'So, the reason it starts burning up is because of the air... then, can I add negated "Air" runes to prevent that?'
While flying to his next target, Jane reflected on the performance of his magic.
[The clouds will hinder it. Those need to be considered, as well.]
'If there is no interaction with water, then 'Lightning' can be included.'
[Multiple rounds will effectively prevent enemy mages from being able to recover. However, it is most ideal to kill them in one strike.]
'Even if I can breathe up there, I'll need reinforcement to go even higher.'
[Right, it's due to a lack of air. That will need to be generated to protect the body.]
Ahead of them, the target started to come into view. It was one of many field bases designed to provide easy support to tracking missions. Dozens of small tents surrounded central fires, and an ornate building was seeing dozens of patrons.
'That's a church, right?'
[Yes. It is also where the most people are gathered.]
Her insinuation was clear. Jane once again started flying high into the sky. After a certain distance was reached, he was forced to use magic to sustain himself. Eventually, he even had to keep a constant supply of 'Air' runes running around him to stave off the damage.
'Huh. Did my flight get stronger all of a sudden?'
[Gravity got weaker.]
Jane did not question the circumstances he was under as he formed another spear. This one was more than twice the size of the previous one, and had an accordingly increased number of spells imbued into it.
'Off you go.'
---
Jane was having difficulty checking the results of his attack. After all, there wasn't much of anything to check. The same crater was there again, but no signs of the previously bustling outpost remained. Around the edges, grass had charred and caught on fire for some reason Jane could not explain.
'Why don't more people do this?'
[...You know, most people don't have a convincing reason to use these kinds of attacks. Even if they did, your thought process is definitely abnormal.]
'I get told that a lot.'
[What are you doing? Harvest their soul cores.]
'Right, right.'
While he wasn't always in a situation where soul cores were harvestable, this case was a surprise attack, and there was likely not going to be reinforcements for a while. It was the ideal circumstance to poach a core or two.
'That one has a bunch of reinforcement runes engraved, so it won't be especially good for engraving purposes. I can keep it for some basic functionality.'
[We need more magic-receptive material. The next base should have a decent amount.]
Indeed, Jane could vaguely feel that there was an adequate amount for his purposes at the next base. He didn't feel like holding on to the soul core for now, though. He let it slip through his fingers, along with the hundreds of flickering souls that were rising into the sky.
---
[We need to avoid hitting the stockpiles.]
'A first strike to clean up the surroundings, then I'll run in and take as much metal as I need.'
[Bold of you to assume we'll get away with it again.]
Jane stood a couple hundred merds away from his target, gathering information while waiting for the perfect time to strike.
'Let's assume they know I'm here, and they know everything about my means of attack. In that case, they'll obviously set up negated 'Metal' runes. However, they know that I know this. Firstly, they know that I am aware of the locations of all their bases. Secondly, they know that I will plan around their defenses. What would I do in that situation?'
[The most common response would be to use a varied offense option to skirt the enemy's defenses. Thus, they will act while assuming that to be our course of action. How can we subvert that?]
'I will use a relatively niche element to compose my spell, thereby bypassing their defense magic. Since it must be unexpected, it can't be an obvious option like "Rock". However, it also has to pack decent amounts of power.'
As he was thinking about his plan, he started flying into the area above the target. From above, it looked like a more advanced version of the previous base.
[Ice?]
'Right, that would be a good option.'
[Unless, of course, they know that the one attacking is us. 'Ice' would be a likely element, in that case.]
'How exactly can one defend against shards of bone?'
[There aren't any runes to generate it. Oh, and it also doesn't decompose easily. That will be our choice, then.]
Jane formed a blade of ice, and sliced off part of his knuckle. Catching the sliver of bone, he used 'Grow' to make it into a large mass, then sliced it into shape. He also saved some of it, just to make life easier later on.
The fleshy parts wouldn't interfere much, so he didn't bother tearing them off. All that mattered was that the tip was made of perfectly sharp bone.
'Hold on, does it matter if the tip is sharp?'
[It's more effective against physically-based defenses. If those aren't present, a disc shape might be better.]
'Makes sense.'
Jane imbued the necessary spells into the bone, then sent it down.
'They know what I'm after now, since that part is relatively undamaged. Then, I should make things easier for myself.'
He turned the fragment of bone into another spear, then imbued it with weaker spells than before. After aiming it at the camp's storage, he let it fly.
[Not enough.]
He used 'Flesh' and 'Grow' to alter the piece of bone he kept, then made it into a somewhat humanoid figure. He also poured 'Tar' on, just to make it look a bit clothed. Then, he threw the dummy down, and followed it's trajectory. After touching down in the rubble, he began searching.
[It should take up mana.]
Although it was a little risky, Jane spread out his mana and searched for the points where it lingered. He dashed towards those places, and picked up small ingots of eerie metal. The number of soul cores he would be collecting in the future would make hundreds of complex magic tools, so he needed an appropriate amount of metal.
Nearby, his dummy crashed into the ground and splattered into bits of flesh and bone. The tar had caught fire on the way down, so the crash caused everything to explode into a fiery mess.
'I need to hurry up.'
The dummy was exposed, so he didn't have long. There was only one place left where his mana had lingered.
"Found you."