Hex seemed to have anticipated an attack would be coming his way, and quite easily sidestepped the charging Warrior. Any relief Cyn felt was shattered almost instantly as the Rogue drew his weapons, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Dana backing up with her bow also drawn. Sam, undeterred, quickly stopped his charge and turned to face Hex.
Shit, shit, shit! This was really bad. Was she seriously the only one who was able to resist? Spam had been croaking loudly from its pouch since Cyn had returned from the illusion, and the noise made her realize it had not been in there with her. More importantly, she had not thought to question it at the time. I need to be careful, I might have been affected too. She tried to use Purify on Sam, to no effect. The description listed poisons and toxins if Cyn remembered correctly, so she was not surprised, but she had to try.
For now, she ignored the frog and rapidly backed away from what was about to turn into a brawl. Cyn deliberately chose not to draw Blooddrinker, believing having a weapon out would not only make it easier for her to turn to violence, but also that being unarmed would make her appear less threatening to her clearly controlled party members.
“Stop! We aren’t your enemies, Sam!” The Warrior ignored Cyn’s plea, and instead took a swing at the Rogue, who had not backed up after sidestepping the Warrior’s charge. Hex, who had a massive speed advantage over his attacker, twisted his body to the side in order to dodge the fist that had been aimed at his head. The punch had been full force, leaving Sam unable to pull back in time to protect himself from retaliation.
The Rogue took advantage of the scant few seconds of vulnerability, delivering two rapid strikes into Sam’s unprotected ribs. The daggers easily broke through the chainmail vest to sink into the Warrior’s side, but before Hex could retreat, he unexpectedly found his legs swept out from under him. The party had only really seen Sam use his fists to fight, but clearly he knew more than that.
Cyn quickly created a healing syringe, intending to heal back some of the damage Hex had done to Sam, as the Warrior dropped on top of the fallen Rogue to try and prevent him from continuing to dodge. The two grappled a few heartbeats, Cyn unable to get a clear shot, before Sam raised his red-glowing fist to strike at Hex for a third time.
“No!” She only had a single heartbeat to act, and Cyn didn’t hesitate. The slightly bulbous needle of mana and health shot away from her at a far higher speed than Cyn would normally use, hastened by an infusion of excess mana, to pierce into Sam’s raised fist. It wasn’t enough to stop the blow, but the force of the high speed projectile deflected the Warrior’s fist ever so slightly.
Cyn then used Soul Slip to put herself dangerously close to the pair just in time to witness the Warrior’s attack making contact. She wasn’t sure exactly why she had brought herself so close, besides a desperation to make them stop, knowing there was no way she would be able to pull them apart. Combined with Hex flinching away from the descending fist, the slight deflection Cyn had caused was enough to make Sam only graze the side of the Rogue’s head. Hex would not get away fully unscathed, the power behind the blow leaving his ear hanging on by only a thin, bloody strip of flesh. Undoubtedly, he would also have a concussion from even the slight contact of knuckles along his skull.
As the punch instead made full contact with the slab below them, the shattering stone and flying rubble painted a poignant picture of how high Sam’s strength stat was, and how lucky Hex had been to not take the full force of the strike. Cyn grabbed at the Warrior’s arm helplessly as he raised it again, but was not able to make any attempts at separating or calming the men before she found herself forced to let go, rocketed a short distance into the air and away from the epicenter of an explosive blast that was centered on Sam.
Kill or be killed, little Mage….
Once Cyn was in contact with the ground again, she shook off the echoing memory of the illusion and stumbled to her feet, dazed. She was injured, but not enough to be a concern for her. At first she thought that perhaps the explosion had come from Sam himself, but when she did not see the Warrior immediately she Soul Slipped to his side again. It was risky, using Soul Slip without knowing exactly where her target was, but since she could feel Sam’s low health in her mind she was able to use him as a target for the skill anyway.
