The tables had been turned, but both Lith and Solus knew it didn’t mean much against a fellow Awakened one, whoever the assassin was. He only needed to use Invigoration to go back to his peak condition and get rid of the venom, but luckily the same applied to Lith.
‘Behind you!’ Solus yelled as a new enemy Blinked at their back.
Lith turned around as fast as he could, noticing that the newcomer was swinging a curved blade at him. He was a young looking man, barely in his twenties. He had light brown skin and several tattoos on his face.
He reminded Lith of the man who had fused with the Black Star to prevent its destruction. Unlike the assassin, he wasn’t wearing any cloaking device, so his body shone like a lightbulb to mana sense.
‘Bright cyan mana core, infused with all the elements, and everything he wears is enchanted.’ Solus said without waiting for Lith to ask. He could see the weapon’s trajectory, but unfortunately, his body couldn’t keep up with it.
Lith was still bleeding profusely from his chest and the venom was still ravaging his body. The best he could do was intercepting the scimitar with his arm protector. The enemy was fresh and charging with all of his weight and fusion magic, whereas Lith was running on fumes.
The curved blade pushed Lith’s arm down and opened a deep cut from his left shoulder to his right hip. The assassin’s venom coupled with the blood loss made Lith fall to his knees as the new enemy spun on himself to decapitate him with a horizontal slash.
The blade hit only air as Lith was suddenly swallowed into the ground. Solus could use only a few powerful spells before running out of mana, so she had to pick them carefully.
The first one she had weaved was a Warp Steps leading back to Lith’s room. She placed it under his feet, turning gravity into their ally. Had she chosen to heal such deep wounds, the spell would have drained what little stamina Lith had left, while countering the venom would have required for her to not take part in the fight.
Lying on the floor of his room, Lith gasped as blood kept gushing from his wounds, forming a small pool under him. Breathing was becoming harder by the second.
He shut off his pain receptors to gain enough focus to be able to use his breathing technique. Invigoration healed his wounds almost instantly, yet the venom proved to be harder to deal with.
It had caused extensive damage that couldn’t be treated without first cleansing the toxin. Whatever it was, its maker had infused it with darkness magic, making it capable of rotting its victim’s body and using the light magic used against it to empower itself.
‘That was awfully close. That assassin knew who I was and that I’m an Awakened. The venom, the cloaking of his mana core and of his equipment, everything was made to counter how an Awakened usually fights.’ Lith thought.
It took him only a few seconds to get rid of the toxin, yet the process seemed to last hours to him. He kept looking around his room, waiting for his enemies to open a Warp Steps and finish him before he could recover.
***
Right after Solus had brought Lith to safety, the youth with the scimitar was giving his all to save his comrade’s life.
“Wake up, Keiran. You know I suck at healing.” He was mostly talking to himself since Keiran was unconscious. Being gutted like a fish with most of his organs damaged was already bad.
Balkor’s venom eroding his body and turning his mana core grey only made things harder for the second Awakened. He was forced to gamble what would kill his friend first, if the bleeding or the never seen before toxin.
He could only treat one at the time with Invigoration, at least on someone else. As most Awakened, he had always considered healing magic a waste of time, since there was nothing that branch of magic could do that Invigoration couldn’t do better.
Deraniel decided to bet on the Awakened’s iron body and removed the venom first. As soon as Balkor’s toxin was cleansed, light fusion started working again, making Deraniel work much easier.
“What the fuck were you thinking, man?” He said as soon as the assassin regained consciousness.
“Your stunt might have compromised the whole plan. Besides, we came here to see if the guy is as strong as that old bat Raagu says, not to kill him.”
“Talk for yourself.” Keiran said while using Invigoration to return to his peak condition.
“I’m sick of hiding like a thief. Tired of my master always reminding me of being careful of fake mages, undead, Guardians, and all of that crap. Damn, we trained for over fifteen years, spitting blood every single day, and yet they always treat us like kids.
“I want to prove to that old fossil that there’s nothing we Awakened cannot face.”
“Yeah, right. Remind me again, who saved your sorry ass?” Deraniel sneered.
“That’s different! The fucker took me by surprise.”
“Right. Your ambush took you by surprise. It totally makes sense and doesn’t sound like a pathetic excuse only a ten year old would use.” Deraniel was already regretting having saved Keiran’s life.
***
Only when both Lith and Solus were back to their full strength did Lith allow himself to relax.
‘If they didn’t barge in here already, it means they have no idea where I am. Who were those guys and what’s the beef they have with me?’ Lith thought.
‘The assassin mentioned the Black Star and someone named Treius. Maybe they are friends with the Awakened from the Blood Desert you killed a few months ago.’ Solus said.
‘Unlikely. There was only spite in his voice, not rage. My guess is that he had to be quite young. Aside from his carefully planned attack, everything he did and said seemed like a teenager during a measuring contest. Like he had to prove something.
‘The real question is if he attacked me because I was near the Church of the Six or for a completely unrelated reason.’ Lith’s paranoia could easily trace a connection between two Awakened, a new religion, the Griever, and even with JF Kennedy’s death.
‘Whatever the answer is, maybe it’s better to ask Friya’s help. She’s bound to know something about the Church of the Six, and Awakened cannot show themselves to the public. Together you can take both of those guys out.’ Solus said.
‘Unless they decide to go all out despite the presence of witnesses or there’s more than two of them. Anyway, I’ve lost my opportunity for today’s ritual, so second hand information is better than nothing.’ Lith thought while watching the storm intensify again.
For a second, he considered the possibility of the Awakened assassin using the venom to cause the Griever, but he discarded it immediately.
‘It’s made to kill, not to incapacitate. Also, someone as skilled as Friya is would have detected and extracted it. Unless someone baited me in this house, meeting Friya might actually be a blessing in disguise.
‘I can use her guild to collect the information I need and maybe even get access to some victims of the Griever. If really there is a link between those two Awakened and the illness, by understanding how it works I can guess what their endgame is.’
Lith used Accumulation to refine his core while waiting for dinner. Without his tower and with the storm raging outside there wasn’t much he could do. A couple of hours later, someone knocked on his door.
