Agnisotra: Origin Tails

Hmm, this is worrying. The analysis of the magic I stole from that guardian was complete and things weren't looking so good for us. I walked over to Raishin’s hut which was our main gathering place. It was on the edge of the town so quite a quiet place and hardly any unexpected visitors. Except for when those two men came to investigate. Raishin also seemed to have something to share with us since he finally responded to our telepathic uhm I guess it's called Teleroad, messages. I seem to be the first one to arrive. Raishin never locked his door so I just entered.

What a mess, how can he find stuff in here? I decided to take this opportunity to practice a bit more with my shadow clones. I finally managed to make a third shadow clone that didn't look like shit. With Gregory’s instruction, I didn't need to apply any illusions to it to make it look like me. I still didn't master them fully so if you would take a better look at them, you would notice they don't look exactly like me. The fewer clones the more I could make them look like me. All of Gregory’s clones look exactly like him and he seems to be able to make about 10 of them. I will get there one day. Since I don't need them to look like me in this case, I added 2 more. They looked messed up now but as long as they could use my speed and clean up that was good enough. I cleaned up Raishin’s hut in record time. Only took like 5 minutes! I'm sure Raishin would take a whole day to clean this. Hmm was Raishin’s hut always this big? I heard someone approaching. By the sound of the footsteps, it would be Ted. Ted and Raishin entered the hut.

Something feels different here, was your hut always this big? Hey, where is all my stuff? Did I get robbed? Who would steal all that junk? And I cleaned the place.

Oh, so I have something to tell you guys! Might want to wait on Gregory.

You don't think he got lost? He is directionally challenged, even though he likes making maps, but he came here multiple times so he could find this without problems.

Well, yes but that is because there always is someone with him when we come here. Let me see, where is he? I looked around.

There he is! He is here, kind of, he's about 100 meters further up. I'm going to fetch him; I’ll be back in 10 seconds. 1…2… I stepped outside and dashed towards Gregory and returned to the hut.

9…10... Wow, it really took you only 10 seconds. Ugh, you scared me there, there must have been a gentler way to guide me to the hut. Time is money. Even though you’re… Ted looked at Raishin.

Never mind… Ok, so guys I have 2 things to tell you! First, I have an idea! How about we give all our skills names? That is an awful idea.

What you want us to just shout our magic and skill names in battle? What’s wrong with that? It will be fun! Rejected! Hmm, he might have a point. Everyone looked at me.

Hey Agnis, is your brain still frozen from the day before yesterday? No, I don't mean the shouting names in battle, that is a stupid idea. But giving our skills and stuff names could be useful. Assume you have an idea and need me to use a certain skill. What would you say? Hey, Agnis use that ice skill you used that one time? No not that ice skill! The other one. For communication purposes that would be useful. Like some basic skills, we know the name of like shadow cloak. I guess my frost wall could stay with the name frost wall. But as we get more creative with our magic the more options we have. Traditional skills like fireball etc. are a given but what if Raishin does something creative with a fireball, then another name might be needed to distinguish a normal skill from whatever iterations we end up needing.

Hmm, I'm convinced, I guess your idea was only 50% stupid Raishin. Hmm, I see so I can name my cool skills. Yes, in Ted’s case, I’ll leave the naming of skills to you, Gregory.

That is fine. Wait why! Your puns are un-bear-able! Gregory smacked Raishin for that pun and I sighed and facepalmed.

Meh, so what was the other thing you wanted to tell us Raishin? Hehe, I have a new technique! It’s called Raishin Kick! Let me guess, this is why you wanted to give names to skills.

No!... ok fine you got me… Hmm, let me guess, it is not a kick. Why would you say that?

He said technique, not skill or move. Well, it is a combo. Why would you name a combo “Raishin kick”?

It sounded cool! … … … Oh, come on guys, you know that ellipses aren't a dialogue option. He is trolling us, right? He is definitely trolling us. Sadly, I think he's serious. Anyway we can check your “Raishin kick” later. I had the idea of doing a short sparring session anyway because the information I got out of the analysis is kind of problematic.

How bad is it? I do know for a fact that if you didn't sneak attack and one shot that guardian we could have literally ended up as toast. How do you like “Raishin Toast” as a name for a move? Ugh, hard pass. So, what did you find? Well, it seems as we suspected, this guardian was really old. She seems to be older than our mothers.

Oof, she must be super strong then. Her specialty is water and wind. Nowhere could I find out that she is decent at fire or can use it at all. Wait but we saw her using fire!

