The man stopped his light clapping. He took a single step closer. Avures clutched Rael closer to his body. The man tilted his entire torso to the side as he inspected the two of them.
"Hmm...a little apprehensive, are we? Worry not. I understand completely." The man stood straight up again and solemnly put his right hand over his heart. "I would feel the same way if I were holding the ticket to our queen."
Avures listened. He watched. But he didn't dare to move, much less blink.
"A job well-done deserves great reward though, brother! I watched the endeavor from afar. You played your part quite beautifully. When all is said and done, you will have inflicted such great misery upon the girl's psyche that even the queen shall recognize you as a true servant!" The man outstretched his arms and raised his palms to the air, a wide smile spread across his face.
Avures was wide-eyed. The man took notice of his state and lowered his arms slowly with his smile dispersing.
"You seem...lost. My understanding was that you were an initiate of some sort...was I wrong?" The man raised an eyebrow.
"I-...I don't think I'm an initiate..." Avures muttered out. Avures's mind was all over the place. What was going on? Where was George? What was this guy talking about?
"What?!" The man threw his hands up to the side of his head. "You mean you brought her here with no understanding of anything?"
"Uh...yes."
"My oh my oh my!...you certainly have an "initiative" about you then...a certain go-getter attitude. I can sense it...I can taste it! You! You! You! You! You! You!...your life is one filled with great woe, one that will receive great woe. It only makes sense how you could inflict such great misery upon the girl." The man viciously rubbed his chin as he looked to the side.
"I don't understand..." Avures shook his head, still hoping George would appear.
"Only those who know woe can inflict it upon others. Woe is woven into the fate of another to cause great misery. And those who are subjected to woe, and will cause misery to others are worthy of her love. You were made to suffer...and you were made to inflict suffering..." The man bowed. "On my authority as one of the Grand Priests...I, Shalkona Minster, humbly invite you to the Court of Woe."
"Court...of Woe?...Woe as in..." Avures's entire body felt a cold shiver running up his spine.
"Correct...our beloved...Witch of Woe." The man still bowed.
Avures stared at the man...and looked to Rael. What did they want with her? It seemed to be a point of interest for him. But an invitation to join them as well? What did he mean by the things said to him? Avures was missing too many pieces to put things together. But if it was Rael they wanted...he couldn't.
"I refuse." Avures felt his resolve kick in.
"Ah of-huh?" The man stood up straight instantly with an exaggerated expression of anger. "What do you mean you refuse?! You would spit in the face of the queen?!"
"I won't be joining..."
"Insolent! Vile! Disgusting! A whole other slew of words that I could use to describe you! And more! But most of all!..." The man recomposed himself and smiled. "You certainly are capable...of inflicting misery."
The man raised his hands up to the sky. A bolt of lightning cascaded down from the heavens themselves and struck his hand. The man stood there, seeming to take it all in as his smile grew more wide and demonic looking. A downpour of rain began all around them. As the lightning ceased, the man pointed both palms of his hands towards Avures.
Avures quickly took action. Quickly laying Rael on the ground...He clenched both his hands into fists, bumped them together, then released the fist and clasped them together, and then releasing the clasp and placing his hands against the ground. A small, circular and black barrier erupted from the ground surrounding Avures and Rael.
In the blinding moment after the barrier appeared, Shalkona Minster pulsed electricity out from his hands. In a non-stop, violent beam of lightning, he attacked the barrier Avures put up. As the lightning made contact, the barrier had a rough time defusing the attack. Some of the attack cascaded along the side of the barrier and onto the building behind Avures. But it was constantly challenging Avures's barrier. Each second felt like an agonizingly long hour. The blinding bolts of lightning, the rain bouncing off of the barrier at the top...he could hardly hear himself think. He was quickly losing focus, losing mana. It was one thing to prolong a technique or use of mana, but against such power...it was taking everything he had. The rate at which it drained him was considerable to when he tried to use Perfect Dark. It was starting to fade.
"You're my hero!"
Avures persevered. How could he let his barrier fall? Blood slowly trickled out of his nose, his body started to cramp and ache. He was approaching his limit already. But...he'd give everything to make sure that Rael would be okay...
Something happened. Suddenly, Shalkona was thrust against the wall of a building behind him. His attack ended, his limbs all spread out as he was pinned against this building. The sudden force and impact made him cough up spit and blood. As the force ended, he fell flat on the ground. Slowly lifting himself back up, he smiled as he greeted the new arrival. Avures couldn't hold the barrier any longer. Seeing how the onslaught stopped, Avures let go. He spent a second taking hard, labored breaths as a combination of water and sweat dripped onto the cold hard ground below him. As the rain continued to pour, Avures slightly moved Rael underneath of a canopy hanging off the side of the building. He sat her up against the wall, and then looked to the source of the attack against the man.
"Looks like I made it just in time, eh lad?" George stood to the side of Avures. "You chose a real far-off spot. Took me forever to catch up with ya."
"Sorry...I panicked..." Avures cringed a little, but sighed in relief.
"It's alright, lad. Unfortunately, my men are a bunch of drunks, so it'll just be me and you." George cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing through the alley.
"A trap?" Shalkona dusted his robe off. The hood of it was blown off of his head. "Of course. I should have known. Silly me."
"Course. Didn't think you'd have her that easy, did ya?" George reached to his belt and pulled out his knife. Avures stayed by Rael's side...but the sight of that knife again. There was no mistaking it, that was the knife sticking in Rael's back in the vision. Whatever happened...whatever was about to happen...the outcome had to be different. There were too many questions...but he trusted George's judgment.
"I can't say it crossed my mind that a cult hunter would block my path here. I was simply overcome with a great joy." Shalkona placed the fingertips of his right hand on his forehead and shook his head. "I thought after all this time...I'd finally retrieved the vessel, and without any real challenge to boot."
"'Fraid not."
"But if all I need to do is kill you...then...this should be a quite an easy ordeal!" Shalkona removed his fingertips from his forehead and shot lightning out from them towards George.
George took his free hand and raised it out in front of him. Avures watched as several visible currents of wind made a vortex like shape in front of his hand. As the lightning shot towards him, it seemed that this vortex directed it all to his hand. But, rather than electrocuting George, it all gathered up into a ball of sparks at the palm of his hand. The man stopped firing the electricity, and raised his arms up to guard himself. George then seemingly controlled the ball of sparks, and threw it at Shalkona. The ball exploded and showered him with bolts of lightning. He grunted, but mostly seemed unaffected.
After the dispersal of the attack, the two of them stared each other down.
"This is a pretty bad fight you've pulled me into, Avures." George's tone got serious.
"What do you mean?"
"It's raining...I use two elements...Wind and Fire. Wind is a bit unwieldy in the rain, and Fire loses a lot of it's power and potential in the rain." George shook his head.
"I see..." Avures realized how bad this was. He had never thought of it like that. Considering that all his fighting and training with combat and magic was done indoors, it was never explained to them that weather was a factor. Plus, if George knew two elements, then his overall type casting would be weaker than most. It was something Avures read about. Zen never bothered explaining it because investing in another element rather than a type was a "waste of potential". Which also meant that this guy, Shalkona, was most definitely a stronger caster than George.
"Yeah. And not just that, lad. His element is Lightning...in the rain...he can't miss...but I suppose there was no way of us knowing that." George clenched his fist tightly.
"it seems quite cruel, doesn't it?" Shalkona shrugged and grinned. "Through my queen's will, fortune and fate are on my side. Woe be upon you..."
"On your side, huh?" George smirked. "Care to make a bet on that?"
The man tilted his head at George. Avures watched in wonder as a light blue aura seemed to appear around them. He looked at the paths of the alley. This aura seemed to appear to block them, as if it were keeping everyone in there. Tiny and blue particles of light slowly rose from the ground.
"A shade, huh?" Shalkona made similar observations to Avures.
"You seem surprised. Don't you have one of your own?" George looked confident.
