A Relatively Powerful Mage

Sylvi slowly fell towards the unknown liquid, barely able to see as the mist obscured her vision beyond a meter. She landed on the surface and started sinking despite the Low Gravity enchantment. Her breath caught as she felt a pervasive cold emanating unnaturally; whatever this liquid was, it was far below the freezing point of water. She adjusted the amplitude of the enchantment until she was floating, which required a higher amount of mana than they had estimated. They wouldn’t have any time to spare.

A split second later, she heard Ashlyn hit the liquid. A moment later, she resurfaced, teeth already chattering from the cold. Sylvi continued to increase the effect of the Low Gravity until it was a high enough amplitude that her effective weight no longer broke the surface, allowing her to walk on it. Ashlyn followed her lead in quick succession.

With the mist completely obscuring any landmark, it could have been difficult to regain their bearings. Fortunately, Sylvi’s Trailblazer profession made it almost effortless to reorient herself back on her intended route. Each step they took was almost entirely silent, and when combined with the obscurement the mist provided, they would be almost impossible to detect.

As they traveled, Sylvi noticed that the mist swirled and moved despite almost no discernable breeze. It was as if it moved of its own accord, and she couldn’t help but feel like it was alive. She stared through the foggy substance, unsure what she expected to find.

A flash of movement drew her eyes. A section of the mist seemed to coalesce into a humanoid shape, staring directly at them. Adrenaline surged through Sylvi’s body, her heart rate quickening as her body prepared for a fight. However, she was unsure what to do against an opponent made of mist, so Sylvi simply stared back. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it dispersed into an indistinguishable cloud.

“What is it?” Ashlyn whispered.

“It’s nothing,” Sylvi lied, knowing their only option was to hope the creature wasn’t interested in attacking them. Ashlyn nodded but didn’t seem convinced.

Fortunately, they didn’t have far to go, and Sylvi remained focused on the mission. As her supernatural intuition told them they were only meters from the docks, she motioned for Ashlyn to stop. Sylvi hesitated for a split second before pulling out the walkie. She tapped it several times in quick succession, giving the go order. In seconds, the remaining wraiths would attack the defended base head-on. The attack carried a high risk of casualties, and Sylvi vowed not to let this sacrifice be in vain.

Moments later, the silence was broken with the gunshot-like crack of force from the high-powered bows. Immediately after that, the sound of shrieking Azala echoed out. The sounds of fighting continued, but Sylvi waited a few seconds for the Azala to respond to the attack, then approached the dock.

As Sylvi approached the edge of the mist, the Azala base came into view. At first, it didn’t appear to be anything amiss, but then her eyes caught signs of their habitation. On the sides of several shipping containers were cancerous growths reminiscent of what she had seen near Minneapolis, albeit far less pervasive. Near the largest concentration of growths, a black vein-like tendril snaked along the container, extending from somewhere further inside the compound.

Unfortunately, several higher-level Azala remained as sentries, having been disciplined enough not to overreact to the attack. However, they were dispersed far enough apart that it might be possible to slip past them with all the cover provided by the shipping crates.

The distraction provided by the other wraiths wouldn’t last long, so Sylvi had to be decisive. The moment she spotted a gap in the patrolling Azala, she emerged from the mist and motioned for Ashlyn to follow. Sylvi moved as fast as she could while not creating noticeable noise, with Ashlyn presumably behind her, not making a sound.

The duo quickly ducked behind a stack of shipping containers, making it unlikely they would be spotted by perimeter patrol. However, they were moving into unknown territory, and for all they knew, a contingent of Azala was still on guard.

They continued forward, balancing speed and stealth, following the dark root-like tendril from the docks. As they moved further in, the number and size of growths increased to the point where many shipping containers were almost completely covered. A second and third vein combined with the one they were following, and an enlarged main branch continued in the direction they were headed. Eventually, the texture of the ground changed from pavement to a flesh-like membrane that made their steps springy.

Sylvi kept her head on a swivel, looking at every section of growth for the fixed position eyes. She had to balance that with watching where she stepped, as she didn’t want to repeat her previous mistake where acid nearly claimed her foot. Fortunately, these Azala were more dependent on the humanoid Azala, as she had yet to see any signs of the eyes.

It quickly became apparent that they were nearing the epicenter of the transformation, as almost no discernible human objects remained. The only indication that this had once been a dock was the general shape of the organic structures, which resembled the original shipping containers. Some of the growths were contracting, releasing a noxious, hazy gas into the air that stung like mild mustard gas, causing tears to well in their eyes. Sylvi tried not to breathe in the worst of it, but it was too pervasive to avoid altogether.

Sylvi’s heart hammered in her chest, and her breaths came in irregular, sharp intakes. Ashlyn was worse, her hand visibly trembling. Despite the horror of the hellscape, Sylvi never considered turning around. Likewise, Ashlyn nodded resolutely and continued forward.

As they rounded the edge of what had once been shipping containers, another structure came into view. Based on its location and size, it had presumably been a warehouse or similar structure, but it was now unrecognizable. It was made entirely of living tissue, with veins and capillaries spreading throughout its surface. As Sylvi stared agape at the massive organic structure, she noticed it wasn’t static; it slowly expanded and contracted in a steady rhythm, like a slow but steady heartbeat.

