Immobilization Spell

She was being a bit unfair to Oliver. He had been stuck on this miserable island for over a year, spending his days with Yao Fei and Slade, two old bachelors. While he had practiced archery for a few days, he was a young man with pent-up energy. Recently, old Yao had sadly passed away, and his beautiful daughter had taken over teaching Oliver archery.

Though it felt a bit disrespectful to old Yao's earnest hopes, replacing a stern old man with a beautiful young woman was always a welcome change. Especially with a girl as gentle and graceful as Shado. Right now, Oliver would have been excited to see even a pig at this point, and he felt that fate hadn't completely forsaken him.

Today happened to be one of those days when he'd been emotionally stirred. Shado had comforted him, and they had bonded over their shared circumstances, reaching a point where things were about to progress significantly when Shado heard Slade's shout, abruptly interrupting their intimacy. They had rushed over in a hurry to help.

Oliver's mind was still clouded, not yet switched to combat mode. He drew his pistol, adopted what he thought was a standard combat stance, and kept an eye on Slade, waiting for his "big brother" to decide what to do.

Slade didn't hesitate to make his intentions clear to Thea, giving them a look that signaled a flanking maneuver.

While Thea believed Shado was only slightly better than a standard League of Assassins grunt, and Oliver was a complete novice, being surrounded by three people was still troublesome. Slade's tactical instincts were incredibly sharp; he was a rare tactical master. Getting counter-attacked and losing would be embarrassing.

She checked the time. Alright, it's the right time for the night aspect to be fully charged.

She twitched her shoulder, and to the astonished gazes of the three, a duplicate identical to her main body stepped out of her shadow.

Throwing her bow and quiver to the duplicate, Thea pointed at Shado and Oliver with her chin, indicating that these two were the duplicate's targets.

The duplicate possessed her full skill set and thought processes. With a sigh, it drew its bow, nocked an arrow, and shot towards the stunned Shado.

"Let's continue!" Thea's main body ignored their dropped jaws, gripping her sword and resuming her assault on Slade.

"Metahuman?" Slade was a man of considerable experience. Though he hadn't witnessed it firsthand, he felt this opponent resembled the metahumans of legend. After all, nobody became two people just from practicing martial arts.

Thea naturally offered no confirmation. Guess what you want. If Oliver or Shado asked, maybe I'd explain, but you? Forget it.

Despite Slade's desperate defense, without having received the Mirakuru treatment, his physical capabilities remained within normal human limits. Facing a skilled combatant like Thea, he was having a very tough time. Though he bellowed and seemed formidable, his stamina was rapidly depleting.

Thea subtly split her attention, checking on the other two fights. Her duplicate's archery completely suppressed Shado; it would have finished her off long ago if it had intended harm.

Oliver, on the other side, stood with his gun, realizing nobody was paying him any attention. He watched the battle nervously. He wanted to help, but the situation seemed dangerous on both sides, leaving him momentarily hesitant.

"Fight this one, this is the main body!" Slade, though completely on the defensive, remained remarkably clear-headed. Despite never seeing this specific technique, his instincts guided him to the correct conclusion.

Truly worthy of being the tactical master who almost took down the Justice League, Thea thought admiringly. Looks like I can't use this trick in front of opponents again next time.

Facing Oliver's firearm, she merely gave it a dismissive glance. While she didn't fear it, she also didn't want to play dodge-the-bullet. She declared loudly, quoting a familiar League adage, "Firearms are toys for the weak!"

She then unleashed a burst of Black Mist that enveloped Oliver. Thanks to her recent diligent practice, this spell, which originally required a dagger as a focus, could now be cast directly by her. Furthermore, with the aid of the night aspect, its casting speed was faster and its effect more powerful.

Leveraging the night aspect, she could instantly cast Black Mist and Suggestion. However, in daylight, these spells were difficult to cast and less effective. The ancients depended on the weather for their livelihood; she now depended on the time of day for her magic – quite a strange circumstance.

Anyone plunged into sudden darkness would panic. Oliver was no exception. "I can't see!"

Slade was startled. He yelled, "Stay calm, don't fire wildly!"

He was the closest to Thea, and Oliver had been aiming in that direction. He was terrified Oliver might panic and accidentally shoot him.

Actually, he underestimated the future Green Arrow. Setting aside his current combat skills, his psychological resilience already showed the nascent qualities of a hero.

Oliver's initial panic upon experiencing magic for the first time quickly subsided. He moved a few steps forward, backward, left, and right, but found the darkness persisted.

He didn't know Thea had slightly modified the spell, changing it from affecting a fixed area to attaching to the target. While the target's own energy might reduce its duration slightly, the effect was more focused and potent.

Hearing Slade's shout, Oliver yelled back, "I know, I won't move!"

Finally, some redeeming qualities, Thea thought, his performance slightly improving her impression of her brother.

Since you're so calm, surely this next spell won't scare you either? She hoped.

Thea traced a few inscriptions in the air with her left hand and directed a stream of dark light towards Oliver's black mist.

This was a spell she had memorized from the pile of ancient scrolls in the mystical realm – the only one. It was originally intended as a targeted immobilization spell, but she had modified it, combining it with her Black Mist to create a 'Black Mist Immobilization' spell.

This allowed her to reuse the black mist already on the target, significantly reducing the mana cost. Additionally, the new spell circuit required only minor adjustments to the Black Mist spell itself, making it safe, fast, and able to utilize the effects of her night aspect.

Seeing her spell successfully cast, Thea opened her left hand towards Oliver and quickly clenched it.

"Huh?" Oliver, who had been fumbling in the darkness and had just regained his sight, felt a surge of relief. Being blind was terrible. He had already decided to stay far away from that mysterious person. If I can't beat you, can't I at least avoid you? He thought. Surely I can go help the pretty girl, Shado? But as he prepared to move, he was startled to find he couldn't move at all.

Slade was about to call him over for help when he saw him straining and gritting his teeth. Slade paused, then, recalling Thea's previous whispers, he was completely flummoxed. He was just a mercenary now, not the future Deathstroke. His knowledge was limited to understanding metahumans at best; he had never even heard of magic users, let alone seen one.

Encountering supernatural power for the first time in his life, his movements became clumsy. Thea seized the opportunity and struck him down. Just as he was about to fiercely resist, Thea delivered a chop to the back of his neck.

Whew. Dealing with this troublesome guy made the rest of the task much smoother.

Her duplicate forced Shado back with two arrows, handed the bow to Thea's main body, and vanished from sight like a shadow.