I fought off the cringe as I tossed another Untamed Torch at a monster. The blast of fire hit it in the chest, and its armor melted, but the heat didn’t get through to the flesh. The carapace shifted and stitched itself back together as the starsquids swung their heads to look at the huge flash of heat and light.
Fire only did the trick on the smaller starsquids, and they were all dead now. But did it work as a lure?
I aimed another Untamed Torch at a gap between the surrounding starsquids. At least half of them turned toward the flames and heat.
“It’s about to get warm,” I said to Cadrin.
I dug into my pool of Vigor and cast it through the fire channels within my body. A ball of flame in my hand became the blazing whirlwind of the Burning Wheel technique. I hurled it forward and watched it careen through the crowd of starsquids. The Burning Wheel crystallized the sand beneath it as it danced over the ground in haphazard patterns. Cadrin and I jumped aside as it came back toward us. The vortex of flames ripped through the space where we had been and on in the direction of the dunes.
The starsquids skittered over the sand after the light, uninterested in Cadrin or me.
“That’s right, scum of the ocean,” Nydarth whispered. “Follow the pretty lights. Good thinking, my sweet man. You continue to surprise.”
One of the creatures broke the spell of the flames and detached itself from the pack. It angled itself toward me, but I didn’t give it the opportunity to land a hit. Vigor surged through my flesh to form a Smothering Mist all around me. I backed through the cloud as the starsquid flailed ineffectively at where I’d been a moment before. I emerged from the mist like a bad dream and cut it down with the Sundered Heart.
My comrades followed the starquids as they skittered after the bright light sweeping around the beach. Labu and Cadrin hacked the creatures down from behind, and I joined them with deft strikes of my sword. Soon, we had a heap of monsters at our feet. Labu and I had gone for the clean kills, but Cadrin’s victims squirmed and flooded the sand with their black blood before they expired.
We knelt together and started the long process of slicing into the flesh of the creatures, pulling out the skeletal corrals and removing the magical cores. I was thankful to see their armor melt upon death as it was easier to tear them open.
“Fire, wood, ash, and water,” Kumi said. “That’s an impressive assortment of powers you have. You’re an elementalist?”
“What else would he be?” Cadrin snarled. “No refinement. All flash and no true skill. He might as well be a jester in a court. Elementalists are often praised for their diversity, but they merely scratch the surface of true Augmentation.”
“You jealous?” I asked as I pried open a bone-cage and took the core within.
“You’re obviously unfamiliar with water techniques,,” Cadrin said. “Your Smothering Mist was clumsy.”
“Clumsy?” Labu snorted. “Have you seen anyone else ever pull off tricks like that?”
“Of course. Master Horix, for instance.”
“You must be impressed if you’re comparing him with Horix.” Kumi laughed. “I’ve seen how you worship him like he’s some kind of immortal.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle along with her infectious laugh. “Bit of a teacher’s pet, are you, Cadrin?”
His jaw tightened. “Everyone should respect the guildmaster. He is the finest Augmenter in all the Diamond Coast.”
“Second to Kumi, here,” I said and bumped her shoulder playfully with mine.
The princess bumped me back, and I hit Cadrin. The pretty-boy collapsed into the pile of squid corpses and stood up with a slew of impressive curses. Labu calmed him down and turned his attention to our spoils for the day. We divided up the cores between us, and I put mine in a belt pouch. Nydarth had helped me absorb fire cores on the fly, but I doubted she’d give me that same assistance with cores of her rival element.
I nudged the pile of monster viscera with my sandal and looked at Labu. “I take it that you guys don’t eat this stuff?”
Labu looked at me like I was insane. “Of course not.”
I cleaned my weapons in a pool as Nydarth murmured in my ear.
“Driving into such flesh must excite you, my sweet man,” she purred. “Grow in your power, upon your path, and you shall have mine if you so desire it.”
I’d seen Nydarth’s dream-form before, and if her ‘flesh’ was anything like that, then it was a promise I’d see her keep. The thought made my blood boil as I headed back toward the boat.
“You boys can sail without me,” Kumi said. “I’m going back to the city.”
Twilight was falling across the beach as she stepped closer to me and looked up with dark blue eyes. I couldn’t help but appreciate the ample curves of her hips, the swell of her chest, and the way her skin caught the light.
“It was a pleasure to meet my rescuer again,” she said as she laid a hand on my arm. “And to discover that you’re so… gifted. I look forward to meeting you again soon.”
She leaned up and kissed me on the cheek. The princess turned and strode up the beach. Kumi had the most alluring way of walking. Her hips seemed to know exactly how to sway to her footsteps.
I managed to drag my attention away from Kumi and caught Labu’s glare. Cadrin smirked at his companion’s obvious discomfort.
“Boat,” Labu said. “Now.”
The fishman with the big spear had a gorgeous sister, so I decided not to hurt his feelings.
We spent the journey back to the guild island discussing the fight and the techniques we’d used to defeat the starsquids. Cadrin proved just as pompous as I’d expected. His over-exaggerated sense of his own achievements and skill level grated on my nerves. Labu was quieter, except when he thought something he’d done might impress
