The Lich's head frowned from above. A hint? What in the nine levels was he talking about? Did he... was he actually asking for a hint on how to defeat him. The helll? The Lich didn't even know why this idiot had showed up in his caverns in the first place and now he was asking for help. Truly a strange human. Apollo's gauntlet vibrated quietly then fell dormant again. The Lich viewed the sword suspiciously, he could feel the holyness practically dripping off of it. Repulsive. "You want a show human? Fine!" the Lich said angrily and the bones of its host body suddenly glowed from their frozen encasings. Complex runes were revealed to be ingrained in the bones. The ice around them shattered and the bones flew together reassembling. But now they grabbed all the other bones in the area as well and earth flew around in a maelstrom of motion. At the end of it what stood before him could mostly aptly be described as a death knight. Its body seemed to be made of earth and it was wearing armor made of bone and it stood seven feet tall. The Lich's head promptly sailed into place on the body and it reached into nothingness and withdraw a massive axe as tall as the body itself that looked as though it was made out of obsidian. "Here's a hint, give up." The lich said coolly as he waited for Apollo to move. Apollo's body would be most helpful in progressing his research.
The robot kept spinning senselessly as more and more blades impaled it and finally it wound down to a halt staring at Chen with eerie accuracy. It shouldn't even be functioning at this point much less be able to see him. "R-r-r-run, Self-destruct activated." Its eyes glowed and the number 10 appeared counting down with every flash. As the robot seemed to finally shut down it point its arm, stuck with at least six other swords, behind Chen. There were three more doors, each one further away than the next. They were the same as before, one is a light wood with a white tint, the middle one is a grayish color and the final one is a dark broken door. The door that head led here was the gray one, which one would he choose this time.
Apollo looked in awe at what the Lich had done. He was pretty impressive. He whistled. The summoning of Ascalon had cured Apollo completely. That meant that the curse that The Lich had placed on him was gone and so were the injuries from Ephilates blast. The Lich apparently did not understand something though. With this new "ability" came some brand new abilities. He looked at The Lich.
"Look sir, I didnt came here for a fight. The school teleported me here as a kind of exam. If they did that without your consent then I'm sorry. I want to get into the Student Council so that My father Merlin could see that I am not weak. If you wont give me a hint then fine, i'll figure this out myself!" Apollo said with audacity, he had found some courage. And he would use it wisely.
With a swing of the blade, a giant circle appeared glowing under him. This was the seal of the Archangel Gabriel. This seal made the sword and the holder official. Ascalon now belonged to Apollo. Suddenly Apollo's head began growing brightly as a Halo appeared. At the same time Wings grew out of his back. This was his holy transformation. With it came a kind of Holy Armor, that protected against anything malicious or evil. Apollo looked at The Lich directly.
"Sorry Mr.Lich but Loosing is the one thing I can't afford right now." Apollo said as he summoned a Holy Shield to his right hand. Taking up a defensive stance. I need to finish this quick and fast.
@Eklispe Kenny was caught off guard when he was sent hurdling through the air. He quickly regained control in mid-air and tumbled to his feet when he landed. "Okay.....Belle-Sensei I'm listening." Kenny stopped taking a breath. The recoil from his failed assault was kicking in and a break was needed to regain what was lost. He wasn't gonna tell Belle that of course. "I'm listening to you and that's nice so I believe I won myself a hint." He playfully joked as he unequipped his Brass knuckles.
Chen deactivated all of his spells with a quick pulse of The Fool and looked towards the doors. He activated The Hermit and teleported to the broken door. He opened the door and rushed through, he shut the door behind him just as the explosion went off.
Of course, cursed Meruin. She quickly ran options through her head - she didn't have anything on hand that could deal with the mannequin, not when she didn't know what it was capable of. She had to widen the distance between them if she wanted to plan things out. Thrusting both hands in front of her, Meruin drew two runes frantically, which both lit up as soon as the were made.
As soon as they lit up, Meruin was blasted backwards. The sleeves on her arms tore up, and bruises began forming on her hands. Taking a shaky breathe, Meruin drew a rune on the floor, and began muttering under her breathe, preparing to repair her barriers.
