Hei told me the name of his third ability.
"Schwarzschild Trident," I repeated. Information about it entered my mind. That was a trick we learned from the Institute; you could mentally examine the abilities of any teammate.
| SCHWARZSCHILD TRIDENT | |
| RANGE: | 120 meters |
| COST: | 150 Mana |
| COOLDOWN: | 50 seconds |
| You throw an immaterial trident. Upon hitting an enemy player, it deals 20 damage and applies the Seal of Schwarzschild debuff. Seal of Schwarzschild: 10 second duration. Gravity distorts around the target, slowing them by 30%, reducing their damage against you by 30%, and increasing your damage against them by 30%. If the target drops to 0 HP, the ability's cooldown is reset. |
"That…that's it?" I said. "Hei. This doesn't change the situation. It's just a minor buff. And, and the enemies will be level three as well."
"With this, I'm practically invincible in a one-on-one."
"No you're not!" I held him by the shoulders. "It's just 30%! And what if you miss the trident? What if three of them catch you at once? Use your common sense!"
"Sophia!" Hei shouted. "I'm not going to get caught. I'm not going to miss. And even if I do, you'll be there to bail me out, won't you?"
I huffed and turned away. "Don't try this mushy crap with me.”
I thought I knew him well enough, after so many years together. He had always been reasonable, and even when we had disagreed, I could understand his line of thinking. But not now. His words, his overconfidence, made no sense to me. And I hated it.
"Whatever, let's go," I said, knowing we could scarcely do much else. "Just don't push your luck."
We headed down bottom-lane together again. We had walked with each other so often recently. Every morning, we'd go to work together. We'd walk through the tree-canopied path that led to the Institute, and one the way we'd chat about combat tactics and our lives back on earth. And in the evenings, we'd return to our house, tired but content, lost in our own little world as our surroundings blended and dissolved into the crimson glow of twilight. If we were to die now, let us at least die together.
Sure enough, when we neared our inner bottom tower, the Ranger and Mace-bot were already there with a wave of red golems. The tower slowly killed off the golems one by one, but it had also been chipped and fractured. The sharp-eyed Ranger trained its crossbow on us, but we knew its bolts hadn’t the range to reach us. We set our sight on the enemy golems at our tower, and our attacks made quick work of them.
The golems died. I leveled up. My third spell was revealed to me.
| COLD GRENADE | |
| RANGE: | 90 meters |
| COST: | 90 Mana |
| COOLDOWN: | 15 seconds |
| You form a bead of cold energy and launch it at a target location. You can then give a command for the bead to burst. After a 0.4 second delay, the bead bursts in a 10-meter radius, freezing all targets for 2 seconds and dealing 60 (+80% Arcana Point) magic damage. The bead lasts until you create a new one. |
I clasped my palms together. Cold air swirled between them, condensed, and distilled into a cloudy sphere the size of a marble. It shone from the inside with a sharp, blue radiance. I parted my hands and launched the bead into a pouch on my belt, pocketing it. Three of the four enemies we encountered had been melee. It made sense to keep the Cold Grenade on my person, as a defensive option should they jump on me again.
Instead of attacking us, the robots backed off into the nearby woods. Hei ventured forward, to the edge of our tower's range, and returned after scouting.
"They just started channeling Rings of Recall," he said to me in a low voice. "Two seconds out of sync. We ambush in 18, 17, 16…"
Hei counted down. When he reached the single digits, he conjured into his grasp a trident, one longer than he was tall. A white glow outlined its silhouette, but the weapon itself existed as pure blackness, without discernible depth or volume.
"...Two, one."
Hei sprinted forward, and so did I. As I approached the woods, I caught a glimpse of both robots with their palms against the ground, surrounded by circles of orbiting runes. But in the blink of an eye, the Ranger finished channeling its recall and vanished, leaving the Mace-bot alone.
