Null danced to the side avoiding a downward slash, then flicked out his own Epic-tier blade, deflecting his opponent's sword. The move left his opponent open for a second and he tried to capitalise on it, slashing at the man's midsection while activating Mana Slash. Fueled by his own mana, it carried his affinity for nullifying the mana of others. The attack failed as his opponent sped up for an instant to an alarming degree. A short-duration enhancement Skill, then. He had his own of course, but it came with a steep price. Null’s Class and Skill structure was a simple one. It had been decided for him by his Father before he had been born. A variant on the Mana Suppressor Class, his own Nullifying Mage Primary Class was the source of his aura and his inflated Magic Stats. He only possessed four active Skills. Nullification Aura, Mana Slash, Swordsman’s Quickening, and Last Resort. The rest of his Skills were passives that enhanced his Stats or the effective power of his aura. His mastery of the sword came from natural talent and over a decade of training.
He was quickly learning that against this opponent, it was not enough. The man clearly focused on passive bonuses as well, but unlike Null, it didn’t appear that he had to split his focus between his Physical Stats and a few of his Magic Stats. That difference was enough to give the man a small edge. The only reason it wasn’t a bigger edge was Null’s natural talent for the sword.
Another quick exchange, blades flickering in and out and he was forced to disengage, barely managing to avoid losing his arm, his Epic bracer deflecting the blow away at the last second. The defence had been perfect, but his opponent’s superior stats left him with a trickle of blood dripping onto the grass. He couldn’t keep up with this opponent and was losing ground. The only thing likely keeping him from dying already was his opponents' attempt to monitor Nate fighting to their left.
Seeing the fight for himself, Null was wondering if Nate had held back in their own match? Or had the Runecaster’s growth been far beyond the norm? While he was struggling with one of their opponents, Nate juggled three, and unless Null was entirely wrong, it looked like he was winning. The fight itself was a blur and Null knew there was no way he could’ve kept up with three opponents at this calibre at the same time. Physically maybe, but Perception was not one of his better Stats and the way Nate kept vanishing amid the explosions of dirt as the Mage…or Crafter…or was it Artist…whatever he was, handled his three opponents, left Null certain of one thing. If he could just hold out against his enemy, Nate would turn the tide. He just needed to last a bit longer.
Gritting his teeth, he stepped back into the fray, driving his opponent back. He just needed to hold out!
*************
Nate vanished, avoiding being skewered upon a sword. He intentionally telegraphed his teleport, appearing in a free patch of grass as two missiles came flying at him. The Archer had gotten off a shot from behind him, still utilising his Swift Embodiment to stay one step ahead of the Shadow Construct hounding him. The other missile was a bolt of yellow lightning bearing down on him from the front as he faced the Lightning Mage. In an instant, both vanished as he activated True Teleportation. Instead of moving himself, he moved the missiles, changing their vectors.
An explosion of dirt went off behind him, the swordsman narrowly avoiding the archer's arrow as he threw himself to the side. The archer wasn’t as lucky. Already distracted avoiding an elongated grasping arm from Nate’s Shadow Construct, the teleported bolt of lightning took him in the arm, sending him rolling through the grass with a bloodied limb. The Shadow Construct pounced on the prone man only for the archer to vanish as Nate sensed a flex of spatial mana originating from a ring on the man's hand. That wouldn’t do. Already spinning up his Gravity Control runic array in one hand, he considered whether it would be better to expend the extra mana to steal the ring using True Teleportation, or create a runic array to suppress the ability of the item to touch upon the Concept of Space. In an instant, he decided on the second as it gave him other options. Trying to influence items in contact with others bodies always led to a contest of magic power and mana, and without the added bonuses from Conceptual Runic Artistry, the mana cost was just too exorbitant. But before he could deal with the archer he had another problem.
