136 It Has Begun

With his body wrapped in crystalline flames Desmond charged towards Ferrise. As Desmond approached Ferrise Desmond swung his right hand sending a tidal wave of flames towards him. The soul fire engulfed everything in its path and threatened to do the same to Ferrise. Ferrise didn't know what those strange flames that started to surround him were, but he could feel how dangerous it was to be hit by them.

[Negative impact]

To avoid being hit by the soul fire Ferrise cast a spell that creates a sphere of dark energy of which expands continuously for about 30-50 meters. The spell Ferrise cast is a weakened version of a higher grade spell with the same name that can completely atomize a person when hit with it especially those who have a weakness to the darkness element. While Ferrise's spell is incapable of doing such a thing it can push things back with a great amount of force and force negative energy into a person's body.

Desmond and Maverick were both in range of Ferrise's spell. Desmond was able to withstand the attack by firing a stream of soul fire towards it. The spell still managed pushed him back a few meters and forced Desmond to dig two long trenches in the sand with his feet. But Desmond was still standing after it and completely unaffected by the spell's negative energy because of the soul fires purification ability.

Maverick on the other hand was also pushed back. He resisted a majority of the damage by using 4 orbs that floated around him that could generate a strong sonic wave. The sonic waves shielded him from the physical damage but did nothing about the negative energy that seeped through. That energy deteriorated some of Maverick's cells causing his skin to swell in different places and pop like cherries filled with blood. The pain was hard to endure but it wasn't enough to make Maverick stop pursuing Ferrise.

Ferrise knew that he was in an impossibly difficult situation to win. Both his partners were defeated by a mysterious old man making it impossible to defeat Maverick as of right now leaving escape as his only option.

Without making some kind of sacrifice it would be impossible for Ferrise to escape alive. So he changed tactics to see if he could get the strange old man to switch targets.

"Hay old man me and you have no animosity between each other nor was it me who tried to shoot you in the beginning. It was him he tried to shoot you, so you should be angry at him, not me. I can even forget about what you did to Gerald and Linda burying any transgressions between us right here and now".

Ferrise furiously pointed at Maverick as he tried to persuade Desmond to attack Maverick instead. Maverick became even more on guard than usual. He didn't know anything significant about Desmond and worst of all he didn't know what kind of decision Desmond would decide to make. All he knew for certain was that he was able to beat two people at the same time that even he would have difficulty beating in a short amount of time. Which meant that Desmond would be a difficult opponent to face in his opinion. Desmond pondered over Ferrise's words for a moment before he spoke.

"I may be old but my vision hasn't failed me. You're clearly at the end of your rope and while I do not like what that brat did to me I am not dumb enough to pass up such an opportunity to make an easy profit. So, with that being said do you want to put aside our difference for the time being and work together with me young man. If you agree then we can split what's on him 50-50".

Desmond had given the matter serious thought. He witnessed part of the battle between Ferrise and Maverick and knew that he could be neither of there opponents in a fair fight especially against Maverick. Desmond may be stronger than before but he knew for certain that he could not outpace a gun. Not only that but Desmond could even see all of the modifications that Maverick had hidden inside of his body. Warning him ahead of time about the added risk when fighting someone like Maverick. Desmond may have been angry about what Maverick did but he was not dumb enough to start a fight that he knew he could not win.

Maverick had a devious smile on his face while Ferrise was stunned. Maverick never expected to gain such a powerful ally so easily while Ferrise didn't think he would actually have to face off against two powerful foes.

"I'm willing to partner up, so long as you don't slow me down, old man".

"You cheeky brat is that any way to speak to a senior when he's lending you a hand. Learn to be a bit more respectful it can go a long way".

As Desmond and Maverick happily joined forces Ferrise was absolutely furious. He had faced off against Maverick before and every time he did Ferrise always felt as though the universe had it out for him.

'Every time, every god damn time we fight seemingly random things all lined up into place as if placed there for Maverick to take hold of. If that's true then is that fate was I always fated to lose against you Maverick?'.

Ferrise unwilling to accept such a cut and dry notion felt something snap in his head. All the strain Ferrise faced added in the expansion of his sea of consciousness. He broke into a new realm and he felt amazing. Amongst the three of them, Desmond unquestionably has the strongest soul but Ferrise now had the strongest mind.

Ferrise always needed a strong mind to effectively control all the crows that he summoned. An ability of which he had been strengthen using the Keystone on his forehead. The Keystone that Ferrise had though small still amplifies mental energy by 20% and was exactly what Maverick was after. That additional 20% could allow Maverick to control more machines than he already can. If Desmond knew what the key stone was and its effect he would be after it as well because it could have become one of the main ingredients in creating a suitable support item.

Ferrise unwilling to be Maverick stepping stone lashed out yet mostly focused on escaping.

[Corrupt fissure]

Ferrise's hand began to glow once it did he chopped downward towards Desmond that action distorted the air and sent a wave of energy shaped like a crescent moon barreling towards Desmond. Desmond felt the hairs all over his body stand on end because of that attack. Frightened by it Desmond took out an advanced magic scroll and activated it.

[Ice wall]

A cold gust of wind that made everyone feel as though they were standing in a frozen tundra gushed everywhere. Within in a second a massive ice wall erected itself in front of Desmond. Ferrise's spell clashed with the ice wall sending large chunks of it flying away. Though the ice wall was sturdy it started to heavily crack and give way to Ferrise's attack. When Desmond saw that he had already crouched to the ground to cast a spell of his own.

[Stone wall]

Desmond managed to cast the spell twice effectively erecting 2 stone walls behind the ice wall before all the layers of defense that Desmond set crumbled under the might of Ferrise's spell. Desmond's defenses gave Desmond the time to avoid the spell in time but he was still shocked by how strong that one spell was. Even after it destroyed the walls it still corroded the ground for about an additional 5 meters.

After Ferrise chopped down at Desmond he cast another spell called [dark lance] and launched it towards Maverick. Maverick did not have the confidence to tank such an attack so he blitzed out of the way as fast as his boots could take him. Though Maverick was fast the [dark lance] was faster. The tip of the lance crackled like lighting as it penetrated Maverick's left thy and shot straight through. Once it shot through Maverick's thy it exploded behind him abruptly with a thunderous clap. Responding to the danger Maverick's sonic orbs created a shield that blocked most the expansion and shrapnel from hitting him

[Dark prison]

Though Ferrise received a boost in power he was in no condition to the fight people as strong as Desmond and Maverick simultaneously. So he cast a spell that plunged the area within 100 meters into complete darkness. The spell cut off sight, smell, and sound.

Ferrise knew that the spell was completely useless on Maverick because of all the different pieces up technology he uses but the spell wasn't for him anyway. He just wanted to create an opening to slip past Desmond. Yet, sadly the spell was just as useless on Desmond as it was on Maverick. Even if the spell could completely cut off Desmond's senses his soul was simply too strong to be fooled by such a spell.

As Ferrise approached Desmond he blocked Ferrise's path by creating a wall of soul fire between them and firing a barrage of flames towards him. Ferrise weaved through Desmond's attack and was surprised by how accurate they all were. As Desmond blocked his advance Maverick attacked from behind.

Maverik sent out a swarm of drones while his for Sonic orb stayed close by to guard him. The drones gave Ferrise a hard time, but not as much as Desmond's soul fire. Ferrise couldn't risk being hit once from those flames. He noticed how strange they were and worst of all how they started to change the environments around them. Everything that his soul fire touched started to become translucent even Desmond's own body partly started to turn. Ferrise didn't know what that meant for him if he was hit by it but he didn't want to find out.

As threatening as Desmond soul fire was it turned out to work better against Desmond then for him. Desmond lacked control over his soul fire. He can move it just as easily as moving one of his own limbs, but that didn't stop the soul fire from turning everything it touched ethereal. That ability did not come from nothing it took Desmond's spiritual energy to shift the state of matter. Desmond's lack of control was starting to overtax his soul and dulled his senses. If Desmond continued to overuse his soul fire it would force him to pass out.

Ferrise threw feathers from his arms to destroy Mavericks drones and sent waves out with dark energy to keep Desmond soul fire from touching him. As Ferrise defended he took out a grass doll and ate it. Ferrise didn't want to summon his crows at that time but he was left with no other choice. Rapid summoning crows for Ferris may seem easy but each crow is born from small sacks in his body and it takes a tiny bit of Ferrise's flesh each time he does summon one when he doesn't. Which is completely safe to do so long as he reabsorbs the crows afterward.

large dark wings made of hundreds of crowd sprouted on Ferrise's back. Once they did hundreds of crows swarmed Desmond and Maverick. Though they didn't want to both we're forced to engaged the crows before they could fight ferrise.

Ferrise used that opportunity to escape. Desmond wanted to immediately chase after Ferrise but he suddenly became nauseous and stumble to the ground because he felt like his bones suddenly became brittle. The crows stack the weakness curse on to Desmond one after the other slowing him down. Maverick wasn't affected by the curse because he had a counter for it but he was still slowed down a bit by the pestering crows.

Maverick took out an automatic rifle and a few drones that both rapidly unfolded from there compressed states and started to mow down the crows. Maverick wasn't worried about Ferrise flying away he knew Ferrise's abilities to well and planned for too long to easily let him escape. When flew a few meters off the ground a massive blue net entered Ferrise's vision.

Ferrise was familiar with the kind of nets Maverick typically used and knew how dangerous they all were. If Ferrise got caught in any of them he knew that he was as good as dead because each net was capable of vibrating at a high frequency and had enough tensile strength to support a small bridge. Ferrise's body would be chopped apart into meaty blocks in an instant once the net caught hold of him.

Confronted with such a dangerous situation Ferrise utilized his martial arts techniques and seemingly began dancing in the air. His entire body mimiced the actions of a butterfly that fluttered in the sky. His strange movements made him more nimble in the air allowing him to barreling dodge the net. As soon as Ferrise avoided the net and became relieved a rocket shot out by one of Maverick's turrets hidden nearby crossed Ferrise's path and exploded. The explosion forced Ferrise back to the ground.

After Ferrise crashed to the floor he was disoriented and heavily injured. His left arm and the left side of his face were both badly damaged from the explosion. Smoke rose up from his body as blood trickled out of his crushed left eye and down from his face. Though it was badly damaged Ferrise was still able to use his left arm he just had to fight through the pain to do so.

Ferrise exchanged a hate filled glare with his most hated enemy while Maverick had an in different look the entire time. Maverick long since plugged the hole in his left leg with a specially made bio gel that promoted rapid healing. The wound still hurt even after he injected himself with something to heal it but it was still manageable for him.

Soon after their quick stare down Maverick dove in full speed towards Ferrise. Ferrise may have been heavily injured and lacked both the stamina and magic to continue fighting effectively but he wouldn't let yhat keep him from punching Maverick in the face. Ferrise's wounds were to serious for Ferrise to dodge effectively forcing him to confront Maverick in that instance.

When Maverick near a strange crow flew out of Ferrise's mouth. The only difference it had from all of Ferrise's other crows was that it was oddly wet to an unnecessary degree. Most people would think that the crow was drenched in saliva but it wasn't it was ...

BOOM!!!

As soon as the crow was close enough to Maverick the crow exploaded in a gory fashion. Bits and chunks of what should have bern inside hundred of bird flew out of only one while a highly acidic dark mist filled the area around them. Ferrise was immune to the mist and laughed in joy as he watched Maverick being corroded by it.

The mist scalded Mavericks skin and stated to make puss filled warts sprout up on him. Maverick instantly decided to leave the effected area once he saw what was happen but in the end he couldn't. Numerous hands sprung out of the blood pool beneath Maverick and threatened to drag him down to a world unknown to him. Maverick wildly fired upon all the hands that where holding him down but the all kept reforming quicker then he could destroy them.

As Maverick was being taken away the flag of death sprung up on Ferrise's head. The loud sound of something travelling trough the air caught Ferrise's attention when he saw what it was it startled him because it was one of Maverick's specially designed nets. Not wanting to be truck by such a thing Ferrise maneuvered out of the way. Once he did he senced some kind of danger yet saw none in the immediate area. On instinct alone Ferrise wanted to dadge again but he was to slow. He had already moved to already exactly Desmond wanted him to be leaving him open to be struck by Desmond's soul threads.

