Metal clashed against bone as the two armed borcs smashed their animal-made weapons against the robot’s recently acquired sword. The red-toned men each carried large, axe-like weapons carved out of the bones of some giant beast. The choice of weapon was intentional, as it gave the impression that the borcs had slayed some great monster and stolen its bones. In truth, monster carcasses, even large ones, could be found lying about everywhere in Irvana. The band of borcs had simply stumbled upon a large monster carcass and decided to get the most use out of it. The borc with the goatee was even still eating his fill of meat from the fresh corpse.
Despite the onslaught from both bone axes, Azim found himself able to keep up surprisingly well. He did not feel any bit handicapped by his sacrifice, allowing his movements and counterstrikes to flow like ripples in water. The two maroon red men barked as they swung their weapons, shouting at the robot with an animalistic intensity. Nevertheless, his cold stance never wavered.
Behind the two axe-wielders, slightly off to the side, was the third borc, who was still empty-handed. He turned and picked up a large rock, holding it in one hand. The borc spoke the incantation Engulflame, setting the stone in his hand ablaze. With one wide-armed swing, the man launched the flaming rock toward Azim, not even bothering to warn his companions.
The android noticed the ball of fire just moments before it made contact with his head, squatting and ducking just before it struck. The passing embers knocked the axe-swinging borcs off-balance, giving Azim an opportunity. He swung a wide, backhanded strike with his broadsword, grazing both of his attackers in the stomach. The strike was powerful enough to cut deep, but the thickness of the borcs’ skin kept the wound shallow.
The two jumped back in response to the strike, taking a second to regroup. Meanwhile, the third borc picked up a large rock, about half the size of the android, and sent it up in flames. With a cannonball toss, the wizarding borc flung the boulder at Azim, barking as he did. The other two stayed out of the way, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire. Realizing it would be too much of a risk to dodge this time, especially considering Riva was hiding in the shrubs behind him, Azim decided to take the burning boulder head-on. He swung the large sword at the boulder just moments before it crashed into his alloy abdomen.
The borcs watched in astonishment as the metal man sliced through their thrown ball of flaming rock with one swift, downward swing. The projectile split in two, flying on either side of the android and landing in the dirt around him. Only a second after the fragments had landed, Azim’s sword broke off just above its hilt, overwhelmed but the stress of the boulder's strength and the magic that enchanted it.
Stroking his goatee gently, the borc in charge had sat back down on his log, watching the events at the campsite play out. He watched the robot carefully, observing his movements, paying attention to when he attacked and when he did not. He paid no mind to the exploits of his companions, and the potential danger they might be in, the same way the wizarding borc paid no mind to the safety of the axe-welders when he threw his flaming projectiles. He sat, eating his chop of meat off the bone, fiddling with a small knife by his side. The strange, skinny knight before him was peculiar. He had one arm and oddly thin armor, and yet he was able to wield such a large sword. One that he had commanded to him with the use of a spell. He in no way had the appearance of a threat, and yet, the borc could not help but treat the intruder with a slight bit more seriousness than he would any other fool.
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Scrambling to his feet, the borc looked around wildly, growling. Somehow, in the span of a second or two, he had been removed from the campsite where his companions remained, as well as the metal intruder who had overheard their plans. Ready to put the one-armed knight in his place, the borc was whisked away before he could do anything about it. He had felt a pressing force on his chest, as his someone was pushing him back at a tremendous speed. Branches smacked into the back of his head, and thorns from passing bramble scraped his sides and arms. Then, just before the surprise assault was over, he was thrown into an open area of the forest, tumbling against the dirt and uneven ground before finally catching himself.
Yet now, looking around, he saw nothing. No one. Just trees and shrubs and leaves on the ground. Every once in a while, a tiny critter would come crawling by or shuffle out of sight at the borc’s loud movements. But nothing else. Nothing that could have pulled him away from the scene at hand so fast. He looked around, waiting for-
Pow.
The borc staggered, almost falling to one knee but restraining himself. What was that? What had just hit him? He felt an already bruising pain swelling on his left cheek. He looked to where whatever ran at him might have come from, but nothing. He turned to where it might gone after racing by. Nothing either. The maroon red-toned man felt like he was losing his mind. He started barking loudly. He would not be made a fool of. Whatever was out there, hiding in the bushes around him and behind the trees, was toying with him. It thought it was in control. It thought it had gotten the drop on the large man. But it was wrong. The borc was not going to be made a fool of.
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Leaves rustled and branches folded out of the way as something came toward him. The borc just barely noticed. He wasn’t fast enough.
Smack.
Other side, other cheek. The man was getting aggravated. He waited. He couldn’t act too soon, or whatever was after him would react in turn. He needed to pull off his idea late enough that the stranger had no time to change course, but not so late that he was met with another blow.
