Chapter 324: The Sinners Guild (Part 12)

"Cool, it’s got so much elasticity. How much force can it bear?" Inquired Aria curiously."U-Um, I d-don’t know...n-nothing’s ever broken it b-before," Responded Iqra, as Aria poked her barrier in fascination.

"How many original Spells have you created, by the way?" I asked her.

I already know the answer to that, thanks to Appraisal, but I can’t tell her that.

"W-Well, technically t-twelve, but it’s just f-four effects cast in th-three different ways. I-I call this one Bouncy Shield, a-and I can cast bigger versions c-called Bouncy Wall and B-Bouncy Dome. Th-Then there’s Reflect, S-Spiky and Shockwave," She explained, fidgeting awkwardly.

"I’m guessing those are exactly what they sound like. This Bouncy Shield seems suited to absorbing large amounts of force, way more than a regular, solid barrier could.

I’m guessing Reflect literally reflects attacks back at the enemy. Is Spiky a regular barrier but with spikes on it? And I’m guessing Shockwave triggers shockwaves upon impact?" Surmised Aria, looking intrigued.

"Y-Yes, that’s r-right," Iqra nodded in response.

"I see...mind showing us the rest? I’d like to see how effective they are, if that’s alright," I requested, as I tapped the springy barrier with the back of my fist.

I can definitely break through this if I hit it with a good amount of force, and it’s probably not all that effective of a defense against piercing attacks.

Still, it seems like it can tank a fair amount of force, especially blunt force attacks.

"S-Sure, I don’t mind," She replied, before chanting as she deactivated the barrier, "[Spiky Shield]."

Her Mana Orb glowed brighter as she cast the Spell, a barrier with razor-sharp spikes over the front appearing.

She’s wearing her Mana Orb as a pendant, don’t think I’ve seen that before.

Staffs are usually the standard option, but I’ve also seen bracelets, gloves or gauntlets, and rings too.

"Wow, these spikes are super sharp," I remarked, as I poked the tip of one of the spikes over the front of the barrier, nicking my fingertip.

"Yeah, but it’d probably be tough to use...you’d need to get the timing absolutely perfect, activate it right when an enemy is rushing in and too close to stop or evade. If you can manage to pull that off, this would be a great weapon," Aria encouraged her with a smile.

"I-I, um...th-thanks, I’ll keep that in m-mind."

"Decently sturdy too," I noted, as I punched the side of one of the spikes, a few cracks spreading out, but it was mostly intact.

I did hold back a fair bit, I think I hit it with about the amount of force a high-level Ace Combatant would be able to generate.

"Yeah, this is a pretty solid Spell. Alright, let’s move on to the next one," Grinned Aria, before Iqra nodded and chanted...

"U-Um, [Reflect Shield]."

Huh, it’s got a shimmer to it, unlike regular barriers.

"Let’s see here...," I muttered, before tapping the barrier with my knuckles, adding in bemusement, "Uh, nothing happened."

"O-Oh, um, you have to h-hit it with a certain amount of force. I-It reflects all Magic attacks, e-even weak ones, b-but physical attacks need to be a b-bit stronger," She explained, before I stepped back and drove my fist forward at about half my full strength.

My eyes widened slightly as I struck the barrier, the impact jarring my wrist and forearm as the force I’d generated shot straight back through my fist and arm.

"That’s pretty rough, punching and kicking this barrier will only result in the attacker hurting themselves, unless they hit it with enough power to break through it completely," I mused thoughtfully.

"W-Wow...n-normally, anything that h-hits it gets blown b-back, but y-your arm barely budged," She responded in surprise.

"Well, I didn’t hit it with my full strength, that’s probably why."

"A-Also, um...wh-while I don’t know for sure, s-since no one’s ever broken through it b-before, e-even if it’s hit with more force than it can bear, i-it should still reflect a-all the force it’s capable of b-bearing before breaking," She informed me.

"I see, so even if someone does manage to break through it, it’ll still do a bit of damage to them," Replied Aria with a thoughtful nod.

"Y-Yes, it’s the same with Magic attacks...l-like, if we say the barrier can withstand f-force of a hundred, a-and it’s hit with a force of a hundred and twenty, i-it’ll reflect a hundred, while the e-excess twenty will b-break through."

"Cool, let’s test out the exact limits of your barriers later, measure how much force they can withstand and whatnot. It’ll be good to know exactly what your Magic is capable of ahead of time," I suggested prudently.

"Y-Yeah, okay," She nodded in response.

"Alright, that just leaves one more," Aria prompted her with a smile.

"O-Okay, um...[Shockwave Shield]," She chanted, a seemingly normal barrier forming in front of her.

"So, like, is it that the resulting shockwave is stronger the more force it’s hit with?" Aria asked her.

"N-No, the shockwave is e-equally strong no matter how m-much force it’s hit w-with. A-And the shockwave e-erupts outwards, s-so it won’t affect anyone s-standing behind the barrier. B-But the shockwave doesn’t have a very wide r-range...it erupts with a lot of f-force, but i-it doesn’t travel very far."

"Gotcha...so, this is probably the best option against weaker Monsters that attack physically at close-range, while your Reflect barrier is more suited to long-ranged attacks and attacks from stronger Monsters.

Your Bouncy barrier definitely absorbs the greatest amount of force, it might even be effective against Calamity Level Monsters if you can increase its elasticity," I surmised, giving her an encouraging nod.

"O-Okay, I’ll w-work at that," She replied with a determined gleam in her eyes.

"We look forward to seeing the results," Responded Aria with a smile.

"By the way, I’ve often wondered, why don’t Protectors cast barriers in different shapes? For example, a super thin and narrow barrier, formed horizontally and low...if it goes unnoticed, a Monster could end up running right into it and get its legs cut off.

Or, a similarly narrow vertical slate that’d slice a target clean in two if they run into it. Think of a barrier like a blade...instead of using the flat to defend, use the edge as a weapon," I suggested.

"I...I’ve n-never thought about that b-before...actually, it sh-should be relatively e-easy to p-pull off, at least c-compared to creating my o-original Spells," She remarked as her eyes widened slightly.

She seems pretty confident that she can pull that off. This is definitely worth exploring further...