Essentia Animus

61-Blazing Fields

Moments later, the four girls returned to the camp to prepare for the confrontation with the beasts, having surprised a bunch of the hunters by teleporting in. Things appeared to be otherwise fine at the camp for now, but it wouldn't remain that way for much longer.

"Ayzherie, get everyone organized and packed up, we need everything in the air as soon as possible. You can't afford to hold too much of a defense, maybe against the beasts, but not against the flame." "Exactly how do you plan on dealing with that many flames anyway? Didn't it take too much to deal with just one?" "We also had a year to adjust, and these flames seem to be little more than embers in comparison.. but augmenting beasts... This is why we need to ensure we don't have to worry about holding a defense. Get everything into the air." Riyxia set the stone fragment she had recovered on a nearby table while rushing to ensure Ayzherie would be ready, helping her to organize the other hunters in the process. They had obtained the fragment, something they could research further once they had brought it safely back with them, but for now there were many additional concerns she wanted to have returned safely. Vwyx recovered some of her own samples of her work from the same table, stored safely away in a couple of small boxes. It was time to make use of her own research. Sryine was at that moment a distant away, looking ahead at their approaching threats.

This left the fragment abandoned on the table, and as Vwyx put sufficient distance between her and it, the fragment began to glow a brighter purple. In moments, the table was burned to ash powder, with fortune that there was nothing else of importance on the table, the flame rendering the sand below to a jetblack glass. Sryine screamed at that moment, but Vwyx responded to circumstances, having the sand carefully set her boxes down as she turned towards the blazing fragment. Even as she approached it, she felt the flames fade, the entire fragment going quiet once again by the time Vwyx was close to it. She had a moment of fear that no organic person should ever touch a thing this dangerous, yet her actions were without hesitation. She picked up the stone with her own hand, the fragment calm once again in the comfort of another flame. No, it wasn't calm, her own flame was blazing.. it was enriched by this presence and offering. The fragment had not gone quiet, she was simply devouring the blaze it was trying to project. Knowing that they needed a way to deal with the fragment for now safely, she rapidly formed a jetblack crystalline shell over the fragment and set it into a solid stone shield she set over her right arm. Riyxia tried to step in at this point, to accept her own responsibility, but Vwyx's stern uncompromising look made it clear that Vwyx wasn't interested in discussing that particular matter.

"I think this is a good opportunity to present some of the supplies I've been working on. Ammunition, but nothing ordinary. Sryine, see what you think of these arrows. Yes, they don't look anything like your normal ones, they should even be slightly heavier too, which is why I'll need to provide you with a better bow for them. It's a metallic mineral arrow with a crystalline arrowhead.. specifically onyx. If it looks like the same black crystals we keep using in instruments to improve the gift, that's no coincidence. These arrows are designed to work with your gift, submerse themselves in it, and deliver a strike that makes optimum use of it. The arrowheads won't endure the augmented gift for very long, but it will be long enough to make the shot count. Having the crystal shatter is only going to make things hurt more. I suspect you could then submerse it in.. say.. lightning.. and then you could freely manipulate the arrow along with its lightning. Attuned like that, you could even unleash quite a storm around the arrow too.. I'm sure you'll find good ways to use them. I've also made myself some similar grenades, with the same onyx crystal at its core. I won't be able to play tricks with them after throwing one.. not in the same way at least.. but I can easily configure what each one does in a moment before throwing it. Projecting gravitational force waves seems to be the easiest application, which can also be rather effective, but I've been having some small success with mist grenades too." Vwyx opened the first two boxes in turn, explaining the contents in the process, and all while crafting a very high tension bow from nothing but sand. Having completed it just at that moment, she passed both the bow and the arrows over to Sryine, who started trying them out. Without her augmentation, the bow was almost impossibly heavy, as was the massive quiver of arrows.. containing several hundred within. Even trying the string, it was clear this would be impossible to move at all with a person's regular strength, the tensile force was insane. She smiled at that moment, realizing how much fun this gift was going to be. Riyxia however had grown quiet and distant, Vwyx having taken her completely off guard in this turn of events.