Khazna nodded knowingly as the man confirmed his suspicions. He also paid close attention to Kholodny's seeming interest in the burnt out section of webbing. With this Khold erecting a ice wall for whatever reason. Though perhaps he sought to quell the smoke or freeze it, even though smoke being made up of visible tiny particles was impossible to freeze regardless of how cold the temperatures. Any more than one would freeze light really. The reaction to the smoke however was not as interesting as Kholodny's ability to form ice without giving any outward indication he was doing so. Only the unseen trails of energy emitting from the man’s core to the site where the ice formed gave any indication to what he was doing.
Now that was an interesting trick to be sure, and this Khold was offering more and more insights into his capabilities by the second. Though to be fair a less preternaturally perceptive individual might not have been able to see through this one so easily. As Khold finished talking Khazna quickly went through everything he had observed and learned from this one in the last few minutes. Khazna’s exceptional intellectual mind picking apart each smidgen of information, for, while much unlike his Fury comrade, Khazna did very little without a clear plan or forethought. Oh, this was not to say Mister Sunshine was some short of buck wild loose gun of a fool, otherwise he'd have no respect for the man. At least he was entertaining. But, Khazna himself preferred more subtle observation of any situation before acting. That is if he was able to.
Now from what he had learned of this Kholodny Zima fellow was, one, he (obviously) possessed the supernatural ability to control and manipulate water molecules, and primarily he knew how to freeze them and form them into ice sculptures. In other words he was a Cryomancers of some skill to be sure, and was quite capable of freezing the area around him. Now Zima had backed away on his little ice platform some 40 feet by Khazna's reckoning. Which probably placed his maximum effective range around that distance, but there was no way to be sure. Backing away also said two things; A, he was being cautious, and rightly so when meeting a stranger out in the multiverse, especially in a place like this. Only a naive or very confidant individual would not take some precaution.
B; however, spoke of cowardice pure and simple, and while that would not have been Khazna's first guess. Between running away from Fury (a wise option through and through), his current precautions, and Kholodny's own admittance. Khazna was willing to bet the latter. Beyond even that, it seemed the man was quite advanced in the realm of ice manipulation. Able as he was of projecting his will so-seemingly -casually. So the final diagnoses revealed a cowardly, yet potently powerful ice bender. In the end it sadly meant Kholodny had to die, or baring that be captured. Not because he was a coward, no that was no reason to end his life. Not because he was even lying, in fact it was the revelation this one had possibly met the dreamer Skallagrim that made him worth taking alive, or if dead, with his brain intact.
Really it was the combination of cowardice, and his potent powers is what made Kholodny unpredictable. Unpredictable was dangerous in more ways one might realize. He might have otherwise simply 'invited' Kholodny to come with him willingly. But an unbound ice bender in the close confines of even a capital ship would spell trouble. He thought of questioning him further here. But dismissed that notion, they would simply learn more once he was onboard. The Angar-Rylla had means of coercing every detail of one’s memory quite easily. It would be a faster and more through method of intelligence gathering. All this Khazna thought and concluded in more moments it took Khold to finish his short response.
He sighed, rotating his shoulders in seeming boredom or fatigue. He would have rather have done this the easier less violent way. But The Gladius Dei Senechal was demanding results from this little trip. It was nothing personal really, he had a feeling he might have even liked this Khold fellow....Khold...Coldy....AH NOW HE GOT IT! Khazna smiled at that and wondered how he had missed that the first time, his mind had been preoccupied he reasoned.
He straightened and bowed politely again, "I thank you for your information, you have been most helpful." He did not ask who this Stribog was, as he still noted that second string of fate inside this one man and decided that Khold was indeed more then met the eye. Another helpful detail Khazna filed away in his mind for latter assessment. As Khazna lowered his gaze he fully took in the tower of ice, and more importantly, the fissures of cryokinesis energy that allowed the manipulation of cold by reducing the kinetic energy of atoms and thus making things colder.
Khazna had fought a handful elemental benders in his time, and in his experience those who manipulated ice where the second most troublesome. Second only to aeromancers in difficulty of defeating, sadly for Khold, Khazna had trained and adapted to specifically fight those who wielded such supernatural powers. If he was half as much a coward as he claimed, and of course recognized what Khazna's swords were forged of, he might have wisely fled by now.
As Khazna had bowed, keeping his eyes on Khold the entire time, his hands had nonchalantly placed his hands at his side. Then all in one quick motion one who had not been paying close attention would have missed entirely, Khazna fell forward off his pillar of rock, then crouching his legs at the knee, he pushed off the edge of stonework. In one fluid motion his right arm flashed freeing Serenity from her sheath. Khazna's path of course sent him straight toward the ice tower, which at this angle blocked Khold's view of Khazna entirely.
He hit the other tower with both feet planted before him, and then aiming for a fissure where the strands of cryokinesis energy bound the tower into its current state, he cut right through a segment of ice, and through that very strand of energy. The effect was instantaneous, with most of the tower instantly dissipating into whiffs of water vapor. In essence Khazna had dispelled the ice tower, which inevitably caused Khold to free fall, along with a few chunks of ice spared from the dispelling effect. Of course so was Khazna, but the drop was only a couple feet off the ground, and he was expecting the drop.
He fell into a crouch which turned into a roll and sprung to his feet in one graceful motion, the whole maneuver taking no more than 2 and a half seconds, most of which spent in free fall. He had hit the ground mere second before Khold, due to his slight head start, though the man was still 35 feet away. Even with his abnormal speed he would never catch him before Khold hit the ground and readied some sort of hasty defense from the unexpected hostile action. He probably never imagined Khazna was capable of destroying his tower so quickly. An easy feat with all that time he had finding the focal point of energy.
So without a moment’s hesitation he threw his blade like a spear aiming for where Khold would fall a moment behind. Should it hit, the blade would easily pierce right through his lower abdomen. Normally he would resort to a mock blade, but there was simply no time. Whether or not it struck, Khazna was already sprinting forward, mercy flashing free of its scabbard as he ran, and if it missed it would pierce another pillar of stone behind it.
If Khold managed to arrest his fall entirely with a fancy slide of ice or another, Khazna would simply throw his blade to wherever he stopped. Meanwhile he made sure to find another focal point in the fibers of energy around him should he need it.
