Caius noticed something slightly different in the ground he is currently standing on. It felt as if the coarse texture of the sand had been replaced with a slimy texture.
His response time to the strange effect beneath him, was instant. Caius immediate thought, was to fly himself above, but he was a tad too late to avoid what Orun had done.
The sand beneath his ground held his leg down, rendering him unable to move properly or to fly above like he had planned.
Following Orun's skill word outburst, the ground shuddered in response to his command.
The coarse sand turned moist and stuck itself to Caius's sole like hard gum staying glued shut and turned deaf to any of his resistance at trying to get the sand off of him.
He increased the intensity of the Aura he is covered with below his feet, with the intent of burning the sand off of his sole.
If physical strength is not enough to get it off of him, perhaps burning it to smithereens will do the job, but he was wrong.
Caius could feel the sand beneath him absorbing his flame essence and using it as nourishment to strengthen itself.
"you are feeling it aren't you!".
Orun used the sand as a lift to slowly elevate himself out of the ground, with some distance between him and where Caius is standing.
"that is one of my specialty, changing the properties of whatever soil I make physical contact with".
It took Orun some time before he was able to discover the full potential of his soil Elemental Skill.
His first thought when he saw the soil elemental skill, he thought, it was a skill that helped him manipulate the shapes of sand.
Using the sand in the ground to cause sand tornado, or to easily dig through the ground by breaking down the earth composed of sand, and creating a space for him to pass through.
Those are the things he thought the soil elemental skill was good for, but it's effect, is more than what Orun could ever have imagined it to be.
The qualities behind Soil Elemental, goes beyond just manipulating the shape of whatever soil he touches.
It grants him, the power to change the texture of whatever soil he touches; a sandy soil in his hand, can turn clay, and a clay soil, can turn silt, or loamy. It all depends on what preferences he decides to go with.
"is this it? Is this all you can do? Temporarily stopping my movement with your soil skill is not going to stop me from attacking you, it will only delay the inevitable".
Certainly, him being tied to the ground is not off his own will, nor is it going to be easy for him to get out. But, not going to be easy to get out, is not the same thing as impossible to get out.
Caius is sure that with enough time on his hand, he can find his way out of the ground he is tied to.
Even under the assumption that he is unable to get out, there is only so little Orun can do against him so long as he still has his hands, and his weapons with him.
"i know, I know. Even without you telling me, I am well aware of how sturdy your body is, and how it won't be so easily influenced by my thorned fist".
It goes without saying that Caius's current body, is an impenetrable fortress, one capable of tanking a weight of having a mountain measuring more than a thousand feet fall on him and he will still come out unscathed, or having a weight measuring four thousand plus tonnes fall on him, and he still comes out of it alive.
Such is the kind of body the current Caius possess, and he has yet to see the limits to where his durability will be in defiance of his will.
Orun also knew that if he wanted to do any damage to Caius, he has to pick a particular spot in his body, and keep on aiming for it, ignoring the other parts while being specific to that one part.
This tactic is one with a very high probability of taking effect on Caius, but only in the long run, and a lot of patience required.
Sadly for Orun, Time is the one thing he is limited on when going up against Caius fused with Ignatius.
The energy that radiated off of Caius's body during his fusion with Ignatius, hinted at Orun that he is equipped with mana pool on the same or greater level than what he currently has.
If they are both with mana pool on the same wavelength, is already enough to put Orun at a disadvantage, when also taking into consideration the effectiveness of the weapon Caius has compared to the thorns Orun make use of.
He enjoys the thrill of a battle to the death, but he also enjoys the victory that comes with engaging in such battles.
Orun has to do whatever is needed of him to make sure that this battle, does not draw itself out to the point where he ends up completely out of mana, leaving him with only his physical abilities to go up against Caius's deadly weapons.
"surely you don't think me so stupid that I would resort to using my precious skill only as a means to render you immobile!".
Caius had his eyebrow twitch, indicating that something that would not favor him so much was about to happen to him.
"let me show you, a part of the powers I possess as an infernal Goblin with an inferno guardian class!".
Orun slowly raised his left hand up, with his fingers separated.
"Grand Mausoleum In Effect!".
The soil that had stuck itself to Caius's sole, dissolved into liquid form, with Caius unintentionally falling through it.
It happened so suddenly and especially unnoticed, as he had never expected the ground to dissolve into liquid form.
It caught him unaware, and he still managed to hastily move his body to act upon the sudden anomaly that had befallen him.