"You know... if you mortal creatures were ever able to let go of your excesses, you'd be a far more prosperous society."

Rehtul raised a brow at that and couldn't help but feel confused where that came from. The creature before him merely shrugged in response.

"You, for example, you're letting this idea of cold revenge against a man you truly barely know weigh on you so heavily that it's causing immense strain on your psyche."

"I've yet to see any proof to your claim," Rehtul retorted.

The spirit looked slightly surprised. It stepped out into the dim light of cave completely and changed its shape entirely into the man sitting before him. He even copied the way the mage was sitting, only he was a couple of feet above the ground.

"Did you not say that you would kill anyone who got between you and your quarry, regardless of their crimes or lack thereof, simply for aiding and abetting him in what he does?" the spirit asked. Hearing that thrown back at him, Rehtul shifted uncomfortably.

"Perhaps I was speaking... too harshly," he admitted.

"Perhaps? I'd say definitely. However, in a few years' time... it won't be so much of a stretch. What you said in the heat of the moment... Well..." With a wave of its hand, the spirit lit up the crystalline walls of the cave and showed a stark image. Rehtul stood in the middle of the family estate, white coat stained a deep red, almost black with blood, as his chest heaved in effort. Deep crimson blades of ice cut a swathe through the servants of the Orlouge manor as the silent image screamed deeper into the house as it gathered the blood of the fallen to craft ever more weapons.

If an ice mage could be chilled to his bone, Rehtul had just experienced that sensation. He knew those people, had grown up with many of them, knew their children, and here was an image of him, slaughtering them just for the chance to get at Ciato?

"That... that can't be right..."

"The only monster left will be you... You think those were empty platitudes? Ruled by anger and hatred, mind and heart are corrupted, twisted into something that only vaguely resembles the original." The creature tapped its chin for a moment before continuing.

"I suppose more accurately, I could say the hate and anger you feel will have taken your place. You'd be little more than a passenger in your own body, if indeed you existed at all anymore."