Deep in the forest, Xaryus' battle had already ensued. Several dreadful blows were exchanged and avoided.
Now, all its combatants stood apart.
Three figures surrounded Xaryus, behind him was an older woman with amber hair and a hood over her head. Her face was stern and filled with rage as she nocked another arrow; whilst she did, she consumed her animus and engulfed the arrow in a spectral green flame.
To Xaryus' front were two men, one noticeably stronger than the other. The weaker of the two was a medium built man with a nervous expression and a simple spear aspect in hand.
"The spearman simply has a speed enhancement ability, but the other one is a bit more troublesome." Xaryus thought as he shifted his attention to the other man.
He was medium built, but his presence demanded more attention, his body clad in muscles and his fist adorned with metal gauntlet aspects; The man also wore an expression of anger and disgust.
Said awakened fighter had displayed two abilities; he was capable of not only enhancing his physical defences but the amount of power he could generate.
"That's no matter, they're all going to die here today." Xaryus thought for a moment before he spoke, "Why the sour face, you're the ones who attacked us?" Xaryus asked.
"Is that really a question?" The fighter cursed, his gaze focused to the ground below Xaryus.
There, laid a young man with a similar hood, his bow and arrow on the ground near his limp hand.
The archer's light armour - similar to the older woman's - was compromised by a searing, light covered sword plunged into his chest.
The man groaned in pain, wishing for his anguish to end but it never did.
"Enough of this!" The old woman screamed out as she drew her flaming arrow.
Before she could release it, everyone exploded with movement.
Xaryus and the other two awakened rushed towards each other just before the woman's arrow was released.
Without looking back Xaryus shifted his head, allowing the arrow to whiz past and towards the gauntlet wielding awakened.
Not batting an eye, the man crushed the arrow with his fist and brought the other towards Xaryus who was already lunging at him like a mad man.
In a few seconds, they exchange several heavy blows, each one strong enough to debilitate or cripple the other.
Then, parrying the man's fist to the side, Xaryus kicked him away to create some space before brandishing his sword, cutting another arrow in half.
In the next motion, he muttered [Solaris] under his breath, retracting the searing light from his sword and summoning a swath of energy in his palm; Launching it towards the archer
The woman dove out of the way, rolling over her shoulder and landing on one knee. Following up, she released three arrows in quick succession; each of them clad in the spectral flame.
Whilst Xaryus parried and dodged the three arrows, it gave the last of the three assailants an opportunity to strike.
Lunging with his spear, its tip only felt the warm steel of Xaryus' aspect.
Trying to overpower him, the man pressed all his weight onto Xaryus' sword.
At that moment, the man's inexperience was plain as day.
His footing was unstable.
Shifting his weight, Xaryus let the man's spear slide past him.
Before the spearman could recognize his fate, Xaryus swiftly cut his head from his shoulders, his eyes filled with a dark glee.
"What kind of knight are you!" The woman screamed out as she launched another arrow.
Ignoring her emotional qualms, Xaryus halfheartedly swatted the arrow away, unknowingly creating an opening for the hand-to-hand fighter.
In a short moment he had established another connection with law and closed the gap between him and Xaryus.
Xaryus' eyes went wide with shock as he moved his arms to cover his side, "He had a third ability to enhance his speed?"
The blow knocked Xaryus into the air and made him slide across the ground before he came to halt. His arm reeled in pain, but he was not going to show any weakness to his enemies.
Then…
"Xaryus, get back to the carriage! We're Leaving!" Zadius' voice rang out.
There was a brief moment of silence.
Then, Xaryus turned his heel and dashed away.
Gritting her teeth the older woman nocked another arrow; this time the spectral green flame flared violently before growing a dark orange.
Her bowstring began to sizzle ever so slightly before she released the burning arrow.
It was sure to lodge itself in the back of Xaryus' head, if he wasn't weaving in and out of the tree line. Instead, the arrow boomed as it eviscerated the midsection of two trees before finally getting stuck in the third.
"Shit, chase after him!" The woman shouted.
Xaryus quickly made his way back onto the road, immediately making eye contact with Zadius; now standing on top of the carriage.
Zadius waited a beat before raising his index finger into the air and swirling it into a circle.
"A switch huh?" Xaryus thought, glancing over to Zadius' side of the forest.
There, he felt two connections with law being formed. Running a few metres into the sparse tree line he could see two hooded figures.
[Solaris]
Extending his arm outwards, Xaryus released a searing beam of light into the canopy before darting towards his new opponents.
As he careened towards the hooded figures, his two pursuers stepped into the road.
Not even paying any attention to the carriage or Zadius, the gauntlet wielding awakened rushed towards Xaryus and the older woman nocked another arrow; burning in a dark orange spectral flame.
The man gritted his teeth and drew animus into all three of his abilities, enhancing his defence, strength and speed.
He leapt towards Xaryus with both his arms overhead, but Xaryus did not turn to block or defend.
Instead, he shared the man a brief glance and flashed a small smirk.
A cold chill ran up his spine and his eyes darted towards the carriage.
There, Zadius had already assumed a low stance and drew a large mass of shadows from his [Shade Armour] and used his [Herald of Shadows] to will the shadows around one of his daggers.
In a sudden movement he swung the dagger through the air, releasing an arc of roiling shadows towards the man.
"I can block it." The gauntlet wielding man thought, ignoring the chills running through his body.
Skillfully, he cancelled the ability increasing his strength and sent more animus into his defensive ability.
Using the boon of speed, he guarded himself, crossing his armoured arms.
His defenses were formidable, yet the arc of shadows sliced through his aspect, his defensive enhancements and his arms; colliding with his chest and throwing him back onto the road.
The woman grew anxious as she saw her ally brutalized by a single ability. Worse yet, she knew that the projectile itself wasn't an ability.
"A manipulation type ability, crap!?" The woman cursed under her breath.
***
Manipulation type abilities oftentimes required little to no connections with Law, making them very difficult to detect.
***
"That one is much more dangerous!" Finalizing her thoughts, the archer shifted her aim towards Zadius.
Not giving her a chance to release the burning arrow, Zadius released another arc of shadows.
Nocking her bow and dismissing the flame, she dodged out the way. The sound of the attack destroying a swath of ground near her filled her ears before she redrew another arrow; summoning the same orange flame with it.
Her focus honed in on the top of the carriage but Zadius was no longer there.
Around two metres away from her in a northwestern direction, Zadius had already covered both his daggers in roiling shadows and began to approach her quickly.
He intended to kill her at that moment.
The archer had no intention of dying and neither did Zadius. She tensed her hardened muscles and pointed her bow down towards Zadius as fast as possible.
They both had the same thought.
"I'm faster."