All that was left at this point was to get some last minute updates on their falnas and for Bell and Lili to practice for the next few days to get a handle on their new items. If you were wondering why I left out Welf despite him being on Bells delving team it was because he wasn't a part of the familia and thus couldn't help us to begin with. He was still a part of the Hephaestus familia and thus unable to do anything beyond watch from the sidelines, you could tell it was eating him up inside too but it is what it is.-
As much as I would have liked to get my falna updated like Bell and Lili did the afternoon before the day of the war game I was simply too close to the first "limit" of the magic stat and I was likely to get limit sickness when i shot past it and we couldn't afford it at this time. Still Bell showed great growth since his level up and Lili had a pretty normal falna to be honest.
Strength:0(I)->357(F)
Endurance:0(I)->268(G)
Dexterity:0(I)->426(E)
Spells: Bolt:(Incantation: Bolt) Summons a bolt of pure magic for attacking, can be augmented with one of the elements by saying it alongside the incantation. Example: Firebolt.
Skills: Liaris Freese: Reality is merely the lies we tell ourselves. Augments growth proportionate to the strength of ones feelings.
Argonaut: Enduring all hardship in the name of success.
Developmental skills: Luck(I)
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Spells: Cinder Ella(incantation: Your wound is mine. My wound is mine. Echoing message of midnight.) Transforms the user into anything around their size
Skills: Artel assist: When the user is carrying a certain amount of weight this skill will help compensate with abilities. The amount of compensation depends on the weight.
Developmental skills: Abnormal resistance(I)
It was rather funny really that Lili's skill that she's had since she was in the Soma familia worked amazingly with her new ability to transform into another material as her density and thus weight increased dramatically. It was obviously a skill designed to help a supporter handle the load of the stuff they were carrying but when paired with this new trick it made her a threat despite her low stats.-
"Alex-san you are about as strong as a level three right?" Bell asked me seriously and I nodded.
"One at the bottom to low middle of the level yeah, why?" I asked curiously.
"Can we spar? I want to see if I can face Hyakinthos as I am." He said determined and I agreed.
Shortly afterwards he got his answer and I adjusted the plan slightly at his request.
The next morning Hestia wished us luck as we set out for the fort in the plains outside Orario that had been repurposed for the war game. Originally it was built by Rakia during one of their many campaigns to invade Orario under Are's leadership but had been abandoned after they got chased off. It was a simple single gate stone structure with four high towers and many archer holes in the top of the walls and a large courtyard. It was a good forty or fifty feet tall on each wall and a good seventy yards long for each wall as well.-
It was just big enough for the Apollo familia to man properly but not so big that they left gaps in the defenses. There was a horse drawn cart ready to take us to the fort when we arrived at the city gate. On the ride to the fort I took out my helm/mask and put it on since I was going into battle. In my lap rested my special surprise wrapped in cloth to keep it hidden while my weapon sat in my belt loop holster.-
After a two hour ride we got off the cart and started walking towards the fort ready to tackle the Apollo familia that waited within. We still hadn't arrived when noon approached but the fort was in sight not more than fifteen miles ahead of us. The glint from the top of the walls told me that the Apollo familia spotted us with a spyglass and readied themselves for the conflict.
"They'll try to stop me after I start but buy me a minute to finish." I said to Bell and Lili as we got within two miles of the fort.
They looked at me confused but agreed though I am pretty sure they wouldn't have if they knew what I had planned.-
It was going to be absolutely overkill and unnecessary but I had prepared this surprise for that exact purpose. It would make a hell of a deterrent as well for any other enemies we might make later. Anyhow once we got just outside the standard range of an archer or mage I stopped and slid the surprise off my shoulder and firmly into my hand. The people we could see on top of the wall tensed as I began to unwrap my surprise revealing it to the entire city of Orario and the gods watching from the divine mirrors.-
As the cloth fell away a long thick staff with a body of the blackest crystal and a head of claws held around the cursed stone was revealed. I casually found the center of the staff and pointed it's head towards the sky.
"Before creation comes destruction!" My voice echoed around loud and clear.
The moment the last syllable left my lips black flames erupted from the staffs tip like a mighty river of death come to corrupt the world. Bell and Lili leaped away from me in fear but the flames did not touch them, in fact the flames did not fall from the sky either but gathered. No one moved, they couldn't as a massive sphere of black flame floated in the sky like a second evil sun. The flames stopped spewing from the staff and the dark sun above began to fall slowly at first but picking up speed as if to crash calamitously into my still raised arm.-
If anyone wasn't mesmerized by the display they might notice that the flames had no heat to them or rather that it was seemingly absent as though this was an illusion. The moment the dark sun touched the tip of the staff on it's descent however that changed abruptly. The air rippled at the point of contact and all the grass within half a mile dried up and shriveled as an infernal heat rolled over it. The dark sun stopped however and though you couldn't see it sweat appeared all over me from the strain as I began to condense the dark sun smaller and smaller. This was when the Apollo familia snapped out of it and realized that whatever I was doing was NOT something they wanted to finish.