Witherius
drifted to one side of the crumbling room, readying himself for his sparring match
with 303, which would allow him to test the soul magic he had been learning, as
well as gauge the power of his newfound ally.
“You
ready?” the entity queried, flourishing his staff through the air.
With
a simultaneous nod of the wither’s three heads, the match began. Witherius
immediately sent a volley of flaming skulls hurtling towards his adversary. A
spectral red scythe head suddenly materialized above the ruby at the top of
303’s staff. The entity deftly flicked his weapon through the air, slicing
through the incoming projectiles and causing them to burst with tiny
explosions.
The
wither’s center head stared at the robed figure on the other side of the room
as he attempted to magically lift him from the ground. 303 stood firm,
resisting the power of the telekinesis, but that had only been a distraction.
Left finished his brief chant and conjured an orb of fire, this time infusing
it with energy from the soul trapped in the gem 303 had given the wither a few
days ago. With the infusion of soul energy, the fire grew in power and turned a
shade of light blue.
The
fire burst forth, blasting towards the entity, but with an arcane cracking
sound, he was gone from its path, leaving it to scorch the deteriorating wall. Witherius
spun around, one of his heads quickly spotting his opponent. Several orbs of
bluish energy issued from the end of the entity’s staff, and each formed into a
minute and ghostly, winged, humanoid figure. The vexes, as they were called,
flitted through the air, striking at the wither with tiny swords.
The
small knives were little more than a nuisance to Witherius, only managing to
put minor scratches in his bones, injuries which he knew would rapidly heal.
Ignoring the vexes’ assault, the wither charged forward, attempting to slam
into his teacher. 303 leapt into the air, nimbly front-flipping over his
charging opponent. The entity turned to face the wither and held out his hand. The
dim light that normally played over his strange flesh momentarily brightened as
a missile of black flames shot from his palm. The dark fire slammed into
Witherius, washing over him without effect, but vaporizing the irritating
spirits that had still been flitting around his form.
“I
see… Your form cannot be harmed by fire or dark energy. That trait will
certainly serve you well,” the robed being contemplatively stated as he gazed
at his unscathed foe.
“Yes…
It will,” the wither responded as he levitated a large chunk of rocky debris
into the air and flung it at 303.
The
entity lazily struck the rock in half with his scythe-staff and stood in place
as the pieces flew past on either side of him, but he was caught off guard by a
wither skull to the stomach. The ensuing blast pushed 303 backwards and left a
small section of his robe covered in ash and burn marks. As the entity
recovered from the blow, he found himself lifted into the air and hurled into a
section of already-crumbling wall. The wither’s left head laughed gleefully as
303 crashed through the wall in a hail of debris and fell to the ground below.
Witherius
felt a sharp pain slice across his back and whirled around to see the entity
standing behind him. With a quick chant, the soul mage conjured a line of
toothy crocodile-like maws from the floor. The wither flew backwards as the
fangs approached, hastily chanting in an undertone. Moments before the attack
could reach its target, a wall of blue flames sprang into existence, destroying
the terrifying maws in a burst of energy and expending the last of the power
that Witherius would be able to harness from the relatively weak soul in that
gem for the time being.
The
two combatants stood in silence for a few moments, watching one another, before
303 began to speak. “I think that is enough sparring for now. I am truly
impressed by your abilities, and I have never seen anyone learn soul magic as
quickly as you have. I believe that you truly stand a good chance of toppling
the Great Builder Empire… However, there is something that you must do. That
spare soul I gave you is that of an elite, but rather unremarkable, soldier
from the builder armies. If you truly wish to become a master of soul magic, you
must capture a much more powerful soul to draw energy from,” the entity
explained. “Powerful souls cannot be stored in small, low-quality gems like the
one you have now, so I have found you a more suitable vessel.” With that, 303 reached
into the sleeve of his robe and drew out a large and finely-cut topaz, which he
presented to Witherius.
“Attach
this to your necklace, and when you inevitably face and defeat a high-ranking
and powerful member of the builder forces, use the ritual I have taught you and
bind their soul to this gem. With a powerful soul, your new magic will be far
more potent,” the elder soul mage finished.
The
Wither’s heads responded in unison, “Thank you. That will certainly be of use
to us.”
“Quith
will certainly send someone to track us down. We can trap the soul of whoever
comes for us.”
