There were only a few things that Robin disliked. In fact, he could probably count them all on his fingers. The things he currently disliked the most was the desert and sand. Though, that'd be two things, but both of them were hated equally to the point of loathing. Stairs, as Robin soon realized, was quickly climbing its way to the top of the list to overthrow the desert and sand as the things he hated the most.
"Robin, it's not that bad," Lyn laughed, shaking her head. Her long green hair swayed back and forth, slapping Robin in the face a few times.
"Bleh - pfft - hair!" Robin sputtered, shooing the hair away, but not before sneezing.
"Sorry sorry." Lyn quickly apologized, but her tone made it obvious that she really wasn't sorry.
Sighing, Robin grudgingly moved his legs to climb up the literal tower of stairs. After meeting Jenna, the girl that he and Lyn rescued earlier, the three continued the only way forward, which was to scale a giant wall through the use of a tower. And stairs.
From above him, a rapid set of footsteps could be heard coming down the very set of circular stairs Robin and Lyn were climbing.
"Hey!"
Robin forced his head to look up to see Jenna descending from the floor above him.
"Jenna!" Lyn happily greeted the girl. "Back already?"
Jenna nodded, stopping a few steps above Lyn. She then started climbing up the stairs along with Robin and Lyn, keeping an easy pace.
"There's only a couple more levels left to climb," Jenna started, earning an exasperated groan from Robin. Ignoring the tactician, she continued. "We could climb higher to what I'm assuming is the top of the watchtower, but the stairs are destroyed. I don't think we can climb them."
"I see," Lyn frowned. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, there's a door leading to the wall of this place with most of the wall in ruins. I was going to continue forward but I got a bad feeling. The kind when you know something bad's going to happen, or when there's a very strong enemy waiting ahead. Not to mention there was this weird fog wall in the way."
Lyn knew that feeling all too well. It's happened to her a few times during her journey and it saved the lives of both her and her comrades more than a few times. Mark told her that the feeling is only something that a veteran gets after spending enough time in their respective fields of work. For example, an amateur thief may walk into a trap that was set out by the guards while an experienced one would either bug out or avoid the trap, depending on how dire their situation is. For fighters, the feeling would be one of warning, to either tell them that there's a formidable foe ahead or an ambush.
"Robin, your thoughts?" Lyn asked, looking over her shoulder.
Robin had his hand on his chin, his index finger curled over his lips. Part of him told him to go back and get some rest. He and Lyn have been moving around for quite some time now. Lyn didn't say anything, but Robin could tell that she was getting tired. Her exhaustion could be seen through her movements.
"We head back to the bonfire," Robin finally said. "If there's going to be a difficult opponent or opponents ahead, we'd best be well rested. You especially."
Robin glanced over at Jenna. Robin didn't know when it was the last she rested, but she looked just about ready to collapse at any moment.
"Ah ha ha~" Jenna's cheeks turned slightly red from embarrassment. "Was it really that obvious?"
"Just a little," Robin grinned. "Let's head back. The bonfire isn't too far from where we found you."
. . .
"And then the entire peninsula that we're on just breaks off the mainland!"
"No way!" Lyn gasped.
The three were sitting in the bonfire room. The girls were seated by the fire as Jenna was telling Lyn about her past adventures. Smiling from Jenna's storytelling, Robin continued to move around bags of flour. He had no idea what the flour was doing in the room, but he wasn't complaining. They were quite soft compared to the ground and would make for some decent makeshift beds.
"Well, don't stop there." Lyn looked like a child, eagerly waiting for her parents to continue telling her a bedtime story. "What happened after that?"
"Nothing eventful for a while," Jenna said. "Alex, Kraden, and I were stuck on that drifting island for who knows how long. I just remember being extremely hungry when Alex walked over to Kraden and I, telling us that there's something that we need to see. So, Kraden and I walk over to the shore of the peninsula, which was now technically an island, and…" Jenna paused, smiling as she recalled the memory. "I saw Sheba…and my brother, Felix…washed ashore."
"But, I thought they were at the Venus Lighthouse! Back on the mainland!" Lyn exclaimed.
"They were." Jenna nodded. "My brother never told me what happened, but my guess is that he and Sheba fell off the lighthouse during the tremors and into the water. From there, he must've seen our little island and swam over."
Robin dropped the bag of flour that he was currently carrying. The bag popped open, engulfing the tactician in a cloud of white powder. Lyn and Jenna both turned their heads to stare at Robin who accidentally inhaled a mouthful of flour and entered a coughing fit.
"Ah, sorry," Robin apologized, dusting himself of the flour.
He then pointed a finger at the broken sack of flour. Soon, faint, green glow surrounded his hand and a emerald wind shot out from his index finger to create a small funnel of wind. After the mini-tornado picked up all the flour, Robin directed the mini-tornado towards the room's exit where he dispelled his magic.