Silently, the Fo watched as Kieran attempted to pinpoint the key to opening the exit. It was quite a simple solution, really, but rarely was it that people considered the simple solu-
"Meep!"
With a cry and a flash of light, Fo disappeared from the spot where she once was, reappearing right on top of the doorknob, chest heaving slightly and eyes widened in surprise. She took a moment to collect herself, inhaling deep, calming breaths. She shot a glare at Kieran. "Really? You don't just hold a woman without her permission, you know?" she pouted, locking eyes with Kieran.
After a moment, she favored him with a small, congratulatory smile. "But, you aren't wrong. I am indeed the key to opening the door. Now, the problem is getting me to open the door for you."
Fo floated a bit away from the door, arms crossed and face grinning in challenge. Her wings flipped erratically, as if practically daring Kieran to touch her.
Shaking her head, the Ravishing Woman smirked from afar, where Aleksandra couldn't see her. "Credits for tenacity, dear," she whispered, "but the you won't get past this point with strength or tenacity."
As Aleksandra dived straight for the Golden Titan's head, the Silver Titan pulled him out of the way, using the momentum of the swing to drag its fist in a wide arc, heading straight for a falling Alkesandra. It's face was contorted in anger, and its glare had an actual, oppressive aura.
Din had a dry look expression, and yet, a small, amused smirk made its way to his face. Shaking his head, Din walked towards Agatha, his copper joints. The copper man placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't throw around your feelings like that, Pendragon. You may control the weather, but life has its own ways moving. Weather follows a pattern, and only when it's most complete does life spring from it."
Do you have no choice? echoed the Ancient One's voice, reverberating through the chamber. Is leaving him alone truly difficult? Why do you feel responsible for him?
Cruz snorted. "It sounds ridiculous, but at the same time, so familiar - you've said it to me before, that me and my family are tyrants, lusting for power," Cruz leveled a glare at Agni, hate burning in his eyes. Hate, sadness, and loneliness. Flinging his hands, grids of light lifted up besides him, forming eight pillars that covered the explosions, "you'd rather everyone else around me die out!"
And your arrogance begets you, Agni - this Cruz is real, with his own life, experience and aspirations. Even this one has felt the stirrings of love for that girl Pamela. Accept this fact before you face him! And should you still wish to destroy him despite that, to erase his existence, everything that he was, is and will be, everything that he means to those that love him, then at least then you will be aware of the weight of the life you're taking.
"Hargh!" with a harsh cry, the Life Hackers shot waves of light in a wide arc towards Agni. At the same time, two swords made of rusted bronze floated above him, pointing at him. For some reason, however, Cruz did not seem to be able to notice them.
MAKE YOUR CHOICE AGNI!
The ancient hallway shook and rumbled with the thrumming of its voice.
As Azrael devoured the black stone, thick, black veins spread throughout Azrael's body, before disappearing briefly. Silence settled on the field, before a familiar looking creature appeared. The ugly, weathered looking creature stared up at Azrael, its grim features twisted into an almost approving expression. Wordlessly, he tapped the floor with his staff, and the earth coiled around it, forming into a wide door. With an ominous creek, the doors swung open, revealing a dark chasm filled with black fire.
"Here, step forward for the next part of your exam," he said, gesturing inside.
@TheHangedMan Agatha was by now quite angry and did not have a clue as to what to do in such a situation. A small dark cloud had formed over head and a haze was rapidly forming around her body. As she stood there staring at Din and trying to control her negative feelings, tiny bits of hail formed and fell.
"Master Din, I do not know what to do to get these gears reversed. I lack the knowledge which by the way is the reason why I am here. To...Be...Taught. From what I have seen so far, I shall die of old age before solving such puzzles that you have put forth. While I am not a simpleton, I have had absolutely no training at all. I have no family that has any magical ability, no friends and no teachers that could help me. Now are you going to teach me or am I going to die in an attempting solving my first test." Agatha spoke in a slow very much controlled voice.
Kieran turned to face where the fairy had appeared at the door. He took a few steps closer and glared back at her. After a moment he began reaching his hands up slowly toward her, stopping them a short distance away. "did you prefer a gentler touch?" He smirked
Belle's right eyebrow twitched in irritation. "You think that pretending to pay attention now is going to get me to repeat myself? Get real punk. But since you seem totally lost I'll give you a deal. If you give-up and let me hit ya without resisting, then I'll tell ya. Sound like a deal pipsqueak?" Belle asked abrasively as leaned back against the wall casually. But gawds did these freshmen get on her nerves sometimes.
"You didn't come here for a fight? You come into my lair, somehow bypassing the traps I have set at the entrance, and you didn't come for a fight? I suppose you just came by for tea then? WERE YOU GOING TO INVITE YOUR 'STUDENT COUNCIL' ALONG? YOUR EXCUSE FOR BREAKING INTO MY LAIR IS A SCHOOL PROJECT TO PLEASE YOUR FATHER?! DEAR SATAN I DON'T THINK YOU COULD GET ANY MORE PATHETIC." The lich was furious now. He was being made a fool of it and he'd stand for it no longer. The Lich slammed the base of his weapon on the ground and a shield- no shield wasn't the right word for it. A slab of black material appeared in his other hand. The slab looked to be made of the same glassy black material as his axe and stood merely a foot shorter than the Lich himself and was 4 feet across. "AND WORSE YET YOU THINK SOME NO NAME ANGEL'S TOOLS CAN PROTECT YOU. BOY I'VE MADE PACTS WITH MONSTERS FAR WORSE THAN ANYTHING YOUR PUNY DEITY COULD THINK UP. I will not. lose. to. you." The Lich said bluntly as he controlled himself and carefully punctuated each word. Now the Lich stood tall, his fearsome battle axe in one hand, and his tower-shield in the other, returning Apollo's fierce stare with malicious conviction. It seemed he was waiting for Apollo to attack.
"Aw looks like ya got off easy this time." a voice echoed throughout the long hallway Chen found himself in with disappointment. Another selection of three doors, the same doors in fact, was around 50 meters away from him. Seemingly the only thing between him and the doors was the long, metal hallway that he had to travel through. Easy? Or too easy?
Apollo looked in Awe at the magnificent power of the Lich. Truly he was a foe not to be messed with. But seeing as how his strategy was working, it was fine. He had to find his source of power. I mean, Ephilates had told Apollo about Liches and a lot of them. But they weren't nearly as powerful as this. Apollo began to try and recall everything about Mythologies, Fantasies and Child-Stories, literally everything. He must have some kind of Relic, a Phylactery something, just something. Apollo sighed, Liches sure were irritating. He then looked at his Gauntlet and it was still on him. According to the school, he couldn't dies when this was on him. That gave him an Idea. Keep irritating him Apollo.. a voice said in his brain. It wasn't Ephilates which was strange. So who else could it have been? But nevertheless the voice was right, he had to make the Lich attack him, plus he still had his power, he could probably use that to his advantage. Apollo dropped his guard, but he was just luring the Lich in.
"Sigh... I've grown bored of this... Lich. Isn't this gauntlet proof that I'm not the one at fault here. Surely with your intellect you could see that... We have but one common enemy....The School that keeps invading in your private grounds. Do you honestly believe that I alone have enough strength to Bypass all this security, I mean come on you've seen me right? As you said I am Puny, yet I supposedly broke those firewalls, can you reason this?" Apollo said.
Half of this was true though. Seriously, he wanted to have a word with the principal after the test was over...If he passed the test, which at the rate he was going was not likely. He looked at the Lich, he did feel a bit bad for the guy, I mean who would like to be interrupted while they're having their daily cup of tea.
"Well, I went through the broken door and the grey one." Chen teleported to the white wooden door and opened it up. He braced himself and entered the door, closing it behind him.
"The one time I attempt to pay attention to something I get threatened." Kenny turned in sat looking at the wall instead of her. "Pissy attitudes aren't nice miss even when I was actually trying to learn." Kenny stated continuing to look at the wall. He didn't even do anything wrong she just seem to not notice. "Maybe if you weren't so stuck up you'd notice I was patiently waiting for you to provide some help."
