After a few days of meditation and practice in the safe zone, Byram was ready with his spell arrays. They tested it with their artifacts, and though it guzzled the mana shards, the soil became hard enough to withstand Clay’s Onyx Shot and Quin’s Blackstone Greatsword. It failed miserably against Thorin’s and , however. Especially with the increased intensity of temperature with his gloves that charred it with the former spell and froze it with the latter. Nonetheless, the Poltergeist wouldn’t shoot fire or ice at them. They were good to go. And so, they headed out.

  The yellow zone was close to begin with. The white safe crack made their journey even more convenient. They didn’t need to spend themselves before ever meeting the Poltergeist.

  “Are you guys ready?” Thorin asked, looking at his mates. He, Clay, and Quin, were veterans at this point. But Byram sweated bullets. He gulped but still nodded to Thorin.

  “It’s alright,” Quin said, clapping Byram’s back. “You won't be seeing any combat, if things go well.”

  “What if they don’t?” Byram asked.

  “Then we’ll all be dead,” Clay said. “Problem solved.”

  “That’s a weird way to solve problems,” Byram said.

  “It works for us,” Thorin said. “Enough chatting now, let’s go. Make sure you follow the plan. If we need to make changes on the spot, I or Clay will call the shots.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go!” Quin pumped himself up and dashed in with his greatsword.

  Thorin followed behind while Clay escorted Byram with his spell that became the best of friends with the dense mist.

  Before Thorin could even reach the battle site, the Poltergeist’s roar shook the area. The fog trembled and parted, and the view cleared to their battle. Quin had already started his rampage, and the Poltergeist met his crazy with an equal intensity. And here they thought they would have to work hard to piss it off…

  Thorin’s chained blades shot away from his shadows, and so did his Ghosts. Vraak and Enya took their positions, and Thorin readied his spells as well. Since the undead countered his Death Arcana spells by nature, he stuck with his other Arcanas.

  Paperball: Firebomb!

  He started with the most explosive spell he had. With the addition of his Frost-Flame Gloves, the paper ball now exploded with a glowing orange cloud instead of the reddish fire from the past. Even the air distorted around it. The silver-skinned Poltergeist roared at him when the barrage of firebombs came at it. It hovered amidst the orange cloud of fire and cracked the earth before it to raise a wall of earth. Thorin’s intense fire melted half of the wall, while Quin took a wide swing at the distracted undead. His greatsword clanged against the Poltergeist’s hard forcefield and left some cracks behind when Quin backed off.

  “This is easy!” Quin hollered. “We won't even need Byram’s spell array at this point.”

  “Don’t reveal our plan, you fucker!” Thorin yelled at him, casting

  . All his fire-based spells had shifted to the glowing orange. Though it burnt the paper vines quicker, the burst damage had soared. But it met the counter of a boulder before it could reach the undead.

  With the specialty of the adept level, Thorin used the intact spell model and cast the spell again—mirror casting. It was a weaker version, but it added another attack at no extra cost. Still, the scorched boulder hovered in defense without relenting.

  “He can't understand shit!” Quin yelled, crouching and curling down with his sword in front to defend against a shower of pebbles. Instead of the fire, the attack on its forcefield had pissed the Poltergeist more. It came the closest to it after all. So, it raged towards Quin. And Thorin took full advantage of it.

  Papercut: Hoarfrost!

  His right glove glimmered white on his cast and dropped the temperature of his spell even further. The frozen paper blades were jagged icicles at this point. Thorin used the mirror casting again and created another batch. And with another cast, he increased their numbers. They all floated before him. His breath steamed with the chilled ambience, and even the mist thickened around him. He waited while his chained blades rampaged in the sky, assisting Quin.

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  “It’s done!” Clay finally appeared from the dense mist, though his hazy figure barely left any presence behind.

  “We can win this though,” Quin said, smashing the greatsword down and shattering the scorched and cracked boulder that the Poltergeist was now using as a hammer.

  “Try and stick to the plan for once!” Thorin yelled at him. He aimed all his projectiles at the Poltergeist and launched them. They zoomed away, leaving a trail of frigid mist behind. The undead had long snapped at this point. It wanted to destroy Quin at any cost. So, the frozen paper blades pelted its forcefield without any hindrance. The cold left its frost on the barrier while the sharp blades lacerated it.

