Episode Eight: Showdown in the Monastery (Part 2)

 Manifest: A Shattered Future

Episode Eight: Showdown in the Monastery (Part 2)

 

“I’ll admit that I respect your tenacity, but I can’t go easy on you. If I did, you’d just end up sending yourself to your death,” warned the monk.

Elena nodded slowly, but she could not stop herself from trembling. She had nothing to protect her from her enemy’s Quicksand Carrier, and her Princess of Swirling Cinders stood helplessly to the side. Chains still bound its ability to cast curses, leaving her defenseless. Her curly hair fluttered as she shook, but she fought through her fear to watch her opponent’s move. The monk struck his red monolith with a miniature hammer, and then he set the weapon on the ground. In mere moments, a valiant warrior materialized in a shower of red light.

               “He doesn’t look like another earth sorcerer,” Elena muttered.

               “That’s true. Every sorcerer is different, so it’s important for a conjurer to have choices. If all I used was earth, then I would be predictable. Defeatable. My Rogue of Broken Justice has a special skill that is invaluable in battle,” explained the monk as he compelled his sorcerer to advance.

               Elena watched with worry as the Rogue raced across the battlefield at a frightening speed. But in the moment before the sorcerer would have slammed into an ice pillar, it swerved on a dime and instead jumped into a portal point. Almost immediately thereafter, the Rogue materialized from the other end of the portal point, just one step away from Elena’s sorceress. The enemy illuminated with a faint glow, and then it swung its arms with a startling speed; it stole the Princess’ spell card before she could use it. Elena yelped in shock, but the onslaught still hadn’t ended. The Rogue of Broken Justice struck the Princess of Swirling Cinders with a luminous blade, leaving her to stumble backward in agony.

               “My turn is over. I recommend you start your counterattack, or it won’t be long until this ends,” the monk advised.

               Elena nodded and narrowed her eyes as she reached for a card. She saw a portion of the Quicksand Carrier’s magic fizzle, and then she desperately drew a spell. Without taking any time to wallow, she reached into her jacket and extracted the red monolith. In the background, Altair straightened out his back and watched with wonder, waiting to see Elena wield their fallen friend’s favorite sorcerer for the first time. Elena balanced on one foot and smacked her cane against the monolith, forcing it to reverberate.

               “I manifest the Alchemist of Astroconvergence!” Elena exclaimed as a spiral of red energy erupted from the monolith.

               When the Alchemist emerged from the red monolith, it did not materialize a card into its own hand as Elena had seen many times before. Instead, and to Altair’s surprise, the Alchemist forced a powerful spell to materialize directly into Elena’s hand, joining the other cards she held. She smiled, knowing that the Alchemist had done this so the Rogue could not steal its gift.

               “Take down the Quicksand Carrier,” Elena instructed, compelling her sorcerers to strike. The Alchemist obeyed first, unleashing a luminous glow as it thrust its fist forward. The blow landed with enough force to nearly shatter the Quicksand Carrier, and in the next moment, the Princess of Swirling Cinders dispatched it with a storm of sparks.

               However, Elena noticed that she had no way to take down the Rogue of Broken Justice. It stood just a short distance away, armed with a stolen spell and able to steal again. For that reason, Elena chose not to pass any cards to her sorcerers. She instead advanced her Alchemist to the icy pillar, creating a partial wall across her region.

               “My turn. Rogue of Broken Justice, step off the portal! I’ve got plans,” announced the monk after he drew another card.

               With a look of curiosity, the monk struck his black monolith with his miniature hammer and set it onto the ground. Just moments later, a fountain of black light erupted from the monolith and materialized a new sorcerer. Elena watched with horror as The Sandstorm Sorcerer appeared before her.

               As soon as The Sandstorm Sorcerer emerged and took a forward step, the monk passed it three cards. In the next moment, the monk compelled it to race across the battlefield and jump into the portal. As soon as it emerged from the portal and stood in the region closest to Elena, it cast a powerful spell. Elena took a backward step and braced herself with her cane as the entire area trembled. Spires and spikes of orange rock emerged from the ground and decorated the battlefield.

Once the terraforming was complete, the monk compelled his Sandstorm Sorcerer to strike the Alchemist of Astroconvergence with all its strength. A storm of sand and rock swept up from the surroundings and pummeled the alchemist, disguising the calamitous attack. Elena watched with worry, praying that her sorcerer could withstand the strike, but her red monolith stopped vibrating before the sandstorm faded. She felt her blood run cold, and when the dust finally faded, the Alchemist had vanished; the Sandstorm Sorcerer had demolished it with a single strike. She couldn’t help but feel like she had failed Romulo’s memory by letting down his most trusted sorcerer, but she quickly realized that she had no time to feel sorry for herself.

“Sandstorm, go ahead and cast your spell. Another Chain Reaction: Earth,” said the monk.

As the Sandstorm Sorcerer’s spell took effect, a rocky pillar emerged from the dusty earth, further locking down the space beside Elena. She tilted her head with confusion, but then she saw another spell materialize in the Sandstorm Sorcerer’s hand. Without wasting a moment, the Sorcerer passed it to the Rogue of Broken Justice.

