Ronan liked to think that he was getting better with the idea of fighting.
He hadn't been fond of it at first, though he supposed that was to be expected. Ronan had always dreamed of becoming a powerful mage to be able to defend the weak and innocent, but after a while, he began to realize that he was one of the people that needed protecting most of the time. That was just how he had been raised, and even after he was granted the powers of immortality that came with being trapped in the mountain of Cloudpeak for so long, he still wasn't a particularly strong fighter. Magic only truly came to someone through practice and muscle memory, and Ronan had neither, leaving him at an inherent disadvantage compared to many other occupants of the castle.
That didn't mean that he wasn't about to try and do what he could. He knew that he had to do at least that much, and even if it wasn't explicitly for others, it was for himself. Ronan wanted to become stronger on his own terms, and he doubted that he would ever change his mind in such a way. It wasn't going to be easy for him to become as powerful as the other members of the Skylian Mages, but he was going to try. Lana, Jubilee, and Colt were all experienced in combat, and even though Arian was far from being the best in circumstances of battle, he certainly knew what he was doing with magic when he wasn't clashing with someone else. Jay's experience with a blade was second to none even if she was still developing her skills with magic, and Ronan found himself admiring all of them in some way or another.
The battle against Alba's ice monsters brought with it another chance for Ronan to learn and get stronger. He kept the rest of his team in the corner of his vision, careful to ensure that they were all kept out of the line of fire. He wanted to defend them with everything that he had. They were his friends, after all, so it was only natural that he yearned to look after them. They had done so much for him up to that point, and Ronan wanted to repay the favor, once again, for his own peace of mind as well as to help all of them out.
Ronan was starting to notice things even if he was far from being the best fighter though. It wasn't as if he would ever say it openly unless he thought the environment was right to do so, but he could tell that there was something off about other members of his team that day, and it prompted him to frown as he considered just what it was that could have been plaguing him so.
As the icy beasts began to mount against the castle from the outside, Ronan saw Jubilee cast a notable meteor spell from overhead, and when the fire hit the ground, it exploded outwards in a powerful blast. Her features were tense, but not in the way that Ronan was used to when she engaged in battle. She had to be worried about something else, and Ronan wanted to try and get to the bottom of it as soon as possible.
Of course, that would only be possible if they were able to get through this fight without winding up on the wrong end of the ice monsters and their powerful claws. Ronan was going to give the situation his all, but at the end of the day, that was all that he could truly do. He let out a careful sigh as he concentrated on the ground below. His Earth magic, while improving, still struggled in a few areas. He was able to make the ground quake and bend to his whims, at least to some extent, if he was making contact with it, but if he was far from the ground, then that was where the issues came in.
Unfortunately, Ronan didn't see much of any other way to fight through this current situation, so he took in a careful breath before forcing himself to exhale. He stretched one hand out through the window that he was sharing with Jubilee and Arian. Colt, Lana, and Jay were all centered around another nearby window as they hurled attacks out through the open gap in the wall. Ronan closed his eyes as he tried to center himself despite the difficulties surrounding the circumstances. He had to find a way to pull this off. There were people counting on him, and he refused to let them down.
Jubilee began to grin from her place beside Ronan when, just as he had been hoping for, the earth below began to shake. A wide rift opened in the ground, and it swallowed up a handful of the ice beasts that had dared to get too close to the castle. "Nice going," Jubilee told him with a gentle wink and nudge in his direction. Ronan felt himself flushing at the praise, though it had little to do with Jubilee's ultimately flirtatious nature. He was proud of himself for showing notable signs of improvement in a time when that was needed most.
The next attack to streak through the window was from Arian. Ronan's attack had been able to trap the ice monsters in place, but that meant that it was time for someone else to follow up and destroy them outright. As much as Ronan hated to admit it, that initial attack had taken a lot out of him, and he didn't think that he was going to be able to do it again. Even any other manipulation of the ground seemed impossible to him in that instant. Ronan didn't realize that sweat had started to build up on his forehead until after it had started to streak down the side of his face, and he let out a small sigh to himself. Magic truly was exhausting. He didn't understand how the rest of the group could handle it all so effortlessly, because he could tell that it was going to be a long time before he was anywhere near being on their level.
