Guardian 2.10

April 11th, 2011

It was half an hour to midnight by the time I headed out. So far I'd been keeping watch in the docks area via my familiar, while I was trying to squeeze out every last bit of time to get as much mana as possible.

I didn't tell Madison about my plans for today—didn't want her involved tonight because it was going to be risky, and I didn't have the MP to spare to equip her. I hardly had enough for myself, after all, and without additional power ups she wasn't going to be very helpful.

As I made my way over to the area where the gangsters tended to hang around, I kept my spirit close to me. Ideally, if the enemies weren't too strong, I wouldn't need to get into close combat myself, and would just have my spirits to fight for me, while casting spells from afar using my familiar.

Then I'd go in for a finisher, using my new monk staff's Stun effect. It was a one-piece wooden pole made of oak, that ended off with a silver colored steel head shaped like an ankh. There was no way I could make such shapes out of metal with the tools I had, but thankfully I could cheat when crafting magical items. With mana, I could slowly reshape materials in small parts. It was harder with metal, and much easier with wood. Once I had the ankh shape, I grew the wood around the shaft of the ankh then wrapped tendrils around the horizontal cross, tying it together into one piece. A floating light ball effect inside the curve of the ankh finished the magical staff, similar to the effect I imbued onto the sconces back at the church.

Monk Staff: 2 magic melee attack. [Combat Summon: Guardian Spirit]x3, [Spell Resist -2], [Stun -1] [Missile Immunity]

With a monk staff, I figured out that the unique polearm ability to Stun an opponent could be modified by the Spell Resist ability, making it even stronger. It was the only ability that targeted resistance that I had access to right now, but also the perfect one because as a hero I was supposed to do non-lethal takedowns. I didn't give it any attack boost because given my theory about the nature of magical or Fantastic stat points, I was concerned that having too much attack power might deal more damage than I was intending. I wasn't looking to maim anyone, after all. Besides, my guardian spirits were already quite lethal if I didn't restrain them.

Just the two non-unique Item Powers already brought the total cost of the staff to 1490 MP. I'd wanted more, but it was just too expensive to add more powers. The first one was free, the second one was 50 MP because the square of 1 was just 1, but the quadratic increase for 2+ extra Item Powers quickly made it painful. I could always improve the staff later, once I had more MP, but for tonight, my strategy was to let my spirits do most of the fighting.

That's why I also made a set of boots with +1 run speed, for 450 MP, to keep me agile enough to stay away from the front. The only other armor piece I made was a new hooded robe for the shadow effect.

Why a new one? Because I was going to go out with a different cape identity as I'd planned. It would still be associated with White Mage because of our powers and ankh motif, and we'd claim to be on the same team. I'd eventually be able to get actual teammates outfitted with similar powers as well. The main point of this was so that my White Mage persona would continue to be the supporting pacifistic healer, while today, I was going to be the fighter and spiritual medium of our mystic order, exorcising demons and defending the innocent.

And so that was why my new costume was a white warrior monk's robe, with an overcoat of grey, wrapped at the waist with grey loose martial arts pants and tight leg wrappings. The ankh symbol was painted in white at the back, and just like my White Mage costume, I had an ankh-marked mantle attached to the robe below the hood, this one was thicker at the front and more scarf like. Unlike White Mage though, I was using a full shadow effect that obscured everything underneath the hood. And two long chains of beads each wrapped in a crisscross pattern over my shoulders to below the other arm.

The style ended up looking a bit like the Buddhist monks from the east, but when I'd researched what warrior monks were supposed to look like, those seemed to be the most commonly known and fit what I was going for. The fact that I was combining the ankh, which was an Egyptian motif, with Buddhist garbs didn't bother me. It wasn't like my power was actually related to any real religion, so I could use whatever I wanted.

After I made my gear, I was left with 414 MP in reserve to cast spells. Enough to heal twenty times on top of the nine charges I had on my necklace rings that I could use on other people, plus some more MP to maintain my [Combat] spells.

As I crossed into the docks proper, there were occasionally some people on the streets, but I did my best to avoid them, using my familiar to scout from the skies. Since there were a lot of abandoned buildings here, there weren't that many people that stayed on the streets at this time of day, as they could easily find shelter.

Because I'd had my familiar explore the docks quite a bit in the last week, I was somewhat familiar with the area, so when I noticed a group of men moving a few blocks away from me, I started making my way to a particular rooftop with a good vantage point which was close enough to the buildings around it to jump around the roofs.

Once I got close, my dove approached from the other side of the group. My body was a block away from them, watching them come down the street, almost meandering in the way they were moving.

Eventually they stopped at a two-story building where more men were coming out. Then their boss appeared as the men gave him room. I recognized him immediately.

