Gae Bolg (1/4)

//Over 2 millennia ago//

"That ought to do it..."

Scathach used some of her Rune magic to rebuild the rest of Fimir's hut, erecting a wall out of raw material to make her home as good as new. Fimir smiled as the wall connected with the rest of the hut.

"All that's left is the roof."

As Scathach then secured the finished wall, Aife and Kihli were busy making the roof that will eventually be set on top of it. Once that was done, Scathach used her magic again to levitate the finished roof over the line of surrounding walls and positioned it down. While doing this, she couldn't help but marvel just how easily she was doing such a tedious task with magecraft, having done in minutes than what manual labor would have taken hours to do...

Not to mention the degree of control she had over performing these spells; having just learned the basic understanding of Runecraft from the Shadow along with a handful of admittedly useful runes.

It made her wonder just what else she could do with her powers, as she already was feeling like she could do anything...

"Seems like there's a slight gap on one side," Fimir stated in observation of everyone's handiwork. "We don't want any rain getting in..."

"I'm on it," Scathach responds, shifting into wraith form to quickly get on top of the roof to Aife and Kihli's amazement. Once she was up there, Scathach repositioned some of the sections to flush the roof squarely to the top of the walls, completely enclosing the finished expansion to the hut.

"There! All done..."

Scathach jumps back down gracefully, rejoining Aife, Fimir and Kihli on the ground. Night had soon fallen, and everyone gathered to share a meal around the campfire after a hard day's work. After filling up on stew, Fimir and Kihli turned in for the night, leaving the sisters up conversing as the fire continued to burn.

As they talked and shared a few laughs, Scathach couldn't help but contemplate how things changed for her and Aife since making themselves at home in this secluded village. Since confronting the troublesome boys who partially destroyed Fimir's home, they left her alone and never bothered her again. While she and Aife helped Fimir and Kihli repair their hut, Scathach could also sense that everyone in the village were still avoiding her, even though none thus far have resorted to harassing her as the boys have done.

They were leaving her alone but were at the very least still wary of her, which Scathach supposed was a minor improvement, even if it wasn't quite as good as she wanted her disposition with the rest of the village to be. She was sure she'd find some way to make it better in time...

For now, Scathach was glad she was sharing a joyful moment with her sister, especially after taking the Shadow's advice to heart. Had she not confronted those kids the way she did, Scathach doubted she would have this moment with Aife.

She didn't want to imagine how Aife would see her had she not acted maturely, but more violently...

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of that," Aife said to Scathach beside her, expressing admiration. "The way you go dark and fly everywhere... it's amazing."

Scathach merely giggled.

"You should've been there when Shadow showed me that for the first time," she remarks. "I chased him around the fortress. The speed, the rush... I was having fun until he cast a rune and I fell flat on my face..."

"Did you really?" Aife tried her best not to laugh.

"I sure did. The Shadow taught me that I should never let myself get too carried away..."

Scathach then proceeded to tell Aife about the Shadow's absurd training sessions and what he taught her about casting runes and mixing them with spear-combat, culminating in the sparring match when Scathach finally landed a hit on him.

"Wow..." Aife said, not hiding her wonder. "Already, you are just so powerful and NOTHING can hurt you. It must be great learning all this stuff... "

"It is... if you don't mind my teacher giving you insanely difficult tasks to perform," Scathach told her. "He makes sure I work to stay sharp. It won't be too long now until we can confront the barbarians and take back our village."

When she said that, Aife looked away back towards the fire. Scathach was afraid that by reminding her of why they were even in this forest might have killed the mood. Silence hung between them until-

"Hey Scathach?" Aife cautiously started, before turning to face her again. "Do you think that I can learn of all of this magecraft too?"

Scathach was slightly surprised at that, having never thought about it before.

"I don't know Aife," she answered, trying not to diminish her sister's spirits. "If I have magic circuits, then it should make sense that you have them as well. You're my twin sister after all..."

She hoped that answer would satisfy her. Scathach surveys Aife as she turns to look into the fire again.

"I still relive that night you know," Aife confessed while continuing to stare intently at the flames. "When I shut my eyes, I see the huts burning, the grown-ups being slaughtered, and I hear the screams of the children being taken away..."

She then looks back at Scathach with a very determined expression.

"I want to fight too, sister. I want to make them pay for destroying our home. Is there any chance I can become as strong as you?"

Scathach stared into Aife's eyes, seeing the burning desire for retribution behind them. It made her feel somewhat ashamed for leaving her sister sidelined in the village while she was learning how to use her powers. Scathach thought that the least she could do for Aife was share some of what she has learned so far.

She nothing more than to have Aife beside her when they retake their home...

"We can start now Aife," she replied, giving Aife an assuring smile. "Go grab your spear, and I'll show you some moves..."

Upon hearing that, Aife's expression lightens.

"Thanks," she says graciously. "I really needed this."

Scathach watches as Aife leaves to retrieve her spear. Wanting to get her own, she summons it conveniently with a rune, and the improvised weapon appears in her hand in a flash of red.

