“Feed me your sins.”
“How do even your healing powers sound evil?” she asked as Jason tossed her a recovery potion.
“I used it on the fourth toad,” Jason said. “That should tell you what you need to know.”
“I saw that big column of smiting power,” she said. “Was that transcendent damage?”
“That’s my finisher,” Jason said.
“What happened to you being the blood and death guy?”
“I also offer absolution. But absolution comes at a price.”
“I see you’re still the melodrama guy,” she said, looking in the direction of the yowies. “What about those ones?”
Jason glanced back and cast another Punition spell.
“I’ll finish them once they get over here,” Jason said. “Let me just loot this lot first.”
“You don’t have any more crystal wash, do you?”
“I’ve got two left,” Jason said. “I figured I’d save them for rank-ups.”
“Good idea.”
“Speaking of rank-ups, though, I’ve got that feeling…”
Amber light started shining out of his body.
“Didn’t even wait for me to meditate,” he said. “That ability was right on the cusp.”
Ability [Verdict] (Doom) has reached Bronze 3 (100%).
Ability [Verdict] (Doom) has reached Bronze 4 (00%).
All [Doom Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 4].
Linked attribute [Spirit] has increased from [Bronze 3] to [Bronze 4].
Jason leaned forward on the bike, letting Shade support him through the disorientation.
“Mid-fight rank-up?” Farrah said. “It seems that you aren’t taking these monsters seriously or your soul wouldn’t be relaxed enough for that to happen.”
“The fight is basically over,” Jason said.
“Looks like your monsters feel the same way.”
Jason turned to take a closer look at the hairy monstrosities.
“Have they turned around?” he asked. “It’s hard to tell with all that hair and how slow they are.”
“I think they have,” Farrah said.
“Oh, come on,” Jason said. “Why would you run when you can’t actually run, you stupid monsters?”
He took off on his bike, leaving Farrah with Shade, who emerged from her shadow to take the form of a black horse with a white mane. It was sleek and beautiful, with hair so shiny, Farrah could vaguely see her reflection in it.
“Now this is more like it,” she said.
62
A LOT OF ANOMALIES
While Farrah and Jason fought the silver-rank monsters, Cotsworth looked on through the monitor displaying what the camera drone above the fight recorded. Although the transmission was occasionally spotty due to magical interference, he had a fairly clear vantage on what was taking place. Mel stood next to him, likewise looking on.
“They certainly don’t fight like us,” she said. “Taking on multiple category threes is incredible. I can’t imagine keeping up that kind of output over the long term, though. I don’t have the mana.”
“Hurin is probably exhausting herself quite quickly,” Cotsworth observed. “She's well-suited to blitz-attacking the most powerful enemies but would fare worse in a general DE sweep. Asano is a different beast altogether. At a glance, he doesn't seem to be doing anything.”
“Poison?” Mel posited. “He only ever makes two attacks against an enemy, which are presumably special attacks.”
“The Perth branch has a poison specialist,” Cotsworth said. “It's hard to even notice that their abilities are taking effect. They shine against the toughest enemies, although it does take longer to drop them. The advantage is that they are highly resource-efficient, which is presumably why we're seeing Asano move from one fight to the next here.”
“There’s talk of new strategic approaches based on the way these two fight,” Mel said. “Any truth to the rumours, sir?”
“I believe that is the idea. What do you think?”
“I don't see throwing out our existing approach,” she said. “Her methods are too resource-intensive and he's too slow for a large-scale sweep-and-clear. They are taking us to school on the big stuff, though. Developing some strike teams specialised in eliminating ADE targets could really do some work. To be honest, I don't see why it hasn't happened already.”
“There’s been a lot of push for it from the branches,” Cotsworth said. “The International Committee has been pushing back, though. Threats of reduced resource allocation for branches employing what they call ‘unnecessary high-risk’ practices.”
“That sounds like a load of crap.”
“It is,” Cotsworth said. “The IC doesn’t like it any more than we do. It’s the Chinese and the Americans threatening to withhold resources if the rest of the world doesn’t play by their rules.”
“Bunch of pricks,” Mel said. “They poach all the looters, then leverage them to hold it over the rest of us.”
“That’s why Asano represents a chance to make a change,” Cotsworth said. “Word is, the Sydney branch is willing to share him and his looting abilities with the rest of the country. That’s why he’s here in the first place.”
Even as they spoke, the tactical teams were using their connection to Jason to clean up the loot from the army of dead monsters. They stuck to the periphery, making sure to stay clear of Jason, Farrah, and the silver-rank monsters.
“These two can also provide specific tactical guidance,” Cotsworth continued. “If we're trying to work up new strategies blind, it's not worth the backlash. If we can quickly and efficiently work up new approaches, though, suddenly, it's a lot more viable.”
“And what happens if the US or China swoops in and takes these two away?” Mel asked.
“Then we’re back where we started,” Cotsworth said. “At the beck and call of the superpowers.”
As they continued to watch the fight play out, the head of the support team approached.
“Ditto Cotsworth,” she said. “We’re getting some odd readings off the dimensional space.”
“Odd how?” Cotsworth asked.
“We’ve been observing the integrity of the space, as per normal. A dimensional space normally takes forty-three hours to break down, with a natural variance. When we first came in, our readings came back normal, but now our projections are off. It’s looking like this space might last as much as sixty hours, maybe a little over.”
“Explanation?”
“I only know of one-dimensional incursion phenomenon that has operated outside of the normal time frame,” she said, looking into the distance at the ongoing fight. “I can't confirm that the change happened when they entered the astral space, but I can't rule it out either. I will say that the Sydney branch didn't record anything like this the last time Asano entered a dimensional incursion space. It could be the other one or it could be unrelated.”
“Alright,” Cotsworth said. “Just record everything so we can hand it off to…”
He trailed off as a blinding column of light appeared in the distance.
“Uh, sir,” Mel said. “I think I may have noticed the effect of his abilities.”