Ferrise's movements slowly down significantly and strangely enough he found that his vision had become split. Ferrise turned his only good eye to look at the cause of his demise and saw Desmond wrapped in a cloak of soul fire. It took him a minute but Desmond eventually figure out that the weakness curse could also be dispelled by using his soul fire making Ferrise's crows completely useless against him in all regards.

"What's with that look forgot about me already? That's alright i'm sure you'll remember me after this".

Ferrise's eyes widened as Desmond snapped his fingers which lit the spark the engulfed Ferrise in flames. Desmond soul fire made Ferrise experience a hell far worse then what Maverick had ever done to him. Ferrise tried extinguishing the flames but he couldn't the flames now raged within the depths of his soul and he had no way to put it out.

As Ferrise was the face of death Maverick saw opportunity. To seize it Maverick hardened his resolve and revealed a long hidden blade hidden inside his right arm. The blade shimmered as it glowed a soft light blue. Maverick without hesitation used the blade to cut off both his legs (below his ankles). Once he did the 4 sonic orbs surrounding Maverick launched him forward allowing the arms that sprung out of the pool of blood to claim Maverick's legs. Maverick's body flew in the acidic air which corroded him further. As he barreled towards Ferrise who was shouting loudly Maverick swung his blade one final time. A blood fountain sprayed into the air after Ferrise's head was severed from his shoulders.

That unbelievable scene of his decapitate body set aflame by his most hated enemy and some random old man was engraved inside Ferrise mind and in his final movements time slowed. So many confusing and conflicting emotions swelled up inside. There where to many thoughts and ideas of what could be, what could have been, and what will happen. All those things made Ferrise panic so much he fealt as though he would die from that alone.

So, he made all those confusing thoughts simple and turned it all into rage an intense rage born under so much pressure it rippled outward. Ferrise was unwilling to go silently into the night his hatred was to strong for that. In the final act before all life left Ferrise's body and his eyes no longer burned with the same hatred as before. A strong mental wave undulated forward in all directions striking both Desmond and Maverick.

Maverick attempted to resist it but his mind still cracked under the extreme pressure it received. Desmond fared even worse then Maverick he may have a strong will and an unquestionable resolve to pursue his dream of magic but he had only just begun strengthenin his sea of consciousness. Large cracks reminiscent of the grand canyon appeared everywhere inside of Desmond's mind. If it wasn't for Desmond's sheer grit alone in resisting Ferrise's mental shock wave he could have died from it or ended up brain dead.

Maverick was trying to catch his breath on the floor after enduring the sudden mental attack. Maverick after taking a second to rest crawled to Ferrise head and a red jem off of Ferrise's forehead. The key stone that he sought to take from Ferrise for so long was finally in his hands. Though he took a few losses to do it, it was all worth it in Maverick's eyes. After storing the item away Maverick gazed up at the old man who had been watching him the hole time. Their partnership has ended so anything can happen now.

Maverick even though that Desmond would betray him half way threw yet he didn't. But that didn't mean much in Maverick's eyes anyway. To him Desmond could have partnered up with him for any number of reasons the two most likely ones being he thought Ferrise was more of a treat or that he himself was to dangerous of an opponent in Desmond's eyes, so he decided to ally with him. But now that he appears weak and injured what would Desmond do?.

Desmond stood upright and appeared completely unfazed by all the fights he endured in Maverick eyes which worried him. But Desmond had no thoughts of fighting in the slightest he just didn't want to show weakness in front of Maverick. Since he only had less then 10% of his magic left, his spiritual energy was practically almost gone, his body was heavily injured. plus he was still not stupid enough to pick a fight with someone like Maverick.

After looking around Desmond saw how much his soul fire had altered the terrain and didn't like it. It clearly displayed were he was lacking so he waved his hand and grasped the air to get ride of it. Desmond didn't know how to change an item back after he altered it. but he did know after he altered something he establishes a small connection with it and can destabilize that object breaking it down until it became like sand. After Desmond destabilized everything all the objects he affected turned to sand.

Desmond gazed at Maverick suddenly sprouted metal spikes out of his stubs and used them for legs. After spending a little time with Maverick Desmond could clearly see how cold and cruel he was just by how brutally he treated even himself.

"Maverick is your name correct?"

