Drawing spirit energy into his fingertip, Roy steadied himself as he prepared to launch an aura bullet…then he froze. Roy stiffened as his spirit scan came to life. Another window had appeared in his vision, one that indicated that they weren’t as alone as they thought.
Someone else was entering the fray.
//////////
Varyon
Temporal Adept
Rank: 4th
Specialization: Assassin
Divine Power: Hidden
//////////
Emerging from the shadow was a man Roy immediately recognized. Tall and shrouded in a tunic of black, he wore a fierce expression and sported a vertical scar down his pale face. It was the man he’d seen near the academy, the one who shrouded the power of his spirit...
The 4th ranked adept had returned.
A feeling of dread washed over Roy as he watched the scarred man leap from his perch and charge at his companions from the opposite side, a sphere of translucent blue spirit energy swirling around his form. Due to the man’s location, Roy couldn’t launch an aura bullet without risking hitting one of the others, but dammit he had to do something!
Varyon locked eyes on Leila as he dashed across the ice, drawing aura into his palm with each passing step. Roy’s instincts kicked in and he leaped into action, drawing in aura of his own. The battle raged in front of him like a churning cloud of chaos as the Sky Wolves continued to batter the ice drake, unaware of the veiled Assassin approaching from the side. Channeling his void aura into his legs, Roy dove into the chaos himself, passing between Quinn and Rem as he slid under the drake’s belly. He emerged from the other side of the creature, pouncing to his feet at Leila’s side just as Varyon arrived...
And then Roy unleashed his dark spiral.
Chapter 18
Cipherion’s Tooth
Icerock Dungeon, Final Chamber
Varyon Risen, venerable Assassin of the thousand-legged spider guild was an opportunistic killer. That’s entirely the reason he waited in the cold darkness of the cavern, biding his time until the adepts in this dungeon showed up to do battle for the relic waiting below. He would watch them engage the ice drake, wait until they were completely engrossed in the heat of battle... then he would eliminate them all. No witnesses. No loose ends.
Varyon watched with killer instinct as the strange group of adepts made their way into the chamber, unaware of his presence due to his suppressed spirit aura. He studied them as they engaged the drake... a trio of 3rd ranked spiriteka’s and a pair of spirins. A formidable team, but nothing he couldn’t handle to be sure.
The Assassin remained still as the battle played out, watching as the adepts spread themselves thin while combating the beast. He waited until they were spread out, until their focus was entirely on the weakening drake...
Then he launched his attack.
Varyon dashed across the icy floor, creating a field of temporal energy around his body as he focused another sphere of energy into his palm. His first target was the spear-wielder, the strongest of the group. He would eliminate her quickly, then pick off the others with ease.
The temporal adept lunged at his target, anticipating a quick and decisive kill... then something unexpected happened. Appearing from the beneath the belly of the drake was one of the group’s spirins, a man with no right to stand against him.
Varyon brushed the man off as a minor inconvenience... he’d dispose of this first ranked adept once he was done with their leader. Channeling his aura, Varyon sent a pulse of temporal energy at the newcomer, just enough spirit energy to slow the man’s movements to a crawl. He turned his attention back to the spear-wielding woman and took aim. He reached for her back.... and then he got hit.
The incoming spirin broke through his temporal field and smashed into him with a spiraling ball of energy, sending him spinning back towards the cavern’s wall. The attack wasn’t strong enough to deal any considerable amount of damage, but the fact that he reached him was certainly a cause for concern. How? he thought to himself, furious for allowing a mere spirin to lay hands on him.
Varyon took a quick gaze at the man’s spirit aura and his question was quickly answered. That dog that attacked him possessed an aura made entirely of void energy. Like water to flame, void energy acted as a counter to temporal energy due to Its dense and refined nature. The strength of a temporal aura was its ability to slow other objects and energies in its presence, granting the user a perceived speed and strength advantage. Void energy, however, was able to cut through temporal fields like a blade through soft flesh.
