With a gut wrenching feeling, Fafnir's blood slowly boiled. His eyes turned ragged as he directed them towards Pahldor, grinning from ear to ear, nearing a psychopathic stage. 

He tightly grips the hilt of his sword with one hand, and his eyes begin to gleam a darker shade of yellow, his pupils turning a vertical slit. With an oppressing aura, and his limitless strength continues to grow.

"She is the key towards finding the crypt. Using forgotten and forbidden sorcery, I can drag out every single one of her memories. I assume that there are some things the old decrepit man had told his granddaughter, and if there is something, then I shall find it.

So, what do you think? Tempting eh? How about it, you have enormous power. Join me, and we shall overtake the world with ease."

The ironic decrepit old man extends his arms out wide, welcoming Fafnir who stands, dissatisfied and expressionless at the invitation being handed out to him. He knows that he can attain something much farther than this old man's dreams even without his help. 

"Pitiful..."

"What? Hmph. It seems that you don't understand the power that the crypt can bestow. I can reciprocate with you on that. Its powers are near limitless. Rumors have it that the power is bestowed to you by a fallen god who was exiled from the heavens. That alone is enough to make me seek it out even if it means purging the land and excommunicating myself from the holy church of Ylur."

"It seems that you are the one who does not understand anything. Rambling on and on about power when you are only a weak and feeble old man, and that's what you'll be for the rest of your life. Of course that'll change as well. You'll become a deceased weak and feeble old man, cursed to walk the earth in search of forgiveness after i'm finished with you."

Fafnir chuckles wryly, slowly walking towards Pahlor in a menacing manner as he brandishes his sword, swinging it in the air as his eyes bear down on the old magus. 

The magus, in response, backs away, his tall and lanky body trembling in fear of the impending doom about to be brought onto him. 

"Foolishness! Can't you see that power stands right in front of you, yet you disregard that. What is your motif then? If not power, then what?"

"You are not wrong. I seek power, but I can accomplish all that by myself. I have no intention of sharing it with anyone. I shall be the strongest in the world, only then can I be satisfied."

Pahldor holds his hand out to Fafnir, palms facing forward, desperately chanting under his breath, and ultimately failing each time as he stutters with his words, mouth trembling in unison. 

A glow would appear, but then disappear because of his mistakes on the incantation. 

"Stay back! Please! I can offer you anything. What would you desire? Wealth? Status? Tell me!"

He desperately pleads to him, kneeling and cupping his hands as if praying for his life. He closes in on him just enough for the darkness of the room to cover his face, making his eyes stand out as the blood lust grows.

Just the glare is enough to drain the life out of you, making you think that you're dead.

"Huh? I thought you were a feared magus. Show me your power then. It won't be fun if I end you here right now; so I'll give you a chance. You have ten seconds before your head separates with your body, or would you rather I cut you in two?"

"Ahh! Get away from me you monster!"

Pahldor attempts to run away, falling down miserably on his first attempt, but succeeding on the second. 

Now a few meters away from Fafnir, Pahldor begins chanting calmly after breathing in and out to ease his nerves. Rather, his calm demeanor is because of Fafnir not moving an inch to pursue him, giving the poor old man a false sense of hope as he desperately tries to carve out his escape.

"Six... Five... Four."

"yaldanyu overseer of the heavens and gate guard of the mystics, heed my words as I conv-Gah! Damn it!"

His concentration is broken when he hears the countdown pass half its allotted time. Then and there, he loses his sanity. 

"I won't fall to this! I am Pahldor. I was once the arch mage of the holy church of Ylur. I shall show you just that!" 

Pahldor holds both his hands out, and there forms a small symbol that is foreign to the sight of others, but not to its conjurer. 

"Force of nature come! I shall form you from dirt and soil, not intent of human life, but that of fortitude and unrelenting strength. Serve me for all eternity!"

He blows on the symbol after chanting as silently as possible. 

The symbol descends towards the ground, fading after it has collided with it. The ground then rumbles the entirety of the chamber. Though it seems to hold strong, its pillars are showing signs of weakness. 

"One... Your time is up. This better be worth my time."

"I will make you regret ever forcing me to bring out my true strength. I shall not be backed to a corner!"

A massive entity made of thick stone sixty feet tall towers over Fafnir as it roars out its voice, echoing throughout the very area of the fortress

"Behold! One of my many marvels of success. The ancient golem! Quake in fear of my mastery in the mystic arts. Now, what will you do lad?"

Pahldor asks with a smug expression, fitting for a desperate fiend such as him.

With a pent up power in his legs, Fafnir bolts towards the girl in the center, hung up by cold iron chains. 

He jumps, swiping away at two of the chain foundations to his left, releasing the girl's right arm and leg. 

"You bastard, I will not let you take my work away. Golem attack him!"

The giant swings its massive coarse arm down towards Fafnir with breakneck speed. 

He anticipates this, his eyes analyzing every motion as to predict its next plan of action without fail, even if it is an object created from nothing. 

He jumps backwards, rubble blasts out everywhere as the fists hit the stone floor. 

Fafnir takes this chance to dash towards the remaining chains by running along the slow responding golem's arm, reaching its shoulders in seconds. 

He leaps off, slashing away at the chain. The golem then swings at the girl who hangs by her left arm. 