“That
was a fun battle. I look forward to working
with you to destroy the builders!”
Ì
The
scout sprinted up to the door in front of him and began to frantically pound
upon it. A few moments later, the door swung open to reveal Grand Seeker
Xamodas.
“Ah,
I see one of my scouts has returned. What news do you bring of Quith’s
monster?” Xamodas questioned.
“I
was trekking through the outskirts of Gildonia when I came across the crumbling
ruins of one of those bastions the piglins live in,” the seeker began, speaking
nervously and rapidly. “Normally, I would have just kept walking… but I heard
the sound of an explosion from within the structure and witnessed a brilliant
flash of light emanating from holes in the walls. As I continued to watch the building,
I witnessed several more such booms and flashes, and when they finally ceased,
I moved closer to investigate. From atop a nearby hill, I caught a glimpse of
the creature we are after through one of the holes in the structure. I also saw
another figure who appeared to be wearing a white robe,” the scout finished.
”Good…
very good. You have done well, and results like this will surely lead to your
rapid promotion. But for now, you must go and inform the other seekers of the
need for immediate mobilization,” the Grand Seeker cooly responded.
“Yes
sir!” the young seeker affirmed as he turned and sprinted off to complete his
new objective.
Ì
Entity
303 sat hunched over his desk, poring over his tomes of soul magic and
pondering what to teach Witherius next. His concentration was suddenly broken
by the clattering of bones and echoing of rapid footsteps as one of his wither
skeleton guards rushed into the room.
“Master!
A large group of enemies has arrived on horseback upon a nearby hill!” the
blackened skeleton urgently explained. “What are your orders?”
“Gather
the rest of the skeletons and ready yourself for battle. Witherius and I shall
handle the rest,” the entity casually commanded. 303 slowly stood from his
chair as the guard dashed out of the room.
Witherius
was hovering in the room in which he had sparred with 303 about a week ago. He
was practicing his ability to manipulate a sword with telekinesis when his
mentor abruptly teleported in front of him. “The people that you said would
come for you have arrived. I recommend you prepare yourself for a fight,” the
entity nonchalantly informed him.
‘We
have been expecting this. We are already prepared,” Center determinedly
responded.
“Finally!
I’ve been getting bored of waiting around.” “This is likely our chance to capture
a more powerful soul. We must find and destroy the enemy leader,” the other two
heads interjected.
The
Grand Seeker marched at the front of his forces, approaching the crumbling structure
on foot, and leaving his company’s horses atop a nearby hill. Under his breath,
Xamodas uttered a short prayer to Magnon, a god of conquest and battle.
Bolstered by the magic of his prayer, the Grand Seeker’s confident and
threatening voice boomed across the area as he spoke, “Discard your weaponry
and exit the building at once, or suffer the wrath of the seekers!”
Suddenly
Xamodas found himself plucked from the ground and lifted a few feet into the
air by an invisible force. The Grand Seeker looked frantically around, trying
to figure out what was going on. A moment later, he was flung backwards and
slammed hard against a giant mushroom before falling unceremoniously to the
ground. As the leader of the seekers lay stunned on the ground, his adversary lazily
drifted out through a large hole in the bastion’s upper floor.
“None
of you shall leave this place with your lives!” the wither’s three heads
proclaimed in unison.
“Ready
your weapons, seekers! No single monster can overcome our combined might!”
Xamodas shouted as he recovered from his momentary stupor and leapt to his feet,
drawing the bow from his back in the process. A few moments later, a figure
with white robes and glowing red eyes appeared from thin air in the center of
the seeker forces. With a brief chant, entity 303 conjured several vexes from
his staff, which immediately lunged through the air to jab at the nearest
seekers with their tiny knives.
As
the nearest few seekers began to draw their weapons to retaliate, 303 leapt
forward and began mercilessly carving through them with his scythe-staff. As
the entity continued his assault, the doors to his bastion swung open and
several armed and armored wither skeletons charged out to meet the invaders.
Xamodas watched in shock for a moment as his elite troops were being
slaughtered by 303’s scythe and the greatswords of his skeleton soldiers. The
Grand Seeker turned to face his target once again as he readied an arrow.