The purple magic that burst outwards from Arian's attack was all that it took to completely eviscerate the enemy monsters that were resting at the bottom of the rift in the ground. "That takes care of that!" Arian cried out with a weak smile. He held one hand up to Ronan, expecting a fist bump in return, and it wasn't long before Ronan replied with the gesture by exchanging the affection. Ronan kept himself quiet, resisting the urge to say that he was proud of Arian for all that he had managed to accomplish during the fight up to this point. After all, that would only provide a distraction, and Ronan knew that getting distracted was the last thing that they wanted at that point.
Jubilee seemed to agree, and she snapped her fingers together to create a powerful blaze of fire before chucking it down at the ground below. Fire began to spread across the ground to form a perimeter around the castle. Ronan's eyes went wide with shock and awe, and he found himself wishing that he was able to do something as impressive as that. It would be a while before he would have the power to follow in Jubilee's footsteps, but until then, he was going to keep his admiration of her tight to his chest.
Ronan found himself hoping that the ring of fire around the castle was going to be the end of it as far as the enemy monsters were concerned. After all, it would make perfect sense if that stopped them in their tracks, right? They were made out of Ice magic, and Jubilee had just used Fire magic to create a ring that would protect the castle from their invasions. They were going to start melting as soon as they made contact with the magic, right?
Unfortunately for Ronan, the laws of reality didn't seem to apply to these monsters of ice, and he found himself letting out a strangled gasp as he glanced down at the ground below. The beasts were easily breaching the barrier that Jubilee had set up, and Ronan found himself glancing up to her in a panic. That should have done more to halt them, but it ultimately proved to be ineffective. How was that even possible?
"It seems to me like they intend on being a bit more of a thorn in our side than we were hoping for," Jubilee muttered under her breath, and Ronan had to confess that it was impressive how unbothered she was by all of this, as if it was merely a small inconvenience like having to walk around a pile of trash on the sidewalk.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Arian questioned, all of his confidence flaking away at the first sign of opposition based in combat. That was one thing that Ronan had learned about Arian over their time together: outside of battle, Arian was laid back, kind, and a jokester who loved to play around with others. In combat, all it took was one little string of events for his comfort zone to fall apart, leaving an anxious wreck behind that barely seemed to be able to hold himself together even when the situation called for it most.
"We'll just have to keep going," Jubilee said with a simple shrug, once again showing that she didn't mind the circumstances at all. She whispered something under her breath, and Ronan realized belatedly that she was using words from some ancient language of magic to strengthen the barrier of fire. A few moments later, the flames flared up towards the sky with renewed intensity, and Ronan could have sworn that he felt his face grow warm despite the distance simply because of the power Jubilee was pouring into her attacks.
Even with the dreary circumstances, Ronan was happy to see that this sudden burst of Fire magic was starting to do something to hack away at the enemy monsters. The beasts had remained resilient in the face of the basic barrier, but when Jubilee began to fight back with a bit of extra strength, that was seemingly all that it took. Jubilee smirked to herself when she started to see droplets of water falling off the beasts.
Colt was more than happy to catch onto this as well from his place a few feet away at the next window in the row. He reached out one hand and began to work with the lost droplets from afar thanks to his skills in Water magic. It didn't take long for him to start changing the drops of water into steam, and they spiraled high into the sky before vanishing from view. It was his way of ensuring that the water droplets weren't absorbed once again as part of the icy beasts to make them stronger once again. Ronan gave Colt a smile of admiration. The other Skylian Mage gave him a brief nod, though he didn't bother to spare a smile simply because it was not in his nature to do so.
Jay looked down at her hand before starting to draw out a purple sphere of churning energy. There was uncertainty on her features for a brief flicker of a moment before she shook it off and threw the ball down towards the crowd of monsters below. They scattered almost immediately, and many of them were tossed into the wall of fire, prompting them to start evaporating once again.
Arian and Lana shared a brief glance, nodding at one another before getting Ronan in on the gesture. At first, Ronan was concerned about what it was that they were trying to communicate, but he quickly caught on as soon as he remembered the circumstances of the battle. There was a ring of Fire magic around the edge of the castle, and Colt was turning the monsters into steam so that they couldn't reform themselves. The best course of action was to fight in a way that would give Colt the chance to do so, and thus, knocking the monsters into the ring of fire was the perfect way to ensure that the battle was won.
