Runes - A Tale Of The Abyss

Without a moment's hesitation Anastasia waved her hands, sending a torrent of ice spikes that were blasting from the ground towards Griff. However Griff simply grinned, and just as the ice spikes were about to impale him, a stone pillar shot out below him, raising him to safety.

"Well now. Your next line's going to be... 'How can a mere Phoenix counter me?'"

"How can a mere Phoenix counter me?"

Anastasia froze in place after she said that. She was being read like an open book by a phoenix?! She grit her teeth. This was BEYOND humiliating!

She raised her hand up and snapped it. She was losing her cool.

Slowly clouds began to gather around them. She was about to perform a higher tier spell than those lousy second tier spells she had just casted.

Griff noticed that as well because his grin slowly faded as he looked up to the sky and the mana gathering around Anastasia.

"F.u.c.k."

"BLIZZARD MAGIC: ARCTIC DECENT!"

As soon as she shouted her chant a hail began. But this was no ordinary hail... the ice was as big as a human!

"YOU CRAZY B*TCH YOU'RE GONNA CRUSH EVERYONE!"

"SO BE IT! NO ONE MOCKS ME IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE SCHOOL!"

The students around them had all stopped their practice duels and were shouting in horror as they ran for cover. Griff had lost sight of all of his friends during the chaos but it didn't matter anymore.

Julius was about to take action, but Augustus put his hand on his c.h.e.s.t and shook his head.

"No, don't intervene. I want to see how this plays out."

"But... she's going to kill him!"

"Don't worry Julius! We're all here. I'll intervene if I think the lad's in danger. It's just that I haven't seen such a direct challenge against her in a long time. She's one of the top students in the first year class after all."

"Yeah..."

Julius started to ponder as he watched the hail fall. The teachers had set up force fields around them and the other students just in time to shield them.

'He surely beat Ellen, but Ellen didn't have the amount of mana that Anastasia does, and Anastasia has control over one of the strongest attributes... blizzard. I can't see Griff making out of this one sadly...'

Julius was too pessimistic, and it was up to Griff's actions to change that.

Anastasia was laughing with an evil glint in her eyes.

"THINK BEFORE YOU ACT NEXT TIME PUNK!"

A few of the human sized ice blocks were moments away from crushing Griff. This was a moment of victory for Anastasia. She wasn't letting her pride get spoiled.

Griff, however, was calm. Seconds before the impact he slowly raised his arm and grinned to himself. He could easily turn those ice blocks into condensed plasma flames by contradicting them, but he'd just show his magic then. The next best result? Using its contradiction against it!

Griff quietly muttered his chant.

"Contradict... Analyzing Mana... Heh... check-mate."

Suddenly flames in an unusual color bursted from his hand. And as soon as it contacted the hail the ice was vaporized.

"Wha...wha?"

Anastasia was more surprised than angry as she watched what just unfolded in front of her. Flames colored white had just shot out of Griff's hand in a radius of about two meters. The destructive flames had instantly vaporized her hail...

"Now I wasn't expecting to use this here, but it looks like I can't underestimate you at all. There's more where that came from."

'Yosh! I'm the king of bluffing! I can't tell her that I just learnt that attribute! Who knew fire was so flexible. Yosh! I wonder what degree my black flames burn. Wait wait! Griff concentrate! Now's not the time to fanboy over your favorite attribute.'

Outwards Griff was looking at Anastasia with sharp eyes and a confident smirk but inwards he was fanboying and goofing around.

Caphriel, on the other hand, was silent. She had been silent for a long time now as an observer, but this was something frightening. It looked as if Griff had instantly picked up on an attribute, and a very powerful one that was unheard of at that.

[Plasma flames... flames so hot that they burn white or blue and can be counted as plasma... but what does that make his black flames then?]

Anastasia had decided that it was time to stop being shocked. It was obvious that Griff was an odd one. Someone who didn't fit the norm for what he was supposed to be. She wouldn't take him lightly or mock him anymore.

She locked her gaze with his confident look and snapped her fingers. The hail stopped. It wasn't doing any good anyhow since every ice block that neared Griff was vaporized.

