The blade sat firmly on his lap. Heat carved into Kenan and forced droplets of sweat to be pushed out of his skin. The wind rustled his loose hair, and chirping birds sang in the greatness of renewed life. Not any of the forces. Not even the constant pain that dug into Noctis’ shoulder, a thick stem of green now jutted out like an arrow. Could drag Kenan from his meditation.

Deep thought on the philosophes liken to that of the scholar was not the aim of Kenan’s targeted thinking. Instead, avenues of a spell were formalizing in the tendrils of Noctis’ sprawling power. Honing his attention was to focus on his control. With the improved retention he was able to increase the bounds of the conjured attack.

It didn’t take long for everything in his perception to fall away. Sound, sight, scent. Feeling remained. It emboldened. Imperceptible vibrations danced. Tiny in size but grand in their quantity. The thousands hummed their attack. Kenan let most of them fade away too. What remained were the pinpricks of oxygen. To him, they were tiny beads of a magnificent yellow in a dark landscape. Like differently tinted souls in the realm of Nonesthic.

A non-perfect circle formed with Kenan as the focal point. It expanded, and all the nodes of air inside the dome were subsumed by Noctis. Each suffocated under a vice grip of metaphysical mana. The wider his affected area grew, the more strain that bent his mind. All the molecules wanted to do was move. But his will would not give in so easily and his power enlarged.

It didn’t take long when he reached the boundaries of his power. His awareness was intertwined with his projected strength. To push further would have the struggle fold onto itself and increase the farther he went. Noctis was never one to be content and pushed. Then another force sent the gained dephlogisticated air into a frenzy. Kenan tried to regain control but his attention was already toppled.

A distraction pulled his mind. A sudden realization of perception. A sense revitalized. But the oncoming wave of recognition was swept away by a gust of concentrated wind.

Pricks of adrenaline sent his hair up. His conscience failed to reconnect with his body. Feeling roiled in danger, but motor function had no sentience for it to be controlled. No time to think, he acted. He sent tendrils of mana mixed with his will and forced his body to move. His body jerked backward. A short high-speed object whizzed past his neck and his head thudded against pact earth. The dull pain was an anchor Noctis used to bring back his floating perception.

With smooth, quick motions Kenan leaped from the ground and picked up his sword. Noctis slid his left foot forward, bent his arm at a right angle, gripped the blade in a high stance, and angled the point down. He stepped in accordance with the guard and rotated. Trees that surrounded the area were made clear and rid of shrubbery. Only a dark fireplace broke the monotony of hard brown earth. Kenan wasn’t sure if he saw the large half-giant that had been accompanying him for the better part of three months. But brevity outweighed thought and suspension for the significance of action.

Feeling blurred a warning before the other senses had the chance. Suddenly the weight of the forest shifted and an air shuddering force came speeding through the trees. The object zipped between any bark obelisks and swung back and forth with a terrible dexterity. Kenan hadn’t the time to deflect or dodge. Sparks, tinted orange cracked at the ground, and a small wall of roaring fire emanated from the earth with just as much speed as the incoming projectile. He felt the impact in his metaphysical sense. Vibrant mana of speed and power met with magic to devour such aspects.

Noctis knew it wasn’t enough. His Firewall was new and unrefined. The first time he used such a technique was with the aid of repudiated flame and used its heat to his advantage. The second was a quick stop-gap solution to a growing vegetation menace. That quasi-spell did not last long. Kenan decided he should make the attack formal but he hadn’t much time to practice it. So the temporary mana construct was drilled into, buckled, and broke under the force. He pivoted and lowered himself. The object, now recognized as a white arrow, had its kinetic energy suctioned off. But it still had forward momentum and it seemed to have plans to keep going.

Anguish inflicted Noctis’ upper arm. Blood didn’t have the time to gush out before the arrow penetrated, took its penance, and left. Qi rushed to strengthen the weak point. He felt liquid pour and drip down. Kenan excused thought and shifted to his side. Another vortex of pain erupted on his cheek.

One was a guess, two was enough. No hesitation was between the last attack and his retaliation. Noctis swung his arm up and at the point of his sword, a beam of uncontested fire blumed out and swallowed anything in its path.

