Raz Stone
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??/??/????
---Think.
---Scan.
---Analyze.
The behavior of the opponent almost seems contradictory in some ways, claiming he wants the battle over as quickly as possible, but taking his time when it comes to attacking you. It could be arrogance of course (in your experience the bad guys tend to be quite confident in their power), it could be a bluff to get you to overstep (mental warfare was something you were quite acquainted with yourself), or...
He needed you to hit him first.
Something about his ability worked best when in the form of a counterattack?
Such things are possible when it comes to concept magic. Under the magic system your World ascribes too, Concept Magic is considered to fall under the "Almighty" Element, but is special even amidst those spells, most often employed by demons, who themselves can almost be thought of as physically manifest concepts. Such magics are the manifestations of ideas or stories, myths that enforce themselves upon the battlefield when they are used, so...
Cain.
His name is Cain and Erika is claiming he is invincible...
Nothing is irrelevant in the world of magic, both of your gut feelings say those two things are intertwined, the fact that you are being explicitly told who this is through some form of subconscious means must have something to do with the invincibility. Scanning, thinking about it, it's relatively easy to find a story that backs up the existence of an "invincible" Cain. Church isn't ordinarily your thing, but the story of the first murderer is a famous one, although the thing that people often forget is the aftermath, where Cain feared retribution from his fellow humans for the murder of Abel and was given a promise by God that no would be able to harm him before his time, a promise sealed by a mark that would let others know that this was Cain and that he was under the protection of the Ancient of Days.
That he could not be harmed by others.
---Was that it?
Was that where the invincibility was coming from? To the DTG it feels like a proper enough conclusion to reach, but even if it was, what could really be done about it?
Was there a loophole in that...?
Concept Magic was incredibly powerful, invincible even, but only to the extent that their story covers them. There was a famous example used in Tamer academies of another Invincible Demon, Baldr of Norse Myth, who invalidated any and all attacks (up to and including other Almighty magics) but could be torn apart by Mistletoe, which had slain him inside of his legend, inside of his story...
Even pictures of it apparently worked for this purpose, after all, according to your old textbooks, a certain Demon Summoner had punched it into submission with a phone-strap adorned with pictures of the plant. It was a very famous story, used to beat the idea that true invincibility does not exist into the minds of students, that concept magic could also be very weak, that there was always a drawback for their overwhelming power.
A catch.
So the story of Cain, if there was a loophole, wouldn't it be...?
"..."
Before you can consider any of that any further, well-
"...Hah."
-the man laughs, his figure continues towards you at a casual walk. His gaze feels just as dangerous as the rest of him, every movement he makes comes across as insanely threatening even when it honestly shouldn't, but you know killing intent when you feel it, no matter how well-disguised it might be, and-
-you move before you can even acknowledge that what is coming at you appears to be a floating deck of cards.
39 cards.
---Cards of a tarot deck, to be exact.
It's different from the fist you had expected to fall upon you, fish shining with those strange, burning blue flames. These cards are instead shot like shuriken at your position, edges gleaming with a sharp, scarlet edge that cards should not possess-!
You fall back instinctively, senses going off regardless of your shattered expectations behind the attack.
The first 19 of the cards are avoided outright, your fatigued body still able to get out of the way of attacks that straightforward.
10 more come at you at odd angles, going for your limbs, tearing at the frozen armor that Erika had coated you with and leaving crimson lines in their wake. Despite expectation it does not knock you out instantly, meaning that Erika's earlier words had been literal, that the one-hit aspect of this man's ability required him to hit you personally. The blood running down the shining blue ice of your borrowed armor certainly stings, the shredded nerve endings of your skin singing a song of danger and pain as your already battered body does it's best to remind you that it is in fact still battered, but...
You ignore it.
For a Tamer, pain is a constant companion, you learn to deal with these things.
No, what interests you more...
Is how the last 10 of those cards go wide, missing you entirely, going out behind you and zooming off towards the space around you like a boomerang that's lost it's way, spinning up towards the sky rather than returning to the thrower, ultimately coming to a stop in the air above and behind you, as if waiting for further orders...
--It's a strange weapon.
A deck of razor-sharp tarot cards?
"..."
Still, your flight down the hill away from the cards had moved you away from the others, making the potential hostage situation less pressing, but...
"Not my type."
...His flat answer follows you down that same hill, as does he; there are only about ten meters between you now, but still...
It feels like he's waiting for something before he closes in himself...
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Originally Posted by Alisa
: “She’s pretty soaked. The t-shirt’s one thing but the jeans’ll take ages to dry. No Agi or Bufu spells here either.” 
: “What’s the plan? Bring her indoors?” 
: “I’ll bring Jessica inside.” 
: “We’ll head to my room. There’s towels and a hair dryer and such for drying her off. Rice, can I leave that to you?” 