Well as far as I can tell there are 3 explanations for that. She can use chaos magic, she was using illusions, or she did something that made it look like she could use fire magic. Out of the analysis, the first two don't apply. So, she was using fire by not using fire?

Exactly! Huh, how does that make sense? Hmm, I think what he means is that if you’re creative enough you can do things that are normally outside what is accepted as normal for a technique. It is possible to use ice if one has a strong fire affinity. As far as I know, fire affinity is actually incorrect as it is a heat affinity but everyone and their grandmother just use it to create fire and the like. But by removing the heat, which is possible with what we call fire affinity, you can create ice and stuff. Similarly, to that, you could kind of control the weather with water affinity even though that is mostly attributed to wind. I assume her making fire is related to her water or wind affinity. I'm assuming she is messing with oxygen concentrations or using compressed gas which heats up, or both. Hmm, something felt off. I can't read magic circles at all but it didn't look like any I've seen before when fire magic was used.

I guess that is the explanation for that occurrence. Hmm, any stuff we need to watch out for with her water affinity? I saw you turning water into acid earlier today so I kind of know what I can expect. I didn't find anything about how they use their elements, just that they have an affinity for those. Actually, affinity is quite wrong. We all have our affinities but that doesn't mean we can't use those we don't have affinities for it will just take more effort or have a high failure rate. This guardian is literally incapable of using anything besides wind and water magic.

So, to be clear, you’re talking about water magic and not frost magic? Yes, we don't have to worry about frost shenanigans. Phew, am I wrong to think that it will be an instant loss for us if she could use frost magic?

Sounds about right. Yup, we’d be so screwed if that was the case. I don't want to ever fight anyone with frost magic, if I find one, I will instantly run, screw that! Yes! Fear us! Gregory smacked me.

Anything else? Uhh, oh right, our biggest problem. She is a yuki-onna, so she is a spirit. Uhh, why is that a problem?

Well, as far as I know, you can't damage a spirit. Hmm, but you one-shot it right? Don't tell me it is coming back.

I don't know, I'm surprised I could even hit her. Hey, Agnis, dumbass, aren't you forgetting something important here in this picture?

Whud? Aren’t, you a spirit too?

Hmm, my body is quite corporeal and as you know I take damage. Gregory facepalmed.

Aren’t, you a nine-tailed spirit fox? Oooh. Ooh. Ooh. wait I don't get it, why does that matter?

Hmm well, I've read that there is a thing like spirit mages down here. It is a rare branch of ehh it isn't even seen as regular magic. It isn't a lost art but it might as well be with how few can use it. So, a human or any sentient creature makes a contact with a spirit and this has to be mutual. The spirit mage as it's called then uses the spirit to fight. It is impossible to harm the spirit unless you’re a spirit mage yourself so the basic strategy is to defeat the spirit mage and then the spirit will get knocked out too. They are known to be quite powerful though. You could give a teenager a mid-tier spirit and even skilled magic users will have difficulty dealing with the teenager. You’re talking as if teenagers are weak and clueless but aren't we teenagers too?

Well, it's a figure of speech, and that is the example the book gave! Anyway what I can gather from what I've read there is that unless you’re a spirit you can't damage a spirit. They can damage you though. Hmm, that is really overpowered, it's cheating even! Well, putting two spirits in charge of guarding a root sounds like a genius idea. Nothing can kill them and they can just easily fight off whatever tries to destroy them.

So, if they are so strong why haven't they taken over the world yet? Hmm, the book said something about spirits needing a place of power, that is why they form contracts, in that case, they will have a mobile place of power but otherwise, they have to find a place with a lot of energy and that will be their charging station. If they run out of juice, they get forced back into the spirit world or to their power spot depending on the situation. Just destroying the place of power will force the spirit to run out of energy and return to the spirit world. Hmm, so what about Agnis then? If he’s a spirit, shouldn't he have the same limitations? Hey, don't look at me! I just discovered that I'm a spirit!

But you always knew you were a nine-tailed spirit fox… And about that... I don't know. Hehe, Agnis, you're such a weirdo! Hey! I don't want to hear that from you! Agnis, you’re such a weirdo!

Not from any of you! Anyway it seems that Agnis is the only one that can do damage to her. But what about my Raishin kick? I trained for nothing!

Well, the root needs destroying, you can Raishin kick the root. We don't even know if we can beat that chick. It might be faster if I keep her busy while you nuke the root. There shouldn't be any seals so the root should be unprotected. Hmm, maybe it will spawn some pink broccoli so you might still be able to use it. But I want to use it on the last boss!

