"Alright, listen up," Adam told the squad of four archers and two swordsmen he'd gathered to him. Nearby, the other defenders were keeping the Forlorn soldiers at bay while a rain of arrows from above slowed down the dual-wielding swordsman by exclusively targeting his legs. "I need you six to pull the halberdier with you towards the northern part of the city. Don't try to kill him, just keep antagonising him into following you. I will disable one of his legs so he won't be able to catch up."

The Elphin listened with rapt attention and he hoped they could accomplish what he wanted them to do. He'd actually gotten the idea from the zombie mode in a game he'd played several years back with some friends. One person would drag around a slow zombie while the rest of them worked on secondary objectives. Still, he wasn't entirely sure this would work and he felt stupid for not asking Emelia how she planned on taking on the Aristocrat while not losing the defence objective.

"Go!" he told them as he himself moved closer to the fray and sent his barrier out in a cone shape.

The halberdier had just speared the same red-glowing Elphin warrior for the third time, before his Last Stand's Fervour finally expired and he exploded like a blood balloon. It was horrible to watch, but the Dented Crown made each of the defenders' lives count for way more as their deaths were extended by 10 seconds of pseudo-immortality. They were no longer just slaughtered with ease, though they still couldn't really do much against the Forlorn Knights other than slowing them down by repeatedly absorbing lethal hits until their Fervour ran out.

Adam's barrier flew through the air with a loud whistle and he weaved it between the fighters like a homing missile, before smashing it through the halberdier's knee and sending him to the ground.

Now that he was using the spell offensively, it gained the 25% increased attack speed boost from the Captain's Cape, which almost felt like a 50% buff thanks to the multiplicative effects of the four separate speed buffs on it. After all, it got two different boosts from the cape, the Spell Speed upgrade from the wand, and of course from the spell-tome's Manipulation Speed.

The end result of all those stacking buffs was that his barrier moved insanely fast and gained a lot more piercing potential and impact damage. And that was before triggering Fervour, which might make it reach uncontrollable speeds.

The squad he'd assigned to stalling duty began harassing the disabled knight with annoying hit-and-run attacks. Much to Adam's excitement, they successfully managed to drag him away from the fight, just as the last soul essence he needed entered his lantern.

Synchronised shrieks cut through the air as two identical wraiths emerged from the Relic on his belt and flew across the battlefield, tearing into the Forlorn soldiers. He pivoted his attention towards the dual-wielding knight currently fighting off a pair of red-glowing swordsmen whose bodies were covered in lethal wounds.

Adam curved the barrier projectile around at the swordsman, while two more wraiths emerged from his lantern. If not for the limitation on the Relic that stated only the souls of enemies counted, then all the dead Elphin would have been enough to trigger it three times already. Still, with just a handful of kills he already had four of them devastating the invaders. He knew that the fight with the Forlorn Captain would be an absolute cakewalk.

The moment that Adam's barrier came within reach of the dual-wielding knight, he somehow parried the narrow cone and sent it off-course, then he pushed through the defenders and leapt right for Adam.

He didn't have time to pull the barrier back despite its speed, so he resummoned it in front of himself.

[Warning! Mana below 25%.]

Two panes of white magical glass appeared in front of him and the knight drove his swords right into them.

Adam suddenly struggled with how to apply his shaping powers to two barriers at once, so he just pushed them both forward like a mobile wall, knocking the mini boss onto his ass.

"Everyone not dealing with the halberdier, focus on the dual-wielding swordsman!" he commanded in his panic.

The Elphin swordsmen surged forward, leaving the Forlorn soldiers to their impossible fight with the wraiths. Adam backed away and attempted to shape his barriers while they dogpiled the knight. It felt like an impossible task until he managed to convince himself that they were part of the same whole.

As the defenders died to protect him, Adam shaped the two barriers into one piece, a coiled horn not too unlike the wand hanging from his belt. But the two barriers rubbing against each other created a lot of friction and they immediately cracked, both triggering Last Stand's Fervour.

Adam spun up the red-glowing barriers like a drill. The air thrummed with a roar like that of an airplane propeller and the horn was rotating so quickly that it generated a vortex of air around itself. All the stacking buffs made this type of rotation truly deadly.

With a single command he had the Elphin disperse before he shot the intertwined barriers directly into the knight's head, instantly turning it into a red mist.

< Choose your Upgrade >

Adam resummoned the barriers before they could explode and looked across the battlefield at the remaining soldiers who almost immediately succumbed to their many fatal wounds. One last pair of wraiths emerged from his lantern, but, with the halberdier boss out of sight and all other targets dead, they simply just floated in the air before they were reeled back into the Relic along with the rest.

