friendship bracelet

I didn’t answer immediately, choosing instead to draw something from my Inventory, channeling power into it to keep it from vanishing in the heat. Malkuth tilted his borrowed head slightly to the side.

“And what’s that?” He asked.

“Your bracelet,” I said. “Don’t you want it?”

He looked at me, glancing over the power I was gathering, and I could all but feel his smirk.

“Please,” He said. “I’ve been waiting for this.”

I nodded at him once, reared back my hand, and threw it towards him as hard as I could. The bracelet was a simple one, nothing but regular beads around some string, but it literally glowed with my power.

One of the nice things about the Astra techniques was that they could be applied to existing objects, in addition to simply creating projectiles. I didn’t usually use them that way, because it didn’t change the cost and given the choice, I’d just as soon not stand at the epicenter of a Brahmastra. Generally speaking, there wasn’t much point in wasting things by throwing them away, either.

But in this case, I made an exception. In point of fact, I’d been preparing for it.

Sephirotic Synthesis Complete. The skills ‘Magic Missile’ and ‘Thunderbolt’ have been combined successfully. The skill ‘Indrastra’ has been created.

Sephirotic Synthesis Complete. The skills ‘Magic Missile’ and ‘Bind’ have been combined successfully. The skill ‘Varunapasha’ has been created.

Sephirotic Synthesis Complete. The skills ‘Magic Missile’ and ‘Far Slayer’ have been combined successfully. The skill ‘Vayvayastra’ has been created.

Sephirotic Synthesis Complete. The skills ‘Magic Missile’ and ‘Delusory’ have been combined successfully. The skill ‘Twashtarastra’ has been created.

Sephirotic Synthesis Complete. The skills ‘Gungnir,’ ‘Agneyastra,’ and ‘Surya’ have been combined successfully. The skill ‘Suryastra’ has been created.

I layered all of the Astra skills I knew—baring the Brahmastra, which I’d already used today—over the cheap bracelet and in midflight it transformed into a bolt of destruction that cut through the inferno around us as though it wasn’t even there. The power of the Agneyastra and the Suryastra protected it from the surrounding heat, leaving it free to fly for the heart of my foe, who just kept his arms by his sides and accepted the strike.

It hit him with an explosion of thunderous power. The moment the first spear connected, the Indrastra surrounded him in a loose sphere of glowing spears that struck his flesh like lightning. The Varunapasha surrounded him in cords and chains of light, binding him fast. The Vayvayastra shaped his already hostile surroundings into a storm of fire and power that could have created a tornado, had there been anything to differentiate it from its surroundings. The Twashtarastra took effect more subtly, surrounding him in a personal illusion that bound his senses, surrounding him with the images of enemies that would have overlaid his allies, had there been any here. And the two strongest of the Astras I’d used, the Agneyastra and Suryastra, detonated on impact, exploding into such heat and light that for a moment, my Sanctuary had yet another sun, adding fuel to the still growing fire.

Or, well, more fire to the existing fire, at least.

The attack didn’t cause any smoke, of course—there was nothing to create some anymore, and it would have been eradicated instantly if there had been. Even if there had been, it wouldn’t have been enough to interfere with my eyes and I was free to see what happened when the blows connected.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t say I was particularly surprised when the answer was ‘pretty much nothing.’ As the attacks connected and either shattered or burst against his armored skin, Malkuth didn’t so much as move until the very end, when an arm snapped up—casually tearing through his restraints in the process—and caught the last of the weapons, snapping it easily.

When the power around it faded, all that was left in his hands was the bracelet, no longer glowing and yet still untouched by the heat.

“What a nice gift,” He said, smiling at me as he slipped it on. “I kind of feel bad now. I said I’d bring the murder, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone here. That barrier of yours again?”