She will never get tired of that anytime soon...

Looking it over, Scathach quickly inspects the barbed end of her spear, assuming it might have gotten dull after using it cut reeds and wood for the hut. She runs her hand across the edge, feeling for signs of chipping or imperfection-

(SHRNNT)

"Argh!"

Scathach recoils her hand after she accidentally cuts her palm against the barb of her makeshift spear, leaving a red line of blood. It turned out to still be as sharp as it normally was, much to her surprise. After the initial pain wore off, she dismisses the wound, figuring that it will close in seconds thanks to her fast healing.

But taking a second glance, Scathach stared, transfixed at the cut on her hand. After several seconds pass, the wound was still there, bleeding profusely. More than a minute passes, and it still didn't heal...

Scathach becomes deeply concerned by this point, and her mind begins to race.

-Something's wrong... this should've gone away by now! Why isn't it healing?-

Then in epiphany, her gaze travels back to her red spear, and she starts to put one and one together...

Scathach had been buried under several feet of snow, stabbed by a dagger and crushed by boulders, yet somehow her own spear, made out of red bone, left a wound that wasn't healing itself like most of the injuries she had sustained thus far.

The improvised weapon she's been carrying since entering this forest... can actually hurt her...

It was a startling discovery especially after Scathach had just gotten familiar with her abilities, and it made her wonder what it was about her spear that could leave a lasting injury on her. Hearing Aife returning from the hut, she quickly wrapped some cloth around her palm, deciding that it was best to keep this a secret from the others.

---

Before daybreak the following morning, Scathach made her way back to the Shadow's fortress, wanting to leave early in case anyone was awake to question her about her wound. She managed to hide it from Aife while she was showing her how to use her spear but figured it would be a matter of time before her sister noticed.

Especially after tending to it this morning, Scathach found that the cut on her hand was still present...

With sunlight peeking out as she neared the steps up to the fortress, Scathach took a moment to inspect her injury, unwrapping the cloth that acted as a bandage and finding the stains of dried blood underneath. The cut itself had stopped bleeding for the most part but was still open and raw, evident as Scathach could feel the cold bite in the air stinging her palm as wind blew over it.

Only now was it starting to heal... yet Scathach found it concerning. She still had no reason as to why her own spear left such a lasting injury on her when she healed through worse. If she had to guess, maybe it was because of what her weapon was made of, not even knowing where such material originated.

One thing she knew for sure... is that she had to be careful with handling her spear from now on...

Eventually passing through the gates of the fortress, Scathach pushed the questions about her spear to the back of her mind as she walked through the halls and casually greeted any Revenants she crossed paths with (not that she got any replies). She searched the halls for the Shadow, not finding any trace of him. While she searched every room she came across, she came across a very large set of double doors in one of the lower levels. What was Scathach found curious about this was that these doors resembled those of the entranceway of the castle, depicting the same battle with a giant creature as before.

Only when she tried to open it, Scathach wasn't able to. For whatever reason, this was the only passage in this fortress that she could not enter.

Giving up on the unpassable doors, Scathach decided to wait for the Shadow in one of the rooms; namely the one where he showed her the wraith form. Minutes pass by, and as Scathach's patience waned, she grew bored. Her attention then fell on the shelf full of scrolls along the wall. She got up and walked towards them, curiosity getting the better of her.

-I wonder what's on these scrolls... let's see...-

Looking through a random handful of them, Scathach found each one depicting a rune she has not yet used. Some of them looked very complicated to cast, but the effects were truly unique. One in particular would allow for any weapon it was casted on to duplicate into perfect copies which can all be manipulated telepathically. For what scenario would this be truly beneficial eluded Scathach, but she found it interesting nonetheless. Reading another, she found a rune that could conjure a protective barrier around wherever it was cast, which she thought was undoubtably more useful. She practiced drawing these runes, committing them to memory before reading the next scroll.

Said scroll did not depict any rune however, but instead showed something else...

It was full of images surrounding Mana; the breath of the World used as the basis of magic. It showed even outside of magecraft, all living things contribute to the abundance of Mana. Even those who do not use it for magic are capable of storing and passing to other people for "sustenance."

Before Scathach could even think about what that meant, the following image showed something that made her face blush red.

"Wha-?!"

Her eyes were glued to the scroll, unable to look away from the rather "provocative" depiction; her hands shaking as she held the scroll still in front of her, which shamelessly showed a man and woman-

She jumped in fright as the scroll was suddenly snatched out of her hand...

"Been busy I see..."

Scathach looks up and sees the Shadow standing over her, having appeared before her without the young girl noticing he was there. She quickly composes herself before apologizing.

"Sorry... I was just-"

"Don't be," he curtly said, taking a brief glance at the scroll before rolling it closed. "Curiosity is not a sin, but you may not always like what you end up finding..."

He puts the scroll back on the shelf as Scathach got back on her feet.

"What exactly was I reading, and why do you even have it?"