The Eye unfolded into an upgrade podium while Adam kept his ears open for the sounds of the captain's horn. If he'd done things correctly, the halberdier should still be alive, which would stop the Stage's boss from appearing early. According to Emelia, he would always show up when 5 minutes remained, even if the Forlorn Knights were still alive.

Last time, the captain had appeared thanks to the timer, but this loop he was going fast enough that he could trigger the boss early. He could even use Emelia's advanced strategy of attacking the enemies outside the walls.

I still need to cut open the knights and get their hearts, but I'll do that before I trigger the captain I think.

He dropped the bloodied Spidersilk Sack next to the dual-wielder's corpse. Weaver had been true to her word, as not a single drop of the putrid black blood leaked through the sack.

"How much time do I have left?"

[13 minutes remaining.]

Plenty of time to deal with the Aristocrat.

I hope.

He looked at the upgrade options in front of him while trying to figure out a way to utilise both barriers without causing them to break prematurely.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Size (Uncommon) — Increases maximum barrier dimensions by 10% >

< Manipulation Range (Rare) — Increases manipulation range by 20% >

< Damage (Uncommon) — Increases all damage by 10% >

The best choice is Damage, but if I pick Manipulation Range I'll gain 2 extra metres of space to move the barrier around in, plus my spell-tome will reach level 12 and evolve.

I should've had Emelia tell me about all the evolutions she knew, particularly for Warder, since I have no idea if evolving will actually make a difference.

Lancer's second evolution had given him Spear Dancer, which had been incredibly powerful. He had no idea if he would get something to make his shaping easier or if it would be some random buff associated with it. It was also possible he'd end up with a change to the available upgrades like how Lancer had gained parry shield buffs instead of throwing-related ones.

I'll take a chance on the evolution. But I'll use my Reroll Dice, I think.

He'd already gotten the Captain's Cape, which was the main thing he'd sought from the Stage and, since he wasn't sure investing into range was worth it when he would be better off with Effect or Speed, he decided to scramble the upgrade choices.

"I'd like to use my Reroll."

The upgrade holograms flickered and reappeared with new symbols and rarities.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Barrier Durability (Uncommon) — Increases barrier health by 20% >

< Manipulation Effect (Rare) — Increases manipulation responsiveness by 35% >

< Defence (Uncommon) — Increases all defence by 10% >

That's what I'm talking about!

Adam immediately selected the Effect upgrade.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

< Manipulation Effect (Rare) >

The spell-tome in his hand started to glow with golden energy.

[Your Shaper Weapon Type has reached Level 12.]

[At Level 12, your Weapon Type can be evolved in one of two possible directions based on your previous evolution.]

The Eye folded itself back into a tesseract and then sucked up the weapon. It dropped to the ground and took on the pyramid shape.

On the left side was a hologram of the spell-tome with bleached-white leather and the bronze embellishments replaced with silver. The signet had changed from the closed fist to a hand holding a hammer. The other hologram had green-dyed leather, gold embellishments, and the signet were two hands with their curled fingers interlocked. Both of the tomes still had clasps preventing them from opening.

< < Select an Evolution > >

< Armourer — Halves all damage absorbed by the barrier when it is used for protection >

< Fusionist — The barrier can be fused with another spell to gain a new effect >

Okay… Not what I expected.

Armourer sounds like it wants me to lean into using the barrier as pieces of armour or like some kind of shield.

While he thought about the options, Adam hurried towards the south-eastern corner of the city beyond which he would find the hill and the Forlorn Aristocrat.

"Does the barrier become more difficult to pierce with the Armourer evolution?" Adam asked the Eye.

Even though it had not moved from where it dropped, its voice was easily heard by him. [All damaging effects are halved, this includes impact and penetration damage. Likewise included are spell damage and affliction effects.]

Weird, so such things are considered 'damaging effects' and not something separate. That's an important distinction that probably makes the defensive route slightly less punishing.

But if I take that upgrade, then I'm sure the last evolution will be based around defence.

"What are the limits of the Fusionist?"

[The barrier can only be fused once.]

"So I'd need to resummon it to fuse it with something else?"

[Yes.]

"What about enemy spells? Can I fuse it with that?"

[Yes.]

That might actually be pretty powerful. In effect, it could become a way to eliminate a powerful enemy spell, such as Ezral's piercing blood bolt.

"How exactly does the fusion work? Will the barrier gain all of the effects from the spell it absorbs?" he asked while passing by the giant tree atop which was the Rotmaker Idol. He'd already decided that he would get the Idol and Builder's Egg after he'd dealt with the Forlorn Captain. He figured there was no way he'd discover the last Secret if Emelia hadn't been able to, so there was no need to collect the other ones before the end, since he wouldn't be getting the All Secrets bonus anyway.

