Tahir would be lying if he tried to say that having someone on the back foot, pulling out all the stops in a frantic attempt at defending themselves from his blade wasn’t satisfying. The only issue with the present arrangement was that she was managing to stop him, to some extent.
Since his onslaught with his aura started, a couple things had happened. Firstly, he’d run out of mana. He could no longer maintain the soul sight spell, nor his soul flame. The webbing all around the space no longer had the bright red haze to warn him, but he could see the slightest red glint in the light from the webbing itself, charged with her mana. He didn’t worry about the webs cutting into his aura, he had nearly all of it to spare and most of the webs that got in his way were cut down before him; he threatened her so much that she couldn’t even send webbing after him offensively, only enough to get in his way so that he didn’t cut her down.
She seemed to notice that his spell faded, and put as much mana as she could into blocking against physical attacks. He still cut through them, but at enough of a delay that he couldn’t get a solid hit. Especially as she seemed to wrap herself partially in webbing, so even if he actually struck her, he couldn’t hit her at full force.
She’d tried to change the fight to one of stalling, which seemed like what she specializes in. Much as he felt he could test his spirit-intensified aura stores against her mana, he ran on another, shorter clock. The incredibly powerful potion he’d taken, the likes of which he didn’t have any more of, nor did he have anything that even came close. According to Theo, the cost to make one at that strength with the recipe that Callipho recreated would cost more than elixirs she’d been making to raise their aura pools. It wouldn’t last for very long, and he likely wouldn’t win the fight if he didn’t end it while the potion was in effect.
He had all of that in mind before the fight started, and after a while of back and forth, chasing across the web-covered chamber, he already knew how to win before his potion ran out. After a moment where she leapt away from his chasing sword yet again, he paused instead of following, taking a moment to gather himself. The spider spirit seemed to appreciate the break, skittering nearly to the opposite end of the chamber, panting as she poured her mana into creating more webs. “I’ll admit, you’ve forced quite a bit more out of me than I predicted you might.” She said between pants. “But what happens when that potion of yours runs out, hmm? Will the tables turn once more?”
“They very well might.” Tahir replied, making sure his breathing was steady. “I intend to end things here, though.” He focused his aura, willing it to gather and swirl around his blade. It manifested as a soft golden light that swirled into a tempest around his sword. It reminded him of when he used quintessence for the first - and as far as he was aware, the only - time, a deluge of power well beyond his grasp, but this time it was a surge of aura he could control and direct as long as he had the magic of the potion increasing his strength. He had to end this before that strength began to wane.
The room grew silent enough to hear a pin drop. Tahir took a deep breath and got into a low stance, while the spider spirit kept her eyes on him and held strands of webbing on all of her fingers. They steeled themselves, preparing for the clash to come, but the move had always been Tahir’s to make.
He lunged forward, quick as a blink, a glowing trail of glimmering motes of light following in his wake. He slashed out to cut through webs that directly blocked his path, feeling nicks and cuts from the ones on the edges that he ignored, but cut through his aura shield since he directed most of his aura to his sword.
The spider spirit leapt back once more, but Tahir followed, fully intent on making an ending exchange. The first swing caught on the webs she had out in front of her to block his path, cutting through them after a delay, then a second after he stepped forward carved across her body, but couldn’t find any deep purchase due to the webs she’d wrapped across her body snagging against the blade and making it stall when he tried to pull away. Tahir could see the grin across her face, not for no good reason, either. Tahir had gone all in on the strike and got his sword caught in her webs. If she had mana to spare, as that grin suggested, it wouldn’t take much for him to risk losing the sword or turning him into mincemeat with her webs.
That triumphant expression turned into one of wide-eyed confusion as Tahir’s sword came back once more, giving him a clear slice across her chest that nearly cut her in two. “Wha-?” She said, either the pain hadn’t phased her or she hadn’t actually registered it yet. In the seconds after Tahir’s surely fatal strike, she glanced back at his blade to find the web it had caught on falling away, as the extended aura blade Tahir created from the tip of his sword faded into nothingness. He’d cleared away all of the webbing with the first two swings, leaving him a clear cut for the third. “An aura blade? Since when could you do that?” She swayed, taking a few steps back. Tahir could already see her corporeal form fading from the world, turning to ashes in the wind as the spiritual connection destabilized.
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“The whole time.” Tahir told her. He hadn’t quite mastered it, but got comfortable using it with Mikharma out and bestowing him with better aura control through her affinity. “Using it at any other time would have just let you know I had it, though.”
