*****
The world was full of fog. A grayish-white haze covered the entire earth. It seemed that it had become a monolithic wall, not letting anything or anyone through. The rays of the sun even "sank" in the fog.
But suddenly, I don't understand where, an incomprehensible sound was heard. With every second it grew and grew until it became clear that it was the sound of battle.
However, this sound was slightly unusual. What exactly was its unusualness, you ask. Voices, they were not heard, as if the very concept of speech had been erased from the edge of this world. Perhaps it was, who knows?
Once you get into this fog, an outside observer has the opportunity to see blurry silhouettes. To be more precise, there were about ten of them, but their number was falling every moment.
It was a battle of one against all. All of them were humanoid golems that with sepulchral calm advanced on their enemy, not paying attention to the losses of their "relatives".
The defender was humanoid, at least at first glance. The tall, flexible, moderately muscular body was covered with icy white scales. The once human face was now elongated and resembled that of a reptile. Behind the back of the "lizard" the tail lived its own life, harmoniously fitting into the image of this creature.
If you don't look too closely, you can assume that this dragonite is having fun. However, if you take a closer look, it becomes clear that this is not so. This individual was not half dragon, but half wyvern. The muzzle looked too much like a snake's, not a dragon's.
*BANG* The mace blow of one of the golems landed on the creature's right arm with a loud sound. He, without even wincing, threw his opponent back with effort, thereby throwing off his balance. Not missing the moment, the "white" one opened his mouth and with a single, strong exhalation froze the golem, turning it into an ice statue that, unable to withstand its weight (and the position when you stand on one leg is not very stable), fell to the ground with a roar, breaking into many pieces.
Feeling something, the creature bent down, passing above itself, in the place where its neck should have been, the blade of the scythe of one of the golems. Leaning on his hands, the "white" one forcefully pushed his opponent's torso with his legs, throwing him away from him. A swing of the tail and a dozen deadly icicles fell from its "tip", piercing right through the next opponent. Frost began to form at the hit points and began to cover the rest of the body.
Suddenly, a powerful air ram with incredible force threw the white one back. Having flown about fifteen meters in an instant, he broke a tree with his body with a crunch, and behind him a second, a third.
For a moment the battle stopped. The seven remaining golems stopped in place, and then, in a single impulse, rushed towards the expected location of the enemy. A giant log flew out to meet them, straight out of the fog, but otherwise did not hurt anyone.
Suddenly the ground under the feet of one of the golems swelled and then exploded into a giant cloud of dust. As soon as it dissipated, the silhouette of a white man became visible (as far as possible in such a thick fog), and with visible pleasure he crushed the head of his next opponent with his hand. The once amber eyes flashed with a gray, blue-tinged flame, and then the "white" disappeared. Six left.
*BANG* A terrifyingly powerful blow from a scaly fist landed on the crossed blades. With a loud crunch, they could not withstand such mockery and scattered into countless metal fragments, glistening in the light of the rays of the sun from nowhere. Without being confused, the golem let go of the handles of the now broken swords and, grabbing the white man's hand, threw him over his shoulder with a clap and dropped him to the ground. An instant and the golem's body already falls to the ground, having lost its head, and the creature, which in flight tore off the golem's head with its tail, forcefully launched the designated limb at another opponent. Before reaching it, it crumbled into dust. Five left.
- R-r-a-A! - roaring at the top of his lungs, the "white" "sent" a sound wave, which momentarily stunned his opponents. That was enough for him.
With a whistle, he disappeared from his place, only to crash into the magical barrier that arose around the "caster" from among the enemies with a loud ringing sound. Growling angrily, the "white" disappeared again to appear next to two nearby golems. A synchronized swing of two hands that ended in rather sharp claws, and the bodies left without heads fell to the ground.
*Clang* It was with this sound that a spear and a two-handed ax fell to the ground, falling from the hands of their already dead owners. Three left.
Quickly turning around its axis, the creature forcefully sent two heads at two golems. Without wasting time, he also kicked the ground, thereby sending out an invisible wave of prana, which raised a giant dust cloud, making it difficult to see him in the thick fog.
Having knocked off two heads, the remaining "knight" with a shield and sword, as well as the next order of the spearman, stood next to the "sorcerer", thereby saving him from an unexpected attack.
The tense "silence" dragged on. Two golems were guarding the third, and at that very moment he was weaving another spell. Just by looking at him one could feel not just a comic danger, but with it a "ton" of mana.
The wind blew, thereby dispersing the dust cloud, revealing emptiness. There was no "White", just empty land. There was no trace of the enemy, which could not but be alarming.