It was Lung.

That wasn't good. He was the leader of the ABB and a cape, but not just any cape, he was probably one of the strongest in the city, having fought whole teams of heroes and come out fine. I could not be sure what powers he had, but what I had seen online wasn't encouraging. He could gradually transform, and it wasn't clear what it was based on, but he basically kept getting stronger as the fight went on, and was rumored to be able to transform into his namesake, an actual dragon, if the fight kept going long enough. He had regeneration, grew armored plates like dragon scales, and was a pyrokinetic that could create fire out of thin air, and all these powers grew stronger as he transformed. There wasn't a known upper limit to how strong he could get either, so regardless of whatever stats I might have had, it would be a fair assumption that he'd outgrow them at some point.

I didn't fancy my chances against him…not with what I had on me right now. But I couldn't just retreat without even doing anything, I ought to at least find out if I could put a stop to whatever they were doing before teleporting away.

There was conversation I couldn't quite hear, so I sent my dove a bit closer, landing on a nearby telephone pole.

"…the children, just shoot. Doesn't matter your aim, just shoot. You see one lying on the ground? Shoot the little bitch twice more to be sure. We give them no chances to be clever or lucky, understand?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. They were going to kill kids? Why? I took a closer look at all of the men, and they were all carrying lethal weapons. A few were holding knives but almost all of them had guns and holsters.

The men seemed to agree without complaint, and shortly after a car pulled up with some more guys joining the crowd, making it at least twenty guys, they started moving north, towards my main body.

I pulled back from the edge of the roof, while my dove flew to the next building towards me, following them.

I took a moment of silence for myself to gather my thoughts, before the cold realization set in.

Retreat was no longer an option. There were lives on the line, and I couldn't just wait until they found their victims.

It didn't matter that Lung was too strong for me to take on, I couldn't call myself a hero if I just let an atrocity happen in front of me. But since I'd registered with the PRT I got a PRT issue phone, so I could call in the other heroes in the city for support. Madison had also pushed me to get a phone before I registered, which I did get, but it would speed things up to use the one the PRT had given me expressly for this purpose, which had priority access to their people.

"PRT hotline. White Mage? What's the issue?"

"There's a large group of ABB moving in the docks led by Lung. I overheard them saying they're going to kill kids," I said.

"Thanks for reporting in. Do you have the closest intersection?"

I told the operator the location, then added. "They're moving north though, not sure where or if they have any specific destination in mind."

"Okay, I've passed it on to the heroes. Please get as far away as you can."

"I'll get away, but can you tell the heroes to watch out for a new hero in robes, carrying a staff bearing the symbol of Life—an ankh, same as mine? That's my teammate, the White Hand of the Maiden's Passion."

"The Right Hand of the Maiden, you said?"

"No, the White Hand, like the color. Like White Mage."

"White Hand, got it. Can you hold on the line for a moment please."

"OK."

Lung's group was getting closer, only a few buildings away from me now. I quickly took stock of my combat capability versus what I knew about the enemy.

The mooks weren't a big deal, I could probably take them out easily given how resilient my guardian spirits were, and their guns probably wouldn't do that much damage either, considering that the guardian spirits had no vital organs.

The big problem was Lung. A prolonged battle would inevitably end in his victory. I had to somehow end it before he outgrew my ability to fight him, which meant I couldn't play it safe and let me spirits do all the fighting. And he had regeneration so just damaging him wouldn't put him down. The Stun effect on my staff might work, but it wouldn't be easy to get him with it. I also didn't know if his transformation might raise his resistances.

I continued to wait, and Lung was about to pass by the alley just before my building when the operator came back on. "White Mage, please do not risk yourself, and ask your teammate to wait for the Protectorate heroes to arrive to coordinate. Armsmaster, should be there within ten minutes."

"I'll be staying hidden and provide support from afar, and White Hand will wait for Armsmaster, but stay close to them in case—" I stilled and cut myself off as Lung also stilled, and seemed to turn in the direction of my body. He couldn't see me from this angle, so did he hear me? Did he have heightened senses too, or had I been too loud?

"White Mage? Are you still there?" the operator asked.

"I think we were noticed, does Lung have enhanced hearing?!" I whispered In as low a voice as I could.

"He might. Is he transformed already? Please get away quickly! Lung is a very dangerous villain."

"Oh crap!" I said before hanging up and shoving the phone into my utility bag underneath my robes.

Lung was actively walking towards me now and looking at towards the roof, while his men stayed behind.

My familiar took flight, creating a sharp whistling sound, a dove's danger signal.

Lung whipped back the other way and saw my dove soaring into the air to circle above us, while I took the opportunity to give orders to my guardian spirit.