"Enough. That gauntlet proves as little as your words do." The Lich said dismissively and took one huge step forward, his massive footstep cracking the ice beneath him. As he stepped forward the lich swung his battle axe in a sweeping horizontal arc, aimed just slightly below Apollo's midsection. The Lich would keep with the momentum of the swing as the axe swung from right to left so would his body, resulting in his end position being the same as his starting.
What Chen stepped into would be a surprisingly pink room, with a soft floor and strange white tiles above entrance, it also seemed to drop down into some sort of very deep pit. Then the floor promptly tried to grab him and throw him into the pit like some sort of tounge! WRONG DOOR! If he was thrown into the pit the walls would shove him down into a pool of corrosive acid. If Chen managed to make his way out he'd see the same set of doors behind where he had first entered this area. How strange.
"Bet you were a real pain for yer parents if this is the first time you've tried paying attention and learning anything." Belle said calmly as she made her way next to him and balled her hand into a fist. "Help's right here kiddo, sure you can take it?" she said in that same calm tone of voice.
Chen was promptly thrown into the pit, but that mean little to someone who could teleport as quickly as him. The walls began to shove him down, but he dissolved into tobasco sauce (he wanted to torture this giant mouth) and rushed towards the door. He quickly opens up the grey door before the tongue could grab him again and ran through the door. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pill. "Note, teleportation in stressful situations takes much more energy than teleportation in calm ones." He ate the pill quickly and felt magic returning to his spent body.
Azrael looked form the ominous doorway to the creature, wondering if the thing actually believed he would go into that seemingly dark plane. His eyebrow had shot up in disbelief, but figured the beast was simply incapable of not being serious. He took a deep breath, steeling his nerves, but also looking inside himself. His magical power was still strong, but his grasp of Lightning had indeed taken its toll. He nodded to the creature, "Just a moment please. I'd like to make preparations.." Sinking to his knees, he slipped his pack from his shoulders and took out a curious flask, with a silver claps that capped it strongly, never allowing air to touch the contents except when imbibed. Popping it, he drank half a mouthful of the energizing elixir. He felt his strength come back immediately, and just as quickly he'd replaced the cap and slipped the flask back to its resting place.
He could have restored his power by simple meditation, but that would take too long and he sensed urgency was a better option in this instance. The potion his masters had taught him was precious and the ingredients hard to come by outside of the Spirits' homes of forest, mountain, and sea. He was loathe to use such a gift, but took comfort that he still had a second batch. The flask was a quarter empty, even with the small mouthful he'd just swallowed. And it came with a price, a small amount of toxicity that was harmless with moderation. But if he drank more within the next several hours, Azrael would indeed be in trouble. He took another moment to take a few breaths and reconnect with the bond he shared with his immortal teachers.
"Oh Great Spirits! Continue to lend me your strength, the honor of wielding your gifts, and the privilege of proving your might in this world," the elementalist silently prayed, feeling the warmth of affection roll over him as they sent their blessings back to their young disciple. A small smile graced Azrael's face and he came to his feet, a new level of energy stealing over him. His skin practically glowed with the grace and power that the short communion had imparted upon him. He had indeed honored his masters with his skillful victory!
"I'm ready, hopefully we can meet again, ancient One," Azrael said respectfully to the creature. He grave a quarter bow to it, sincerely awed by its considerable magic. "And might it be under more peaceful conditions," he added, before tightening the straps of his bag and determinedly stepping through the door that seemed to open to Hades itself.
Apollo frowned. He was irritated, The Lich did not understand. So much for Liches being smart. Apollo dashed fowards extremly fast, getting behind the Lich, he then aimed Ascalon at the Lich. Lava and Plasma began to gather at the tip of the blade. Apollo smirked.
"There's something I should tell you Lich. I am not easily beaten. If you want to win, You'd have to kill me, but with this on that is impossible." Apollo said defiantly as he fired the Huge wave of Lava and Plasma. Apollo then appeared on top of the Lich, and shot a Light Wave to purify. Of course this light could cut through Darkness. If this didn't work then he had one more chance, and that would be it.
