Chapter 217: Perfectionist

A thick vine erupted from the ground beneath Moxie, whipping out and slamming into the monster’s side. Given how thin it was, Noah fully expected that to be the end of the fight. The monster should have been sent flying like a baseball.

Instead, the vine was carved straight in two. The severed half slammed to the ground behind the monster, rolling to a stop against a large rock. One of the lanky creature’s arms had frozen over, turning into a solid blade of ice.

That’s some reaction time. And talk about coincidence. We were just talking about finding a monster with an Ice-based Rune… but this seems a little too convenient, doesn’t it? We literally hadn’t even finished the conversation.

The monster’s let out another wail and a wave of icy spikes erupted from its back. The monster staggered, dropping to all fours as the ice grew further, glistening in the setting sun. Its claws dug through the ground, slicing it as easily as butter.

“Okay, it looks a bit more like a cat now,” Lee said.

The monster charged. Noah drew energy from Natural Disaster. He hadn’t had a lot of time to gather power, but he’d had enough to unleash a wave of electrically charged wind straight into the creature’s face.

A loud crack split the air as Noah’s magic slammed into it head-on, throwing it back several feet. It skidded across the ground, catching itself and charging once more.

Another vine ripped from the ground and slammed into the monster’s side. This time, it wasn’t fast enough to block the attack. It tumbled, leaving a deep furrow through the earth, but flipped back to its feet and caught itself, completely unharmed.

“That’s one tough bastard,” Moxie said.

Noah drew moisture from the air, gathering it into a spinning drill in his hand. He thrust it forward as the monster charged them again. Energy poured into the water, and it continued to gather moisture as it shot out.

The bolt grew into a powerful torrent. It blasted the ice monster off its feet, sending it flying backward. Unfortunately, Noah quickly lost control of the magic as it grew far enough, so his strike did nothing but push the creature farther away from them.

He was pretty sure that the force behind the blow should have been more than enough to crush most humans, but the ice monster looked no worse for the wear.

“Tough bastard indeed,” Noah said, grabbing his pipe and ripping a large tuft of Flashgrass out from its spot in his bag. He combusted the grass as he stuffed it into his pipe.

Might need some fire for this fight, but that’s assuming this thing can even melt.

Letting out another loud wail, the monster charged them once more. Lee flashed forward, claws extending from one of her hands. A clear note rang out as the monster ducked, baring its icy, spike-covered back to Lee. Her strike rang out against the ice, cracking several of the spikes.

She vaulted backward as the monster lunged at her, its malformed mouth narrowly missing her leg. Lee hopped to the side as the monster leapt at her once more, swiping with one of its deadly claws.

“Stall it,” Noah said, drawing in a deep breath. “I need to build up more heated smoke.”

My dragon breath attack would work great right now. Sure is too bad I don’t have the blasted Imbuements for it at the moment. Doesn’t look like I can stuff this thing full of smoke either – it’s too thin and gangly, with too many holes. This is just going to be a hot ash angle.

Moxie thrust her hands forward. Four vines burst from the ground, extending toward the monster like the tendrils of an eldritch monster. The first two were carved apart instantly, and the creature leapt over the third – but the fourth found its mark.

It wound around the monster’s legs, yanking them taut. A furious wail slipped out of the monster’s mouth as Moxie yanked it into the air, dangling it like a piñata. Heated ash continued to rise into the air around Noah as he focused on gathering it as he drew deeply on Natural Disaster.

Heat washed out from the black and orange smoke flowing around him, growing rapidly in intensity. The monster lashed out, twisting its body to sever Moxie’s last vine. It dropped to the ground and charged immediately – but those few seconds had been enough.

A molten blade of heated ash and ember materialized from the smoke gathering around Noah, scything out and driving clean into the monster’s chest. The ice on its back shattered with the force of the blow and it stumbled.

Ice hissed against the hot magic as Noah willed it upward, ripping it through the monster’s chest and up through its head. Blue blood splattered onto the ground and it pitched forward, crashing down.

Noah dismissed Natural Disaster and rushed up the dying monster. The ice on its back receded, melting away at a rapid pace. Noah drew on Sunder, his veins turning black as he watched it like a hawk, waiting for the perfect moment.

The first motes of energy started to gather, preparing the monster’s soul to leave its body. Noah sliced downward with his hand, and Sunder carved the escaping soul in two. Wind buffeted Noah’s hair as it swirled around the dead monster, sucked into a vortex of energy.

Seven runes formed in a ring above its body, and Noah could immediately tell that something was seriously wrong. Five of the runes were dripping sickly black energy and warped, almost as if they’d been melted to slag.

Even as he watched, a sixth started to bend inward on itself, dark energy spiderwebbing throughout it. His eyes shot to the final, undamaged Rune.

Glistening Ice

It was powerful. There was no doubt in Noah’s mind that this was actually a Rank 3 Rune – A whole lot stronger than he’d expected the Rune to be, considering the monster hadn’t actually put up that much of a fight.

