Marathon - Part 4

Even as a four-person group, the stark difference in pacing between the first and second rotations couldn't have been more obvious. Between Etriyya making a point of culling through the early hordes while practicing a handful of new spells, Kim and Moira's eternal competitiveness, and the experience of the gathered warriors, the lower-level dungeon mobs could scarcely land a blow, let alone pose a genuine threat.

And as the levels and strength of their foes grew, so too did their cohesion. They had all fought alongside each other at one point or another, and the further they progressed, the more their formations began to feel something like an old tool—rusted, perhaps, but every bit as reliable as it ever was, with the proper maintenance and a little lubrication. Even as they reached the halfway mark, with their enemies' levels reaching into the mid-twenties, Kim's words from earlier were becoming less of a boast, and more of a statement of fact.

Even when the enemies they were facing became somewhat... sacrilegious.

"You are quite certain that this doesn't constitute some form of blasphemy?" Etriyya called out as a whip of golden light lashed against her shield again, hard enough to **** the knight's spine to yield, if only slightly.

"These are just Barrier monsters, the same as any other," John reassured, moving on the balls of his feet as he found himself veritably dancing between the thrusts of a spear and the slashing cut of a gold-trimmed, angelic blade. "They serve no god. Or if they do, it's a lousy mini-boss."

"And you've killed enough angels to know this?" Etriyya asked doubtfully, though she showed little hesitation in her next action. Two fingers pointed toward the sky, and as she brought them down, a crimson arc seared the air. There was no golden light this time, no holy energy, only that brilliant red mana that passed through the gilded armor of the angelic being above Etriyya with ease, carving its body in two and reducing the creature to a shower of golden light.

"Not really. I just..." John hesitated, not wanting to explain what it looked like when some outside **** was influencing his Dungeon Barriers—or how he knew that in the first place. "I've seen enough of these dungeon monsters to know that no matter what they look like, they're the same aggressive beasts underneath."

"Uncomfortable as it may be," Moira shouted over the din of battle, "any experienced summoner or Fateweaver could trap us in a barrier with creatures such as these. We cannot allow our faith or morals to be twisted against us. Cut them down without- By the Lady, still your Wrath!"

Moira's reassuring command was interrupted by two separate axes bouncing off her shield, a brilliant light shining as her sacred armament not only reflected the power of the blows, but amplified them, blowing the angels back and sending their weapons flying.

"What she said," John affirmed as his blade sang, moving fast enough to fill the arena with a sound like a whistle before it struck home in the nearest angel's chest.

The angel's spear clattered to the ground a moment before it faded into dust, while John leaped to the side to avoid the cut of its comrade's sword. John's own weapon flew from his hand without warning, catching the angel while it was off-balance from the missed stride, skewering the winged monster and driving it back until it, too, crumbled into nothingness.

A scant few more seconds and the last of the angelic creatures were slain or banished, leaving the four of them alone in the gladiatorial arena—long enough for the mini-boss to spawn in, at least. A grand display of golden light and beaming radiance filled the sky above them, and from a magnificent orb descended a woman clad in pristine white robes, with eight snow-white wings stretching out behind her. She might have been beautiful, were it not for the extra eyes scattered across nearly every part of her body except where they should have been.

"Does leaning into the 'Biblically accurate' style make it better, or worse?" John asked with a light snort as the woman descended toward them.

He didn't turn his head toward them, but he could feel the chastising looks from Moira and Etriyya on the back of his head as they braced themselves.

"Not worth the stress of it all," Etriyya groaned as the final Barrier faded away. She slumped against the wall, still bleeding from a missing section of shoulder that had been rather gruesomely carved away by the spike of an oversized angelic club.

"You found your improvements unsatisfying? I don't think I've ever improved this much in a week, let alone a single day." Kim's expression was smug, but even the Slayer was having a difficult time playing down the sweat rippling over her features. Moira stood proudly, but the real tell in her exhaustion was that she did not rush to aid Etriyya the moment the fight was over; rather, she allowed the Order's healers to tend to the knight, as well as the rest of them.

"Well, I've got an arm hanging on by a thread, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to Hell now, but sure, I can swing a sword a little better. I suppose that evens it all out," Etriyya snarked, grimacing as the touch of glistening green hands caused the muscles and tendons in her shoulder to begin stretching out and knitting themselves back together.

"That which we destroyed were simple dungeon creatures, nothing of our Lady's creation," Moira reminded her, though she didn't sound much more pleased about the affair. "And for our efforts, we now have a much greater supply for our enchanters. The Northern Ashes' efforts will suffer greatly as a result of what we did here."

"Right. I'll swing over and talk with your crafters and enchanters before I go back. I'll see how much of what we gathered are things they've seen before and know how to use, and how many are, err, 'unique' to me."

"Uniq-? By the Lady, burn and scorch you! I'm not about to bleed out, you louts. A little less haste, so I don't feel as though my whole arm is about to get up and run off without me," Etriyya hissed, pulling her refreshed arm away from the healers. She gave them a sour look before returning her attention to John. "Unique in what way?"

"Some of the items I get are things that don't exist," John explained. "Metals and woods that don't exist naturally, mostly, but there are other things too. Sometimes they're just slightly different versions of things that already exist in the Abyss, sometimes they seem to be unlike anything else."

"John Newman once brought out bottles of elven wine. It tasted like fruits that do not exist on this plane, and it held no mana, and its intoxicating effects were not stymied in the least by innate mana, despite being completely mundane." Kim's eyes passed over to Moira, and John noticed a frown when the Warden made no reaction to the elaboration.

"I have little doubt that John's rewards can include genuinely remarkable things. But we lack the time it would require for our metalworkers and enchanters to truly understand them, and we cannot risk walking into war with equipment forged from untested materials. Particularly given the fondness this one's abilities have for breaking fundamental rules of magic..."

"Oh, forget that shite, I'll take a full suit," Etriyya exclaimed, laughing as she finally pulled away from the healers and shifted her pauldron back into place.

"Do not tempt fate with magic you do not understand, or risk consequences you cannot comprehend." Kim's eyes narrowed a little, and she held her chin up at an angle he'd rarely seen her reach except when talking to Moira... or to him, if he'd managed to screw up worse than usual.

"I make my own fate," Etriyya replied without hesitation. Her lips tightened, but her smile remained in place as if nailed onto her face.

"We all do. Some of us simply take a stricter hand with it than others," Kim's voice dropped an octave as she turned on her heel, each step ringing out through the room with punctuated haste. "John Newman, Warden, I trust you two with ensuring our share of the crafting materials are delivered to Koharu in a timely manner. I have matters to attend to before I rest for our battles tomorrow."

"You know I could just-"

But Kim was already quite intent on getting gone, and John allowed his words to vanish along with the Slayer. Etriyya and the healers weren't long after her, taking only enough time to gather their equipment and compose themselves, each of them offering their Warden a tight salute before they marched off. Moira stepped to his side shortly after the door closed the final time, her eyes in his direction but lost somewhere among the tiles of the floor. She hesitated for a breath or two, mouth slightly ajar, words only assembling themselves into sentences as a secondary matter behind whatever else seemed to occupy her thoughts.

"I appreciate you taking my warnings about overexerting ourselves on the first day seriously." Moira gave John a nod. The black dots of her pupils shifted as she focused and gave John her full attention. "I understand that you arranged all this in part to speed up the process of improving yourself, but I am relieved that you did so in a... somewhat sane manner. Our progress was still noticeable, and I'm sure things will continue to accelerate once Julianna joins us and Etriyya can be brought up to speed."

"She seems like she's catching up pretty well. Her magic is really something." Flashes of their battles played again through John's mind. When it came to hordes of enemies, like facing all of the elven cultists he'd Purified Aria from at once, John had a few tools at his disposal. Etriyya, though, seemed to have the proper tool for most any situation.

"Yes, she has been improving. Leaps and bounds, especially as of late." There was a note of pride in Moira's voice as she acknowledged the knight's improvements. "Etriyya has always been one of our stronger knights, but since your disappearance, she's found a spark I feared she'd lost."

"She told me about a fair bit of it when she came to visit me, back on the day I was holed up in your library. I saw her level had gone up, but I didn't realize how many new spells she'd been learning. Or how effective they were."

"She's studied without end, Order magic and other forms alike. I've not seen a fire in her eyes like today since the very day she came to my father and pleaded for him to allow her passage with us across the Atlantic." Moira showed no signs of whatever it was that had distracted her earlier now; there was only satisfaction and the look of a pleased commander in her eyes. "I've helped her where I can with the Lady's blessings, but she's learned the rest on her own. Between her new tricks and your abilities speeding up her growth, I think by the end of this week, she might make a worthy-"

Moira cut herself off almost sheepishly, her eyes flicking away from John, then back in an instant.

"Ah, but I should not speak of such things so freely. Forgive me, John, it isn't as though I don't trust you, it's simply poor manners to dangle such matters before they are final."

"No need for forgiveness," John said with a nonchalant shake of his head. "I understand. Matters of rank and title and duty and such, right? I understand. Besides, the Order is your responsibility, your business, and, on top of that, your home. I'm hardly going to pry into it, or tell you how to run the damned thing."

"Thank you, John." Moira gave a wince despite the gratitude. "I... wish I had been so considerate about the matter of your own home and responsibilities when we first met."

"I'm... not sure that one holds up." John smirked, though the memories of his early days almost turned the look into a grimace. "I mean, a young woman trained to lead a well-trained organization—basically from the time of her birth—versus a latebloomer mage running around creating new life every other day? I don't blame you for wanting to try to keep me out of the worst of it. I still hardly feel as though I know what I'm doing some days."