Ronan closed his eyes and did what he could to start focusing once again. The rocks on the ground below--the stones that had been left behind by his earlier attempts to create a large abyss among the earth--began to stir at his command when his concentration hit a peak. Once he got a grip on the rocks, Ronan surprised himself by being able to easily swing them from place to place without much hesitation. It seemed that all it took was taking that first step for everything to start to fall into place. There was nothing wrong with that, of course. In fact, it was more comforting this way, and it gave Ronan a newfound sense of confidence that everything was going to be fine as long as he put in enough effort to keep on top of the battle at hand.
The rocks were surprisingly easy to manipulate, and Ronan found himself shocked at how seamless everything felt as the battle continued. In a way, it felt as if the Earth magic that he had come to manipulate was a mere extension of himself rather than something that he had minimal experience in as he had thought previously. Perhaps that had been his problem leading up to this point; he wasn't thinking about it in the way that he should have, and so, it was causing him troubles in battle.
Ultimately, Ronan forced himself to stop thinking that way since he recognized that it was only going to get in the way of his concentration. Luckily, nobody else seemed to be willing to comment on Ronan's newfound ease with his abilities, and he was glad for that much. He appreciated praise as all people did, but he knew that it was only going to distract him given that he was already on such a high as far as damage output. The others in the area seemed to be just as concentrated on the fight as he was though, and Ronan took that as a silent blessing from Hyperion, Soluna, and Skylox themselves.
As the minutes crawled by, it was starting to seem as if the group was getting a true grasp of the situation. The monsters were barely able to survive the powerful inferno that Jubilee had created, and to add insult to injury, those around the castle who could also use Fire magic had picked up on what Jubilee was trying to do and were using the barrier to their own advantage. Even just having a few extra minutes to prepare had made all the difference in this battle compared to the previous one, and Ronan was happy to have at least a little less stress hanging over his shoulders.
There was one thing that Ronan was becoming increasingly sure of as the minutes crawled by though: there was something wrong with the rest of his team still. He had tried to keep from thinking about it for as long as possible, but he could only hold it off for so long before he started dipping back into his old habits of thought process. Ronan was going to have to sit down and talk with all of them as soon as the fight drew to a close, though he knew that was going to be a while yet.
Ronan came to one other conclusion throughout the duration of the fight as well. He was confident that they had to go back to the drawing board as soon as possible so that they could come up with a full plan for what to do as far as Alba was concerned. The longer that Alba was allowed to roam at large, the harder it was going to be to catch them. This fight, while easier than the previous one had been because it lacked the element of surprise on the enemy's side, was still difficult in Ronan's eyes. There was a lot that they had yet to do, and Alba was still able to summon as many icy creatures as they wanted to. That was what made them so dangerous.
The only way to get rid of that risk was to take Alba out themselves, but that was much easier said than done. Last time, they had gotten lucky when Jay and Zelda both just so happened to attack Alba at the same time, forcing them to execute a quick retreat. In hindsight, Ronan didn't think that Jay and Zelda were aware that they had been the ones to work together to force Alba to leave the area behind, instead blissfully in the dark as to who had helped them out to such a degree. Still, he figured that it didn't matter. Their goal in the future was the same even with this in mind, and he didn't think that it was ever going to change. They had to find a way to track Alba down and stop them before this issue could grow to be out of hand.
One could argue that it was already out of hand given how many innocent people had gotten hurt leading up to that point. Ronan forced that thought process out of his mind so that he didn't start thinking about Cryai once again. It felt as if he was still struggling to escape Cryai even after having been away for so long. He knew that Cryai was a prototype model of the artificial life that Alba had taken to creating, and Cryai had been there for the sole purpose of keeping an eye on Ronan and ensuring that he didn't meet with the rest of the Hanilia in his group. Still, Ronan felt oddly guilty for not doing anything to help Cryai. Maybe something could have changed Cryai if Ronan had put in the effort before everything started to fall apart.