"Honestly, I didn't write any of these," The Shadow admitted, picking up the rest of the scrolls Scathach had left on the floor. "This was all here for me when I settled here..."

Scathach was surprised to hear that as she followed suit and picked up more of the reading materials as Shadow was rolling one up.

"As to that particular one, it's all about the exchange of mana that are possible... all living things can retain mana to a degree. If for some reason one finds themselves low on it, a way to replenish it would be through bodily fluid."

"Bodily fluid?" Scathach repeated, perplexed.

"It can be as simple as eating food normally or by drinking blood," the Shadow explained, doing his best to not make the subject-matter vulgar to the young girl's ears. "What you just saw however is the most potent by far, and definitely something that... well, a person like you can take advantage of. It only works one way unfortunately..."

At that, Scathach's face flushed red again.

"You mean by doing... that?!"

"Nature works in mysterious ways," Shadow remarks with a coy smile, confirming Scathach's assumptions. "But don't worry, I would never suggest anything of the sort. Wouldn't want to tarnish your pride..."

Feeling slightly relieved to hear that, a curious conundrum still lingered in Scathach's mind as she picked up the last of the scrolls off the floor, handing them to the Shadow.

"Even so... how in the world can I ever be low on mana? I would need to be using spells non-stop..."

Once they finished cleaning up Scathach's mess, the Shadow enlightens her.

"If you were to spam runes, even someone like us will get exhausted. The air is full of mana so simply breathing it in will help it replenish after a while. However, there are certain spells, artifacts and beings out there that can rob you of your ability to channel mana. Only in such extreme cases would "doing the deed" be conceivably warranted."

"Just what kind of beings?"

"Only those of the divine kin-"

The Shadow suddenly stops when he notices the wrapping around Scathach's hand, and his tone turns serious.

"What happened to your hand?"

"It's nothing..." Scathach deflects, trying to hide her hand behind her, but was not quick enough as the Shadow grabbed her arm. "Hey-!"

"No, it's not."

He yanks Scathach closer and rips off the cloth around her palm, exposing the wound underneath. Staring at it briefly, the Shadow then directs his gaze on the young girl.

"You cut yourself on your spear, didn't you?"

"So what?"

"It's not healing. Doesn't it bother you?"

Scathach was trying to play this off as no big deal, but seeing the slightly worried look on her mentor's face prompted her to admit to him:

"Maybe a little, but it's just a cut..."

When she said that, the Shadow flashed a rune in his free hand and summoned Scathach's spear in his grasp. Before Scathach could protest, he then asked:

"You don't know what this is made of, do you?"

He slowly waved the spear in front of her almost tauntingly, and Scathach was embarrassingly caught at a loss.

"Uh..."

She didn't get the chance to answer as the Shadow suddenly shoved the makeshift spear into Scathach's hands and said:

"Come with me..."

Scathach was left bewildered as the Shadow turned away and summoned his own twin blades.

"Where are we going?"

"A bit of a change in plan," he said, looking back before exiting the room. "You know enough to see first-hand what I do in this forest. Today, we are going hunting..."

---

A minute later, Scathach found herself brought to the roof of the fortress with the Shadow by her side, overlooking the vast, expansive forest.

"Hold on to me," the Shadow instructed the young girl, offering his arm. Scathach reluctantly obeyed, and as soon as she grasped her mentor's arm, she found herself involuntarily turning into wraith form and flying across the forest at incredible speed; faster than Scathach ever could by herself. When the trip was over, Scathach materialized and fell on her knees on the forest floor, awestruck and nauseous from the experience.

"(Groan...)"

The Shadow however rolled his eyes at his student's exaggerated display of weakness.

"Oh, come now... it couldn't have been that bad. Suck it up..."

"I- (gag)… didn't know it would be that fast..."

"You'd be surprised how much you can develop after training for centuries," he remarks after helping Scathach get back on her feet. She was wondering where they were until she looked around.

Scathach immediately recognized that they were in the muddied clearing where she and Aife fought the Dire Wolf.

Coincidentally, it was also where she found it; the bones where Scathach broke off the piece that made up the spear she now carried. She found herself staring at the exposed remains jutting out of the ground that used to be a riverbed. In the daylight, she could clearly see the bones bright red like her spear. She turned back to the Shadow to ask him why he brought her here, only to find him drawing a rune on the ground inside of a ritual circle.

"What are you doing?"

"Show and tell..." he replied as he completed the spell. The scene around them changed, and Scathach looked around frantically, seeing the forest around her disappear and become an ocean. Day turned to night as she and the Shadow were seemingly standing mid-air. Scathach wondered what on Earth was happening.

Then she saw it...

Breaching the raging waves of the sea came the jagged spines of the truly colossal creature. Scathach's jaw dropped as the monster immerged, its girthy riddled with red barbs, robust skull, scaly skin, and massive forelimbs immerged from the water; towering above the duo who appeared as ants in comparison.

Scathach thought the Netherlyst she nearly lost her soul to was huge... but this thing was ENORMOUS.

