Bonded Summoner

Book 2. Chapter 17: Ophelia - Champion of Loviatar

Ophelia was disoriented a little by the teleportation, but immediately used [Ride of the Valkyries] ability to take to the air the moment she felt her feet on the ground. Some wicked-looking spears fired from contraptions in the cavern walls slammed into the [Sacrificial Barrier] Jake had cast on her, but she had managed to avoid several of them. She took a moment to get her bearings and spotted a lone serpent woman in the rear of the cavern she was in.

They were wearing similar equipment to her, but while Ophelia held a shield, she did not, having only a spear. She could feel a sinister energy radiating from the enemy champion. She definitely thought she could be a serpent woman from Drengrbjord, but Ophelia couldn’t be sure.

Enemy Champion of the Loviatar detected. Defeat for reward.

She heard Jake’s thoughts, making her happy that they were still connected. They could now coordinate her abilities to help him to the maximum. Knowing Jake, he would prefer not to use Hestia’s power, saving it for when they arrived at the world in trouble. At the same time, fighting without her, Fhesiah, and Bloodberri, was like fighting with an arm tied behind his back, with his specialization choices focusing on improving his party members. Even now, his [Divine Reinforcement] made her much stronger than a usual valkyrie and gave her an edge against this enemy champion.

She reminded Jake that he only needed to call, and she’d be there for him.

[I’m ready when you need me, Jake.]

She guessed that Fhesiah had said something too, as she felt his eye roll shortly before. Most likely, Fhesiah reassured him she was okay in her own way, as well. Jake had sent that Ophelia’s message was received with both pride and affection, along with a mental nod, coming over their bond, and so she set her focus back on the enemy champion, and the fight that was about to occur. She couldn’t help but feel excited, as it was somewhat rare for her to get into a one-on-one fight, let alone with a humanoid with a weapon.

“Of course, you’d get excited about a fight, wouldn’t you, valkyrie? Your type always does.” The serpent woman gave a wicked grin. “Such simple-minded do-gooders. They never learned that war is fought with more than just weapons and spells. That there’s no glory in war. Makes it all the easier to slay you.”

Ophelia furrowed her brows. Just what was this person trying to say? She knew that she was a bit of a glory-seeker, but her people can’t help but be drawn to it. But she denied the assertion. Battles could be fought with honor. It was only cowards who took an awful path. She knew that all the battles Jake would fight would be filled with glory, and even if she might never see the end of the war, she knew she’d be proud of everything they accomplished.

“You doubt it? The valkyries of Drengrbjord doubted too, but they died all the same. They never imagined that we Ormrfolk would side with the winners. We saw the writing on the wall and joined with [Tartarus].”

“You were there, on Drengrbjord?”

“I was, and the ormrfolk still are: thanks to our deal with [Tartarus], we now rule over Drengrbjord. This spear alone has killed countless valkyries, them never seeing it coming before it was too late. Come to think of it, you look pretty young, don’t you? Don’t tell me you lost your mommy?”

Ophelia couldn’t help but feel angry, but she calmed herself. This person was telling her these things for a reason, as they were already in battle. This person already admitted to fighting underhandedly, especially against her people. She thought back to what Fhesiah had said and realized that this was a good shot at vengeance, but at the same time, she had her priorities straight. She must keep the upper hand in order to be there for when Jake was in need, so she could not afford to fall for the enemy champion’s tricks.

This was fine. She had fought Fhesiah and Jake enough to know there were many different ways to win a fight, and judging by the trap that already failed, there was probably more. But just how could she use this? She thought about all the tools Jake had given her, and she smiled. She dropped a handful of small balls out of her [Storage Bracelet] to the ground. She started casting a large runic spear of thunder, using the ‘function’ that Jake had added to her spear staff.

“Just what are you–”

Her spear of magical thunder slammed into a barrier that the enemy champion hastily formed out of magical darkness. This was okay, as she had only meant to keep the champion busy for a moment. The balls began to spread out and roll across the cavern, barely larger than marbles. Powered by magic, they triggered different traps located all across the cavern. Spears fired from mechanisms, frost spread and captured some of the balls, and even chains and nets launched and tried to wrap around where she would be standing if she had triggered it.

She dropped some more to replace the ones that had gotten stuck or destroyed by the traps, and couldn’t help but respect the enemy’s shamelessness. But she was used to someone that was both shameless and would resort to taunting her into a trap, already.

She sent another runic lightning spear at her opponent, and they growled in frustration as they once again were forced to block with magic of their own, instead of trying to stop her traps from being triggered, Ophelia presumed.

At this point, some balls arrived near the ormrfolk’s feet and went past her, so she knew she had a safe place to land if she needed. She didn’t think she had eliminated all the enemy champion’s traps, but this was certainly a good start. Just looking at all the traps, while not overly powerful on their own: she could see how many of them could change the tide of the battle, the enemy champion knowing how to best take advantage.

She did her best to monitor Jake’s fight over their bond, and while things were going well, she knew that could change in but a mere moment: when the enemy summoned their god. She thought hard about her tools and those that could help Jake turn the tide of the battle, and which she could use instead, in order to save them for when Jake could use them. She would defeat her enemy, and help Jake at the same time.

In a way, she was fighting two fights against two champions. This was an important battle, for the safety of many people, of the many families in this world and even the next that needed her protection. With it came great glory, and for her, vengeance. And what did a valkyrie do, when there was an honorable battle and glory to be had? They rode.

While valkyries had wings and could fly, they often rode pegasus or other mounts into battle. Without Jake’s advanced stamina regeneration, her overall endurance did not allow her to fly for long periods of time, and she knew many other valkyries faced this challenge. So they often rode mounts to battle, as it wouldn’t be good for them to be tired when they arrived to do battle, after all, and having a light magic wielding ally to fight with was of course of great value. Her [Ride of The Valkyries] helped her fight as if mounted at all times, and if and when she got a mount, it would allow her to enhance the both of them.

Her wings were filled with blinding brilliance, and she blurred toward the enemy champion as she flew from her position in the air of the cavern, her [Ride of the Valkyries] driven to the maximum. To Ophelia’s surprise, her spear was parried away despite the immense momentum she had behind it, but she slammed into the enemy champion with her shield.

She kept moving toward her as the enemy was sent flying, but she couldn’t help but be surprised at how dull her impact felt. Normally that much weight and that much speed would cause broken bones to her targets, but this ormrfolk had moved along with the blow, somersaulting backward toward the wall of the cavern. Most likely, they had some sort of technique that added magical elasticity. The enemy was filled with darkness as their legs touched the wall.

Ophelia arrested her body’s forward momentum and stopped in the air as she had seen what was coming, transferring the force as best as she could to a powerful thrust of her spear. The ormrfolk kicked off the wall, jumping towards Ophelia with a spear thrust of her own. The ormrfolk’s spear was longer than hers, and it looked like she might score a blow on Ophelia’s right shoulder, her spear arm.

While the ormrfolk was stuck moving in a single direction following her spear, Ophelia was not. She changed direction mid-air, moving herself to the right, forcing the enemy’s spear to both meet and slide off her shield and change the trajectory of her own spear to head toward the enemy’s throat.

Just as she thought her spear was going to land, the ormrfolk’s body contorted backward nearly impossibly as they spun in the air, and as they got a single foot on the ground, they managed to retreat with supernatural speed to the other side, some form of skill or ability. They had to abandon their own attack, but the fight was now reset.

Ophelia thought she now understood what was going on, and how best to face her foe. She charged the ormrfolk again, probing her with several thrusts that, instead of being parried, were simply dodged with some twisting of their body. She was amazed at how quickly they could dodge, and there were some counters added where the spear spun around and nearly snaked past her shield, but her own advanced movement was able to counter this. She waited until she forced them to lean back as she had previously dodged, and she shot a [Spear of Hestia] from her own chest, her hearth, directly at the enemy’s chest.

She followed it up with another thrust of her spear before it would arrive, and the enemy champion filled her spear with malevolent energy and met the [Spear of Hestia] with a swipe of it as their body spun. While the [Spear of Hestia] was blocked, her spear was not, and it found purchase in their flesh in their shoulder. She slammed her shield into the ormrfolk and sent them flying away, ripping the spear out of their shoulder in a vicious shower of blood, and went back on the offensive once again.

Just as she was going to work towards scoring another blow in a similar fashion, the enemy champion unexpectedly spun and leaped with a kick and a spear thrust. She blocked the spear with her shield, and the kick with her wing. When the kick landed, a blast of darkness entered her wing, destablizing her flight ability, and sent her careening towards the ground. When she landed on her feet, she was wracked with pain.

So much pain, she had difficulty forming a coherent thought. Her muscles felt like they were tearing, ripping, being shredded, all over her body. She felt Hestia’s purifying flames working against the effect, but it was as if it was being reapplied as each second passed. She had nearly curled up with her shield and her magically infused wings against the floor, protecting her body. She felt the enemy champion trying to find purchase with their spear thrusts, but as she was wracked in pain her shield and wings took some hits, but she was otherwise able to protect her vitals.

At some point she must have fallen prone to the ground, because she realized she was rolling in pain trying to get away from whatever this trap was when she felt a new pain: a powerful blow on her abdomen, and then a pain in her back, like it collided with a wall. She knew this pain; it was from her [Valkyrie’s Chosen Champion] ability, taking damage for Jake. This snapped her slightly out of her pain-filled fugue. Jake had been hurt, and while it wasn’t significant thanks to her ability, she knew she needed to do something if she was going to be able to help when he needed it.

