Chapter 343: Needles
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Chapter 343: Needles
Tala once again felt like the world around her slowed, even as Soles last words were still fading from her ears, I dont think I like you.
It felt as if uncounted small things had rippled through the edge of her aura at once, prompting her to focus more minutely with her voidsight. That unique perception showed her the miniscule reality nodes of a flight of projectiles, all targeting her.
No, he wouldnt be that foolish. Even if hed made these indestructible, he wouldnt believe that theyd hurt me with what hes seen. Not if theyre just rock.
-That seems a bit arrogant, but Ill play along. So, what was the real attack?-
I mean really hurt me, Alat. Arguing isnt helping.
-Not dodging isnt helping either.-
A hair behind the forest of pinprick attacks, something passed through her aura, sliding down the cliff face.
Her eyes started to widen as she realized what it was, a wall of rock more than four feet thick, broader than her expanded bubble of aura within the cells.
How the rust did he even make something like that?
-Millennia of time and an ax to grind?-
Youre being oddly unhelpful, Alat.
There was no way that Tala could jump into the tunnel before the barrier was in place, and her unit was still retreating back into the passage.
-Do what you know you should, stop complaining. We have this.-
Master Clevnis was the last one in the retreat, and he was standing directly under the falling multi-ton stone slab.
She didnt have time for any further thought, even with her perception and mental enhancements making the world seem to crawl.
One of her defensive discs flicked backward, out of its sheath on her belt in the small of her back.
She kept the circle oriented broadside, even as she strained her aura to move it faster.
The flow of time returned to normal and three things happened so close together that it was hard to tell them apart.
First, her defensive disc slapped into Master Clevniss chest, bypassing his defenses because it wasnt explicitly an attack or from a hostile.
He was thrown backward with such force that Tala heard his ribs crack around the site of the impact.
Second, the stone slab hit the ground, the impact apparently sufficient to break the effect that made it undetectable. The sound it made was a mix of a cacophonous boom and crunching squelch, the first vastly overpowering the former.
Third, a cloud of stone needles slammed into Tala, most actually driving deeply enough through her protection to draw wells of blood.
While shed ensured that Flows distributive resilience was in place, it didnt stop the needle from pushing the iron aside at practically an atomic level.
Honestly, Tala couldnt imagine a defense that could have stopped such points penetrating through, and that was likely a large factor in the results.
Now visible, Tala was able to see that they were each an impossible shape, bulbous masses of stone with single protrusions that lengthened and thinned to the point that even her enhanced perception couldnt see the very tip.
Wow Thats a lot sharper than I expected. The thought came to mind unbidden, even as she grit her teeth against the pain.
-And a lot more than I expected Yeah, dodging wouldnt have helped.-
Before anything else, Tala heard a man's scream of agony from beyond the multi-ton stone slab, and she felt the tension in her back loosen in relief.
Master Clevnis was hurt but alive.
With the landing of the stoneand the blood that had splattered out from under itshe had been afraid that she hadnt been fast enough.
Mistress Vanga can see to him, now.
Sole was looking at her with narrowed eyes. You dont bleed red? And they say Im not human.
He paused, then cackled lightly.
No, no. That was me. I said that I wasnt human. He giggled a bit more.
Talas body was pulling back together, the internal pressure and flesh pushing in on itself driving out the needles in quick succession, causing the oddly shaped things to thunk to the ground like hail.
Well, having a companion for eternity isnt the worst outcome, but I suspect you could get us both free with enough time and motivation.
Tala shook her head. Pass.
She flicked a hand outward.
As she did so, an orb-pair seemed almost to float below her rising palm for the fraction of an instant it took for her to change the target of their gravity amplification.
There was a crack as the orbs shot forward.
They hit the edge of her aura and encountered Soles nullification of magic and its remnant effects.
Like before, there was a stark contrast between within her aura and outside of it.
In this case, the orbs, unaffected by magic, were a whole lot of air.
The concussive expansion blasted Sole backward, the man letting out a confused sound that came out somewhere between a yip of pain and a yelled curse.
That bought Tala a bit of time.
Good, I think Im starting to understand how his magic works.
She immediately turned her attention to the stone slab behind her, twisting around, planting her feet and slamming her fist into the rock.
The cavernous cell resounded like a struck drum, but the stone didnt move.
A cackling laugh came from near the far side of the space.
