Oath of the Survivor

Garth dove to his right to avoid the blast – the heat from its passing searing his left arm.  Moments later he felt the heat and rush of air from the blast that detonated behind him, confirming that the projectile had either struck something or run out of its effective range.  Given the height of the explosion from the air, he expected it was the former.  There was no doubt as to what would have happened if it hit him squarely, and he turned to face his attacker. 

His eyes were locked onto Carlyle who matched his gaze, his normal smiling expression twisted into a sneer as he drew in mana for another FIREBALL.   The members of their group had devolved into a full panic, running to get clear of the impromptu battlefield.  Unfortunately, nowhere was particularly safe when massive surges of mana were concerned.  Dozens of questions ran through Garth’s head – why would Carlyle do this?  Why cover up tracks in the ash?  Are there others out here? 

He forced his attention back to the matter at hand, this time dodging the incoming projectile cleanly.  As the adrenaline coursed through him he took a deep breath and forced his breathing under control.  His years of training kicked in, and while he had never fought a variant creature capable of shooting fireballs, he had learned some principles that he could rely on.  The sneer on Carlyle’s face started to fade as he dodged the next two blasts, cutting the distance between them in half.  

The last one he’d dodged was accompanied shortly after by a scream of pain, and Garth winced to hear it.  Somebody had gotten caught in the blast, and there’s no way an unawakened would survive something like this.  He growled as he forced the mana through his arms and into his sword, eyes fixed on the bastard who betrayed them.  A quick twist of his hips, a downward stroke of his sword, and a razor-sharp AIR BLADE shot towards Carlyle, the lower edge cutting a trough through the ash and cement with blinding speed. 

That should have settled it, but somehow – defying reason – the scrawny man sidestepped it.  As the wave of weakness passed through his arms, Garth refocused on Carlyle.  It was barely perceptible, but there was a faint shimmer in the air around him.  A boosting skill?  Has to be.  No way a mage has the Dexterity to dodge a strike like that.  Garth cursed himself for not considering that Carlyle might have been Level 20 or beyond, and cursed himself again for overplaying his hand.  Even with the exhaustion he was more than capable of pushing forward, and could probably use AIR BLADE once or twice more before he was spent, but he’d showed his hand. 

Fortunately for him, Carlyle didn’t have the wealth of battle experience that Garth did.  The expression on his face showed genuine fear – dodging AIR BLADE was a closer thing than he’d expected, and this was likely his first major brush with death.  Garth could use that.  Taking a more defensive stance, Garth called out to him. 

“What the hell is wrong with you?  I never figured you liked me, but really?  You’re killing people because your feelings got hurt?  It’s the end of the twice-damned world, and you’re really such a selfish little brat that you’re pushing the issue right now?”  Garth was hoping to play on the emotions, get an outburst of anger or regret and try to take the opportunity to strike.  Shocking him again, Carlyle’s face again returned to that sneer. 

“I never cared one way another about you, your woman, or the old loser.  Now that we’re out here alone I saw a chance to be done with you and I took it.  Get off your high horse, you’re nothing special to me.  I won’t remember you once you’re a pile of ash.”  With that, he channeled another FIREBALL and hurled it at Garth. 

The cold feeling came crawling back – ironic given the situation.  As disgusted as he was thinking that Carlyle was enacting some juvenile revenge, it was another thing altogether to see the dispassionate cold from his eyes.  As the orb approached, Garth decided to make a riskier play.  He activated his first Warrior skill, UNSHAKEN RESOLVE.  He’d become familiar with the amount of mana in an individual fireball, and while he wouldn’t get out unscathed, he was confident that the amount of mana he was moving was still enough to shrug off the bulk of the blow.  Channeling mana into his sword, he could deflect even more. 

The orb struck his infused blade and exploded, and he grit his teeth against the pain.   Carlyle hadn’t expected him to stand and take the hit, and made a crucial error: he overestimated his own destructive potential.  Rule number one when dealing with a dangerous creature was that there was no such thing as overkill.  Garth dashed out from the blast, covered in ash and embers but largely unharmed.  

He closed to within sword range, unleashing a flurry of slashes, each with the intent to kill.  Garth’s earlier observation was confirmed – the kid was using some sort of fire-affinity boosting skill, and an absurdly powerful one at that.  Despite being a mage, he was able to keep pace with Garth’s attacks and actually outspeed him with his footwork, slowly gaining enough distance to disengage and launch another FIREBALL from his left hand. 

Garth activated UNSHAKEN RESOLVE, piercing the flaming orb with his blade, and braced for the following explosion.  The cost of Carlyle’s boosting skill began to become more evident to Garth as his vision cleared, seeing his opponent absolutely drenched in sweat.  Small cracks had appeared in his skin, almost looking like he’d been trapped in a desert with no water.  This skill didn’t come without cost, and it was unlikely the kid would be able to keep it up much longer. 

On the other side, Garth’s mana was starting to get stretched thin too.  A couple more hits from a FIREBALL and he’d be in dire straits.  Just the thought that he could actually lose to this traitorous bastard got his blood boiling, and he came to a decision.  He made a break towards Carlyle’s right, getting closer to the Guard Array, which had been maintaining a maximum range defensive dome through the conflict.  Carlyle clearly didn’t expect the move, having launched another blast in what would have been the direct path, then launched another towards the grizzled Warrior as he shifted course. 

“Drop barrier!”  Garth called out, the Guard Array’s soft hum silencing as it stopped projecting the mana. 

“Project!”  This second command started the array projecting the same barrier again, but as it began to emit from the drone it was struck by the FIREBALL, destroying the barrier and damaging the drone.  Taking advantage of the situation, Garth leaped over the smoking drone and continued in a straight dash for his enemy, already feeding mana into his arms.  Carlyle might have evaded this skill at range, but now he had the traitor’s measure.  There’d be no dodging this time.

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