She saw in the corner of her eye the enemy champion, and she tampered down the pain with her will. She was in a battle now, and what was pain during battle? If she failed here, this world might be as good as lost, with millions of lives in the balance.

She could barely understand what direction was even up, but she saw the enemy’s spear. Her body reacted on its own, her training and muscle memory being brought to the fore, her shield being brought against it in a powerful arc as she stood.

Her body took its stance, and she began harrying the enemy as she had before, but her mind was in a haze. She pushed her magical strength into [Purifying Flames], and the pain lessened. She managed to reactivate [Ride of the Valkyrie] fully, and she took to the air.

Just as the pain lost its hold on her, the enemy champion was filled with malevolent energy again, this time, more massive than ever before. This reminded her of when the Apophis champion had called on their god, and a large specter emerged. She prepared her [Spear of Hestia] to combat the spirit, but the enemy champion had sent a beam of magical darkness of her own and countered it.

The specter in the shape of a woman with a whip attacked with her weapon that moved almost too fast for her to follow, and it grasped her body and flung her through the air, back where she had started. Before she knew it, her body was wracked with pain again, but she had concentrated on empowering her purifying flames and her [Ride of the Valkyries], knowing that it would help.

The whip had followed her through the air and was intruding on her body in some way now, and she pushed the purifying flames further. Now would be the perfect time to activate her goddess-infused abilities, but she knew Jake would need her help soon, him now fighting the god energy himself.

She would buy just a bit more time. She cast a Runic Spell: [Wave of Force], at the enemy champion. It flung them to the back of the cavern, and she fired a [Spear of Hestia] at the main body of the specter. It met the divine flames with a malevolent beam of energy of its own, and she was forced to raise her shield and empower the runes with what persisted through her attack’s destruction. She was blasted back, and she flew with the momentum away from where she was racked with pain. The specter followed, but she continued to fly away as fast as she could, away from the pain field, or whatever it was.

The specter was faster, but she still got a good distance away before she was grabbed, and began being dragged away toward the pain field once again. She did her best to fill the [Spear of Hestia] within her spear and swipe at the specter a few times, and she felt like she did harm it before it blocked it with some energy of its own. She was then hit by a beam of darkness, the enemy champion rejoining the fray. It was then, she heard Jake’s voice.

[This prince needs his knight to save him. There’s both an evil champion, and a dragon, sorta?]

She smiled. While things looked pretty bleak for her, it was only because she wasn’t using all of her tools that things were so dire. She activated her [Hearth of Hestia] which she knew there was now a floating copy of it next to Jake. She had it immediately expend some of the flames for it to heal herself, and it probably healed him on his side of the battle as well, and then she used it to blast several [Spear of Hestia]’s at both the enemy champion and the specter. They countered with their own evil energy shields or attacks, and she used the minor respite from their focus being diverted to infuse her holy energy to activate her [Vakyrie Champion] ability.

She grew and was covered in the flames of Hestia, her power and strength rising, and she knew that Jake was now stronger and had higher defense as well. She launched herself at the ormrfolk and thrust her spear dead center at their chest. No amount of contortion would avoid the massive spear this time, but the specter moving too fast for her to follow with her eyes arrived to block the thrust in time. Her hearth sent more spears, and she activated her [Consecration] ability. A circle of flames engulfed specter and champion alike, and they both screamed as the purifying flames burned them.

More spears from the hearth stabbed into them, and she thrust her spear with all her strength at the chest of the woman once again. The specter dispersed as they screamed, and her giant spear tip pierced through heart and spine alike, killing the enemy champion.

She felt Jake’s fight coming to an end, and she awaited his [Call Summon]. Vengeance, justice, and glory. These were the things she got from fighting at Jake’s side as his valkyrie. But she couldn’t help but feel Jake’s love, pride, respect and happiness she felt from him were worth it all the same. That she could have both made her an immensely happy woman. She luxuriated in the feelings of victory, and was filled with pride of her own; she had defeated a champion of a goddess, all on her own. Well, with Jake’s [Divine Reinforcement], anyway.

She confirmed the quest was completed, and she reviewed her status sheet as she drank her mana water and recovered, looting the enemy champion. She knew Jake should summon her in but just a moment.

Ophelia Status Level 16

Strength

81

Dexterity

59

Constitution

76

Intelligence

50

Wisdom

69

Charisma

70

Ophelia's Level 16 Skill Sheet

Advanced Mana Control

Level 2

Ride of the Valkyries

Level 2

Advanced Valkyrie Magicjosei

Level 2

Advanced Purifying Flames

Level 2

Advanced Runic Magic

Level 2

Bonded Hearth Core

Level 2

Valkyrie Spells Known

Renewal, Consecration, Spear of Hestia, Barrier, Hearth of Hestia

Ophelia’s Level 16 Non-Combat Skill Sheet

Looting

Level 1

Advanced Smithing

Level 2

Misc Skills:

Energy Vacuum, Chosen Champion Fervor