Witherius
twisted in the air, avoiding his foe’s projectile, and then charged forward. Xamodas
nimbly rolled out of the way as the wither smashed through the stalk of the
giant mushroom and sent it toppling to the ground. The seeker rapidly drew and
fired two more arrows, both of which struck his three-headed opponent, but the
missiles bounced off of the unnaturally durable bones, leaving only small
gashes.
One
of the wither’s heads swiveled to face the Grand Seeker and launched a flaming
skull. The fiery projectile slammed into Xamodas’ bow, flinging it from his
hands and knocking him to the ground in the resulting small explosion. The
prone commander rolled along the ground, narrowly avoiding another dark skull
as it careened past him.
The
Grand Seeker leapt to his feet and swiftly unsheathed his sword as he began
sprinting toward the wither. With a quick incantation, Witherius conjured a
blast of flame that shot towards the approaching attacker. Xamodas leapt to one
side, avoiding the flames and continuing his advance, dodging two more
blackened skulls in the process. The Grand Seeker lunged forth, slashing at his
foe twice in quick succession. Witherius drifted back, grinning, as he allowed
the strikes to pass in front of him. The inquisitor dropped to one knee, a
deadly missile passing inches over his head, and with his off-hand, he snatched
the dagger from his boot and sprang to his feet. Xamodas uttered an arcane
command word, activating his enchanted dagger to coat itself with deadly venom.
The leader of the seekers swiftly struck upwards with the weapon, slicing the
dagger across several of the wither’s ribs in a streak of dark energy as Xamodas
utilized his power to drain the energy of his foes.
“H…
how?” the Grand Seeker questioned, his normally confident tone replaced by one
of disbelief. The wither had been completely unfazed by both the poison and the
life-stealing energy; the dagger had simply left a long scratch up his ribs.
The awed combatant also noted that the damage dealt by his arrows had vanished
from the monster’s form.
“Poisons
have no effect on the dead, and it was the dark power of souls that brought us
to life. Did you really think necrotic energy would cause us harm?” Right
sneered as he launched a skull that glowed blue with the power of soul magic. The
projectile collided with a rapidly-conjured, invisible barrier and detonated in
an explosion of flames and thunderous force that pushed the wither back a few
feet and sent Xamodas sliding backwards a few yards
despite him digging in his heels.
The
Grand Seeker tossed his dagger in a precise arc, aiming for his adversary’s
center head. The dagger suddenly halted midair, a couple of feet from Center’s
face, as the wither caught it with his telekinetic power. Witherius hurled the
dagger away from himself, fatally striking a nearby seeker in the back of the
head. He then flew forwards with startling speed, striking Xamodas with a
mighty body slam, flinging him to the earth, and knocking the sword from his
grasp.
The
Grand Seeker lay on the ground, attempting to get up while wincing from the
pain of his newly broken rib. Center plucked his fallen foe from the ground
with his mind, bashed him against a towering mushroom, and held him in the air
with his back pressed against the tree-like fungus. As the enemy commander strained
against the telekinetic grip, Left lifted the Grand Seeker’s blade from the
ground, laughing maniacally as he plunged it into its owner’s chest.
“I’ve
wanted to try that move for a long time!” Left gleefully crowed.
“That…
is what happens to those who choose to be a scourge upon the land,” Center
proclaimed.
“Your
soul shall be a great help to us, so your life was not entirely worthless after
all,” Right chimed in.
“You…
truly are a monster… but even so… you will be no match for Ga…” Xamodas hissed,
his voice barely above a whisper and his words trailing off as he breathed his
last.
Entity
303 stood in the center of the battlefield, looking over the small field of seekers
that he had slaughtered. He turned his attention to Witherius as he witnessed
the death of the enemy commander. “I am truly impressed with the ease with
which you dispatched such a foe, but you will soon grow even stronger. To that
end, you must trap his soul in the topaz that I gave you,” 303 explained.
Witherius’
three heads began to chant in unison as they performed the several-minute-long
ritual to bind Xamodas’ soul to the gem. Meanwhile, the entity raised his staff
into the air and uttered a long string of arcane words as beams of soul energy
shot from his staff and reanimated the fallen seekers as a squad of wither skeletons.
Once the two soul mages were finished performing their magic, 303 spoke once
more. “I suggest that we continue your training a short while longer, and then
we set out to request the aid of King Zavlok.”
“Very
well,” the wither agreed.
No comments:
Post a Comment