The Uninvited Guest

"Altan, wai—" Kaelan tried to say, but Altan's spear aimed directly at him. "Wait!" Kaelan ripped the Shield from his back, bracing himself for the attack. "Astraea!"

The world narrowed to the space between Altan and Kaelan. Kaelan's shield snapped up, the heavy Kite Shield bracing against his forearm, its broad surface angled desperately.

Altan's spear was a silver blur aimed directly at Kaelan's center mass.

Then Altan flowed. He didn't just twist; his body seemed to liquefy in mid-air.

The spear became a feint, discarded like a stray thought. His hands slapped the ground, and his legs, coiled springs of impossible power, lashed upwards under the shield.

One boot heel connected squarely under Kaelan's chin with a sickening crunch of stressed metal and bone.

Kaelan's shield, perfectly positioned for a spear thrust, was utterly useless against the brutal rising kick.

He lifted off the ground, suspended for a horrifying instant, before crashing down several paces away, skidding through loose scree.

"That's one," Altan murmured, landing lightly on the balls of his feet, a predator assessing wounded prey.

His grin was cold, devoid of warmth. He straightened slowly, gaze sweeping the stunned group. "You're next. Put up a fight by ganging up on me. Alright."

"Altan, what is this?!" Elara's voice was raw with disbelief.

"I'm just having fu—" His words cut off as pure, focused light erupted from Astraea's staff. A searing beam lanced towards his chest.

Altan didn't dodge. He contorted. His spine seemed to bend in impossible places, limbs snapping into positions no human joint allowed, flowing around the beam like water parting around a stone.

He moved with a disturbing, multi-limbed fluidity – not running, but slithering across the ground faster than the eye could track.

"He's moving like an Argashis; they have multiple limbs," Leonardo muttered, watching Altan's unpredictable movements; creatures found in the caves where he was from.

He closed the distance to Astraea in a single, unnerving lunge. A lightning-fast back-kick snapped out, the heel catching Astraea squarely on the jaw. Her head snapped back violently, veil tearing as she spun through the air, landing in a heap, staff clattering away.

"You're all weak?" Altan sneered, retrieving his spear with a casual flick of his foot. "Even a raugdran is stronger than you."

Kaelan surged upwards, fury radiating off him in palpable waves. Blue energy coalesced around his left arm, swirling and solidifying into a second, radiant shield superimposed over his physical one.

He roared, a sound of pure defiance. "Sit down Altan!"

He hurled the glowing shield. It wasn't thrown; it was projected, a discus of pure force screaming through the air, tearing a visible wake in the dust.

Altan's eyes widened, a flicker of genuine surprise. He didn't try to block.

He dropped, flattening himself against the ground with boneless speed.

"That would have hit if not for my—no, it wouldn't have," Altan said slowly.

The shield passed mere inches above him, embedding itself deep into the rocky earth with a thunderous boom, the blue energy dissipating like shattered glass.

"You," Altan pointed his spear tip at Leonardo, who stood frozen, hand on an empty scabbard. "That one's down. You seem to be Anna's guide. Draw your sword."

[Adaptive Evolution]

Leonardo's vision tunneled. The cold dread he'd felt before death, the primal fear, surged through him. Sweat beaded on his forehead. "It's—it's empty," he stammered, staring at the figure radiating lethal intent. 

Overestimated myself.

"Huhhh?" Altan dragged the syllable, tilting his head with mocking curiosity.

Hit him. Hit him, Leonardo. You could get a strike in, at least one. Leonardo muttered swearing, sweat beading around his body. No skill, just raw survival instinct spilling out uselessly.

Leonardo threw a punch—slow, telegraphed. Altan didn't even flinch. He watched it come, eyes steady, then calmly lifted a single finger.

With a quick flick, he deflected the punch.

Pain exploded up Leonardo's arm. It wasn't sharp, but deep—like something inside had been twisted wrong. His muscles seized, nerves flared, and for a moment, he couldn't breathe. It felt less like an injury and more like his body rejecting itself. 

His soul burning.

Altan took a step closer, his focus entirely on Leonardo and the useless scabbard. His long white hair fell forward as he leaned in slightly, peering at the empty sheath. "It really is empty. Why even carry this thi—"

Kaelan was a blur of blue light and tattered sweater. He materialized beside Altan, ignoring the distance that had separated them moments before.

His fist, encased in shimmering blue energy, slammed into Altan's side with a meaty thud, precisely where a kidney would be.

Altan grunted, more from surprise than pain. He turned his head slowly, looking down at Kaelan with an unnerving calm. "How did you reach here so fast?"

Another punch hammered into Altan's ribs. Blue energy crackled violently around Kaelan's fist with each strike – brilliant but wasteful. He was burning Rasvian like cheap kindling. It failed to elicit more than a slight tightening around his eyes.

