his magic found the enemy.

Ascension had changed him in other ways. His target had not been the monster, but instead a patch of sand at its feet. He’d intended to warn it off on the outside chance that it was an animal—or a Shifter, for that matter. Direct assault tended to preclude diplomacy.

Instead, the alien creature had leapt forward the moment it saw his shot, jumped, then snapped it out of the air with another resounding clack of its mandibles. The projectile detonated on impact, of course, but to little effect. The beast simply landed and shook its head, mandibles clacking again and again as if it was trying to rid itself of a foul taste.

“It’s a tough one!” Jamus yelled as those vertical eye slits locked onto him once more.