Hei hurled his trident. It struck the Mace-bot in the torso, and all three spiked tips sank in deep. Space vibrated and twisted around the entry wound, and the colors there grew darker and warmer, until the chest of the robot turned a deep, dim red.
…Gravitational redshift?
The Mace-bot collapsed to the ground, seemingly crushed by its own weight. Its joints creaked as it struggled back on its feet. It began running away into the deeper forest, and deployed wheels. Before it could speed up, Hei Voidstepped in front of its path, splintering the robot with a burst of purple energy. He then plunged his spear into the robot's chest. The sky darkened. The earth trembled. Gravity shifted and flung the Mace-bot into a nearby boulder. Hei rushed toward his downed opponent, then followed up with a series of vicious thrusts and cuts, each one accelerating as they neared the robot's body. The steel of his spear flashed like fierce lightning. By the time I closed in with a Frost Missile prepared, he had already ripped the robot to scraps and pieces. The robot's remains dissipated in a puff of mist, leaving behind a broken Death Ward, as well as the Schwarzschild Trident. Hei picked the trident up.
"Bruh," I voiced.
As I stood there, quite awestruck, an announcement came from the sky.
「Green team has destroyed a mid tower.」
Oh, not bad. I wondered if Jack and Saber did that, to take advantage of the enemy mid-laner who had headed down to bottom lane earlier.
"What next?" Hei asked me.
We could try marching our golems to the red bottom-lane tower and destroying that, but the risk seemed too high. Four of them could ambush us again, but this time we wouldn't even have a nearby tower to run to.
"Let's go mid," I said. "Take down the inner mid tower with Jack."
We made our way to Jack under the cover of the jungle. When we arrived, we saw him and the Assassin robot near their golem waves, between the green mid tower and the pile of rubble that used to be the red mid tower. This robot did the exact thing we wanted to avoid: extending too far away from the protection of ally towers. So alone and vulnerable. I gestured for Hei to follow as I circled around, sneaking across the river. I dashed on to the mid-lane to cut off the robot's escape route from behind.
I formed a new Cold Grenade and launched it. The robot barely had time to notice before the icy bead landed at its side. I pressed an imaginary trigger-button with my thumb.
The bead exploded into a sphere of dense, white fog, which dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. The robot, and the nearby red golems, had all become encased in ice.
Hei hurled his trident, and I followed up with a Frost Missile. Jack shot a Vacuum Wave at the immobilized foe, then dashed in with a dagger thrust.
The Assassin-bot exploded into smithereens.
「Green team has slain an enemy.」
"Assassin had no Death Ward?" I asked Jack as we ran up to each other.
"Already killed it once," Jack said. "It went off into the river, then came back later at half health."
Yeah…gee, I wondered where it could've gone.
「Green team has destroyed a top tower.」
Nice job, probably by Saber and Atlas.
"Do you still have your Death Ward?" I asked Jack.
"Yeah."
"Can you go defend bottom-lane? We both lost ours, so we'll group with Saber and Atlas top for safety."
"Sure," Jack said. "Try not to die."
Such a move would leave our mid tower unguarded. But if our enemies diverted their forces to taking it down, they wouldn't be able to hold off our four-man attack on top lane. They'd get our outer tower; we'd get their inner top tower, and likely their top golem-fabricator too. I'd consider that a winning trade for us.
Hei and I crept through the foliage of the jungle to get to top lane. We found Mr. Atlas and Saber already beginning the siege on the inner tower, with a massive crowd of green golems at their aid. A single robot, the Ranger, defended against them. As it saw Hei and I approach, it fell back, relinquishing the tower. We managed to collapse the structure in a minute after that, then we marched on toward the enemy's gate, where their golem-fabricator sat. The Ranger had reconvened with two other robots, the Mace-bot and the Burrower. The three of them rallied before the golem-fabricator, awaiting our approach.
"Everyone's level?" Saber asked. "I'm 4."
