Only the stronger or weirdest kinds of soul forms can achieve high combat capabilities and Lisa was far from such a thing. After all, her own systematic approach to her own progression wasn't at Murai's level, but it wasn't far. That was why she've eaten a bit of his own progression along the way of the past week. As a soul form, she needs mana to get stronger, but many other things would also increase her power. Mana-enriched materials with spiritual properties would be the greatest. Extremely dense mana in any shape would also help her undergo some changes in her structure, but those were quite rare.
That was one of the disadvantages of her forced Path of Soulreign with the Class D ~ Soul Render. Her upgrade path wasn't that easy. As long as she will remain with Murai, her physical living form won't change, and when would it? She didn't know that, and she never heard of any life companion of another Blessed to gain a 3rd chance. But as with some things, she was promised a fortune with the 2nd, even though it made her prone to certain problems. It all may be a sham, an excuse, or simply a lie about everything that went behind the scenes. Lisa knew it. The future, power, and her case of guiding a Blessed, amongst other things.
She knew her past self, and even the one before, but no further up to the future which would make things better. For now, she could change her physicality and incorporeal body on a whim, but it didn't mean she had power against higher-level opponents. With the right strategy, she could do some good, but she wasn't Murai, whose perception, and most of all, Anatidae's body, worked a lot better than her Soul Render's powers. Her body may be hard to damage, but it wasn't invincible.
It may be an incredibly rare thing - her Soul Render form or the path itself - but it was a path that was hard to follow in an actual scenario. Progression was slow and hard because of the acquisition of materials, and following her path required a lot of Will, and talent among other thigns. Fortunately, this present situation didn't call for her care or combat capabilities. All she was meant to be, was a distraction, which shouldn't be anything hard.
She hesitated to do much, the moment Murai struck those Scorching Shots, which ended up as a terrible idea. It harmed him for sure as she saw him fly with quite a splendor. Curses echoed in his mind when he disappeared into the forest, but she was sure he was more or less fine.
What an idiot... He hit the Scorching Shot with his already sloppy mana. What did he expect? Slice it apart? Well, maybe this is my fault as well. I could've sent him some words of wisdom, but it isn't as if he would listen to me. That is true. There is a huge level difference between them, and magic isn't something one can straight-up skip in terms of skills or rough power. Maybe I should be a bit more careful and explain things better since I am like a whispering tone of wisdom to him, or at least I should be like that. Lisa thought and floated a bit back in her Vipera form. Unbeknownst to her, all that Murai wanted to see were his own effects, while uncaring about the result. It bit him back.
Her movement caused the two messiahs to turn alert since they were yet to be comfortable with this Seventh Death Forest which was home to many dangers. They had some means that could damage the soul forms, but if they could, they hoped to not use them. Both of them turned their hands forward, pointing at Lisa as if their target was her and not Murai.
Mana cycled around the ground, forming a swirling matter around the two of them. It cycled around them fast and steady, almost unnaturally coming to their care from Shaping, or the spell from one of the rings they wore. Moments later, before they were finished, they heard a quackling scream of terror and pain, stopping their attempts. It was a wild scram that was hard to not unheard of, let alone forget. The pair halted their channeling, finding even the mana itself jolted in their care. They failed to do anything to Lisa, who was trying to come up with some plan, but she was also looking to the nearby forest, knowing full well what was within.
Murai emerged from the dust and smoke of the forest. Quite a bit of the surrounding forest caught fire, causing smoke to spread and trees to be set ablaze. His appearance wasn't haggard, nor his face seemed all that shocked. The ends of his feathers were a bit scorched, but it was almost unnoticeable. His expression, however, was one of annoyance and disappointment. The power of the Scorching Shots didn't damage his body, but it didn't mean it did nothing.
“In the seventh hell, this hurt!” Murai complained out loud, but the only thing those messiahs heard were angry quacks and staggering little excuses for walking steps. Murai's pushed his tiny legs to use, forcing himself from the forest of smoke.
“Crap, it lives. I knew it.” Porik said, turning back to Murai. He quickly decided to halt the previous magic and used another dual Scorching shot. Channeling it in a moment, he fired them without hesitation in 2 seconds. It wasn't fast nor slow casting speed, and since the Grand Enchantment was in play, the might of this spell wasn't weak.
At this point, Murai was no longer willing to take them head-on, which spoke of some development in his heart or ego. Surprisingly Porik seemed faster than before, shooting the Scorching Shots faster than Murai was right to react. “Not giving me a chance? You wish for that!” Murai grunted and was a bit hesitant about his next action. He at least didn't die from the shots before. That would be a funny story to remember - dying by such a style, that was.
