After Felix had explained his spiel to the large man, he expected him to answer, but instead he seemed frozen in place. Felix walked over to John, and waved his hands in front of his eyes, but nothing, no movement. Then Felix looked to his side to see the hell hound frozen in place as well, and that is when it hit him. He ran to the blinds and on the window and bent one of the middle blind columns slightly to see outside. On the street and sidewalk there were various children and adults making their way home, all of them frozen.
It doesn't make sense. Felix pondered
This must be an advanced stasis bubble. Stasis bubbles are normally used to prevent non-magical beings, like regular humans, from witnessing a magic battle. But everyone in this city is a magic user, so why is this whole town frozen?Felix held his head in his hands as he pondered, and that's when he saw it, the golden runic bangle that he stole from the guard in Mamertine. It was still on his arm, and it was glowing profusely. Immediately, Felix activated his manalysis, only to realize it was too late, there were two men outside that were not there before, and one man inside walking down the hallway with a very familiar, dark conniving aura. Thadeus. Hurriedly Felix grabbed the parchment list and tucked it away.
Thadeus turned the corner, his aura intimidating. His dark blonde hair was slicked back in a short ponytail. His dark beady eyes holding the same conceited air they always had. He walked in with a smile on his face, his head slightly tilted upwards.
"My, my, my. Felix. You've certainly been busy, haven't you? Breaking into Mamertine prison? And breaking out one of the most dangerous criminals in Catholic history? It's almost like you are thinking about coming against us." Thadeus smiled slyly, and strode over to the couch John was sitting on and sat down next to him.
Felix's eyes narrowed, and his hands clenched into fists.
"How did you know where I was. How did you freeze all these people?" Felix asked through clenched teeth.
"Both of those questions can be answered with the same answer. The runic bangle you have attached to your arm there. They are oh so very hard to make, so since last summer the boys down at Mamertine created a tracking spell in case anyone decided to steal one, as you did. As for the stasis spell, well after your little stunt the boys down at mamertine devised a new stasis spell a few hours ago. This spell allows us to freeze anyone besides the ones with the runic bangles." Thadeus raised his hand to show the bangle under his sleeve.
"Smart. So the next time there is a prison break they can freeze everyone inside the prison besides the employees."
This is bad, if I take off the bangle now, I will be frozen. I have to get out of here."MANAEGIS!" Felix shouted as he stood up. His latent mana-well brimming forth into physical reality and taking shape in the form of blue glowing armor and a sword.
Felix was about to jump out the window when he sensed something most sinister. A massive mana-wave signature being poured into a mana glyph.
Thadeus was still sitting down, his smirk even more grandiose than before.
"Your men standing outside... They aren't guarding the door. No one can get through the stasis field without a bangle. No, they're creating a massive spell." Felix put together.
"Correct! An Agnis Sphere to be precise. And if I am not mistaken, it is about time I take my leave." Thadeus stood up, about to depart.
"AN AGNIS SPHERE! ARE YOU INSANE!? THAT WILL DESTROY THIS ENTIRE VILLAGE!" Felix yelled in anger.
"Well, it's not the first time I've done this... I seem to recall an incident 4 years ago... Anyway, I've got to go, goodbye for now." Thadeus said in a pompous tone. Then with a bright flash, he blinked out of the house.
Felix looked at the frozen John.
I can't move him. All people within a stasis field are glued in one place with the force of the mana used in the spell. Suffice it to say, even if I had the strength of Hercules, I would end up crushing him before picking him up. The spell is already finished, so it's too late to stop it.Felix punched the wall, leaving a four foot hole to the outside where his fist was.
"DAMNIT!" Felix yelled
There wasn't enough time for Felix to create a barrier strong enough to combat an agnis sphere spell. So Felix tried to get as far away as possible. Jumping through the wall where he punched, making the hole even larger. And dashing as fast as he could, which in Manaegis was about 70 miles per hour. Unfortunately it wasn't fast enough. Before Felix could reach the outskirts of the village, he was caught up in a torrent of flames and explosive force. Without the manaegis he would have been ripped apart, and even still he could feel the manaegis cracking and leaking his mana out into the torrent of flames. Eventually Felix lost consciousness due to the lack of oxygen.