Good. From what I had read, you didn't get any new abilities at levels 4 and 5, but still received the usual boost to total HP and Mana. Level 6 was when you'd unlock your fourth and ultimate ability, but I doubt we'd get to that point in this match.
We all shared our new third-level abilities. Saber's was a toggle ability:
| HERO OF THE STORMS | |
| RANGE: | 20 meters |
| COST: | 10 Mana per second |
| COOLDOWN: | 3 seconds between toggles |
| Wind and lightning surrounds you, dealing 20 damage per second to all targets within, and slowing them by 40%. |
…First "Smite," now this? Alright, just watch her ultimate ability be called Durability of the Ancients 2, or some crap like that.
As for Mr. Atlas's third ability…
| SHOTGUN | |
| RANGE: | 20 meters |
| COOLDOWN: | 3 seconds |
| You shoot, dealing 70 damage. |
I noticed he had arm-mounted cannons on both gauntlets now, and not just the one he used for his grappling hook.
Once we familiarized ourselves with what one another could do, we advanced toward the castle gate. There, the three remaining robots – the Ranger, the Mace-bot, and the Burrower – awaited us. I began with a combo of spells - Frost Missile to slow, Cold Grenade to Freeze, and Vortex Shield for additional damage. As my magic immobilized the three enemies, my teammates charged ahead. The ringing of steel overlapped with thunder and cracks of gunfire; their weapons whirred about in synchrony, like a singular whirlwind of destruction.
「Green team has slain an enemy.」
「Green team has slain an enemy.」
「Green team has slain an enemy.」
All three remaining robots died in a matter of seconds. The red Base-Core shattered on its own, releasing a brilliant flash from within.
As the light faded, we found ourselves back in the living room of our apartment, and Jack was there too.
Oh shoot. We all made it. Our first challenge in Silver, and once again our team managed to get everyone out alive.
But something extra was in our room that hadn't been there before. On our table sat a small chest, made of lacquered wood and trimmed with silver.
Saber ventured forward to open it.
Hei told me the name of his third ability.
"Schwarzschild Trident," I repeated. Information about it entered my mind. That was a trick we learned from the Institute; you could mentally examine the abilities of any teammate.
| SCHWARZSCHILD TRIDENT | |
| RANGE: | 120 meters |
| COST: | 150 Mana |
| COOLDOWN: | 50 seconds |
| You throw an immaterial trident. Upon hitting an enemy player, it deals 20 damage and applies the Seal of Schwarzschild debuff. Seal of Schwarzschild: 10 second duration. Gravity distorts around the target, slowing them by 30%, reducing their damage against you by 30%, and increasing your damage against them by 30%. If the target drops to 0 HP, the ability's cooldown is reset. |
"That…that's it?" I said. "Hei. This doesn't change the situation. It's just a minor buff. And, and the enemies will be level three as well."
"With this, I'm practically invincible in a one-on-one."
"No you're not!" I held him by the shoulders. "It's just 30%! And what if you miss the trident? What if three of them catch you at once? Use your common sense!"
"Sophia!" Hei shouted. "I'm not going to get caught. I'm not going to miss. And even if I do, you'll be there to bail me out, won't you?"
I huffed and turned away. "Don't try this mushy crap with me.”
I thought I knew him well enough, after so many years together. He had always been reasonable, and even when we had disagreed, I could understand his line of thinking. But not now. His words, his overconfidence, made no sense to me. And I hated it.
"Whatever, let's go," I said, knowing we could scarcely do much else. "Just don't push your luck."
We headed down bottom-lane together again. We had walked with each other so often recently. Every morning, we'd go to work together. We'd walk through the tree-canopied path that led to the Institute, and one the way we'd chat about combat tactics and our lives back on earth. And in the evenings, we'd return to our house, tired but content, lost in our own little world as our surroundings blended and dissolved into the crimson glow of twilight. If we were to die now, let us at least die together.