I didnt think I threw him that far. She shrugged. Good for me.
Thats a thousand tons of granite, worked with my power to be effectively invincible. You wont what are you doing? The last was more spoken than shouted, but Tala still heard it.
She grinned when he expressed his pride of accomplishment, and his exclamation likely came when he saw her magic sinking into the stone before her.
She reacted instantly, her smile only growing as her actions took effect.
Tala flared her aura to slam into him from three sides.
At the same time, she pulled her iron from the dimensions of magic in the shape of needles, mirroring a specific part of Flows magics into the magic-resistant weapons.
The needles shot forward at the outside edges of her aura even as she pushed that inward. She used each needle as a relay and amplifier of her aura as well.
The swarm slowed to a crawl less than an inch from his skin as he reacted, hands lifted as if guarding against a punch to the face.
You really are heavy for your advancement. Strain was evident in his posture and in his voice.
This was her gamble. She didnt actually expect to outweigh him, but she had better leverage in this position.
She was pushing straight inward, and he was having to defend from multiple directions at the same time.
More than that, reinforcing an aura against outside interference actively took power.
It wasnt a lot, but it was infinitely more than nothing, and he had a finite supply.
Her aura and her needles ground to a halt and started crawling backwards as he positively blazed with power.
His own aura was finally revealed in full, showing as the green of a true Honored, just as shed thought. Even so, it was still odd to her perception.
Arcane advancement had been explained to her as similar to setting benchmarks. Once one reached a certain level, it was much easier to return, but advancing further took high magical concentration, incredible dedication, or insane talent, usually all three.
Soles aura felt like it was barely sufficient to meet the benchmark of Honored.
Even so, his body and power wanted to remain at that level, and she could feel the zeme of the entire cell pulling inward as he drew in magic nearly as fast as he expended it.
Nearly.
Talas smile firmed as she threw Flow.
Flow got all the way to him, the blade extending out of her aura without the knife leaving her control fully.
The tip touched him in the center of the chest, stopping there by her power as much as his resistance.
In that instant, she saw incredulity on his features. After all, shed already tested this exact weapon against him when he wasnt trying to defend himself.
Flows dasgannach magics reached out toward the iron within the mans blood.
There wasnt much that it could affect. After all, the tip hadnt pierced Soles skin, so the magics barely brushed the smallest amount of his blood, nearest the surface.
Even so, dasgannachs were famous for having undisputable authority over their own element, and Flow had inherited the Paragons share of that in the merging.
Even so, this was a true Paragon level enemy.
Honored. She would not give him the honor of being called a Paragon.
Thus, Flow only claimed a pinpricks worth of iron.
-Nice.-
Soles heart beat, moving his blood through miles of arteries, veins, and capillaries.
All his blood moved, including that which Tala now had claim over.
She immediately knew that she couldnt rip it free from him. After all, that would violate his nullification on damage to himself.
But the iron was still hers.
Her aura was now inside the prisoner, forced to remain by his own magics when it would otherwise have been rejected and ejected.
Soles entire aura trembled, and Talas own pounced, lurching inward.
Dozens of iron needles contacted Sole as Talas aura briefly touched the mans skin, unable to breach his flesh.
It didnt matter.
Each needle claimed a pinpricks worth of iron.
Soles heart beat.
The prisoner screamed as his own auraby its very nature and, indeed, the nature of magic itselftried to reject and eject the foreign aura, the foreign matter, while his unbreakable nullification kept her iron in place.
Tala reformed the needles into a sheath of iron, coating Sole entirely, her aura pressing inward, but he was fighting back now with an animal ferocity.
Tala used the chance to clamp down on the hilt of the sword in his hand and jerk it away with a bit of iron.
Sole barely resisted, being so focused on their conflicting auras.
And just like that, the sword was hers.
Ill figure out what to do with it later. She had more pressing things, requiring her attention.
Sole was spending power at an insane rate, and at last, he couldnt continue to prop up his own advancement.
His aura began to visibly shift, sliding toward yellow.
Her cocoon of iron solidified more than half an inch from his skin but could draw no closer.
Despite completely encasing him and, indeed, having her aura within his very flesh, she couldnt overcome him.
But now, he was fully surrounded by iron.
He could no longer easily draw in power, and he was expending it to try to fight her back.
Her gamble had paid off.
