Ciel P.O.V.
“Shit!”
I evaded an energy kinetic blast for the fifth time.
‘This nuisance’s energy reserves are not on the average side.’
I was obviously at a disadvantage. The pressure was intense, the opposing woman kept me from using my bow by being up close and personal.
SWISH! SWISH!
The area behind me sustained two clearly visibly carved lines on the ground from the attack I had just dodged.
“She’s too fast!”
Untying it from my back, I made a let handed throw of my hidden artifact dagger as I rolled on the floor. She didn’t even bother to block, a greenish barrier appeared. She was coming in for the kill.
‘Magic swordswoman? This is not a serpent but the tail of a dragon, you prick!’
I couldn’t help but curse my red bonehead friend to the seven depths. I made a regrettable but necessary decision. I let the enemy charge reach me fully, pretending to use my bow for a shot. I pulled the Will infused artifact I had placed as a necklace on myself. I was hoping my bluff would cause the swordswoman to flinch or something but no dice.
‘An artifact arrow shot should scare you a little, you bitch!’
The attack was forthcoming, instead of a slash or a set of orgonid charges from a temporal ring, she used a kinetic palm strike and a kinetic slash simultaneously. Two different kinds of energy waves besieged me. She had a magic barrier for defense. Smart, very smart.
One of the good things of following Krigs, are his blessings as a beloved of the Will. The truly blessed ones of all faiths, paths and practices differ from each other considerably depending on their given talents. Birth, experience, predisposition, personality and many other distinguishing features. Krigsain can infuse objects with the Will, this is far from normal. In short, the beloved ones of this world are magnificent individualistic manifestations of the gods.
‘Maybe this is one of the reasons the eldership values him so much. The jerk never revealed anything until yesterday. What more are you hiding?’
SWISH! DOOONG!
I used my bow to block the energy slash with my left hand. The metal suffered from the impact, it remained usable. I took the palm strike head on. My armor tattered, even the orgon infused metal parts were showing crevices and small holes. I bled some more. She was strong.
“Sorry grandfather.”
From the temporal ring on my right hand, I materialized a teleportation glyph my grandpa had bestowed upon me before departing. They are rare, I’m not a princess nor a high elder of the factions. I cannot afford these things and use them willy-nilly. This was an escape device for emergencies.
I waited for the detestable woman’s finishing blow. A powerful downward strike encircling an area of several cubits. I threw the Will infused artifact with the precision worthy of the Thresen name, directly into the swords’ metal. As promised, the artifact suctioned the blow and its energy upon contact. Simultaneously, I activated the other glyph and rolled it just close enough to her descending boot. The device activated, she was suctioned inside.
A fading scream was overheard. I nailed the limb of my weapon into the soil to withstand the pulling force. I held on for dear life. I was too close to the portal, so close that my broken boot flew into the rift before it closed.
‘She should be at least a hundred furlongs away.’
“Hope that boot hits you, bitch!”
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
Explosions made the ground shake. A quick glance and Kletay was fending off charges and a couple of revolving flying double bladed scimitars that were tearing into her barrier.
‘Magic swordswoman, flying scimitars? These guys are definitively not from this continent.’
“DAELIN!” Iru’s chant reached my ears.
A streak of lightning went forth from his hand. The cloud of dirt and rocks caused by the previous explosions didn’t let me see what he was aiming for. Ikrei was being expelled like an arrow from within the blast area, crashing unto the hard ground with several spins like a broken wheel.
When the dust settled Iru threw the sealing artifacts he had acquired the night before. A very expensive endeavor. A restricting protective dome formed on top of the unconscious unhooded man. Our red-haired leader is going to owe us considerably when this matter is resolved. The bluish purple lightning strike had knocked Iru’s target unconscious. Promptly, the Magi of Liria fainted as well.
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‘No matter how many times I see it, that magic is amazing. I better not tell him I have seen him practice it in secret many occasions.’
“I should help Kletay.”
A loud, shriek filled the air.
The beast that arrived overpowering with the four serpents crashed into the protective dome that was where Krigs was fighting. It looked smaller in size but more energy was pulsating from it. It could be felt easily. A breath later, the dome broke like shattering crystal.
‘Magical beast? An ethereal beast? Krigs, what have you gotten us into?’
The beast became invisible. Krigs was in trouble, he had energy rods going through his extremities. Probably from a blessing, godly power, he wasn’t healing or anything. The shriek came again, another swoop.
“ANAM KALIN DES GLAOH!”
My soul merged with my cores, my eyes became crystal clear. I could see the beast attacking, even in its invisibility state.
‘Being born in the Thresen bloodline has its irreplaceable boons. Thank you great Will.’
I pointed my bow in its direction infusing all my power into the mastercraft weapon. It transformed into an arrow, a true artifact arrow. The soul bow appeared around it, the secret technique of the Thresen marksmen. Energy surrounding an artifact instead of an artifact supporting a materialized bolt.
I fired.
ZIIIIIING!