Well, you can use it on the last boss, do no damage, and then deal with the root, is that ok? Nooo! Raishin collapsed dramatically.

Ugh, got any good news? Hmm, well they are weak to fire if you can hit them that is. She seems to be adept at creating and dispelling seals I managed to nab some seal-forming and dispelling magic and I'm analyzing it to get better at that. Besides that, not really just raw power. I couldn't make heads or tails from this spirit magic she can use. Not that it would matter since none of us are spirits. Gregory smacked me.

Do I have to remind you again that YOU are a spirit? So, seems I can do something with it, after all, too bad I discarded that magic.

Ugh, this guy. Hey, I didn't know that back then! Fine, anything else? That is about it. We already know she has 2 sisters. Wait there is one more? You know what maybe this town isn't that bad after all… Oh, I can use my Raishin kick on her! Still a spirit. Nooo! Raishin collapsed dramatically again.

Well, since they are proficient in water and wind, I think we don't have a choice but to split up. I need Gregory to deal with defense when I'm fighting the guardian. Which means Raishin and Ted fight the root. Hmm, I guess that makes sense since he doesn't do much damage anyways it won't be much of a difference if he's fighting something he can't hit. Hey!

We should focus on destroying the root because they might not be able to defeat the guardian. I think it would be more accurate to say that we’re on a losing battle there so it would be nice if you guys could destroy the root before she murders us.

I will let you Raishin kick the biggest broccoli monster. Yes! Ok, I'm pumped now, let's go! Raishin got up and was heading towards the door when Ted grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him in and down forcing him to sit on the ground.

How about you wait till we are done here? Meh, but you guys talk for so long! We’re done now, you wanted to show us the Raishin kick right? Then how about we spar, let's make it a 2v2 in the pairs we're gonna fight the guardian with.

Alright, Ted! Let's own them! Ugh, you say that because you didn't see Agnis’ new sword. I'm not a big fan of this idea but I could see the use of this. We all practiced some stuff; it would be best to give them a test run so any of us can point out possible flaws in what we've practiced. I'm sure that Raishin's kick has a lot of holes.

So, I got my Raishin kick, what do you guys have? I have Agnis punch. Really?

Of course not! I have a new sword. I have 16 more in my dimensional pocket. Didn't you make 17?

Yeah, one shattered when I one-shot the guardian. Aah right, somehow your swords always shatter, might as well make them out of glass, would be way cheaper. But it seems that the sword didn't make the cut. Any sword that doesn't shatter in Agnis’ hands can be seen as s-word-thy. Ugh, another dumb pun.

Wow, such haters. Anyway I got my hand cannon. I got my hammer. You finally got a hammer?

No reaction to my hand cannon? No, because you'll probably throw in another dumb pun. Yes, it is heavy though, I have to make my shadow carry it for me. So where is it now?

Shit, I forgot it! Wow, Gregory forgot something.

Hey, I was busy, and forgetting things is normal! not how you forget things Agnis! Meh, do I need to get it?

Yes, please it is in my backyard. Aight. I teleport to Gregory’s backyard, and sucked the hammer into my dimensional pocket, yes, it got sucked in. I managed to fix my problem of getting stuff inside my dimensional pocket. And teleported back and took it out.

Thanks. So, are we going to spar now? I want to show off my Raishin kick! Uh, I guess we can do that now, just have a question though, how are you going to hit that? I don't think you can hit Agnis and well Gregory is like an immovable force.

Shit! Noo I won't be able to use it! Hey Agnis, can you stand still so I can Raishin kick you? How about no? Raishin collapsed dramatically again.

We found an area that had enough space but also some rock formations and trees to hide between. I made an illusion cover the whole area so that nobody would see what we were doing. To outsiders, it would just look like nothing was happening here.

So how do we decide when to stop? Hmm in my case if I take 3 direct hits, I’m out I guess, how about you Gregory? Same here.

Uhh. I guess when my regeneration slows down, and let's just knock Raishin out. Hey! Sounds good to me. Acceptable terms.

Hey! Why do I need to be knocked out? Because you ask questions like this. Because you neither are evasive nor defensive.

