"Do you…" For the first time, the mysterious robed being seemed to be at a loss for words. "Require assistance before we proceed?"
"No, I'm okay." Jade said, trying, and failing to hold back a tight smile. "I'm ready when you are."
Silently, she was urging him to get on with it. Her spell didn't last very long, although she could feed it additional mana to extend its duration to an extent. That was inefficient, though, and her reserves had limits.
"Um, Jade?" Now it was Luis's turn to question her sanity. The large man knelt beside her, speaking quietly. "I sure hope you know what you're doing."
Before she could reply Naomi leaned into whisper something into his ear. Jade couldn't hear what she said, but there was a glimmer of understanding in her eyes. Had she caught on?
"Ahem. Very well." The Gatekeeper cleared his throat. "You will have five minutes to provide your answer. You may discuss as you like with your companions, but you must be the one to speak the reply."
"I understand." Jade shifted impatiently in her bindings. She had tested the spell on herself before, but not recently. She'd forgotten how uncomfortable it was. The shadowy chains were icy cold, and they dug into the skin her 'armor' left exposed.
The robed figure nodded once, and then delivered the first riddle in a careful, deliberate voice. After returning to Earth, and the re-entering the Labyrinth, Jade was able to tell when the Labyrinth was translating for her and when someone really was speaking English. The difference was subtle, so minor that she had to focus to pick up on the effect, but she could tell the Gatekeeper had switched to her native tongue.
"It is alone, with no substance or form. Immortal, it persists, never wrong. A source of both strength and weakness. Twistable, malleable, painful may it be yet, at its core, it never wavers."
Jade and her companions listened closely. From the looks on their faces, her friends were already doing their best to reason through the riddle. Jade, on the other hand, was just impatiently waiting for him to finish.
"Great." She said, sitting up as best she could in the center of her glowing rune trap. "Now-"
Just as she began reaching for her magic, Jade suddenly discovered a minor problem with her brilliant plan. She intended to use 'Allure' to charm this creature into simply telling her what the answers were, sidestepping the challenge entirely. However, such a creature undoubtedly had strong mental defenses. Just the other night, 'Allure' had finally risen to 'C' rank during one of Jade and Naomi's routine charm resistance training sessions. Being in her succubus form boosted it to 'B' rank, but even though the gatekeeper's level put him in 'C' rank himself, she wasn't willing to risk some hidden resistances she was unaware of defeating her boosted spell.
That left her other ability, 'bondage queen'. Several weeks ago, when she'd been taken captive by the goblins on the first floor, she'd used her restraints to her advantage, elevating the power of her spell all the way from 'D' rank to 'B' rank. Jade's intention had been to do the same here, increasing the level of her spell from its new baseline of 'C' rank all the way to a mighty 'A' rank effect.
That left the problem she only discovered upon actually trying to cast the spell. The difference in power between 'C' and 'B' was much smaller than the difference between 'B' and 'A'. The strictness of restraints needed to cross the former gap were inadequate for conquering the latter.
Shit… Jade thought, twisting in her bindings. The chains clinked, snapping taut. She could feel the power in her mind. All of her lower-level spells and talents were bursting with potential, all ready to be used at a higher tier. All except Allure, which stubbornly teetered on the threshold between 'B' and 'A. It was almost there, but her current situation just wasn't restrictive enough.
Her mind raced through options. Should she try and use the spell anyway? At 'B' rank there was a good chance the spell would still take hold. Something in her gut warned her that this challenge wouldn't be so easily subverted. The Labyrinth seemed to be big on 'fairness', and Jade's plan was just plain cheating.
That left…
"Naomi!" Jade hissed, aware that time was slipping away. She was already having to divert additional mana to keep her spell intact. "I need your help!"
"What?" she asked in a worried tone, crouching beside her. Naomi continued in a whisper. "Aren't you going to do your thing?"
"Needs to be tighter!" Jade whispered back. "It's not enough."
Her friend blinked once, then gave her an incredulous look.
"…Are you serious?"
"Would I be joking at a time like this?"
Naomi didn't reply. Instead, she turned to Fenrin.
"Give me all your rope."
"Huh?" Both he and Tara looked at Naomi as if she'd lost her mind, although Luis and Siora seemed to understand.
"Just do it!"
Before long, Naomi was binding lengths of rope around Jade's body. With each addition, Jade felt her spell inch closer towards the threshold. She did her best to ignore the concerned looks from her party members, instead willing her ability to just freaking do its job.
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This is ridiculous…
Jade didn't know what more her ability wanted from her. She was already rooted to the ground, rendered immobile by her own spell and Naomi's handiwork. With a growl she leaned forward, straining against the bindings, feeling them pull against her. That sensation, the tactile reinforcement of her situation, finally did the trick. Jade felt the potential of her spell cross into 'A' rank in a rush of energy that ran down her spine like a lightning bolt. Power blossomed in her core, so intense that she nearly lost focus on maintaining her extended binding spell.
"Finally." She growled, lifting her head. Glimmering light shone in her emerald eyes, reservoirs of barely contained power. The Gatekeeper was still staring at her in bewilderment, and she locked gazes with him.
"Tell me what the answer to your riddle is." Jade commanded in a cool, even tone. She tried to adopt a posture of superiority, but that proved impossible in her current predicament. The raw power of the spell would have to be enough.
-
Allure
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Rating: A Level Spell
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Cost: Medium Mana
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Cooldown: 4 Minutes
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Effect: Attempt to charm one or more nearby creatures that can see and hear you and are all within 10 feet of each other, or one creature you touch. If you are successful, the creatures will be predisposed to obey your commands, verbal or telepathic, for the next (intelligence score) hours, divided by two. Commands that go against their core nature, such as to harm themselves or their allies, have a moderate chance of breaking the effect early. If you cast this spell again all previous charm effects from other uses of 'Allure' are broken. Having multiple targets charmed simultaneously dilutes the strength of the charm, making it easier for creatures to resist your will. This spell is more likely to succeed if the targets find you attractive.
-
The hooded figure stiffened as Jade's words rolled over him, sinking into his mind. At the same time a massive wave of fatigue washed over Jade, making her head spin and her vision waver. The mana indicator in the corner of her vision, already slightly depleted from maintaining her spell, plummeted, coming to rest at around the 5% mark. It was the most mana Jade had ever used at once, and the strain nearly caused her to pass out. Only the chains of her spell kept her upright as she swayed, but never once did she take her eyes off her target.
"I… This isn't…"
The spell had taken hold, Jade could feel it. But the creature's mental defenses were even tougher than she'd anticipated, and he was fighting the charm effect with everything he had.
"Tell me." Jade didn't raise her voice. The chains around her faded as she cut the mana feed, although Naomi's additions remained wrapped around her arms and legs in various places. "Now."
Neither shouting nor cajoling were the way to make this spell work. She'd learned that from Malice. You couldn't force an air of authority. You had to believe it. Several long moments passed without anyone speaking, or even moving. Finally, he spoke.
"Truth." He rasped, his glowing eyes pulsing as he replied. "The answer is truth."
Jade took a moment to recall the riddle and then nodded.
"Great. Then that's my answer to your riddle. Truth."
"Very well. You… have passed the first test." He twitched once. Then, finally, the magic fully took hold. The robed figure visibly relaxed, shoulder dropping, and the light in his eyes dimmed noticeable. "Are you ready for the second?"
"Yes." Jade gave her companions a tired smile. "I am."
"I'm just saying, I could've gotten those." Luis asserted, helping Naomi and Tara remove the last of Jade's bindings. "The riddles weren't that hard!"
"Are you kidding?" Fenrin asked, still keeping a wary eye on the spot the gatekeeper had been standing in a few moments before. He had disappeared almost immediately after Jade answered the third riddle, only lingering long enough to bestow her gift. Jade had felt the new power enter her body, although she hadn't checked her interface yet to see what it was. "Who would have ever guessed 'the strong nuclear force'? I don't even know what that is."
The half-elf shook his head, bewildered.
"That?" Tara asked, helping Jade to her feet. "It's one of the five fundamental forces. I learned about them in my magical theory classes."
"Yeah." Luis nodded. "They teach that stuff in school back home too. We-." He paused, giving the tek'kalla a confused look. "Wait, five?"
Personally, Jade thought that 'pineapple' was the answer she wouldn't have gotten, but that was the whole point of stacking the deck. She tuned out their conversation, too worn out to parse Tara's surprisingly enthusiastic explanations of quantom-electromagical interactions. Or whatever it was she talking about.
"That was reckless." Naomi said quietly, her expression disapproving. "You should've told us your plan first."
"I wanted to. But I couldn't give him time to do something about it."
"There's always a reason." Naomi crossed her arms, glowering at her.
"Hey, it worked." Jade said, surprised at her friend's reaction. Hadn't this solved their problem? She'd even come out of it with an upgrade.
"It did. And I'm glad." Naomi said in a tone that didn't at all sound happy. "But Jade, you can't count on us to help you if we don't know what's going on. You're lucky I caught on so fast."
"I…"
Naomi was right. It had been reckless. Going for all three of the tests hadn't been necessary. The stairway portal was open now, filled with swirling, sparkling mist. She could've achieved that with just one riddle.
"I'm sorry." Jade muttered, looking away. "I got carried away."
Damn it, she was supposed to be changing! Trusting her friends. Not running off on her own. And she had been, little by little.
It's easy to say, harder to do.
And she'd have to do better.
"It's okay." Naomi sighed, giving her a wan smile. "It worked out this time. But…" Her expression grew more serious. "If we end up in a fight against those demons… You can't run off like you did last time. Not without telling us."
"I won't." Jade promised.
She shifted to her human form, feeling the odd but familiar sensation of her wings retracting into her back. With the wisdom penalty gone, her mana began accumulating noticeably faster. Using an 'A' rank spell had drained so much of it that it was going to be a while before she was back to full strength. Jade rubbed the back of her head, trying to banish the lingering headache that often accompanied mana depletion.
"Ready to go?" Fenrin asked, gesturing to the stairway.
"This was not how I thought we'd be getting to the third floor." Tara said, cutting off her explanation of cosmic law to Luis and turning back to the group. "You have some strange powers."
Jade blushed. She was growing less sensitive to the embarassing nature of her abilities, but that tolerance hadn't yet reached 'immunity' levels. She wasn't sure that she wanted it to, either.
"That just means no one will expect them." Luis chimed in. He pointed to the shifting, ethereal portal. "Let's get goin'. We have demons to catch."
"Investigate." Naomi corrected. "We're not getting into a fight unless there's no other choice."
"That's right." Jade nodded in agreement. "We need to see what we're dealing with before making any rash decisions."
A couple of notifications blinked in the corner of her vision, but she'd have to check them on the go. They'd already lost time here. Hopefully, the boon she’d received would be worth it. But what about Aylin? Not for the first time, Jade wished they'd spent more time considering getting word to her. Naomi was right, she was making too many decisions too quickly. That was something she'd have to fix before it was too late.
Without another word, the six of them filed through the portal. Jade was the last one through. She paused in front of it for just a moment, setting her shoulders. As much as she'd like to think they could resolve this next step safely, Jade was too familiar with how this new world worked to truly pin her hopes on a peaceful resolution.
One way or another, the real fight was about to start.
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