*inhale* *exhale* As he remains adrift, he composes himself with the few seconds he has to react, he aims for the last strand of metal, then throws his sword at it, spinning instantly, and breaking the chain in two, landing afterwards on both feet. 

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Without any time to rest, Fafnir runs towards the spot where the free falling girl is predicted to fall. 

Pahldor conjures up an orb of green light, pointing it towards the girl. "I won't let you have her. The power, the knowledge, it all lies within her!"

Further losing his sanity, the old man goes berserk, gathering up more strength, and amassing the power in to the orb of light. 

He fires, a pulse of winds blows away everything around Pahldor. The orb decimates its surroundings, everything it touches disappears, as if wiped from reality. 

Fafnir grows desperate, running even faster than before, but might not be able to make it in time. 

He instead reaches out his hand towards the approaching orb of light, igniting a blue ball of flame from it. Though the size does not match with the sorcerer's, its power far exceeds it at it burns away everything the owner deems vile and unworthy. 

"Burn away, remember your sins as they will be forever etched unto your soul."

With extraordinary speed, putting Pahldor's to shame- the blue ball of flame collides with the green orb, making a grandiose explosion that implodes the fortress from the chambers, producing a large scale explosion that can be seen throughout the north as a fading aurora.

The smoke fades away despite the ensuing blizzard. Thought it has dissipated with each second of dawn's coming, it still runs ragged, freezing everything around it.

From the outside, the explosion had created a giant well that leads towards the underground chambers. There lies a rubble of piled up boulders, and a lair that now lies in ruins. 

The pile of debris near the center of the chamber comes a slight rumble. Then a body emerges from it, banged up and exhausted as he breathes in and out profusely. 

He carries in his arms the same girl that hung up on the chains, bound and beaten, without a hint of energy left in her. 

Fafnir, just before the explosion, had covered her with his body, shielding her from the explosion that decimated the young boy's back, ruining his attire. 

He uses all his remaining strength just to carry her in his arms, trying to ignore the lingering pain he had received as it stings him, blending with the crippling touch of winter. 

He surveys the area where nothing but rubble remains. The only question in his mind was if the old man still lives even after that explosion. 

Looking up at the sky, slowly turning brighter, Fafnir exhales, his desire for power grows even further. 

"I need more power. It became harder than I expected to take him down. Was it because I hesitated, or was it because of my hunger that is yet to be sated."

He looks down on the girl and thinks to himself. "So you know where the power I seek lies..." his eyes grow distant, the omnipotent gleam disappears, and is returned to normal along with his natural state. 

Then and there, he once again feels the strain his power had left on him, the pressure intensifies the pain he feels along every part of his body. 

Almost dropping the girl he carries, he fumbles, trying to catch her with his trembling arms. He clicks his tongue in irritation, and is met with a brief response.

The girl's eyes begin to twitch, slowly opening and adjusting to the bright light provided by the moon.

Fafnir's body blocks the light as he looms his face down on hers, covering his face from being seen clearly. 

Her eyes pop open followed by a shriek of panic. Struggling to get away from his arms, she kicks and flails, successfully knocking him away with her fists, forcing Fafnir to recoil in pain, dropping her onto the rubble. 

She tries to run away barefoot, but falls down time after time as she steps on the small pieces of rubble, forcing her to stop. 

Having run out of energy, she becomes wary, looking a deathly gaze on Fafnir, who lies down on the pile of rubble with his eyes closed. 

Surveying the area, her look of disbelief and confusion comes at all once. Where is she? is this the same place where she was held? What happened? 

Those are just one of the many questions continuously popping up in her head as she slowly falls to the allure of fatigue, making her eyes heavier and heavier 

But she forces her eyes open in the case that the man lying down a few meters ahead of her wakes up. 

Unable to move anymore, the supposed unconscious body begins to slowly get up. His face comes into full view once the light of the moon shines down on him. 

His face has a bloody streak on his left cheek going down to his neck, and his right eye is the only one open, looking at her intently. His attire is in tatters, and his right arm is bathed in blood, ravaged by some beast from the looks of it. 

He moves raggedly, wobbling side to side as he stands up, his right arm limp, swaying with his movement. 

She feels her fear kicking in, and she trembles at his glare, but is unable to move her legs. 

Instead of trying to flee, in which she finds impossible at this point. She glares at him with a certain animosity mixed in. Grabbing a small piece of the rubble and concealing it, she readies her arm in the case that he closes in, storing her remaining energy in the one throw that might save her life.

He moves closer and closer to her. His arm had been mutilated by the explosion and the rubble that fell on him, but he forced the pain, trying to make sure that she didn't fall. 

Her hostility didn't really come as a surprise rather, he anticipated it to happen, but he did not expect such a fierce blow to land on his head. 

He exhales as he slowly comes within meters of her, producing a small, white cloud of air. There, she assumes a fetal position, huddling for warmth given by the long tattered garb, and the only piece of clothing she has on her. 

She seems to glare at him with an amazing intent to kill.

Fafnir enters her striking range, and in one solid motion, she pelts the stone at him, hitting Fafnir square on his face. 

His head recoils, clocking to the left, but the rest of his body is unfazed. 

Fresh blood emerges from his forehead, dripping down on the cold, desolate stone floor. 

After her throw, she loses all her remaining energy, losing consciousness in front of him with spite. The last image that she sees before fainting was the man's darkened silhouette, slowly extending his arm towards her as she blacks out in great timing.