Then the creature roared, and when it did, it called gale-force winds and lightning down from the heavens above. The noise was deafening and forced Scathach to cover her ears. Then it began to move towards the duo. The Shadow remained calm and stoic, but Scathach panicked and screamed as the creature bore down on her with its forelimbs. She recoiled and used her arms to shield herself. The arm came down, but instead of hitting her, she phased through it harmlessly. Realizing this, Scathach looked up and saw the monster move past them without even noticing the duo, seeing its rear-legs and powerful, blade-like tail as it "swam" away from them. Scathach was both relieved and shocked.

"What just happened?"

"I used a Recall rune to glimpse past events," the Shadow explained to her calmly. "What you are seeing is a past event in form of something barely more than an illusion."

Scathach continued to stare at the monster as it swam around them without a care, unable to look away from it.

"That thing... what in Lugh's name was that?"

"That... was originally where that stick of yours came from," the Shadow told her. "It's an ancient creature that even Gods were wary of. And for good reason..."

Just then, the creature roared again, summoning several tornadoes that only added to the raging storm around it.

"The Curruid; a monster that walked in a time before the Gods made this World their domain and managed to persist even past the emergence of mankind... at least for a while. The World was not as lush and full of vitality as it is today. It was hostile, unforgiving, and barely taken form. In fact, the entire Isle was all underwater while this creature was alive. Storms were constant, fires burned, and the land was crashing against itself; a World where only the powerful could survive. "

"How powerful?" Scathach found herself asking, finally looking at him. At that moment, the image lifted and before she knew it, they were back in the forest.

"Divine..." replied the Shadow, summoning his blades and looking them over. "Such power persists for this beast even in death... and it ran deep into its very bones..."

At that revelation, Scathach looked at the leftover bones of the Curruid, and then to the red spear she held. Then her gaze travels to the weapons the Shadow carried. Luckily, he was a step ahead of her.

"As you've no doubt noticed... that's what these blades are made of. They take enchantments very well, but more importantly is what happens when the bones are fashioned into weapons. Being that they are from the bones of a monster that pre-dated all others of this forest, they can harm any creature they are used against; especially undead or phantasmal in nature."

Glancing back at her spear, and then the cut on her hand, Scathach finally understood.

"So that's why-"

"-It can hurt you," the Shadow finished for her. "Minor cuts will still heal with time, yet they leave permanent scars. But when used to kill, it does so with ravenous intent. I can even show you..."

The Shadow then led Scathach deeper into the forest. Once they found a spacious area, the Shadow started drawing another rune on the ground, leaving Scathach to ask him:

"So what will we be doing?"

"I'm making a well of Mana that will attract some of the "pests" in this place," he told her as his circle of runes started to glow. "You already sparred with me several times, but with everything you've learned so far, I want to see how you do against things that will try to kill you."

"Combat training..." Scathach remarked confidently. Had she'd been more of a novice as she was when she first started with her mentor, she'd probably be less enthusiastic towards something like this. "I'm down for that..."

"I thought you'd might," the Shadow said, giving her a smirk. It quickly went away when he and Scathach saw an ominous fog rolling-in from all sides. "Here they come. Get ready..."

He goes into wraith form and jumps out from sight as Scathach summons her spear, brandishing it. Steeling herself, she listens for any oncoming threats, her attention snapping forward as clammy hands suddenly burst out of the ground ahead of her, then the bodies of the familiar creatures followed.

"Oh great," she said sarcastically as the decrepit, armored skeletal bodies of the Draugr rose and walked towards her wielding their rustic weapons and growling ravenously. "These things..."

"I see you are already familiar with the Draugr," the Shadow said from his perch on a nearby tree branch. "They aren't strong by-themselves, so they tend to attack in groups. Their skeletons still hold some flesh, so fire spells are devastating against them."

Scathach heeded the Shadows words as the Draugr slowly closed in on her. She remembered the last time she and Aife fought them and the struggle it took to not get overrun by them.

During that time, Scathach didn't have her powers... nor was she a skilled fighter with her spear.

Not such was the case this time...

Striking first, she dashes at her opponents with her wraith form and immediately impales one with her spear. Before the other Draugr could react, Scathach leaps off the one she just killed, flips behind another and kicks it the back forcibly, sending the Draugr crashing into the others. Landing on her feet, Scathach spins around in half-turn and casts a fire rune which explodes and ignites the entire group of Draugr, reducing them to ash.

Just when she thought she was done, she hears a hulking, elite Draugr with an axe try to attack while her back was turned. Reacting quickly, she Reinforces her leg, spins and sweeps the Draugr completely off its feet, breaking its struck leg in the process. With the Draugr lying face-up on its back and helpless, Scathach leaps into the air, and strikes down with her spear onto the Draugr's chest, puncturing its armor and piercing its heart, killing it. Scathach takes a few deep breaths as the Draugr's body dissipates in ghostly smoke.