Having started looking around, the golems "forgot" to do the obvious thing in a magical battle, for which they paid in an instant. that same "white" one fell from the sky on them, crushing one of them into a pancake with his feet, simply trampling him into the ground, and with a swing of his tail, covered with ice, he beheaded the second.
Having finished "reading" the spell, the golem sent the weave towards the creature. The right hand of the "white one" "flew up" to meet the spell, which, even in the visible spectrum, was filled with an incredible amount of energy. The creature's lips were adorned with an animal smile, and its eyes lit up with an otherworldly flame.
An instant and the spell collided with a limb, beginning to "devour" it, leaving no trace. However, this was not enough. With a slurping sound (from where only?) She pierced her opponent through, to the jubilant roar of the winner. Hanging like a limp doll, the golem "died" instantly.
Tensing slightly, the creature shook its hand with force, throwing the body of its already dead opponent to the ground.
Time stopped, and then began its course again. First, the few trees disappeared. The ground lies behind them, leaving behind a stone floor littered with runes. And then the fog disappeared, revealing a view of the stone room of the ancient castle, which was also covered with many runes and circles.
After all this, nine defeated golems disappeared from the earth along with their weapons.
This fate did not pass our "prize-winner" by. Silently, but with an indescribable visual effect, all the scales disappeared. Along with her, her tail also disappeared, and her face also became normal again, showing the face of an incredibly beautiful teenager of about sixteen.
Having looked at the colors of the cloudy sky with his eyes, he lowered his gaze to his hands. Clenching and unclenching his hand into a fist, he said:
- It was interesting.
And after that, his body swayed and, as if in slow motion, fell onto the stone floor with a dull sound.
The fight is over.
*****
Hmmm, it was at least fun. With my hands on the floor, with an incredible effort, I turned over onto my back, fixing my gaze on the stone ceiling.
I haven't had such an intense fight in a long time. Perhaps from Greenland. Somehow I never thought that Rescue the Room was capable of creating such skillful opponents for me. These golems are just something. Just the fact that they could work together puts them several heads above their peers.
Somehow raising my hand in front of me, I began to solve it. That blow of the mace did not pass without a trace. For a brief moment, the bone broke, but regeneration did its job. Lovely. Now all that remains is to rest, gain strength, and then go to the living room. Tomorrow is Halloween, which means another milestone in the history of Magical England.
Over the past month, I haven't managed to achieve much, but I still have something. First and, perhaps, most important, it seems that I was able to find a way to solve my problem with the right one, or rather its storage.
In general, there were several options. From dead iron that devours life, that is, prana from everything it touches (discarded. Too many disadvantages. The biggest one is possible problems with the head), to buying vampires their special bat, which also feeds on prana (bad idea. Firstly, we still need to find vampires. Secondly, it's not a fact that they are selling it to me. And thirdly, I can become a dinner myself. Well, fuck him.)
In general, I have a temporary solution and a permanent one. I'm currently working on the first one. His principle is simple - to instill in my body some dragon traits on a permanent basis. This will help me win about two more years in the race with death. My training in transforming into a half-wyvern helps me in this matter. The results are already there and that's the main thing.
The second option is a metamorph spatial pocket. It's worth emphasizing here. There are two types of metamorphs. Those who transform into proven variants of transformation (the appearance of plowshares, birds, chimeras, etc.), as well as those who transform at will. The first type of spatial pocket stores various appearances. For the second, it's just biomass that will be used for transformation.
Of course, the latter are stronger than the former, but it is also much harder to become them.
What is my idea? Create the same spatial pocket, but not for flesh, but for prana. After all, by feeding my body, she can create an incredible amount of flesh.
However, I have a small problem. There is no ritual for my idea, so I will have to finish it myself. Well, it's okay, with my memory it's easy to learn runes and numerology, all that's left is to get better at it.
What other successes have I achieved? I found the reason for the difference in emotions and greater sensitivity. The answer turned out to be banal, it's even surprising why I didn't guess it myself. My gift is undergoing a similar evolution, moving to a higher quality level. This is good news, but the fact that it will become a little more difficult to control is bad. It's okay, I can handle it.
My practice at Mungo's is progressing by leaps and bounds. Well, of course, with such a teaching style. If you want to live, you won't learn that.
Judging by Smethwick's remarks, I will soon have practice working in pairs (excuse the tautology). Well, let's see what happens.
That's probably all. I haven't achieved anything else like this. Well, maybe I started doing some small experiments, but more on that another time.
Standing up with an effort, groaning every now and then like an old grandfather, I walked on stiff legs to a pile of neatly folded clothes. After getting dressed, I headed out.
Well, you should get some rest. Starting tomorrow, the fun will begin.