Elemental Cloak!
The fight sparked without a word, and Ewan added defense to his side with the new etched spell, especially easing the disparity from the numbers for the three in the forest. And he took up the conductor’s position again, hovering over the ocean with the modified Rainwarden staff and his Blackfeather fluttering, as Kidd and his Astylinds became his vanguard.
Orange banged his head against the giant Water Bear, Frost held his own against the Fire Owl with a slew of ice spells, Kidd tied with the bearded musclehead of the brawler-type path in a rematch, while the albino man supported his men from the back like Ewan.
Bloodlust!
Ewan opened with one of his mainstay spells, and both Orange and Frost roared, rampaging on their targets. The albino man also cast his spell on his Astylinds that countered the berserk force of
Stigma: Negative!
Blood Stasis!
Ewan cast and targeted the Step-1 enemies, but the albino man cancelled his ailment-type spell with a boost spell that raised their condition. A hint of doubt rose in Ewan with the second perfect counter. The albino man was awfully prepared for his spells, as if he knew what spells Ewan could cast…
Firedust!
Ewan cast, the fiery dust stormed on the beach, yet the albino man neutralized it with a rain spell.
Fireflies!
Ewan lay the traps in the area, and even with their barely visible hue that soon faded away, the albino man had his side avoid them altogether. Not a single trap went off, and they expired as the loaded Anima ran out.
“Do I know you?” Ewan finally broke the silence when the man foiled all his spells.
“You don’t, but I do,” the man smirked. “Ewan Ayres, the elite of the elites, privileged beyond his peers. You took what was ours, so let me humble you today.”
The spells Ewan had cast so far were the spells he used before, in Drarith and for the pirates afterwards. The faultless reprisal to each of his attacks blended with what happened back in Fallsard—they cemented the possibility of information leakage. Someone went to the trouble of gathering his details and leaked them…
But he still had many spells that he never used to date. So, just to be on the safe side and confirm his conjecture, he cast one from that list, biting the ceramic-smooth Novas coin while his modified staff absorbed the needed Anima for its boost from the surroundings.
Stigma: Negative!
Frostweb!
He aimed and cast, and clusters of icy filaments floated down on the field, sticking, snarling, and glaciating anything it touched. The Fire Owl fluttered its wings in panic, its feathers frosting and cracking, and the Water Bear also howled as the biting web tangled its face, the wintry chill reaching for its eyes. The brawler pirate exploded away from the affected area though and escaped the control spell with only some strands of web persisting on his arms; albeit he wasn’t the central target.
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And the albino man finally frowned. His response came soon enough, however, and with a fiery burst of an area-of-effect spell that hurt his side, the icy web melted away—Orange, Frost, and Kidd had already backed off on Ewan’s command, so they avoided the fire.
“Outdated information can only get you so far,” Ewan said, and prepared another cast, though running low on Anima in most of his elements.
Stigma: Negative!
Bloodmoths!
And a swarm of moths made of corrosive blood fashioned before him and flocked towards the enemies, the combined flutter rippling the water and stirring the sand. The albino and the musclehead struggled against the onslaught, their Varos and their skin rotting on a moth’s touch, and his Astylinds too suffered under the buzzing swarm.
When they were down, Kidd, Frost, and Orange launched on them, unleashing a barrage that further shoved the enemies to their deaths.
Ewan flicked a vial’s cork off and gulped a potion for Anima recovery—Hunter’s Worth: Anima—with the bitter vanilla flavor, and his nigh dry rune guzzled the incoming Anima, soon glimmering with its appetite sated. And when his targets were on their last leg, Ewan aimed at the albino and cast the new spell he’d learned.
Redrust!
The air hummed around him when the spell circuit absorbed the Blood-Anima in his soul space, and a rotten breath birthed around the target. The albino grunted and flew back but the rot stayed with him, withering his already weakened Varos then burrowing in his body. His skin reddened then browned, and soon they corroded into a gooey mess, sliding down his body. He shrieked as his skin melted, his bones wilted, his blood curdled, and with a dying howl, he collapsed into a sludge, the pool of human goo bubbling with stenchy air.
“It’s a gift indeed,” Ewan commented on the potency of the spell. Though the onslaught had weakened the target already, the new spell proved its worth by felling a Step-1 in one cast. It was a gift indeed.
When the albino man departed, when Frost and Orange ripped his Astylinds apart, Ewan’s side outnumbered the musclehead. With Ewan’s support, his suggestive hints laced with Mystic-Anima hindering the man, and with his Astylinds adding in their bits, Walyn stabbed his throat with his spectral dagger and Kidd skewered his heart from the back. And the battle on the Step-1 side came to an end.
“Ewan!” Stefan’s yell came from the bracelet. “Lance needs help!”
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