Ugh, I’ll Raishin kick you all and end up victorious. I'm going to be happy if we can even land a hit on them. Any combo that has Gregory or Agnis in it is unfair to fight; it's even worse now they’re in the same pair. Well, we need all of that when fighting the guardian. Hope you guys are ready. We all popped out our tails. I fired up my [Tail Dynamo]. Both Gregory and I popped out our shadow clones and the thunder augment as I've been calling it got the name [Thunder cloak]. Gregory covered himself in his [Shadow cloak], his to-go move. Gregory and I opened a private Teleroad line between us. I assume Ted and Raishin are doing the same. I also linked my vision with Gregory. It didn't seem like the other 2 needed some basic setup skills. Gregory can see now whatever I can see. It will make it easier for him to react defensively. I turned on filters that showed magic activation sequences, energy movement, and electrical impulses next to the ones I always have running. Our biggest obstacle is Raishin. Forget 3 direct hits on me he could knock me out in just 1 if I'm unlucky. I do not doubt that Raishin kick packs a punch so I don't want to get hit by that.

How long can you keep the visual link? 45 min to an hour. I want to finish this as soon as possible though. Make sure you get to test the stuff you want. I will get out the magic sword in about 15 minutes. An energy blast from Ted’s hand cannon came flying and Gregory easily blocked it. I don't know what he named this skill but I have the feeling it's a dumb pun. Hey guys, do you know how this cannon lost its last job? Don't react to that Agnis!

It got fired! I evaded the shot he probably named [Fire] and countered. I shot out a blue [lightning strike] Gregory followed up with a [shadow bind], using his shadow to pin down Ted's shadow. Ted punched the ground with a [Ground Pound] raising the earth around him and disrupting the shadows and breaking free. I wanted to drop another [Lightning strike] since Ted blocked it but I had to evade Raishin’s attack. Raishin activated his own [Thunder cloak] and swiped his spear at me. I don't know what he was trying to do but since his move pool is relatively small and I don't recognize this it seems to be his Raishin kick. Hey, don't dodge! So, it was your Raishin kick! I dodged something that looked like he wanted to sweep my legs me with his spear.

As I thought, this isn't a kick. I said as I used [Voltaic step] to create distance and send a numbing electric wave outwards which has my initial first 3 steps as the epicenter. Its effectiveness drops the further the target is from the epicenter but I use it to disengage so anyone who knows how it works would want to create distance fulfilling its purpose. My buddies know very well that once they get stuck in a crowd control chain by me it would be hard to break out. Raishin reacted and created distance. My shadow clone rushed in and shot some [Chilling Water] at him. While my other clone was using [Frozen Ground] and [Bubble Trap] I left some canals on the frozen floor through which I let water flow. I didn't complete the canal network but gradually while fighting I would form them into a magic circle and then run lightning through it to activate some big magic. Since magic circles draw in magic from the surroundings I wouldn't need to worry about nausea. I just have to make sure they don't notice. Raishin tried to leg sweep Gregory with his spear but Gregory blocked it with a [Shadow wall]. A lot of fast-moving rocks got absorbed into Gregory’s shadow wall at the same time Raishin tried to, I guess, [Raishin kick], Gregory.

Say Raishin, are you going to use other moves or what? I will! After I land this! The hammer smashed down with a heavy slam and almost flattened Raishin. Gregory went for another round but Ted dashed in and blocked it. A crack formed in his metal knuckles. What the! Hehe, don't mess with sapphire! I used some [Frost Bubbles]

Oh shit. What we just saw was Ted freaking out because of some bubbles. Raishin was too busy Raishin kicking Gregory’s shadow wall and got hit by a frost bubble. It sucked up some lightning that surrounded Raishin till it filled up and then exploded with lightning and frost magic. Aagh

Ugh, you idiot. Ted punched the ground to pop the bubbles with his [Earth Spikes]. A lot of rock spikes popped most of the bubbles I made. Gregory slammed his hammer on the ground and reverted Ted’s earth skill and a dome appeared around Ted and started closing in on him. I formed some more canals because Ted was probably the only one who would notice what I was trying here and he was occupied at the moment. Raishin came at me for another leg sweep. I backflipped and in the process kicked his head with a lightning-charged kick. He kept dashing in and I kept evading and countering his moves with various lightning-enhanced kicks, throws, and punches.

Ugh, you’re tough, I'm sure those eyes tell you exactly what I'm going to do! You know even a blind person could do this if you keep trying to do the same move against me! I dodged his [Lightning Strike] and countered his [Raishin kick]. I saw Gregory going ham with his hammer. He seemed to be swinging the hammer around quite well but more often than not he let the shadows grab and swing the hammer while he was casting magic. Ted had an easy time with the magic Gregory threw at him but he was struggling the most with the hammer slams and the occasional shadow skills he got attacked with.