When Felix awoke, most of his manaegis had been broken completely, dispersing into mana. Only his helmet, his right gauntlet, and his left sabaton were left intact. The highlight of the news was that Felix survived, somehow. And none the worse for wear either. His clothes were still in pristine condition, and he didn't even have so much as a scratch on his skin. But when Felix stood and tore off his helmet, he saw a scene of complete and utter devastation. All the buildings were razed to the ground in heaps of ashes and burnt two-by-fours. There were charred skeletons everywhere. Felix hung his head for a moment, and then continued his walk out of the area.
As soon as he crossed the threshold of the stasis barrier, the bangle stopped glowing.
The bangle!Felix found a large boulder and sat down on it. He then conjured up a small, sharp, thick manaegis knife. He charged the manaegis knife with even more mana, making it vibrate slightly. This is the only way Felix could outright combat mana enriched metals. Making the manaegis more densely enriched with mana than the metals he was combating allowed him to more efficiently guard against mana enriched weapon attacks, and slice through mana enriched armors. Placing the knife under the bangle and using the flat back of the knife to apply leverage between the bangle and his wrist, the bangle soon snapped off his wrist landing on the ground with a fizzle and a crack. Felix looked down at the broken bangle and began to get lost in thought.
One of the potential guardians is dead. And it's my fault. How could I be that stupid? Did the person who sent me the vision know that one of the guardians was going to die before I could enlist him? But, Thadeus... I now know the truth, and the truth is that Raiya was right. Thadeus was indeed the one who wiped Piccola Village off the map. Which also lends credence all the more so to Thadeus being apart of the Jesuits. But what do I do now? I suppose the only thing to do is continue forward. Felix pulled out the parchment again. The next name also happened to be the last name on the list, "Artos Bane". The location was another weird one. "North Pole-Afloat on River. Find the village"
"Oh boy, I absolutely love cold places." Felix said sarcastically to himself. He then checked his manadial. Looking at the north pole, zooming in he was only able to find one village. He memorized the coordinates, and created a rift. Before jumping through it, he put on his manaegis. Manaegis was an excellent insulator, any wind or chilled air that touched manaegis was repelled, and so the manaegis wearer was always the same temperature as when he put it on. After he put on his manaegis he leapt through the rift.
@ZelosseArriving at the sub-zero village, there were only a few buildings in Felix's view; a leather working shop, a general goods store, a pub/inn were the only buildings within eye shot. Using manalysis, all of the people in the village were Talents. Remembering what the Parchment said, Felix looked around to see if he could find the river. Off to the west there was a sheet of black that contrasted the whiteness of the snow, Felix assumed this to be the river.
Felix took a deep breath and was chilled to the bone. Even the manaegis couldn't prevent the air coming in through the breathing and eye slits. Felix ventured forth towards the river. It baffled Felix that there could be a liquid body of water in this weather. But with mana saturating the earth, all sorts of anomalies happened on a daily basis.
Out on the river towards the middle was a raft made out of ice, and Felix could make out a figure laying upon it. Felix enchanted his sabatons with mana to allow himself to walk on the calm river surface. He continued to walk out until he was about five feet from the raft.
"Artos Bane. Do not be alarmed, my name is Felix Glasius, and I have come with a proposition." Felix said, in a calm, courageous tone.
@CottonmouthBoth Tsukihis used their shield to block the screeching blast, and both shields absorbed the blast but were disintegrated. Both Tsukihis used the propulsion spells and propelled themselves all across the ring, zigzagging in a dazzling choreographed display. Eventually they made their way towards Nemo. One propelled themselves in the air slicing an arc at Nemo's head, and the other slid on the ground slicing towards Nemo's legs again.