Varyon narrowed his eyes at the void adept as he wiped the frost off his tunic. He wasn’t going to let that happen again. Perhaps he would have to kill this one first.
****
Roy looked on with disbelief as his void spiral sent Varyon spinning into a wall of ice, its black-violet energy tearing through the man’s temporal field. “Holy shit…” Roy muttered. This man was a supposed rank 4... had he dispatched a rank 4 adept?
The answer was no. Not even close.
Leila broke off her assault on the drake and joined Roy’s side, standing vigilant as Varyon peeled himself off the wall and eyed them with a look of malice. “Rem, Quinn, Kimoura, you finish off the drake! I’ll deal with our guest!” she growled out her orders as wind aura swirled around her body, her spear coursing with spirit energy as she pointed its tip at Varyon. Glancing over to Roy, she said “Don’t get close or you’ll be dead before you finish a breath,” then she nudged the man back as if to protect him. Roy took a step forward in defiance and began channeling aura of his own. There was no way in hell he was staying out of this.
Roy could hear Remley’s taunts at his back as his companion led the drake towards the far end of the chamber, begrudgingly following Leila’s orders. That left Leila, Varyon and himself, along with a cloud of tension so thick you could taste it.
Varyon showed no emotion as he made a slow, measured approach towards the pair. His aura, no longer concealed, swirled around his body like a translucent blue globe. Oddly, he held no weapons and carried none on his person, but somehow Roy knew this man was by far the deadliest one in the cavern. Varyon paused, briefly meeting the gazes of Roy and Leila before uttering a single, powerful world. “Die.”
Roy tensed as the temporal adept launched himself in their direction, moving with precision as his boots danced across the icy stone. Leila and Roy leaped forward to meet his charge in a simultaneous motion, channeling aura of their own as they approached their foe. Leila reached Varyon a second before Roy, digging her heels in and jabbing her spear forward directly at the man’s chest. Her movements slowed as her weapon entered Varyon’s temporal field, but she’d had anticipated that. Digging in with her heels, she set her stance and unleashed a torrent of wind lances at point blank range.
Varyon didn’t slow, ducking a pair of wind lances and absorbing another two on the shoulder before delivering a swift, powerful kick to Leila’s midsection. The woman went skidding back across the ice, her face twisted in pain.
Roy was only a second behind, launching himself at Varyon as another dark spiral formed in his palm. He thrust his attack forward, aiming directly at the man’s scarred face. Perhaps if he struck him with a direct hit then he could do some serious damage.
Or perhaps not.
Even without the use of his temporal aura, Varyon was deadly fast. With a quick pivot, he dodged Roy’s technique before reaching in and snatching the police baton off Roy’s belt. His other hand slammed into Roy’s diaphragm, an open palm that forced the air out of the void adept’s lungs, dissipated his technique and quite possibly cracked a rib.
As Roy dropped to a knee, Varyon raised the baton over his head and took aim at his forehead. That bastard... he was going to kill Roy with his own weapon!
Suddenly, Leila returned as the strike came down, her spear barely intercepting Varyon’s blow as she thrust it forward, sparks spraying Roy across the face.
“Pes
t!” Varyon spat as he changed direction and backhanded Leila with the baton, staggering her and drawing a line of blood on her cheek. Roy swallowed his pain and lunged forward, using the brief distraction to slam his fist into Varyon’s chest. The assassin grunted, mostly unaffected by the strike then returned with one of his own. Drawing aura into the stolen baton, Varyon swung the weapon at Roy with the velocity of a speeding bullet.
Then Roy saw black.
****
Leila watched in horror as the Assassin slammed his stolen weapon into Roy’s torso, sending the adept’s body soaring through the air before it smashed through the block of ice at the room’s center. She could still feel his aura which meant the blow hadn’t killed him, but he likely wouldn’t be rising any time soon.
