Kazimir found himself drifting farther away from the crowds and rigors of the city. He marched upwards through the snow, his scarf pulled tight around his neck. From his patrols he knew of a clearing through the forest. It was a boulder filled place that led t the side of a small mountain. Snow covered the rocks and littered about the ground. Wind whistled through the trees. The occasional fragile icicle fell from thin branches, shattering against the ground.

It was a place not yet touched by the demonic hordes, and one well suited for taking things to the next level.

Strength was the one thing coming to the forefront of his mind. That and control over this new power that swelled within him. The blessing brought with it a new understanding of his magic. He began with a light stretch and ran in place, trying to conjure some more warmth against the frigid wind.

"Alright I suppose its time to get started then,"He said loosening his scarf and standing with his legs shoulder width apart. "Okay, feel the wind. Hear its movements," he repeated to himself in a meditative tone. A white magic circle appearing around him with a soft clap of his hands. He tried to push his senses outward around him. Sensing the vibrations in the air. It reached its boundary, but he tried to push it further. "Come on," each breath forming a white puff in front of his face. he could feel the limited zone struggling to expand. Magic against his will. He felt the drifting snow and falling ice like ripples in water.

With that spell primed he opened his eyes and swung his hand sending a blade of cutting wind off at a boulder grazing it. He quickly followed by concentrating on his legs, "Let's try this then," he wanted to maintain his vibration sense while attacking but it shrunk back to its original size.  The wind around his leg sprung to life and with his kick, the tiniest gust of wind kicked up some snow and faded away.

He put a hand on his forehead still trying to concentrate on his vibration sense, "Well I suppose that's a start. I wonder if I...can I rely on that."

He stretched his arms wide, getting ready to take things more seriously.

WC 350

~A few hours ago~

A cold wind blew through Odin's skull as he reached the clearing, the landscape set up perfectly for him to train his spells. Flat ground coated with frost and ice up towards a mountain, a chill blowing freely across the clearing, large rocks littering the ground begging to be destroyed. A beautiful mixture of ice and earth, which complimented Odin's magic perfectly. He couldn't have imagined a better location where he could train some new spells, enhance his abilities with his recently acquired magic.

He had lost his previous magic of summoning the undead to do his bidding and destroying the minds of his enemies through deceit and darkness. His Necromancy powers, they had been taken from him by HER upon his revival. After his initial 'death' at the hands of his best friend Konstantin, SHE had seen fit to strip Odin of his powers, forcing him to learn new ways to fight and defeat his enemies. SHE was almighty, his omnipotent goddess, he lived only to serve HER as instructed. If that meant losing his magic to pave the way for something new, then Odin would sacrifice every shred of his power to please his goddess.

It had, of course, been a loss for his Necromantic powers to leave him, but it had allowed the Lich to become a master of the elements. Earth and Ice, coming together in an avalanche. That was his magic now: the unstoppable force of an avalanche racing down a mountain to consume everything in its path. He was a force of nature, an unnatural disaster, and a monster to his foes.

The first spell took more time for Odin to master than he had originally intended, as it had been his first time shaping his new magic into a proper spell. Giving off a cold aura, or moving a few stones around had taught him minor control, but this was something much more involved, and required much more from him. It had been a relatively simple spell: manipulating the ground beneath an area to rise up into the sky at great speed, striking anything caught underneath with an, admittedly minor, amount of force. It had been difficult, but nowhere near impossible for the Lich.

His second, and indeed third and fourth, idea was to utilise a type of spell that he had favoured for a long time, since before becoming a Lich. Back when his powers came from the demon prince Lucifer, who had loved manipulating the humans of the world. Applying negative status effects to their physical characteristics, 'debuffing' them as he put it, whether by decreasing their physical strength, movement speed, or durability and endurance, it had brought such joy to the prince of chaos. The only unfortunate thing was that, currently, there was no one to test his newfound ideas on, forcing Odin to sit and meditate is one of the far reaches of the clearing, where the forest would hide him if he, in fact, dozed off. He figured someone else would come here to train eventually, and he was in no rush.

~Present Time~

Odin didn't sleep, he had no reason to now that he was undead. It was something part of him missed, but he had found a way to replicate the feeling of switching his mind off and letting it wander. He had been doing that for a few hours now, to the point where the snow was almost completely concealing him, his bones blending in perfectly with the surrounding scenery.

