Path of the Pioneers

[Anathema] was perhaps the pinnacle of the Pioneer of Virtue's skillset. It would start as a single pinprick of light, slowly growing and expanding until it became a radiant circle. At rank A, that circle could expand up to ten meters. Whenever the skill was finally released, every enemy caught within that circle would be eviscerated by an ungodly amount of focused energy. “Enemy”, of course, was what had been specified within the skill's description. The only ones who would be affected by that energy were those whom Selene wished for it to.

The biggest downside of the skill was the absurd amount of time that it took to prepare and charge. As a general rule, it took around half of a minute per meter. And since the size of the circle was also an indicator of its strength, she couldn't just release it the second that their new foe was caught within it. It meant that Selene would wait until the last possible moment to unleash it.

Five minutes -- five minutes with this monster?

Morgan stepped to the side of a kick which threatened to drill right through her, using those vicious threads of hers as more of a shield than anything else. Even monsters would hesitate to test their body against them, but she wasn't sure if this person was even capable of that level of consideration towards their own body. They'd been stabbed multiple times, their eardrums had definitely been burst, and they only ever seemed to evade her threads at the very last minute. It was as if they had to debate whether or not they'd lose a limb in the process.

Then again, the output of their aura only seemed to grow stronger the more that they were injured -- a frightening thing to Morgan, who lacked any means of swiftly ending the fight so long as her allies remained so close to her. There were no decisive moves here. At least, none that she could figure out.

[Mooncaller's Comet] would grievously wound Isa, Anselm, Selene, and probably even Morgan. And yet, she wasn't even certain that it would put an end to the enemy. [Great Zephyr], [Celestial Tempest], [Cloudsplitter], all of her heaviest hitting skills were locked down by the fact that her allies were near. When it came down to it, the only things that mattered were the fundamentals, the very basics.

Anselm stirred. He was a few meters back from the heat of battle, and Morgan thought for a while that he may have been unconscious or worse after taking a blow that hard. He lived up to his title, it would seem.

The movement went unnoticed by the party's assailant, or perhaps they just refused to acknowledge it.

Another heavy swing flew right towards Morgan's head. Those fists were like boulders flung from a trebuchet, threatening to take her skull off of her shoulders with the same ease that one might swat a fly.

"I don't know who in the hells you are..." Anselm spoke, his voice gruff after the heavy blow that he took.

Morgan cast [Barrier] in three distinct locations where the attack was coming from, just as it would've landed. The walls of mana solidified and compacted, sacrificing their ability to protect for the ability to harm. This was one of the hidden uses of [Barrier] that Morgan had discovered.

It was a skill intended to be used for defense, and one could compact the mana of it to make it smaller, thus increasing its integrity. She could get it all the way down to the size of a sewing needle's tip, which led into the next point: At a certain point, [Barrier] stopped being a simple barrier. When compacted down enough, something ramming into it would no longer be stopped -- it would be punctured.

It was tricky, but Morgan had gotten quite good at estimating how small a barrier would need to be in order to have that puncturing effect.

She heard the clattering of metal just before their fist made impact against the barriers. The mysterious warrior drove their fist straight into solid mana, their aura only burning it up after it had put three holes into them. They were about the size of thimbles, but that should have been more than enough to hurt.

Morgan focused purely on evading their blows, working herself into a better position for Anselm to cooperate with her. A moment later, he continued to speak, "But I am the Pioneer of Resolve, Anselm Albrecht!"

He had shed his armor, and tossed aside his shield. Glittering gold aura was trailing up the haft of his spear, and vibrantly flaring at the head. She had heard stories of it before, how he abandoned those thick walls of his when he was pushed into a corner. He was a warder, but that didn't mean that he couldn't fight back.

The warrior pivoted their focus in an instant, fists flying towards Anselm, "What level are you, boy?" Their tone was full of hunger, their aura flew out like a terrible squall. His speed had increased, but he wouldn't be able to take them on alone -- he would only be able to keep himself alive.

Morgan struggled to imagine what kind of person could face down four pioneers and still have time for speaking. What level are you?

She glanced back towards Selene, checking on her before she made another gamble.

Four meters, the circle was at four meters. Selene wasn't focusing on anything else, hands firmly pressed together as light spilled into the air around her. She was going faster than normal, pushing past her limits. Morgan was worried about her, but she pushed those feelings down. It was nothing.

A tap on her back, and the sound of rustling feathers behind her. Then, the worn-out voice of Isa, "I-Isa here... B-back in action, boss."

Relief washed over Morgan, one more card had returned to her deck. "Isa... If we do it, do you think you can hold him for a couple more minutes?"

They didn't hesitate for a moment, taking another step to finally get in front of her, "Without a doubt, Morgan..."

"Alright. Let's get to it, then."

She put a hand on their back, mana flowing out from her hand and imbuing the black feathers that they wore. Isa's own aura began to stream out from their body and into that cloak, skating across the surface. It took every bit of concentration she had to begin merging the two together. At first, they whirled around as one -- beads and dots of light began to form within those feathers as the energy slowly came together. Soon, the two energies became indistinguishable from one another, the feathers changing in brightness and color until they resembled sparking embers.

The energy was ready, it just needed to be activated now. Morgan patted them on the back, and those embers sparked at once. Isa's cloak went up in flames, bright white fire enveloping them and their daggers.

[Phoenix Mantle] was a skill that required two awakened to use. It was Isa's, but they were simply unable to use it on their own -- relying on Morgan to activate it. Aura and mana worked together to form raw energy, a primordial flame that would burn up anything that it touched, and bring life to the one wielding it.

It was a tricky process, and one mistake could easily make for a catastrophe. The one supplying the mana would have to operate purely on their own ability, without the aid of a skill controlling them or nudging them in the right direction. No other mage had ever successfully lit those flames, save for Morgan.

There was a certain drawback to it, though. The skill renewed Isa more than any healing spell could, but...

Morgan's breathing hitched, her vision blurring for a moment. That had taken just about the rest of her mana -- she would have to start downing potions in order to get back into the fight. A shaky hand reached towards her satchel, a bottle already halfway out for her to take. She snatched it up, uncorking it.

"Thanks Stella..." She murmured. Raising the bottle up to her lips, she drank deep of its contents.