With barely a moment to react, Aki rolls out of the way, using the fragmented furniture scattered about the room to protect herself. She grits her teeth and turns her attention to the open doorway. It would be dangerous to jump into the pitch-black hall with a shadowgeist as an enemy but a short sprint through a hall would be more tactically advantageous than staying within a small, moonlit room. She braces herself and makes a break for it.
Unfortunately, the shadowgeist seemed to have been anticipating this and was already blocking the door before Aki could make it two steps.
"Shield!"
Mana coalesces around Aki like a bubble not a moment too soon as several tendrils slam against it with lethal force. She couldn't let her guard down yet. The humanlike half of the shadowgeist lunges at her again, slamming forcefully against the shield.
"Not yet! Have some more light," Aki slashes her river stone at the shadowgeist, recycling the mana she used for her shield into a stronger flash. "Illuminate!"
Yet, for some reason, the shadowgeist wasn't responding as it should have been. Howls and rage were an expected response, but it wasn't weakening. Instead, Aki watched as the shadowy mass absorbed its monstrous human form.
The shadows writhed and swung, breaking furniture apart and slamming the walls until it reformed into a stronger-looking humanoid monster than before. No longer was it a disembodied mess of shadowy tendrils but an actual apparition now. The shadowgeist began to collect sickly black mana between its hands.
"Uhm, okay. That doesn't look good." Aki backs into the manor's sturdy wall.
She's trapped herself.
The room window is also there, but there was no way she could break it while avoiding the shadowgeist's attack. An idea popped into her head then. If she couldn't escape into the house, she'd have to use its attack to escape. "C'mon, you can't even break my shield spell normally! What's that gonna do?"
She collects her mana before her. Ensuring she's directly in front of the windowed wall, she creates the appearance of a shield and prepares to dodge.
"Minor Illusion." Aki mutters.
"NO. ESCAPE!" The shadowgeist blasts the illusory form into dust and rips apart the sturdy wall. Glass goes flying this way and that, turning to dust or impaling the wet ground outside. The shadowgeist shrieks, eying the outside world. "FLATSFLATSFLATS!"
Aki darts out of the newly made exit, shouting a quick thanks back at her opponent. "It was getting super dusty in there with how much of a mess you were making. But out here, you're done for!" She raises her river stone and aims it at the shadowgeist.
"ESCAPE! PLEASE!" The shadowgeist steps out of the room's darkness, completely unaffected by the moon's light. Its lack of response causes Aki to falter, allowing it to swing at her with enough force to send her across the manor yard. The shadowgeist screeches again as it stalks toward her.
"W-what? Shadowgeists can't be under direct light. That's not what the book says!" She stumbles back to her feet. Unsteadily she stands as she tries to gather her bearings. "More importantly, where'd my stone go?"
"KILL THE BANISHER. KILL! ESCAPE!" The shadowgeist blasts her again, narrowly missing Aki as she loses balance and falls on her back. Its form ripples and shifts wildly now that they're outside. The strong winds had whipped away its original excitement of exiting the manor.
It lets out an ear-shattering sorrowful wail and faces Aki.
The hairs on her body stand on end, and a deadly urgency fills her. Aki rushes to stand as her muscles tense.
She tries - to be exact.
Aki finds herself unable to move from the seated position she had fallen to. Light beeping in the corner of her vision next to her re-manifested status bars draws her attention.
A small pulsing symbol is the culprit for the visual alert. "A Fear status effect. Not like I didn't already know that."
The shadowgeist emits an odd sound. A sort of chuckle, perhaps? Its voice melds with the strong winds, creating a very eerie, malicious, overlapping effect. No doubt adding to the strength of the status effect it inflicted on her.
Aki grits her teeth and urges herself to stand. To shift in place. Perhaps twitch a finger. Any movement would be welcomed.
Nothing came of it.
She couldn't do it.
"Stupidstupidstupid real-world game mechanics. Let. me. Move!" Aki speaks the last word like a defiant battle cry and shoves her hand hard into her bag. "Sorry, but I learned to take anything useful just in case this happens!"
She reveals the hooked wand, already gathering a mass of mana at its point and aims at the shadowgeist. "Brace yourself! Under the moon, I'm way stronger! Witchbolt!"
A vibrant, sickly, acid-green ball of magic condenses at the crooked wand's end. The ball of energy rotates rapidly for a moment before flying toward the shadowgeist.
The spell makes violent contact as it blasts apart the tangle of shadows. Temporarily dispersing the monster like a light shining fleetingly upon the darkness.
It wails in agony and lunges at her.
The shadowgiest was hurt from the attack but not enough to do notable damage. Even as Aki throws up another shield, it strikes her hard and fast. Easily penetrating Aki's barrier and sending her soaring through the air like a dart to a board.
Aki clears the length of the manor easily, breaking through a portion of the overgrown garden with her body like a battering ram and going further still. She hits the ground at the edge of the manor's front garden with a loud thud.
Still full of momentum, Aki bounces and slides down the long hill path to the village before finally coming to a rough stop against the cold stone that makes the central plaza.
