Chapter 15: Chapter 14
November 12, 2015
I woke up to the sound the alarm clock. At this point, it sounded foreign to me as I was more accustomed to the sound of a portal being opened being what I hear at the start of every day. But not today though. Today was my day off. No school, no magic training(though not by choice) and especially climbs up mount Everest. Yeah Wong is probably patting himself in the back for making me do that.
It started out same as the previous treks up to mountains. Except this time, I was given permission to use my spells and I had replaced the heating spell with a heating talisman using my newfound knowledge. Otherwise I don't think I could have made it to the tops in days. Using [Mistral Aura] and occasionally using a the levitation runes to bypass large gaps, I managed to pass 75 percent of the trek before I became tired and had to walk the rest of the way.
I recalled passing by a group of climbers who were descending down the mountain, presumably after reaching the top. I would have laughed at the image of those unsuspecting climbers seeing a girl climb up Mount Everest wearing simple robes while sweating. But I was too tired to really think about that at the moment. And that was exactly why there are now posts on the Internet about a groups of climbers encountering Yuki Onna on the way down from Mount Everest along with video recordings. Thankfully, the heavy winds and snow had obscured my face so I wasn't too worried about people recognising me.
And while the internet was imploding with discussions regarding the video of me, I was lazing around, waiting for Peter and Gwen come back from work. It seems that their internship were proceeding even in the weekends. With an hour left on the clock, I began playing around with my magic.
Since I had started practicing with Eldritch magic, I had managed to master several spells. Most of them from the Eldritch school. It seems that with my prior knowledge in magic made it easier to master the basic Eldritch spells once I was proficient in harnassing Eldritch Energy. Once I mastered those, it was finally time for me to learn how to make my own portals. I had assumed that mastering it would be easy as the previous spells. And I have never been so wrong. While it took me mere hours to master the previous spells, mastering the portal spell took me a whole week.
Also during this time, I also began focusing on the knowledge in the Grimoire of Theodore Hampton, most of the spells I had yet to master were from the Arcane school, meaning it used unimbued pure mana. After reading it, I managed to learn [Magic hand] and [Arcane Reinforcement]. The former uses mana to create a semi transparent arm that I could control like an extra limb. The arm is capable of lifting around 200 kgs of mass. The latter imbues pure mana into any part of my body to create coat over it, giving it a layer of protection as well as strengthening it. When I had punched a large 5 ton stone boulder after imbuing my arm with [Arcane Reinforment] the resulting impact left a large first shaped hole on it with a web of cracks surrounding it. It also left me with a fractured wrist because I didn't cast it carefully.
So now here I was, playing catch with myself using a ball made of Eldritch energy I was through at my Magic Hand construct which was in turn, threw it back at me. All in all, it was a good training method to improve my fine control. That too became boring soon enough so I left my room and made my way downstairs. Only my adopted father was currently home sitting infront of the TV and watching the news. I muttered a greeting but froze when I saw what was on the news. It was breaking news announcement showed the 5 storied laboratory building created next to Midtown High, courtesy of Oscorp, on fire from a helicopter. The same place both Gwen and Peter had been going for their internships.
A few seconds later though, a pair of silhouettes could be seen on the roof. The reporter initially deduced that they were survivors but that was quickly proven wrong when the camera man zoomed in showing the spandex clad figure of Spiderman coming to blows with what looked like a giant anthropomorphic crocodile/lizard man. The latter attacked the former with reckless abandon, ignoring the fire that was spreading around them. The camera than panned downwards, showing me a group of civilians most likely the staff trapped on the third floor.
I briskly walked out of the house after making up an excuse about going to visit Peter. I could have just gone back upstairs and taken a portal but I didn't want to risk my adopted father coming up to check on me only to find the room empty. I walked into an nearby alley and after making sure it was empty, I summoned my armour and also took out my bag to pick out several potions. It was easier to keep them on hand and in my pocket dimension than to keep summoning the bag whenever I was running out of potions. Most of them consisted of minor healing potions, a few mana potions just in case and a paralytic poison I had been working on with Yukine. The healing potions were in case there were injured civilians on the scene on the scene and the paralytic was for the lizard. I pocketed a couple of potions before storing the rest in my pocket dimension.
Once that was done I conjured my shiny new sling ring and promptly created a portal to the roof of Midtown High's main campus since I could only create portals to places I personally had been and this was the closest spot. I gazed at the burning building and from the looks of it, not much had changed. Spiderman and the lizard guy was still fighting and the fire kept on spreading. And I needed a plan of attack.
As much as I wanted to go help Peter, my spells were going to do more damage than help. The building was on fire and the walls might collapse if I accidently hit it with a strong spell. Not to mention the fact that I might hit Peter by accident. Meaning Id have to resort to melee combat. And I do not have confidence in battling an enemy who can keep up with Peters agility. And there was also the fact that there are civilians trapped in the building who are in more danger than Peter. One of them being Gwen.
With my goal set, I casted a pair of levitation runes on my shoes before casting a burst of wind to propel me towards the building. This was the closest thing I had to a flying spell. I closed the distance in about 10 seconds and under the gazes of the firemen and the reporters, I flew in through the windows of the 2nd floor that wasn't burning..... and crashed through the glass window and planted right into the wall infront of it because I forgot to dispel the spells. I groaned as I removed my body from the 'me' shaped identation in the wall and looked around, while praying to the Vishanti that no one saw my blunder. I then remembered why I was there in the first place resulting in me running out of the room I was in then finding a stair leading me upstairs into the fray.
