The Runic Alchemist
Chapter 62: Companions

"Have you tried using your ability..?" Damian asked.

"I don't know what my ability is numbnuts.. That's the whole problem.."

"But did you try activating it..? Like using the name to activate it..?"

"It doesn't work like that for an Esper.. We have to know it.. Understand it.. before we can use it.."

"Your ability is to store electricity in your body.. And you also have a skill that can control it..." Damian explained.

"Y.. you.. You know what it means..?"

"Yes."

"What is electrn-sin-city..? How do I store and control it..?"

"You were hit by a lightning right..? What do you think you expelled out of your body in that tavern..?"

"I don't remember.. I was just too out of it.."

"It was blue and glowing white.. Can you guess what it could be..?"

He made funny faces while overworking his last two brain cells at their limit.. but finally his eyes widened and a look of realization dawned upon him.

"I.. I released lightning..."

"Yes, you did. That's what electricity means..."

"I can control it..?"

"I guess.."

"That is so f*cking much better than being a healer... Wow ! I am so cool..."

"Hold your horses there buddy.. You can barely control it.. You need tons of practice but lightning doesn't sell in shops..."

"Ohh.. I am useless without lightning..." Sam went from sunny and glowing to sad and depressed in a second. Damian could not believe what a simpleton he had received as an assistant.

"There are other ways to get electricity.." Sam's ears perked up at that.

"There are..?"

"Yes, I will only tell them to you if you do a good work as an assistant.."

"What do you need assistant for..? You are a kid.. You just want to order me around, don't you..? You sadist.."

"Where in the hell did you even learn that word..?"

"I am well read and educated man..." Sam said puffing his chest proudly.

"Of course.." Damian sighed.

Damian took the status tool back from his hands and stored it inside his spatial tool. Sam looked at him suspiciously, looking all around for the metal square then he started clapping as if Damian was showing him a trick. Damian just sighed and walked out of the room. He was reading for a while now and needed some fresh air.

The deck of the ship was as lively as always. People busy doing all kinds of things. Damian noticed the hired group of pathreplaceers preparing for a small fight. Damian had also sensed the large group of unranked monsters coming their way. He looked down the ship and focused.. They were a large group of some piranha like monstrous looking swarm of fish.

Damian just stood on the side maintaining some distance from the group, his hands on the railings, lazily observing them.

The fierce looking woman who acted like a leader glanced at Damian once then focused back on her job. She was wearing black breeches and long oversized green tunic which was tied on her waist with red sash in which a sword holder was, her hands were resting on her sword there. She was the one with the biggest mana signature, A first ranker.

There were two other guys wearing common clothes with a spear in one guy's hand and another just had his sleeves rolled up, his muscular arms showing, Damian guessed he was a pugilist and a teenage kid who had started chanting already. A mage. A pretty balanced team everything considered.

Once the targets were in range the lady stretched her hand on the side and the pugilist gave her a bow and a quiver filled with arrows that were lying on the side. The mage released a water blade spell directly where the monsters were gathered close, The spearman threw the spear with full force which made a little explosion on contact with the water, blasting the monsters on the surface to pieces.

Then the spear returned flying back to it's user's hand. Damian had seen the glowing characters there but it wasn't runic in nature, should be an enchantment, only effective for a fixed period of time. The pugilist just punched the air and the aura traveled in a fast speed crashing into the monsters.

The lady on the other hand took aim with an arrow stretched on her bow and chanted few lines, a blue runic circle appeared behind the arrow and it flashed blue once before the lady released it. The arrow hit directly in the middle of the swarm and froze some meter wide ocean surface, getting a bunch of them at once.

Damian was impressed and immediately drew the runic circle on his collection diary book as the group continued fighting for a while. Finally the swarm was broken in half then even less and at the end they gave up the chase.

However it did not end there Damian suddenly lost mana signs of a whole group of monsters that were chasing them from a little back and a bigger one single mana signature replaced it. Damian walked toward the end of the ship and looked down, and he noticed a shark like big fish monster but it also had wings.

Damian walked back to the pathreplaceer group who were resting and looked at their lady leader.

"A leader ranked monster right behind us.. Looks like a big fish with wings..." Damian revealed.

"What !?" The lady was surprised.

"Goddammit ! It must have chased after the swarm of Lantiers.." Said the teenage boy.

"Good job kid, come on.. Who still have some juice left..?" The pugilist praised Damian.

"Carl with me.. We will handle it.. You two keep watch.." The lady leader declared.

The spearman and the pugilist just nodded as the fierce lady walked at the edge of the ship with the mage boy in toe. Damian also got behind them.

After getting into the position and having the shark monster in range the lady took out her sword and started chanting, a red runic circle forming behind her sword handle. Damian immediately copied it as it formed without even seeing what it did.

The boy was also chanting and blue runic circle formed near his hand as he aimed at the fast swimming shark and released the spell, it hit the surface above the monster and froze that little 2 meter long area with the same kind of spell that the lady was using on her arrows.

With the monster trapped, the lady also finished her preparation. Her sword glowed in red for a second as she made an overhead slash aiming at the frozen monster. A meter long slash of pure blazing orange fire left her sword and crashed directly on to the monster cutting the frozen block in clean two parts. However there was no blood in there once the smoke dissipated.

A glass breaking kind of sound was heard and the shark monster jumped out of the sea in an incredible speed directly heading towards the three of them.

"Shit !"

"It's coming.."

The two besides Damian were shocked to see the monstrous creature coming nearer and nearer with each second. Having no other choice Damian raised his hand up and activated the runic spell inscribed on his palm. A green runic circle formed quickly and a big air blade the size of long sword launched like an arrow, piercing the monstrous creature right in it's head, splitting it in two.

Spraying blood all over the bow of the wooden ship.

And of course, then came the burning pain.

'Goddammit! Even before I could heal old ones.. I have new injuries.. My luck really is just shitty..'

The blood seeped out of Damian's hand and the burning glow subsided, just remaining as a charred lines on his hand now. Smoke mixed with sweet burning flesh smell raised out of it.

"What the hell..?" The boy exclaimed.

"He is injured... His hand is bleeding..." The lady held the mage boy's shoulder and directed his attention towards him.

The boy finally saw it and coming out of his shock started chanting the healing spell.