"Please, don't mind me," Robin said to Jenna.
Slowly nodding, Jenna continued telling her story to Lyn. Robin soon zoned out as he focused on creating three beds of flour bags. The crates thrown about the room would serve as the bed frames as Robin broke them down into planks. Using a bit of Fire magic, Robin was able to soften up the metal parts of the crates to weld them to one another. By the time he was finished making the three beds, night had fallen.
"…and that stupid scorpion was so annoying!"
Robin finally listened in on Jenna's story. Just minutes prior, he remembered her saying something about entering a desert and falling into a pitfall created by a giant scorpion.
"Physical attacks would barely scratch its shell and our Psynergy barely did anything against it!" Jenna complained.
'Psynergy'… Robin heard Jenna say that word a few times, and from what he was able to gather, it was essentially magic. It focused around the four elements of nature: Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth, each referred to as Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Venus respectively. Robin could've sworn he'd heard those terms from somewhere.
"In the end, Sheba was able to find a small chink in the tail's armor," Jenna sighed. "From there, I used Impact on my brother and he was able to cut off the tail along with the stinger. Then, Felix stabbed the stinger through its head."
Robin raised his eyebrows. "Using its own weapon against it? Impressive."
"So, what about you two?" Jenna inquired, sitting up straight. "From the looks of it, the two of you must've have a lot of fun adventures!"
Robin and Lyn glanced at each other. Figuring that her story would be shorter than Robin's, Lyn decided that she would speak first.
"Well, my story isn't as grand as yours, I'm afraid," Lyn sheepishly said.
"Oh, come on," Jenna smiled, encouraging Lyn. "I'm sure you're just being humble!"
"Jenna's right, you know," Robin agreed. He then turned to Jenna. "In my world, Lyn's story went down in the legends and has been retold countless times by historians and bards alike. She herself is a woman of legend."
"Woaahhh." Jenna looked at Lyn with wide eyes.
Lyn's cheeks turned red from the unexpected praise.
"Wait a second…" Jenna's brow furrowed as she eyed Robin. "What you said… How do you know that Lyn becomes a legend?"
Robin blinked. "Ah, that's right! We haven't told you yet!"
"Huh?"
"Robin is from my time's future," Lyn said.
"Huh?!"
Robin sighed. "Simplest explanation, yet still somehow the most complicated:time travel. I honestly don't know much on it myself."
Jenna looked at the two incredulously. "What."
"Anyways, Lyn?" Robin gestured for her to begin telling her story.
"Oh, right!" Lyn's posture snapped straight. "Mm…where would be a good place to begin…?"
"How about from the point when you found Mark?" Robin suggested.
"Okay!" Lyn grinned. "That makes sense since my adventure started when I found him on that field."
"Wait wait wait!" Jenna yelled. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Jenna continued. "Are we going to just glaze over the fact that you mentioned time travel?"
Robin raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
Jenna groaned into her hands while Lyn looked back and forth between the two.
"So…should I still tell my story?"
. . .
A headache induced sleep later, Jenna found herself walking behind Lyn and Robin as they made their way back towards the giant wall. The disgusting husks of men were back but in much smaller numbers compared to last time. She was impressed by Robin and Lyn's skill with a blade.
While Lyn wielded her sword in a very refined and graceful manner, Robin had none of that. Rather, his swings looked as if he was holding back unconsciously, as if he was missing a weapon.
What impressed her more than their sword skills, however, was their coordination - rather, Robin's coordination with the two of them. Jenna noticed that Robin would rarely initiate the fight. Instead, he would allow both her and Lyn to make the first move while he would act as their support. Whenever she or Lyn would make a strike, Robin would make a follow-up attack before the enemy had a chance to react. The timing was so well-timed that it was almost scary.
"How are you doing that?" Jenna finally asked.
They were nearing the enclosure where she first found herself in as they cut through another group of Hollows.
"You're going to have to be a little more specific than that," Robin replied, threading a lightning bolt between her attacks and onto an enemy knight.
"That. How are you doing that."
Robin tilted his head. "Magic? Uh…can't you use magic as well?"
Jenna facepalmed. This man was either playing dumb or was genuinely confused.
"No, I mean the - ugh…never mind," Jenna groaned.
Robin frowned. Then, his eyes lit up as he slammed his fist into his palm in a I-got-it! Gesture.
"Oh! You mean my supports!" Robin exclaimed. "There's honestly not much to it. I've always been a little overly-perceptive of my surroundings. And since I've fought alongside my friends through more than a couple wars, I picked up the habit of just…I dunno…supporting them."
"Wait, 'multiple wars'?" Jenna inquired.
Robin waved her off. "That's for another time. For now, we should - "
"ROBIN! WATCH OUT ON YOUR RIGHT!"