A storm was gathering overhead and Nate could feel the constant gush of mana from the Lightning Mage into the environment. It tasted different from Aisling’s. Being around his guardian always felt like static was running over your skin and raising your hairs. This was like you had drunk too much coffee – energy with nowhere to go. Whatever she was building, Nate wasn’t about to let her do it freely. With his Gravity Control runic array in place, he split off one part of his attention, launching the swordsman charging at him away like a cannonball as he changed the direction behind the man to ‘down’.
An arrow pinged off his barrier, making him stumble to the side as the archer had somehow gotten off a shot, the man on the move again with the Shadow Construct in hot pursuit, flowing over the grasslands like black water. The power of an Embodiment was all that was keeping the Archer safe. As the storm clouds above grew black and roared with thunder, Nate made his move.
The Swordsman was charging back towards him, finally having landed after being launched over fifty metres away. The Lightning Mage was raising her hands to call down the power she had gathered in the sky above. The Archer was forced to engage his spatial item again just to avoid the inky black claws of the Shadow Construct.
Nate extracted a small metal rod from his spatial storage. The Rare material had an oily sheen to it. It was one of the many items he had prepared for use with his Conceptual Automated Existence Skill. Conceptual Insight hummed as it sensed the affinity for Gathering inside of the metal rod. It had been an approach he had considered for dealing with an enemy with a similar skillset to Luc. But now he saw another way to use it as he activated Conceptual Runic Artistry and Conceptual Intent. The first Skill burned a Powerful Gathering runic array into the metal. With his insane number of Intents, he twisted the items Subconcepts towards gathering up one energy specifically – the same energy that was gathering in the dark clouds above. Lightning.
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Using his Gravity Control runic array, he changed up to down for the area around the swordsman, launching him into the sky above as he tracked the man with Farsight of the Runic Artist. The mana gathering around the Lightning Mage was reaching a crescendo and as she threw her hands down, pointing at Nate, he activated True Teleportation. Staying in the exact spot he had been for over ten seconds now, he sent the metal bar in his hand into the sky above the swordsman.
The lightning that fell was less like a bolt of electricity and more like a pillar of yellow light. It arched towards the ground before being pulled off course and away from Nate, drawn towards his makeshift lightning-gathering-rod and onto the falling Swordsman. The scream of anguish from the Lightning Mage was drowned out by the booming sound of thunder as the shockwave flattened the grasslands for fifty metres in every direction. The corpse of the swordsman fell in pieces, the lightning's desperate need to escape his fleshy body having blown him apart.
The Lightning Mage had tears in her eyes as she raised her hand to attack him more directly, yellow light crackling over her fingertips. Nate pulled out a mana gem, starting to restore his depleted reserves as he prepared to continue the fight. A quick sweep of the area with his Farsight Sphere of Awareness had him pulling on the mana gem even faster. One of the Gold Bodyguards was down, probably dead, and the second was now faced with two opponents and quickly losing. Null was on the back foot against his own opponent, and even with Frick’s help, Britt and his Familiar were suffering, his girlfriend’s armour looking dented with blood leaking from her lips. Kiri seemed to be doing okay, the Concept of Wind surrounding her, but how much longer could she last? He had downed one, and he was probably out of the woods, but he had to finish this quickly so he could support the others.
*************
Kiri felt the power of a winged insect flowing through her body and soul, wind whipping around her as she fought the urge to take flight. Charging at the spear-wielder, she dodged over the top of the woman by using a gust of wind to launch herself skyward. Her eight tethered arms flickered out, all failing to find purchase as the Barrier Mage protected the spear-wielder with minute barriers, deflecting Kiri’s Rare tier daggers. That was fine. The spear-wielder wasn’t her target anyway.
Landing on the other side she faked a frontal charge at the Barrier Mage before vanishing using Effective Soul Shift, coming at her from behind. The Water Mage standing beside the woman creating the barriers unleashed a blast of cutting water in every direction. The ribbon of fluid cut furrows into the ground and Kiri leaned on the effects from To Slay A Soul, spinning up a burst of wind like armour to protect her. It did the job of preventing her from losing a limb, though she was still cut to the bone even with the added protection.