Aaagh! Screw this! Raishin started to gather a lot of energy, probably for his [Nova blast] Oh shit. Hey, Raishin, are you trying to blow us all up? Raishin started to glow orange-ish and energy started to gather in both of his hands.

Agnis over here. I ran over to Gregory and hid behind the [Earth wall] and [Shadow wall] and I formed a [Frost wall] myself. I saw, and I guess Gregory also, since he shares my vision, saw through the walls how Ted started to run for his life and Raishin nuked the whole area. Before the nuke landed, I saw Ted trying to burrow into the ground to try and escape the blast. I felt sorry for him but this was a sparring match, so I used [Frozen Ground] with frost magic to freeze the ground where he tried to dig into. Because of this, he failed to dodge Raishin’s blast. We were just chilling in our protected area. It seemed to have vaporized the earth wall Gregory put up but it didn't do much against his shadow wall. My frost wall was for insurance and to make sure no weird stuff gets through that can't be blocked by the shadow wall. Like radiation or other nasty stuff like that.

You are merciless Agnis. Ted said while he came all bloodied from behind a boulder, he made last minute. I feel bad about this but at least that means we will have to hurt you less now to knock you out. You keep Raishin busy while I finish Ted off.

Are you going to release your stored energy? Yup, I called it [Liberation].

I feel sorry for Ted, I'll make him some ice cream afterward. Gregory surrounded Ted with his shadows. Uh oh. Sorry about this one, Agnis is going to make some ice cream for you as an apology. Gregory’s shadows start to seem to become solid and shiny. The look of it reminded me of obsidian. Ted was surrounded by obsidian structures. Gregory used [Liberation] and all the energy he absorbed from Raishin’s nuke and other energy he had stored got unleashed on Ted. A lot of dark purple and black lasers bombarded Ted as the shadows started to become more gas-like as they unloaded their energy.

Ahh! It knocked Ted out and Gregory rushed at him to give him some healing potions. Meanwhile, I was countering Raishin's kicks and evading lightning bolts. Raishin, we need to talk about your variety in battle! I amped up the speed and speed-blitzed him with ice punches. I mixed in some frost punches to sap his [Thunder cloak].

Ugh, maybe Ted was right, fighting you two was a bad idea. Raishin tried to react but couldn't manage to hit me. As I was zooming around, I noticed he was preparing a wide-range attack. I used [Voltaic step] but because he was so busy trying to charge his attack while attempting to Raishin kick me, he got hit by it. Hehe, I got you now!

Crap! Raishin who got hit by all 3 of my voltaic steps got a long and nasty paralyze on him. He could still use skills but he couldn't move. Since lightning won't do much to him, I went for fire. He won't die from this but it will hurt.

Wait fire? Ok ok ok! I give up! It doesn't count unless you get knocked out!

Damn you, Ted. I sent a [Flame wave] at him and made him crispy. It didn't knock him out though. He broke out of the paralyze and teleported behind me. Because I could see the pings he sent out to where he was teleporting, I expected it and sidestepped it while Gregory bonked him on his head making him pass out.

Seems I couldn't test out my sword. Maybe that is for the best, you could probably kill them with that.

Fair point. How was the hammer? Hmm, I got to get used to it but it does add some power to my skill set, which I badly need. I couldn't see much of those two’s training though. Although Ted could keep up pressure even from a distance, honestly, that hand cannon is quite weak.

Hmm, well we didn't give them a chance to do stuff, and Raishin blowing up on Ted didn't help either. Yeah, we need to talk to Raishin about his battle behavior.

Although that is true, I think it might be better for Ted to do that. I said as I gestured towards Ted who was waking up.

Wow, that was brutal. We were just talking about how you might want to give Raishin a piece of your mind about his battle style.

Ugh, I got a lot to say, I couldn't even test out my mighty hand cannon! Not gonna lie, that thing is weak but at least you can keep up the pressure from ranged with it. It is not going to do anything against opponents like Agnis or me.

Hmm, so you're telling me it is a piece of junk? Hmm not really. I have an idea that you can use it with but I’ll have to bounce off ideas with Gregory. Is it ok if I can hop by tomorrow morning? There is something I want your opinion about Greg. Sure.

Hmm, I'm curious. I don't want to get your hopes up but I might have an idea that allows you guys to hit a spirit. Ooh, I'm curious now, guess I’ll find out tomorrow what you cooked up.

So, is that slacker going to get up? He got up a bit ago but I think he’s sulking.

