Aria wanted to test something. The results would change the way Sarcony viewed this world. She glanced at her left palm, the bunny tattoo on it, to be particular. It was the Oceanic staff given by her uncle. She always wanted to test its combat strength and durability. The behemoth gave her a wonderful oppurtunity and the right target to do so making her happy.
White mist emerged from her palm, coiling and rising into the sky. A huge, white pillar with gold extremities appeared floating in the clouds. Its height was thirty times that of Aria's and the width was ten times. Scenes portraying several epics and legends were engraved all over its length in gold. There were pictures of several kinds of ancient, mythical and legendary beasts as well.
The behemoth was trying to break the chains which were simply being regenerated as soon as they broke. Mo'er was sweating like waterfall while concentrating to the limit to maintain the chains. Aria jumped high into the air from Mo'er's back and then made a grabbing motion making the pillar steady and aiming it towards the beast's head. She pushed her hands towards it.
The moment her hands were pointed down, the pillar accelerated towards the beast's head due to gravity, falling straight down. Like a meteor crashing from the sky, the moment the pillar hit the beast, it generated a huge explosion raising an agonising cry from it.
~~Roar~~ the behemoth roared in pain. The collision broke the rocky exterior and several of its scales on the head making it bleed. It was almost knocked unconscious. Its control over the landscape lessened and it almost crumbled under its own weight.
(The behemoth was using a constant stream of magicia to keep itself from crumbling under the weight of its rocky exterior.) Aria smiled at her plan being successful. She fell on Mo'er's head and made a lifting gesture raising the pillar into the air before slamming it into the beast again.
The roars of the beast shattered the earth giving rise to tremors and shockwaves. Due to the absence of sharp edge though, the pillar was unable to cause serious damage. Falling into thought, she looked for any potential weak spots but found none.
~~Roar~~ Mo'er shot beam after beam towards the behemoth's eyes and nostrils that were exposed. She was also maintaining the chains that bound the beast. <
The beast shook like a buckling bull the moment Aria landed onto it, trying to throw her off. Aria made spiky shoes from light that let her hold on. She concentarted on the pillar slamming it again and again on the head. The beast was bleeding black mist from the head due to multiple injuries. The mist was poisonous and corrosive forcing Aria to erase it with purification.
THIS BEAST IS WAY TOO RESILIENT. I AM UNABLE TO DEFEAT IT WITH MY CURRENT STRENGTH (SARCONY) GIVE ME A CHANCE, I WILL DEFEAT IT (CHEEKY) HOW? (SARCONY) I HAVE A PLAN. COLD AND I WERE EXPERIMENTING ON SOMETHING SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS FIGHT. I HAVE A FEELING THAT IT'LL WORK. JUST LET ME TRY. (CHEEKY) HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HANDLE THE RECOIL? IF THE BEAST SURVIVES, WE ARE SO DEAD. (SARCONY) BELIEVE IN ME. (CHEEKY)
Sarcony gave the reins to Cheeky and stepped back into her mindspace. WHAT IS THIS THING? (SARCONY) IT APPEARED RECENTLY. (COLD) There was a transluscent sphere made of light within which was a baby, fast asleep, floating. The baby resembled Sarcony in her infant days.
Meanwhile, Cheeky was avoiding the spikes with minimal evasion which only got reduced even further with time. She was building the momentum for a powerful counterattack whilst biding her time for an opportunity. The Oceanic staff, now reduced to the length of her body, was in her hands, being used as a pivot for midair manuever.
NOW IS THE CHANCE!! Aria signalled Mo'er to pick her up and fly as high as possible. From a height that made the behemoth (as large as a bluewhale of Earth) look as small as an elephant, Aria dropped the (now enlarged to former size) pillar while transferring all the momentum gained from the previous close knit evasion. It was a gamble as Aria collapsed right after that.
Falling off from Mo'er's head, Aria ended up on the pillar that was stabbed half of its length into the ground while the behemoth was powdered and subsequently vaporised by the collision that created a grand explosion like a meteoritic impact. All that was left was a smoking crater.
Aria woke up, with a cold draft on her face, her senses groggy. She was currently resting on Mo'er's head with her tail tightly securing her. <
Aria reached the Adventurers' office and reported the subjugation of behemoth while underrating its abilities to hide vital information. As she was the only one who fought it at full strength, it wasn't a problem. She slept like a log all the while Mo'er was slowly flying home. Once reaching home though, she tried to act as lively as possible but failed to convince her family.
" You think I'll be fooled by your acting? You need rest and medication for internal injuries if any. Stop putting a brave front and follow me. " Celestina glared at Aria before taking her to a professional healer/doctor who confirmed that she was healthy and stable but required bedrest as she exhausted all her magicia at once. She was advised to stay home for a week.