"No. As one of the Grand Priests, the will of my soul belongs to my queen. I have no need for such dark magics anyways." Shalkona shook his head in disgust.
"Hmph. Ironic coming from a dirty cultist like yourself. Anyways, I wasn't joking. If you really think fortune...fate...is on your side, why not bet on it?"
"I will always bet upon her will, her power. Elaborate."
"My shade, Straight Bet as I've come to call it, allows me, or anyone else, to place a wager on certain events coming to pass using their own mana. My shade amplifies that mana up to three-fold the amount bet using Flow. The loser of the wager has that wagered power instantly struck upon them." George opened the palm of his free hand. A small ball of mana appeared.
"A shade that can punish it's own user? How risky...You must either be a gambling addict or a masochist. What happens if I don't wager with you?" Shalkona crossed his arms.
"Simple. It'll still go through as long as I have a target. But...if your queen is on your side, whaddya have to lose?" George shrugged in return.
"Fine. I'll take your bet. Name your wager." Shalkona pointed at him.
"The first to land a clean strike on the other, without using magic in that attack, wins...simple, right?"
"Do you think you're clever? As if I need magic to inflict suffering...misery...very well. The queen wills my victory. I'll bet half my mana." Shalkona raised his hand, a beam of blue light escaped his hand and poured into a small orb in the air.
"That's a huge amount. I'll match ya, dirty cretin...Fifty percent of my own." George did the same. The mana poured out of both of them and into this orb that hung in-between them. It's size increased massively as they finished. It almost filled up the intersection above them.
As it finished, not a word more was exchanged before they began their assault on each other. Shalkona reached into his robe with both his arms crossing. He then pulled out that same circular blade Avures saw earlier. Two in each hand...chakrams. George approached Shalkona with great speed. Using one of each chakram, Shalkona used an overhand throw with each arm, launching the bladed disks straight at George as he approached. George took to the right side and batted the thrown chakram on that side down with his blade. They were now in melee distance.
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Shalkona made a jab with his right hand chakram. George stepped to his right to avoid it and countered with a low-stab from his dagger. The cultist then brought his left hand chakram down, deflecting the hit downwards and out of the way. Shalkona grinned wildly, bringing his right hand back inwards towards George. He either had to let go of the dagger or get hit...But George responded quickly, using his free hand to nab the wrist of Shalkona's right hand. The two were locked up now. However, it would be Shalkona who broke the stalemate.
Willing to take the hit, Shalkona sliced upward against George with the left hand that he had been using to pin down his dagger. The moment he let up, George also finished his stab. The two of them had struck each other in a blinding flash. They both then jumped away from each other. A clear cut could be seen through George's armor. Both the leather armored vest, and even the chain-mail underneath had been cleanly sliced through, leaving a large gash open running up the bottom of his torso to the top of the left side of his chest. On the other hand, Shalkona had been stabbed in the center of his torso. It wasn't George's intent to stab there, but it was his best opening. But now was the moment of truth. The large orb hovering above them that held their mana dispersed.
George felt an extreme pain overcome his body, as the dispersed combination of mana and flow ravaged his body. They furiously orbited him and dove in and out, slicing and stabbing him multiple times over. By the time it finished, George had been severely wounded, and was bleeding all over.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Look at the fool who didn't even recognize the rules of his own game!" Shalkona pointed at him and was in hysterics. George was breathing heavy. "Though, I must say. I have to respect the merits of using a power that inflicts misery upon oneself for failure. The results of your gambit are truly...woeful."
"Can't say...that I feel the same about ya." George gritted his teeth and smiled.
"Oh, but that's a shame. We are...one and the same in that way." Shalkona adjusted his grip on his chakrams, showing off the palms of his hands. Deep lacerations littered the palms of his hand, a result of wielding the sharp rounded blade as a melee weapon rather than a throwing one.
"Huh...guess we are...so, care for another wager?"
"Do I need to show further proof of my destiny?" Shalkona shrugged. "Fine. I'll put you down with one final wager."
"Then go ahead. You make the call."
