A Path of Bone and Poison 114 I.T. 17 Into the Deser

The five of us did not waste much time looking at each other. With our memories restored we knew the full extent of the challenge that awaited us. We were only level one adventurers now. Our abilities that had gotten us this far were gone, replaced with new abilities that had been drilled into our heads for the last 6 years. Our bodies were much stronger than they were previously, and our stats relatively balanced. It could be said that we all received the same starting point.

Even our classes were gone. We were nobody, strong nobodies, but nobodies none the less. Lucifer looked up at me with his glowing blue eyes, a look of eagerness could be seen. I could feel his yearning to adventure deep in my mind. In his six years of life all he had known was the interior of that tower, finally he would get a chance to stretch his wings.

I smiled down at him and looked over the other members of my party one final time. Each of them had a look of determination. This would be the deciding moment of our lives. If we could survive this tower than perhaps, we would have time to work out our differences. If we failed the only thing that would await us was an early grave.

I no longer looked back as I walked through the archway in front of me. The familiar aura of the tower surrounded me as my body began to dislocate. When reality had stopped swirling around me, I was greeted by the sight of an unending desert. Scorching heat could be felt around me. The sun was high in the sky, and I could feel that it would not be going anywhere anytime soon. I was thankful for the tower uniform we had been given. I could feel a sense of coolness fill my body, countering the scorching temperatures outside.

The girls appeared one after the other behind me, and Lucifer could be seen happily flying around us. The temperature did not seem to have any effect on him, even without a uniform. As I turned around the survey the surroundings, I could see the desert stretching for what seemed to be an eternity in every direction. Endless fields of soft sand as far as the eye could see.

The girls around me seemed to do the same. Their eyes wide as the observed our surroundings. Only Bailey did not seem lost, her eyes darting back and forth as she seemed to get her bearings. All eyes focused on her. If the last six years of training had taught us anything it was what each of our squads' weaknesses and strengths were.

Bailey was now a unique kid of spellcaster. She did not focus on any element, and in fact did not know a single spell. However, her magical energy was focused only on a single area, and that was the elemental bullets she could fire from her sniper rifle. The damage these bullets could inflict was far higher than any of the spells or abilities the rest of us had. They were even higher than the damage I could cause with my overload ability. The downside was that it had an extremely long cast time. Each bullet had a five second cast time. Her elven blood allowed this to be reduced to 3.75 seconds.

The cast time was far longer than any of our abilities, and we would be able to cast several spells or abilities by the time she was able to cast a single bullet. However, her perception gave her a sense of accuracy that none of us could even hope to get close to. She was able to tell a monster's weakness at a glance, and her bullets would always strike a weak spot. Most of her shots would result in a one shot kill, which was much better than the rest of us.

It was because of her perception that we all looked at her now. She would be able to notice things in the environment that the rest of us would be unable to. She had become an essential part of the team in our six years together. More essential than any of the rest of us. She pointed to the left, and all of us moved in that direction. Leisha and I taking the lead, after all we were the only ones with melee capabilities.

The other girls had also received an abundance of abilities from our stay in the tower. Sierra had been able to maintain her status as a scion of fire and had kept two of her previous abilities. Her phoenix aura had stayed, as well as her signature spell fireball. She had focused all six years on a single ability. She had only mastered it a month ago. The skill was called [Elemental Overlord] and functioned similarly to my overload ability. The difference was that it was always active. Her fire spells now cost 10x the amount of mana but did 10 times the damage. It was in a way better than my own ability, as the cost was much less. Even with this ability her fireballs did less damage than Baileys bullets, but they were much higher than the rest of us.

Sierra had truly mastered the art of fighting with her natural weapons. She had learned skills that toughened her hide, granting her a massive amount of damage resistance. Her attacks with her claws had become far more powerful than before, she was able to make minute adjustments in her swings to maximize her damage. The biggest change she got though was from a passive ability that had taken her 3 years to learn. The ability was called [Self-Healing] and boosted her ability to heal by using her mana. Because she had no actual magical abilities this allowed her to utilize the massive amount of mana she had gained through her daily training.

Hylia had become an archer that others could only look up to in awe. She had worked on her archery tirelessly. It had reached a level that could rival the most experienced archers out there. She could fire three arrows at the same time, with almost perfect accuracy. She could fire during any situation, even while being attacked or moving. The biggest change though was in the arrows she produced with her spinnerets. She had spent a total of 4 years, practicing both in her free time as well as when she should be sleeping on mastering this unique ability. The arrows she produced were much more powerful than before, and she had maximized their speed. The individual damage of her arrows was less than my bullets, but she could fire 3 for every 1 I shot. That was considering me using two pistols.

Lucifer was a Hybrid creature. I could attack with his jaws and claws. He could attack with his poisonous breath or used the two spells my core had possessed that had not been deleted. These two spells were the bullets and grenades. He was the perfect bomber, as he could torment the opponents from the sky.

Our group was much stronger than before, I truly believed we had a chance at survival in this horrible tower.

Chapter end