Heavy lies the Crown [Open]

[Rehtul Orlouge]

Direct hit!

Rehtul celebrated mentally but kept his eyes on the man in front of him. He hadn't fired one of his remaining lances to intercept the weapon the ice mage had launched at him. While he had caused damage to his opponent, he hadn't gleaned the information he sought about those portals or the weapons contained within. Either Shinsou had seen through his plan and had taken the hit on purpose to avoid giving up that information, or far more likely simply hadn't reacted in time due to Rehtul's own quick thinking on the matter.

"Well, this is irritating," he muttered to himself, his usual habit of self talk rearing its ugly head again as his level of stress rose. He kept telling himself it was unlikely he'd actually be able to eek out a win with his current level of control over his power, but something inside him was pushing him, forcing him to take this battle as seriously as though his life were really on the line. There was something about Vaan Osiris that he desperately wanted to overcome, no matter the cost.

Seconds after the spear hit home, Rehtul's opponent had removed it and... something was happening. Cursing his nearsightedness, the mage pushed his glasses up on his nose. It looked as though some kind of energy was seeping out of the wound.

Could he be like Felicity? No... this is different. Rehtul adjusted his glasses and almost too late realized exactly what was happening.

Oh, come on! He can turn pain into energy?!

The energy within the enemy's sword gathered into an orb at the tip. Less than a second later it fired a beam of energy at the young Orlouge. It was almost too quick to put up a defense of any kind, unless...

"DAMMIT!" Rehtul screamed as he threw both his hands up in front of his body. A translucent frosted blue dome of energy appeared around his body about a foot out from his skin. The energy smashed into the front of the dome before gliding over the top and around either side. A blink of an eye later the energy construct began to crack and destabilize, before it finally shattered and swirled around the body of the mage. With no input from him, the shards of energy struck forth with the ferocity and speed of a striking viper toward its prey.

"I didn't want to use that," he said as he extended his left arm toward Shinsou, aiming three of his remaining spears at the older man, "It reminds me of someone I hate."

Without another word, he fired the three spears above and to either side of where the man was standing at a speed that would catch be only a second or so behind the shards.

And she thinks she has to protect him?! What a joke.