Sure enough, when we neared our inner bottom tower, the Ranger and Mace-bot were already there with a wave of red golems. The tower slowly killed off the golems one by one, but it had also been chipped and fractured. The sharp-eyed Ranger trained its crossbow on us, but we knew its bolts hadn’t the range to reach us. We set our sight on the enemy golems at our tower, and our attacks made quick work of them.
The golems died. I leveled up. My third spell was revealed to me.
| COLD GRENADE | |
| RANGE: | 90 meters |
| COST: | 90 Mana |
| COOLDOWN: | 15 seconds |
| You form a bead of cold energy and launch it at a target location. You can then give a command for the bead to burst. After a 0.4 second delay, the bead bursts in a 10-meter radius, freezing all targets for 2 seconds and dealing 60 (+80% Arcana Point) magic damage. The bead lasts until you create a new one. |
I clasped my palms together. Cold air swirled between them, condensed, and distilled into a cloudy sphere the size of a marble. It shone from the inside with a sharp, blue radiance. I parted my hands and launched the bead into a pouch on my belt, pocketing it. Three of the four enemies we encountered had been melee. It made sense to keep the Cold Grenade on my person, as a defensive option should they jump on me again.
Instead of attacking us, the robots backed off into the nearby woods. Hei ventured forward, to the edge of our tower's range, and returned after scouting.
"They just started channeling Rings of Recall," he said to me in a low voice. "Two seconds out of sync. We ambush in 18, 17, 16…"
Hei counted down. When he reached the single digits, he conjured into his grasp a trident, one longer than he was tall. A white glow outlined its silhouette, but the weapon itself existed as pure blackness, without discernible depth or volume.
"...Two, one."
Hei sprinted forward, and so did I. As I approached the woods, I caught a glimpse of both robots with their palms against the ground, surrounded by circles of orbiting runes. But in the blink of an eye, the Ranger finished channeling its recall and vanished, leaving the Mace-bot alone.
Hei hurled his trident. It struck the Mace-bot in the torso, and all three spiked tips sank in deep. Space vibrated and twisted around the entry wound, and the colors there grew darker and warmer, until the chest of the robot turned a deep, dim red.
…Gravitational redshift?
The Mace-bot collapsed to the ground, seemingly crushed by its own weight. Its joints creaked as it struggled back on its feet. It began running away into the deeper forest, and deployed wheels. Before it could speed up, Hei Voidstepped in front of its path, splintering the robot with a burst of purple energy. He then plunged his spear into the robot's chest. The sky darkened. The earth trembled. Gravity shifted and flung the Mace-bot into a nearby boulder. Hei rushed toward his downed opponent, then followed up with a series of vicious thrusts and cuts, each one accelerating as they neared the robot's body. The steel of his spear flashed like fierce lightning. By the time I closed in with a Frost Missile prepared, he had already ripped the robot to scraps and pieces. The robot's remains dissipated in a puff of mist, leaving behind a broken Death Ward, as well as the Schwarzschild Trident. Hei picked the trident up.
"Bruh," I voiced.
As I stood there, quite awestruck, an announcement came from the sky.
「Green team has destroyed a mid tower.」
Oh, not bad. I wondered if Jack and Saber did that, to take advantage of the enemy mid-laner who had headed down to bottom lane earlier.
"What next?" Hei asked me.
We could try marching our golems to the red bottom-lane tower and destroying that, but the risk seemed too high. Four of them could ambush us again, but this time we wouldn't even have a nearby tower to run to.
"Let's go mid," I said. "Take down the inner mid tower with Jack."
We made our way to Jack under the cover of the jungle. When we arrived, we saw him and the Assassin robot near their golem waves, between the green mid tower and the pile of rubble that used to be the red mid tower. This robot did the exact thing we wanted to avoid: extending too far away from the protection of ally towers. So alone and vulnerable. I gestured for Hei to follow as I circled around, sneaking across the river. I dashed on to the mid-lane to cut off the robot's escape route from behind.