That was the last thing that Jenna heard before a black blur slammed into Robin, sending him crashing into a wall. Jenna reflexively raised her rapier in front of her just in time as larger, and much heavier blade slammed into her own. She struggled momentarily to stay her feet, but the new enemy's strength overpowered her and Jenna was thrown back.
Painfully landing on her spine, Jenna instinctively rolled to her side. Not even a second later, something ridiculously heavy struck the ground where she originally was.
"Hyaah!"
As Jenna rolled to her feet, she heard Lyn let out a shout followed by the sound of metal clashing against metal. She looked up and the first thing that she noticed with its sword.
The sword was easily as tall as she was, yet the wielder was swinging it around like a toy. The second thing that Jenna noticed was the knight's armor. It was slender and narrow yet looked to be incredibly sturdy and was colored black. No, not black. Jenna could see that the armor was once a regal silver, only now, it was terribly burnt to the point where the metal became a black color. But no flame would permanently char metal to such a point. Not even the Adepts from Prox, known for their mastery over Mars Psynergy, were able to do such a feat.
A pained cry from Lyn brought Jenna back down to Weyard. Or Earth. Or whatever this land was named. Clutching her side, Lyn made an attempt to distance herself from the black knight, but the knight was a lot faster than it looked. Closing the gap within a second, the knight swung its weapon sideways.
Raising her arm, Jenna channeled Psynergy through her hands and at Lyn.
"Guardian!"
A red light coated Lyn like a barrier. It wasn't enough to fully protect Lyn as Jenna's Guardian shattered like glass against the black knight's sword, but it was just enough to prevent her from getting sliced in two. However, the impact alone was enough to send her across the courtyard. Jenna immediately raised her arm and started casting another Psynergy before Lyn hit the ground.
"Aura!"
A warm, red-orange light surrounded Lyn as she barely managed to land on her feet. The deep gash on her side was started to close, but not nearly fast enough for Lyn to be able to fight anytime soon. With the Sacaen swordswoman out of the way, the black knight now turned its attention on the Mars Adept, who had just finished her incantation for Aura.
Having just enough time to raise her sword defensively, Jenna blocked an overhead strike from the black knight, but the force from the strike alone was enough exhaust most of her strength. Just as her knees buckled, the black knight's offhand lashed out, its fingers tightly grabbing hold of Jenna's neck. Unlike what she was expecting, the metal of the knight's armor wasn't cold. Rather, it was at the point where it felt like the armor was searing hot.
But the temperature of the armor was the last thing on Jenna's mind as the knight started to apply pressure, slowly squeezing the life out of Jenna. With no air reaching her lungs, her vision started to darken. In a vain attempt, Jenna hurled a powerful blast of fire at the knight's narrow helmet. Heat washed over her entire body, but when the fire died, the black knight's armor looked untouched.
Then, just as sudden as the knight's choke hold was on Jenna, the pressure on her neck vanished followed by the sound of crackling lightning. Limply falling onto the ground, Jenna's throat wrenched in pain as her windpipe righted itself. With her vision returning, she managed to bring her gaze up.
Robin was fighting the black knight on his own. With lightning dancing around his blade, Robin was able to meet the knight's weighty blows, but only just. Each parry would only buy him a half second's worth of time to bring his body back into a defensive position, and each block would push him back.
Mentally reprimanding herself merely watching, Jenna forced herself onto her feet. While she wouldn't be able to inflict any damage on the knight with her Psynergy and her arms too heavy to wield her rapier, Jenna had other ways to help out. If Aura was for healing, and Guardian for temporarily boosting one's defenses, then there would also be a Psynergy to boost one's attack.
Leaning on her rapier for support, Jenna raised her free hand in Robin's direction. She felt the warmth of Psynergy ebb from her chest, down her arm, and to the tips of her fingers.
"Impact!"
Another glow, similar to the one that surrounded Lyn earlier, surrounded the entirety of Robin's sword. True to the effect of Jenna's Psynergy, the next blow that Robin blocked didn't push him back. Rather, Robin seemed to brush the attack off with ease.
Effortlessly redirecting the black knight's blade, Robin swung low at its knees before using his momentum to spin on the balls of his feet to bring his sword down on the black knight's chestplate. There was enough power behind Robin's strike to create a large tear diagonally down the charred armor.
With creaking joints, the knight swung its shield at Robin, which he deftly ducked under. Stepping in, the tactician thrusted his sword into the opening in the black knight's armor that he created, a move that appalled Jenna. Such a position would leave Robin wide open to the black knight's attacks as he would be unable to move.
Jenna's confusion only increased when a grin formed on Robin's face; a grin that had absolute confidence in his victory. Her eyes then widened when a fresh burst of lightning, one that looked much more intense than before, coursed through Robin's blade and into the crevice of the charred armor.