A beautiful line of blue and silver energy traversed the air. Half a breath later, the bird shrieked in agony. Perfect hit. The bird vanished from sight, it wasn’t dead but that shot did what it was intended for, to stall for time.
“You owe me two mastercraft artifacts, second rate womanizer!”
I fainted, falling like a ragdoll.
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Krigsain P.O.V.
[Eleven breaths.]
[Kletay is in trouble, if she dies, the rest die too.]
[The bolts are encrusted; the wounds won’t heal. They are a mixture of mana and a blessing. Do it!] I ordered.
[He is similar to you; his god will help him too.]
[We just need time, do it now!]
I charged at my foe filled with my blessing to the brim. He countered with a charge and an energy slash. He was willing to take some damage as long as he castigated me for every attack. Three bolts hovered around him unused. Ruthless.
SWISH! BOOOM!
I was bleeding even more but my fist reached him.
BANG!
I felt his energy barrier crackle, pushing through, his arm cracked. A brutal punish through his armor.
‘My blessings are greater since I have no mana. Hope you like that dumbass!’
[It’s not technically a blessing.]
[You want me to lose? Blabber later!] I retaliated angrily.
The sequence repeated a couple more times. I was on the losing end of the tradeoff but I was gaining ground. A shriek that caused a severe trembling, I almost lost my footing. The restrictive dome from my artifacts became tiny pieces of mana.
[And there’s the help. Shouldn’t you get serious now?]
[Probability of someone watching?] I asked.
[Probability of occurrence is 70%.]
I refused to give up even if I had miscalculated the difficulty.
[Just help me with the sword, infuse ALL power into the cores.] My final order.
[Thirteen breaths.]
Another enormous shriek but the attack never came.
SWISH! SWISH! BOOOM! BOOOM!
My cores were pulsating fiercely, about to break. I couldn’t handle the amount of power for long.
‘One and a half breath, maybe.’
A perfect Reika continuous motion later, I punched true again.
SWISH! BOOOM! CLASH!
My glove artifact was useless, it became smithereens. The explosions and the energy slashes took the wind out of me. The punch broke my enemy’s weapons into shards; he had used them to form a double block. My blessings provided me with an extreme pain mitigation, otherwise it would have been already over. He stepped back and with a turn evaded the brunt of my one handed assault.
From my temporal ring, my trusty old sword materialized pointing perfectly in the direction of the green eyed menace’s heart. With my free hand, I held the grip with all my strength and circulating the blessing into the fuller, I connected. Perfect execution, my sword penetrated cleanly into his heart with a kinetic charged tip. I smiled.
My rival targeted my neck with another blade, he probably released it from his temporal ring as well. My Will infused artifact protected me from the deadly cut, the blade’s metal disintegrated like sand grains.
‘I guess his spare wasn’t as good as mine.’
The three air suspended bolts targeted me simultaneously. I blocked the one aiming for my temple with my hand. I had two bolts on my extremity. One in my hand and another in my forearm. The other two inserted themselves into my heart, shattering my second core. There was nothing I could do, they flew in from my injured blindside and we were too close.
This is what an actual brawl between awakened equals looks like. Thankfully, the townsfolk were unscathed.
“Braver than most as expected, then again not so bright.”
The words of my opposition confounded me. He had a sword in his heart after all.
[Fourteen breaths.]
A sudden tempest formed around the area. Through the dwindling power of my blessing, I could see two strangely shaped blades coming at us with an impossible speed, oscillating wildly. I recognized those weapons, the Augirscythe. She was here.
The ethereal beast descended upon my antagonist, embracing him. It became far smaller than it had looked previously. In less than a second with an explosive burst, they disappeared. The magical beast was glaring with eyes full of hatred.
The intense squealing sound finally reached near my position just where the dumbass had been. The rocks and the soil erupted in all directions everywhere. I was sent flying through the air by the expansive wave of the mana blades.
With an extremely loud thud and pain coursing through my body, I laid there amidst the rubble looking at the sky. The mana bolts nailing me in place. More clashes and explosions were heard. I wasn’t able to tell what was happening or how long it took.
[Fluctuations are changing; the ebb is stabilizing. You’ll need to start over, you lost a core but you bought more time for your brothers and sisters. Kletay is seriously injured. This outcome can be considered acceptable, young one.]
The wind felt particularly cold, my lips were covered in blood. I could not move, not even convulse. Freslia’s face appeared in my field of vision. She had an incredibly murderous countenance.
“Darin, come take a look at your suffering brother over here.” She was obviously infuriated beyond reason.
[Can’t you tell them that what we do is for the Andurin, Great One?]
[There’s a reason the gods have mouthpieces young one. Why don’t you tell them yourself? Of course that would mean that you will have to reveal who you truly are.]
“You and I are going to have a very long discussion chosen one.”
[Do something, tell the Archsage.] I begged and I loathe begging.
[Above all things choice, this was your choice. This is the first precept.]
“Oh fuck.” I was frustrated.
“You have the energy to complain, that is good to know.” Freslia worded icily.
‘The Will really likes to get me in trouble with women.’