The air ran cold, magic pulsing wildly from the Shaman's staff. Before Ryuu could even react, a flickering hot light flew up to him and created a massive explosion, evaporating the water surrounding Ryuu.
One aspect that Ryuu had realized about his abilities is that a certain amount of heat or cold could slowly drain his body of energy, and it's not like he couldn't feel the cold or heat anymore. It was more like a fever, like it built up in his own body. So he could still feel it, but... yes, he realized he was immune to fire, he was immune to the cold, all it did was enhance his capabilities.
Ryuu wasn't exactly a powerhouse compared to others with abilities around his level or higher; instead, forced to rely on skill and execution around his ability. If he were like them, taking down enemies would be much more graceful, less savage and barbaric.
An ability like that isn't one of a powerhouse; that is an ability of someone who is forced to take stronger enemies down to his level.
This was a special case, the fire quickly being absorbed by Ryuu's body, causing him to speed up significantly, sprinting across the water, dissolving it all the while as he ran across it. Eventually, he had gained enough speed that he began skipping off the ground before launching himself into the air, bringing a cold fist down onto a massive magical shield the Shaman had set up beforehand.
Ryuu bounced off the shield, rebounding off, landing a few meters away from the monster before him, the ground persisting with its magical pulsing.
It's smart, but it wasn't smart enough; it thought that he had a power based on Ice Magic, whilst his ability was the manipulation of temperatures and weight. Even if it was countering Ryuu's ability to inflict cold, it didn't mean that he couldn't sneak it in anyhow.
Ryuu slammed his fist into the ground, using the friction to fire the liquid beneath the mage into the air, focusing all his energy on cooling himself down.
The Shaman noticed an odd weight and teleported away.
Ryuu watched as they vanished in front of him, his head spinning around to spot it a couple of dozen meters away. Its staff halted in the air as they formed a sort of cutting motion before setting their staff back down into its original position.
Ryuu attempted to close the distance one more time before his eyes widened as a force of wind accelerated toward Ryuu at an exceptional speed, bringing up his defenses at the last second, causing him to fly back into a stalagmite behind him, a thin cut appearing across his forearms that dug into him, from the middle of the forearms, closer to the wrists.
Another thin slice of air was formed, vertically careening toward Ryuu, forcing him to make a wide berth from the Shaman before making a sharp turn, beelining it back to the magician in front of him.
Ryuu cupped the water in his hands, adding friction to the liquid before launching it at the Shaman at an unreasonable speed, watching as their magical shields flickered lightly against the impact of his attack.
Ryuu thought to himself momentarily, attempting to find a way past the creature's defenses. Unfortunately, waiting too long would throw another slash of air his way, forcing him to dodge every time.
Suddenly, a stream of pressurized air slammed into his standing area, forcing him to jump out of the way, running through the water as it was violently thrown into the cave ceiling. Ryuu stopped running, sliding toward the stream of air, causing it to fly over his head, taking out a massive stalagmite in the process, watching it crumble, adding stony terrain to the outstretched waters.
Before Ryuu could recover, missiles made of pure magic careened through the air, flying to the young disheveled man at an extreme speed, prompting him to raise up an arm, hardening it in an attempt to defend himself, the missile slamming against his body causing him to stumble back, the magic digging into his arm, blood spraying out from the wound causing him to cry out in pain.
He rolled across the floor, scrambling back to his feet, gripping his newly formed wound as hard as he could, as an attempt to staunch the wound.
Ryuu let out a long sigh, reaching one hand to the wound, the arm glowing with a burning light, his hand squeezing around the wound to close it. Cold energy rushes through the wound, Ryuu's gaze looking back up to see an array of missiles being formed in the air, the Shaman's staff producing a series of magical crystals that are fired out in a violent cacophony toward the young man.
There was no way for him to dodge it properly, but he could at least mitigate the damage. He lunged forward, sprinting toward the Shaman, the floating crystals making an arching motion as he got closer and closer.
Ryuu dived under the crystals that flew toward him, slamming into one spot repeatedly, causing the water below to fly up into the air, each hit of the creatures sounding as if a bomb had gone off.
The water settled, steam left in its wake, obscuring Ryuu's form. The Shaman, moving to finish him off, teleported directly over him, raising their staff to the air, a dense concentration of magic forming at the tip of the staff, coalescing into a spear.
As the Shaman concentrated on their spell, the mangled Ryuu slowly rose from the ground, pulling a strand of hair out from his head, slashing it to the side, a weapon forming in its wake. A thick black blade that Ryuu struggled to hold up, placing the back of the blade against his shoulder. Using the weight of the blade and the momentum of his swing, he slashed across the stomach of the Shaman, the blade slamming against the water below, his arm giving out under the weight of this weapon.
The Shaman looked down, their breath becoming shaky as they watched their intestines fall out from their abdomen, dispelling their magic, dropping their staff to the ground. Both arms clutch the wound, the beast falling to the ground, shock shown in their expression.
Ryuu pulled himself off the ground, dragging his weapon behind him, exhausted. Ryuu let go of the sword, it disappearing into various sparks of magic, returning to his hair from whence it came.
No reward? He thought to himself, throwing his arms in the air before wandering off to somewhere he could rest.
***
Ryuu slowly covered his wounds with the medicinal glowing remnants of the plants he had stolen from the old alcove that he had holed himself in for the better part of two months. He groaned, the medicine seeping into his injuries, sitting himself down outside of the pool area of the cave on a stone platform, propped against a wall on his side.
He steadied his breathing, using his ability to assist in the recovery process, steam emitting off his body, the medicine melding with his wounds until they are sealed in full.
"Two Lords down. Two to go."
After a few hours, Ryuu groaned, standing up to his feet before heading deeper into the caves, attempting to find his way back to the layer above him.
From what Ryuu could see, the path back was a bit obtuse, but if he put in enough effort and time, he'd probably be able to reach his destination eventually. If anything, at this rate, the last two Lords would probably be coming to him instead.
That was the initial intention as to why he showed himself in front of their King after all, to have all eyes on him, to attract them one by one. Before, he thought he'd be able to find a way to escape, but it seemed that he had been getting lucky recently.
Ryuu continued down the path, the rocky faces of the cave system becoming smoother and smoother and more open in some areas. He looked up, watching sunlight peak in from the surface, realizing that he was in a ravine. He wouldn't be able to climb up there, but it gave him a bit of hope, as if he was closer to his goal than he had ever felt he was before.
The ravine opened up even more, creating a clearer, more manageable path, yet the light coming in was still thin. He was far down, but if he was ambushed, at least he'd be able to move around.
Ryuu learned to see the positive in everything; it seemed, at this rate, it was the only way he could remain sane.
Crack... creak,click...
An almost fleshy popping sound followed, making Ryuu's head swivel to his left, looking down a small cavern entrenched by darkness. His eyes hadn't adjusted due to the bright light above him, providing a dim bluish glow to the stone walls below.
He distanced himself from the entrance, almost circling it as he attempted to get a better look inside.
Two red, gleaming eyes meet his gaze.