But, even with lightning flickering across its body, the knight continued to raise his sword, held in a reverse grip in preparation to bring the blade down on the tactician's open back. And that's when the finale of Robin's plan unfolded.
"Lyn!" Robin called out.
"Already on it!" was Lyn's reply as she seemed to fly through the air, her sword raised and poised to strike.
Lyn's slender blade reached the black knight just a split second before the black knight's blade touched Robin. Piercing the visor in the black knight's helm, Lyn's sword punctured its way out through the back of the helm.
Violently shuddering, a silver-grey light rippled out from every crevice in the black knight's armor. Without any additional weight behind it, the blackened sword harmlessly fell and slid off of Robin's reinforced cloak, landing onto the ground with a dull thud. As the black knight started disintegrate, so did the knight's weaponry, and soon, nothing was left that remained of the black knight except for the damage it caused.
"Gaaaahhaaaahh!" Robin let out an exasperated sigh of relief. "That thing was brutal! I thought I was going to die a dozen times over!" Shaking his head, he walked over to Jenna while pulling out a small vial from the inner pockets of his robe and handed it to her. "Here. An elixir. It'll help out with your fatigue and wounds."
Jenna curiously took the small bottle from Robin's hand. The elixirs of her world were much different. While they came in similar sized bottles, the liquid's color was a golden brown, and held no healing properties. Instead, they acted as an all-around purpose medicine used to purge poison, dispel curses, and restore the nerves in one's muscles.
Nonetheless, she uncorked the vial and took a small gulp and gagged. While she was surprised to feel the pain in her neck fade, her surprise was practically overwritten by the foul taste in her mouth. The taste was just as vile as the ones back from her world; bitter, sour, and also incredibly salty.
"Yeah, they don't taste so good," Robin agreed, seeing her face contort. "But it gets the job done."
Capping the elixir, Jenna handed the medicine back to Robin.
"I could've just cast Aura to heal myself," Jenna muttered.
"True true." Robin absentmindedly pocketed the vial. "But, that'd waste your mana, would it not? Which reminds me, your magic is absolutely astounding! How do you do it? Offensive, healing, and supportive magic? I've never even heard of the last one!"
Jenna took a wary step back from the overly eager man in front of her when Lyn came to her rescue by pulling on the man's ear.
"Robin, stop harassing her," Lyn scolded.
"I am not harassing her," Robin argued. "I'm merely - "
" - making her uncomfortable by pressing her with multiple questions at once?" Lyn finished, raising an eyebrow.
"It's the pursuit of knowledge!" Robin whined. "I can't help but be interested in magic I haven't seen before and…fine…I'll stop…"
"Thank you," Jenna said to Lyn.
"None needed," Lyn replied. "Now then, what now, Lord Tactician?"
Jenna's thoughts were to head back to the bonfire to rest and get their wounds tended to, but it turned out that Robin had a different plan in his head.
"We push onward." Robin casually rolled his neck, causing multiple popping sounds emanate from his bones. "Backtracking to the bonfire will take more time, not to mention that there's no telling whether or not the knight that we just fought has any friends. If so, I'd rather not take that chance at another fight like that."
"But if the knight does have friends, wouldn't they be waiting just up ahead?" Jenna asked.
"They might, but backtracking would give them more time for them to group up," Robin explained. "We were barely able to fight off just one of them with the three of us, so fighting even just two of them together would spell disaster, and not for them. By moving now, we can hopefully avoid any more possible knights and get back up to that tower. Once there, we can take a short break before taking on whatever it is that's gave off that dreadful presence from before."
Of course, Lyn immediately agreed. But while Jenna was still a little hesitant to agree as quickly as Lyn, there was merit in Robin's words.
"Alright." Jenna nodded. "Let's go with that."
Trudging forward, the three moved once more. And as before, Robin announced his severe dislike for stairs as they climbed up the spiral staircase that seemed to go on forever.
"Guuuuhhhhhh…"
Robin practically crumpled onto the ground when they reached the second to highest floor. They would have gone to the top, but the stairs leading to the was destroyed and boarded off, denying their advance. Which was completely fine, as there was a doorway on that floor that led outside onto the top of the wall, but that was exactly where the powerful aura was coming from. But Robin would worry about that aura later. Right now, he just wanted to rest from the excruciating climb that he just did.
So, let me get this straight... You can climb the Mila Tree back in your world just fine, but you struggle with a few flights of stairs?
Robin let out a low grunt that only he heard.
This and that are two different things.
You're right about that. The Mila Tree was thirty-one times worse than this one. And yes, I did the math.
Ugh… I could've sworn that were just as bad as each other.
They both have a winding stairwell of stairs, if that helps.
Just a little.
Robin tilted his head back, allowing it to lean against the wall. Sitting on the the adjacent side of the room, or as close as one could get to adjacent in a circular room, Lyn and Jenna were having another discussion about their pasts. He caught wind of Lyn comparing him to Mark, but knew well enough not to pry into their conversation.
