They had appeared at their weapon's side in a flash, which meant one of two things -- either they could move at speeds high enough to rend the flesh from their bones, or they possessed the ability to warp themselves from place to place. There was a whiff of aura in the air, and a distortion of something.

The latter, then.

They were an aura user, which made her next move a risky one. If it worked, the battle would end in an instant. If it didn't, they probably wouldn't be affected at all. Morgan made the decision that the gamble was worth it.

She lifted a hand, mana streaming out from it and into the air. Reflexively, her allies moved out of the way, clearing a path for her spell.

The warrior's blade cut through the air, the plume of dust and smoke dispersing in an instant just from the force of their swing. She was able to get a good look at her opponent.

They were well-built, but not large. If anything, they were simply tall and toned -- Morgan was reminded of a panther. Their hair was white, and their skin looked worn. Morgan struggled to figure out whether it was from age or weathering. They wore little in the way of garments, just torn pants and bindings wrapped around their torso. They were taller than even Anselm, and what Isa said about their sword hadn't been untrue. It was held aloft, pointed towards the rocky ceiling above.

Their gaze was locked onto hers, and then they spoke.

"Morgan, Pioneer of Sorcery."

This was the trouble with fighting other awakened, Morgan thought -- the deep unnerve of facing someone unknown to you. Even in dungeons you could gauge an enemy's strength based off of the difficulty ranking and several other factors.

They were dangerous, though, she knew that much.

Her mana wove itself into the air in front of her, the First Fundamental Principle: Integration. It was a bit taxing to do it to this extent, but she had become well-practiced in it.

"That's me."

They took a step forward, just as the air began to ripple with countless vibrations. Morgan's mana worked in tandem, moving the air in patterns. It was refined, and focused, emanating in a cone from her palm. It wasn't dangerous yet, but it would be soon.

Another step, and Morgan isolated the cone in mana. The barrier served two purposes: protecting herself and her allies, and...

She glanced around, every single one of them had covered their ears -- save for their foe. Just as they took their next step, a sound like thunder blasted out from that invisible cone. It petered out, growing quieter and quieter before their foot hit the ground. Still, the group clutched their ears tightly.

Aura or mana were the only things that could save someone from this, outside of a solid wall. Morgan steeled her focus as she watched the warrior twitch, blood running down the side of their head -- their eardrums had burst. In spite of that, they continued to step forward. She could feel the energy within them roiling out like smoke, filling each part of their body. Then, with great strain, their aura went beyond the threshold of their body.

By the next step, they had completely shielded themselves from Morgan's attack -- the mana uselessly burning up against their focused aura.

She released the spell. All in all, she had spent one-hundred mana, a trade she was more than satisfied with.

They spoke again, a bit louder than before because of their newly developed hearing troubles, "You've slain Regret, Domination, and Contradiction. I won't allow your streak to continue any further!"

Morgan raised an eyebrow, Why do they sound envious of me?

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With that firm declaration, they hoisted their sword up once more, "Four more'll be bound to my name!" With a sort of jubilance on their face, they took a step towards Anselm, wobbling a little as they did. Morgan had never burst an eardrum before, but she'd seen several times what it did to someone. She could only imagine what kind of effect it had on someone as tall as them.

They were off-balance, and Isa took advantage of it immediately. There was no greater assassin than them, after all.

Mana filled her palms as she watched the flash of black feathers appear over their opponent. Less than a second later, daggers were buried in their shoulders, a good bit away from the place Isa had been aiming -- the base of their neck.

Aura flared up across their body once more, in response to the attack. Isa immediately leapt off, using the warrior's back to create distance. Then, they disappeared from sight.

Anselm lifted their shield, swinging their arm out to follow up on Isa's attack. A metallic clang filled the cave as he smashed his shield against them. It was glowing brightly, radiant heat sizzling against their bare skin. Though if it hurt them, they showed nothing that might indicate it.

With a grunt, they tossed their sword up into the air. Even though it was a simple toss, it cleared over ten meters in less than a second. Within that second, they disappeared, narrowly avoiding a stab from Anselm's spear.

Morgan looked up just in time to see them readying another throw at her. Their form was surging with aura, no doubt empowering their every movement.

Is it an effect of the item, or is it an ability?

A small smile wormed its way onto her face. Every move in a fight was a gamble, and this one would be too.

They hurled the sword her way, and she raised a hand to cast a spell. In the fractions of a second that passed as the blade moved between them and her, she saw a glimpse of hope within that sword. It was a magical item, there was no mana or aura moving between the item and the wielder.

[Barrier], [Barrier], [Barrier], [Barrier], [Transmutation], [Jagged Threads]

Morgan cast each spell faster than her mind could keep up with, allowing her skills to use her body as a vessel -- to command her and control her in order to execute them. Four barriers layered in quick succession, three of which are instantaneously shattered to absorb the impact of the blow, in spite of their compactness. Imperceptibly thin lines of mana ran along the blade's surface, blocking it out into segments. In an instant more, those segments are weakened through [Transmutation]. Almost immediately, the sword began to crumble.

Before it does, the warrior used its ability once more, appearing in front of Morgan just as she anticipated they would.

A dozen threads of mana capable of rending through flesh and bone whipped around the crumbling barrier in front of her, heading directly for the enemy. Far behind them, she could see Selene focusing on a spell, that one, she thought.

She laughed to herself, even as that monster ducked below those razor-sharp threads. What level are you? How many have you rolled over to get this absurdly powerful?

Morgan stepped back, and watched them stumble below from yet another dagger -- this time in their arm. They let loose a roar, swinging a fist out to grab the young assassin. It looked as if they might have gotten away, but their cloak got the better of them.

She launched out yet more threads, but it was too late. Isa was quickly pulled back by the hem of their cloak, and the warrior drove their fist hard into the mass of feathers. They were sent flying away unceremoniously.

They had shown little in the way of skills, but their stats were clearly a cut above anyone in the group -- by a long shot.

Morgan swung the threads towards them, covering as much ground as she could with them. In spite of that, they slipped out of their path with ease. With a quick pivot, their aura flared up even stronger, and they stepped towards Anselm.

He was ready, thrusting his spear out to attack while his shield stood tall and at the ready. She redirected her threads, but once again it was too late.

They grabbed firmly onto Anselm's spear with one hand, while their other balled up into a fist. Aura emanated out from it like spikes, and then they swung. It was loud, maybe even as loud as the thunder that Morgan put out. After that sound had come to pass, Morgan saw two things.

One, there was a fist-sized hole in Anselm's tower shield.

Two, there was a glowing circle of light beneath the group, growing in size by the second.

Selene really was going for [Anathema], and it only meant one thing: Morgan needed to keep this monster within the circle -- even though they had just shattered a shield crafted by the Pioneer of Forging.