It was his mistake of taking them on, but he also learned something from this about himself, which made his life a tad bit more exciting. Mistakes weren't a bad thing in his opinion, as long as they wouldn't matter all that much. One could learn from them in their own ways, perform or realize new things because of them. One can grow from them, becoming a better person.
Alas, that situation was stupid because of his ego. Murai realized too late that the scaling of the Scorching Shot was vastly larger than his own mana. The thing that was greater than his luck was his body. It was stronger than his inability to follow up with the proper offense, or defense according to common magic sense. The moment he felt the heat rising, he wanted to use the Robust Defense, but he wasn't anywhere near fast for that. He lacked proficient use of it, and the explosion happened fast, hitting him like a tidal wave.
His mind was late because of his ego. After the hotness enveloped his body and powerful pushing force moved against his flesh, he cursed and that was it. Flames and that force even penetrated his feathers, straining his healed bones, and muscles that painfully screeched in horror and pain. This experience in this life was full of this thing. The pain. The last week was enough for the months upon the usual starts of his living, so Murai felt like an idiot. He didn't like to feel this sort of pain. It reminded him of the helplessness of being handled like a toy, tossed, and cracked like one too.
Now, it was a different situation than being handled by Razmund, and even different than undergoing Iris's healing. Murai could feel his feathers absorbing the heat, and the pushing force didn't crack his bones, but the flesh took some damage. Ringing sounds echoed in his head, reminding him how his Robust Spirit took things to another level. His mind didn't even blink in this explosion. He saw and felt every speck of the force, every flame element to hit his body.
His legs felt fine, albeit he was still feeling the last 1 week in them. His neck took some damage too since it was a longer and more flexible part of his body. Thinner and softer feathers lined down towards his chest, becoming thicker and longer. As for the back, there were also thicker feathers. Wings didn't take much of anything, since he wasn't using them and they were behind his back, folded.
Overall, he felt like shit taking those Scorching Shots straigh to his face. It may sound strange to the messiahs, but Murai didn't consider this to be that terrible. Perhaps he lied to himself for his sake. It wouldn't be the first time he did so, nor the last. He realized he can trust his body, enabling him to be fine against this spell that should kill foes around level 10 in almost any situation. If not, then causing some significant damage from messiah's perspective should make sense to occur.
Alas, what they - Porik especially - didn't know, was the detailed knowledge of their enemy. They knew it was an Anatidae, but their unique status, rarity, and exotic traits weren't something they were sure to meet. Making any case of this species was unique and hard to figure out. Not even Centralis Kingdom knew of any special ways to solve it, other than by brute force, enough personnel, and bare maximum power to not anger the gods. Those were the hunts, and military they sent to this forest.
Apart from the important thing that Will of the Battleworld provided to Razmund - or other means - they didn't know the overall experience or abilities that Murai had at all. It was similar to Murai, who didn't know what Razmund's side had to offer.
The most important piece was the information that he was Blessed. But that sort of thing spoke thousands of words, if not more. Such beings were large and important factors in the running of the Battleworld, and each one was extremely individualistic and remarkable. Sensing anything about them, or discovering their power wasn't anything easy. Their status was all sought out by kings and nations alike, and each was powerful in their own unique way.
These two messiahs feared their enemy to a certain extent since they were nobodies and their opponent wasn't. Such was the status of the Blessed - the beings that were tools and souls of the Battleworld's plains, or tools used by gods from above.
Porik's Scorching Shots surged in the same power as before, arriving toward Murai, who didn't desire to test their might again, nor have anything to do with them. It was the case of getting the right familiarity from them, which he felt with his body alone. Murai learned from his poor mistake, using this to change his ego a little.
Still, 4 or so meters away from them, Murai Conjured some mana, Shaping 4 Flame Shots in less than a second. They were quick to create because their might wasn't that high as itself, but they could become quite mighty with some shaping aimed at weak points. He didn't take his time and started this quick process the moment he felt the shots coming from Porik's hands.
He took almost 2 seconds waster than Porik since he made a special case of the Flaming Shot under his unique Shaping. He made them longer, flatter, and not round as they should be. They almost resembled flaming throwing knives, poorly said, but they were nowhere near their proper shape.
What was Murai doing was another advanced use of Shaping. By connecting two fundamentals of two affinities, he was creating something new with his logic, shaping, and memory. Flame and Sharpness were compatible with any sense of magic. Doing so after 3 seconds of literal calmness and immobility, his mind was preoccupied with their Shaping. That was a dangerous time, which was taking some effort and ability on his own. 3 seconds was a long period of time in any battle and thankfully, the messiah beside Porik didn't choose to attack.