The heart-like structure transfixed them so that they hadn’t noticed the Azala Despoiler until it was too late to escape its notice. It was nearly three meters in height, and instead of arms, it had two large scythe-like appendages made of some sort of bone. The Azala let out a shriek that seemed impossibly high-pitched for a creature of its size. The noise was more than a warning, as Sylvi immediately felt her mind losing focus on the battle to come. Her thoughts unconsciously drifted to a low point, to back when she was in a juvenile detention facility. Her future prospects were nothing. She would get out and either end up dead or in prison. There was no one who cared what happened to her.

‘You're still that same delinquent, a criminal and a blight upon society. No matter how much you pretend to be a good soldier, you can never atone for the people you’ve killed,’ her mind thought.

Sylvi rejected those thoughts, realizing that they weren’t hers. She mentally shrugged off the effects of the psychic attack, refocusing on the present. She regained control of her faculties just in time to see the Despoiler’s physical attack closing in on her. Its massive scythe-like appendage descended, the force of the blow causing the air to hum. She instinctively fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack that easily would have cleaved her in two. The Azala shrieked in frustration and swung again in an overhead chopping motion. Sylvi rolled, again narrowly avoiding death, before returning to her feet.

As Sylvi regained her composure, she noticed Ashlyn collapsed on the ground. She sobbed uncontrollably, the psychic attack having put her out of commission. Fortunately, the Despoiler was intent on Sylvi, unconcerned with finishing an incapacitated opponent. The Despoiler continued attacking her recklessly, taking powerful swings that lacked finesse. It was unconcerned with defense, assuming any wound Sylvi inflicted would be insignificant, especially if it gained an opening to counterattack.

Unfortunately for the Despoiler, Sylvi didn’t only have conventional weapons. She stepped inside its reach when an especially wide swing presented an opening. A thin tear in spacetime materialized, and Sylvi brought the Dimensional Saber down. The Dimensional Tear cut through its shoulder and dismembered its appendage. With a flourish, Sylvi struck horizontally at the undefended neck of the imposing creature. The blade slid through, encountering no resistance as the head was parted from the body.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t any time to celebrate as a pair of winged Azala converged on them, closing the distance at an alarming rate. Ashlyn got to her feet but stumbled and fell as soon as she tried to take a step. The psychic attack had inflicted severe damage on her. If Sylvi tried to help her, she would only get mired in enemies until she was overwhelmed. She sprinted towards the heart-like structure and was relieved to see the two pursuers chasing her rather than attacking the incapacitated teenager. Whatever this building was, it was clearly crucial to the Azala.

She adjusted her angle towards a passageway leading into the heart. As she neared her destination, she saw the space contracting and expanding, shifting from a tight squeeze to a spacious hallway. She continued into the space, not having time to second-guess her decision, with pursuers only seconds behind her. She felt pressure on all sides as the room collapsed to its smallest configuration. Fortunately, it wasn’t painful, but Sylvi was thankful she wasn’t claustrophobic. After several cycles, she went through the end of the passageway and into a much more open space.

It was an expansive room that must have taken up most of the structure. Like an ancient tree with an expansive root network, hundreds of veins extended throughout most of the visible surface area. They converged near the center of the room, leading into a colossal brain about fifteen meters in each dimension. It pulsed with visible energy as a brackish essence flowed into it. Sylvi had been wrong to think of this as a structure: the entire thing was a colossal creature. An Identify confirmed it was an Azala Hive Mind Node, and its level was high enough that she couldn’t see it. Sylvi panicked briefly, expecting a psychic attack that would overwhelm her. However, it never came. Instead, her most immediate problem was her pursuers, who were only several steps behind her. Once they regained the space to fly, there would be no way to avoid them.

Sylvi sprinted towards the node, bow in hand. As she ran, she marked her target and fired an empowered Devastation Shot into the node. The colossal brain was an easy target, even from fifty meters on the run. Second and third shots were fired as the first arrow slammed into its target with the force of a missile. Even though the arrow was only a splinter relative to the mass of the Node, it struck with enough force to carve a large hole. The entirety of the heart spasmed erratically, causing the entire room to shake. The convulsing only intensified as the second and third arrows struck.

Shrieks echoed out from the Azala behind Sylvi, but she ignored them, intent on killing the node over all else. She didn’t stop firing, continuing to put arrow after arrow into the creature. She continued, even after the convulsing stopped and the heart remained static. Only her lack of ammo ended the barrage. She had accomplished the mission and hopefully done real damage to the enemy.

She turned to face her pursuers, her short sword in hand. She was intent on taking as many down as possible before being overwhelmed. However, instead of facing an oncoming charge, the Azalas stumbled in an uncoordinated shuffle as if they were poisoned. She easily dispatched them without a second thought.

She raced back outside, praying that Ashlyn had managed to pull through. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw the girl alive and well. She was up and moving, taking out her frustrations on nearby Azala that were equally incapacitated.

“HQ, are the Azala near you incapacitated?” Sylvi asked over the radio.

“Yes, they are,” Major Harper confirmed, jubilant cheers resounding in the background.