Curselock

Chapter 196: Of a Kind

There were four Judes.

First, the original and his mirage. Then the Guardian Spirit Beast, Neff’s, incarnation… which had a mirage of its own. All four Judes stood around admiring each other as all the bystanders watched with various levels of fascination or annoyance.

Isobel was the first to speak. “This place is cursed,” she said, throwing her hands into the air.

All four Judes turned on her. “Excuse me?” they all said at once. “I think it’s awesome!”

Everyone blinked slowly. Diana, Jude’s mom, turned soft yet somber. “Jude, honey, can we play with the blessing later? We are discussing something important.”

Original Jude frowned as his blessing-mirage, Jude Three, pleaded not to be banished. For anyone else, seeing an exact copy of yourself begging not to be killed would have only a negative effect. For Jude, however, that worry was ill-placed and unfounded.

“It’s okay my brother,” Jude whispered to the clone. “I’ll summon you later and we’ll kill some monsters.”

“Y-you promise?”

“Of course I do.”

Jude Three nodded solemnly, huddling together with Jude Four, who didn’t seem all too cut up about fading away. Original Jude then canceled the fox beast’s blessing. Three crumbled into sand while Four simply faded like every other mirage.

“That was strange…” Leland whispered, receiving nods in agreement from everyone who heard.

“Powerful blessing Jude,” Carmon announced, ready to move on. “Battlefield-able clones are always a pain to fight against. I’ve never known a Berserker Legacy with clones. Sounds like a powerful combination.”

“As long as they don’t enrage and fight each other,” Isobel muttered, receiving two looks of horror from Jude’s parents.

“From this point onward, you are barred from using that blessing unless we are with you,” Diana said to her son.

“Or at the very least, one of us adults,” Roy quickly added.

Jude pouted. “What about when I’m not fighting? Because I want to jam—”

“That should be fine.”

“Good because I feel I was getting closer to what the Berserker Lord was trying to tell—”

“Jude!” screeched Diana. “We’ve talked about this! Stop bringing up the secrets!”

Spencer cleared his throat before anyone else could take control of the conversation. “I’ve scouted a potential monster den. I don’t recognize the monsters themselves, but the nest is riddled with crystalline mana. Which means magical monsters of some kind.”

“Any idea about the aspect?” Lucia asked.

The portal master smiled. “Pure.”

Lucia and Leland’s eyebrows shot to their foreheads. “Really?” they both asked at the same time.

“Indeed, indeed. Amazing, isn’t it?”

Roy, who was gnawing on a floral leaf that smelled of cinnamon, asked, “What is pure aspect and why do you all sound excited?”

“Remember those weird tornado frogs we helped round up in Daylilly Marsh, oh, nineteen years ago?” Spencer asked.

“The ones that controlled wind but also didn’t?”

He nodded. “They controlled pure mana, which often manifests as wind, yes.”

“Oh. Those things were little devils.”

“I don’t understand,” Carmon said. “I remember those frogs very well. But I didn’t think they were anything special.”

“Exactly,” Spencer said. “They are just like any other monster, but they are rare and hardly researched. Corpses and parts sell for a lot.”

“Oh I see. You and your greed again.”

Spencer looked affronted. “Being a mage is expensive! Do you know how much chalk costs!? The good kind that doesn’t break on the first rune!?”

Carmon smiled, leaned back, and closed his eyes. “Just send the kids in and let them take care of it.”

“Right-o. That’s the plan. I counted forty three, plus their mirages.”

Carmon opened his eyes. “You want to send the kids into a nest with eighty six monsters?”

“Just have Leland kill them all,” Isobel said, watching the dark sand dunes.

Everyone glanced at her, Spencer continued. “Yeah, what she said. Sort of. Leland kills them all with Circle of Souls while Jude and Glenny defend him. If everyone uses everything they’ve got, it should be simple.”

Isobel snorted.

Carmon asked, “Got something to add?”

She looked over, then at Leland. “He can just kill the whole nest. By himself. Two contracts and Circle of Souls with the birds and a few Fractures will be enough. I scouted the nest earlier, they have no fliers. All he’d have to do is dodge.”

Spencer sighed. “I agree with the assessment. But I was angling for the other boys to get some training in as well.”

“I see.” Isobel went quiet for a moment. “Then if you want that, don’t have Leland help at all. Well, have him help, but without Circle of Souls.”

“Why?” Leland asked.

“Because you’ll kill too large of a group too quickly.”

He frowned and shook his head. “I think you are overestimating me.”

“I’m not,” she replied. “But fine. Sit this one out. Let Jude and his three clones fight with Glenny and his clone. Should be fine in that case.”

Spencer considered that. “Actually. That’s not a bad idea.” He looked at his son. “Sorry kiddo, you’ll be on support duty.”

“Fine with me,” Leland said.

Standing and opening a portal, Spencer said, “Then let’s go now. They are asleep and a surprise can never hurt.”

After everyone stepped through the hole in reality and arrived at another part of the desert, the beauty of pure mana became apparent. Milky white with a hint of iridescence, massive crystals of solidified mana sprouted from the sand. Like mushrooms along a dead log, the crystals grew up and down the dunes, shifting with the topography all the while creating a safe haven for monsters.

A few monsters hung around, each lounging with sleep in their eyes. They must have some level of intelligence, as they had dedicated guards, but nothing more than a watch dog or a meerkat. They were stout creatures, bipedal in nature yet preferably with all four appendages on the ground. Each had two to four bushy tails which contrasted with leathery skin and short fangs.