"How kind. If you want the miserable fate of being killed by your own power...who am I to disagree. At least this time, it won't be by mistaking your own rules. Let's make it...the next clean hit like before, but we can use magic. There's truly nothing I love more than torment with electrocution."
"Done deal..." George put his free hand in the air. "I'll do the other half of my pool."
"Confident, huh? Even on the precipice of death, a gambler will still insist that they can win. A cycle of suffering. I'll put in my other half as well." Shalkona did as George did. "This will be exciting too...it could be decided off of a melee struggle like before...or who's body produces mana faster..."
"Let's go..." George lowered his arm. Shalkona did the same. The orb blew up like before, reaching a similar size.
Shalkona wouldn't waste another moment. He lunged forward, and winded his arm up, ready to throw a chakram. George waited...Shalkona moved his left arm forward, throwing the chakram. The moment came. George's focus paid off, he suddenly raised his free hand in the air once more. Shalkona was none the wiser, and with no time to react, he was struck. A sudden visible line of wind shot up from the ground, slicing upwards. Contact was made, and in an instant, Shalkona's left hand made a soft splash sound as it landed in a puddle.
However, this focus wasn't without cost, the chakram he threw landed directly in George's right leg, right below his knee. Shalkona grasped at his wrist as he screamed in pain. George chuckled, Straight Bet unleashed the wagered mana upon Shalkona. The mana turned into lashes of light that ravaged the cultist's body. Slices, stabs, and other afflictions damaged him greatly. When all was said and done, he was in a similar state to George.
"What an absolutely...accursed power!" Shalkona's face had twisted into one of rage. The robes he wore were completely shredded in several different areas, exposing a lot of his pale skin.
"Heh...serves you right, jackass." George gave him the middle finger.
"Something doesn't add up with you..." Shalkona let go of his left wrist even as the blood spurted out from it. He dropped the chakram in his right hand and brought it up to his face. He dug his fingernails into his skin, and slowly dragged his hand downwards around his eye. "The curse should be taking effect..."
"You recognized me as a cult hunter...it's obvious. Curses...are typical occult tricks...if I know it's going to happen when you strike me, I can block it with the most basic of mana practices..." George slowly bent over and removed the chakram from his leg. He grunted in pain as he stood back up and tossed it over to the feet of Shalkona.
"Insolent!...but that attack...how?..." Shalkona's nails left a trail of blood dribbling down his face as he scratched and peeled his skin away in anger.
"During our first wager...when you blocked my attack, I set a trap in that exact spot. A simple wind slice that I could trigger when you walked over it. I was even gonna make the same bet as you did."
"Cheap tricks!...hm-ha-ha-ha..." Shalkona took his hand away from his face. "Of course...a gambler would have cheap tricks. I suppose it's time I end this. You're in no shape to fight anymore, but I am driven by a higher purpose. I-"
"One more wager? No cheap tricks...If fate...your queen's will, is truly on your side...you'll win." George smiled.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Woe to the one who succumbs to a gambler's words! The true words of a seasoned manipulator!...let's hear it." Shalkona pointed to him.
"A coin flip...a completely fifty versus fifty chance." George reached into his pocket and showed a single coin to Shalkona. He showed the back, and the front. "I'll even let you pick the side ya want."
"Pf...heh...a coin flip? I think I'll have to pass..."
"How about I make it more of a done-deal for you?"
"Elaborate."
"See this kid over here?" George pointed to Avures. "The whole reason I found you...the whole reason you won't get her...is because of him. He can see the future..."
"You're bluffing..." Shalkona looked over to Avures. Avures went wide-eyed. What was George's plan?
"I'm not. A side effect of Straight Bet's power is that any third-party involved must tell the truth or play fair, or else they'll be killed on the spot by it. Avures is going to tell us the result of this coin flip before it happens using his power. And, if he lies, Straight Bet will kill him." George stared into Shalkona's face.
"You...you wouldn't..." Shalkona looked on in shock between the two of them. George put away his dagger. Using his right hand, he pulled out a cigar and stuck it in his mouth. Then, a small flame appeared at his right hand's fingertip, lighting it. He took a deep breath in...and released the smoke.