The impetus of the counterattack was felt and the focus of the blitz was changed. Before the fire was fully expunged, the wind swirled like a twisting arrow and canceled the fire. Kenan moved his elbow. Dark metal smacked against light wood. A horrid creature held a crooked staff. No, a bow that thoroughly outmatched any conventional measurement. It was a mass of mangled furs and hides. Bits of festering flesh that had turned black was a breeding ground for quivering insects. Beneath its strange trophy skin, Kenan saw light blue eyes.

Its leg lifted and kicked Noctis' abdomen. The pain was dulled with the flex of his muscles. It was too late to fix the mistake but he realized his folly. He let the enemy gain an advantage. Space. His foes’ bow lost much of its length, and short arrows formed at its fingertip. Kenan switched his stance to a lower and wider form, his feet moved slower and sure. The thing knocked and aimed before the distance could have been shortened but the shafts stilled under a contest of patience.

The time in between moments. Kenan peered into and through its radiant eyes. Thought, calculation, and determination. In the middle of those thoughts and ideals, the opposites spun counterintuitively. Wild, loose, and an unafraid sense of pusillanimity. These formed into a set of eyes that were undoubtedly familiar. The eyes slightly sharpened, and the most minuscule change in muscle movement warned Kenan.

The black blade blurred. With each slice of air, an arrow was deflected or cut. His feet carried the pace and never wavered as he defended. Behind the sword strikes, Kenan left behind the lines of Afterburn. Practice had perfected the beast. The streaks were once barely held together in containers of intense heat, now the same vehemence was controlled in the way repetition could lend. Each Afterburn was uniform in makeup and solid as an animalistic ferocity and grace rouse inside of Kenan.

Wind swirled and pitched in a high-intensity hum. The speed of both the incoming arrows and Noctis’ footwork increased at an even ratio. Then as the air crescendoed in a horrid whining noise, the area exploded in heat. Red hot and dangerous yellow made a raging vortex centered on the creature. Neither enemy stopped their movement. Constant projectiles and Kenan sprinted the dangerous dance of Salpirkos. Fire in the shape of a large wolf flowed behind him. Movement became vertical as he began to step on his magical twister.

The creature in the middle stopped his torrent of wind-tipped constructs. His hands grabbed the ends of the bow and it separated into two halves. His right morphed into a short sword while the left ended into a small dagger. The dance changed. Swaths of a powerful gale entered the fray and twisted in the opposite way of the raging inferno. The blue-eyed monster also began to run vertically, counterclockwise to Kenan. The resemblance of a canine joined behind him too.

They met in force. Kenan brought up his blade and blocked the short sword. The dagger came for his side, but he twirled and the forces led him away. Once more they came together. Noctis stabbed for middle mass. He punctured hide. The creature dodged late, and with the movement came the removal of a chunk of mismatched clothing. It revealed a human arm beneath. The continual movement made both parties to abandon the skirmish.

Their bouts came faster and faster. Neither hit significant attacks as the wolves behind bickered for dominance. They both gained altitude. The fire enhanced the drafts of the wind, while the air magic fed directly into the flames. Making the attack grow out of previous restrictions, and left unchecked with power.

In the glimpses of the in-between. Kenan saw they were thirty feet or so in the air, and more importantly, fire. The battle effect was spreading into the forest. While Kenan had given no oath to do so, he would prevent more damage to the children of Nokia. For her honor if nothing else.

Once more capor and cavort changed in structure. The area around Kenan's eye darkened. Thick veins in his neck turned dark black. The depths of his eris deepened as he dived into Nonesthic and brought out its, his, power. Qi roiled from its slumber, filling Noctis with the primal energy of mana-fueled blood. For a moment, wind and fire stopped, as if taking a moment of consideration into what happened. Then Soulfire erupted and devoured.

Kenan's blade hit nothing but the thinned air of the extravagant Salpirkos. The introduction of Soulfire had burst the power of the attack as the flames' hungry greed became tenfold. Thought was misplaced in the pith of action. Readily available information showed the simple conclusion of down.

Indeed, the creature had dipped fast. Its conglomerate of mismatched hides was left behind to turn into ashes. More and more of a humanoid build emerged. Kenan willed himself down. He brought the weight of the dancing flame wolf in concordance as it roared with anticipation.

The being landed on the ground and looked up. A smile crept on the bard's hewed chin. Noctis shook down the shock and forced away Nonesthic’s influence. Vatr left, but the momentum of Salpirkos continued. For a few moments he feared the worst, but a strong gust swayed him out of his friend's way. Sword contacted the ground and the Soulfire continued. A huge swath of the forest catched into a magical fire.