So, you know it's supposed to be a tag-team, right? You can't just spam the same skill over and over! Ugh, but fighting Agnis and Gregory is so unfair!

Well, we already knew that! And what did you do to make it less unfair? Spam your Raishin kick? We didn't need to be handicapped more than we already were! On top of that, you nuked me! I'm the only one who took damage from that! Sorry about that. But... but... My Raishin kick! Ted continued scolding Raishin as I thought about our sparring match. Raishin did make a fool out of himself but I know for a fact that he would never do that in a real battle. Reason 1 is because I would probably set up the target so that he has an easy time landing his Raishin kick and secondly is that I feel that he felt like he could mess around a bit since it is a sparring match.

I think it's good to let Ted vent for a bit. Even though they did lose it didn't feel like they would just let us do whatever we wanted.

Yeh, I tried to set up some big magic with the canals I made in my [Frozen Ground] but Raishin melted it with his nuke. He probably didn't mean to but his intuition sometimes just tells him to do stuff that ends up working in his favor. Let's hope his intuition doesn't tell him to do stuff all too crazy.

At least I learned to set these things up with frost magic. I could've thrown a nasty counter by returning the energy absorbed by that nuke. Hmm, one day we should coordinate the liberation of the energy we absorb I'm sure it's going to vaporize our adversaries.

You still have energy left to throw around against the guardian, right? Oh of course. I only unleashed 20% of Raishin’s nuke back at Ted.

Scary, both his nuke and your [Liberation]. I'm trying to figure out how to convert some energy I absorb into heals. It won't turn me into a healer but it would help you squishies out.

So overpowered! I guess I should find ways to live long enough to make use of those then. I'm not sure how well I can hold out after getting hit. Well, you do have your overpowered frost magic so just spam it, I guess?

Well, I noticed that that might be a bad idea after I one shot that guardian remember? I guess every strong skill has a downside. We watched for 30 minutes how Ted was scolding Raishin.

Anyways even though that was shorter than expected… Ted looked at Raishin. It was good to stretch a bit even though we got defeated quite easily. Ted looked at Raishin again, who was smiling uncomfortably and nervously.

Let's get some rest. That means you too Agnis! No secret training! What! I didn't say anything!

You didn't get to show off your new magic sword, which I'm grateful for actually. But no secret sneaking off and training, who knows we might wake up to a cut in half mountain. Come on that is ridiculous!

Do I need to remind you that you cut a deep gash into the floor and rock wall when we were fighting the PB? Or how you vaporized a mountain and the pink broccoli? Oh, come on Raishin helped with the pink broccoli!

That is not my point! But thank you for confirming the other incidents! Ugh, fine I’ll put it to hold.

Ha! I knew it! And no secret practicing your [Raishin kick] either! Meh. Well, I'm off to craft some potions, are you coming over at 9 tomorrow? Yah. Guess I’ll craft some daggers and make wires.

I'm going to cry myself to sleep. Don't be such a baby! Hey Raishin. Sup? I'll make sure you will be able to use [Raishin kick] on the boss tomorrow.

You’re the best! Hehe, I know. Hey, don't feed his ego! More! feed my ego more!

As I was walking home, I thought of the idea I had in mind to help my buddies out to do damage to the guardian. I wasn't sure if it even would work and I promised Raishin he would get a hit in. I will find a way one way or another. I confirmed that there was still energy flowing towards me from the guardian who was stuck in my frost trap. Maybe I should warn my buddies that she is probably going to be super pissed off when we encounter her. Nah, that is not so important. It would be nice if we could defeat it while she was stuck in the frost but it would interfere with whatever magic we throw at her. Setting her loose wouldn't be a great idea either. I could use the same move I did to one shot this one but I don't think I will get off that unharmed this time. The last time I didn't have a lot of frost magic sucking up magic all over the place. This time I have. It might very well send me over my limit.

There might be a possibility that I have to sacrifice myself to get a fast and easy kill. But dealing with the other guardians of the other roots, if any, would get increasingly difficult for my buddies. So, I don't think that is a very good idea. Just releasing her from the trap sounds like a stupid idea too. I should leave some frost on her and cover it with some illusions so that she doesn't notice. And when needed I can make it siphon a lot of magic from her when the need is dire. I think that is the plan I'm going with. I'm going to try to see if I can defeat her with a good sword swing first. I arrived home and set the plan I had in motion. I greeted Philip and Hera and went to my room. I had to be careful and precise so that it will be as safe and efficient as possible.