My guardian spirit phased down through the roof, charged out from the wall with a wailing roar to tackle Lung. He did not flinch, and launched a gout of flames at my spirit. I mentally ordered the spirit to turn Incorporeal and it did, only a split second before the flames washed through, though it still got hit and lost 1 HP. Guess that ability only works on physical objects.

A red [Enemy Unit] triangle appeared over Lung's head. Some of his stats became visible to me, though it was less detailed than for my own [Friendly Units].

Lung: [4 attack, 4 defense, 15 max health, 6 resistance, 4 speed]

Abilities: [Rising Dragon Transformation] [Regeneration] [Cold immunity] [Pyrokinetic] [Fire Breath] [Immolation]

Experience Level: Ultra Elite (LV5 MAX) [372/300 to Champion (LV6)]

Damn, that resistance was too high. Even with my Spell Resist boosting it, my Stun effect would only be -3 going up against 6. I didn't know how that calculation worked, but it probably wouldn't be a high chance to stun if his resistance was three points higher.

The spirit lunged through the flames and punched towards Lung, who, not seeing any visible damage from the flames, decided to counter with his own fists.

His men were pointing their guns now, but none dared to fire yet because of the close proximity of their boss.

Lung dodged the first punch, then got inside the spirit's guard and slammed a fist into its face. The spirit had no reaction whatsoever and lost no HP, the head barely moved, and then swiped a hand towards Lung's bare chest as if it had claws towards Lung and sent him careening backwards, bleeding from the shoulder down.

He growled but otherwise looked unconcerned with the injury. His HP recovered the 2 lost HP within seconds.

"Who are you?"

I could not make it out clearly because my vantage point with the dove was too far, but it looked like he'd already started growing armor plates. However, I could see his stats rising. If this was just the beginning of his ramp up, then I'd be in serious trouble.

Lung: [5 attack, 5 defense, 15 max health, 6 resistance, 5 speed]

But he did not move, seemingly wary of what he was fighting.

I could try hitting Lung multiple times to trigger a Stun but…whether or not a Stun would even put him down was an open question. it didn't look like I could win this one on my own.

Gunshots rang out, and they hit my guardian spirit, which raised its hands to block instinctively, but they also didn't do any damage, or at least not enough to bring down the HP by a whole point. All the men who fired suddenly had [Enemy Unit] designations too. At least now I had a good idea of where my spirit stood in terms of strength and durability. And if bullets couldn't hurt it, then they probably wouldn't do much damage to me either with a Holy Armor buff on, regardless of whether Missile Immunity worked on them or not.

After realizing it wasn't hurt, my spirit resumed its charge toward Lung again.

Lung roared, then exploded in fire as the spirit approached. His hands and feet were covered in flames as he struck back.

I took the chance to start running with the full power of my boots, streaking across the rooftop over to the next one over which was a story lower, each step taking me twice as far thanks to the +1 run speed multiplier.

"Your cause is just, your heart is true, so let faith be your shield, and be blessed with [Holy Armor]! Your cause is just, your heart is true, so strike down all evil, and be blessed with [Holy Weapon]!"

When my spirit was hit this time, it took another point of damage, but with no sense of pain it attacked back at the same time, tearing another gash into Lung's chest even through the newly grown armor.

I jumped with a giant leap and sailed towards the mooks that were massed a short distance away from Lung.

Some of the men remembered to shoot, but my Missile Immunity kicked in. My staff spun in my hands, a strange force automatically guiding it, striking the bullets out of the air. Well, that was different than I'd expected. I thought it was supposed to be a forcefield over my whole body?

My power responded and I had the vague feeling of something telling me that there was a forcefield over my body, but it was also over the staff, and obviously it was better to block with the staff first if I could.

"[Guardian Spirit], [Guardian Spirit], [Guardian Spirit]!" I whispered as I landed.

Three complex white magic circles made of light appeared in the middle of the group, and Guardian Spirits tore out of them into this world, immediately attacking the men.

There were yelps and cries of fright as the men tried to scatter and fire to no avail. I ordered my spirits to try to stay non-lethal. Each punch and swipe of their arms pummeled somebody to the ground.

Then I went forth joined the attack myself, first tapping my staff into somebody's side just to test my attack power. I didn't want to accidentally kill somebody after all. The man crumpled instantly with a scream, and I felt the crunch of bones. He didn't get back up, clutching his wound with a whimper. Well, that might have been a bit too strong.

After a few more practice hits, I started aiming for the head and getting instant knockouts every time, as these guys only had 1 or 2 resistance each.

It wasn't long before the whole group was decimated and lying on the ground or against a wall.

