Even Footing
Moments after Adam and Shikra left the building, everyone was left staring at the lone dungeon master.
"Uh… Get him!" [Brandon]
Raik, the dungeon master, was put on full alert hearing that. However, all Brandon and Sora did was run to Felix's side.
"You got this Felix!" [Brandon]
"What?! Me?!" [Felix]
"You have a soul weapon! We don't! Don't worry, we'll protect Katherine." [Brandon]
As he spoke, Sora took out a first aid kit and began prepping their ally's wounds.
"Ow! Don't touch me there! It stings!" [Katherine]
"Just bear with it. I need to remove any bacteria before wrapping." [Sora]
"Can I help?" [Alex]
Alex came close only for Katherine to wave him off.
"Bugger off." [Katherine]
"Okay, damn. Rude much…" [Alex]
Confused by what was happening, Raik turned his attention to Felix.
"You're friends are cowards that hide behind you. Why protect them?" [Raik]
Felix smirked.
"What would a monster like you know?" [Felix]
Raik let out a dissatisfied grunt.
"Yes. What would I know?" [Raik]
Without a moment's notice, Raik raised an arm and released a burning beam of energy.
"Dianoia!" [Felix]
"I can take it." [Dianoia]
Using his trusted staff, Felix absorbed the energy through it. With the split second decisions, Felix's allies and Raik were left speechless.
"Hah…! I-I though we were done for." [Brandon]
Raik's brows furrowed as he assessed the situation.
"...You can absorb energy?" [Raik]
Felix spun his staff theatrically and placed it on his shoulder.
"It doesn't take a genius to figure that out." [Felix]
"Hmph." [Raik]
Suddenly, the human before him seemed to be a dangerous individual.
("Using energy is useless against him. Perhaps poison and physical damage will suffice.") [Raik]
His body began to change, increasing muscle on the legs and changing the arms to bone-like blades. There was then a liquid green coating that oozed out from his body, putting everyone on guard.
"Ew! What the hell did he just do?!" [Brandon]
"Some kind of physical reinforcement?" [Sora]
"It doesn't matter, just kill it!" [Katherine]
As she was being tended to her wounds, Katherine pulled out a pistol from her side holster and fired. Unfortunately, the mana-made bullets bounced off the dungeon master's skin.
"Adorable." [Raik]
He placed great power into his legs, allowing an instantaneous movement towards Felix.
"Defend!" [Dianoia]
Though Felix is quick, he was not quick enough. He managed to raise his staff fast enough to block Raik's blade-arm, but he was still grazed on his side.
"Urgh!" [Felix]
A burning sensation built up near his ribs.
"You've been poisoned!" [Dianoia]
("I think I noticed!") [Felix]
Felix put in assumptions on the symptoms he'd get and calculated how much time he'd have to defeat the dungeon master before collapse. To his surprise, he didn't have to do either of that. The burning sensation faded and there were no after-effects.
"Huh?" [Felix]
Though he was unsure of why the pain vanished, Felix took it as an opportunity to push Raik back. With a twirl of his staff, Felix hardened the space around his fist and gave him a hard punch to the nose.
"Ack!" [Raik]
The dungeon master stumbled back confused.
"What?!" [Raik]
He could feel his nose bend in a strange way, which was of no concern to him since it fixed itself immediately.
"You can regenerate?" [Felix]
Raik did not answer his question.
"Impossible! I poisoned you! You should be in agony right now! How can you move?!" [Raik]
Felix wagged a finger side to side.
"Trade secret." [Felix]
Even though Felix himself didn't know what happened, telling his opponent the truth would be silly.
("I'm going to make the educated guess that you did something, Dianoia?") [Felix]
"That would be correct. I used some of your mana to remove the poison and heal you. Don't take too much damage because I can't do this forever." [Dianoia]
("I figured.") [Felix]
The fight against the guardian before had already shown such potential. It wasn't shocking to think Dianoia had such capabilities.
("I don't know the extent of this guy's regeneration though.") [Felix]
Thinking he would lose in a drawn out battle, Felix began to motion with one hand behind his back.
"Uh… what is he doing?" [Brandon]
"Shut up for a second." [Alex]
Staring intently, Alex came to understand.
"Brandon. We've got a job to do." [Alex]
"...Is it dangerous?" [Brandon]
"Eh… Kind of?" [Alex]
Brandon sighed.
"Sounds about right." [Brandon]