Ronan was cut off when a blast of icy magic slammed dangerously close to the window. He jumped, his concentration on the rocks outside immediately breaking. Jubilee had thrown up a shield of Fire magic to ensure that the group was not hit by the attack, and Ronan made a mental note to thank her for such an action as soon as he was able to force himself to speak once again.
When the shield was dropped, Ronan let out a gasp. Standing at the back of the invading march of monsters was none other than Alba themselves, a sadistic smirk on their face. Even despite the distance between them, Ronan was sure that they were smiling, and for some reason, that made his stomach eager to start turning over in flips. He hated seeing them looking so proud of themselves for causing such blatant harm to others. It made him want to fly out of the window then and there to just start throwing rocks at them until he was able to release the last of his anger.
"There you are," Lana whispered. She smirked to herself before she turned her attention away from knocking the Ice magic monsters into the barrier of fire. She snapped her fingers together, and a bow and arrow made of churning wind currents formed in the blink of an eye. It didn't take long for her to nock the arrow on the bow before she sent it flying out in Alba's direction. Ronan swallowed dryly, glad that he was on Lana's side rather than being a potential target for her powerful blasts of magic.
Alba glared up at Lana and seemed to be ready to send a blast of magic in her direction out of spite. Instead, Alba jumped to the side, swiftly dodging the attack. Lana didn't seem to mind too much, almost as if she knew that this was not going to be Alba's final act of the day. She nocked another arrow and glanced over to the rest of the group, her eyes narrowed in silent command. Ronan found himself nodding along before he could stop himself, surprising even himself how easily he was able to understand what she was trying to articulate.
Alba wouldn't be able to dodge all of their attacks forever. If they were able to defeat Alba sooner rather than later, then they wouldn't even need to concentrate on keeping the barrier up that Jubilee had summoned. The ice monsters would be forced to retreat as soon as Alba went down. Lana didn't seem to think that they would be able to permanently defeat Alba in that battle, but it didn't matter all that much to Ronan. He was focused on just finding a way to force Alba into a temporary retreat. The details could be refined later.
"You're not going to be getting away with all of this," came a muted whisper from Jubilee. Her voice, so normally vivacious and full of life, had grown shaded and dark. It earned a shiver from Ronan, who hadn't noticed that Jubilee was capable of being so terrifying. The hints had likely been there in the past, but he simply hadn't caught onto them until he was staring the symptoms of Jubilee's demeanor directly in the face.
Jubilee began to whisper something under her breath once again, and while Ronan struggled to make out the words, he was confident that it was another wave of Fire magic to strengthen her barrier. Sure enough, the flames began to scream higher as they began to lick at the skyline. Jubilee pressed one arm forward with as much force as she could manage, sending a hefty barrage of smaller fireballs in the direction of Alba. Ronan could barely make out Alba's silhouette among the immense fire that Jubilee was raining down upon their foes. His mind seemed like it was spinning thanks to the sudden increase of heat as well as his struggle to keep focused in the first place. He still had a long way to go with his magical training, and it was most certainly starting to show.
Alba was easily able to duck low and step to the side to keep from being hit by most of the fireballs. It was the third from the last of the orbs of flame that made contact with her first, and after that, she was unable to get back into her routine of easily dodging the attacks. The final two attacks hit her straight in the chest, causing her to slide backwards through the dirt despite her attempts to dig her heels in and keep from being forced away from the scene of the battle. They snarled under their breath before returning the gesture with a few blasts of Ice magic that spiraled through the air before making harsh contact with the wall of fire.
The flames absorbed much of the series of attacks, but much to Ronan's surprise, ice still began to spread across the surface of the fire. He let out a gasp, but Jubilee seemed to be able to handle it without any issues. She pushed her hands forwards a little bit more, and the flames overtook the cold ice once again. It was amazing how much effort had to go into this battle between fire and ice, and Ronan knew that it was just a testament to how strong Alba truly was. Jubilee was one of the strongest mages that he knew, but Alba was still able to put up enough of a fight for it to be concerning.
Jay swore under her breath when she saw that Alba was actually managing to make a dent in the shield that was being used against them. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate on strengthening the barrier of fire with everything that she had. She was able to make progress on it too, and everything seemed to be slipping back under their control. The occupants of the castle had the advantage of numbers. Even if Alba had countless beasts of Ice magic, they hardly lacked the cognitive function to fight without them offering express commands about what to do next.
