ALEXiThymiA: Chapter 61: The Escape

Chapter 61

The Escape

Energy crackled and flowed about in luminous waves. Well waves that were visible to Alexa’s class provided sight. Even charging forward caused the unstable energies of the dungeons to come billowing forward in cascading waves of brilliant light and aura. Waves that her body hungrily drank up.

Absorber Class Material Found: Would you like to absorb essence of Integration?

The message seemed to have come out of nowhere and was so unexpected that Alexa nearly lost her stride. Fortunately for her she had not entered combat, otherwise she could have likely gotten injured. Still, she was presented with a gift. Who was she to turn down the generosity of the universe?

“Yes.” She muttered as her body regained its form.

Whoom.

As she spoke, she felt a tingling surge of energy fill her.

Warning: Unstable energy detected. Would you still like to continue Absorbing?

A warning, one that was almost caused her to pause. Almost.

Fortunately, Alexa was already at a pack of guards who were sneaking up to ambush Bullford from behind.

“No.” Alexa whispered, at the same time she cast a support spell.

Arcane Wind Blade.

Of course, Alexa’s version of support was a bit extreme, but one she would gladly hold herself to as she moved to protect Bullford’s blindside.

“AHH!”

Six sets of unnatural voices cried out in pain. Alexa for her part was over top of the first dying wolf in seconds.

Wham!

Alexa delivered a powerful hammer fist to the face, while simultaneously casting Healover the lower extremity of the body.

Then even with the warrior dazed for the moment and paralyzed Alexa continued to give strike after strike. Simultaneously using and filling up her reserves of energy in equal measures.

She was drawing in energy from the wolf below her, energy from whatever was causing the momentary tear in reality, and losing energy by healing. All the while Alexa felt like she was a goddess sent to rain destruction on the battlefield, a Valkyrie sent to take only the worthy from this battle.

Unfortunately for the warriors on the ground, none were seen to be worthy. Which was why she healed them. Not regrowing the legs, that could be done later. For the moment the quickest and most expedient course of action was to heal the stumps, disinfect the wounds, and move on.

That is what she did, with brutal efficiency she struck downed foes. Foes that were littler more that crying crawling insects.

“Stop. Don’t hurt me, please.” A man who had reverted back their vocal cords to talk pleaded.

You attack children, you overwhelm and destroy, and you ask for mercy. That was what the now rage filled Alexa thought of saying. An Alexa who was well and truly pissed at what had happened, what was happening. These monsters came here to her home, her place of refuge and chose to make it a war zone. Worse, she knew this stink. This rotting version of the wolf, she had felt it before. As she absorbed she knew, the tainted source of the energy. The one who caused this.

So rather than speak with words, she spoke through Metalinguistics. In this case the gestures she used to show her dissatisfaction with the choices made by these wolves were conveyed with her fists.

Wham!

Poof.

The wolf’s head bounced off the hardpacked ground, as Alexa delivered blow after blow.

A vengeful blood lust filled her. One that caused her to momentarily lose control of herself.

After all what did a goddess of power like her have to worry about here. These were weak pathetic warriors.

BOOM!

A Mack truck hit her. At least, that was what she thought had hit her. Her ribs were cracked, and her Regeneration instantly went to begin healing bones that were broken from a cheap shot from behind.

Alexa turned to see the bastard that had hit her. The one who had ruined her fun.

As she turned, she saw the war formed figure of the alpha. The monster was easily ten feet tall and loomed over Alexa who was quickly rising to her feet. At least he was ten feet tall at first, until he underwent a second shift. This one was black and malevolent in its intensity, looking at it, Alexa could see the darker powers of Necromancy being used to fuel this final transformation. Within seconds the werewolf alpha had gone from being just a werewolf to a Dire-werewolf.

Of course, Alexa herself was not useless during this time. She too used these valuable seconds to heal the wounds in her side and to absorb any traces of the monstrous wolf before her from her system.

By the time the fifteen foot tall monster was done changing, Alexa was ready. The beast locked gazes with Alexa, his glowing yellow eyes speaking of danger and pain.

Seeing the glowing eyes, Alexa too felt her own body react.

A malicious smile filled Alexa’s lips as the thrill of battle filled her.

She was ready. She spent every moment of her day fighting and preparing herself for this moment, and moments like these. She was ready, or so she thought.

Wham!

Pain.

Pain filled Alexa’s mind as searing lances of flame felt like they tore across her body. The world spun about, a kaleidoscopic view of swirling lights and colors filled her vision, until finally her body stopped rolling.

Within a second Alexa was up on her feet.

Healing.

Alexa again began knitting her bones and skin back together with the waves of chaotic energy that were still filling her. Waves of energy that were still influencing her. In the back of her mind, she now understood the warning that was being presented. If she had been a little bit clearer in thought she would have chosen a different approach to this battle. She would have avoided fighting this monster in a head on duel. But instead, she felt like she was near to bursting with wild and chaotic energy. Energy that she could feel rippling under her skin.

“Kneel!” The monster demanded.