I was greeted by a burning corridor. I wasted no time casting a spell that released a burst of ice and wind that engulfed entire corridor leaving shards of ice and small puddles of water by the time they put out the fire. I would have casted a wind spell but with a fire this big, it may have ended up spreading the fire even further. I repeated this to the burning rooms on the floor, before moving on to the 4th floor where the staff were trapped inside. It wasn't long until I found the staff huddled inside what looked like the break room. The staff were probably expecting a firemen and not a white robed girl wielding a staff because they simply stared at me with dumbfounded expressions.
"The way out is clear. You should hurry incase the fire spreads." I spoke all the while, searching for Gwen. Upon seeing the familiar blonde girl standing in the corner, sighed with relief. She seemed to be distressed about something but looked unharmed.
The staff members upon hearing my words began clamouring, trying to leave as fast as they could, almost blocking the exit of the room they were inside.
"Be careful. The floor's wet and you might...." I opened my mouth to warn them about the puddles only to hear several people yelp followed by a thud. I stood in silence after that as ran to the exit like headless chickens all the while tripping and bumping into one another. I was just about head up to the 5th and last floor when I saw Gwen sneak away from the rest and head towards another corridor with her bag.
And so like any concerned friend would do, I followed after her. I didn't understand why she wasn't leaving but there was no way I was letting her stay inside such a dangerous environment. Eventually, I saw her enter the restroom. The door had been damaged by the flames but was still functional.
I kicked door with frustrated grunt. I couldn't believe that she was prioritising relieving herself over escaping a building that was being terrorised by a giant lizard man. But when I went inside, I was met with an entirely different scene than what I was expecting. Gwen had stripped down to her underwear and was in the midst of changing into a white and black outfit which I recognised as the Ghost Spider's suit. I blushed upon seeing her state of undress and promptly ran out of the room after shouting an apology.
I then began walking briskly and managed turn round the corridor when I heard the door open with a bang. With that, I ran without even bothering to look behind as I already knew who it was. It was all but confirmed when I heard her yell out 'Wait'. I doubled my speed but she was still faster than me, as she managed to catch up to me. Suddenly, I heard a twip followed by something pulling my hood and by extension my body backwards. I watched in horror at the realisation that I forgot to activate the rune that was supposed to keep hood in place without exposing my face as I fell on the floor with a thud before the now fully masked Gwen straddled on top of me, pinning me down.
Gwen looked like she was about to say something with a hardened expression but it was replaced by a look of shock as she saw my face.
"Hey Gwen." I asked sheepishly.
"What? How....." Whatever Gwen was about to say was interrupted when something fell through the ceiling. Both of our gazes snapped towards the noise to find the green, scaly skin of the lizard man getting up while rubbing his head. Me and Gwen turned back to one another before nodding in unison as an unspoken agreement was made in light of the current predicament before getting up. Gwen took a stance while I readied a large mandala to help guard both Gwen and me if needed. I held it in place at my flank with my telekinesis before shooting a large burst of air at the still disoriented creature. The resulting impact sent it crashing into the wall before being buried under piles of concrete.
Mere seconds later though, the creature burst out of the pile with a roar, before charging at us. Gwen made her move then, by webbing its face before sliding under its legs, after shooting a strand of webs at them. And once she was she passed the hulking creature, she tugged at the webs as hard as she could, tripping the creature. It then used its claws to rip out the webs on its face before swiping at Ghost Spider only to be blocked when I brought my mandala in between them. Gwen used this opportunity to get out of the way as I conjured more several mandalas that I threw at the lizard. I made sure to target its soft spots such as its Achilles tendon and, neck and joints. The moment my barrage was finished, Gwen drop kicked him in the face making it fall on its back once more.
We waited for it to get up. It didnt. Both of us sighed in relief at this sight . And just then, we heard footsteps approach and turned to see Spiderman running up into the room, his suit now covered in burns and cuts. His initial confusion upon seeing us was quickly replaced reilef upon seeing prone form of the lizard.
"Thanks for entertaining my date." he quipped while chuckling.
"No problem. Are you OK?" I asked with some concern in my voice.
"I few cuts and bruises but I'll be fine."
I then conjured out a healing potion from my pocket dimension before passing it to Spiderman. "Drink it." I said.
Peter looked hesitant as he examined the vial replying jokingly. "This is gluten free right."
What he got in response was a deadpan look from both me and Ghost Spider after which, he lifted his mask upto his mouth before drinking it. Almost immediately, the cuts on his body began healing at a visible rate causing both the spider themed heroes to gape at the sight. Next thing I knew, I found Ghost Spider next to Spiderman, running her hands over the where the wounds had been while asking him how he was feeling all the while the latter looked increasingly uncomfortable. I chuckled to myself and was about to remind them about the fire when I noticed movement at the corner of my eyes.
I turned my head to see a desk flying through the air, aimed at me. I muttered a spell bug it was too late as the desk collided with my body, the sheer force sending me flying before hitting the floor. The protective runes on my armour prevented any damage but it still left me disoriented.
I groggily stood up to see both Gwen and Peter fighting the lizard man who had somehow grown twice its original size. It was even fighting more aggressively than before as both of them were having difficulty dodging the swipes.
Then suddenly, the lizard grabbed Spiderman and hoisted him of the ground. Seeing this Ghost spider attempted to rescue him but flanking the lizard man from behind only to be sent flying when a tail seemingly sprout out a tail that whipped her torso sending her crashing out of the room. The lizard then opened its jaw was about to bite off Peter's head which prompted me to shoot a pair of mandalas, one aimed at the arm grabbing him and the other at the lizards face. It seems to do the job as lizard let go of Peter with a painful howl.
Unfortunately, it's sights then settled on me before charging at me on all fours.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone