A special guest will be appearing in this chapter, nobody sent their guesses in the reviews yet, but oh well...
I'll still give you the chance to figure out their identity for the prize as they are using an alias.
(Start of chapter)
DINGIR AVATAR STATS
Character class: Wizard Knight
Rank: Pluto Knight X (Private)
Level: 14, 4199xp until next level up.
HP: 844 / 844
MP: 998 / 998
Strength: 40 (52)
Speed: 31 (26)
Spirit: 48 (49)
Magic Defence/Defence: 30 (50)
Magic: 75
Magic Evasion/Evasion: 16 (36)
Weapon: Iron short sword
Headwear: Iron helm
Armour: Iron armour
Accessory: Mythril gloves
Skills: Minus Strike
Abilities: Bright Eyes, Level Up, Man Eater, Bug Killer
Magic: Poison, Regen, Sleep, Panacea, Osmose, Protect, Cure
Trance: Balmung strike
Items: 20 potions, 1 phoenix down, 1 Antidote, 13 Goblin Steak, Goblin dagger X 2, Traveller's cloak, Isekai ring, silk shirt, lots of regular clothes.
Gil: 14458 (I've been forgetting to add his monthly wages like a plonka…and sorted!)
A Nerfed Dingir in Final Fantasy 9, seriously?
CHAPTER 12
Overcasting
Kuja drank his wine, relaxing after a long evening of manipulating the nobles, he needed to keep them in line for his goals, but another year or so and he would have amassed everything he needed from this primitive continent, there was still the matter of the airship that did not use the mist so he could quickly travel to the other continents of this primitive world, and a certain annoyance, but that would be dealt with in due course.
He wondered how his minions in the castle were doing with his booster core, a special type of grey magic that was unique to him, which allowed him to overcharge a single status beyond the norm. So far, only Berserk produced any results, however a sustained berserker still needed to function mentally, while retaining a constant heightened physical level, non-stop flow of adrenaline and endorphins. It obviously heightened killing intent and rage to the extreme, but a strong mind could take it.
A lowly goblin with some black magical talent had become a level 50 Necromancer in a very short time, though a trance user and Beatrix had defeated it. He would be mad, but Beatrix was in on the plan with himself and the Queen, they weren't allies though, he knew the Queen would turn on him once she had stolen her daughter's summons and stocked up enough of his battle golems, the lazily named black mage dolls. What she didn't know was that those factories produced many times what they declared, with those excess being shipped to one of his bases across the seas.
Still those jesters had mentioned they were trying out a new host for the core, hopefully it would last longer, as which more time, and each host, the core grew stronger, eventually he would use it, or more likely an improved version to sustain a permanent state of trance, and reach ascendance, of course, to get enough power, he needed a lot of power, and he wasn't so desperate to chance his father's retribution…not yet.
"Heh Heh…"
"It's rather creepy when you do that," said a soft spoken man with mocking tones.
Kuja glared at the speaker, wishing he had the strength to kill him. Like his immortal father, this man was a monster of the highest order. "I did not request your opinion, Trancer!" he all but snarled.
Sitting on veranda closest to him, was a man with the appearance of being in his late thirties, dark hair, worn messily, his glowing red eyes surrounded by a small white face mask, the kind that covered very little, like those worn at a masquerade ball. He wore a top hat, black suit in a style unique to him, and a Treno nobleman's cape. The man, Trancer dared to smile at Kuja's glare.
"True, but I request a status update upon the filling of the crystal, how many souls have you fed to it since we last met?" Trancer asked.
Kuja suppressed his anger, it wasn't time, not yet. "Many thousands in addition to the dregs harvested from the mist that don't go towards my golem production, but once the war begins, that will accelerate rapidly."
Trancer nodded, he didn't trust the monkey tailed alien, but just like all intelligent villains, he had many back up plans, as well as plans around Kuja's plans. "Glad to hear it, I was beginning to think you were not interested in living long enough to enact your own twisted little desires," he held up a glass of wine in toast.
Kuja started as he realised it was the one he had been drinking from, and had never let go of it. He glanced down at his hand to confirm - empty. It was most definitely his. Yet another power play, Trancer had access to dark magicks that existed nowhere on Gaia or Terra, and Kuja had already suffered greatly for trying to kill the smiling masked monster before him.