  Twice, its forcefield had suffered such damage. The enraged Poltergeist stared daggers at Thorin with a deep growl. Its ravenous eyes breathed fire. There was not a shred of lethargy left in them, let alone any nonchalance. There was only savagery. It wanted to devour him, Thorin was clear on that point. If they lost, that would be their end.

  “Enya!” Thorin hollered while his brothers covered their ears. Enya erupted with her screech on his command and stunned the Poltergeist for seconds. “Vraak! Go!” Though battered, the undead’s defenses were still intact. Vraak couldn’t destroy its soul. But that was never his target anyway. He moved according to Thorin’s directions and zipped towards the stone bed that the Poltergeist slept on. It was a simple stone, after all. Just one attack from Vraak shattered it into piece.

  Silence washed away the chaos on the field. The Poltergeist stared at the broken bed and took some seconds to comprehend what had happened. Then its roar exploded.

  Even the damage to its forcefield hadn't incensed it so. And its anger played right into Thorin’s hand.

  “Now!” Thorin yelled. “Run!” They bolted on his mark and dashed towards the dense mist. The Poltergeist shot at them, leaving a cloud of dust behind. The mist made way for the two groups as the gap between them shrank. The undead was hot on their heels. Before long, though, they broke into the area where the ground shimmered from time to time. It was Byram’s first time in combat, after all. He made some rookie mistakes, leaving behind such obvious signs of the spell array. But this much was enough against the enraged Poltergeist.

  When they reached the area, Thorin’s side dodged to the side and surrounded the undead. They locked him in the affected zone and blocked its paths. Not that the enraged Poltergeist would think of escaping. Yet, once it tried to let the earth erupt with its anger, the result left it with sheer horror. Its collapsing expression said it all. The earth refused to listen to its command. The soil that once gathered at the wave of its fingers now rejected it. The hardened earth under its feet denied its reign in its entirety.

  Thorin heaved a heavy breath, of relief and of exhaustion. The fight was short, but the back-to-back bursts sapped him. But it was all over now.

  “Charge!” Thorin hollered.

  Firetouch!

  Icetouch!

  Thorin let his chained blades dance again, half of them glowing red while the other half frosted to their cores. Like his other temperature-based spells, these now acted with much extreme temperatures as well. High and low. The combined amplification from his class, the booster rings, his mastery level, and his artifact, had pushed the spells to such a stage. And it translated into damage. The switch between fire and ice that distorted the air and triggered a storm pushed the Poltergeist around. The cold and hot blades ripped its forcefield and shredded its skin.

  Quin followed his attacks with his violent swings, thrashing the Poltergeist’s forcefield. Clay too joined in with his fresh stamina. Though he countered the Poltergeist’s attacks, the Poltergeist negated his attacks as well. So, he only acted as his brothers’ support.

  At last, with their combined might, the Poltergeist roared its final breath and thumped on the ground. The area quietened again with only the mist churning with the gentle breeze. Thorin and the three stood in the mess of a field, panting and gasping to catch their breath, staring at the undead’s corpse from a distance.

  “Is it dead?” Quin asked, shouldering his greatsword.

  “No,” Thorin said. “It hasn’t turned into ashes yet.”

  “Is it baiting us?” Clay added.

  “Possibly,” Thorin said. “But we don’t need to play along.” He raised his arm and shot a at it. Its effect was weak against the undead, but it was enough for now. The black bolt of mist launched away from the dark spell circle and punched through the Poltergeist, despite its last struggle. Finally, it dissipated into embers and left a pile of ashes behind.

  Before moving on, Thorin prayed with joined hands for his kill like always. “Death washes away the hatred. It concludes all conflicts. I will carry your end with me and live beyond time. So, I hope you rest in peace.”

  He looked at his brothers, and they looked at each other. They smiled when Byram came out of hiding and joined them. With that, their first battle in the inner circle ended in their victory.

  “Let’s search the territory,” Clay said, rubbing his hands with excitement. “I wonder what we’ll find here.”

  “Whatever it might be,” Thorin said. “We must celebrate with ginger ale when we go back.”

  “Not again,” Quin grumbled, exhausted. “I’m starting to hate ginger.”