[Yes. The fusion will imbue the barrier with all effects. This includes positive and negative effects, meaning any weaknesses inherent to the fused spell are passed on to the barrier. Additionally, the state of matter is also imbued.]

"So, if I fuse the barrier with a water spell, it will turn into water?"

[Yes.]

Adam suddenly had an epiphany. Wait… What about…?

"If I have several barriers, do they all gain the same fusion or are they separate entities?"

[They are separate.]

Holy shit!

"Does that mean I can fuse my barrier with one of its clones?"

[Yes.]

Adam laughed.

"I'm selecting Fusionist!"

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Shaper => Fusionist >

The spell-tome appeared back in his hands, now green with gold embellishments. It had gotten heavier as well. The Mastery Shard was immediately absorbed into his body rather than floating towards him dramatically, perhaps because the tesseract was several streets away.

< < Mastery Shard Obtained > >

With a blink, the Eye reappeared next to him.

There's no way Fusionist won't be utterly broken with my setup!

Adam came to a stop, the city wall within sight, and summoned his two barriers.

It took him a moment to figure out how to actually fuse them, but then he thought of the signet on the tome and pushed them into each other while imagining that they became one whole.

The barrier on the left glowed, while the other turned translucent.

With what amounted to a magical slurp, the two barriers became one.

Adam grinned so wide that he thought his skin might split.

He swung the barrier around with a few gestures and couldn't believe what he was seeing. The speed was literally doubled.

Fuck yes! The math is totally broken on this! It's taking the buffs on the fused barriers and adding them on top of each other, even though it definitely shouldn't work that way.

This means the Manipulation Effect and Barrier Durability should be doubled as well!

With a few mental nudges, he folded the barrier onto itself five times, reducing its 2-metre width to just about 6 centimetres. Basically, it had gone from being longer than him to now being the length of his thumb.

Adam laughed like a madman. Suddenly it made sense how Arturo had been able to turn his barrier into a needle. Although, since Adam had used the additional summon from the Invoker to get there and Emelia insisted that the weapon type was terrible, it probably meant Arturo had used a different way to gain more summons for the trick.

With double the durability, I might be able to do the flying carpet trick now, he realised.

With a few mental twirls, the narrow barrier unfolded itself and he shaped it into something approximating a sled, giving him a handle at the front. Adam climbed on board, and though a small crack immediately formed, he was able to remain seated without fully breaking it.

"It's working!" he gasped excitedly.

Then he shot himself up into the air, going from zero to a hundred in about four seconds.

Adam flew across the air between the towering homes of the Elphin, then he passed above the south-eastern wall and spotted the raised hill on the edge of the dark-blue treeline.

He banked around to the side of the hill while his eyes locked in on the lone figure seated atop the chair next to the sapling that sprouted there.

After reaching the ground a few metres from the bottom of the hill, Adam climbed off the barrier and quickly folded it into the long narrow 'needle'. He tried to fold it a sixth time to reduce its width to 3 centimetres, but his mind strained with the effort and he knew he wouldn't be able to maintain its coherence let alone complete the fold.

It's probably bound by the same limitations as paper, which can normally only be folded about seven times.

He wondered how hard the impact would hit, but guessed it was going to be quite devastating given the speeds it could now move at.

Adam pulled the Fetish of Sloth from his belt and momentarily unequipped the spell-tome so he could grab the Conflagrate scroll from his back pocket. After uncrinkling the scroll, he lifted it up in front of himself and walked towards the Secret Boss.

The Aristocrat turned in his seat and looked down at Adam from atop the hill. He was dressed like a 17th century nobleman, wearing a blue frayed-and-damaged suit jacket with tarnished golden embellishments, a black-and-grey brocade vest beneath, blue airy silken pants, and decayed black leather boots and gloves. His head was sickly with purple-tinted grey skin covered in sores and he had not a single hair on his scalp. Ominously, his face was covered by a pristine off-white porcelain mask sculpted into an expression of mirth.

< < Secret Boss Discovered > >

< Forlorn Aristocrat >

Unlike the other times he'd triggered the Secret Bosses, this one didn't extend the Stage timer. That alone seemed like a big spike in difficulty, but he had already kind of guessed that Stages One through Four were all lessons in what to expect, with Stage Five being the 'exam'. This was just another lesson to learn: 'Time is not on your side.'

The Aristocrat rose from his chair, pulling a rapier from its scabbard on his belt. The rusted blade trailed a dirty black smear in the air.

Adam's eyes ran down the Spell Scroll's curling script. Then his mouth worked on its own and exclaimed, "Conflagrate!"

[Conflagrate Spell Scroll activated! Next attack will be imbued with Conflagration.]