Alexa got up and tried to speak but found that blood covered her own airways. Instead, all she could do was smile as blood that was being healed rapidly forced its way out her mouth.

Blur!

Arcane Burst.

Not wanting to hit anyone who was watching, Alexa fired a shorter ranged attack spell. One that was meant to hit targets within a wide area. Unfortunately, despite her wide range, she somehow still managed to miss.

Crunch!

Alexa felt her body being crushed by powerful hands. Hands that felt like they were two cranes working in tandem to crush and rip her body apart.

Arcane Fungal Growth.

Strapped for what to do, Alexa imagined the most severe fungal infection rotting the monster from the crotch outward. Years of being forced to sit through sex ed culminated in this one image of pain for the monster. An image of pain that was suddenly brought to light by Alexa’s intense memory and focus.

Snarl.

The monster hissed as it hurled Alexa away.

Hitting the ground hard, Alexa let out a breath of relief. That had been tough, far tougher than she had initially imagined. She had a long way to go. She was no match for this monster, but she couldn’t let this monster run free.

Then an idea came to her.

Panting.

Alexa found it hard to breath.

Healing.

More wave of healing magic worked their way through her body, but magic wasn’t instantaneous. Her body was still dealing with the damage caused by her first bout with the monster. Damage that she could still feel causing her internal organs to bleed.

Still she rose to her feet, as a final idea of how to win this fight came to mind.

She looked to see that the direwolf alpha was engaged with battling the vastly outnumbered TSI agents.

That was when Alexa channeled the chaotic energy that was flooding her body even now. Energy that was almost too much for her to handle. Energy that she had to get rid of, lest she burst.

Focusing her mind, Alexa found that deep center of her mind and began channeling energy into her divine word.

Within seconds, the shape of the powerful rune began forming in front of her. Blinding light shone from the rune, filling the area with a beacon that all but screamed she was up to something.

Fortunately, there was so much energy that the process was smooth, and nearly instantaneous. At least it felt almost instantaneous to Alexa, compared to the long slow cadence that she was used to. The cadence that caused her to use all her personal reserves of energy and then pull from her life well.

With the chaotic power surging through her, she felt that this energy was almost perfect for creating this divine rune.

Tingling.

A tingling sensation began to cause her body to buzz as the rune was fully charged. Still, Alexa knew there was more energy that could be pumped into the rune. Energy that Alexa felt she had in abundance from her fight with the werewolves and from draining the ambient energy that now flowed from the dungeon.

Vibrating.

The rune began bouncing and shivering with all the extra power that Alexa now found herself cramming into the shape. Energy that she began forcing upon the rune. She had won.

At this point, there was so much energy that even if she passed out from the pain she was in, the rune would activate on its own.

Everyone paused, the tide of battle stopped for a moment. The direwolf fought off and seemed to be standing toe to toe with the TSI team, while his lackies lay about the ground in various states of pain and consciousness. Finally, by this point Alexa’s internal organs and lungs had enough time to heal, allowing her to say one word as she still crammed even more energy into the rune.

“Gotcha.”

Crackle.

The energy within the rune was at its apex. There was too much fuel going into the rune to control it anymore. Once it was here, at this point, Alexa let her impossible grip over the rune drop, as a wave of relief hit her. Right now the rune would go off, regardless of what happened to her.

“GNOO!” The Direwolf alpha howled out in anger, as a satisfied grin filled Alexa’s face as she gave the run the final bit of direction it needed to be truly destructive.

“Hope.” Alexa managed.

Before the burst of energy was just an unfocused burst that would try to consume all in its wake. With the word as a focus, the burst changed from being a unified wave of death, to a focused wave of eradication, one that was selective in its devastation. A wave of devastation that only focused on destroying bonds of tethering that bound humans to the monsters of the dungeon worlds.

Alexa watched as the blinding burst of energy went out and burned everything it encountered. Moving at the speed of light, Alexa’s attack managed to strike everyone instantly. At least, as close to instantly as Alexa’s senses could manage to track.

Of course, this successful attack didn’t stop the natural movement of the world. Objects in motion continued to remain in motion, even when hit with an internal cleansing force.

Oof!

Alexa felt the force of a missed swipe, that ended up being little more than an open palm strike due to the way Alexa shifted her body weight forward at the last second. This was enough of a shift to allow her body to strike to open palm of the alpha, versus having her body get impaled on the massive spikes the creature called talons.

Swirl, flicker, flash.

The world was once again a cascade of colors and lights as Alexa found her body being hurled forward through the air. Before she even realized, she was less than a body length away from the entrance to the dungeon.

A dungeon where this direwolf alpha was no doubt trying to go to. A dungeon where monsters of all types waited to enter her world.

Before her, Alexa could once again see the message that only her Eyes of the Architect could allow her to see. The one that spoke of a veritable army of monsters waiting to enter their world.

Elite Soldiers Coming Based on Factions:

Elves: 289 / 289

Orcs: 523 / 523

Dragons: 1 / 1

*Maximum Level for Support Staff: Level 25

Seeing the message once again, Alexa smiled hungrily to herself. Her body that was already nearing full capacity on the amount of energy it could absorb was still healing. Her Regeneration was in overdrive as she fought to get to her feet.