“This may not come as a surprise, but chemical reactions often repeat themselves. The same is true for this series of spells. Rogue of Broken Justice, cast your spell; unleash your Product of the Chain Reaction!” commanded the monk.

Streams of energy emerged from the fallen spell cards which scattered the battlefield, and their energy surged into the Rogue of Broken Justice. One particular stream of energy surged into the Rogue and forced its power to climb tremendously; the sorcerer was empowered by both this Product and the one from earlier. It then attacked by lunging forward and thrusting its luminous blade into the Princess of Swirling Cinders, but this strike had significantly more power than earlier. Elena’s sorceress didn’t hold on for a moment; it instantly shattered, and the violet monolith stopped reverberating.

“If my math is right, then you’re down to your last monolith. Your last sorcerer. What will you do?” asked the monk with a curious stare.

“I don’t know,” Elena muttered as she shakily drew her next card. She glanced over the collection of cards in her hand, and though she had many good options, she had no way to defend herself. She stared across the battlefield and saw that her enemy had completely closed her in; she had hardly any ground to work with. Rocky terrain spanned her region, and pillars of ice scattered the battlefield. With no sorcerer left to call upon, she grabbed the black monolith from her jacket and struck it with her cane.

Elena said, “When I first washed up on shore, I saw him attacking. He attacked everything! He was merciless, but he was powerful. I just need to access… a fraction of his power.”

After Elena tossed the black monolith onto the ground, it erupted into a shower of black energy. A fierce wind carried across the rocky terrain as the monolith reverberated, and before long, the Typhoon Paladin materialized in the heart of the eruption. She felt her excitement swell as her sorcerer ascended to its full height, and then she passed him three spells.

“Go, Typhoon Paladin! Strike that Rogue with all your strength; strike hard! Okay, now use your Berserk Heart and attack again!” Elena cheered.

               The Typhoon Paladin forced its arms to illuminate with the glow of lightning, and then it unleashed a second fearsome strike. Thunder shook the area as the Rogue of Broken Justice withstood the second powerful strike, but Elena’s onslaught did not end here. She narrowed her eyes and compelled her sorcerer to cast another spell.

               And while Typhoon Paladin sacrificed a portion of his stamina to cast the spell, he unleashed a powerful tornado to tear across the rocky plain. Raindrops and thunder flashed through the vortex as it engulfed the Rogue of Broken Justice. Elena shouted and pointed toward the far-left corner of the battlefield, but Typhoon Paladin glanced at Elena with a grin. Having never seen a sorcerer display emotion while under her command, Elena froze; she yielded and let the Paladin steer his own tornado. In the end, he deposited his enemy at the far-right corner of his enemy’s territory. The monk seemed surprised by this development, and then the Typhoon Paladin stepped just out of reach from the Sandstorm Sorcerer.

               Just before the monk drew his next card, two streams of magic fell from his Rogue and fizzled. He took a moment to contemplate his next move, but he quickly realized that his Rogue was too far away to reach the enemy. With no other choice, the monk compelled his Sandstorm Sorcerer to attack the enemy.

               But before the sandstorm could even kick up from the rocky ground, Elena shouted, “Stop that strike; stop all strikes! Curse of Frozen Chains!”

               The monk watched with amazement as the icy chains enwrapped his Sandstorm Sorcerer, but he did not relent. Instead, he encouraged his Sorcerer to retreat a tremendous distance – including a detour through the portals. By the time the rush ended, the Sandstorm Sorcerer had nearly retreated to its monolith. And while the monk did not cast a spell, he compelled his sorcerer to unleash the magic of the spell it carried.

               Elena saw the icy chains shatter from the Sandstorm Sorcerer’s wrists, but to her relief, they did not materialize a new spell for her enemy. The monk then ended his turn, and the Rogue of Broken Justice lost another pair of energy streams from its fearsome glow; the lingering magic of the chain reaction faded from its grasp. But to both conjurers’ surprise, the Rogue of Broken Justice could not sustain its injuries without the amassed energy. The Rogue stumbled forward and then shattered, severing its connection to the red monolith. The monk watched with wonder now that Elena had the upper hand.

               “I won’t get cocky; I don’t get cocky. I know you still have one monolith left, so I won’t get ahead of myself. I made that mistake earlier,” Elena said as she drew her next card.

               Elena passed the card she drew to her sorcerer, and then Typhoon Paladin burst into motion. He jumped into the portal, came out through the other end, and charged toward the Sandstorm Sorcerer. With a pair of thunderous punches, Typhoon Paladin forced the enemy sorcerer to shatter. The monk’s black monolith fell motionless, so Elena shifted her weight and ended her turn.

               “That’s smart of you. We’ve both gone back and forth several times in this fight, so it’s foolish for either of us to think it’s over. Then again… I think you know that my blue monolith is the only one left. Do you know the significance of that?” asked the monk.

               “No, I don’t. Or at least, I didn’t. My friend Altair explained it to me. He said that the blue sorcerers are like guardians, protectors. They’re often hard to beat, but also… if you have nothing left to protect, they don’t have the same value,” Elena reasoned.