"I would. You get to hear the result of the coin flip, and then call it..." George grinned, the cigar in the corner of his mouth still. "Sounds like a free win? Doesn't it? Lad...tell us the result."
"George...I-okay..." Avures slowly brought his right hand to his face. Flow and mana...the darkness peeled away for him. He saw it in slow motion...that coin George held...it slowly flipped through the air until...heads...
Avures gulped. His hands trembled. Why was George doing this?...why would he throw away his own life?...it could only be one thing. A last gambit to buy him time to run away...
"Heads!...The result will be heads..." Avures made it clear to both of them.
"If you think I'm going to be swayed this easily...you're wrong. Your power instantly killing third-party liars...pf...what a joke. Tails...it's going to be tails!" Shalkona raised his hand once more, putting in a little bit of mana that his body managed to produce.
"If you say so." George raised his own hand, matching with his own tiny piece of mana. The resulting orb was nowhere near as big as before, signaling just how exhausted both of their mana pools were.
"Here goes..."
George flipped the coin in the air. Rain cascaded all around the scene as the coin continued to rise, then fall towards the ground. Avures was astonished...it became clear to him...the game George was playing. The coin hit the cold, wet ground and rung around as it settled...heads...
Straight Bet broke apart once again, and attacked Shalkona. He raised his arms in defense, but it was no use as the shade ravaged him once again. Though, the onslaught was nowhere near as bad as the last. As it finished, Shalkona panted, gasped for air. The wounds on his body growing ever-more serious...but he still stood.
"No...way..."
"You didn't believe me...how about another go at it?" George took a step forward and grabbed the coin again. "Avures...tell em."
"Heads...the result of that coin toss will be heads." Avures had quickly used his power to scry the near future once again.
"Call it..." George took another puff of his cigar.
"You-...You-...Bah-hah-ha!...You're a trickster!...but perhaps you weren't lying then...your bluff is over...for my queen...My name is Shalkona Minster!...Heads!...The rest of what I have!" The cultist raised his hand to the air once again with resolved fervor.
"George Mottis...for the sake of protecting my Rael...and for the sake of wiping you scum out of existence." George raised his hand, finished, and flipped the coin. "Rot in hell..."
George looked towards the sky and took another puff, not bothering to look at the coin. The cultist's face contorted into an insane looking face. His smile widened, his eyes sharpened...Avures watched the coin fall down to the ground...tails...the cultist was filled with a complete terror and shock as the coin was still...
"Woe...to me..." The final words Shalkona muttered out, before Straight Bet tore him to shreds...
The scene was a gruesome mess...pieces of the cultist's body lay everywhere. Puddles of blood were spilled about. George was heavily wounded...but, Avures and Rael were unscathed (aside from Avures's bloody nose). Rael still lay unconscious, and Avures still looked at the scene with shock.
"Shouldn't I be...dead? Wasn't that a lie? Or did you bluff that too?" Avures looked over at George who was still looking towards the sky.
"Ah...no, it's true about the shade thing...but you foresaw the result of a coin flip that I didn't flip. More precisely..." George walked over to the coin and picked it up off the ground. He then walked over to Avures and handed him both coins he used.
"But isn't this a cheat too?" Avures examined both coins. One coin had both sides as heads...and the other tails.
"Not exactly...the specification of the coins were never outlined while Straight Bet was active. I also was far enough away, and discrete enough to do a sleight of hand trick. I held both coins together and showed off a heads and a tails side..." George took another puff as he got down on one knee with Avures. "If he had asked for a fair coin, or a different one, we mighta' been in trouble...but that's called "baiting" your opponent."
"I see what you mean..." Avures handed the coins back to George. He moved over to Rael and picked her up in his arms.
"I was wrong about you, lad. I apologize. Ya aren't weak-willed...it takes a lot of guts to stand in the face of death like that...I at least understand what she sees in ya now." George smiled as he patted Avures on the back. "Thank you for saving Rael..."
"I didn't really do anything...and I spent a lot of your money..." Avures cringed.