One of the watch dogs sniffed the air before yanking and slinking its head back down.

“Heh, this is going to be fun,” Jude announced at the sight of the creatures.

“Remember Jude, these are not normal beasts. They have magic and—”

Jude let out a fearsome bellow, his bone armor instantly freezing over in hoarfrost. Beside him the sand spun to life, forming like a dust devil in a typhoon. Quickly Jude Three appeared, which in turn created Jude Four. Jude Two stood next to original Jude, watching the show.

With a shrug, Jude Two made the same war cry, setting off Jude Three and Four to do the same. Then, like a pack of hyenas, the Judes ran forward, their battle axes in hand and gleaming with sharpened anger.

The Glennys quietly cursed themselves, noticing the watch dog had an ear perked up. They both instantly turned invisible, rushing to keep up with their eager friend. Both forged daggers from crimson primordial power, a stolen and claimed ability of the Sightless King.

Only the adults could see this, however. Their perceptions were tailored with enough experience and power to cut through Glenny’s invisibility. They, however, didn’t move or react. Instead they sat back near the exit of the portal. Carmon did take a couple steps forward, isolating himself from the others and watching his son with his arms crossed.

“Are you going to support them?” Lucia asked Leland.

“I… I guess? I was expecting a bit more strategy and less,” he gestured to Jude, “rushing forward without a care in the world.”

Roy and Diana both chuckled, Diana proudly saying, “That’s our son.” They held each other closely, their eyes glued to the mayhem.

And what mayhem it was. All four Judes had leaped into the crystal forest, their landing creating pits of ice and sandstone. At this point, the monsters were up in arms, each gathering mana and igniting spells. Bolts of milky white magic blasted from their open mouths, yet the Judes didn’t dodge or block. Attacks that would hit, hit, and those that missed, missed.

Battle philosophy was nothing if not simple for a berserker.

The pain of the magic was slight, the bone armor and Legacy abilities of Jude mitigating it to near nothing. A slap, maybe a punch in the gut, but nothing more. The pain was hardly enough to even induce rage. Pain meant power for a berserker, yet if the pain was nothing more than a tickle…

Jude, and his misfit band of clones, ripped through the groggy monster ranks pushing deep into the crystalline bastion before Glenny made an appearance. Jude hadn’t noticed them, but a couple of the monsters were larger than the rest. They had scars and wore craggy necklaces made of bone and teeth, one even held a mystic stave that leaked milky oil.

These alpha monsters, if not actively engaged in battle with a Jude, were quickly targeted and executed by one of the Glennys. They appeared like silent assassins, briefly slipping out of their active camouflage before plunging their daggers into the necks or spines of an alpha. A twist of their daggers later, guts and gore sprayed from the open wounds like a volcano.

“I… don’t think I need to help,” Leland muttered, his voice low and distant, the battle in full swing.

Jude Two appeared to the side of a monster, cleaving it in half before pivoting on his heel and shoulder bashing another. Jude Three’s eyes went wide, abruptly sidestepping a hurdling beast. He leaped across the open dune, landing on an alpha that was waving a stick of magic in the air. With a guttural roar, he sliced diagonally, removing the arm carrying the stick only for the original Jude to uppercut with his axe. From behind him, a snow white bear appeared with speed to match, upcutting with its meaty claw.

The alpha was no more.

When it became apparent that they were in no danger, Glenny started to experiment with the Void. He gently called it, his mind going silent. There, alone with his thoughts, he tiptoed along the sandy, bloody yard until he deemed himself ready.

He hadn’t noticed it earlier with the sand elemental, but the primordial crimson energy of his daggers took on streaks of black. Briefly he considered this, knowing that the Void was a white wasteland. The moment ended when the ground quaked.

Like a geyser, sand sprayed from the center of the crystals and ushered in whisps of arcana. Kicking up and staying up, the sand rotated at will, brushing against any and everything inside. Rotation slowly built up, magic and mana attacking at the price of—

Glenny found the source. There, in the back of the nest, was a singular monster. It held a magical stick like a few others, but this alpha held the weight of purity on its shoulders. It raised its free hand in line with its staff, words of power fluttering across its lips.

Almost smiling, Glenny noticed a small black silhouette connected to the monster’s feet. It was night, darkness covered the sky, but the light from the crystals mixed with the glowing luminosity of the alpha’s magic was enough to create shadow.

Stepping was like any other spell or ability. It had limits, which Glenny pushed to the extreme. Distance stepping was something he lacked proficiency in, so appearing in the alpha’s shadow sent a shock of exhaustion through his body.

That hardly mattered when the fight was over a breath later.

Glenny plunged his crimson dagger sparking with black power into the alpha’s neck. He felt slight resistance at first, at least until the power of the Void took hold. The skin and flesh around his dagger vanished, along with part of the alpha’s jaw and upper chest. Blood spewed out, the beast dead.

Watching it fall over, Glenny stumbled, the backfire churning his insides. Blood dripped from his nose, which he noted was an improvement from last time.

From the vantage point of a tall dune, the parents, Isobel, and Leland watched the battle slowly come to an end. Everyone was smiling at the showing, even Isobel despite her trying to hide it. Roy and Diana were positively beaming, and even Carmon had the gleam of pride in his eye.

The gains for such a battle were surely to be great for Jude and Glenny. Spencer remembered his own trials such as this. It was many years ago, so he understood the value of an untouched monster nest. Unfortunately for Jude and Glenny, the next nest was already claimed. It was for Leland and Leland alone.