The Angel of Death - Kuja was then forced into their current deal, to transfer any souls or mist fragments that he could snatch from the Lifa Tree when people died and Garland, and then place it within a strange silvery coloured crystal, in exchange for this, he got to live. Of course Kuja had his own uses for the soul dregs, but as long he also met the yearly quota for the crystal, Trancer did not care. Kuja hated his current circumstances, but he was confident that upon obtaining the eternal Trance power made from the many souls he gathered, even Trancer, even his father would be easily dealt with. The fact that the power he desired was so similar to this monster's name was also rather vexing.
(scene change - Alexandria castle - one week later)
"Nothing again, huh?" yawned Haagen as they returned towards the castle as their shift ended, once again they had failed to find the killer. Fortunately it was a starry night and a full moon, they didn't need torches this time, which often blinded them more than it helped them see in the dark.
Trailing behind the two knights was Saria, a black mage that Mark had met once before, level 14 back then, though she'd levelled up once since then. Despite being a mage, she wore the armour expected of an Alexandrian soldier, only difference being the small black star emblem on her helm, virtually no mages wore the robes anymore, Mark had been rather disappointed to discover that. You can magic clothes to be stupidly tough, but why not do it to your armour if you're going into battle instead and get something superior?
"Seems like it," Mark agreed, though he kept his awareness high, you never knew what could happen. Even though they had yet to capture the killer, several more people had died, either ripped apart through inhuman strength or blasted with strong fire magic, if the burnt husks were any indication. "But keep your guard up anyway."
(A/N: You had to jinx them, didn't you?)
"Fire!" yelled the red headed mage suddenly. They dived with a curse, armour clattering loudly on the cobblestones to avoid her spell. A short distance from them was the killer, its arms were crossed, clothing singed from Saria's, revealing stitched together flesh, and from beneath the gaps, was glowing green energy. Magic.
'It was just standing there…and it doesn't seem to breathe,' Mark thought with surprise, as he was good at sensing and identifying people by how they breathed or the sound they made when they walked. It was probably because it wasn't truly alive, but it was embarrassing that another had to notice it to keep them safe.
"Fire!"
Mark charged forward, and even as he drew his sword, another Fire spell passed by his head and was dispelled by the fire spell that the mage doll blasted towards him. 'It casts spells way too fast!'
"FIRE!"
"Fire!"
"I'll protect you, so kill him!" yelled Saria, shooting a fire spell into the air as a signal to other soldiers and mages that might help, before casting water moments before Mark would have been incinerated by another fire spell, this time a Fira.
"FIRA!"
"Water!"
She felt spasms up her arm, as the mana in her body struggled to keep up with the rapid spell usage. In seconds, dozens of spells were fired.
Mark tightened his grip, pushed down his fear, letting his adrenaline speed his movements, and letting his killing intent guide him to victory, that hot, heavy feeling. He need not feel guilt, this thing was a doll, a golem, a construct to contain and use magic, this wasn't like those criminals.
"BLIZZARD!"
"Fire!"
"THUNDER!"
"Thunder!"
He needed to be smart, the mercenary had said its clothes repelled blades. He needed to go for the head or the exposed arm, courtesy of Saria's first spell.
'Cast: Poison on blade.' It wouldn't be enough though, as the glowing sword met the flaming Fira fist of the Black Mage golem, his blade broke in half.
"FIRA!"
The Flaming fist carried on towards him with a brutal hook. Mark did a near back breaking sway-back to avoid it. He quickly righted himself, nearly searing himself on the trailing flames and sharply struck the Black Mage's elbow with a back hand, making the golem overextend.
A tiny opening appeared and Mark jammed the remains of the blade into the Black Mage's throat as hard as he could, it pierced, but a spasm ran up his arm, it's skin was tough too. His iron sword managed several inches, but he had put enough force to skewer the enemy.
'Jeez…How tough is this thing?!'
His eyes flickered above the black mage's head. There was no name, only a level. 35.
The Black mage stumbled back, ripping the sword from its throat, very little blood coming out. It swung his broken blade with far more force than he could ever manage. Mark brought up his buckler to guard himself, he grounded himself, he would take this and spam poison spells into the wound he'd made. In the game you could only add the effect once, but in real life, the more poison in a victim's body, the quicker it would kill them. He lacked offensive magicks, and Minus Strike only dealt damage equal to the difference to his maximum and current state, unless he was badly injured or dying, it didn't do much. He just had to take this hit.