Even so, she was coated in sweat and her mind felt like she had a dozen icepicks slowly sliding deeper with every passing moment.
This is going to be a long couple of hours
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 343: Needles
Tala once again felt like the world around her slowed, even as Soles last words were still fading from her ears, I dont think I like you.
It felt as if uncounted small things had rippled through the edge of her aura at once, prompting her to focus more minutely with her voidsight. That unique perception showed her the miniscule reality nodes of a flight of projectiles, all targeting her.
No, he wouldnt be that foolish. Even if hed made these indestructible, he wouldnt believe that theyd hurt me with what hes seen. Not if theyre just rock.
-That seems a bit arrogant, but Ill play along. So, what was the real attack?-
I mean really hurt me, Alat. Arguing isnt helping.
-Not dodging isnt helping either.-
A hair behind the forest of pinprick attacks, something passed through her aura, sliding down the cliff face.
Her eyes started to widen as she realized what it was, a wall of rock more than four feet thick, broader than her expanded bubble of aura within the cells.
How the rust did he even make something like that?
-Millennia of time and an ax to grind?-
Youre being oddly unhelpful, Alat.
There was no way that Tala could jump into the tunnel before the barrier was in place, and her unit was still retreating back into the passage.
-Do what you know you should, stop complaining. We have this.-
Master Clevnis was the last one in the retreat, and he was standing directly under the falling multi-ton stone slab.
She didnt have time for any further thought, even with her perception and mental enhancements making the world seem to crawl.
One of her defensive discs flicked backward, out of its sheath on her belt in the small of her back.
She kept the circle oriented broadside, even as she strained her aura to move it faster.
The flow of time returned to normal and three things happened so close together that it was hard to tell them apart.
First, her defensive disc slapped into Master Clevniss chest, bypassing his defenses because it wasnt explicitly an attack or from a hostile.
He was thrown backward with such force that Tala heard his ribs crack around the site of the impact.
Second, the stone slab hit the ground, the impact apparently sufficient to break the effect that made it undetectable. The sound it made was a mix of a cacophonous boom and crunching squelch, the first vastly overpowering the former.
Third, a cloud of stone needles slammed into Tala, most actually driving deeply enough through her protection to draw wells of blood.
While shed ensured that Flows distributive resilience was in place, it didnt stop the needle from pushing the iron aside at practically an atomic level.
Honestly, Tala couldnt imagine a defense that could have stopped such points penetrating through, and that was likely a large factor in the results.
Now visible, Tala was able to see that they were each an impossible shape, bulbous masses of stone with single protrusions that lengthened and thinned to the point that even her enhanced perception couldnt see the very tip.
Wow Thats a lot sharper than I expected. The thought came to mind unbidden, even as she grit her teeth against the pain.
-And a lot more than I expected Yeah, dodging wouldnt have helped.-
Before anything else, Tala heard a man's scream of agony from beyond the multi-ton stone slab, and she felt the tension in her back loosen in relief.
Master Clevnis was hurt but alive.
With the landing of the stoneand the blood that had splattered out from under itshe had been afraid that she hadnt been fast enough.
Mistress Vanga can see to him, now.
Sole was looking at her with narrowed eyes. You dont bleed red? And they say Im not human.
He paused, then cackled lightly.
No, no. That was me. I said that I wasnt human. He giggled a bit more.
Talas body was pulling back together, the internal pressure and flesh pushing in on itself driving out the needles in quick succession, causing the oddly shaped things to thunk to the ground like hail.
Well, having a companion for eternity isnt the worst outcome, but I suspect you could get us both free with enough time and motivation.
Tala shook her head. Pass.
She flicked a hand outward.
As she did so, an orb-pair seemed almost to float below her rising palm for the fraction of an instant it took for her to change the target of their gravity amplification.
There was a crack as the orbs shot forward.
They hit the edge of her aura and encountered Soles nullification of magic and its remnant effects.
Like before, there was a stark contrast between within her aura and outside of it.
In this case, the orbs, unaffected by magic, were a whole lot of air.
The concussive expansion blasted Sole backward, the man letting out a confused sound that came out somewhere between a yip of pain and a yelled curse.
That bought Tala a bit of time.
Good, I think Im starting to understand how his magic works.
She immediately turned her attention to the stone slab behind her, twisting around, planting her feet and slamming her fist into the rock.
The cavernous cell resounded like a struck drum, but the stone didnt move.