Beside him now, she was positive the Warrior was not the source. He too had been blasted away from their original location near the entrance of the trial, and his large, unmoving body lay sprawled on its side like a broken doll. He wasn’t close to death, much to Cyn’s relief, but his health was low and he appeared to be unconscious. On one hip she could see burn marks radiating out from a clear impact location, and the epicenter had a small waft of smoke drifting out.
She had failed to consider what Dana might be doing during the melee brawl, having last seen the other woman backing away from the fighting. Turning to look for her now, Cyn saw the Archer on the far side of the arena. She had her bow out and drawn fully, the nocked arrow aimed at Hex who had gotten to his feet again. The Rogue was holding one side of his face, and based on his location Cyn guessed that Sam’s body had protected Hex from most of the blast.
Dana had not shot yet, and Cyn watched for a moment as the arrow appeared to gather sparks around its tip. She quickly fished a now quiet Spam out of her tabard, setting him down beside Sam. The familiar looked a little battered, and very disgruntled, but remained mostly unharmed. “Watch over Sam.” Spam warbled, sounding unhappy, but she didn’t stick around to explain herself and took off in a sprint towards Dana. Sam’s health was low, but not dropping, so Cyn was banking on him staying unconscious long enough for this trial to end. She was leaving Spam behind because she did not want it to be harmed, and Cyn was developing a sinking feeling she would be getting pretty hurt before this was over.
Dana was too far away for her to use Soul Slip on, but it seemed like whatever skill the Archer was charging had quite a long use time. Before she could make it into range, Hex overtook Cyn in the sprint towards the Archer, seemingly recovered enough to see the danger he was in.
Not that that was comforting to Cyn, since now he was also a source of danger to both her and Dana. Hex had a not-insignificant level advantage over all of them, having gained far more than most of the party in his profession during their time on the first floor, and combined with having also gained class levels since the start of the labyrinth the gap between their stats had the potential to be devastating. Locking down the Rogue like Sam had done was the only real counter to his speed, and she wasn’t sure Dana could pull it off.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Hex reached Dana just as Cyn came into range to use Soul Slip, the Rogue forcing the Archer to stop channeling her skill and roll to the side in order to dodge his immediate attempts to stab her in the chest. Cyn appeared at the Rogue’s elbow, grabbing onto it. “Fucking stop, both of you! Think for one goddamn s…” She didn’t get the chance to finish speaking as Hex’s arm erupted into silver flames and the Rogue threw his held elbow back towards her, hard.
The flames were heatless, but forced Cyn to let go as they burned her hand nonetheless. His burning elbow also scalded the skin where it struck her in the gut, leaving a hole in her tabard and knocking her a short distance backward. The blow left her breathless, but she barely managed to keep herself standing. Hex looked back at her briefly, his cold, gray eyes giving Cyn a once-over before returning his attention to Dana.
Cyn’s anger, and frustration, over the situation was growing rapidly. None of them were listening to her. None of them were even paying attention to her, as if she wasn’t worth their time!
Kill, or be killed little Mage…
Cyn found herself reaching for Blooddrinker, barely stopping herself from drawing it as Hex and Dana engaged in a rapid melee. She had been literally holding onto the Rogue, and he hadn’t done more than just move her out of the way. Even the damage she had taken from Dana was a product of being too close to the Warrior. Cyn could only guess it was because she had yet to act with hostility. But with her anger bubbling up she struggled to let go of the dagger’s grip, just holding onto it as she watched her party members try to kill each other.
The two were fairly evenly matched, even if the Archer was not particularly suited to melee. Her agility was high enough to both dodge most of Hex’s attempts to strike, and occasionally land her own with either a dagger or blunt force from her bow. Dana’s high strength also meant that when she did manage to hit the Rogue with more than a graze, it did noticeable damage. But it was apparent who would be the winner. Even injured from Sam, Hex had not only the numbers advantage but also skills that could be used in melee combat unlike Dana. It was a battle the Archer was rapidly starting to lose since she could not create distance between her and the Rogue.