Smash!
There must have been a huge difference in their strength points, as Mark's buckler broke instantly, along with his arm, snapping with a shocking noise and pain, his forearm spun about, dislocated too. Mark yelled in both anger and pain as the Black Mage went to finish him with his own weapon.
"Equip: Goblin Dagger!" it appeared in his hand. He'd block this, but after that he'd likely be out of the fight.
"Fire!" Saria blasted out another fire spell to help him.
"FIRA!" The Black Mage casually used its free hand to block Saria's attempts to save him. The Black Mage seemed determined to get payback for his injury, its eyes, which were still lacking the spark of true life, now burned with a murderous berserk rage.
Mark didn't know why, but he was reminded of the Necromancer. That burning hatred, utterly focused on him.
"KILL!"
"KILL!"
An iron sword suddenly stabbed through the Black Mage's throat from behind. Skewering the killing machine completely. It was Haagen, who had silently withdrawn in the chaos, and waited for an opening. He had observed that Mark's strength hadn't been enough, so he had jumped and stabbed downwards, adding his weight (+armour) to the attack, the faint glow of the blade suggested an enhancing skill, likely Man-Eater or Mage-Killer. Whichever had been used, the combination had been enough.
"Haagen, you brilliant bastard!"
"Thanks for the distraction," the Pluto Knight grinned. He glanced to Saria, "and thanks for keeping this idiot alive."
"No problem."
"KILL!" It bellowed, throwing him off. Haagen skidded across the cobblestones.
"It's still alive?"
"Seriously?!"
"Saria, Thunder on the sword!" Mark yelled, leaping away. Thankfully she instantly understood his intent, using metal as a medium, it would conduct far better, and deal damage from within its body and not through its tough clothing and skin.
"Thunder!"
Thunder based magic was far faster than the other basic element spells. This time, hampered by its injuries, the attack landed. It's body spasming, but did not fall.
Mark, dropped the dagger and began channelling his magic, creating a ball of concentrated poison. Though he wore a gauntlet, he began to feel unwell.
"Poison!"
"Panacea!"
"Poison!"
"Poison!"
"Poison!"
"Poison!"
The poison had turned black and began to bubble like hot tar.
"Poison!"
He felt faint again…
"Panacea!"
"Cure!" the pain in his arm got better, but it didn't repair, it likely needed to popped back in, and reset in a splint so that the white magic could do its job. It wasn't so convenient as in the game. In the Goblin siege, the potions had kept him from bleeding out after being stabbed and slashed, but had basically been a temp patch job.
The Black Mage was shaking off the paralysis caused by Saria's thunder spell, but as Mark charged, she fired off another.
"Thunder!"
And Mark jammed the concentrated poison into the open wound he had made with his broken sword earlier.
"!" The Black Mage's body jolted and collapsed to his knees.
Mark wasn't sure why, but he still felt a sense of intimidation from the downed foe. He quickly retreated, Haagen seeing this, followed, keeping a wide distance.
"K-KILL!"
Its hat fell off, they could see its skin was rotting, it looked like an undead, its eyes still glowing with that golden malice.
"He's on his last legs, don't let your guards down!" Saria ordered, lightning crackling along her fingers, but there was a deep tiredness about her.
'She's used up almost all her MP with rapid casting, we need to end this now,' Mark thought, 'and who knows how long the poison will take…' He kicked the Goblin Dagger to Haagen, who nodded gratefully.
It wasn't like Mark could hold a weapon right now. His Gauntlet had melted from his own poison, his palm was now an ugly red colour, similar to a bad burn. It was numb, which was a bad sign. Nerve damage. 'Shit…' And his other arm was so bad that he couldn't lift it.
They could see torches of soldiers in the distance, they had seen the magic casting. If the Black Mage could still fight, reinforcements would handle what they couldn't.
"Cast: Regen + Cure," he used it on all three of them. Their backs straightened. Mark regarded his hand, it looked slightly better, and he could flex it slightly. But he would need to rely on magic for this, not physical abilities. However he still had his Protect spell and…Sleep. 'Fuck, that might have helped a lot earlier.' Unlike the game, he didn't have the menu in battle all the time. He to remember it, and refresh himself. Sadly when it didn't come to what he wrote, he didn't have a brilliant memory, he was a selective genius. (Well that was the excuse he used, he wasn't even sure he believed that himself sometimes.)