@TheHangedMan Aleksa saw the gold titan get pulled out of the way and watched as the silver titan swung his arm in a wide arc that was aimed straight at her as she fell. The fist connected with her body and sent her flying but thanks to the magic she was using at the time was able to get back up though not without some injury, "God, I'm glad that this is challenging but fighting two enemies that hate each other but help each other is really hard hmmmm.... oh I think I got it!" Aleksa put up a high defence magic and began to approach the silver titan with her hands in the air as sign of peace. "Silver titan!" She yelled when she got close enough "I would like to assist you in your battle, If you allow be to help you will finally be free from the object of her extreme hate as you will finally be able to kill him with my help!", this was a long shot but if it worked she would have an Allie instead of two enemies. Diplomacy wasn't Aleksandra's strong point but she had to try something other than diving headlong into a fight. While she spoke Aleksa kept on guard for any kicks or punches that would come from the raging titans, though she couldn't help but hope for the best since she was starting to get a bit tired.
@Eklispe "Actually I was quite the opposite." Kenny replied rocking back and forth where he sat. "I didn't have to try to learn with my parents because it came naturally to me to listen to what ever they said." Kenny rested his arm on his knee and rested his head on his fist. "Your a really tough opponent and I like that, it puts all of my pervious teaching to a test." Kenny stood up pumped and ready for a second try. He turned around smiling at Belle noticing she was moving quite calmly with a hint of violence in her movements. "Wow......uhhh I guess we're resuming as soon as possible then." Kenny said bagging up a bit
The door rumbled angrily but otherwise remained silent after he left. Now it seemed he had two sets of doors to deal with, one set at either end of the hallway.
The Lich carried through with his swing seamlessly, keeping with the momentum of the swing as he turned to follow Apollo's movements. His eyes narrowed at the wave of heat and energy and he deftly moved his mountain of a shield into the way, the powerful attack slammed into the shield futilely. The Lich anticipated Apollo's movement into the air and swept his axe in a cleaving crescent at him. The powerful axe slammed into the wave of light- and absorbed it. The light entered the battle-axe and shimmered inside, seemingly adding to the axe's power, which was still headed directly for Apollo. Unless he had some sort of trick that allowed him to move in midair Apollo would be taking a devastatingly powerful attack from a weapon bigger than he was.
"Yay yay, I'm sure you had a great childhood cause you were a child genius and could figure out everything you wanted with ease. You gonna take my offer or not kid? Last chance." Belle asked, seemingly growing bored of this. She was close enough to engage in cqc now if either of them take the opportunity.
"No respite!" The voice bellowed and even as Meruin flew backwards and the puppet shot a crossbow bolt from its head as soon as the runes activated and immediately charged forward wildly swinging its weapons as its headpiece had another bolt appear in it magically and reload. At the same time the man began weaving runes of his own, what's more another pair of puppet hands had extended from his cloak and were also creating runes. It seemed the man had found a way to increase his casting speed, the puppet had already finished turning the ground underneath Meruin into quicksand, and was rapidly creating more runes. Would Meruin be able to keep up with the frenzied combat?
Chen shrugged and walked to the end of the hallway. He opened up a random door without looking and walked through it. "I wonder how many doors I have left."
Apollo frowned, he had but one option, he could easily dodge this but if he did, he would have gotten hit by something else. The tip of the sword began to glow brightly. Ascalon began to combine all Elements so far known in the universe, Of course this would take everything Apollo had. The elements combined to form a shield, and some power was also transferred to Apollo. This technique was called Ultimate Aegis of the Universe. Cheeky name, I know. Apollo was currently in a state of Ultimate Elemental Control, which would last for 30 seconds. Of course, if he trained more, he could control this form for a longer time. The Shield began growing in size, and it was indestructible, of course the shield would only last 5 seconds when manifested. Which was all the time he needed. The weapon reflected off the shield, then at that split second, Apollo "teleported" (He moved extremely, extremely fast) behind the Lich and grabbed onto him. He was pretty sure that the blast was going to be too much to absorb, and that it might destroy his source of power. He smiled defiantly.
"Eat dirt Lich..."
At that split second, everything was bright. The blast was colorful. Engulfing everything in its way. This would most likely be the end of the Lich. Hopefully the end of the exam as well.