The only reason Murai was able to stall for his counterattack was the distance, and Porik's brief hesitation to unleash dual Scorching Shot faster. He wasted a second after the spell was over the full channeling before he unleashed their might. A couple of seconds of spell delay can play an important in any duel. It was part of Murai's successful Shaping of this type of magic, which he did only twice in this life.
4 distinct flaming blades shot forward much faster than the round and large Scorching Shots. Murai's ability was much thinner, penetrating the wind better and faster, but it wasn't as direct as his Mana Blade, or stronger.
One flaming blade penetrated each Scorching Shot. They didn't explode this time, much to Porik's inability to detect the speed of these blades or their power. Though, they were enough to penetrate the core structure of his Schorching Shots.
They swelled in a moment, destabilizing in their internal structure because of an unfamiliar flame entering their insides. They also lose a large amount of their momentum, almost stopping 3 meters before Murai. Puffing smoke and small sizzling flames escaped from their body yet they kept going forward. The remaining 2 flaming blades shot straight forward, through the residual smoke and heat, arriving at the two messiahs. Unlike Porik who was using his attention on the Scorching Shots, the other one used his own Ward. It was a weaker version, unlike their leader's. The advantage of numbers and tactics became apparent as their teamwork. One of them can carry the offense, and the other can perform the defense. It was a common strategy, the kind that Murai figured would most likely happen, but he didn't like to see this cleverness.
This Ward was enough to go against Murai, whose fusion of those affinities was more of an experiment, than something he wanted to use to kill them. He wanted to see the effects of his upgrades and magic, which didn't destabilize their mana, nor did much to the Ward, but it did use their attention. That was already plenty enough, while the smoke and flames did the rest.
He succeeded in his first plan, so amidst the chaos from destabilized Scorching Shots that flickered and lost further momentum, floating at snail's speed, he hurried to hide around the trees, escaping behind the bushes.
It wasn't time for a direct confrontation, and he didn't even wait for his flaming blades to reach the Ward. It was obvious in his eyes. They didn't penetrate the Ward, nor did they do something great. Two straight flaming blades made a few cracks, which was already quite impressive. They had no blessing from the world on their own, nor their form was great. They held Murai's affinity, mana, and Shaping.
Those cracks caused the Porik to frown and get much more nervous, fearing that he fucked up more than he thought he did. The smoke turned thicker, causing the situation beyond the Ward to become unknown. The surrounding forest was already foggy to begin with, while the smoke and forest fire didn't make things better. They couldn't feel Murai at all, who disappeared to the section of the forest that wasn't on fire, but it wouldn't last for long.
“Way to go... Porik. Using the same two spells to gouge the opponent? Are you still a fucking rookie?” The other messiah scolded Porik, who was more than 10 years younger than him but was around the same level as him.
“I wanted to be sure, elder brother Izik. Don't be upset,” Porki argued, looking at Porik who wore an annoyed face. “1st Scorching shot did some damage, so I wanted to try it again. Who knew that a duck would shape those flying blades under some strange speed and method? They didn't look like a spell at all.”
“Spell? It wasn't one, idiot. That was simple unconventional magic without any form, so what are you so sure about? You think of this too lightly. Do you want to be sure that this Blessed is unlike what meets an eye? Of course, it is the case. Every Blessed is special in their own rights. Now, shut off your tries, and let's work together like a proper team. This is an incredible situation where we can achieve once-in-a-lifetime results and rewards. If we won't fuck this up, that is.” Izik said, ignoring the fact that their leader was long dead and Lisa was eyeing them again. A chance will soon come when Murai will unleash another ambush. She figured it was an interesting strategy, and up to her impressive tastes.
Izik then ceased the Ward away, and so did Porik, who couldn't help but turn silent in the fear of his older comrade. Their Grand Enchantment swayed in mana fluctuation, turning both of their attention to something new. It wasn't a try to use any outside spells this time around. Both of them grabbed the handles to their blades, which rested beside their hips. Drawing them up, the blade faced their faces, while the mana turned to calmness around their feet.
Watching them, they started to murmur some sort of incantations, which in turn, led to all sorts of runes and formations appearing below their feet, and on the edges of the blade. The runes were enveloping their bodies and swords alike, giving them the advantage of direct enchantment.
Behind their back, Lisa was inclined to do something, but her physical prowess was lower than a deer. Should she barge to cease their formation away since they returned their attention forward? No, but she can use something else. She shook her head and screamed another Soul Shock toward them.