"Very well. I'm going to be taking you seriously from now on. You are definitely not a simple phoenix. What's your name?"

'She's asking my name? Oh she also calmed down. Heh I guess I got quite the charm.'

"Griff."

"Griff what?"

"Huh?"

"No surname?"

"What's a surname?"

"Huh? Wait you can't be telling me you don't have a last name."

"Girl my name's just plain Griff."

Anastasia's eye twitched. A kid without a surname, so he was an orphan. An orphan had driven her to go serious. She chuckled to herself.

"Okay I get you. My name is Anastasia. Good luck, Griff."

Griff just stood there confused scratching his head. What was it with all these self introductions during a fight with these nobles. Is it a honor thing? Well... never-mind.

"Yeah you too."

Augustus who was watching from a distance snorted.

"Damn, she put up a dome. She's probably going all out. Let's get closer just in case."

"What's this?"

"It's so we're not interrupted. I don't like my duels being interrupted when I think they might warm me up."

"Oh, so I'm warm up?"

"No offense, but you're still just a phoenix."

Even though she had become nicer after Griff proving himself to her by blasting away her ice hail he was still severely underestimated.

"Well now I just can't accept that... My pride won't allow it!"

Griff shouted in vigor as he pointed at Anastasia.

"I'll make you regret those words now."

"You can try..."

She slowly exhaled. Her breath was becoming frosty again.

Suddenly Griff noticed something. This dome... it wasn't only to keep people from interfering but it was also...

"Looks like you noticed."

"Trying to keep the temperature low enough to stop me."

"You're outmatched now. You can't cast your spells easily anymore."

Griff chuckled at that. Anastasia's face full of confidence twisted into one of confusion.

"That's where you're wrong. Thanks for the dome though... I wouldn't want anyone to see what's about to happen."

"Huh?"

Anastasia saw Griff's lips move. He was chanting, but she couldn't hear him.

"Contradiction Magic: The Empyrean Body of the Forge."

Slowly dark mana could be seen gathering around Griff. Anastasia decided that she was not going to let her chance slip.

"Blizzard Magic: Spikes."

Dozens of spikes suddenly sprouted from the icy ground towards Griff full throttle. However just as the first one was about to hit him head on a hand covered in black flames grasped it, melting it.

From the cloak of black flames Griff stepped out, donning his armor of condensed black flames. The true form of his magic.

Griff's muffled voice spoke up through his visor.

"You're going to have to do better than that."

"As if you're the only one who can cast full body armor spells. And I was expecting something more interesting. I'll play it your way then!"

The air around her began to freeze, and the moisture that remained was gathering around her. It was solidifying.

"Blizzard Magic: Frostbitten"

Anastasia was covered from head to toe in an elegant armor made of ice. Griff's armor looked bulky compared to her elegant and sharp design, but Griff's armor had a different charm. Its explosive power.

Griff suddenly disappeared leaving a small lingering black flame where he had stood. Anastasia's eyes widened as her reflexes kicked in, raising her hand to create a shield of ice in the nick of time as Griff slammed right into her, sending her crashing onto the wall of the Ice dome.

She wiped a slight tinge of blood on her lip as she pulled herself out of the small hole she had just made.

She then slowly smiled.

It was Griff's turn to be shocked this time.

"You're not down? That wasn't some weak assed attack you know..."

The ice clad princess of frost simply chuckled.

"Yeah. Yeah it wasn't weak, it's just that I'm stronger than I look."

Suddenly the air around Griff had started to freeze up. She was planning on encasing him in ice again!

"That won't work, and you know it!"

Griff's flames sparked around his body as they started to evaporate the ice that was continuously forming around him.

However he noticed a tug on his legs, and looked down to see... roses? Blue ice roses were tangling around his legs.

He then realized what was going on. She was exhausting him so that he couldn't burn off those binds.

He stopped evaporating the ice forming around him and blasted the roses beneath him. However, something was wrong... those roses were definitely burning, but... they weren't melting.

"What the..."

Griff was then punched across the jaw, falling from the shock.

'Damn it I forgot about her entirely.'