Diving with her Legendary Dagger for the Barrier Mage, she found herself deflected away, the bitch smirking at her as the barrier expanded, tossing her into the air. A glance behind her saw the spear woman launching herself into the air at the same time, her spear pointed down at Kiri. With a sudden burst of acceleration that could only come from a Skill, the spear-wielder was launched towards the ground. Using Effective Soul Shift she managed to avoid the tip of the spear. The ground wasn’t so lucky, an explosion of dirt launched into the air as the spear-wielders' impact created a small crater with a star-shaped indentation bigger than Kiri’s head at the centre.
Kiri took a moment to think as the battle lines reset and her arm knit itself back together, costing her even more of the precious soul energy that made her who and what she was. The Barrier Mage could be worn down, but only if Kiri could harass her directly. So far that had proven impossible. Every attack against the Barrier Mage resulted in giving up her back to the spear wielder and close-range with the Water Mage was a losing proposition. No matter which enemy she attacked, the others would defend them. If she could’ve combined the various souls she held within her To Slay A Soul Skill, then she was confident she could simply brute force it and kill one of them. Two would be manageable. But she couldn’t do that with the Skill. Not yet, at least. There was no winning play, unless she flipped the board.
The Barrier Mage never protected the Water Mage. Why would she? The man's bursts of cutting water would eviscerate anyone who got close. Even with the soul energy she was drawing from her Soul Palace to empower herself, giving her an Endurance and Constitution in the low four-hundreds, it wasn’t enough to prevent her from being sliced apart. She was certain the man had an Embodiment that was enhancing his water magic. Their confidence in him was a weakness she could exploit. She just needed to set it up correctly. She needed momentum.
Launching herself forward with the dregs of the insect’s soul still empowering her with some additional speed and the power of the wind that parted before her, Kiri began to dance once more. The spear-wielder kept her attention for a moment, her eight daggers flickering in and out, once more deflected by tiny barriers as Kiri deftly evaded the tip of the spear, even as it glowed with light and flashed, trying to blind her. She was blind for a second while her eyes healed, but her Soul Sense told her where they were, letting her use Effective Soul Shift to vanish and appear in the sky far above the Water Mage. Burning through the last of the insect’s soul, she used the wind to enhance her falling speed.
The Water Mage had a smirk of victory on his lips as thin streams of water gathered above him, ready to be released. She knew what she was doing had a touch of madness to it. But if she wasn’t going to prove this was her Path now, then when? Her brother and friends needed her. Now was as good of a time as any.
When she was only a couple of metres above him, the Water Mage finally released his spell. The ribbons of water cut straight through her, dismembering her. It was so fast she didn’t even feel it, and for the barest of moments she stepped between realms. Standing inside an enclosed room with uneven walls the colour and consistency of custard, she felt her tether to the Physical Realm unravelling. Surrounding her was her own soul energy, alongside a pile of rare daggers. Along the opposite wall stood five crystals as tall as her waist, each one a soul she had stored within her To Slay A Soul Skill. The tether to the Physical Realm continued to unravel, and through that tether she could feel the state of her body. Her real body. Not this one built of soul energy and willpower. It was in pieces, but still falling towards the Water Mage, his spell spent. As though it was the easiest thing in the world, she followed that tether back to the Physical Realm. A hum filled her entire body as she was reborn, the memory of herself pulling her dismembered body back together in an instant as her soul twin was expended in the process.
The Water Mage didn’t have time to react as she buried her Runecrafted Dagger of Soulrending in his eye, the blade long enough and sharp enough to pass out the other side of his head. To Slay A Soul pulled his soul energy into herself, the man already dead. The Barrier Mage was backing away, her eyes filled with fear. The Spear-wielder looked about ready to turn tail and run as well.
With a bloody smile on her face, Kiri prepared to charge them down. She wasn’t just a Soul Slayer. She was a Reborn Soul Slayer. And now, here on the precipice of death, she had confirmation of exactly what that meant.
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