[Author's Note: For bonus chapters, the goal every week is:
- 25 Power Stones
- 50 Power Stones]
Volume 2 Chapter 45: Debuff
"And she's quite lucky that she didn't tried to rush or cast the spell on time. Slowing down her own casting speed by bit have helped stabilize the mana flow in some parts of the spell, subsequently lessening the effects of the backlash she have received."
Pepper and Eve were perplexed when Vespera mentioned that Carmilla was suffering from a backlash caused by the blood slash spell she attempted to cast. This was confusing because the last time they witnessed a backlash was when Daniel experienced it, and it had a different effect. Moreover, Daniel's backlash didn't render him immobile like Carmilla's current state.
Vespera noticed the confusion on Pepper and Eve's faces. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
Pepper, as their current representative, voiced out the reason for their confusion. "You see, in our last challenge, we faced someone who also received a backlash," she explained.
Hearing this from Pepper, Vespera still didn't understand why the two of them were still confused, so she voiced this out. "So what is the problem causing the two of you to be confused?" she questioned.
After hearing this, Pepper explained further by telling her the shorten version of what happened in their fight with Daniel which have more information. She began by recounting their fight with Daniel, mentioning that his spell had suddenly lost control and exploded, causing him to receive some quite nasty debuff effects.
"Ahh, I see," replied Vespera. "You're talking about a different backlash effect than what Carmilla is experiencing right now, correct?"
Pepper nodded in affirmation as she looked at Vespera.
Vespera continued after receiving a positive response from Pepper, "The backlash received by your last opponent was different because they made two different mistakes in their spellcasting process. Can you tell me what kind of effect the backlash your last opponent have experienced?"
Pepper began explaining the debuff effects they noticed on Daniel when he experienced a backlash, along with any effects Tria confirmed or they hadn't noticed or weren't sure about.
Vespera listened intently and then requested for more details on how Daniel experienced such a severe backlash, specifically asking about how his spell exploded. Normally, a spell wouldn't explode unless a caster exceeded the amount of mana in the spell and lost control of it.
Pepper wasn't entirely confident about the accuracy of all the details, as she wasn't known for being observant. Therefore, she occasionally glanced at Eve for confirmation, and Eve would sometimes interrupt her to correct any inaccuracies using their telepathic connection.
Vespera noticed the two of them communicating using a telepathic connection, she smiled like how everytime they used it in front of her.
"No wonder he received such a severe backlash," Vespera agreed, nodding in understanding. "Over-amplifying a spell without proper training can destabilize it, leading to unpredictable consequences. Defensive spells tend to have more stable formulas, offering an advantage in maintaining integrity, unlike offensive spells which are more prone to instability if mishandlled and if the caster overloaded it mana they can't properly control."
Pepper now realized why defensive mages typically had an advantage over offensive mages according to Tria, a concept she hadn't grasped earlier. This newfound understanding shed light on the stability of defensive spells, contrasting with the volatility of offensive ones—a lesson she'd missed during Tria's explanations.
Pepper remained unconvinced by Vespera's explanation, as her own beliefs favored offense as the best defense.
Vespera noticed Pepper's skepticism and addressed it. "Yes, I can tell you're skeptical of what I just said," She addressed.
Pepper, embarrassed at being seen through so easily, quickly cleared her expression and apologized to Vespera, "Sorry."
Vespera simply waved her hand, gesturing that it's fine, before speaking to Pepper, "It's okay to have some doubts, as they can lead you to discover new things on your own in the end."
Upon hearing that, Pepper, who was about to ask something, felt a bit embarrassed at being treated like a child being taught by valuable life lessons.
Vespera noticed that Pepper was about to ask something but suddenly got embarrassed to say it, so Vespera encouraged her. "Come on, there's no need to be embarrassed. It's okay to ask me; I won't bite or eat you."
Pepper relaxed a bit upon hearing Vespera's casual banter, feeling the tension release from her shoulders. Though she seemed relaxed, the pressure of trying to learn the blood slash spell on time before Carmilla finished her turn, the possibility of victory or defeat in her turn, and Carmilla's sudden collapse had accumulated, making her tense, as the same with Eve in which is haven't realized just yet.
"Thank you, now that I'm feeling more relaxed," Pepper asked, "Can I know how much time will it take for Master Carmilla to fully recover from the backlash she received?"
"In my estimate, she should fully recover after 4 to 6 hours, or even less. On the other hand, if she were much more powerful, it would take a whole day before she could recover. So, you guys are lucky that she experienced a backlash this early," replied Vespera.
Carmilla, still lying on the uncomfortable ground, overheard their conversation. When Pepper and Vespera discussed the effects of the backlash, Carmilla couldn't help but agree with Vespera's assessment that experiencing a backlash early was indeed fortunate. She realized that if she were more powerful in the future, the backlash could be longer and more severe, with nastier effects.
Carmilla also noticed that Tria and now Vespera kept mentioning the term "de-buff," and she agreed that it was a fitting term for the effects she was experiencing.
If a buff is a special condition with beneficial effects that greatly benefit the person who has them, then a debuff should function similarly to a buff, but with opposite effects.
She remembered that in other games, players usually can check the status effects they have, so this should also be possible in this game. She should be able to check the status effects she currently has.
Luckily, there are two ways for someone to open their menu in this game. One is by using their index and middle finger together and waving it downwards to open the main menu. The player can use either their left or right hand depending on their preference (SAO reference). The second method is much simpler and faster; the player just has to think of opening their main menu. So even though she is paralyzed right now, she can still open her main menu.
{A/N: Some other parts of the main menu is new and was not included to the last time if you guy want to know the old menu you can check Volume 1 Chapter 33.}
[Status]
[Equipment]
[Inventory]
[Status Effects]
[Money] {Currency in the last time}
[Friend/s]
[Chat]
[World Chat]
[Notification]
[Log Out]