- First Battle from Beyond

Marcus rapidly snapped three times.

The first carried him high into the air.

The second tore the earth apart, fashioning bindings to pin their enemy in place.

The third generated crackling balls of energy around him that he hurled towards the creature.

In his position of safety, he glanced at his companions.

Elanor had taken an observational position at the back of their formation, remaining near the shelter. Tess ran up the left, summoning shadows from her torso that were primed to attack the side of the target. Roxy rapidly pushed right, her lightening-enhanced speed offering her the best angle of attack, and subsequently the position of priority target 1.

'Not that it matters,' Marcus thought, a smirk growing on his face. 'He has nowhere to go.'

He locked eyes with the creature.

'Did that thing just smirk back at me?'

Within the blink of an eye it was free. It moved at speed towards Roxy and caught her before she could react. The tentacles ensnared her neck and upper torso, destroying her ability to breathe.

'How-?'

*Snap*

*Snap*

Marcus launched himself at the creature while lighting it on flame. As though he was a fly, he swatted a hand at Marcus. A pool of green liquid materialised in the air, before being thrown at Marcus with incredible force, generating a minor sonic boom behind it.

Marcus generated a gust of air to push himself out of the way.

He acted just too late.

A couple of drops of the liquid hit the side of his neck.

He fell out of the air, his subconscious control of the element disrupted.

Teeth gnashed, he screamed as he hit the ground. Powder made from his teeth fell onto the ground.

He snapped his fingers, the pain causing him to take an abnormal amount of time to connect finger to thumb. Flame exploded on his neck, burning the liquid off. He was unharmed by the flames, his affinity with the element protecting himself from his own cast.

Once the flames had dissipated, Marcus raised a hand to his neck. The skin showed no wounds, but felt off.

It felt wrinkly, like it had been in water for too long.

It felt... 'decayed.'

'Why that word? Why decayed?'

He shook the thought from his head.

He stood up, looking over at the creature.

A barrage of shadows assaulted it from the left, courtesy of Tess, and the creature still burned from Marcus's attack.

Nevertheless, it still held Roxy in its wet grip.

'Damnit, it's still got her.'

He charged the creature, snapping his fingers as he ran. The air swarmed around him, enhancing his speed.

Once close enough, he dove at it, tackling it from the side under the creature's right arm. The sudden impact caused it to take a step to the side and release its grip, surprised by the nature of the attack. It swung its body around and slammed an elbow into Marcus's back. It was harder than an elbow should be, and generated force onto a larger area than an elbow should. The impact evicted the air from his lungs and drove him to the ground.

Released from the grip, Roxy crumpled to the ground in unconsciousness.

Gasping for air, Marcus rolled onto his back and snapped a finger. Above the battlefield, lightning began to crackle.

Detecting the oncoming danger, the creature looked up at the coalescing storm directly above it. It quickly moved back out of the strike zone.

'Got you.' Marcus thrust out an arm towards the creature, and pleaded to a god that his gamble would pay out.

The lightning struck his body and elemental energy began surging through his veins. He directed it into his raised arm, and shot it out as a sustained bolt of lightning. Under the surrounding sounds, he thought he heard laughter in his head.

The creature reacted too late. The lightning struck its chest, rending rotted flesh and spilling corrupted blood.

"YES! It worked," he shouted in celebration.

They were taught at the orphanage that magical energy resided in the air, much like oxygen. And, much like oxygen, it was brought into the body through breathing. Although an uncommon use, it could be expended internally through the Magia organ and its secreted Manan enzymes to increase potency of spells at the cost of fatigue.

Marcus guessed that the energy could be forced inside from outside, granting increased power without the associated fatigue, at the trade-off of time.

And, as he quickly found out, pain.

Intense pain.

Once again, he began writhing and screaming in agony.

His efforts weren't wasted, however. Tess followed up with a jet of water that slammed the creature down.

An eye hung in the air above Elanor. It began glowing as she began chanting, increasing in intensity as her litany progressed in length and volume. The volume peaked as she yelled a single word.

"PURIFY!!"

The effort exhausted her and she dropped to one knee.

A huge beam shot from the eye at blinding speed, striking the floored creature in its head.

A surprising expression glanced upon the creature's face as it desperately scrambled for safety.

It was fear.

Beneath it, the ground opened up with rot and putrescent liquid. Tentacles shot out and pulled the creature in. Covering the retreat, swarms of flies emerged and attacked the group.

Marcus dispatched them with fire, prioritising the two weakened girls.

By the time they were gone, the creature had disappeared.