Noah didn’t wait around to wonder any further, though. He grabbed the Rune, ripping it free from the monster and drawing it into his mind before whatever the strange disease was could reach it. A few seconds later, he let out a relieved sigh. There would be time to check on the exact details of the Rune later, but he’d successfully claimed it.

The corrupted runes fell apart, and the wind took their energy away. He took a step back, breathing heavily as he studied the corpse at his feet. Unlike the bird, there wasn’t any apparent black liquid or other rotted portions on the monster.

“What the hell just happened?” Noah asked.

“Awful coincidental,” Moxie said, walking up beside him. “Ice monster right when we were talking about it? And the energy–”

“Yeah.” Noah nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. It’s got to have something to do with the cat, then. But… what?”

“Maybe it was trying to help?” Lee offered.

Noah and Moxie glanced at her.

“I could see that with the ice monster, but what about whatever the hell dragged us underground or the bird that tried kidnapping you?” Noah asked, already shaking his head. “Unless Moxie ever voiced her appreciation of getting attacked by goopy monster plants underground?”

“I most certainly did not.”

“I didn’t ask to get kidnapped either,” Lee said, rubbing her chin. “Maybe it’s trying to help but is really stupid?”

Noah snorted. “I guess we can’t dismiss that. Did either of you happen to see what was going on with its Runes? They were rotted. At least, that’s what it looked like. I’ve never seen it before, but it definitely wasn’t good.”

“I saw it,” Moxie confirmed. She kept a good bit of distance from the dead monster’s corpse, sending a grimace in its direction. “That thing was seriously creepy. One of the ugliest monsters I’ve ever fought.”

“I don’t even want to eat it,” Lee muttered. “Same with the bird. They smell really bad. Like rotting flesh.”

“I bet it’s got to be worth a fair bit though, right?” Noah knelt beside the gangly monster. “This one doesn’t look

rotted. I bet some of its parts would be pretty rare, especially if you’ve never heard of it, Moxie. You’ve been here a lot, so if it was a common monster, I assume you’d recognize it.”

“Probably would,” Moxie agreed. “I’m not carrying any parts of that thing around, though. You’re welcome to all the profit if you carry it.”

“Me neither,” Lee added, pinching her nose.

“Well, I’m not going to bring the whole thing with me. Just a few choice pieces,” Noah said, flexing his fingers. Moxie hadn’t exactly ever wanted for money, and Lee just mooched off Noah’s.

But, even though his time on earth was relatively short in comparison to how long he’d spent dead, it was far more vibrant. All his years in the afterlife had blended together, but he could still remember the gnawing pain in his stomach after eating a single cup of instant noodles as his only meal for an entire day.

Noah pulled Sunder’s power to his fingertips once more. He couldn’t be bothered actually digging around in it with his dagger. The monster’s body was tough, and he didn’t feel like spending an hour working.

“Let’s see what I can get,” Noah said.

Then he got to work.

***

Just about ten minutes later, Noah was done and they’d set off once more. A tarp bag that Moxie had generously donated to Noah hung at his side, stuffed to the brim with monster parts. Noah hadn’t discriminated much – they were so close to the city that he’d decided that it was time to go with a quantity over quality approach.

They set up for the night an hour later, with the walls of the city looming close in the not-so-distance. They’d reach it somewhere around noon of the following day if they kept their pace.

While Moxie set up tents for all of them, Noah wasted no time in sinking into his mindspace to check on the new Rune he’d stolen.

Glistening Ice floated between Frozen Mist and a Greater Wind Rune, opposite to Natural Disaster. And, just from a glance, Noah could tell that the Rune was well made. It wasn’t perfect, but it was strong.

He opened his eyes once more.

Even though Moxie had set up three tents, they all ended up piling into just one. Lee wiggled her legs into the ceiling and hung upside down, Dayton’s scroll splayed out in her hands as she read through it. Noah and Moxie sat beneath her, both lost in their own thoughts.

“Are you going to try to make those changes to Natural Disaster tonight?” Moxie asked.

“I probably should, but–”

“Just do it,” Moxie said. “One thing at a time, remember? As long as you’ve got the parts to work with, you might as well get it handled. Don’t try to do everything at once.”

Noah opened his mouth, then closed it with a nod. “Right. Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“I’ll keep watch,” Moxie promised. “If something happens, I’ll let you know. Don’t worry.”

Noah nodded. He pulled his original grimoire into his lap and flipped through it, stopping on a basic Ice Rune before he let himself sink back into his mindspace, welcoming the darkness as it swallowed everything. Runes blinked up all around him, and pressure from both Sunder and the Fragment of Renewal bore down on him.

He pushed everything to the side, bringing Frozen Mist closer to himself. The first step would be to take the Rank 2 Rune apart and see what it was made of. Then he’d borrow Dayton’s grimoire from Lee and deal with figuring out how to make the perfect Rank 2 Rune from all the components he had.

Let’s get to it, then. By tomorrow morning, as long as all goes to plan, my Rank 3 Rune will finally be perfected.