"And in that, the comparison is quite apt," Moira said, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder. "Some of us are just a little more headstrong and reckless than the others!"

"Well, I'll manage to calm you down one of these days," John retorted, earning his shoulder a second, more forceful clap as Moira started for the door.

"You can use this room as your entry and exit, if you like. I've informed the rest of the Order to stay outside unless they're aiding in our efforts." Moira turned to give John a last look over her shoulder before she left.

"I'll stick with the shed for now. I'm worried if I popped into the room, I wouldn't even be able to breathe before Kim was pulling open a Barrier herself. Besides, I like having a little walk to calm my thoughts."

"I can't fault you there. With everything going on..." John could only see part of Moira's expression, but the sigh was as clear as could be. "We need breaks now and then, however small. Alright, off with you, then. By the way, just because I complimented you on being reasonable for once doesn't give you any excuses to go off and prove me wrong! I expect you to be here on time tomorrow, in one piece, and without any insane ideas floating around in that head of yours!"

"At your orders, Warden."

"You know, I did give you a formal place in the Order, once upon a time." The half of Moira's features he could see twisted upward with a wickedness rarely seen from the redhead. "Keep talking like that and I might start pulling rank on you."

"Now there's a terrifying thought."

"Papa, Papa!"

"We missed you, Papa!"

"Is this going to be a regular thing?" John asked, though neither the question nor the roll of his eyes kept him from laughing and returning the affections given so freely to him. "I'm pretty sure you said the exact same thing earlier! And I've only been gone for a few hours!"

"Nyaa, don't try to talk your way out of this," Midoriya insisted, nuzzling against John's side until he was **** away by the combined efforts of Moira and Magnus, both vying for the same spot.

"I think they just like to see if you have any food on you when you come back," Lerianna remarked dryly, giving the kittens skeptical glances.

"Wha? Why would we do that?" Mika asked.

"Yeah, we can't even smell stuff in Papa's inventory!" Miya added. "Duh!"

"Well, I never said you were smart about it, did I?" Lerianna teased, sharpening her words as they flew true and steady. She had her hands up well before Mika and Miya launched themselves at her, frantically batting at the caramel-skinned rabbit girl in a futile attempt at ****.

"Perhaps we should help him. I fear we're losing valuable time... wouldn't want him trying to make up for it later." Orria didn't move with her words, but the house certainly seemed to. Vines slithered and flicked their way between the floorboards, somehow without causing any harm to the wood, wrapping themselves around various parts of the young Nekos and lifting them skyward.

There was a brief moment of panic from a few of them, but upon seeing Orria's knowing smile, fear left the younglings in short order, replaced by a weary resignation as they were hauled upstairs. The kittens were usually tolerated to a point, but they'd faced enough unceremonious removals by the local flora to know there was no chance of escape. Only Mika and Miya bothered trying to put up a fight, frantically swiping at the air as they were hauled away from Lerianna.

"Hm. Was going to try tuckering them out with a few minutes of play-fighting, but that's a bit more time-efficient, eh?" Lerianna grinned as the kittens were extracted, sticking her tongue out just before Mika and Miya were out of sight over the upstairs railing. The frantic and angry mewls she got in response only redoubled her amusement.

"Don't tease them too hard, or they'll be up all night." John managed to make his voice sound at least a bit reproachful, but there was no hiding the shine of his teeth or the way his eyes danced in the soft lights of their home as he watched his sons and daughters vanish into their rooms.

"Won't be our problem in a bit," Lerianna said with a shrug. "C'mon, let's get moving, yeah?"

"You're awfully eager. Hoping for a repeat of our last training session?" John didn't have to look at Lerianna to feel the daggers piercing the back of his head.

"Eager for another chance to let loose, that's all," Lerianna grumbled.

"Father will inform us when he is ready. He may yet be tired from this afternoon's training. If he requires a rest, we will allow him as much time as he needs."

John's snark nearly kicked in before his brain fully processed the fact that he wasn't dealing with the likes of Etriyya and Kim anymore. "I don't need a rest, but I appreciate the offer. I'm more than ready... and with the kittens off to bed, willing or otherwise, I see no reason to stick around here any longer than we have to."

"Alright!" Lerianna jumped up from the couch with that exclamation, pumping her fists as she hopped up. "Let's do this!"

"Seriously, what has gotten into you?" John asked, not bothering with a tease this time. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, though."

"It's nothing, just feeling more energized than usual. Plus, I've got a score to settle with blondie." Lerianna's eyes shifted rather pointedly to Orria. "Dirty little kill-stealer."

"Name calling? For shame," Orria hummed, hiding a devious smile behind her notebook. "So very hostile."

"I'll show you hostile, you-"

"I like the energy," John interrupted, biting back a laugh.