They moved into the Phantasmagoria Ring, the machinery whirring to life as the setting they had entered beforehand took form. A great ring of metal and tubes rose up to enclose the whole arena, spinning in place, hovering above inverted Ankhezian hovercraft repulsors. Silver threads of Fog swirled up from below and into the arena from the metal ring, spiraling into a tall, humanoid shape in the center.
The Fog Ogre, as it had come to be called over the past months, was the largest preset, and was a humanoid made of congealed fog, so densely packed that it was effectively real, so long as the Phantasmagoria Ring worked. The Ring even built the Ogre with a hardened internal skeleton, flesh-like internal matter, and an elastic skin, but its eyes were empty and it looked, more than anything, like what it was - a great deal of Fog compressed into a humanoid shape.
Incomplete though it was, it made a great target dummy for determining how an attack might affect an actual person… So long as it was a purely direct attack rather than one reliant on anything subtler like pressure points.
At Victor’s request, Halxian went first, unleashing all the moves he had used in their spar at full power. In moments, the Fog Ogre was run through with a dozen holes, Halxian throwing out and pulling back his spear at a machine-gun cadence, using the elasticity of his wraps as an aid. Moments more, and the Ogre was wrapped head-to-toe in blue-burning wrappings. Halxian then anchored himself and focused his Calamity Flame, turning the subtle flames into a pyre that consumed the construct, cutting it to ribbons through the combination of the Calamity Flame’s precise, controlled burn and the pressure of Halxian’s wrappings.
“Uoh! That looks kind of like one of mine, but it works completely differently,” the redhead remarked with great enthusiasm, rushing in to get a better look. His pupils expanded out into diamonds as he stared into the flames, only to contract down to stars when he looked at Halxian. A shiver ran down his back, and he pulled in his spear, letting the Calamity Flame go out.
“By the Dead Ones your eyes look creepy. What did you mean by that? Does your black flame not use Ignis for fuel?”
A mischievous grin grew on the redhead’s face, and he opened his eyes wide into a freakish, unblinking stare, his pupils contracting down to pointy crosses as he asked: “Really? It’s the eyes, not the flesh-brambles or the bone plates growing from my skin?”
With a bell-like laugh, he stopped that unbelievably creepy trick and explained: “I can see the essentia patterns in the fire if I try, yours are completely different to my Bonefire. It’s nearly pure Ignis, whereas mine is part Ignis, half Ossum. That’s why it calcifies things. Honestly, the patterns in your fire look the most like the ones Elder Sigmund gives off when he turns blue. Also… I think I noticed some sort of congestion. The Estoras family uses tattoos to aid in directing the energy of their family cultivation method, yes? May I see yours?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“...Where did you see the congestion?”
“Upper back, just above the right shoulder blade. It doesn’t look like anything is building up, but I don’t really have full use of my eyes yet, so I may be wrong. It’s probably fine for now if you haven’t blown anything out yet.”
He was right. Halxian had been trying to work that out for weeks, at first thinking it was a flaw in his technique, then thinking he had some sort of muscle knot in that splot. Thrice now, he had allowed one of the other disciples to take a mallet and chisel to his back, and once even got Mata Gano to try and unblock it with her own Ignis, to no avail. By the Dead Ones, that woman was hot - in the literal sense. Halxian could barely take her massage for half an hour before he felt as though he might get heatstroke.
“You are right. I suppose it would do well if you took a look.”
“Sounds good, but later. The Ogre looks like it’s just about done reforming.”
He backed off, somewhat perturbed by the fact the redhead seemingly possessed a visual ability of occult myth on par with other such arts from the Three Kings Era. It was exactly the sort of ability he would expect from Koschei the Undying, the so-called King of All That Lives, but he was not aware of a single Khestun who had eyes like that, be it in appearance or function.
Clearing his head, Halxian reignited his flame and continued with the Seed of Calamity; a blue bead of flame formed within the hole in his spear’s head. He stabbed the Fog Ogre, quickly retracting his weapon, and moments later, a small geyser of blue flame came pouring out of the wound. A short time later, the ogre crumpled to the ground, its insides spewing out as it burned inside-out. It could also be planted in the ground with only a slight shift to the energy, allowing the Seed to blossom into a destructive geyser of flame on command.
Then, there were the first three Calamity Constellations that Halxian knew, these being more complex sets of movements or advanced techniques. Halxian showed the first and third, the first being a collection of ways to attack from awkward, absurd angles with the Bound Spear, while the third was a method for achieving rapid-fire, long-ranged thrusting attacks without tiring oneself quickly or sacrificing power. His version of the Second Constellation was even better thanks to modifications made at the elder’s suggestion.
The Second Constellation was, in no uncertain terms, a move that couldn’t be made nonlethal by its very nature. Halxian stripped down to his waist for this, knowing that it would destroy his clothes. The Bound Spear was wrapped entirely in its bindings and set ablaze in his hands, and, with a rapid barrage of thrusts he directed a combination of his flame and his armament aura towards the target. His tattoos began to ooze flame, setting his right side ablaze, yet it did not harm him. Dozens of strikes became hundreds, a deluge of ghostly spears of flame, each of which implanted a tiny Seed of Calamity.