A cackling laugh came from near the far side of the space.
I didnt think I threw him that far. She shrugged. Good for me.
Thats a thousand tons of granite, worked with my power to be effectively invincible. You wont what are you doing? The last was more spoken than shouted, but Tala still heard it.
She grinned when he expressed his pride of accomplishment, and his exclamation likely came when he saw her magic sinking into the stone before her.
She reacted instantly, her smile only growing as her actions took effect.
Tala flared her aura to slam into him from three sides.
At the same time, she pulled her iron from the dimensions of magic in the shape of needles, mirroring a specific part of Flows magics into the magic-resistant weapons.
The needles shot forward at the outside edges of her aura even as she pushed that inward. She used each needle as a relay and amplifier of her aura as well.
The swarm slowed to a crawl less than an inch from his skin as he reacted, hands lifted as if guarding against a punch to the face.
You really are heavy for your advancement. Strain was evident in his posture and in his voice.
This was her gamble. She didnt actually expect to outweigh him, but she had better leverage in this position.
She was pushing straight inward, and he was having to defend from multiple directions at the same time.
More than that, reinforcing an aura against outside interference actively took power.
It wasnt a lot, but it was infinitely more than nothing, and he had a finite supply.
Her aura and her needles ground to a halt and started crawling backwards as he positively blazed with power.
His own aura was finally revealed in full, showing as the green of a true Honored, just as shed thought. Even so, it was still odd to her perception.
Arcane advancement had been explained to her as similar to setting benchmarks. Once one reached a certain level, it was much easier to return, but advancing further took high magical concentration, incredible dedication, or insane talent, usually all three.
Soles aura felt like it was barely sufficient to meet the benchmark of Honored.
Even so, his body and power wanted to remain at that level, and she could feel the zeme of the entire cell pulling inward as he drew in magic nearly as fast as he expended it.
Nearly.
Talas smile firmed as she threw Flow.
Flow got all the way to him, the blade extending out of her aura without the knife leaving her control fully.
The tip touched him in the center of the chest, stopping there by her power as much as his resistance.
In that instant, she saw incredulity on his features. After all, shed already tested this exact weapon against him when he wasnt trying to defend himself.
Flows dasgannach magics reached out toward the iron within the mans blood.
There wasnt much that it could affect. After all, the tip hadnt pierced Soles skin, so the magics barely brushed the smallest amount of his blood, nearest the surface.
Even so, dasgannachs were famous for having undisputable authority over their own element, and Flow had inherited the Paragons share of that in the merging.
Even so, this was a true Paragon level enemy.
Honored. She would not give him the honor of being called a Paragon.
Thus, Flow only claimed a pinpricks worth of iron.
-Nice.-
Soles heart beat, moving his blood through miles of arteries, veins, and capillaries.
All his blood moved, including that which Tala now had claim over.
She immediately knew that she couldnt rip it free from him. After all, that would violate his nullification on damage to himself.
But the iron was still hers.
Her aura was now inside the prisoner, forced to remain by his own magics when it would otherwise have been rejected and ejected.
Soles entire aura trembled, and Talas own pounced, lurching inward.
Dozens of iron needles contacted Sole as Talas aura briefly touched the mans skin, unable to breach his flesh.
It didnt matter.
Each needle claimed a pinpricks worth of iron.
Soles heart beat.
The prisoner screamed as his own auraby its very nature and, indeed, the nature of magic itselftried to reject and eject the foreign aura, the foreign matter, while his unbreakable nullification kept her iron in place.
Tala reformed the needles into a sheath of iron, coating Sole entirely, her aura pressing inward, but he was fighting back now with an animal ferocity.
Tala used the chance to clamp down on the hilt of the sword in his hand and jerk it away with a bit of iron.
Sole barely resisted, being so focused on their conflicting auras.
And just like that, the sword was hers.
Ill figure out what to do with it later. She had more pressing things, requiring her attention.
Sole was spending power at an insane rate, and at last, he couldnt continue to prop up his own advancement.
His aura began to visibly shift, sliding toward yellow.
Her cocoon of iron solidified more than half an inch from his skin but could draw no closer.
Despite completely encasing him and, indeed, having her aura within his very flesh, she couldnt overcome him.
But now, he was fully surrounded by iron.
He could no longer easily draw in power, and he was expending it to try to fight her back.