By the way…
Hm?
Have you discovered anything on this world?
Only the things that you know of already.
Humor me.
Alright. I'm sure you've figured this out yourself, but this land that we're in, Lordran, is the very same land that you read of back in that ruined library in the Garden of Giants. You should pay homage to this land, as it's the very place where your lightning spear magic was derived from.
Robin closed his eyes as the recalled the countless hours that he put into crafting his magic. Many times, his attempts would end in failure, it wasn't until after he started shifting the magic from the Thunder tome that his dedication bore fruit. Even now, he held onto it as a sort of ace, having only used it a few times after finalizing it after the Thoron tome, once having been against Reina during their first meeting. But even then he had dialed down its destructive force in order to not harm the nearby Shepherds.
Perhaps there may even be a chance that you'll meet the Ancient Lords of Lordran. The First Lords, I mean. From what I've seen, the nameless warrior has yet to make an appearance, so the Age of Fire is still burning.
Heh, I never thought that I'd be visiting a land of legend.
We may even get a chance to run into the exiled son of one of the First Lords!
As if that'd ever happen. How would we even know if it's him in the first place?
"Robin?"
Like I'd know. He's the son of the Lord of Sunlight. Maybe he has an obsession with the sun or something.
If he was exiled by his father, shouldn't it be the exact opposite? Shouldn't he hate the sun?
"Robin!"
That is a good point.
Besides, who's to say that -
*WHAP*
"Gah!"
Clutching his head in pain, Robin looked up with stinging eyes. Jenna and Lyn were both standing over him, the latter's scabbard hovering just above Robin's head. It didn't take a brilliant mind such as Robin's to realize that Lyn hit Robin over the head with her sword's scabbard.
"Yes?" Robin wailed. "Can I help you?"
"We're going." Lyn gave Robin a teasing smirk.
"I don't suppose we're going away from that fog door-wall thing that most definitely does not have a big baddie waiting behind it?" Robin hoped.
"Not a chance," Lyn grinned.
Robin sighed. "One can dream, I suppose…"
With a small groan, Robin rose to his feet. Dusting off his hands, he walked towards the fog door. With both Jenna and Lyn standing behind him, Robin gingerly placed his hand on the fog. He met the usual resistance, but with a bit of pressure, his hand slipped right into the grey wall.
However, the moment his right hand entered the fog, a chill ran down his spine as the hairs on his neck stood on their ends. On instinct, Robin hastily channeled mana through his arm and created a barrier that honeycombed out from his palm. Not a second later, there was an unearthly sounding roar from behind the fog, followed by something tremendously heavy slamming into his barrier.
Oddly enough, Robin was reminded of his fight with the Asylum Demon from not too long ago. He then realized why he thought of the Asylum Demon as his barrier held for a second before shattering, and he was bludgeoned in the chest by a slab of what looked to be stone that was as tall as him.
Crap…
This single thought ran through Robin's mind as he both heard and felt a few ribs crack before he was thrown across the room and into the opposite wall.
Robin coughed and felt something escape from his throat. Having hit the back of his head onto the wall, his vision was fuzzy, but going by the metallic taste in his mouth, he made an educated guess that what he coughed up was blood. Not too surprising seeing how he just got hammered in the chest by a solid chunk of rock.
That makes twice.
Oww - huh?
Twice you had your barrier shattered by a single attack from a giant weapon.
At least I'm still up and kicking…
Groaning, Robin forced himself onto his feet. He took in a deep breath and immediately regretted it as the action caused a sharp pain to course through his chest.
"Yep, definitely a few cracked ribs…maybe even broken…" Robin muttered to himself.
"Robin, are you alright?" Lyn asked, her voice racked with worry.
"I'm not dead, if that's what you're wondering," Robin croaked.
Downing an elixir, Robin felt the pain in his ribs ebb away. That didn't mean that his ribs were healed, however, only that he wouldn't feel the pain for a little while. Which, of course, meant that the fight coming up with whatever it was behind that cloud of dust had a time limit before Robin would be incapacitated from his ribs.
As the last of the dust cleared, Robin was finally able to see what it was that attacked him.
"Hey…Lyn?" Robin squeaked. "Tell me that's not a giant humanoid figure with a bull's head."
"That's not a giant humanoid humanoid figure with a bull's head. That's the head of a taurus."
"I don't need your sass right now, Lyn," Robin grumbled.
"That wasn't sass."
"Preeeetty sure it was."
"And I'm pretty sure it wasn't."
"Need I give you the definition of the word?"
"Can you two please stop flirting?!" Jenna cried out.
"We are NOT flirting!" Both Robin and Lyn exclaimed.