What she just did made her feel proud of herself. Before meeting the Shadow, these Draugr were a threat to her. Not any more...

There was no time to celebrate as yet another familiar creature emerged from the fog; one that briefly made Scathach freeze in fright. The large, 4-legged furry body of the Dire Wolf, like the one that nearly killed her and Aife, growled and barked at her while salivating from its jaws.

"Dire wolves have a ravenous appetite, and like to lunge at their prey," the Shadow explained from afar. "They may be fast, but you're faster still. Use their instincts against them..."

Sure enough, the wolf got impatient and ran at Scathach and jumped at her with its claws raised and its jaws wide open to take a bite out of her. She slides below the creature in her wraith form and swipes at its underside with her spear, leaving a gash. The wolf lands limping but agitated as it turns to quickly swipe at Scathach with its sharp claws. She dodges and quickly plants a rune on the ground as a trap. The wolf lunges again, going over the rune and causing violet strands of Mana to burst out and wrap-around the beast, forcing it to the ground and restraining it. Scathach takes the opportunity to run her spear right into the wolf's side, killing it.

"Nice moves," the Shadow compliments her. "Eyes up... we're just getting started."

Soon, more Draugr appear out of the fog, and accompanying them were creatures Scathach never seen before. They were floating skeletal monsters dressed in ragged cloaks, floating around and radiating energy from their hands; demonstrated as they formed barriers around several Draugr.

"This is new..." Scathach remarks, at which the Shadow explained:

"Liches... they'll hang back and try either attacking at a distance or cast a shield on other monsters. Dodge their spells and get in close. Best to take them out first..."

At this point, Scathach was now feeling excited at the thought of a new challenge. Tried as the Liches might, no amount of their spells against her or empowerment to the Draugr was enough to deter her. Dodging past the Draugr and the spells fired at her, Scathach slices off the head of one of the Liches and kills some Draugr that it was protecting. The remaining Lich was shielding one elite Draugr as it tried to attack Scathach. The Lich was trying to stay out of close range as Scathach was outmaneuvering the empowered Draugr, trying to ignore it and kill the Lich first, leaving itself vulnerable by sustaining its spell. Finding an opening, Scathach leaps over the Draugr in wraith form, materializes and fires a lightning rune at the floating Lich, blowing it apart. Its spell broken, Scathach turns and slices the leg of the Draugr before finishing it off with a fire spell.

Scathach took a moment to catch her breath and stood in the Mana well before the Shadow decided to start the next round. The well pulsed and 3 ghostly warriors appeared: one holding a spear, another with a bow, and the last one with a sword and shield. Their faces were hideous like the Draugr, yet appeared more ethereal.

"Wraiths... They are your equals in combat. They can dash around sort of like how we can by going into corporeal form. Doesn't mean you can't hurt them though. If they attack as a group, best to separate and single them out. Fancy fighting is your best friend with them..."

Heeding the Shadow's description, Scathach focused up and took the brunt of these new enemies' assault head-on. Blocking and dodging the Wraiths' attacks, Scathach was forced to stay on her toes, for every time she thought she had one dead to right, to her surprise, one of them would dash away and tag-in the other two. She found this out the hard way when she dashes past the sword-Wraith and tries to catch the spear-Wraith off-guard with a well-aimed thrust of her weapon. It just misses as her target quickly dashed away, leaving her open for the Wraith-archer; a costly mistake that earned her an arrow in her shoulder blade. Scathach yells in pain, as she collapses to the floor; the Wraiths circling around as if to taunt her.

"What's the matter?" the Shadow asks her coyly as she forcibly removes the arrow, wincing painfully. "They too fast for you?"

Scathach grunts as she gets back on her feet, her wound starting to close. Picking up her spear, she stamps down her pain and dashes at one of the Wraiths. As she anticipated, it too dashed away. She quickly plants a rune on the ground before immediately switching targets, throwing her spear at the Wraith-archer before it took a shot at her. When it was forced to dash away to avoid the hit, the remaining two Wraiths moved to attack her, the sword-wielding one running to take a swipe at her. Scathach wraith-dashes right under its legs. She rematerializes and forms a rune on her free hand, causing her spear to sail back to her, completely impaling the Wraith she just passed before returning to her hand. She jumps over the Wraith's oncoming spear-swipe and kicks off its chest, launching herself into the air. The Wraith-archer rematerializes and notches an arrow, but too late to reacquire its target as Scathach cast a rune mid-air and barrages the Wraith-archer in a shower of fire, incinerating it. Landing on her feet some distance away, the remaining Wraith recovers and dashes towards her ready to strike her down. Scathach merely turned and snapped her fingers. As she predicted, the Wraith materializes over the rune she planted earlier, causing a wall of ice to form and encase the Wraith's arm, making its weapon stop one inch away from her stoic face. With her opponent immobile, Scathach thrusts her spear right through her ice-wall and impale the Wraith through the heart, killing it.

