“Fuck, I wish I could do that,” Mahrai muttered.
Vesma’s face spread into an expression of pure joy as she drifted higher. She snapped her fingers, opened her palms, and summoned Flight into her hands. The streamers of fire jumped up to her palms from her feet, and she drifted back to the ground at an inch a second. Her boots brushed the slate again, and she offered us a small curtsy. Her eyes shone bright, even in the dark, and I’d never seen her so happy before in my life. Bright warmth radiated from every inch of her as she dug into her Vigor and summoned twin Untamed Torches into her hands.
“You remember our bout with the Masters of Radiant Dragon?” Vesma asked.
“No way,” I said. “You didn’t learn how to shoot lasers, did you?”
Vesma offered me a smile and opened her palms. Precise bursts of channeled flame flew from her hands and seared holes into a boulder behind me.
“Damn, that’s really something,” he said. Her Untamed Torches were like some kind of high-tech laser beams.
“It probably wouldn’t do much to you two,” Vesma said. “Physical Augmentation makes you resistant to the elements, depending on the form. But any regular fire Augmenter wouldn’t stand a chance.” She shook her hair free and beamed at us. “I’ve been working on my own Physical Augmentation, but I can’t seem to tap into the strength you two have.”
“So, what can you do?” Mahrai challenged.
Vesma’s eyes sparkled mischievously, and she held up her hand with her palm facing inward. A red-hot glow emanated from the center of her flesh and lit up the bones of her hand. She placed the hand over her breast, and the heat spread deeper into her body. Her flesh became almost translucent as an orange glow glimmered through her skin and lit her up in the darkness. Vesma’s eyes found mine, and her smile turned downright seductive as the warm glow faded.
“That,” Vesma said.
“I’ve seen the monks project an aura,” I said, “but I can’t say I’ve seen them internalize it before. What’s the advantage over projecting heat around your skin?”
“I haven’t figured it out yet,” Vesma admitted. “But it keeps the cold at bay.” She patted out a small flare of fire on her shoulder. “Well, it’s not ideal. But until I find armor or something that’s capable of diffusing the heat, I’ll just have to deal with it.”
Mahrai stretched, stood up, and strode out onto the center of the rocky outcrop we’d chosen as our training area. She gestured idly, and her Greater Stone Golem rose out of the slate effortlessly. I raised an eyebrow at the sudden appearance of her minion.
“Doesn’t that normally take you a few seconds?” I asked.
Mahrai shrugged. “It’s faster these days.”
The golem caught the light as one of the cracks in the earth spewed forth fire. The construct creature stood only as tall as Kegohr, rather than its usual story-and-a-half height. The mottled gray stone that usually made up its flesh had been replaced by white marble that glinted in the firelight.
“It looks different,” Kegohr observed. “Smaller and shinier.”
“I took a leaf out of your book,” Mahrai said. “You talked about different stages one night over dinner, and I asked my crusty old teacher if it was possible with my own power. He was pretty pissed at the question, but he couldn’t really refuse me, so here we are.”
“So, what kind of levels are there?” I asked.
“Size is just one aspect,” Mahrai explained as the golem stomped over to stand beside her. “It’s what you do with it that matters, and I’ve learned a few little tricks of my own. I can’t fly, glow like a coal, or break mountains in half, but try hitting him with some fire.”
Vesma and I raised our hands, and Untamed Torches fired from our outstretched fingers. The golem barely twitched as the fire washed over its marble skin. We both released our techniques.
As the flames abated, Mahrai’s golem transformed in the half light. Heat boiled off its stone plates, and in seconds, the entire golem resembled a humanoid pillar of fire. It turned its blank eyes toward us, and a memory flashed through my mind.
“I’ve seen a golem like this before,” Vesma said before I could say the same thing.
“At the tournament, when Hamon went feral,” I said. “It’s not just a Greater Stone Golem anymore, is it? This is a Greater Fire Golem.”
Cinders danced away from the golem’s shoulders as it shrugged. Mahrai flicked her fingers toward a nearby boulder, and the creature lumbered toward it with heavy steps. It scooped up a nearby rock, empowered the stone with fire, and hurled it off the mountain. The flaming piece of stone vanished into the darkness like a comet, and a new flood of possibilities washed through my thoughts.
“So, you can empower a base form of your golem with other elements?” I asked excitedly. “What about water? Wood, magma, acid?”
“Slow down,” Mahrai said. “I haven’t gotten that far yet. But it’s possible. Dying Sun is a fire-based Augmentation school, so fire was the easiest element to work with. I’ll need more time working out the details.”
“It’s incredible, Mahrai,” Vesma said. “I’ve never seen an Augmenter able to summon something like this without a scroll or a ritual. You can do it as easily as breathing.”
A flush of color crept into Mahrai’s cheeks as she rolled her eyes. “I guess.”
The small smile that flitted over her face told me that she appreciated the compliment. All her life, she’d been hounded, attacked, and driven away from war-torn environments. Now, she’d found a group of friends who appreciated her for reasons other than her usefulness.
Mahrai snapped her fingers, and the golem suddenly whirled around. It brought its arms together as if to attack her. My heart jumped in my chest as I raced to free the Demure Rebirth from its harness and push water through my Physical channels, intending to use Mud Entrapment.
But I needn’t have bothered.
Mahrai’s skin shifted in a