Rolling her eyes, Jenna looked back at the taurus monstrosity and so did the bickering duo. What stared back was a monster the size of the Asylum Demon. Only this time, it had a beastly look to it, in the literal sense.
It's head was a solid skull of a taurus cattle. Giant horns curled downwards from the top of its skull. Two giant fangs protruded upwards from its lower jaw and its eyes were nothing more than sinister looking yellow lights. Its skin was a leathery grey while brown fur covered its arms, legs, and back, but even the thick hide failed to conceal the monster's bulging muscles.
"Seriously? Again with the oversized whatevers?!" Robin groaned. "First, there was that fatass demon back in the Asylum, then that stupid bird, then that damned overgrown winged lizard, and now this?! Are you a demon, as well? I bet you're named something creative, like 'The Taurus Demon' or something…"
"Now is not the time for this, Robin," Lyn sternly said, readying her sword.
"No, now is EXACTLY the time for - oh, shut up you stupid boar!"
Robin snapped at the Taurus Demon who roared twice; once in the middle of his sentence and once after being called a "stupid boar" by Robin. Roaring for the third time, the Taurus Demon raised its weapon; a ridiculously sized thing that looked like cross between a staff and an axe made of a pale yellow stone. The 'blade' was permanently stained a rusty red color, and the end was horrendously dull, looking to be designed more for smashing enemies to a pulp rather than cutting them in half.
With a single swing, the demon's weapon broke through the walls of the tower, a large portion of said tower's roof, and the floor that Robin, Lyn, and Jenna were standing on. Casting magic on himself, Robin warped over Lyn, grabbed her around her waist, then warped over to Jenna, all the while they were in freefall. With another casting of magic, Robin rematerialized on the remains of the tower's roof with both Lyn and Jenna in tow.
Upon landing on a solid surface, Lyn collapsed onto her knees as her face paled and began dry heaving, a reaction that was not shared by the other two. Glancing away from Lyn, Robin looked around him. Then his jaw dropped.
From the roof of the watchtower, Robin struck by a breathtaking view. A pale blue sky stretched on into the horizon. In the distance, rays of golden sunlight broke through a blanket of clouds, illuminating a mountain range underneath.
Looking down, Robin was able to get a scope of the area. He knew that the land that he was in was big, but he didn't expect it to be so vast. A labyrinth of towns, bridges, and gated entryways were sprawled out in front of him, all leading towards a central mountain in the distance. Built onto the mountain itself, another wall could be seen stretching into the skies, a wall that made the one that Robin was currently on look like a small fence in comparison. Through all this, Robin could only imagine what this land could have looked like during its golden age.
Despite being a shadow of its former self, Lordran was a beautiful land, only, a portion of the beauty was stolen away from Robin by the insufferable growls Taurus Demon standing atop the wall and the retching noises coming from his ailing friend.
"First teleport?" Jenna asked her downed companion.
Seeing how Lyn was in no shape to answer, Robin answered for her, "Most likely." Then, to her, "You seem okay, though."
"Not my first jump." Jenna shrugged. "My brother learned the Teleport psynergy near the end of our journey. After lighting the Mars Lighthouse…never mind. Point is, I'm no stranger to teleportation, but I am surprised at how easily you can teleport, and how accurate you are with your jumps."
"Laying it on a little thick there, aren't you?" Robin chuckled. "And my teleports aren't easy as they seem. Each jump consumes a chunk of my mana, and the more accurate I need to make them, the more concentration I need. But, enough of that. I believe a little, rather, big problem should be taken care of first, don't you think?"
Nodding, Jenna turned her attention to the Taurus Demon, who was growling at the trio up on the roof. Since its previous attack had destroyed the front portion of the tower's roof, and since Robin and teleported both himself and the girls to the opposite side of said roof, the Taurus Demon had no way of reaching them.
At least, that's what Robin hoped.
His hope was shattered in a second.
Using its powerful legs, the Taurus Demon leapt from the wall.
"Oh crap…" Robin muttered, placing his hands on the shoulders of Jenna and Lyn. "Sorry about this, Lyn!"
"Sorry about what - urp!"
Rematerializing on the top of the wall, a good distance away from the tower's roof, Lyn immediately ran over to the edge. What came next was most definitely not a dry heave.
"That. I'm sorry about that," Robin said, feeling drained.
Four jumps in only a few minutes, and with only one of them being a solo jump… I'll be running on fumes at this rate, not to mention the elixir's numbness is going to wear off soon.
That thing has a lot of fur. Fur tends to be flammable. You have a very adept fire mage with you. Kill it with fire.
A devilish grin formed on Robin's face. "Jenna. Fire. Fur."