Leila turned her gaze back to the assassin, spear clutched impossibly tight in her hands. She recognized this man, this killer from the shadows. Rumors had surfaced recently among the other dungeoneering guilds, rumors of a guild operating from the shadows, hunting down adepts and leaving their bodies to rot on dungeon floors as they hoarded divine relics for themselves. Accompanied by each of these rumors was word of a man with a black spider tattoo on his body, the same tattoo that this Assassin wore on his forearm. This bastard was here to kill them and steal the relic... well, she’d be damned if she let that happen.
With a turn and a step, the Assassin was on her again, Roy’s stolen baton glowing in his hand. She fell into her feather dance technique almost instantly, leaping into the air as the man’s temporal field threatened to swallow her up. If she let herself get caught in his aura again then she’d be slower than an ash slug, and then dead shortly after that. No, if Leila wanted to survive then she needed to keep her distance... but then how could she win?
She pondered that question for the briefest of seconds, a question she had no answer for. Then her feet hit the ground and the Assassin charged.
****
Kimoura stood on the back of the rampaging ice drake, maintaining perfect balance as she channeled every bit of spirit energy she had into her fist. At her feet, dark spirit energy leaked out of the many cracks in the drake’s scaly back, a sign that she was close to breaking through.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Leila and Roy do battle with the Assassin. She wanted so badly to leap in and help them, her group’s fearless leader that she admired so dearly and this newcomer that had caught her eye. She could feel the struggle in their spirits as they fought against the fourth-ranked spiriteka. The chances of just the two of them overcoming someone of fourth rank was slim, even if Leila was approaching the peak of third rank. Each adept ranking was nearly twice as strong as the rank before it, and some of the more pivotal rank increases were greater than that. She was going to need the help of the other sky wolves, and soon.
“Quinn, over under!” Kimoura yelled, drawing a nod from the earth adept. A second later, the man slid beneath the ice drake, channeling his aura into the bone blade he held gripped in both hands. Kimoura poured all of her focus, all of her energy into her open palm, causing her wrappings to glow hot white. She envisioned the teachings of her former master Lu Zahn, the monk of the platinum lotus. She channeled his teachings, drawing the last bit of spirit energy into her hand then unleashed the strongest technique in her arsenal... the iron lotus.
Kimoura’s fist smashed through the drake’s icy scales, her spirit energy blasting a hole in the creature’s back as if a small meteor had struck the beast. This technique, the iron lotus, was the first milestone of her master’s teachings. It was a blow meant shatter barriers, to tear down defenses, and in this case blow giant holes through her enemies. It also left her body drained and her aura trembling due to the amount of spirit energy she had to use.
Just as Kimoura landed her iron lotus, Quinn unleashed a technique of his own. Reinforcing his arms with thick, spiky bone-plates, he forced his bone blade upwards, channeling spirit energy into the weapon’s tip. The weapon stabbed into the drake’s belly, and coupled with Kimoura’s assault from above, was enough to tear the darkbeast in two.
The creature let out a final pained roar as it collapsed onto the stone, its blood and innards spilling over Quinn like a river of gore. Kimoura leaped from the drake’s back and landed in a crouch on the icy stone, her body drained of its spirit energy. She was exhausted, and her body wanted more than anything to rest, to recharge. But she couldn’t, she refused. Leila needed her.
Running on little more than grit, Kimoura rose to her feet as the drake’s massive soul essence rose from its body and drifted into the air, a prize waiting to be claimed by the battle’s victor. Her eyes transfixed on the Assassin and she watched in horror as the man delivered a devastating blow to Roy then turned his attention to Leila. She thought to scream, to try and drag the man’s attention towards her. But before she could make a sound Remley dashed by her like a blur, flame aura dancing across his blade.
****
Remley dashed towards the assassin at a furious pace, launching a trio of fireballs at the man as he battered Leila with his stolen baton. The flaming orbs slowed as they entered the man’s temporal field, giving the assassin just enough time to dodge. The killer immediately turned his gaze to Remley and launched a web of pure spirit energy from his hand. Rem didn’t slow, slicing away the web with his blade as he entered the assassin’s temporal field, eyes blazing with fire aura. He knew getting close to this man was dangerous. The way this man’s skill set was built was a trap within itself... get too close and his aura would snare you. Stay back and he’d dodge your attack’s then snare you with his web. Either way, you’d be helpless against his assault.