               The monk nodded and answered, “That is often true. But for us, in this battle, this next sorcerer is a wild card. Sometimes it can withstand a dozen strikes, and other times, it shatters like glass.”

               Elena watched her opponent manifest the Mage of Hidden Secrets in an eruption of blue light. Shortly after the sorcerer materialized, the monk passed every card in his hand to his Mage. The Mage then proceeded to burn through the magic until only two spell cards remained. The monk compelled his Mage to advance a short distance, and then it struck Typhoon Paladin with its glowing staff. Spirals of energy assailed Elena’s sorcerer, but it stood tall without crumbling.

               “Alright, Mage. Retreat back to me, and then cast your Wall of Solid Rock,” announced the monk.

Elena winced as she saw four pillars of rock ascend from the earth, cutting off the only path between her sorcerer and her enemy. She could tell with a single glance that Typhoon Paladin could not crush the rock pillars with a single punch; its Berserk Heart had drained the strength it needed. She took a moment to consider her options, and then she had her sorcerer retreat – jumping straight into the mouth of the portal. When it returned to her back region, Elena passed her Typhoon Paladin another spell card. It then raced forward, jumped past the portal, and returned to the spot in front of the rock pillars. And without even needing a command, the Typhoon Paladin cast its newest spell.

The ominous clouds which surrounded the Typhoon Paladin unleashed a pouring rain in that moment, flooding the battleground with a puddle of water. And once this was in place, Typhoon Paladin forced the water to spiral around its body as it thrust itself sideways. Empowered by the water around it, Typhoon Paladin threw an electrified punch and shattered the nearest rock pillar with a single strike. As rock and gravel crumbled into the water with a series of splashes, Typhoon Paladin advanced and dealt another full-force punch to the Mage of Hidden Secrets. The monk’s Mage stumbled but did not collapse, so Elena encouraged her warrior to retreat.

The monk yelled out, “You have a tenacious heart! I respect that. You’ve overcome every setback in this battle, and you’ve amassed a Paladin with exceptional power. Not many conjurers can say that! However, I’m afraid this battle is over. Mage! Cast your spell. Indomitable, Impenetrable!”

Elena winced as she realized that her opponent now had enough strength to defeat her Typhoon Paladin, and she presently had no way to deflect an attack. Her sorcerer carried only a single spell for defense, but when the enemy sorcerer took one step forward, she compelled her Paladin to cast its spell.

But even as the Typhoon Paladin unleashed its spell and engulfed its enemy with an aquatic vortex, Elena understood that she had risked the entire match on a gamble. She did not know her enemy’s speed, nor did she know if it could retreat far enough to escape her Paladin’s reach. Even after the cyclone deposited the Mage in Elena’s proximity, spirals of magic water still blinded it. The monk knew that he could not attack, so instead he used the portals and desperately tried to retreat.

Halfway through the Mage’s motion, the monk compelled it to stop and said, “I see. There’s nowhere I can go where your creature could not reach me. You had no way to deflect an attack, so instead you prevented it altogether. Very clever! But do you think you have the strength to take down my Mage with only two hits?”

“Hell yes I do! I’m certain of it,” Elena answered enthusiastically, even though she visibly trembled with anxiety.

“Then I believe you. You have proven yourself as a formidable conjurer; perhaps you really could save the helpless people in this city. However! Do not mistake my defeat for surrender. I consider this Mage to be a close friend, so I would rather not see him harmed if I can help it,” explained the monk as he kicked the blue monolith into the air.

The monk caught his monolith, placed his hands upon it, and forced it to stop vibrating. This severed the connection, and so the Mage of Hidden Secrets faded away. Elena wanted to do the same, but she did not have the balance; she instead dropped onto her knees and cradled her black monolith. The Typhoon Paladin turned to face Elena as it faded, but Elena peered into its eyes for any sign of individuality. Just before the sorcerer disappeared, it revealed a sly smirk, causing Elena to open her mouth in shock.

As he separated his back from the wall of the room, Altair said, “I’ll admit that your victory surprised me. Some of your moves were extraneous, though others proved fortuitous. I suppose in the end, victory is victory whether or not you had statistics on your side. Well-played, both of you. Just wish we didn’t have to wait so long for her monoliths to recharge. We won’t get anywhere if she can only practice two or three times a day.”

Elena nodded slowly as she watched the rocky terrain fade. She crawled over to her monoliths and returned them to her jacket, but they had fallen motionless. She regretted that she had used every monolith to fight, since now she could not get any more practice.

But with a gentle laugh, the monk said, “I will pass on word of your victory to the Elder. I’ll be sure to put in a good word for you.”

“That won’t be necessary,” said a second voice from outside the room. The creaked door opened to reveal another monk with a solemn grimace. He was noticeably older than the monk that Elena had battled, but Altair could sense the urgency in the Elder monk’s arrival.

“What happened?” Altair asked.

The Elder monk answered, “An enemy soldier broke into the courtyard. Our sanctuary has spoiled.”