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Aki Title: Witch
LE: 55 HP: 75/200
MP: 140/250
SP: 50
[Lunar Devotion: 10% status recovery +10% power under moonlight]
[Shaken: movement reduced by 90% for 30sec]
More : ⟲
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She groans and struggles to stand back up. Her passive shield fizzles around her body for a moment before shattering. The hooked wand is still tightly gripped in her hand. Unfortunately, the wood has nearly snapped and has multiple cracks spidering across its surface. "Damn. Without the protective shell, any really strong hit will bring down my life essence fast. I still have all my stability points but… this wand can - maybe - give me one more spell."
Aki grimaces and tries to move a hand to dig through her bag. Pain and the shadowgeist's wails act as sufficient motivation. However, even as battered as she is, her mind is still present, if a little hazy.
She doesn't have her bag.
Frantically, she searches her vicinity. Maybe it didn't fall too far from where she did. In her anxiousness, Aki spots it from her periphery.
There, stuck on the overgrown shrubberies that create a natural fence around the manor, is her bag. It's a long way up from the village. Meanwhile, the shadowgeist is quickly descending, beelining towards her.
"No, no, no! I don't wanna die here!" Panic grips her, massively amped by the debuff. "No! Stop. What would Shur say? Being out of options isn't the end. Be creative."
She looks around frantically, hoping to find some sort of weapon. Anything she could channel spells with that wouldn't break instantly.
Aki is in the Flats' moonlit village square, so the field is sparse. A decorative water fountain that has seen better days takes up most of the scenery while several buildings encircle the square.
She gazes up toward the abandoned, derelict buildings and the remaining humbler shops. Then down the darkened streets leading towards the homes of the Flats villagers. She hadn't seen any firelight, so the villagers must've not yet heard the commotion.
Or, more likely, are too scared to come out.
That didn't matter. She gives the scene another desperate look, her eyes scanning the broken buildings, the glittering water fountain, and the swirling snow from the heavy wind. An idea slowly forms in her mind.
Moments later, the fear debuff fades, allowing her to stand up and prepare to retaliate. "Restore Stamina."
With a subdued wave, gentle orange light is emitted from the wand tip. Aki's muscles loosen, and she feels a bit of her flexibility return. Her mind, too, lessens the strain she had been feeling, unclouding her thoughts. However, the wand gave its last and broke apart.
"I really hoped not to use this right now, but a little embarrassment is better than being dead." Aki sighs and throws off her cloak.
"Switch titles - [Witch] to [Nudist]."
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[MP: 250 -> 200]
[Agility: +1]
[Speed: +1]
[Mobility increased by 80%. Clothing reduces actions by 10% each.]
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"Now's as good a time as any." Aki shivers. Her cloak had been doing a wonderful job of keeping the mountain cold at bay, but if it meant more speed, then she didn't have much choice.
Underneath it, she wears a thin tunic and shorts. Split in two along the side seams and held in place by the collar and side straps, her shorts, too, are similar in design.
An absolutely terrible choice for the mountains still covered in snow from the tail end of winter, yet they were the only articles of clothing she had figured out didn't debuff this unfortunate title. So long as she wasn't wearing shoes, she could use it to its maximum efficiency.
Although going without shoes in the wilderness was just a little too far in Aki's mind.
"This wouldn't be so bad if I at least the looked the same age I was on Earth."
The shadowgeist wailed again. Louder now that it was at the bottom of the hill. It raced towards Aki, pure aggression painting its horrifying visage. The shadowgeist sinks into the darkness and reappears closer to her now, standing upon the stones of the village square.
Oddly, the shadowgeist pauses its assault. A series of emotions pass and express themselves rapidly in its face. Sorrow, fear, confusion, rage. All of them briefly before it turns its terrifying gaze at her.
"OUTSIDER. BANISHER. KILL! ESCAPE! PLEASE!"
The words echo desperately in the high winds, a cacophony of many voices becoming many more as a stray cloud blocks the full moon.
Aki looks up, cursing herself as she does so. In the distance is a collection of dark clouds. A spring snowstorm brought about by the high winds.
One large stray cloud riding at the forefront. She needed to finish this fast, or the darkness of the skies would be her end. "Is there really no choice here? Am I gonna have to free-cast?"
The wails and cries from the shadowgeist boom as the cloud obscures more and more of the moonlight. Aki watches as the darkness encroaches, obscuring where the shadowgeist stands. It vanishes then, sinking into the shadows faster than Aki can blink.
Then, all light is blocked.
It lunges at her from the darkness, missing its deadly stab by a hair's breadth but striking her with a tendril.
Aki manages to redirect the brunt of the hit by guiding it with her hands and throwing herself backwards and out of the way. Once more on the ground, Aki rolls to avoid the shadowgeist's swings and runs towards the fountain.
She hops into the water and faces her foe. It vanishes into the shadows and attacks from the town hall's darkened doorway. Aki nimbly dodges its attack and raises her hands, aglow with an acid-green colour. "Guess not - Spectral Bind!"
Ghostly chains spout forth from the ground and wrap around the shadowgeist. The chains sink into its body's ominous dark and whip it forward. It lands with a splash in the fountain at her feet.
Mana from the shadowgeist flows to her, refilling her nearly depleted mana pool and rejuvenating her mental strength. Benefits to a spell meant for fighting the undead.
Unfortunately, free-casting has its toll. Aki feels the bones in her arm pop and hears an audible crack as if she is being crushed. Her fingers contort and bend in uncomfortable ways. Just enough to hurt but not enough to break.
Yet.