Rem grimaced as he entered the temporal field and waves of energy crashed into his spirit, slowing his movements as if time itself had stopped. The assassin raised his weapon and took aim at Remley’s face... but Rem just grinned.
Before Varyon could land his blow, Remley revealed a fourth ball of fire spinning in his hand, flickering between his fingers like a drop of sunlight. Before the assassin could react, Remley sent a pulse of spirit energy into the fireball, causing it to explode and fill the temporal field with flames that grew too fast to be slowed.
Varyon growled in anger as he dismissed his temporal field and leaped away, barely avoiding the bite of Remley’s flames. As he landed, Leila launched a pair of wind lances at the man, slicing the assassin’s tunic and drawing a line of blood on his chest.
Before Varyon could right himself, Quinn leaped into the fray, firing an ivory spike from his forearm that found its mark in the assassin’s thigh. Remley couldn’t suppress his grin as he and his companions began to overwhelm their scarred attacker. Taking down a rank 4 adept was no small feat, especially with Kimoura completely drained and Roy seemingly out of commission.
Feeling a surge of confidence, Remley hoisted his blade into the air and launched his assault anew. If he could land a quick slash across the neck, then perhaps he could put the assassin down before he had a chance to regroup. Unfortunately, Remley never got that far.
Varyon, now surrounded by the Sky Wolves, let out a shout that almost sounded primordial in nature. A second later a temporal field exploded from his body, rippling across the stone so fast that it created a ring of icy dust.
A feeling of dread washed over Remley as the temporal field passed over him, bringing his nimble body to a sudden halt. He didn’t have a fireball hiding in his back pocket this time, or enough spirit energy to force his way out. No, he and his companions once on the cusp of victory, were now at the mercy of the assassin in black.
****
Intense pain shot through Roy’s body as he woke to something nudging at his side. Slowly his eyelids peeled open and he found himself lying in a bed of shattered ice, a glittering cloud of soul essence floating in the air above him. He ignored the nudging and rolled his head to the side, trying to get a grip on the spirit energy he could feel swelling around him. Some of it was from the fight that was playing out in the distance. His co
mpanions, the Sky Wolves were still doing battle with Varyon... and by the looks of it they weren’t doing well.
From what he could tell, Remley and the others were trapped in a bubble of translucent blue energy, barely able to move. Not only that, but the assassin looked to be heading straight towards Remley with his own baton in his hand. Dammit, he couldn’t let this happen to them... he couldn’t!
Roy placed his hand on the broken ice and tried to prop himself up, only to feel a wave of pain wash over his body. It felt like his very spirit itself was aching from the blow that damn assassin had dealt him.
“Damn you!” Roy growled in frustration, just as angry at himself as he was at Varyon. He hated this feeling of weakness... hated it! Another nudge at his side nearly set him over the edge and he turned his head and yelled “what?!”
A sudden feeling of remorse washed over Roy as he noticed that the nudging was coming from the cryofox pup that had made its way to his side. Its eyes were like tiny crystals staring up at him, urging him to rise to his feet.
Roy reached a hand out to touch the little ice beast, but the creature re-directed him, pressing his wrist to the side. It was then that he saw it... Lying next to Roy in the bed of broken ice was the relic that they had so desperately fought for, a sword exhuming an intense amount of spiritual energy. The blade was short and jagged and looked as though it had been carved from pure sapphire. The hilt was wrapped in some sort of leathery material that remained untarnished by the cold, and the end of the hilt sported a dragon’s head carved of white steel.
The cryofox nudged him forward again as if urging him to reach out and grab it. Roy opened his palm, felt the energy of the weapon pulling him in. He hesitated for the briefest of seconds, his hand hovering above the blade. Then he heard a cry of pain in the distance and promptly grabbed onto the sword.
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