Stumble, shuffle.

On wobbly legs she forced her way forward. Her body moving before her rational mind could stop and take stock of the situation. Within seconds, her body hit the boundary for the dungeon.

In her peripheral vision Alexa could see that everyone still covered their eyes from the burst of light and energy that had erupted before her. If she was ever going to get a moment to stop this invasion, now was her chance.

With her mind made up, she stumbled forward and was hit with a not unexpected wall of text. The only problem was that this wall of text had been changed.

You are now entering a Tier II RED dungeon.

This is a Limited Time Dungeon; the difficulty level of this dungeon cannot be avoided.

Special Conditions: You can opt to Stay at your current difficulty, or opponent type if you feel you could gain a better outcome for your faction. This is performed by saying the word Stay at the end of this floor. Note: Staying can only be invoked a total of ten times during a single dungeon run. To get more since this is a Limited Time Dungeon you will not be able to leave to reset your current progress. You will not be able to choose from your best runs, as only your last run will remain as to how you leave your world.

Note: Since this is a Limited Time Dungeon, you will not be allowed to leave. Your options are either succeed and live or die.

Quest Received: Stop the Invasion. Three opposing forces have sought to lay claim to your planet. Defend your planet by joining up with one or fewer factions of monsters to prevent enemy forces from gaining a foothold on your planet.

Scanning for prior allegiance.

Faction Standing with forces assembled:

Elves: Hatred

Orcs: Hatred

Dragons: Hatred

Warning: You do not meet the minimum faction rating required to join any faction. You can speak the intended race you wish to join to help defend your planet.

You must choose a race to assist.

Seeing the command prompt before her, a feral gleam filled her eyes. Alexa waited, reading the texts over and over. During this time she was not idle, as she let the healing waves of energy fill her body, fixing her broken bones and more importantly purging her body of any traces of Lykanthropy. Then, once she was ready, she smiled brightly as the intense waves of chaos energy still filled her body.

Realizing she had to make a choice, she chose the only race worth saving. At least the only race she thought worth saving.

“Human.”

A pause.

“Candidate has chosen Human. Searching. Humans not found. Are you sure you wish to proceed?”

“Yes.”

“Calculating. Candidate is assessed to be human. As such choice is valid given current parameters. Once candidate enters dungeon faction human will be available. As such condition to enter met. Increasing possible reward parameters based on perceived difficulty rating. Good luck candidate.”

With that as her only cue, the world around Alexa blurred with waves of energy for a moment. Instantly Alexa felt her stomach lurch forward, as she momentarily fought to keep her food down. In her mind, she knew something had happened. There was something odd about the magic, something she had never seen before, but also felt she vaguely recognized.

Before she had the chance to delve too deeply into why the energy felt so familiar, her enhanced senses showed her a scene of devastation before her.

There was an open field where three opposing forces seemed to be squaring off against each other.

There was a small contingency of elves on the left. A larger force of orcs on the right, then off in the distance was one dragon who sat perched on an all too familiar column of rocks. Then as if held in place by a spell, one that was only broken by Alexa’s gaze the three armies began to move.

At first there was a pause, as all the forces seemed to come alive at once. Alexa could almost see the moment recognition flooded their senses as everyone began peering about the open battlefield.

Alexa somehow knew that if she had chosen on of the three factions that she would be there right now, right by the sides of her chosen allies. Of course, for Alexa this would almost certainly mean she would die instantly as she could almost expect a strike to her backside given her current animosity rating with the three assembled factions.

Still, Alexa couldn’t help but feel the rush of chaotic energy still flooding into her.

Almost as one, the three forces first noticed each other, then a quick scan around let them all realize Alexa was right there.

The moment all three forces saw Alexa, an almost unspoken agreement was registered. The orcs nodded with the elves, as the dragon nodded to both armies and began to take to the skies.

Whoom, whom.

Giant wings began flapping, causing waves of win to push back orcs and elves who had surprisingly turned their backs on the great beast.

Within seconds Alexa realized that all three forces had come to a consensus of sorts. That consensus was, that for the moment at least, they would set aside their old grudges and hatreds, in order to deal with the single interloper.

As one they all began to turn and swarm their way towards Alexa.

Still feeling the rush of chaotic energy flooding through her body, awakening her mind and letting her experience the thrill and anticipation of battle. Alexa was ready. With a defiant roar she shouted out her one and only word of warning to the assembled armies.

A war cry that would only be shouted by the crazed or overly ambitious, but for a battle junkie like Alexa, it was all that could be expected.

“BRING IT!” She bellowed loudly, as the thrill and rush of being alive filled her. She knew she could die, in a way she almost welcomed that feeling. Better to die while feeling alive, than to live but be dead inside. Alexa found herself thinking for only a moment. Then she began to call forth waves of magic.

She summoned forth waves of magic, ones that would have far lasting impacts not just on the current battle, but on her world itself.