Ouroboros [Mission]

After removing the cultists, there was little more that he could do - He had removed everyone that he had been ordered to, and he had been made aware in the last notice that he was almost finished. If he had to estimate, perhaps the last one would have been the last thing that he had to do before he was finished. He wanted to be able to get back to Magnostadt since his magic had improved - he would be able to conquer those tests with ease now, he was certain of it. He just had to go up there and take them. 

However, he had to wait until he got the letter clearing him of his duty here before he could do anything of the like. That meant that he would have to see this to the end, and then he could leave the situation with the council up to his master. He was sure that they would be able to deal with it themselves, and he had stayed here for long enough. Now he just waited back in his nest for the letter to finally come that would say what he had to do or whether he could go. 

After another two days of waiting, he finally got the letter that he was waiting for. The owl perched on his window, and cooed at him rather irritably as if it was getting sick of being sent back and forth. To expedite the bird's departure, he plucked the letter off of his leg and watched as it flew out of the window, heading back to Heliohapt. He almost envied it - it had been a good two and a half years since he had left seen the familiar shores of home. He would need to make sure to go there when he had the chance. 

Unraveling the letter, his eyes read over it as the pit fell out of his stomach. This was the last mission, and he was glad for it, but... but it involved doing something that he was not okay with. Every other time, it had been justifiable. This time, he was going to be attacking one of his own. A fellow court mage that had been sparking conflict with mages from Reim. He was going to have to kill one of the people that had accepted him as family. This was wrong... but it was what his master requested of him. It was what he would have to do. 

Greasing the Wheels VI - 412 / 1000

Despite the closeness that he felt towards this man from hearing that he was a court magician, the truth was that he had never actually seen or even heard of this man. This wasn't that rare - there were a good thirty court mages under the Magister's command, and at least five of them lived in other nations in an attempt to get access to research and resources that they wouldn't be able to get within the borders of Heliohapt. 

However, the issue with this was that, were Lydus closer to home, it was likely that he could have been dealt with before he had become a threat to the peace treaties in a non-violent manner. Now he had to be removed, amputated like a diseased limb, and it was all because he had chosen to live his own way. It was the risk you took when you wanted to follow your dreams, but exactly whether it was worth it or not was still heavily up for debate. 

It was a shame to do this to him, but he was going to have to take him out as soon as possible. As the man closed the door behind him, he began muttering an incantation. As he did so under his breath, Lydus was none the wiser and had already turned his back, not seeing the rukh forming around the man who had claimed to be his new student. Maybe if he could take him out right now, he could avoid having to do a long battle. 

Forming that golden suit around him and Launching a punch into the back of the man's head, Sutekh sent him crashing to the ground, barely managing to still hold onto his staff as he fell. The man fell hard, and would likely have been in pain were it not the sudden burst of adrenaline from the other surge of pain taking mastery over his network. He rolled over, looking back at the man who he had just let in, an expression of pain and betrayal obvious in his eyes. 

"What in the Pharaoh's name are you doing?"
"I'm sorry - Our master told me to take you out before you ruined our peace efforts. As long as you exist, you're a constant threat to our nation." The man's look of pain rapidly turned to one of anger as rukh began forming around him. As if out of nowhere, a group of chimeras ran out from among the rooms, apparently summoned by his magic like a dog with a dog whistle. 

The chimeras themselves were horrifying beasts - Mixes between dog and cat, lion and bat, some sort of bird and a large dog, and many other things besides. It was surreal, but he had no doubt that these things were real. They kept diving at him, his borg surviving the first few attempts at hitting him but the golden field eventually crumbling after a moment, which was worse for them than for him. 

Now when they dove at him, they caught fire and ran around yelping in pain. Apparently, the four that had thought it was a good idea hadn't quite thought through what would happen if you bit a man who was essentially on fire. 

1000/1000

170/200:

Enemy Ability:

The remaining four began to circle around him, waiting for their moment to strike. Apparently whatever happened to them made them sensitive to magic - they could tell when magic began to dwindle, and he knew he had to take out as many of them as possible before his aura dropped. Without his borg, these things would be a nuisance to fight, especially with those teeth.

However, he was caught by surprise when his armor dropped prematurely. Apparently he'd been overextending himself recently, his connection to his aura dropped and he was left unprotected. No borg, no aura. But, he had his staff. Slamming it into one and kicking another as it tried to bite his leg, he only had another two to deal with. This was obvious to Lydus, as he began charging some sort of spell, directing it towards one of his chimera. However, as the beast kept moving, it was hard to get a good aim, and when it tried to bite him he finally let go of the spell. 

Unfortunately, Seti knocked away the beast at the last second, causing the spell to collide with him, hitting him straight in the chest. At first, nothing happened - he wondered what it was, this spell that didn't burn, or hurt, or heal. It was clearly combat oriented, but... his body started to burn. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears, and he began to sweat profusely. A sudden urge to vomit shot through him, barely managing to choke back the bile as he struggled to stand.

"T-the hell did you do to me?" he asked, his usually gentile tone turning into one of anger and obvious fear. He didn't understand this - it wasn't poison, he was sure of that. The man specialized in life magic, not poison. 
"... I don't know." the man said, beginning to back away, fear evident in his voice. 

The chimera began to slink away next to their master, their hair struck up in fear. It was clear they no longer liked his smell, but this gave him an excellent opportunity. The man would never tell him what was happening to him, and if he was going to die anyway he might as well finish his mission. He had always told himself that he was going to go out in service of the throne. 

A golden pillar formed above the mage and his two remaining pets. That was good enough - Seti didn't bother to sit around, waiting to see if they were dead. Instead, he turned and ran, stumbling a few times as he shot through the garden, hoping to get to a doctor as soon as possible. The sweat was beginning to trickle into his eyes, blinding him slightly as he ran away from the scene. 

140/200:

Enemy Ability: