The mountain troll immediately started to climb the building, causing Drake and Cortez to share a look. Drake had no idea what Cortez was thinking nor feeling in that moment, but when Cortez smiled at her, she realized something.

  He came in here with you Drake, he just might be as crazy as you are…

  Drake shrugged, summoning forth her magical minions, taking Havoc from their grasps before they took flight. The command given with a single point, as Cortez began to fire his bow at the mountain troll. Her weapons transformed and ripped through the sky as a sword and spear. While Cortez’s arrows soared, whistling toward the mountain trolls eyes.

  “We really doing this,” yelled drake.

  “Do we have a choice!”

  A singularity wrapped itself around Drake’s sword, the gleaming metal rippling as it began to orbit the mountain troll. While its partner floated stationary in the air; a growing storm cloud with the threat of death building at its volatile vortex of a center.

  Can I push more spiritual energy into my attacks?

  The moment Drake had the thought, she heard thunder, and a sound like ripping paper. She glanced up, noticing that her sword had moved to orbit her spear like a fan blade, swirling dangerously as if to further stir up the storm’s intensity.

  She heard a cry of pain that drew her attention from whatever her minions had begun to do, and looked down to see the mountain troll rip an arrow out of its eye socket. Only for the monster to blink a few times; its eye healed near instantly.

  “Yeah we are going to have to do way more damage to hurt this thing,” yelled Drake, having to yell to be heard next to the near turbine levels of sound being output by her magical minions.

  “Noted!”

  Vanish began to fire arrows upward, one after the other, as Drake did her best to try and figure out what she could do with the tools she had at hand to help slow the monster’s ascent up the side of the building.

  A rain of arrows began to pelt the mountain troll. The first wave had little to no effect on the massive monster, but by the second and third wave that arrived immediately after its predecessors, more and more cuts were seen. The number of lodged arrows left in the monster’r’s body growing by the blink.

  This is more, but still not enough, thought drake. Her only comfort as her mind raced for any way to kill the monster using windows as climbing supports, was the sound of the crackling storm that grew larger above her. The emanations of thunder now a booming orchestra of sound in the sky above them.

  The new sense of where Drake’s mana was being directed, pulled her vision to look at Zen; the hand trembling with a roiling pressure.

  Crimson light spiraled off the limb, The life force collected by the minion struggled to stay within the hand alone, power beginning to ripple up the wrist into the radius and the ulna.

  The bones were cracking, only to be repaired in an instant, and though Drake worried over the fragility of her weapon, her new sense told her what was happening was either a growth in capabilities, and evolution or both.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  What are you doing buddy?

  This wasn’t the first time she’d seen Zen gather power in this way, but it was the first time that she let it happen without needing the minion for a defensive purpose. Normally she’d use zen to reinforce an attack with another minion, or even just to strike out offensively, now however, she felt the need to let whatever was happening to happen.

  The light filled the entire arm until Drake’s entire right side was completely lit by the crimson of life force. A sensation of titanic weight pressed down on the entire area and Drake didn’t know if gravity was being distorted by her magical minions, or Zen alone.

  “If you are going to do something, please do it now woman!”

  Drake looked at Cortez, the young Cultivator still committed to the storm of arrows he delivered upon the monster below without end, giving him a nod.

  “Let’s do this guys!”

  Drake yelled and all of her minions took action at once. A focused beam of power shot from her magical minions. The beam like a focused black hole aimed at the monster.

  The crimson beam tinged with a flickering black that made the beam look like the flare of a blood red sun surrounded by the void of space. The weight of the power used nearly brought Drake to her knees, and caused Cortez to momentarily stop firing as he staggered underneath the pressure.

  The chaotic nature of the attack was so volatile that the beam was sent toward the monster’s right leg,; the explosion ripping through the monster’s upper thigh, completely dismembering the mountain troll in an instant, obliterating the face of the rear of the buildings perimeter in a blink.

  A symbol painted itself above Drake’s right shoulder. The sign of Omni painting itself in the air just above her shoulder blade. A tribal sun with a sideways hourglass flexing its power for the realm to see as Zen faced its palm toward the face of the roaring mountain troll.

  PUSH!

  Drake felt more power flood outward from her body, fueling what she believed to be the palm strike skill Zen was truly capable of performing. Not a physical strike, but an entirely ranged magical attack.

  A massive hand made of pure life force formed in the air above the mountain troll. Runes forming and dancing throughout the entire structure of the attack. Cortez gasped, and the mountain troll’s roar died in its throat, as its eyes widened.

  Drake was the only thing heard in the next instant. Her own roar echoing through the air causing every monster below the fifth rank to run from the area.

  The hand slammed downward with the force of a boulder dropped from a mountain, yanking the mountain troll off the side of the building with such force that the monster ripped the sections of wall it held completely off the structure.

  The body of the monster was slammed down to the ground below with enough weight to leave a hand print shaped crater, and Drake felt her head spin at the power used immediately.

  Woah

  “Holy maiden fire, you had all that in you and you were worried about—“

  Cortez’s celebration cut off and he groaned as the monster started to stir.; the broken bits of his arrows falling out of the monster’s body as its regeneration started to fix its broken and shredded form.

  “What in the fuck does it take to kill one of these things,” murmured Drake, using Havoc as a cane to stay upright, her dizzy spell growing worse by the second.

  “I have no idea but we need to figure it out and quick,” yelled Cortez, another endless rain of arrows beginning to fall on the mountain troll below.

  “You two, get on it,” that attack seemed to powerful to aim, but if you get close enough you might be able to take its fucking head off,” said Drake with a point toward her two magical minions.

  The sound of thunder began once more, and Drake looked back at her giant minion.

  “Get down there and make sure that fucker can’t get up if you can…”

  Drake could have sworn that she heard deep laughter in that moment; the joyful chuckle bubbling up from the depths of her mind as her minion raised its shield, and ran off the top of the roof, diving shield first toward the mountain troll’s head.

  Wish I would have told him to engage sooner….

  Her minion plummeted toward the troll’s head, landing squarely on its face shield first. The sound like metal on stone as the troll’s nose was caved in, causing it to growl, until a Phalanx Strike ripped out like a shotgun blast, further destroying the monsters face.

  Her minion began its work, sending spear strikes without pause, breaking down the monsters head as it swung wildly to swat away her giant bond.

  You must not like things bigger than you huh buddy?

  PUSH!

  Her giant skeletal bond increased its stabs by nearly double, ripping chunks out of the monsters face and skull, sending brain matter splattering in every direction.

  I’ll take that as a yes…

  Drake could see that the monster was becoming more enraged however, it’s flailing increasing to a more drastic tempo.

  The consistency of the arrows, and her minions spear strikes gave the monster nearly no time to regenerate, which only made the monster more violent the closer it treaded toward deaths doorway.

  “Oh fuck!”

  Her giant skeleton was grabbed and thrown at an angle up toward the building, sent rocketing through a half dozen floors, crash landing a few floors below them, just as the monster kicked out toward the base of the building with its remaining leg, causing the entire building to shake violently.

  “No, not again, I refuse to have to survive another falling fucking building!”

  The building stopped shaking, and Drake sighed as her and Cortez shared a weary glance.

  Thank—“

  Both Cultivators were cut off as her giant skeletal bond bursted from the twenty first floor of the building, hurtling back down toward the mountain troll, causing the building to teeter once more.

  Time to go,” asked Cortez as the building began to lean toward the mountain troll.

  “Do we even have a fucking option!”