The Mars Adept didn't need to be told twice as she drew her rapier and pointed at the Taurus Demon, who was looking around for its suddenly vanishing prey. A warm glow surrounded the elegant blade as Jenna channeled her Psynergy. A moment later, a magic circle the size of the Asylum Demon and decorated with countless runes appeared over its head. The runes started to glow with a fierce intensity, and the Taurus Demon looked up just in time to see the magic circle spit out a fireball that was four times the size of the Taurus Demon's skull.
"Woah…"
Robin had to shield his eyes from the glare of the fire magic. A scorching wind hit Robin in the face from the force of Jenna's Psynergy, and before the flames of her first Psynergy dissipated, Jenna raised her rapier once more. After another second of concentration, a plume of fire rose out from underneath the Taurus Demon. The flames started twisting until they formed the head of a dragon, creating the image of the rising dragon with its prey clamped between its maw.
Just when Robin thought the Mars Adept was finished, she surprised him by summoning flames to surround her blade. The fire then shot out in a very similar fashion to her previous Psynergy as serpent of fire, complete with a dragon's head, rose into the skies. Unlike the first one, however, this fume rose much faster than the previous as it overtook the first before arcing back down to meet the first plume of fire with the Taurus Demon stuck in between both Psynergies.
The collision of the two Psynergies created an explosion so intense that it shook the very ground that Robin was standing upon, and for a second, Robin thought there was a second sun in the sky before reminding himself that it was only an explosion due to Jenna's twin fires.
It was then Robin made a solemn vow to never, EVER, anger this girl.
From the miniature sun in the sky, a trail of fire separated from the main body, almost like a meteor. It fell onto the same wall that the two spellcasters plus one incapacitated swordswoman were on, creating a cloud of dust and black smoke alike.
The consecutive casting of devastating Psynergies took its toll, however, as Jenna was now leaning heavily onto her rapier as support. Due to this fatigue, Jenna would be in no condition to move when the Taurus Demon would come running at them. Which it did.
From within the cloud, a bloodcurdling roar shook the air. Quite literally, in fact, as the cry scattered the smoke and dust into the wind. What remained was a terrifying sight of a flame-lit demon. Even with glowing lights as its "eyes", there was no doubt that it was harboring a severe hatred for one that inflicted so much pain upon it. Robin knew that look well, as it was very look that he received from the Asylum Demon after cutting off it's tail.
With a snot filled snort, the Taurus Demon stomped on the ground before it bounded over towards them at a frightening speed. Robin quickly summoned a bolt of lightning which crashed down onto the back of the demon's skull, but it continued to run undeterred. It swung its axe down on Jenna, which was deflected by a lightning reinforced kick from Robin, who then followed up by spinning on his toes and delivered another blow to the demon's ankle, momentarily crippling it.
"That…I thought that'd…that it would've…been enough…to defeat it…" Jenna gasped between breaths.
"I thought so too," Robin agreed. "That is, until it landed on the ground. Stupid beast can take some hits."
Uttering a low growl, the demon righted itself from Robin's blow as it raised its arm in preparation for another swing. In a similar fashion, Robin also raised his arm as mana coursed through his veins.
"Obex!"
The demon brought its weapon down, its heavy blow crashing against Robin's barrier. While the previous two barriers shattered instantly upon creation, this one was not hastily crafted as it withstood the mighty blow. A few cracks appeared at the demon axe's point of impact, but it held. The demon then slammed its fist against Robin's barrier, and Robin winced under the pressure of both the axe and fist.
Not good. The elixir's effect is going to wear off any moment now. Jenna also seems to have used up most of her mana in her opening salvo of magic, so I doubt she'll be able to use that healing magic from earlier. I don't think she can even move as of now.
Another blow against Robin's barrier.
Not to mention I'm also running low on mana. Keeping this barrier up is sapping my reserves.
The barrier began to splinter as shards of the hexagonal wall started to break off and dissipate into white light.
Why do you have so much damn strength, you goatish, clay-brained, milk-livered bull?!
Robin could hear Alternis laughing in his head.
"Robin, dispel your barrier after the next hit!"
Lyn was back on her feet. Some color had returned to her face as she gripped Mani Katti tightly.
"I hope you've got a plan," Robin said. "Not like I can hold this barrier for any longer anyways."
"Not much of a plan. It's more like an idea," Lyn replied.
The demon raised its weapon once more.
"I'll be taking one of your moves, by the way," Lyn added just as Robin's barrier shattered from the Taurus Demon's blow.
Before Robin could ask, "What move?", Lyn dashed forward, showing no signs of her nausea from earlier. She jumped onto the Taurus Demon's lowered weapon and continued to run before leaping off of the giant axe and onto the monster's massive bicep. Kicking off once more, Lyn grabbed onto one of the Taurus Demon's curled horns and swung herself onto its back. Twirling her sword in her hands, Lyn held Mani Katti in a reverse grip before plunging the blade into the Taurus Demon's neck, mimicking Robin's actions from their first encounter with the Asylum Demon.