(A/N: I actually forgot about these spells when writing this so…)
"Cast: Protect!" a faint glow surrounded them all, strengthening their defenses somewhat.
"Thanks," Haagen said, channelling the skill Man-Eater to make the dagger more dangerous. He had done the same with his earlier surprise attack.
The Black Mage began to rise.
"You should have used that when it got your arm," Saria chided.
"I didn't get a chance," Mark lied. She snorted in disbelief. He wisely didn't comment.
Their enemy collapsed back down to their knees, as they landed, they used one arm to steady themselves and the arm erupted in a splatter of rotten flesh, poison and blood.
"Looks like your poison magic worked really well," Saria noted, rather surprised at its deadliness.
"Y-Yeah…"
The Black Mage raised one arm, pointing to the sky. It began to focus all its remaining mana to its hand. A massive swirling fire engulfed the sky above them. It was a tier 3 or tier 4 spell.
"F-FIRA…GA!" It growled, struggling to maintain a spell beyond its normal level. The berserk core within it, compelled it to kill, compelled it to exceed its current limits.
"Firaga, are you kidding me?!"
"Shit!"
"Quick, run!"
Saria created a barrier of ice with a blizzard spell while they fled around the nearest corner street. The Fire spell would have obliterated the barrier and likely burnt down many nearby homes and businesses. However…
"Watera!"
"Water!"
"Water!"
"Water!"
"Watera!"
"Water!"
A cascade of water offensive spells hit the Firaga spell and its caster. Killing him and countering the spell before it could kill the trio. The other teams of two knights and one black mage had arrived, along with dozens of regular troops. Steiner was among them.
Mark, Haagen, and Saria came back from around the corner and the ice barrier.
"Still alive?" Steiner asked.
"Only just," Haagen replied. "I'll need a new sword though."
"Why?"
"You guys just destroyed it, I left it inside the Black Mage," Haagen replied, pointing to the mangled blade, partly damaged due to poison, but he didn't want to pay for a replacement weapon.
"Same," Mark said, trailing behind them. "But the Black Mage also broke mine…"
"Really, you haven't even had it long," Steiner sighed, but froze when he saw the state of Mark's arms, one horribly burnt, the other twisted horribly, hanging from the elbow joint.
"We need to get you to the physicians and healers," Steiner said, hurrying forward. "How are you two?" he asked Saria and Haagen.
"A little sore, but I'm fine," Haagen said, waving off the concern.
"I need a Ether and a lot of sleep," she admitted, having used up most of her MP, and over a short period. The Pluto Captain nodded, handing over the MP restorative item.
"Thanks," she said, feeling the strain lesson almost immediately.
Meanwhile, a small red orb left the body of the Black Mage, returning to Zorn and Thorn inside the castle.
LEVEL UP!
Next Chapter:
New power unlocked
A/N: Phew, a bit longer than the normal chapters, and as the level up stats will be a plot point in the next chapter, I have not included them with this chapter, you'll have to wait until next time.
Be sure to check out my other Dingir / Grey Faction crossovers by clicking on my fanfiction profile, which include Grimm, High School DXD, Justice League, My Hero Academia, Campione, Star Wars, etc…
Additionally, if you want to see the original Dingir in action, there are the Grey Faction and Secret Yuuki books and comics below.
MY MAIN BOOKS AND COMICS:
Search the titles on Amazon, Lulu, Barnes&Noble, and most major online retailers…and then preferably buy some, available in Kindle/EBook, and Paperback.
Grey Faction: Arrival of the Grey Queen
Grey Faction: Mistaken Apostles
Grey Faction Comic: Jinhai's Justice
Grey Faction Manga: School Wars
Detective Michael: The Scalpel Murder
Detective Michael: Riverside Mystery
Detective Michael Comic: Volume 1
Vampire Attack: Empire of Shadows
Secret Yuuki & the Guilty Heart Chronicles: Dimension Wars
Secret Yuuki & the Guilty Heart Chronicles: Starlight Alliance
Nexus Comic: Volume 1
'N' Things Anthology: Corpses 'N' Things
'N' Things Anthology: Monsters 'N' Things