Scathach was panting in exhaustion, but a confident smile formed on her face as her opponent dissipates and her wall of ice crumbled. It was the toughest fight so far, and Scathach felt she was ready for anything.

Her mentor now thought so too... It wasn't long after this that the Shadow introduced Scathach to the remaining creatures of the forest.

One of which being a giant snake-like creature that nearly surprised Scathach after it burst from the ground in an attempt to eat her. Scathach dashes away from its jaws and watches as the serpent burrowed back into the ground and circled her from below.

"Ah... a Legless," the Shadow informed her. "Before you ask... they've got some other name, but's it's too long for me to bother saying all the time. They like to burrow underground and strike their prey from below. When they breach, there is a window in which they are suspended mid-air and blinded by daylight. They are only armored on top, so you can hit the belly with a lightning spell to paralyze them before going in for the kill."

This fight was remarkably straight forward as Scathach planted a lightning rune as a trap. Positioning herself, she tapped the ground with her spear to lure the Legless to her. When it burst from the ground, Scathach dodges as it descends on her rune. Lightning surged from it and electrocuted the beast, making it collapse like a ragdoll and crash on to the forest floor. With it stunned, Scathach dashes in and stabs the serpent in the throat. Dead, the Legless fades from existence.

With each round of killing monsters, Scathach now started to notice what was happening with her spear. It was softly glowing violet and periodically giving off sparks of red electricity with every creature she killed with it. Before she could ask the Shadow about this, her next opponent came crashing out of the woods: a hulking creature with a large body, gray skin, and an ugly face. The Shadow fills her in.

"Ogres... big, powerful, but very dumb and slow. You can outmaneuver them and strike at their chubby necks. The bigger they are, the harder they fall..."

Just like the Legless, this new creature didn't last very long. It tries to trample Scathach, then tried crushing her with its fists and by throwing an entire tree at her, but it was ultimately helpless as Scathach avoided its attacks with her wraith form. She eventually weighs it down using several Strand runes, and once it was face-down on the ground, Scathach leaped and descended on the Ogre's exposed neck, jabbing it with her spear, and spraying out blood.

This round over and done with, Scathach thought she'd seen all that this forest could throw at her until several winged creatures circled above her and screeched at her. They were about the size of the Dire Wolves, only their skin appeared leathery yet slimy, with wings fused to their forearms, flexible necks, and ugly faces with jaws full of gnarly teeth. One after the other, they spit sickly-green flames at Scathach, forcing her to cast a barrier rune to protect herself from their barrage.

"Fell-beasts like to stay in the air as much as they can and attack their prey from above. You can impair their ability to fly if you trick them into a mist made with Ice runes. That will cause their wings to freeze, and they will drop like flies."

Taking the Shadow's advice, Scathach waited until the Fell-beasts ceased their assault and they eventually gave up on shooting at her to instead dive down and take a bite out of her. Scathach drops her shield and leaps over one of the beasts as it lunges at her, landing and stomping it down as the others fly down upon her. Scathach kicks off the first Fell-beast and goes into wraith form, dashing between the jaws of the other winged-monsters, letting all fly past her. She lands on the ground and turns as all the Fell-beasts circle around to attack her again, and casts an ice rune that summons a small blizzard to engulf the area in front of her. Sure enough, the wings on the Fell-beasts freeze and they all fall helplessly. Scathach decides to use a Projection rune to duplicate her spear and sent each one to impale each of the Fell-beasts. They and the blizzard dissipate, and the slain monsters fade into nothing.

Her spear appearing back in her hand, Scathach was in awe to see it glowing and arcing with red electricity more than before. It confirmed what she previously thought about the weapon gaining power with every monster she killed with her spear. From the way it appeared now, Scathach could tell that all of that energy stored inside was now waiting to be released.

"Remember when I said that these creatures used to be people?" the Shadow asked as he appeared beside Scathach. "Their souls are freed when these hideous physical forms die. The bones of the Curruid absorb these souls and stores them as energy; energy that can be weaponized and used against more of these monsters."

Scathach watched as he then waved a hand and manifested a rune towards the well of mana, making it glow brighter.

"I'm going to be drawing more monsters towards us. You'll be overwhelmed easily unless you harness the power resting in your spear. Are you ready?"

Just then, more monsters appeared out of the fog, this time in hordes; every creature Scathach fought so far completely surrounding the duo. Scathach was initially horrified at the sheer scale and number of adversaries before her, this no doubt going to be the toughest fight she was going to face yet.

But, looking back at her empowered spear, and then at the Shadow who had a complete look of confidence. Seeing his face and knowing he had total faith in her to overcome this challenge, it made Scathach stamp down her fear and brandish her spear, ready to take on this new wave of monsters.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Scathach replied as she and the Shadow stand back-to-back; the creatures growling and/or gnashing their jaws at them, thirsty for blood.

"Don't you worry lass," said the Shadow, summoning his blades. "I won't be letting you have all the fun..."

It made Scathach feel even better knowing that she wasn't fighting alone as she stared down several Draugr, a Lich, and an Ogre. From behind her, the Shadow gave her a quick piece of advice.