Her gamble had paid off.
Even so, she was coated in sweat and her mind felt like she had a dozen icepicks slowly sliding deeper with every passing moment.
This is going to be a long couple of hours
Chapter 343: NeedlesTala once again felt like the world around her slowed, even as Soles last words were still fading from her ears, I dont think I like you.It felt as if uncounted small things had rippled through the edge of her aura at once, prompting her to focus more minutely with her voidsight. That unique perception showed her the miniscule reality nodes of a flight of projectiles, all targeting her.No, he wouldnt be that foolish. Even if hed made these indestructible, he wouldnt believe that theyd hurt me with what hes seen. Not if theyre just rock.-That seems a bit arrogant, but Ill play along. So, what was the real attack?-I mean really hurt me, Alat. Arguing isnt helping.-Not dodging isnt helping either.-A hair behind the forest of pinprick attacks, something passed through her aura, sliding down the cliff face.Her eyes started to widen as she realized what it was, a wall of rock more than four feet thick, broader than her expanded bubble of aura within the cells.How the rust did he even make something like that?-Millennia of time and an ax to grind?-Youre being oddly unhelpful, Alat.There was no way that Tala could jump into the tunnel before the barrier was in place, and her unit was still retreating back into the passage.-Do what you know you should, stop complaining. We have this.-Master Clevnis was the last one in the retreat, and he was standing directly under the falling multi-ton stone slab.She didnt have time for any further thought, even with her perception and mental enhancements making the world seem to crawl.One of her defensive discs flicked backward, out of its sheath on her belt in the small of her back.She kept the circle oriented broadside, even as she strained her aura to move it faster.The flow of time returned to normal and three things happened so close together that it was hard to tell them apart.First, her defensive disc slapped into Master Clevniss chest, bypassing his defenses because it wasnt explicitly an attack or from a hostile.He was thrown backward with such force that Tala heard his ribs crack around the site of the impact.Second, the stone slab hit the ground, the impact apparently sufficient to break the effect that made it undetectable. The sound it made was a mix of a cacophonous boom and crunching squelch, the first vastly overpowering the former.Third, a cloud of stone needles slammed into Tala, most actually driving deeply enough through her protection to draw wells of blood.While shed ensured that Flows distributive resilience was in place, it didnt stop the needle from pushing the iron aside at practically an atomic level.Honestly, Tala couldnt imagine a defense that could have stopped such points penetrating through, and that was likely a large factor in the results.Now visible, Tala was able to see that they were each an impossible shape, bulbous masses of stone with single protrusions that lengthened and thinned to the point that even her enhanced perception couldnt see the very tip.Wow Thats a lot sharper than I expected. The thought came to mind unbidden, even as she grit her teeth against the pain.-And a lot more than I expected Yeah, dodging wouldnt have helped.-Before anything else, Tala heard a man's scream of agony from beyond the multi-ton stone slab, and she felt the tension in her back loosen in relief.Master Clevnis was hurt but alive.With the landing of the stoneand the blood that had splattered out from under itshe had been afraid that she hadnt been fast enough.Mistress Vanga can see to him, now.Sole was looking at her with narrowed eyes. You dont bleed red? And they say Im not human.He paused, then cackled lightly.No, no. That was me. I said that I wasnt human. He giggled a bit more.Talas body was pulling back together, the internal pressure and flesh pushing in on itself driving out the needles in quick succession, causing the oddly shaped things to thunk to the ground like hail.Well, having a companion for eternity isnt the worst outcome, but I suspect you could get us both free with enough time and motivation.Tala shook her head. Pass.She flicked a hand outward.As she did so, an orb-pair seemed almost to float below her rising palm for the fraction of an instant it took for her to change the target of their gravity amplification.There was a crack as the orbs shot forward.They hit the edge of her aura and encountered Soles nullification of magic and its remnant effects.Like before, there was a stark contrast between within her aura and outside of it.In this case, the orbs, unaffected by magic, were a whole lot of air.The concussive expansion blasted Sole backward, the man letting out a confused sound that came out somewhere between a yip of pain and a yelled curse.That bought Tala a bit of time.Good, I think Im starting to understand how his magic works.She immediately turned her attention to the stone slab behind her, twisting around, planting her feet and slamming her fist into the rock.The cavernous cell resounded like a struck drum, but the stone didnt move.A cackling laugh came from near the far