The scroll turned to ash in his hands and he felt energy surge through him, looking for somewhere to go.

He pulled out the spell-tome and squeezed the Fetish in his hand. Violet light shot out in front of him and manifested two identical Slothling Imps. The same light coalesced about their necks, forming collars with leashes tethering them to the dried worm in his right hand.

With just a simple mental nudge, the imps launched themselves at the Aristocrat and Adam fired the folded barrier along with them. Although his spell was faster than the Lesser Demons, they were the ones that were buffed with the Conflagrate, since they'd counted as his first attack. Flames trailed off of them and their skin was crackled like an inner fire was trying to burst forth from within. For some reason, they'd both gained the Spell Scroll's buff, which meant they counted as one attack rather than two.

I need to keep that in mind. That kind of quirk has a lot of potential to be exploited.

The Aristocrat launched forward, sliding his rapier along the barrier needle just as it came within reach. The move was so fluid and simple, and yet it diverted Adam's spell with ease. While he worked to curve it back around, the boss parried both of the Slothling Imps simultaneously as they flew past.

Holy shit! How did he do that!?

Without stopping, the boss launched itself down the hill, flying right at him. The Aristocrat's movements were clearly quickened by the smoky dark energy suffusing his body.

Adam dodged out of the way just as the rapier passed through where he'd stood, then his barrier struck the boss' left shoulder and tore off his arm with its explosive force. The spell was moving so fast that it struck the mossy ground and buried itself halfway into the earth like a javelin.

The Aristocrat spun on his heel and hopped forward with a downward swipe of his rapier.

Adam resummoned the barriers in front of himself, but the blade passed through the left one with ease, cutting it in half. Instead of triggering Last Stand's Fervour, it just exploded. He immediately realised that the effect of the boss' weapon was to blame.

Shit! There's a way to negate my crown's effect!

With a flourish, the other barrier was cut in two as well, but Adam managed to summon replacements before the boss could strike him. Then he pushed both barriers forward, catching the Aristocrat mid-swing and knocking him back.

A red-glowing flame-infused imp flew directly at the boss, but the boss was ready for it, parrying its claws and immediately cutting off its head and making it pop like a balloon. But then the second one came flying past, managing to slice its claws along his unprotected back.

Flames exploded across the Aristocrat's body and Adam quickly fused his barriers together, then shaped them into a folded narrow tube. He shot it forward like a missile, aiming for the centre of the porcelain mask but the boss deflected it to the side using his inhuman reactions.

With a yanking motion, Adam called it back and it ended up piercing through the boss' hip. He let it unfurl and it exploded the Aristocrat's lower body, taking his left leg with it.

Unperturbed, the boss whirled around and took off the last imp's head, before launching at Adam.

He slammed the unfurled barrier into him from behind while throwing himself to the side.

The Aristocrat tumbled forward while the flames continued to burn him, but managed to slice his blade along Adam's thigh. The barriers exploded into shards as the Queen's Pendant triggered to negate the damage and the boss was knocked to the ground.

[You have been afflicted with Taint. Stamina recovery reduced by 50%.]

[You have been afflicted with Forlorn Curse. All healing effects negated.]

Shit!

Adam got to his feet and resummoned his barriers above the still-prone boss.

[Warning! Mana below 15%.]

He flipped them horizontally, stacked them on top of each other, and then flung them down at the prone figure with an aggressive gesture. The impacts of the two barriers caused them to crack and trigger Last Stand's Fervour, which immediately increased both their speed and damage as they crushed down on the helpless one-armed one-legged Aristocrat.

A loud crunch and splat came from under the barriers as the Secret Boss was reduced to a fine paste and tiny bone fragments.

Adam stumbled back a step and collapsed onto his ass, managing to send the barriers away before they exploded.

That was way too fucking close!

"How long before the afflictions wear off?"

[Taint has a 2-minute duration. Forlorn Curse lasts until the end of the Stage.]

"Are you fucking kidding me!?"

He looked at the smushed remains of the Secret Boss. Amidst all the blood, pulped flesh, and bone shards was a single untouched pearl. It was a hazy-blue colour.

"Don't I get any other rewards?"

[There will be a second Upgrade Reward at the end of the Stage.]

Adam sighed and remained seated.

He had to wait and refuel his Mana before he took on the last boss.

I need to have a talk with Emelia about this. She needs to properly tell me what to look out for with these bosses, because that was way too close. With Forlorn Curse's effect, any wound could easily turn fatal since it wouldn't heal, which I'm guessing also prevents coagulation to stem the blood flow…

I hope Beck and Gladwyn are alright. Hopefully they didn't try to take on the Aristocrat.

Adam sighed again.

"Let me know when I'm back to 50% Mana."

[Understood.]

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.