[IC] NoW: LeeRoy vs. Melonhead Rnd 2.

[LeeRoy]

Another vial, confirming that Metz was using some kind of performance enhancer. No question about that, there was no way he was wrong either.

But this time?

This time was different.

Metz drank that potion and seemed to lose his humanity in seconds. The man's features grew grizzly and dark, much more threatening than before. Something was different about that vial, it wasn't just more of the same. No, it was much more potent and foul. As evidenced by the sudden and stark change in visage.

Metz had given up his humanity for a bit of extra power? Nothing new, but always unsettling. Shedding who you are to become something greater, maybe something more foul. Whatever Metz had chosen to become, it didn't matter.

What new powers? Yet to be determined, but probably much more powerful than the spells he used before..

The mage began speaking to himself, and suddenly he lashed his arm outwards. Firing off another bolt of lighting that detonated the ground by his right foot. The sand exploded with the force of the bolt. Shin's foot was left with a bum mark that ran up his shin. The assassin fell forwards, catching himself with his right hand before totally faceplanting. The hot sting of his foot forced him to groan in agony.

There was nothing he could do against lightning, he knew that. Especially now, Shin noticed a sharp change in how he cast the spell. Metz hadn't been thrown back by the force of his bolt. So either the spells were weaker, or Metz had grown a lot stronger. One of those options spelled tremendously bad news for the assassin, though the other spelled great news that would really make his day.

Lying prone on his hands and knees, Shin was waiting for another bolt or spell. Readying himself to roll away, there was no way he could get up in time to move away from another bolt. He'd have to roll into standing once it was cast. Otherwise he'd probably wind up taking it directly to the chest.

[MelonHead]

Metz was laughing manically as his spell impacted the ground, somewhere deep within him that small seed of darkness grew just that tad bit more as his outside demeanour revelled in power. There was a significant long term cost every time Metz did this, he would just have to hope the ends justified the means, they usually did. Metz raised his hand again and spat out a shortened version of what should be a lengthy spell, bypassing anything resembling finesse or control as he unleashed a fire elemental pillar right beneath his prone foe, trying to incinerate him. The radius was four feet wide and the flame erupted eight feet up in the air.

As the flame burst forth from the sand it scorched the earth, but it was not hot enough to turn it into glass. It did however provide Shin with burning granules of sand to contend with if he noticed the circle beneath him and rolled clear in time. The fire burned intensely for three seconds and then cut out just as suddenly, as Metz continued to laugh at the power manifesting itself at his fingertips. Shin was probably less than thirty feet away by this point, with the triangle of circles off to Metz left as he stood facing him.