"Time to put that power to use... slam your spear down and watch what happens."

Scathach steps forward and twirls her glowing weapon above her head, contrails of red and violet pulsated as she focused on the enemies before her. With a yell, she thrusts the barb of her spear into the ground, and to her amazement, a wave of energy traveled in front of her and caused dozens of sharp, red spikes to grow out every which way and impale all the creatures before her. She watched as all the Draugr were lifted up off the ground as they were each skewered, the big Ogre just riddled as it was stabbed several times over. Even the floating Lich wasn't safe as the spikes grew several feet to impale it. They all died and faded to nothing.

Scathach was left in awe of the sheer carnage she just unleashed; all the barbs grown just an instant before dissipating in red smoke. The group of monsters she'd killed soon became replaced by more coming out of the fog, leaving Scathach with little time to truly take in what just happened. She readied herself again as Shadow said from behind her.

"Did you like that, lass? If you want to see more, you got to take on the onslaught. Have fun..."

With that, the Shadow dashed forward to engage his own group of monsters, leaving Scathach alone to deal with her own. But she was not at all scared anymore. She rushes forward to meet several Draugr and Wraiths, using her wraith-form to quickly close the distance before her opponents could react. She swipes at targets with her spear; gashes made in the bodies of these monsters causing red thorns to grow out and pierce them to death from inside out. She then dodges the slam of a club from an Ogre and leaps into the air. She throws her spear down, and seemingly with a mind of its own flies around and pierces the Ogre from all sides; so fast it left a jagged trail of red as the spear gouges the Ogre's chest on the return trip back to Scathach's hand. Landing on her feet, she prepares herself to then fight several Dire Wolves and flying Fell-beasts that appeared before her, all ready to strike-

Out of nowhere came two spinning red blades and quickly dispatched the creatures in one fell-swoop, much to Scathach's surprise (and slight disappointment). She looks back at the flying blades and watches as they sailed back into the Shadow's hands, and Scathach sees that he had already killed an entire horde of monsters, which was more than the handful she killed thus far.

"Did I not mention that this is a contest?" he quipped. "I'm keeping score, and you're falling behind..."

Scathach gave him a mildly annoyed look as even more monsters came roaring and screeching out of the fog. And yet, despite the hellish circumstances, she found she was eager for a challenge...

Her mentor had a way with riling her up...

"You better not go easy on me then," she coyly shot back as she readied her spear. "Because I don't plan on losing..."

She takes off before the Shadow could get a cheeky retort in, slicing apart and casting spells on monsters left and right. It seemed that with the combination of all of her abilities, these monsters no longer seemed like much of a threat to her as long as Scathach played to her advantages and exploited each enemy's weaknesses, weaving herself between opponents with her wraith form. After dispatching a Legless, she took the briefest of glances toward her mentor, and Scathach could see just how well he was faring.

And by well, it meant that the Shadow was hardly being challenged at all. He would cast a single spell and dozens of monsters would fall before him, and a single stroke of one of his blades would down a giant Ogre almost effortlessly. Scathach was enjoying the feeling of overpowering these creatures of nightmares but watching her mentor fight made her feel oddly humbled.

-Such grace and strength... I don't know if I will EVER match that...-

She snapped away from admiring her teacher to parry and kill an oncoming Wraith with her spear. As the fight went on, more and more monsters converged on her position, seemingly never-ending. Scathach projected duplicates of her spear and impales several Draugr and a Lich before her, then to get jumped by Dire Wolf who tried to pin her down and take a bite out her. Acting quickly, she recalled one of her projected spears which flew back and struck the wolf in the shoulder. Scathach then reinforced herself and threw the Dire Wolf off of her into a group of Draugr.

Panting and getting on to one knee, Scathach inspects her arm and winced as a scratch mark left by her attacker gradually healed. Looking back at her student, the Shadow noticed she was getting tired and overwhelmed by the growing number of monsters, as well as her glowing red spear becoming more volatile as the fight progressed.

-Keep it up lass, he thought for her sake. Just endure a little bit longer...-

Scathach grimaces at the horde of creatures. It seemed like no matter how many she killed, more just took their place. In that moment, she looks down at her spear and sees just empowered it had become during the onslaught; violet energy coming off of it like a flame, and red electricity sparking aggressively as it traveled all the way down to where she held the shaft of her weapon. Scathach can feel the power contained in the spear through her hand, like it was on the verge of overflowing.

It made her wonder what would happen if she pushed the weapon beyond its limits...

Taking a look back at her mentor, Scathach could tell that he wanted her to find out...

