“The energy to mass conversion is really completely screwed...” Everelle commented while Velania thought about her next word.
“From what I know my angel bolts are basically one of the most efficient mana to energy conversion,” Sofia remarqued, “so not all magic is made equal, I guess?”
“Right... I’m going to need to do some math...”
Velania interrupted the discussion with her next word, “Armchair!”
‘Armchair; 58’
A circle of twelve armchairs appeared, spaced evenly around the orb, some of them landing on and activating bear traps with loud bangs.
“Why chairs?” Sofia asked.
Velania giggled, “I wanted to sit down for a bit and it’s the right amount of mana.”
“You won’t be able to sit for long I think, I got a few rounds figured out already,” Sofia proudly said, putting her hand on the orb, “Red sand.”
I still don’t get how to make spatial storage items with it, but I know one grain can absorb a hundred points of mana, so...
Sofia had a moment of doubt, but her word was accepted.
‘Red Sand; 100’
The white room instantly became a red desert, with several meters of sand gushing from the ground, pushing everything up, from the armchairs to the orb on its pedestal.
“Oh! The red sand! Some people used to make anti-spying glass with it,” Velania commented, “I think they stopped using it because the glass always came out blue and that made the house interior all monochrome from the blue light.”
“We use it to make the storage items now,” Sofia explained, she had shown her storage ring to Velania the day before so she knew what that was about.
“Well, I should keep going. For your information, the traditional Escalation games actually tend to end pretty early, because both sides know what they are doing. But I really only played once with Romuald so... We’ll see how much we can push it! For now... Nebulene!”
Hey I know this!
‘Nebulene; 186’
As Sofia expected, a thin cloud of green gas appeared around the group, engulfing everyone. This was one of the neurotoxins Sofia had considered using for VPPV leveling, actually the defense mechanism of a magical plant. She never actually ended up finding a supplier for it before the leveling was over.
Velania looked at Sofia then at Everelle, “You are both unaffected?”
“We both aren’t exactly human anymore,” Everelle pointed out.
“I- I know but still. The anatomy of the Apostle...”
“As you can see with the horns, my anatomy isn’t exactly what it used to be. And for this round... Velania cookies!”
“W- what?!”
‘Velania cookies; 363’
Golden cookies started falling from the sky.
“I would really appreciate that. Then... Underworld water.”
I’m immune to cold damage, is she trying to turn me into an ice block?
‘Underworld water; 6000’
The water came like a wave, a torrent gushing through the snow and sand, creating a wild flowing river on the right side of the terrain, taking a few armchairs with it. It seemed to react strongly with the freezing fog, as stalagmites of ice instantly started to form everywhere.
Sofia had to move around to avoid getting impaled by the stalagmites forming directly under her, but everything around her was starting to turn to ice. The battlefield had changed to an icy hellscape in just a few seconds, and Sofia had lost sight of Everelle and Velania.
The orb hasn’t moved. Since it was only a few meters away, Sofia punched the walls of ice forming in front of her. She couldn’t attack Velania but attacking the summoned objects wasn’t a violation of the rules. She quickly tore a path through the ice and reached for the orb.
“Angel bolt.”
‘Angel bolt ; 10 000’
It only took a second for the crackling of thunder to echo from above. The game room was then completely drowned in countless explosions as the bolts rained.
These were 10k mana explosions, too weak to harm anyone present in the room, but strong enough to completely get rid of the ice and most other things.
About twenty seconds later, when the explosions died down, all that was left were the three women, the orb on its pedestal, the underworld water torrent to the side, and the red sand partially turned to blue glass on the ground.
“I suppose ice was no good...” Velania commented.
“That was already quite something for the amount of mana we’re working with,” Everelle said, sitting down in the sand full of glass shards, “Let me get my first word in next, Sofia.”
“Plan hasn’t changed?” Sofia asked.
“Nope, still the same, will depend on the results of that first word.”
“I wonder what you have in mind that could stop me,” Velania said, “but good luck.” She then walked up to the orb once more, “Soulfire.”
‘Soulfire; 20 000’
Though nothing appeared, Sofia soon started to feel a bit hot.
“Ugh, this feels like having a fever, this sucks,” Everelle complained.
“Sorry...” Velania apologized, scratching her scarred arm.
“I’m not really taking any damage though,” Sofia noted.
“Me neither but it’s still uncomfortable. Well, whatever, this is nothing compared to... Ugh, shitty memories. Anyway... Time for my first of three words,” Everelle continued, standing up, she walked up to the orb, “Operator terminal.”
‘Operator terminal; 35942’
Dozens of book-sized metallic slabs fell from above, most of them crashing into the sand, some into the nearby river, each of the three women caught one.
One side of the slab lit up on contact with Sofia’s hand, sucking in some of her mana. A few words appeared on the slab’s lit surface.
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