"Nah lad...if you hadn't come to me...if you hadn't told me...I would never have thought to search for cultists...we woulda' ended up being a gruesome crime scene." George looked around. "Plus, it's just money lad. Find me next time I'm around and I'll give ya more. You two are like me own family."
"Thanks...George...there is one thing that still bothers me though...and I need a straight answer." Avures looked down at Rael's face as he held her.
"Go ahead..."
"In that vision...Rael was dead...and that blade of yours was sticking out of her back...why?" Avures kept looking at Rael.
"If things went south, lad...I would have had to kill her myself..."
A long silence hung between George and Avures. Avures's eyes were focused on Rael, but all he could think about was what George had just said...The sound of rain hitting the ground...
"But...why?" Avures slowly turned his head to George.
"It would be too hard to explain now...and at some point, I'll have to tell her as well...but right now is not that time. Next time I'm in the capital...I'll take the two of you for a trip, and all will become clear..."
----------------------------------------
"Ah!" Rael sat up as her eyes burst awake. She was in her room. She took a glance out the window, pitch black. But, the room was slightly illuminated. Rael scanned the room slowly, and saw Avures sitting at his desk with a candle lit on top of the desk.
"Oh? Rael, you're awake..." Avures turned to look at her with tiredness in his eyes.
"What happened?...All I remember was getting cut by something in my shoulder..." Rael rubbed the afflicted area, the bandage Avures put there still holding. "And that was after..."
"Well, we were attacked, but George and I took care of it." Avures turned back to the object he was fiddling with on his desk.
"Oh...my hero..." Rael said with a sarcastic tone as she waltzed over to Avures and hugged him from behind his chair. She lowered her face to his left ear and lowered her voice. "I had a lot of fun today...I hope you open up to me more..."
"Rael. I had fun too-" Avures stopped as he felt a sensation on his cheek. Something touched him...he looked over at Rael. She stood a few steps away now and her entire face was red. She smiled as she looked at the floor.
"Hey...I just noticed something..." Rael raised an eyebrow as she looked at Avures and gestured to herself. "I'm in my pajamas...you pervert! What happened to my dress? Did you undress me? That's so gross!"
"Shut up! I didn't do that...I had Olicia do it." Avures shrugged. "Besides, it rained after you got knocked out. Your dress was soaking wet, and I needed to fix that cut in it."
"Hmm...well...I believe you! How nice of you too...you didn't have to fix my dress..." Rael walked back over to her bed and sat down.
"Well..." Avures scratched his cheek as his face turned red. "M-maybe I want to see you wear it again..."
"Ah!-...oh my god you sounded like you were about to cry at the end of that." Rael giggled. "I think that's also the first time you've did anything close to flirting...for my sake, Avures, you don't have to do that. In fact, try not to..."
"Oh wow, thanks..." Avures began to meddle with his trinket once again, losing all the color in his face.
"Ha...I'm still sleepy...goodnight, Avures." Rael covered herself up as she lay back down.
"Goodnight, Rael..." Avures eventually heard Rael start to snore lightly. She must have been pretty exhausted to fall back asleep like that.
Still, Avures kept messing around with the item. During the whole encounter with that cultist, Avures had the puzzle box on him in the satchel. He had almost completely forgot he put it in there by chance. When he pulled it out, it seemed to have a faint glow...
"The puzzle box likes moments of extreme tension and harvests energy from it."
For a while, Avures really did think that either him or George was going to die. And the battle itself...it was unlike anything he had seen. The sparring and training matches, Xilvas's demonstration he had seen before he arrived here...this battle in comparison had put him on edge. It made Avures think about what he was going to do. How was he going to specialize his abilities? That was certainly a question for tomorrow, especially since they also had that day off. But back on the box, it wouldn't budge at all still...though this did indicate to Avures that the "advice" the librarian gave rang true. Perhaps it just needed a lot more of that energy?...
Avures stopped messing around with the thing, put out the candle, and climbed into bed. He stared at the blank and black ceiling. Things were different now. A different perception had taken place in him. He knew what he needed to do.