Izik frowned, while Porik shook internally, but both were alright. They expected this sort of thing. What they were doing was a self-enchantment, and it worked like a charm. It was something body related. It wasn't a spell to cast outside but formed internal improvements like a blessing from a priest. It formed a glittering aura around them, as they both performed a few spells to shroud their bodies and blade alike.
This right here was something Lisa was familiar with. Enchantment magic with the ability to create special effects to enchant one's body, or equipment with unique properties. Both messiahs used their connection to the Grand Enchantment formation, which even influenced this enchantment to be stronger than usual. Their Mana rejoiced into the enchanted body, giving rise to further strength, and reflexes, and enchanted their blades to cleave at their opponents.
Although each of their blades was a magical sword, Lisa wasn't able to guess their power or grade. Just from a glance, their blades had at least 4 enchantments, which should involve a lot of mana, but it all invovled the Grand Enchantment so she felt helpless to attack any further. Those were Might enchantment, Quickness enchantment, Sharpness enchantment, and a Brittle meant for the explosive power of mild vibration. Their bodies had a few other enchantments, like some form of weaker Ward, Strenght, and Dexterity enchantment.
Seeing that, Lisa put forth her mind and sent a message to Murai after feeling her Soul Shock turned out to be useless. “Those two are turning desperate, or extremely confident. Be careful of your next move. They want to finish this as soon as possible with their weapons alone, so don't give them any chance. Also, I bet they discovered that you are weaker than they feared.”
In the forest, close but shrouded in the smoke before him, Murai watched in silence. He didn't speak, nor sent a thing. His Mana Detection was more than enough to feel the pressure rising and he didn't need to stop anything. With the flame and surroundings aflame, he doubted they would notice his mana in this situation. And they didn't because of their own enchantment, which pulled their attention to themselves.
So, enchantment magic? I didn't use that sort of thing myself, since it involves a better experience of Shaping and pretty much everything. I guess their level is indeed too much for me to handle. Though, it doesn't mean I can't kill them. They are still humans with weak points and not much armor. That is good, but... Tsch... their Ward enchantment is a bother. Should I focus on close combat? Their swords may swipe my flesh in those enchantments, though. Murai deduced while Izik and Porik looked forward, seeing the residual force of the Scorching Shots disappear.
Fog, smoke, and flame subsided, but it was still quite hard to see things because of the flames of the trees and mushes. There wasn't much fuel for the shots to be puffing smoke for minutes so it took around 14 seconds for them to stop before they dissipated.
“It's gone. The Blessed is gone!” Porik exclaimed and started to look around frantically. They were in the middle of the dark forest, made of dead trees and quite dense-looking bushes. It was perfect for an ambush so he realized it was quite bad.
They were all in the middle of a patch of land, surrounded by dozens of options for an ambush, so both of them figured Murai was close like the first ambush. It was a perfect choice, and they didn't make a mistake with their strategy. After all, their might was bigger than Murai's.
“Shut off, Porik. Obviously, it is away. What have you expected? It, dueling two swords agast beak in 1 against 2? That would be stupid. Now, back to back, do you hear me?” Izik ordered and forced his back to face Porik's. He was the one glancing at the back, focusing his gaze on Lisa who appeared floating 4 meters away as if waiting for something.
Izik looked at the demon in disguise, but who knew that this Vipera had a much worse demon underneath? Not him, at least.
Well, they appear experienced. Lisa thought, feeling Murai's tactics through their connection. She had no need to feel or do a thing. She was always aware of Murai's whereabouts and movements. There was no need for Mana Detection or Soul Read.
As expected of the troops of the Centralis Kingdom. Nothing much changed with them. Their Enchamnents are still the same with this sort of artificial enchantment circle, but without it, they are like chicks before a halbert. I wonder how many years passed since my death? They also think this appearance of mine isn't up for this Seventh Death Forest, so... remember, Lisa! What are the routes and regions of this forest... You were here before, even though it was only twice when I visited it personally. Twice? When, where? Wait... Could this be... Lisa thought to herself, appearing hesitant, yet fierce at the surface when she recalled some important thing about this location.
“This fucking demon... Is it in the shackles with this Blessed? When I think of it, there doesn't seem to be a Life Companion around it. It has no Helpers, slaves, or companions.” Izik thought out loud, focusing his attention on Lisa, who won't attack.
This put some strain on messiah's power dynamic, and Murai wanted to use this to his advantage. Although, it meant nothing great since both of them were strong.
So, with him hiding close behind the bushes, who will Murai choose? Izik or Porik as his target for his 2nd ambush?