The spirit stared at him blankly, as her form continued to deteriorate, and then she just started laughing. “You really got me then. You’re rather fun. What is your name, human?”
“Tahir.” He answered. He did appreciate that she didn’t try to lash out at him one final time, and as much as giving his name to a fiendish spirit didn’t seem like a good idea, she didn’t seem like she was going to hold a grudge. “Just Tahir.”
“Well then, Tahir. I doubt the old man will be happy with me for losing to you like this. Would you be willing to let me wreak a little havoc?” She slipped off the bloodsoaked webbing wrapped around her arm from when Tahir first managed to cut her, and tossed it at him. He caught it, and gave back a confused look in response, until he realized what she meant. At that point, though, most of her body had already dissipated, and she gave her last words on this plane. For the moment, at least.“Think about it, why don’t you? I feel like I’ve had more fun with you, anyways.”
Seconds later, the effects of the potion faded, and Tahir fell to his knees. Thankfully, he wasn’t getting the backlash of using his aura all at once, but the aftereffect made him feel like he could barely hold a sword. But regardless, he’d done it. He’d won the fight, and not just that. As far as he could tell, this was the first major fight he’d won entirely on his own since he became a spirit mage, Mikharma’s tier four aura notwithstanding. The potion allowed him to fight far beyond his current capabilities, and with the overwhelming force it gave him, he had it in mind to figure out if Theo could make a weaker version of the potion in the future to allow him to use Mikarma at tier three sooner.
A tremor that felt like it came from up ahead shook him out of his thoughts, and nearly made him collapse on the spot. It seemed like the fight ahead still went on, though the mage surely would have been harmed from the forceful closure of his spirit’s bond. Standing back up and steadying himself, he sheathed his sword and retrieved his staff, before he started to go down the path that led to the final room. He wasn’t motionless, like the last time he fought with Mikarma’s aura, and he wouldn’t be in recovery for multiple days either but his limbs shook from the force, the pure power he’d managed to unleash. He moved along, each step echoing off the stone path, seriously hoping that the fight would have already ended in his group’s favor.
He found some amount of stability in his limbs about halfway through the walk. He couldn’t feel the tremors anymore, even from further back in the ruin, so he guessed the fight they’d left Theo at had concluded as well. It didn’t take too terribly long to see the end of the passage, and he could already see a collection of varied, monstrous corpses. The sight of them caused him to pick up speed, ambling into the chamber.
Everyone who he was looking for was standing, if not various levels of injured. Mikharma, Merui, and Hasio stood around the body of the spirit mage that Tahir recognized, bloodied, but from the distance Tahir could just barely make out the rise and fall of breathing. Meti stood near the remnants of one of the orbs they’d seen and destroyed in the Blooming Grove, while Shukri and Namilah seemed to be examining the bodies of the various creatures strewn about the space, making sure they were actually dead. With those two being the closest to the entrance, they were the first to hear and see Tahir emerge.
They called out his name and all but ran to his side, seeing his unsteady form and moving to support him. He suppressed the urge to just sink into their grip, as much as he wanted to, and did his own part to keep himself standing. “What happened here?” He asked, eyes wandering across the spread of corpses.
“He had a portal to a realm full of demons open.” Meti answered, also making her way over to Tahir at this point. “He also seemed to have something that allowed him to pull mana from the realm, and so he was nearly continuously casting advanced magic. Mikharma was basically the only one who could deal with him, while we had to make sure the demons he called from the portal didn’t interfere with their fight.”
“He was a good challenge, I will admit.” Mikharma, who’d picked up the mage’s unconscious body and slung him across her shoulder, also approached. “But losing the connection to his spirit in the middle of casting one of his spells nearly was the end of him.”
“Wait, so Tahir actually won?” Hasio said, coming to join in on the conversation with Merui not far behind. “Not that I ever doubted you, but how? You didn’t exactly give us your plan before you told us all to get going.”
Tahir laughed. “The short version is that I used that strength potion we got from the first ruin that Meti, Theo, and I delved into.” He answered. “Let’s go find Theo before I get into the long version, I don’t want to have to tell the story twice.”
“Very well. Metilia - would you help me gather the remains of this device? It’s the one thing I’d rather not risk leaving to those we’ll have surveying the entirety of this ruin later on.” Merui asked. “Otherwise, the spirit mages are apprehended or dispatched, including the leader, and the source of their contracts has been halted. With the exception of the merchant prince that has been funding them. I’d say this mission has been a resounding success.”