"Oh…that's what she meant…" Robin muttered as he collapsed onto his knees from exhaustion.
Even as it roared in pain, the Taurus Demon managed to reach up and grab Lyn before she could jump off.
"K-KyaaaaAAHHH!"
Lyn let out an agonizing cry as the Taurus Demon tightened its grip. Dull cracks could be heard as her bones cracked under the immense pressure.
"Lyn!"
Robin desperately made an attempt to stand on his feet. The numbing effects of the elixir from earlier had worn off, and his side was screaming in pain. From his peripherals, Robin saw Jenna struggling to raise her blade.
Both Robin and Jenna's blood turned to ice when Lyn's cries suddenly ceased. Whether she was dead or simply unconscious, he didn't know, but Robin was desperately hoping that it was the latter. Then, Jenna vanished from the edges of Robin's vision and reappeared near the center as she rushed forward and jumped.
The Taurus Demon let out a very bored sounding grunt as Jenna's rapier pierced its chest. Tossing Lyn aside as if she was worthless piece of garbage, the demon grabbed Jenna and hurled her at another watchtower behind Robin. Jenna's body crashed against the tower before she fell onto the ground, lying limp. Witnessing the fall of both his companions infuriated Robin, but even with all his rage, he was still rooted to that very spot, unable to move.
The demon then turned its attention to Robin, the sole standing member of the group, and Robin could've sworn that it smirked at them. It reared its arm back in preparation for another blow, and Robin noticed that the demon was confidently resting its axe on its shoulder. It was a silent message; the Taurus Demon had no need for a weapon to crush him. A single arm would be enough. Said arm was now headed straight for Robin.
"You smug bastard…" Robin growled.
With a roar that matched the Taurus Demon's, Robin mustered up the last of both his mana and strength to meet the Taurus Demon's fist with a lightning coated fist of his own.
Robin succeeded in pushing the giant fist back, but not without consequences. He felt like his arm was ripped from its socket as the force of meeting the Taurus Demon's fist head on sent him flying backwards. He nearly blacked out from the pain when he landed on his shoulder.
Dislocated shoulder, broken knuckles, cracked ribs, and complete mana depletion, Alternis counted off in Robin's head. Should I add 'dead' to that list as well?
Awfully calm, aren't you? If I die, you die along with me, so you won't be able to add that to your list before you're gone.
It took all of his willpower to stay conscious, but Robin knew that his being awake wouldn't help. Jenna and Lyn were either unconscious or dead, and seeing how the Taurus Demon was slowly approaching the incapacitated tactician, Robin made an educated guess that he'd follow suit soon enough.
The world darkened around Robin as the Taurus Demon loomed menacingly over him, blocking the sun. Blood, a little darker colored than normal, seeped from the both the hold in its chest and down its shoulders from the wound Lyn inflicted upon him. Severe burn marks could be seen scattered throughout its body, and it even had a slight limp from Robin's kick from earlier.
"Considering what we were up against, I'd say we did pretty good," Robin darkly chuckled.
Ah, crap, Robin thought. Above him, the Taurus Demon raised its axe one last time for the finishing blow. This means I won't be able to help Chrom in the upcoming war with the Valmese. Welp, nothing I can do about that. Though, he does have Reina with him, so I'm sure the Shepherds will pull through. Unless me dying here brings me back to Ylisse? Ha, wouldn't that be a laugh.
Closing his eyes, Robin braced himself for the Taurus Demon's greataxe. What he didn't expect was to hear the crack of thunder followed by the Taurus Demon's cry of pain. He heard armored footsteps approach from behind him, another crack of lightning, and another savage cry from the demon before he managed to open his eyes.
The first thing Robin saw was lightning dancing around the demon's body as the giant writhed in pain. A third crack sounded, and a spear composed of lightning seemed to sprout from the center of the demon's chest. The Taurus Demon weakly clawed at the lightning spear before it crumpled to its knees. Then, very much like the Asylum Demon did, the Taurus Demon's body started to dissipate before a ripple of energy from the now-transparent body scattered the bubbles of white light.
The threat of the Taurus Demon now gone, and Robin's eyes started to close once more. As his eyelids started to droop, he saw a man in a bucket shaped helmet with a red feather sticking out from the side of the helm. Maybe it was from Robin's grogginess, or the trick of the light, but the stranger seemed to glow like the sun. Or maybe he was glowing. Robin couldn't tell.
Then, despite the sun-like stranger standing in front of him, Robin's vision turned black.
. . .
. . .
No Solaire for you this chapter. :)
Well, maybe a little. Just a tiny, TINY little tease.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed. It really does mean a lot. :)
Little bonus game that will earn you no rewards: Which three Psynergies did Jenna use against the Taurus Demon? Two should be easy, while the third might be a little more difficult.