Ronan let out a careful breath before he began to try and reclaim the rocks that he had been attacking with previously. As soon as he got a grasp on them, he hurled them through the barrier of fire and towards Alba. The stones began to catch fire, and soon enough, they looked like small meteors that were dead set on ending the life of their target. Ronan wasn't the violent sort under normal circumstances, but he was also desperate to ensure that the people who lived in the castle were kept from harm. He may not have been violent, but he was still protective, and that was something that he knew he was going to keep close to his chest for the rest of his life.
Alba was unable to dodge the rocks as the stones rocketed towards them at breakneck speeds. They let out a howl of agony as the stones made contact with their skin. Because of the fact that they were an Ice magic, they understandably took the damage much more than most others would. Jubilee's previous attacks had only made contact with their clothing, but that was not the case this time around, and Ronan could sense Alba's anger even through the shield of fire. Their rage burned white and hot the same way that the flames did even though they were a person born of ice.
Alba rushed towards the fire in the moments that followed, and they pressed their hands against the air that was close to the crackling flames. Ronan wondered what they were doing, but soon enough, it became blatantly obvious. Ice was starting to spread across the flames once again, but this time, it was much stronger than what Ronan had expected, and he found himself yelping out of surprise. Alba was succeeding in making a dent against the shield this time around. They had only done a little bit of damage in the past, but this time was different, and it left Ronan breathless and anxious.
Alba was able to tear a hole in the fire soon afterwards, and they stepped through as if it was the most casual thing in the world. To them, it was simply a natural progression of events, and they started to dash towards the castle with quickened steps. Ronan felt his heart skip a beat in his chest. This was not good. They had only been able to do so much because Alba was being kept at a distance from the castle, so what was going to happen now that they were getting closer?
Jay swore once again, and an unspeakable rage passed over her face as she summoned a bow and arrow similar to what Lana had done previously. The two unleashed their attacks a moment later, though Alba held up one hand to stop them. A barrier of magic surrounded their body before slowly spreading outwards in a pulsing motion. As soon as the arrows had been turned to icicles and then shattered, Alba allowed their hand to drop once again.
"What are we supposed to do now?!" Arian asked, his voice a shrill cry as he glanced over in the direction of his fellow Skylian Mages. "They're coming closer, and we aren't going to be able to get rid of them if they're in the castle, you know!"
"Then we'll just have to keep them away," Colt said simply, not seeming to care much for the panic that had quickly manifested in Arian's voice. Arian let out a jagged yelp, confused as to how Colt could be so casual about the situation, before Colt slammed his hand against the wall.
Before Arian could register what was happening, Ice began to spread across the surface of the area. Ronan let out a gasp, still not understanding what it was that Colt was trying to do. The rest of the team appeared to be just as confused as Ronan was, though the pieces seemed to click into place for Lana first. "I see what you're trying to do," she murmured. "This is an easy way of spreading a message to the rest of the people in the castle, isn't it? You're trying to instruct them to seal everything off until we can find a plan, aren't you?"
Colt nodded. "Alba has been playing around with us up to this point, but they're finally done with that. If we can seal the castle's entrances so that they can't get inside, then Alba is going to try and break in some other way. While they're distracted with that, we can come up with a quick plan to force them into a retreat," he explained. He glanced over his shoulder at Ronan and Arian. "Go and talk with any others that you can find. We have to start thinking about what we're doing next. There isn't a moment to lose. Go."
Ronan nodded immediately, able to tell by Colt's intense tone that this was no time to play around. His heart slammed in his chest as he began to dash away as quickly as he could manage. His body felt halfway caught between wanting to collapse and fall apart and being ready to continue running and fighting for the rest of his life. Ronan prayed that such a contradiction would resolve itself sooner rather than later, but he knew that it didn't matter much in that moment. He had to do something for the sake of everyone's survival, and Hyperion above, he was going to give it his effort until there was nothing left for him to push for.
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Hi there was no update last week since I got my first shot of the vaccine and I was so sleepy that I could barely make myself sit up much less type so oops update is a week late but I'll make up for it later on I promise
-Digital