Blizzard, part 4/6: Spike
The blizzard swallowed the world around them, reducing visibility to a mere few feet as Tia and the small group behind her marched forward.
With each step, the snow seemed to grow deeper, the cold more biting, and the wind's roaring louder. Yet the flames spiraling around them, guided by Tia's telekinesis and the solidified telekinetic barrier, created a small bubble of warmth around them.
She saw their tiredness as they dragged forward with pale faces and trembling legs. Yet, the oppressive feeling of being watched didn't relent as it clung to Tia like a shadow.
'Should I attack it first with my particle-ray weapons?'
The uncertainty of its presence and her inability to see and understand its nature left her feeling exposed and reluctant to attack first. Yet she felt like running away wasn't an option, only a way to waste energy.
"Stop!" Tia yelled over the wind and raised her hand to signal the group behind her.
'We should be far enough from the previous site; tracking blindly even further into the blizzard would be foolish.'
"Why are..."
"Shut up and do not question me if you want to live." The situation was already bad, and she was in no mood to deal with the youth. Suddenly, Tia tensed as she felt the cold presence getting closer, stalking in their steps.
Suddenly, the howl of the blizzard was pierced by a lethal whistle that cut through the tumult. A spike of ice, gleaming in the few rays of light passing through the clouds, whistled menacingly through the blinding white of the snow veil.
The invisible tendrils of Tia's kinetic force reacted and resonated as it quickly approached while she calculated its speed, force, and trajectory.
With no time to spare, Tia's instincts ignited into action, and turbulent kinetic energy surged through her body and her glove, flowing through her defensive ring and getting infused with its enchantments. With cracking sounds, the kinetic barrier shifted and rearranged, visible only by the rippling distortion it cast upon the world.
'Not enough.'
Even more, energy surged into the barrier, thickening it with a surge of focused intent.
The brief gleam of ice smashed into the shield only a few steps from the boy's face with the ferocity of an explosive charge.
A deafening crack shattered the air as the impact sent shockwaves radiating outward, blasting snow upwards in a violent, churning vortex. The ground trembled, snowflakes leaping from the earth, driven by the sheer force of the collision.
The barrier flickered under the brutal onslaught as the concept of deflection imbued it and Tia's sheer willpower pushed against the projectile, deflecting it into the whiteness of the blizzard.
The boy, mere moments away from death's embrace, crumbled, his body giving way under the weight of his fear, the shockwave resonating through his bones.
"Kira!" Terrified yells reverberated through the silence of the aftermath as the girls ran toward the collapsed boy, leaving Tia standing alone amidst the howling winds.
'Truly pathetic...'
She didn't drop her guard, her vigilance growing even further as her detection web expanded to the very edge of her reach.
'Truly worthy of being called a demon, creeping in the distance and just waiting for a moment of weakness to strike.' Tia's eyes flashed in red and blue lights, her hunger for retaliation growing with each passing moment.
The storage ring flashed, and a single particle canon of the imperial commandos manifested in the air, humming quietly and pulsing in a purple glow that reflected in its shiny black surface.
'Particle-beam-based weapons are the better choice for such a long distance than plasma rifles.'
Tia grasped the giant rifle in her gloved hand, using her telekinesis to support her hand. The two metals clanged against each other. The weapon was large and built to be used together with powered exoskeletons, but after her evolution, Tia's physical strength and sturdiness reached a new level.
The barrier dissipated as she redirected her focus and energy into her glove, multiple glowing runes forming in the air before the gun. Even though the weapon wasn't mana-conductive, her power grew enough to push through the resistance with pure willpower and magic might.
At last, the last of the seven runes formed.
(Empower -> Enchant) -> (Empower -> (Empower -> Heat), Speed, Strength)
But Tia's didn't stop as she focused on her offensive ring, projecting out the runic enchantment imbued within it.
(Infuse -> Sharp, Pierce, Solidify)
The two sets of runes overlapped and merged, and her senses locked onto the magic radiation far in the distance, a grin forming on her face as she craved to see the new peak of her firepower and the growth it represented.
Ding!
//
You have learned the new skill [Novice Mana Sense (1%)] with your own efforts!
Reward: 2 WP; +2 to MAG; +1 to INT
//
Ding!
//
[Novice Mana Sense (1%)]
Description: The ability to sense magic radiation and to gauge its intensity and source. Slightly improves the control over mana.
//
The runes and TIa's resolve flickered as she realized it only now—the demon's magic presence was so palpable she felt it and awakened the new skill.
'No, there is no backing out. It is official now that it has hostile intentions.' She wasn't someone who would just sit and defend herself, so she suppressed her uneasiness.
Tia pulled the trigger.