It was a statement: the prey could bite back. Kaelan moved with sudden, unnatural fluidity himself, his blows carrying a deceptive weight far beyond their speed.

The effects came into Leonardo's field of view as he lay on the grassland, unable to breath.

.[Kinetic Efficiency (Minimal)] [Impact Distribution (Minimal)] [Adrenaline Surge Control (Minimal)]—no more bonuses into this area.

How badly was he about to get beat? he could have died.

Kaelan seemed to flow with fury and desperation. His physical resilience was startling – blows that should have shattered bone seemed absorbed, distributed.

"Anna?! Astraea!" Kaelan's desperate call cut through the clash.

"Pause." Anna's voice held unnatural command, cutting through the chaos.

Anna's jaw tightened visibly; sustaining even this crude skill. She stepped forward, eyes blazing. "Everyone, move."

Astraea staggered to her feet, one hand clutching her jaw, the other raised.

Light, raw and furious, began coalescing around her outstretched fingers, humming with barely contained power, making the air crackle.

Altan's gaze snapped back to Leonardo.

Even with Anna's command echoing, a single finger rose to his lips. "Shushhh." The whispered sound seemed to freeze Leonardo's blood, the cold sweat turning icy.

"Oh, this?" Altan's smirk returned, wider now, as he felt the invisible pressure Anna exerted.

He staggered theatrically, swaying on his feet, but didn't buckle. His grin was pure challenge. "The air seems... heavy. Haven't fully warmed up yet."

"Burst!" Astraea screamed. A torrent of blinding white energy, thick as a tree trunk, erupted from her staff, consuming the space between her and Altan in an instant.

Though it cost her dearly, the beam itself was terrifyingly precise – a focused column of light with minimal energy bleed.

The heat washed over the others, forcing them back. The light wasn't just bright; it carried palpable force, like a physical wave crashing forward.

Astraea was seen puking a large gash of blood as she fell to the ground.

Altan stood his ground. He crossed his arms before him, muscles bunching.

The light hit him like a tidal wave. Stone vaporized at his feet, the ground shattering and melting in a widening circle around him.

His boots sank inches into the liquefying rock. He strained, tendons standing out on his neck, a low growl escaping him as the energy tried to scour him from existence.

His armor caught faint traces of heat marks. Yet, he held. He pushed back. Slowly, agonizingly, he began forcing his way forward against the beam, step by grinding step, his silhouette a dark shape within the inferno.

"Ouch," his voice carried through the roar, strained but mocking. "That isn't stopping me, you know?"

He surged. Not away, but through the dying edge of the beam. The ground where he stood was a smoking crater of molten stone.

His fists, clenched and radiating intense heat, seemed to darken, the air shimmering around them with condensed power.

Elara, seeing him target Kaelan again, thrust her hands out. Emerald light flashed, not one barrier, but a dozen interlocking hexagonal planes of shimmering force materializing in a fractal wall between Altan and Kaelan.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

Altan's fists became pistons. Each blow shattered a barrier like cheap glass.

Emerald shards dissolved into static before hitting the ground.

Elara paled, stumbling back – each shattered hexagon costing her dearly. Her breath came in ragged gasps as the final barrier exploded...

Altan's knuckles, radiating intense heat, grazed her cheekbone – a touch that seared skin and drew a sharp cry.

Then, silver energy – raw, concussive force – detonated point-blank from her palm, catching Altan fully in the chest as he leaned in for the follow-through.

The blast threw him backwards, his head snapping sideways with brutal force. He skidded across the ground, kicking up dust.

He came to a stop. Slowly, he raised his head. And laughed. A harsh, grating sound.

Not even a scratch.

"Enough!" Kaelan's roar shook the air, spitting blood as he held his chest. His shield wasn't just glowing; it was blazing crimson fire.

I'm exhausted. If this fight goes any further, i will die.

He charged, a juggernaut fueled by Wrath and Exhilaration. The shield led, aimed like a battering ram at Altan's center.

Altan met it. Not with evasion this time. He braced, his forearm snapping up horizontally.

Kaelan's shield now crimson instead of the usual blue met Altan's densified flesh and bone with a sound like mountains colliding – a deafening SCREECH of tortured metal and energy.

The shockwave blasted outwards, buckling the stone floor in a spiderweb of cracks radiating from their feet. Dust and debris exploded upwards in a choking cloud.

Leonardo flinched, shielding his eyes. His empty scabbard slapped uselessly against his leg.

Through the haze, he saw only smears of motion, primarily from Altan: the blazing crimson of Kaelan's shield against the white blur of Altan's armor.

The ground trembled with each impact.

Marble shattered. Stonework groaned. It wasn't a duel. It was demolition.

Altan fought with terrifying economy, each movement a lethal counter, a brutal strike, a bone-jarring block. Kaelan fought with desperate, shield-shattering power.

And Altan took it all, grinning and laughing through the impacts.