With a loud roar and another explosion of fire, my first guardian spirit was flung out of the massive plume of fire, its HP down to 4. Its body was flaky and smoky in parts, with a loss of sheen that made it look like it was losing cohesion.

My dove stopped pretending to be a normal bird and came to a halt in the air, levitating in a single spot, while my voice carried through the battlefield from the skies.

"Soothing light of life, take away the pain. Flower in the stream, floating bubbling strife. In the fall you crumple and in the spring you [Heal]!"

A circle of sparkling light covered the guardian spirit as the spell took hold and restored its health.

That one was a permanent summon, so I didn't want to lose it, or I'd have to spend a lot more MP to get it back.

Lung jumped out of the plume of fire and looked around for the source of the voice, before finding the dove in the air. A sweep of his hand and a fireball tore into the night, but my dove was too far and easily moved aside.

"Soothing light of life, take away the pain. Flower in the stream, floating bubbling strife. In the fall you crumple and in the spring you [Heal]!"

The Guardian Spirit howled with renewed vigor, its body regaining its structure in totality. Now I was down to 384 MP, but my spirit was fresh again. It would've been more efficient to use my heal rings' charges first, but I chose to cast the spell directly through my familiar because I wanted to have White Mage be seen as providing support and casting it from afar, since that's what I'd told the PRT. Also because my items could be used to heal other people, and I'd wanted to keep some charges in reserve in case I had to heal anyone else that might get hurt tonight.

Lung stared at his regenerated opponent, then towards me and the other three spirits I'd summoned. His body was now fully plated in armor, and he seemed to have grown a feet taller too.

He seemed content to just stand there, so I glanced at his stats again, which now showed 8 attack, 8 defense, 17 HP, and 9 resistance. That Stun strategy looked like it was dead in the water before it even left the harbor. There was a 6 point difference now, I cursed. Even if my effect was magical and might overcome natural resistances of a higher numeric value, somehow I just had this feeling that Lung's stats wouldn't be considered "non-magical natural abilities" anymore, at least not entirely. He was clearly above human limits already.

"Who are you?" Lung asked again, looking right at me, his voice slightly warbled.

I spun my staff and tapped it to the ground, while dispelling the three Combat Summoned Guardian Spirits. Glowing magic circles appeared above each of them, and they were dragged up and faded away. I could bring them back whenever, so if Lung wanted to talk I might as well save some of their charge. Then I raised my other palm vertically to my chest and curled my thumb around a bead in a practiced motion.

I sent some mana to my throat to make my voice deeper and reverberate, sounding like a spell incantation even when it wasn't.

"I am the White Hand of the Maiden's Passion," I said.

"And I am the White Mage of the Tranquil Heaven," I said through the dove, its lighter voice similarly ringing in the air.

Together, the two voices said as one, "We are the Order of Passionate Tranquility, and we serve the One who sits on the Highest Throne, Queen of Life and Light, the Eternal Maiden of the Pure White Heaven, whose justice shall not waver, whose wisdom shall not lie, whose passion shall not fade!"

At the same time, I kept a close watch on his stats, which didn't seem to be rising any more. Was that because we'd stopped fighting?

After a long silence, Lung spoke, "Why huave you addagged me an' my men?"

In my deeper White Hand voice, but without the echo effect, I said, "We are here to carry out the will of Maiden, who abhors wanton death and chaos, to protect this city from those who threaten the peace. You were planning to kill children tonight, were you not? We could not allow this."

"Heeros, then? Hnnmph," He scoffed. "Those jildrun robbed me. They are willains doo. The Anderziderrs."

There was a short silence as I tried to parse what he said. Did he mean the Undersiders? That was another known villain group. Teenagers too, if I recalled correctly…which, I suppose, were children to Lung.

So…I was out here sticking my neck out for a bunch of villains. Great. Not that I could turn away just because of that, but it was hardly what I'd wanted to do for my first outing.

"That may be, but you can't kill them just for robbing you. we overheard you telling your men to shoot first, and shoot them twice to make sure."

He folded his arms and tilted his chin up. And then spoke a language I didn't understand. Was it Chinese? Japanese? Did he think I might be Asian because of my costume?

"What? English please," I said.

"How about you come wime and arrest them first, then? We can fight avter."

That sounded like a trap to me, or did he really think I would put a bunch of teenage villains at higher priority than a merciless killer?

"I don't have the authority to agree to that, but if you're willing to wait until the Protectorate gets here, sure," I said.

"So dat is oo you were talking to. Foolish," he said, then lunged towards me in a single bound.

I jumped back and resummoned my three spirits in one breath to block his way.

O O O

A/N: Finally, Taylor's first real cape fight is here...

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!