Kill, or be killed little Mage…
Cyn felt frozen as the woman’s voice echoed once again, the surge in rage making her tighten her grip on the dagger. GET OUT OF MY HEAD! She received a vicious laugh in response to her screaming thoughts, confirming that the echo was actually just continued attempts to incite Cyn to violence. Knowing that did not temper her anger, though. Not entirely sure what she was doing, but needing to try and wash away the influence on herself before she turned the rage on her party, Cyn flooded her body with mana.
Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of new, small mana veins opened to accommodate Cyn’s Hubris, reaching to vent ephemeral blue clouds out of every inch of her skin. She had a brief spike of pain as the mana veins entered her head, but it faded away rapidly and was replaced with a sense of euphoria and a notification that she dismissed. The laugh cut off abruptly once her head was filled with mana as well, and Cyn quickly stopped venting. The few seconds had taken most of her mana pool, but if the voice did not come back it was definitely worth it.
One deep, calming breath later her anger was under control and she let go of Blooddrinker, refocusing on the fight between Hex and Dana. Both were bleeding from numerous small wounds, and while Cyn was distracted it appeared the Archer had gotten a good hit in. Across Hex’s neck was a thin, red line, with a stream of blood flowing steadily down his collarbone. It would have been a dreadful wound before the System, likely resulting in a quick death, but clearly they were made of tougher stuff now. Both of them had under half health.
“Dana, Hex, please think about why you’re fighting! We don’t have to do this!” Once again, Cyn’s plea fell on deaf ears. Then, to her horror, she saw the Rogue vault back and up into the air.
Remembering the effects of that skill on the Illuminants, Cyn used what little remained of her mana on Soul Slip, intending to interrupt the strike by using Soul Slip’s default collision instead of manipulating it. The fractions of a second it took to activate Soul Slip was too slow compared to the speed of Hex’s skill as he reversed direction mid-air, surging forward and downward to strike Dana, both of his daggers plunging into the Archer’s chest before the woman could react. Cyn felt Dana’s health tank, but was unable to help as she collided forcibly into the Rogue’s shoulder before he could finish off his opponent. The collision sent them tumbling over one another, the daggers ripping free of Dana’s chest and dropping her already low health further.
The backlash from Soul Slip was expected, but there was nothing Cyn could do to recover faster from it. For a heartbeat she lay on her back, staring up into the clear, noon sky before struggling to sit up. She could hear the angry croaks of her familiar growing closer, and the sound made her afraid the Rogue would go after Spam or return to finish off the Archer while she was down. That fear proved fruitless as Cyn was slammed back into the ground before she could sit up fully.
The impact with the ground knocked the breath out of her a moment, finding Hex straddling her body and holding one of his daggers against her throat, just hard enough to draw blood, and the other pressed just above her heart. She froze, staring up to meet his cold gaze. His eyes look clear. She was surprised to see that. Cyn would have expected a mind control, or magical influence effect to give him unfocused, or foggy eyes. She wasn’t sure why, just that there surely had to be some kind of indicator when someone was being affected like that?
“Stay out of the way.” As Hex spoke, he started to pull back from her, head turning to look in the direction Cyn felt a near-dead Dana. As confusing as his words were, she couldn’t let him just go and kill the rest of their party.
Quickly reaching up with one hand, Cyn tried to grab the Rogue by his short brown and pink hair. While she was unsuccessful in actually grabbing him, the goal was to keep his attention on her. It worked perhaps a little too well, since now both blades were firmly cutting into Cyn’s flesh where before they had been lightly pressed.
Cyn’s hand was still up, a mere inch from Hex’s face, but she held it still while speaking softly. “You don’t have to do this. Please, Hex.” The Rogue’s eyes narrowed as she moved just enough to lightly place her hand against his face, but while he did push the blades a little deeper, he didn’t pull away.
She wasn’t going to be able to speak without ripping open her throat more, but that wasn’t the wound that was making her internal alarm ring out in tune with Spam’s now close cacophony. The blade in her chest was a hair's breadth from puncturing her heart, so close Cyn had to stop breathing. Both of them were deathly still, a stalemate waiting for either side to flinch.