Sarcony utilised this time to calmly meditate as well as restore her chakra. She was troubled by odd premonitions that seem to suggest that the entire world might be shrouded in darkness in near future. She needed to prepare in case of such emergencies occuring in her vicinity.
Sarcony also polished her combat skills and tried to develop AoE (Area of Effect) attacks as she was extremely troubled by the minions generated by the behemoth. The ate a good chunk of her time and stamina ultimately causing her to faint after defeating the behemoth. She was pretty much an anti-individual type fighter making her weak in the cases of group assaults.
Sarcony was instructed by her uncle to develop in all kinds of combat styles. She was not allowed to specialise in one particular field. Instead, she was asked to do so in all of them. It was quite a hassle but her uncle believed that it was possible for her. Her mother, on the other hand, gave her the freedom to choose. She was free to pursue anything as long as it was morally acceptable.
Her status read as follows;
Name: Aria Sarcony
Age: 14
Gender: female
Species/Race: Spirit[Fairy] (Bloodline awakening: 85%)
Dantain nature: Light (Divine Attribute) (Healing) (Fortification), Water (psuedo) (cloak of leviathan)
Species-specific characteristics: immortality (Currently suppressed), the (partial) astral body
Titles: The Spirit under wraps, the sole heir to Celestina's household, The Nightmare of monsters (Obtained by fusing The Behemoth Slayer and The Leviathan rider), owner of the *Trial of the shadows*
Profession: Imperial mage of Randolph's kingdom, Free Adventurer [Level 3]
Quirks:
1. Divinity Aura manipulation [precision level]
2. Personality switch [perfection level] [3.77 personalities]
3. Thread weaving art [precision level]
4. Domain of Redemption [level 6] [ Side skills: Purgation [level 4] (Obtained by combining Purification with light of providence), Angel legion [level 7] ]
5. Impact manipulation [level 7]
Physical skills: Archery [level 2], Staff techniques [level 4], Perfect Soma [level 7]
Criminal record: none
Task completion: 35%
Tamed beasts: Mo'er (Ancient Leviathan)
Title bonuses: Charm [level 2], Protector of Nature [level 3], Dignity of a Duchess [level 2], Protection of the Adventurers' office [level 3], Phobos [level 7], Guild master's blessing [level 2], the challenger [level unknown]
Aria extensively used her thread weaving art to save the soldiers and adventurers albiet invisibly. That led to Mo'er questioning the reason for her not appearing to use it. Her titles seem to have merged, so did her side skills, giving her new abilities. She had to train to raise her mastery in them to a decent level. She would be in trouble in case of failure in understanding her skills.
" Aria, we are going to the treasure vault today. Randolph promised that he would let you choose a weapon/artefact. " " Sis, do mages need weapons? " " Mages can indeed use weapons either to defend themselves when magicia levels are dangerously low or to enhance the strength of their mage craft. A wand is a much coveted artefact for mages irrespective of their tier/level. "
Aria and Celestina were travelling to the Royal palace. Meanwhile, IS IMPACT MANIPULATION THE NEW SKILL THAT CAME OUT OF YOUR EXPERIMENT? (SARCONY) YES, ISN'T IT AMAZING!! (COLD) IT IS A MARVELOUS RESULT OF OUR HARDWORK. (CHEEKY)
Skill description: Impact manipulation: Ability to redirect, convert, amplify, absorb and retain shockwaves, impacts, momentum and force. Higher mastery allows higher scope of action.
ISN'T IT A PRETTY BROKEN SKILL? (SARCONY) ISN'T IT? I AM HAPPY THAT MY EFFORT PAID OFF (COLD) THIS SKILL IMPROVED MY ULTIMATE/UNIQUE SKILL AS WELL (CHEEKY) THIS BATTLE MANIAC (COLD) THIS ABNORMAL FREAK (SARCONY) HAHAHA!!!! (CHEEKY)
They soon reached the Throne room. " Randolph, you promised to give a weapon to Aria from the Treasure vault. I feel that she is now ready to obtain one. Lead us to it. " " Teacher, Aria, please come with me. " Randolph personally led the duo to the Treasure vault. " There are all kinds of weapons and artefacts in it. Choose anything you wish for. Any number of them as well. "
Meanwhile somewhere in the same planet/realm in a decrepit building,
" The behemoth we sent was killed without leaving any trace. Not even the black mist was left behind. Our infiltration was a failure as well. They were intercepted and killed by Gustov and the Seraph mage Celestina." spoke a shadow like existence standing behind a throne.
" Don't worry, a horde of beasts stronger and bigger than behemoth are already on way. Once Celestina reveals herself and is gone, we can enter our next phase. If that doesn't happen though, we move to phase three directly. " spoke another shadow like existence sitting on the throne.