Chapter 10- Duel with a Warlock
The fierce heat of the desert was nulled by the protocrystal's cold wave. The sun was still intense, and Vivel could only make out a blurry vision of the Red Mage Lewis. He gripped his Great Katana harder, preparing for an attack. In the rush, he tried staying focused. Fear and doubt were lingering in the back of his head, ready to consume him if he stopped for a moment to think.
In a rage, he swung his weapon around in a circle, carrying his body with it, and crashed its full force in to Lewis. He felt his weapon strike something, and immediately retreated, amazed that he may have done damage. When his eyes came in to focus, he saw Lewis standing in front of him, without his giant hat on.
"Runt, your attack took my offical Ducal Guard hat right off. You cut it up too!" said the angry mage. Vivel stared up at him, waiting for the next move to be made. Lewis had thick gray hair in sweaty clumps on his head. "Lucky bastard!" he continued. "I'll dodge every single attack you throw at me! You just caught me off guard." He pulled out his raiper style sword. It was rusted and blunt.
"That was a good hit," Oopy muttered to himself. "That kid is stronger than I thought. But look at him, he's just allowing Lewis to hit him. He's too stupid to continue his assault."
"Ah hah! As well as having magical abilities beyond your wildest dreams, I've gots the best swords skills too." Lewis gloated. "This is my Ultimate Lewis Smash ver.II" he announced, jabbing his weapon in to the sand repeatedly. "This makes you not know when I'm going to hit you" he explained, as Vivel watched.
"Look out mate!" shouted Groth. "Above you, damn idiot!" Lewis quickly lifted his large head upwards, to see Hamza sailing directly towards his body.
"Ahh!" Lewis screeched. He frantically reached for his small shield and lifted it over his body, cowering. Like a bullet, Hamza's weapon pierced the shield, shattering it. Unable to bear the force, Hamza let go of his weapon, and sailed directly in to Lewis's face. Both of them crashed in to the sand, creating a dust cloud. Hamza immediately jumped out and retrieved his blue weapon, landing next to a shocked Vivel.
"Nice hit," Vivel said to his friend. Hamza grinned and stared ahead. The dust soon started to settle and Lewis dragged himself to his feet. His round brown nose was drenched in blood from the collision.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself in tooo, I'll show no more mercy," Lewis growled.
"Again!" Hamza commanded and lunged at Lewis. The Red Mage ducked and Hamza sailed over him. Lewis then set his sights on Vivel, and prepared another ability with his sword.
"Lewis Raging Slash!" he yelled and thrusted his sword directly at Vivel's face. With one hand, Vivel spun his weapon around in front of him, breaking the blade off of Lewis's sword. Lewis stood holding the handle to his former weapon in disbelief. Hamza was now standing behind him, ready to attack.
"Incredible," Oopy thought out loud. "Both of them have somehow increased their power dramatically. Maybe there's hope, as long as they don't let in."
"Why didn't you tell me these worms were so tough?" cried Lewis to his comrades. "I would have been serious if I knew that they had a little bit of skill."
"Uhh, maybe you're just too weak there Lew," Homsar spouted out. "All threes of you weak Tarutaru ain't lookin' strong."
Lewis stared at the sand, which now was home to his shattered shield and sword. He dropped the remains of his weapon, and looked on at Vivel. "Yous think you have me surrounded, little brutes. Well I'm a Red Mage. Magic is my specialty. I'm gonnas cripple yous so bad that you wish I would kill ya with my sword!"
"Not a chance," said Hamza. "You're just a bully who bit off more than he can chew. And now you have to pay for it."
Lewis turned to Hamza. "I've about had enough of you, little jumping bean. Let's see you try too hit me when I take out your eyes! Blind!" With the raise of his hand, a black cloud appeared in front of the Dragoon's eyes.
"Gah!" Hamza yelled. "I can't see! Where did you go!" He clutched his eyes and rubbed them furiously.
"I'm coming Hamza," Vivel called and ran to his friend, ignoring Lewis.
"Oh, don't worry. I've gots a treat for you too, samurai-man," Lewis announced. "My Fast Cast is the fastest cast ever. You can't stop me! Bind!" In an instant, Vivel was rooted to the ground and his legs became immobile, trapped to the sand.
"Perfect, now I'm in control!" said Lewis laughing. He strolled to Vivel, staying out of range of his weapon. Vivel was holding out his blue Katana, furiously waiting to attack. "Stone!" Lewis yelled and small rocks shot from the ground, smacking Vivel's head. Lewis chuckled and moved to Hamza, who was still struggling to see. "I'm a bully? No way. A bully would do this! Fire!" a small ember appeared at Hamza's feet, who immediately fell to the sand and rolled around to dull the flame.
"This might help you, Aero!" Strong winds cut at Hamza's armor, ripping it apart. Lewis angrily grabbed Hamza by his neck and slapped his cheek. "Brat! Breaking my shield and mocking me!"
Hamza grunted, still unable to see. Suddenly, a small jolt of electricity struck Lewis in the shoulder. Turning, he saw Vivel had cast the Thunder spell.
"I'm a mage too," said Vivel calmly. "And I know all of your tricks. I may not have learned how to blind or bind, but my elemental spells are top notch!"
"I was going too kill you second, but since you're so eager to die, I have no problem finishing you first!" Lewis growled. Vivel had broken the bind and was now charging at Lewis full-force. Hamza finally regained his eyesight and jumped to his feet.
