Shadow of the Abyss

From the ground, the stone golem began to take form, gaining two pairs of wings as large as twenty feet, draconic scales so precisely transfigured they seemed nearly real, alongside a long, clunky tail. A terrifying roar of a dragon tore at the skies as the stone golem took off.

"Shit!" Altair cursed, piecing through a storm cloud. He whirled mid-air, his heart hammering so hard against his chest it ached, and watched the hundred-ton golem chase after him.

He had been unsure how he was still conscious, much less alive. His bones had continued to be shattered and repaired by his constitution, while the blood that had once been easy to spill was becoming harder to spill. The world was slowing, revealing particles of light and air.

The Mana that had left his body so long ago was beginning to be pulled in at an accelerated rate by the Circle of Gluttony. It was refined a few breaths later and deposited into his twin circles, rending him with a sensation of fullness.

It wasn\'t enough.

As his body reached its zenith, Altair, for the first time, bore a smile, feeling the winds wrenched against his skin. Insight seemed to flicker through his crimson eyes, sparkling as he plummeted downwards towards the dragon.

Arcs of infernal lightning seemed to tread over his body like the winds. It grew and grew and grew blazing until around the prince, a dragon of Infernal Lighting presented itself.

[DING]

[Infernal Lightning Proficiency has increased by 1%]

[Infernal Lightning Proficiency has increased by 1%]

[Infernal Lightning Proficiency has increased by 1%]

[Infernal Lightning Proficiency has increased by 1%]

[Infernal Lightning Proficiency has increased by 1%]

Like a great beam of scarlet light falling from the heavens, Altair tore through the stone golem, piercing downwards like a demon toward Iliana. So fast he became the barrier of sound shattered, as Altair grew faster and faster until he matched the natural speed of lightning itself.

Their blades clashed.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Dust clouds roared, connecting to the clouds swallowing the wreckage of Vesim.

"Isn\'t this fun!" Ilana roared, directing ninety percent of the force towards Yarwin. She watched as the shockwave that should have been directed towards Altair was pulled into his sword by his mysterious aspect and laughed as the strength of his weapon only seemed to rise.

Rage and joy began to intertwine within the prince\'s mind. He was unsure how, but he was laughing. And he was also so angry he wanted something to break… something to destroy.

Clashes between master and disciple quickly took off, twisting into helix-shaped lines all across the city. Shockwaves within shockwaves ignited into lightning bolts, flailing back and forth.

Vesim, which was nearly three hundred miles long in diameter, was wiped away. Being filled with craters the size of mountains. Magma was gushing from out of the ground, instantly turning to stone as Iliana began wielding the elements: From Earth Dragons to Wind, Ice, Fire, Light, Dark, and Lightning Dragons. She used them all.

Lost in a pandemonium of chaos, Altair couldn\'t stop. His lungs were burning, his eyes were bloodshot, and his meridians were continuously being mended and destroyed. Yet he didn\'t stop moving his legs. Unable to stop himself from abusing the King Domain to gain footing mid-air.

With the Spirit Domain, the circulation of Mana through his body was getting more precise, allowing him to reinforce his body to new heights. Every sense was deepening, from his primal instincts to his ability to perceive his master\'s actions. It was all deepening.

Gods that had been watched were struck with awe as the battle was getting more and more intense. Iliana hadn\'t been using more strength but rather elemental manipulation, but even so, Altair was adapting. Each time he moved his sword, it bore a different feel.

Within her palace upon Olympus, Athena watched, so shaken. She gasped as he began to weave through the \'rain\' of never-ending ice spears. When He advanced on Iliana with a breath-taking speed…. When he suddenly keened right over, skipping over the ground, he landed before her feet.

Iliana looked a little taken aback as she squatted down. A bright glow was apparent in her eyes. "You did good, Art. Once a week, kay? Once a week, we\'ll have battles like these. It\'s time to push you to the absolute limit that your soul can handle.

You\'ve seen the first bridge. Next time, I won\'t go as easy. Let\'s see if you can last ten seconds." she grinned almost childishly beneath her mask, poking at his cheek. "Good luck adapting to your new life. It\'s gonna be kind of fun watching you murder and torture like a depraved demon."

Rising, she lifted her palm to the skies, allowing a strange mist to shroud the chaos around them. The spacial began to shrink, pushing their bodies through space without the need for movement. They appeared a second later in the garrison bay. When Iliana chanted a basic restoration spell, healing some of the more major wounds and meridians before leaving him to sleep.

It had taken nearly three hours for a young man to find Altair. A fourth circle that went by the name of Halvic. He\'d spotted him hours ago, and when his disappearance was made known, he knew where to go.

"... is he dead?" he asked almost incredulously.

Soaked from head to toe in blood that pooled around him. Halvic inched closer, entering through the door and closing it without a sound.

"Sorry, kid. But the hit on your head is still high," Halvic said. He pulled a hunting knife from out of his belt and lifted the boy\'s head with his palm, shaken by how wet it was. He ignored the sensation of blood pooling along the webs of his fingers, pressed the blade to his neck, and slid the blade from ear to ear without a moment\'s hesitation. .net

The cut had been smooth, but Halvic frowned when he saw no blood was spilled. "What the?"

He tried again, enforcing the blade with mana this time.

Again, the results were the same.

Halvic stood in disbelief, flipping the boy over to face him, and stabbed his sword down over his skull.

With a dull ringing of steel against steel, slivers of fresh blood raced down the Prince\'s forehead.

"You\'ve got to be shitting me?" He swore as the hunting knife when flying across the room.

\'How high does one constatation need to be to do so? Isn\'t he only a second Circle?\' Halvic told himself, dragging himself off the boy. He cursed, trying to think of another way.

Then, without warning, the hunting knife began to release a golden light. Golden runes lined its silver edge in the form of an old, dead language glittering a bright light that faded moments later.

He gulped, inching towards the dagger. He reached for it, sensing the ancient aura around the blade. An ecstatic sensation coiled down the blade edge, reaching up into the arm, traveling to the mind. He stilled, shaken by its gentle whisper.

\'Kill\'

The command voice was so sweet, so enticing. It echoed like the whispered moans of a lover.

Halvic seemed to relax, lifting the blade to look at it beside the touch.

"Kill." Like a pulse jolting through the mind, the voice echoed again. But still, he did not seem to notice as he appraised the dagger.

"Kill…"

"Kill…

"Kill… Him"

A lifeless hue slowly swept the blacks of Halvic\'s eyes, eating at the depths of awareness that seemed to fade from the mind, leaving behind only one thing: The Command.

\'Kill Him\'

Halvic lunged, plunging the dagger toward the prince\'s skull. Blood splashed over his face as the bones of Altair\'s fingers caught the blade edge inches from his eye. A dull ache stirred the unconscious mind, clouded by fatigue that came not from the body but the mind. Instinctual words echoed from his lips as he whispered.

"Shadow"

***

Covered in a mist of sweat in front of her cauldron, Reina tilted her head at Syris. "You\'re looking for Art?"

Syris nodded. "Hmmm. Apparently, everyone is."

"Why?"

"They\'re gathering people up for the sacrifice. And they figured Altair should be a part of it."

Reina thought for a second. It hadn\'t been like Altair to go missing, she knew. "I\'ll go in his place. You go find him. I\'m sure one of his Pale Knights knows." she stood up, glancing around the king\'s room with a bit of hesitation. "Yeah… I\'ll go.

You hurry after him. I\'m sure he hasn\'t gotten himself in trouble in such a short amount of time, right?"