I formed a new Cold Grenade and launched it. The robot barely had time to notice before the icy bead landed at its side. I pressed an imaginary trigger-button with my thumb.
The bead exploded into a sphere of dense, white fog, which dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. The robot, and the nearby red golems, had all become encased in ice.
Hei hurled his trident, and I followed up with a Frost Missile. Jack shot a Vacuum Wave at the immobilized foe, then dashed in with a dagger thrust.
The Assassin-bot exploded into smithereens.
「Green team has slain an enemy.」
"Assassin had no Death Ward?" I asked Jack as we ran up to each other.
"Already killed it once," Jack said. "It went off into the river, then came back later at half health."
Yeah…gee, I wondered where it could've gone.
「Green team has destroyed a top tower.」
Nice job, probably by Saber and Atlas.
"Do you still have your Death Ward?" I asked Jack.
"Yeah."
"Can you go defend bottom-lane? We both lost ours, so we'll group with Saber and Atlas top for safety."
"Sure," Jack said. "Try not to die."
Such a move would leave our mid tower unguarded. But if our enemies diverted their forces to taking it down, they wouldn't be able to hold off our four-man attack on top lane. They'd get our outer tower; we'd get their inner top tower, and likely their top golem-fabricator too. I'd consider that a winning trade for us.
Hei and I crept through the foliage of the jungle to get to top lane. We found Mr. Atlas and Saber already beginning the siege on the inner tower, with a massive crowd of green golems at their aid. A single robot, the Ranger, defended against them. As it saw Hei and I approach, it fell back, relinquishing the tower. We managed to collapse the structure in a minute after that, then we marched on toward the enemy's gate, where their golem-fabricator sat. The Ranger had reconvened with two other robots, the Mace-bot and the Burrower. The three of them rallied before the golem-fabricator, awaiting our approach.
"Everyone's level?" Saber asked. "I'm 4."
Good. From what I had read, you didn't get any new abilities at levels 4 and 5, but still received the usual boost to total HP and Mana. Level 6 was when you'd unlock your fourth and ultimate ability, but I doubt we'd get to that point in this match.
We all shared our new third-level abilities. Saber's was a toggle ability:
| HERO OF THE STORMS | |
| RANGE: | 20 meters |
| COST: | 10 Mana per second |
| COOLDOWN: | 3 seconds between toggles |
| Wind and lightning surrounds you, dealing 20 damage per second to all targets within, and slowing them by 40%. |
…First "Smite," now this? Alright, just watch her ultimate ability be called Durability of the Ancients 2, or some crap like that.
As for Mr. Atlas's third ability…
| SHOTGUN | |
| RANGE: | 20 meters |
| COOLDOWN: | 3 seconds |
| You shoot, dealing 70 damage. |
I noticed he had arm-mounted cannons on both gauntlets now, and not just the one he used for his grappling hook.
Once we familiarized ourselves with what one another could do, we advanced toward the castle gate. There, the three remaining robots – the Ranger, the Mace-bot, and the Burrower – awaited us. I began with a combo of spells - Frost Missile to slow, Cold Grenade to Freeze, and Vortex Shield for additional damage. As my magic immobilized the three enemies, my teammates charged ahead. The ringing of steel overlapped with thunder and cracks of gunfire; their weapons whirred about in synchrony, like a singular whirlwind of destruction.
「Green team has slain an enemy.」
「Green team has slain an enemy.」
「Green team has slain an enemy.」
All three remaining robots died in a matter of seconds. The red Base-Core shattered on its own, releasing a brilliant flash from within.
As the light faded, we found ourselves back in the living room of our apartment, and Jack was there too.
Oh shoot. We all made it. Our first challenge in Silver, and once again our team managed to get everyone out alive.
But something extra was in our room that hadn't been there before. On our table sat a small chest, made of lacquered wood and trimmed with silver.
Saber ventured forward to open it.