"And I thought you wouldn't fall for that that easily. You're still a phoenix after all."

Griff who was lying on the floor with slight blood dripping from his face grit his teeth in frustration. Anastasia couldn't see his expression because of his visor, but she could clearly feel the mana around him to vibrate. It was entering a higher state of energy.

Her eyes slightly widened as she took a few steps back, and stomped on the ground. Ice spikes shot out of the ground, trapping Griff in a prison of ice.

"I suggest you better stop that. You're going to overload your mana. Are you crazy? Energizing mana?!"

Griff didn't reply. Instead he slowly exhaled. Anastasia wasn't the only one who was confused though. Caphriel was also confused on what was happening to Griff. She had tried reaching out to him, but to no avail. It was as if she was imprisoned inside him now ironically.

Seeing Griff not respond Anastasia clicked her tongue and waved her hand as more ice spikes shot out of the ground, limiting Griff's movement even more. She wasn't going to take any chances. This guy wasn't going to lay down and accept defeat easily as she saw. Something was driving him to even do insane things like energize mana.

Anastasia decided that this would get out of hand if she did not knock Griff out instead of imprison him because the mana around him was only getting more potent.

"Damn it, your crazy a.s.s is forcing me to use a fifth tier spell on you. Don't come crying to me when you're in the hospital for a month."

The air was now dropping temperatures rapidly. It was dropping so fast that the blood on Anastasia's face had retreated into her body. She had already dispelled her magic armor, it would only hinder her now. She was entirely pale with pure white skin. Her blue hair was also freezing up, turning white. This was a side effect of the spell she was casting.

"Blizzard Magic: The Frozen World."

The mana around her flickered... and then suddenly dozens of structures started to appear out of thin air. All of them were made of ice and snow. The dome that they were trapped in was slowly converting into a world of its own governed by ice and snow.

Here in this domain, Anastasia had full control over the mana around her. Inside The Frozen World's range the natural mana obeyed her. The only way one could face her easily was from the outside, dispelling this spell.

However, even though he was now silent Griff wasn't backing down. His prison of ice spikes were now melting. Anastasia was mostly shocked at this because she had poured in a lot of mana to create their structures to be highly condensed.

Each piece of ice Griff touched was melting. His armor was also slowly dispelling. The black flames surrounding him had served its purpose.

"What in the..."

Anastasia couldn't see Griff clearly because of the dancing black flames around him that were melting any attack she threw at him, but Griff's eyes were pitch black. He wasn't speaking at all either. It was as if he was sleep walking...

"The hell is he. The mana vibrating around him should have stopped. I'm governing the natural mana here... but for some reason that's what he's using to cast his black flames. What the hell are those anyway I've never seen black flames..."

She snapped out of her magic nerd phase as she noticed Griff had now entirely melted her prison and was slowly heading towards her. He looked like a menacing beast of black flames as he moved. His body was encased in the dancing flames, and the only visible things were his arms, legs and white portion of his hair.

She sighed. Even though Griff seemed to be quite loved by mana he was burning his mana out too fast. In a few seconds he'd have no personalized mana left, and he'd be at her Frozen World's mercy.

"Blizzard Magic: Frostborn Knights."

Horses and knights made of ice rose from the ground. The knights mounted their horses, and drew their frozen blades.

"Hold him down. He should run out of mana soon and we can end this needlessly dangerous fight."

Her knights nodded synchronously, and galloped towards Griff. They each had raised their blades to cut through his flames and knock him out with their blades back side.

However, something totally out of Anastasia's expectations happened. Griff stopped walking. He was facing down the charging frost paladins. He raised his hand. It was glowing a more vicious black than the rest of his flames. And after a second he slammed his hand on the ground.

Cracks instantly started to appear around him. The knights had halted their advance before they made contact with him. Anastasia was now annoyed. Her summons never stopped until her order completed.

"I said knock him out what are you waiting for?!"

And in a few seconds she realized why they had stopped. Cracks had appeared all over them, and black flames were slipping out of said cracks. They were already destroyed before they even touched Griff.

Anastasia steeled her eyes. This was no longer a duel between students but one between monsters.