The battle begins! Viraa informs Alissia and the others of a unique method that may help even the odds against Avarice and his group. Meanwhile, Avarice and his group finally begin the final phase of their agenda. Can Alissia and her friends prevail...
Trevor quickly shot more orbs at Arne. Surprisingly, despite being formed so quickly they still possessed the same immense power from the blast before. He'd already found a way to make a more effective blast. Arne couldn't help but be astonished at his learning curve and ingenuity. Perhaps he was a genius after all.
But that wasn't Arne's way. Arne appreciated a more straightforward way of life and aptly chose a straight path forward. Using spirit enhancement and Hardshatter together, they charged right through a few of the blasts while some missed. Trevor suddenly vanished and appeared behind Arne with an explosion in both hands.
"Gotcha this time," he boasted as he shot the blasts point-blank into Arne's back. The blasts didn't detonate upon impact this time, though. Instead, they were projected forward. Even with the double protection, Arne was forcefully flung forward until they crashed into the plane, where the explosion finally occurred.
"Dammit!" Arne heard Trevor yell.
Arne climbed out of the burning rubble, their spirit enhancement gone and Hardshatter only mildly chipped. Arne looked to the side, seeing what was left of the plane engulfed.
Arne shook their head, having been proving right.
Trevor continued to curse at his screwup before suddenly shrouding the area in smoke, obstructing Arne's vision. Arne held their breath to keep from entering their restricted state.
"You keep mocking me. Making me screw things up..." Arne heard his voice call out from somewhere. Arne tried to use omni-vision to pinpoint his location but couldn't see past the smoke because it was dense with spirit energy. "I'll destroy everything so long as you're along with it. Let's see how your defenses hold up against everything I have!"
It dawned on Arne that the explosion would be too much for Arne in that state if they were struck with blasts while within the combustible smoke.
Thinking quickly, Arne responded and willed the ground to raise before lowering it back, creating enough draft to clear out enough of the smoke and reveal Trevor just landing on the ground nearby.
Arne quickly sent out a ripple through the ground, knocking him off balance as he was charging even more energy into what he undoubtedly expected to be the killing blow.
Trevor rose, furious.
"Fine. If my spirit attacks won't work..." Trevor released the total output of his spirit energy, generating smoke and sparks that occasionally ignited. True to his nature, Trevor's energy felt baseless and unrefined but still immense. He pulled something from his pocket and placed it on his arm, "then I'll use raw force to crush you first."
"A battle of strength then..." Arne said as they transformed. The paw-shaped ascension mark on Arne's upper right hip glowed orange. Their skin darkened slightly as their clear nails darkened and extended into sharp claws. Arne's skin tingled as their teeth sharpened into animalistic fangs, and dark patterns appeared on their face. Finally, Arne's ruff hair grew into a wild mane, and their eyes blackened as their irises changed to orange like a cat's.
Arne finished their transformation with a satisfying roar and release of power and intimidation.
Trevor's aggression wavered some.
"Don't disappoint me," Arne stated in a rougher voice before charging at him.
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Fun fact: In the year 2524, when he was 472 years old, Trevor began to learn everything he could about electrical and mechanical engineering. Now he sits at the top as the world's best in those two fields.
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