At the first sound of shuffling leaves, the borc acted. “Iron Armor,” he chanted, clenching his fists in front of him.
A gray tint enveloped the giant, red man. He felt the swelling pain of his cheeks subside and the toughness of his skin harden. Then he felt the third hit. Out of the woods came the mysterious force, which smacked into his face again, this time receiving more of the impact than the borc did.
Leone spun past the borc, launched off course by the hesitance he had been met with at such high speed. His body flung forward, taking several tumbles before knocking into a nearby tree. Slowly, the young man picked himself up, looking at the borc in front of him with an irritated yet entertained expression. “Ha, ha, ow!” he shouted. “What the hell was that tough guy?”
“There you are,” the maroon man responded in a slow manner. “You scared now?”
“Me? Oh, no, no,” the young man said, shaking his head. “Just caught me by surprise is all. I was looking for a good brawl, actually. It had seemed like my crew and I were going in slow, but when my friend back there just said his ‘hello’s to everyone without a care, I took it upon myself to do whatever I felt like, too. And I felt like taking you out!”
“I no scared of you.”
“Oh, I don’t really care if you are or not,” replied the young man, grabbing the back of his neck with one hand. “I just wish I didn’t have to fight another ‘tough guy’. You know? Some dumb ol’, heavy-hitting meathead. I just beat one of those guys yesterday, so I was hoping for a change of pace.”
The large man barked at Leone. “You no beat no one,” he growled. “Your punches do nothing now. My body too tough.”
“Yeah, I picked up on that. It’s alright, though. I got other stuff besides speed. AP Switch.”
A light red aura burst out of Leone and quickly dissipated. The borc, in response, raised both of his arms, his palms facing the ground. “Earthen Life,” he incanted.
In a matter of seconds, two lumps of dirt and rock bulged up from the ground. The masses of earth rose up to about the height of the borc and began to mold their shape. Moments later, standing between Leone and the borc, were 2 minions of earth at the red-toned man’s command. They were lumpy and sludge-like, various shades of brown mixed together, with pebbles and twigs sticking out of their entire bodies. They were barely humanoid, ill-defined with unclear sections to their anatomical composition. The mark of poor magicraft, Leone thought. Fitting for a borc.
The young man snapped his fingers with his left hand, pointing his finger at one of the minions as he did. “Spark,” he chanted.
As he spoke, a tiny bolt of lightning snapped from the tip of his finger and zipped toward the muddy creation. It struck the minion’s body, causing a small ripple to bubble up to the surface of the monster’s “skin”. The borc smiled. His minion had absorbed the shackle with little consequence. The young wizard just smirked.
Leone thought through the few useful spells he knew. He quickly tried to assess what would work best against these mud monsters, ruling out electricity. He had suspected as such, but it was worth it to him to be sure. The young man also considered the borc and his iron-like defense. He debated with himself if it was better just to worry about him and let the monsters fall on their own. At least that way, the dark red man wouldn’t be able to summon any more to deal with. However, there was also the possibility that this spell did not release if Leone defeated, or even killed, the man in front of him. Spells that persisted even after the caster was disposed of tended to get even stronger as a result of not being contained. It wasn’t terribly common, and it was unlikely that such a possibility was the case, but seeing as they were surrounded by earth and rock, Leone figured this was not the best time to take such a chance. He resolved to take the minions down first, then deal with the borc after.
The life-given piles of dirt, twigs, and rock began shuffling toward Leone. He noticed them harden the ends of their arms into rock-like clumps, before flinging them at the young man. He ducked and turned, letting the clubs of solidified dirt fly past him. With the minions getting closer, Leone decided to take action. He pulled out the knife he kept tucked in the waistband of his trousers and took a guarded stance. After incanting the spell Wave Cutter, his 4-inch blade began to glow bluish-white.
Swinging the knife across his chest, the young wizard sent a slash of condensed air screaming through the open area of the forest. The slash split the two dirt minions in half, sending their top half into the air for a second. Their torsos landed back onto the rest of their bodies and congealed together again as if they had never been attacked in the first place. Leone hummed to himself, not deterred from his efforts. He made an “X” shape in front of him with the knife, sending two more slashes forward in diagonal arcs. Slicing the mud monsters in two places, the attacks left the minions falling apart, their torsos sliding down their diagonally cut waists.
The earthen puppets reassembled themselves, taking a while to pull their components back together and reform. Even once they did, Leone was not concerned. He could tell the attacks were effective, and he could see the strength of the muddy blobs deteriorate as they took the time to repair themselves. From an outside view, it would seem like they weren’t affected at all, and simply put themselves back together after any attack. But Leone knew better. He knew it was taking energy for the monsters to reshape themselves, and with every attempt to become whole again, they were becoming less and less of a threat.
“Alright then,” the young man smirked. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”