The mana was shivering along with Sirius. The walls of his cavern were slowly covered with white frost, as Sirius was struggling to come up with a plan of actions. He knew nothing about these people, but something about their behaviour was off. He only knew that there was no way he could talk his way out of this situation, like he did before. The eerie smile and empty eyes directed at him left a solid impression in his mind. Maybe it was the time to fight for real.

While steeling his nerves, Sirius made the impression of confidence, and walked out from behind his cave, facing the approaching group.

"What do you want?" Shouted Sirius, trying his best to stop his voice from cracking.

"The blasphemous one. Give your soul to Their flaming embrace!" Stated the man in front, his mention of the Twins supported by murmurs.

"For what reason? I was blessed by them, not you. I know better how to live my life."

"You turned away from Their gift, led astray by demons of the Outside." The man pointed at Sirius, still bearing that delusional smile as before, his eyes cold like ice. "You betrayed the holy Silver Order, They gathered to oversee the commoners. For that you need to perish."

"I heard that a myriad of times. But I never heard the suitable reason why I can not just go away."

"You were the Child of the Prophecy. The Chosen One to save the world from burning!"

"Yeah-yeah, been there, heard that. I don't buy into your belief. I see the magic for what it actually is - the force that can be studied and improved, not just mindlessly used. I won't go with you."

"So you are beyond salvation then." The man calmly put away the arcane compass and the holy book, and raised his arms. "The Crimson Crusade has..." The icicle cut him short, shattering after impacting the shield of dense air.

Without waiting Sirius began throwing projectiles, rhythmically at first, but with some odd beats here and there. He would aim at different parts of the man's body, but they all hit the shield and shattered into splinters, never reaching their target. Sirius saw the confident look on the man's face and enhanced his attack. With his Thought Constellation he could think in parallel, only focusing on creating cold and dense mana for icicles. That allowed him to improvise the varying attacks. He imbued the icicles with the residual hot mana, creating small explosions and showering the shield with shrapnel, hid swirling air inside, trying to find the counter to the shield. His onslaught has finally brought the victory to his side, as the small icicle penetrated the shield with a loud pop and grazed the man's face. This has erased his smug expression, making him frown. Now Sirius was being taken seriously.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

With a growl a man grabbed at the air, and threw the imaginary spear at Sirius. The ground began freezing and covering in layer of ice. Sirius took all his hot mana and created a thick layer in front of the invisible projectile. The two extremes collided and the spell dissipated, leaving only a light breeze. The both sides stood motionless, evaluating the exchange. IN the end the man calmly pointed at Sirius, and each of five people began taking off their blindfolds. As they opened their eyes, Sirius saw five pairs of orange sparks staring at him.

With a swing of his staff Sirius moulded the earth on front of him into a shield, and dashed to the side, while creating more of them. Each shield was hit by a chaotic valley of ice, stone, and fire. It was the first time Sirius saw someone other than the Inquisitor manifest a fire, but this had to wait. He did not let the surprise stop him. He was dashing up the river bank, finally reaching the equal height, and began gaining a high ground. The pull of mana these people were generating was terrifying. Each spell they launched was extremely forceful, filled with rage and hatred, that dissipated into a infectious cloud of emotions upon impact. Sirius tried shielding himself from their effects, but in doing so his concentration faltered, and the icicle pierced his right thigh. Sirius fell to the ground, setting a stone shield between him and people below. He unbuckled his belt and tightened it higher than the wound to stop the blood from flowing out. He took out the knife from the pocket and heated up the blade. While clenching his teeth, he took out the icicle with his free hand and touched the wound to cauterise. He let out a scream of pain. It was nearly unbearable, almost making him lose consciousness, but stopping the blood was necessary.

Sirius tried getting up, while leaning on his staff, failing several times from pain piercing his side. The projectiles were smashing on the shield, ice thorns poking through the rock. From despair he once again hit the ground in anger, leaving the warm and dry soil underneath. Sirius looked at the dry patch, and began casting again. He took hold of the earth around him and gathered another layer of protection from the onslaught. The people were getting closer, while still firing at his shell with ice and rock, and Sirius needed to act. He concentrated, while sitting on the ground, his palms pushed into the hard rock underneath. He breathed in and out, his Thought Constellation processed the chaotic mana into a steady stream, gathering it in his Mana Pool, making it his and his only while with Mind's Eye Sirius was scouring the surroundings for the attackers and traces of mana with his signature. He used some of that energy to shoot back from behind the shield in order to appear busy, but the energy draw was so minuscule, Sirius didn't even bother concentrating. He focused on finalising the last details of his plan of action.