"Vivel! Hit him with your best weapon skill!" Hamza shouted. Vivel stopped in front of Lewis to think for a moment.
"Ah, Tachi: Jinpu!" Vivel delcared and slashed Lewis's chest twice before he could respond. Two small cyclones appeared momentarily where Vivel had made his strikes. Lewis trudged backwards, stunned from the blow. Hamza had made it to Lewis and drove his lance forward.
"Fivefold demise! Penta Thrust!" he cried and hoisted his weapon in to Lewis's back, with four quick jabs and a final piercing blow. With that, a giant black sphere appeared over Lewis and crushed him to the sand, burying his body.
"Gravitation!" yelled Oopy. "You created a skillchain!"
"Lucky!" Hamza said cheerfully.
"No way!" cried Groth. "They defeated Lew like that? What the Hell, mate!"
Vivel knew what a Skillchain was. He knew that they were created by stringing together different weapon skills, but unlike Ignatious, didn't know the specific names. The two Taurtaru looked at Lewis's buried body.
"Is he dead?" asked Hamza bluntly. As if to answer him, Lewis slowly rose from the ground. His hair and red top were now stained brown by the sand, and his wounds were open and bleeding. In a daze, he started casting a spell.
"Stop him! He's curing himself!" cried Oopy. But it was too late. In an instant, Lewis's cuts were healed and he was back to full health.
"Your luck for tooday, has just run out," Lewis declared. "Watch my new technique, developed by yours truly. This makes my enfeeblie spells impossible to resist, and at full power! I call it, Lewis Enfeebling Seal of Destruction!" An orange light flashed over Lewis's body, and he quickly bound Vivel and Hamza. "There, try and get out of that, you damn fools."
"Darn, I can't move my body at all!" Vivel yelled.
"Me neither!" Hamza cried. "How long is this going to last?"
"You'll be dead before you find out!" Lewis howled.
"Your own fault!" roared Oopy. "You had so many chances to end the fight, but you sat there and watched it happen! Now you're going to die and you only have yourselves to blame!"
"And now the finale! My barrage of spells!" Lewis announced. He began casting on his two opponents, but stopped suddenly. "No, Damn it! No no no no! Out of magic already!"
Groth and Homsar broke out in laughter. "You moron!" Groth yelled. "You just had to show off with your flashy spells on our ride to this sand bucket. That's hilarious! We told you we didn't care that you could use ten spells in five seconds, but you did it anyways!"
"Shut up!" yelled Lewis. "I still have more tricks up my sleeve! These Tarus will be dead in three minutes, guaranteed!"
He turned towards Hamza and Vivel, standing side by side and still unable to move. "I still have convert," he said slyly. "This move lets me swap my physical health with my pool of magic. So watch thisss!" With a snap of his fingers, the change was done.
Hamza's and Vivel's weapons were at their feet, with both fighters unable to pick them up. "I'm sorry," said Vivel. "We should have just left the crystal on the ship, then we might not be about to die."
Hamza laughed. "Don't say we're gonna die Viv, that's scary. Just get out of this hold and we'll cut him up for good."
"Excuse me!" said Lewis, standing arm's length from Hamza and Vivel. "This is my most powerful ability! It's called Chainspell. It let's me non-stop cast spells on you dummies."
"You wastin' Chainspells on them?" asked Homsar.
"I want them too bee in as much pain as possible before they die," Lewis snarled. "Now Chainspell go go go!"
An image of a stop watch appeared over Lewis's head, with the hands spinning rapidly.
"We gotta move!" Hamza cried. "Struggle!"
"I can't!" Vivel responded desperately. His entire body was numb, he didn't have the will to try resisting.
"Start off with Stonega!" Lewis announced. Immediately, Hamza and Vivel were pelted with stones. "Now, Waterga! Aeroga!" The bound Tarutaru were struck with intense blasts of water and then cut at with razor sharp wind. "Blizzaga!" Chunks of ice crushed against the skin of Vivel and Hamza. The pain was immense. Vivel felt himself be released from the bind, but he was too weak to move.
"Thundaga! Firaga! Stonega!" Lewis gleefully called. Vivel and Hamza were battered around by the black magic,unable to defend themselves. "And now for the big finish! This is my ultimate spell, and I'll use it five times in a..." his sentance stopped suddenly.
Oopy had grabbed him by his front collar and lifted him to the air, choking him.
"No, Oopy. Stop that!" Groth called out. "We've played fair this whole time. Don't be a sore loser!"
Oopy ignored them. "You made a stupid mistake, Lewis. Using Convert with no magic left your health at next to nothing. Which means one attack will end your pathetic life." Lewis's eyes danced with fear, as he frantically kicked and squirmed, trying to say something. "No more spells for you, little man," said Oopy.
"End it now!" cried Groth again. "Let them finish their battle, don't do this you damn cheater!"
Vivel and Hamza stood in disbelief, barely conscious enough to see what was transpiring.
Oopy frowned and loosened his grip on Lewis.
"That's right, now let him go," said Homsar. Lewis was still thrashing around in wild terror
"Fine," said Oopy and dropped Lewis. The Ducal Guard sailed to the ground as Oopy looked over at Vivel. In an instant, the Monk turned and sent a shattering kick to Lewis's neck. Vivel heard a blood-curling scream, and Lewis fell dead in to the sand.