"Its actually my last name but I prefer it when people call me by it rather then my first name. The value of a name holds a lot of significance to a person I'm sure you can understand why Mr. Desmond Gillies".

"Oh, so you know my name that's, so terrifying. Tell me did you figure that all out by using the implant in your right eye or am I simply just that famous".

"You can spot my implants that's quite impressive your quite the man of mystery Mr.Gillies".

"Yes and your waisting my time so why don't you take what you want of that corps and go where done here".

Desmond and Maverick gazed at each other for a moment sizing the other up one last time before another person joined in on the conversation

"Go, and were will that be I wonder shouldn't you two explain yourself before you try to leave?".

The battle between everyone destroyed an entire block. The DCPD had long since arrived to evacuate people and handle the situation but the person standing before Desmond and Maverick wasn't apart of the DCPD it was an official grade 1 magus of Delmar City.

Seeing who was both Desmond and Maverick respectively bowed. In front of a real mage that's all they could do.

"Explain now".

Maverick stopped bowing and respectively explained what had transpired.

"Your lordship this is what has happened you see in their desperation to prepare for the coming war my fellow students resorted to robbing innocent civilians. They targeted this old man at first who fought back hard to resist. I happened to be in the area when I heard the commotion. Seeing how my comrades where smearing the good name of our academy I felt that I had to do something that when the battle intensified".

Maverick didn't stutter once when he spoke, he was eloquent through to the very end. Only a seasoned lier could utter that much shit from there mouths and do it with a smile.

"Your trying to tell me a simple robbery turned into this mess. Why in the world would they be willing to die for a handful of magic crystals".

"They weren't sir the reason this escalated to such a degree was because of my presence. When I came to inspect the commotion I had no clue what to expecte. It never once crossed my mind that I would run into three old enemies. You see since the beginning they have always been jealous of my talent. This drew a wedge between us especially between me and Ferrise over there. For years their anger for me grew until they let it all out on this day when they believed they had the opportunity to finally put an end to me since I was out numbered. If it wasn't for courageous old man risking life and limb it would be me dead on the ground right now".

As Maverick pointed down at Ferrise's body and gave an invigorating speach the word shameless popped up in Desmond's mind because that's all he could come up with to describe Maverick's actions absolutely shameless.

There was no real way for the mage to easily prove Maverick's story since there where no camera's in the area courtesy of the underworld elites making deals with the higher ups. Mind reading was also against the rules for legal reasons, and after the mage inspected all the bodies he was surprised to find not even a trace of anyone's soul because of Desmond's soul fire.

"Who killed these apprentices?"

"It was my your grace".

"How did you do it?".

Desmond didn't hesitate to show the mage his soul fire because it would lead to unnecessary trouble if he did.

A look of surprise appeared on the mage's face, "A soul fire how in the would did you acquire something, so valuable". If Maverick told the mage they fought for Desmond's soul fire he would believe it in an instant because not even official mages can acquire something like that without risk or a steep price.

"It was gifted to me by my master".

"And who is your master?". The mage asked that not only because he had to but because he wanted to know if his master was someone who he could personally offend. If so he could take away Desmond's soul fire for himself.

"He is a rank 3 magus I don't know his full name but he prefers to go by the name Zane".

Maverick and the official magus both sucked in a breath of cold are after that statement because it was a bold claim that could spell doom for the both of them if it was real and his master decided to act.

"I'm gonna need to verify that, stay still".

The mage took out a piece of glass and cast a spell while looking through it the results of which were disheartening.

"its true you are a mages apprentice which makes you an official apprentice unlike other apprentice level civilians and depending on your masters status you actions will be deemed insignificant but your master will still receive a fine for the damages that you caused".

"That's fine my master loves to take care of me and will deal with this joyfully".

After Desmond said that he began coughing up blood. The insects Zane left inside Desmond gave Desmond's internal organsa few love bites.

"Ok then, so you both know Twilight Academy shall be noticed of this incident and it will be up to them if they want to persue the matter any further. One of you is apart of Twilight Academy so your safe but you're not so they may take action against you".

The mage was was about to say more when suddenly the entire place shook. The sound of a terrible explosion travelled all throughout the city. The time had come, that explosion signaled the call to armes for the best and the brightest because it was time for war.