"RRAAAAHH!" Acolytes shouted as they thrust toward Felix's tumbling form, a hedge of spears all gunning for his guts. Felix tucked his body tight and fired off Reign of Vellus.
Like a goddamn cannon going off, the Acolytes directly in front of him were smashed into red paste by the force of the Skill. Yet the reciprocating force launched Felix in the opposite direction. Back through the fire, again. The only difference was that this time he was ready for it.
Ravenous Tithe!
The fire burned him for only a moment as he came into contact with the Mana, claimed it, and let it flow once more into his throat. Scalding his insides for good measure as the Mana tore through his channels.
Evie ducked as Felix flew by again, swearing, but lashed out with her chain. "Bindings of the White Waste! Scorpion's Tail!"
Felix rolled to a stop some thirty feet back, and though he reclaimed his feet easily it was annoying. Now he had to get back there. Except when he looked, he saw Evie making short work of the spear-wielding Acolytes arrayed against her. Purple-white ice Mana filled the tunnel, binding half of the combatants while the rest contended with the unpredictable length of her spiked chain.
The Acolytes were defending a split in the cavern. To the left was a well lit path that angled downward, while to the right the shaft had been overrun by rubble. Clearly that was where the miners had sealed themselves in. But the rubble was shifted and sparks of light kept erupted from a gap in the stones.
Angry shouts and pained screams emanated from that gap.
Felix flared his Unfettered Volition, blasting past Evie and releasing a spread out version of Reign of Vellus. Strands of lightning burst outward in an arc, pushing back at the Acolytes as Felix's own momentum carried him forward. They were hurled back, some falling to the ground while others were steamrolled.
"Don't worry about it! I got this!" Evie snarked at his back.
Then he was through the rubble. Within it was far darker; someone had extinguished the torches here. Felix pulsed his Manasight enough to pick out three dozen figures struggling in the darkness; all of them seemed to have glowing green eyes. A common vision Skill called Night Eye. Everyone was converged on one spot, where a single man in white armor and a red cloak fought them all to a standstill.
The old man.
Without warning, the Initiate's long sword burst aflame, and nearly every single miner recoiled in pain.
They were the first to die.
Like a whirlwind, the old Initiate tore through his opponents. The flame on his sword sketched dazzling shapes in the near dark of the tunnel, brilliant feints and last second parries. Pickaxes and hammers were turned aside, easy as breathing, only the Initiate intense stare and streaming mustaches indicating he was putting in any effort at all.
What level is his sword mastery? Not even Harn moved with such deadly grace. Yet the thought didn't panic Felix, it merely made him curious. Let's find out!
Unfettered Volition!
Influence of the Wisp!
Stone Shaping!
Rushing forward as blue-white fire limned him, Felix bore down on the old man. Similar flames flickered around the Initiate as well, long enough that Felix felt the vestiges of furious satisfaction tingle at the edges of his Mind. At the same time, he dual cast Stone Shaping as a precaution, yanking the section of stone beneath the Initiate's feet up in an effort to foul up his balance. Frozen in place, the shaping merely toppled the man to the side, where he would have hit the earth had Felix not been there to land an unarmed slash on him.
His talons struck sparks off the Initiate's immaculate armor, similar to the last one he'd fought. But before the old man could hit the ground, he'd somehow escaped from the enthralling effect of Influence of the Wisp and swept his leg out. Pivoting seamlessly, the talented Initiate turned his fall into a spinning lunge, and brought his newly flaming sword to bear against Felix.
It all happened too fast to stop his second blow; Felix had already committed. So when the sword came across his right arm, it sheared off one of his bone spikes and dug a bloody furrow in his dark scales. Felix twisted, too late, and was met with a simple palm strike at the center of his chest.
It hit him with all the force of a jackhammer.
Felix was thrown bodily back into the rubble half-clogging the tunnel. Rock exploded outward, tumbling down to pummel him as his body was partially lodged in the wall.
Status Condition: Forged Calm
Duration: 1 Second
The icon of a winding river flickered and disappeared, the effect of Thangle's spell gone at last, and Felix felt a sudden and terrifying welling of emotions. Horror, fear, rage, and hate burst fully formed into his chest, and coupled with the adrenaline and battle lust that had begun to dominate Felix's Mind, not even Pit's calming ministrations from within his Spirit were enough.
Arm bloodied, spine probably bruised, Felix didn't think or plan. He rushed back in.
It wasn't the smartest thing he had done recently.
The old man wove through Felix's furious assault, impossible to hit while simultaneously landing his own slashes against Felix's thighs and shoulders and hip. The burning brand left clean, bloody wounds where it struck, and though nothing was worse than glancing, it infuriated Felix. The flood of emotion overwhelmed him as he unleashed his power on the Initiate before him.
Influence of the Wisp!
Arrow of Perdition!
Reign of Vellus!
Blue-white fire flickered to life again, but this time the Initiate resisted the enthralling status condition and instead pressed the attack. The flaming sword hit Felix with the flat of the blade, knocking the conjured Arrow of Perdition out of his hand and rendering it into wasted Mana vapor as it vanished. The blast of kinetic lightning, however, connected.
The old man caught it on his sword and, with a twist, sent the spell hurtling into the ceiling.
What the fuck?
"Impressive abilities, for one so young," the greybeard said as he reset himself. "But you will find that age provides it's own Temper. Now, come."
He described an elegant figure eight with his burning blade.
"Again."