Scathach steeled herself and got back on her feet as the monsters ran towards her ravenously. She turns and spins her weapon in her hands in a flourish, scraping the barb of her spear against the ground and causing red spikes to grow ahead and impale a row of Draugr. Just as Wraiths dash away and come at her from the sides, Scathach wraith-steps and stabs a Lich before it could fire at her, then leaping on to a flying Fell-beast to avoid a breach-attack from a Legless. The winged horror thrashes to try and throw her off, and Scathach takes the opportunity to fire a lightning rune and stun all other nearby Fell-beasts before stabbing the one she was riding on. She leaped off before it hit the ground in a crash, and in a single motion, casts an ice-rune on the ground, freezing the two Wraiths and several other Draugr below before throwing her spear down. The spear impacted and spikes grew out of the ground around it and killed all the monsters that were frozen.

Landing on the ground, Scathach recalled her spear to her hand. The Legless from before coiled upright and tried to slam its tail down at her as Scathach flipped out of the way and sliced the very end of the creature's tail off. The Legless screeched in pain and thrashed about wildly. Scathach dashes in wraith form, passing beneath the agonized beast and casted a fire rune at its underside near its head. The explosion caused the Legless to collapse and roll. Scathach jumps on top of it, reeling back to stab it in the throat. With her spear glowing and arcing, Scathach knew that this last kill will push whatever power her weapon held over the edge. As additional monsters converged on her, more numerous than before, Scathach thrusted her weapon down...

And what happened next was glorious...

As soon as the Legless died, the spear glowed and pulsed; the arcing energy held in the spear poured into Scathach's hands and then spread to the rest of her body. The shock ignited her magic circuits, and her body to flash bright violet. The transition was sudden and powerful which caused the surrounding monsters to briefly back away in alarm.

Scathach gasped, looking down at her new form; her body glowing violet, and her circuits arcing brightly. She felt weightless, exemplified by the fact that her feet were hovering off the ground, and her hair blowing about in the absence of wind. Looking to her spear, which was now ablaze with red fire, she could feel the energy emanating off of it, opening her connection to the Void, and fueled by the trapped souls of the monsters she has killed.

This was an experience akin to her achieving clarity. Only more... substantial.

Before Scathach could marvel at her new state, she looked around at the myriad of monsters around her, all seeming fearful of the being before them. The Shadow looks on with satisfaction as his student's presence overwhelming the creatures that were so eager to kill her moments before. Scathach readied herself to unleash her new power before these nightmares, prepared to make something abundantly clear to all:

She has become the apex predator...

Taking but a mere breath, Scathach glides forward effortlessly and twirls her spear in a spin. Her weapon released an expanding wave of destructive red energy which tore apart all the creatures that were struck by it. Wasting no time at all, Scathach moves instantly between groups of monsters, so quickly that she practically warped everywhere her mind wished to go. Every swing and thrust of her spear giving off the same waves of energy that decimated every creature as large as Ogres, or numerous as Draugr as if they were mere ants.

To the Shadow, he was seeing a lightshow as Scathach blinked in-and-out every which way and swinging her spear with destructive results.

The feeling of being so powerful was overwhelming to Scathach as she weaves around killing more monsters in such quick succession it was almost unreal to her; the laws of nature having no meaning to her in this ascension as was the many numbers of monsters before her. They seemed to finally be dwindling as Scathach cut them down, dozens after dozens at a time.

Yet in her excitement, she began noticing what was happening with her body. With her blood-thirsty spear overflowing with energy, the more she gained from killing monsters was pouring into herself instead. Scathach was feeling a growing fire in her core, glowing brighter than the rest of her body. It was causing a pressure against her chest that eventually needed to be released. It was slowly becoming painful as she withered the number of monsters down to just a couple dozen remaining; several Draugr, along with some Fell-beasts, Liches, Wraiths, a couple Ogres, and a Legless.

Scathach just struck down a Lich when the pain in her heart became too much for her and she fell on her knees, curled up, clutching her chest as her body pulsed and became unstable. She was anxious of whatever was about to happen next as the monsters watching her closed in, seeing this moment of weakness as an opportunity to finish her off.

The Shadow was not worried however, even as he watched his student getting surrounded and writhing in pain.

If anything, he was looking forward to what was about to come next...

Scathach grunts in pain, clutching herself tightly as she found herself hovering several feet into the air; her body pulsating violently as the light inside her chest grew and grew. Still curled up and with all that energy inside her waiting to burst, Scathach spreads out her limbs and with an echoing yell, she finally-

(THRUUUM!)

The noise was thunderous as a flash of light from Scathach's body released an expanding dome of Void-energy that instantly disintegrated the remaining monsters around her. It passes harmlessly by the Shadow, who not even flinched at the oncoming wave, and kept his gaze on his student as she lied flat, face-up in mid-air; countless orbs of white lights emerging from her chest. When that was finished, the air was silent and still; Scathach's limp, glowing body dimming down and returning to normal along with her red spear. Her eyes followed, and Scathach could see the beautiful, incomprehensible sight of all the white lights above her, circling around above her against the starry black of the night sky.

It was a view she would not get to enjoy as the high from her power faded, leaving her completely drained and deprived of mana. Her eyelids becoming heavy as she exhaled and at last, gravity kicked in.

She was already passed out by the time she hit the ground.

---

[TBC]