“Even us ancient relics learn a thing or two from the children,” the elf replied with a wink. “Particularly strapping types who take on any threat, large or small.” Her expression turned serious. “You’ve made a core from two elements before, haven’t you?”
“An ash core,” I said. “I forged it from the fire and wood paths with Nydarth’s help.”
“Most Augmenters train their entire lives to master one Vigor channel. You’ve managed to learn how to work with three. That’s quite the accomplishment. How did you find the process?”
“It was dangerous and incredibly painful,” I began.
I told her about that sojourn into the Ember Cavern and, from there, into the spirit world. How I’d battled the embodiments of wood and fire individually before facing their combined form in the ash spirit. It’d been one of my toughest fights to date, but the rewards had been worth the effort. Ash Cloud was now one of my go-to techniques, and it was easily one of the most useful in my arsenal. Fire Immunity and Compress Ash had become less useful now that we were in a province with exclusively water Augmenters and monsters.
As I finished recounting the experience to Faryn, I scanned the marshlands. Plants swayed to rhythms that seemed oblivious to the wind. Water rippled with the passage of neon eels. Unfamiliar shapes of other animals continued to dart between the scattered bushes. I was suspicious. Nothing had appeared to turn us into lunch, and in an environment like this, that was pretty rare.
“We are in a Vigorous Zone, right? Where are the monsters?”
“On their way, I’m sure,” Faryn said as she drew her sword. “From what I’ve learned, the creatures of these marshes favor ambush tactics. We’ll need to overcome them in order for you to open a new pathway.”
“I couldn’t have done that on the boat?” I asked. “Instead of getting you covered in mud?”
Faryn’s laugh was short and nervous. “It’s not enough just to meditate your way into the spirit realm. An Augmenter needs to be able to tap into a place that’s drenched with Vigor if they want to be able to combine pathways. To combine water and wood into the sap pathway, you need to be awash with magical power and draw on your surroundings.”
I stopped short. “Sap is an element?”
Faryn nodded. “Of course. It’s often overlooked by combat Augmenters for its seeming lack of offensive ability. But it has several healing properties, amongst other things.”
The mud ahead of us bubbled and shifted as shapes rose from beneath it. The Sundered Heart was in my hand in a moment, and Nydarth hummed in my mind.
“Sap will be of no use to you if you’re not alive to use it, sweet man. Remember that.”
A pack of lampreys emerged from the mire around us, like monsters straight out of a summer-camp horror movie. They looked more at home here than they had in the forest clearing. These were much larger than the ones in the glade. Even though they were hunched over like apes, they were almost as tall as me. Slimy scales blended with the mud as it dripped from their hides. Air bubbled from the gills on their backs as they approached.
“Fire won’t much help you here!” Faryn yelled above a chorus of hissing from the monsters.
“Then, show me how it’s done, Master Faryn.”
She clasped her hands around the hilt of her blade, reversed the sword, and raised it.
The lampreys charged with terrifying speed. The wood elf slammed her sword into the mud between her feet, and I sensed the swirl of Vigor pulse through the muck around my toes. Roots burst from the ground beneath the nearest lampreys and wrapped around their legs. Faryn’s expression of determination tightened as she twisted her blade. The roots snaked higher around her targets, caught hold of their arms, and punctured their gills. The lampreys gurgled as she tore her blade out of the mud and completed her attack. The first wave of monsters struggled in vain as the Strangling Roots pulled them into the marshes and drowned them in their own turf.
Faryn swayed as she raised her blade and positioned herself behind me. “Was that a sufficient example of ‘how it’s done’?”
“Not bad,” I stated. “You okay?”
“You’re not the only one who has flair, Ethan.”
I brushed my shoulder against hers as the mud around us bubbled again. “You need to teach me that trick later. Or tell me where I can find monsters to learn it from.”
“You have techniques of your own. What use would I be if you mastered all of mine?”
I closed my eyes for a moment and channeled the power of water. Vigor flowed out from my pores and across my skin until it began to form Frozen Armor. A slippery coat of thin ice snaked around my limbs as seven fresh lampreys appeared out of the muck and scuttled forward.
One lunged in from my left, and I blocked a strike with my sword. I’d defeated these monsters before, albeit smaller ones, but I figured this would be a perfect opportunity to test the capabilities of Frozen Armor.
I channeled more Vigor into my armor and created a thicker gauntlet with an icicled row of spikes. The lamprey came for me again, but I lifted my spiked gauntlet, and the monster’s huge maw snapped around it. I felt the makeshift ice crack but hold its shape. The icicles drove into the creature’s mouth, and it jerked backward. Its claws scrabbled against my armor and ripped away tiny chips from the glossy surface of my breastplate.
I was just as slippery as these slimy critters now. I could see why the water Augmenters used Frozen Armor so often.
The lamprey opened its maw wide with a snake-like hiss, and I ran the Sundered Heart straight through its gaping mouth and out the back of its throat. Black blood gushed from its ruined neck as I tore the sword free and