side of the space.I didnt think I threw him that far. She shrugged. Good for me.Thats a thousand tons of granite, worked with my power to be effectively invincible. You wont what are you doing? The last was more spoken than shouted, but Tala still heard it.She grinned when he expressed his pride of accomplishment, and his exclamation likely came when he saw her magic sinking into the stone before her.She reacted instantly, her smile only growing as her actions took effect.Tala flared her aura to slam into him from three sides.At the same time, she pulled her iron from the dimensions of magic in the shape of needles, mirroring a specific part of Flows magics into the magic-resistant weapons.The needles shot forward at the outside edges of her aura even as she pushed that inward. She used each needle as a relay and amplifier of her aura as well.The swarm slowed to a crawl less than an inch from his skin as he reacted, hands lifted as if guarding against a punch to the face.You really are heavy for your advancement. Strain was evident in his posture and in his voice.This was her gamble. She didnt actually expect to outweigh him, but she had better leverage in this position.She was pushing straight inward, and he was having to defend from multiple directions at the same time.More than that, reinforcing an aura against outside interference actively took power.It wasnt a lot, but it was infinitely more than nothing, and he had a finite supply.Her aura and her needles ground to a halt and started crawling backwards as he positively blazed with power.His own aura was finally revealed in full, showing as the green of a true Honored, just as shed thought. Even so, it was still odd to her perception.Arcane advancement had been explained to her as similar to setting benchmarks. Once one reached a certain level, it was much easier to return, but advancing further took high magical concentration, incredible dedication, or insane talent, usually all three.Soles aura felt like it was barely sufficient to meet the benchmark of Honored.Even so, his body and power wanted to remain at that level, and she could feel the zeme of the entire cell pulling inward as he drew in magic nearly as fast as he expended it.Nearly.Talas smile firmed as she threw Flow.Flow got all the way to him, the blade extending out of her aura without the knife leaving her control fully.The tip touched him in the center of the chest, stopping there by her power as much as his resistance.In that instant, she saw incredulity on his features. After all, shed already tested this exact weapon against him when he wasnt trying to defend himself.Flows dasgannach magics reached out toward the iron within the mans blood.There wasnt much that it could affect. After all, the tip hadnt pierced Soles skin, so the magics barely brushed the smallest amount of his blood, nearest the surface.Even so, dasgannachs were famous for having undisputable authority over their own element, and Flow had inherited the Paragons share of that in the merging.Even so, this was a true Paragon level enemy.Honored. She would not give him the honor of being called a Paragon.Thus, Flow only claimed a pinpricks worth of iron.-Nice.-Soles heart beat, moving his blood through miles of arteries, veins, and capillaries.All his blood moved, including that which Tala now had claim over.She immediately knew that she couldnt rip it free from him. After all, that would violate his nullification on damage to himself.But the iron was still hers.Her aura was now inside the prisoner, forced to remain by his own magics when it would otherwise have been rejected and ejected.Soles entire aura trembled, and Talas own pounced, lurching inward.Dozens of iron needles contacted Sole as Talas aura briefly touched the mans skin, unable to breach his flesh.It didnt matter.Each needle claimed a pinpricks worth of iron.Soles heart beat.The prisoner screamed as his own auraby its very nature and, indeed, the nature of magic itselftried to reject and eject the foreign aura, the foreign matter, while his unbreakable nullification kept her iron in place.Tala reformed the needles into a sheath of iron, coating Sole entirely, her aura pressing inward, but he was fighting back now with an animal ferocity.Tala used the chance to clamp down on the hilt of the sword in his hand and jerk it away with a bit of iron.Sole barely resisted, being so focused on their conflicting auras.And just like that, the sword was hers.Ill figure out what to do with it later. She had more pressing things, requiring her attention.Sole was spending power at an insane rate, and at last, he couldnt continue to prop up his own advancement.His aura began to visibly shift, sliding toward yellow.Her cocoon of iron solidified more than half an inch from his skin but could draw no closer.Despite completely encasing him and, indeed, having her aura within his very flesh, she couldnt overcome him.But now, he was fully surrounded by iron.He could no longer easily draw in power, and he was expending it to try to fight her back.Her gamble had paid off.Even so, she was coated in sweat and her mind felt like she had a dozen icepicks slowly sliding deeper with every passing moment.This is going to be a long couple of hours
