**Ding! You have challenged a Guardian: Glacial Sovereign!**
**Ding! Good Luck.**
The very mountain seemed to cry out as the spirit before them rose to its full height — more than double Kaius' own. Squat and powerful, with fur of snow and muscle of ice, the spirit'ss maw opened. Blue fangs bared towards them. It roared, a gust of frost sweeping across the arena and tossing aside mounded snow with its force.
Kaius pulled to the side, sprinting in to approach from the flank. Porkchop took centre stage, draped in plates of heavy jade as he let loose a roar of his own — a Challenge that yanked at the Guardian's attention, forcing its gaze towards him. The Glacial Sovereign leapt forwards, head lowered, antlers poised.
Porkchop's jade armour was strong and stout, and stamina roiled as he activated Breaker of Men. The ground rippled beneath his feet, crystal shards erupting around every one of his thundering foot falls.
Keeping the pace of his advance, Kaius felt his general skills go to work. The icy plateau was slippery, but Explorer's Toolkit shifted the environment subtly — giving him the traction he needed. He saw mana flare within the Guardian, woven artfully into its horns.
They sprouted with a dozen icicles. Uncaring of the danger, Porkchop slammed into the spirit. It was an earth-shattering clash of titans — stone cracking beneath their feet as a wave of jade spikes erupted to rip at the underbelly of the Guardian. Its antlers slammed into Porkchop's breastplate. Most shattered, but when the spirit reared back, some were stained red.
Kaius moved in, A Father's Gift raised high overhead in an offensive high guard. A lunging step brought him to the creature's side, its heaving belly a wall of ice.
He cut.
Reborn in the waters of a living world, his sword was almost alien compared to its previous form. It slammed down, its glassy edge biting deep and shearing through ice that screamed and cracked. There was no blood — not even a facsimile of meltwater — and the wound sealed soon after as the Guardian snapped its head towards him.
Even with its guard wide open, there were no weaknesses he could sense.
He was having none of that.
Lurching to the side, with a burst of speed empowered by Tempered by Dissonance, Kaius pulled on the runes on his temples. Reaching out with Compel Obsession, he wrapped the spirit's alien mind in bindings of fascination and want.
A focus that he pushed onto Porkchop— right as his brother smashed it in the jaw, his arm wrapped in the jagged shards of his Jade Crash skill.
Blood stained the cracked armour on Porkchop's front — the faintest dribbles the only evidence of their previous clash. His strong body healed quickly. Kaius refused to be outdone.
He reached for his Runeblade Hymnfocus, channelling a Nail as he did so. Biting teeth appeared on his sword, whirring back and forth with a demon's squeal.
Slipping around the spirit's wild snapping kicks, he began to hack — carving away at living ice again and again. ItsIt's retaliation was unfocused — so driven was it on goring his brother. Porkchop held strong, keeping it at bay with smashing hits of his Shardwall as much as he could.
Far back the way he'd come, Kaius caught sight of Kenva blurring across the ground. Her bow was in hand, but no arrow was drawn. Each bound of her Vinestride sent her hurtling around the edge of the arena to approach their target from behind.
Soon after, he felt a solar warmth settle on him as Sundrenched Strength fuelled his muscles, letting him bite further and further into the body of the beast. The Glacial Sovereign seemed uncaring, unflinching in the face of the wounds.
He wasn't even sure if it felt pain.
It smashed Porkchop to the side, forcing him to stagger with a heavy blow. White and blue mana pulsed within it. Kaius tensed, ready for anything.
Two spires of ice shot out of the ground, their tips needle-like as they curved inwards to spear for Porkchop's back.
Energy flared within his brother — The Stone That Weathered Time turning his armour into adamant. Icee shattered. A heartbeat later, Porkchop burst out of his immobility — his jaws wide. The Warden's Maw flanked his jaw with dagger-like fangs. They punched deep, shattering what should have been its throat.
What chunks of ice fell knitted back into place a moment later, sealing whole once more.
Kaius clenched his teeth, tracking Kenva's progress.
They needed to know where that core was; until they found it, it would be difficult to bring the Guardian down — not with how legendary spirits were for their mana reserves.
Even this close to the beast, the ice within it was opaque, visible only in the rare moments he cut through its snowy hide. He had no chance of spotting its core, and Explorer's Toolkit gave him no hint either.
The best he could do was to keep the pressure on and give Kenva the opportunity she needed.
Once again, the mana within the Guardian pulsed, and he readied himself to dodge. It was another skill, a new one this time. Snow rose from the ground in great clouds, crystallising faster than he could blink.
A storm of needles surrounded it a moment later..
Kaius cursed, leaping backward. Violent shards exploded in a wave.
Yet his Maelstrom was there, the wind ripping around his body with the power of his mana, a storm that scattered and shattered the projectiles into a glittering mist.
It still taxed his defence. Even disparate and area-focused, the ability had worn away nearly half of the energy contained in his Maelstrom. Another like that and he'd have to burn one more of his limited charges.
He burst back in with a Shunt. The thundercrack startled the beast, breaking the combined compulsion of his Compel Obsession and his brother's challenge. It spun, seeing him approach. Lashing out with a paw, its claws lengthened into scimitars of honed blue.
From a low guard, Kaius snapped his blade up, forcing dual streams of stamina into his Bladerite and Mercurial Reversal. Heavy and strong, his sword moved fast enough that the wind whistled around it. The runes on its fuller burned bright in the clear crystal as its edge bit into the spirit's claws. Skill-empowered, he sapped power from the strike, levering against the blow and directing it down.
Razer sharp ice missed his chest by a finger's width. Pulled offside, the Guardian was left open. Kaius twisted through his hips, sliding into a riposte. The thrust burned with stolen power, punching deep through the ice and into its chest.
Yet for as grievous as the wound looked, it was ultimately as superficial as a razor cut.
The alien form of the Glacial Sovereign was but a shell — its true being out of reach.
Kaius ducked under a snapping bite that left frost spreading across his scales. His brother roared once more, charging forward to slam into the creature's side — Intercede the Weak placing him in front of the Guardian's attack.
It staggered, only to howl a moment later.
Waves of alpine wind roared over the mountain in a condensed gust, shoving Porkchop back a step.
Kaius found himself unaffected — his own Maelstrom flagging as it tore at the power of the ability.
He had moments — any ice he could break was more of the spirit's mana wasted.
From his limited stores of free energy, Kaius fed Mystic's Rend. Arcane force screamed as it surrounded his blade in a crackling edge. In the same moment, he unleashed a salvo of Hateful Nails, each metal spike driving deep into the spirit's body. They unfurled, forcibly cracking its side open.
The Guardian swiveled to him, power gleaming in its fangs as it snapped.
Refreshing his Slip Step, Kaius felt the world warping as he ducked down. Sliding under the bite, he drove his blade straight into the monster's throat. His Rend collapsed to a point, detonating and throwing out a shower of icy shards. Caustic energy lingered, burning in the wound.
He cut again, quickly, before the beast could rally.
Twice more he struck, the lingering force of his Rend blowing chunks out of its neck.
For all its mana surged to the site of the injury, its recovery was slow. His affliction sapped at its control — an interaction he didn't quite understand but was all the more glad for.
Still, it wasn't any weaker. Even with great gouges taken out of its throat, the beast fought on unhindered, not needing mortal muscle to support the great weight of its head.