Having been 'asleep', Odin had failed to notice that, not too far away from him, another man was training. He hadn't yet spotted the Lich, as his face showed deep concentration in whatever he was doing. He was within range for Odin to try and apply a debuff, but in moving his arm he would disturb the snow, making his presence known to the man. The debuff applied was towards the man's endurance, and the likely scenario is the man would instantly feel even more tired than he had been previously. The cyan magic circle heralded the spell's activation, but also would make it incredibly obvious that someone else was here. Thinking he might as well get ready, Odin stood up after applying his spell, drawing Gungnir as he did and never taking his eyes off the man. He was ready at every moment, and it seemed likely that this man was going to view Odin as a threat, and likely attack him without warning. It would be very rude of him.

768

The wind mage was still focusing on feeling the wind around him and forming a clearer picture in his mind about the visions he received. The visions that brought some sort of perspective to his magic and where it could take him. He was lost in thought and other than his vibration sense almost irresponsibly unaware of his surroundings. An absent minded folly that he would soon get a reminder could be a potentially fatal mistake.

As the wind felt natural to him, a strange sensation crept into his body. Suddenly he sensed the presence of movement nearby. He opened his eyes to see the skeletal hand rising from a snow covered form. Snow drifted down from the bone arm with a simple gesture. The wind mage then noticed the cyan magical circle around him. Albeit too late. His body felt heavier, and his eyes nearly drooped for a moment. A wave of tiredness flooded through him.

The skeletal form fully emerged with a razor sharp spear in hand. Whoever or whatever this was, meant business. Kazimir jumped diagonally to the right, out of the radius of where the cyan circle had appeared, trying to evade any other magical assault that came his way. He moved closer to the target but still trying to maintain a safe distance from the spear. As he jumped he flipped into a handspring and concentrated his magical energy into his leg. With a swift kick he launched a cone of wind at the potential threat. It whirled through the snow scattering flurries along with it. When he landed he held his staff at the ready while tightening the scarf around his neck.

An attack meant more as a warning than to cause any real damage. This was because, while he felt threatened, the foe had used their surprise attack to weaken him instead of taking him out. A tactic that left him wondering the beings motives. Did he just mean to attract his attention or to use the spell to render him easy prey.

Either way, Kazimir would gauge the reaction of the skeletal being after his warning shot and see if this was a full-fledged battle of something more mischievous was afoot. The assailants appearance left him to wonder if he was somehow connected to the demons or the dark guilds that lurked in the shadows. The wind mage waited with a focused gaze, "I don't know what you want but you certainly have my attention now," he said politely as he continued to maintain his vibration sense in case there were any surprises to come from the being and he held his staff tight in anticipation of a counter attack.

His foot settled into the soft snow behind him with a small stirring of wind. The gentle breeze blew in the back of his mind, reminding him of the divine blessing of his soul, but it was something he still held back and hesitated on embracing. Even if it was a pathway to more power.

Either way, he was eager to see if the being answered him with words, violence or a mixture of both. He had to remain even more alert as he still felt the lingering effects of whatever spell had afflicted him.

WC 540
Total WC 890

Odin's first attack, as expected, went through without a hitch. The wave of tiredness passed over the man, and seemed to work well in Odin's favour. Sometimes, the power of the spell wasn't the important part. In this case, it was simply about having enough to tip the scales. If the man hadn't trained at all before encountering Odin, perhaps this spell would've done nothing to him, but Odin had certainly waited for the opportune moment to cast his spell. The man was already tired, which meant it likely wouldn't take much more for Odin to beat him back. All he had to do was actually win, despite how limited his arsenal currently was. If it came to it, Odin always had Gungnir, but he hoped he could potentially do a lot in this battle without having to rely on the spear. Regardless, this was a battle the Lich had every intention of winning, it was about time he got his name out there once more, and become a fearsome foe that people shied away from.

The man moved away from his previous location, likely trying to get away from Odin in case he was planning on attacking some more. He wasn't but as the man moved backwards he did some impressive acrobatics, using his motion as a catalyst for his spell, hand-springing backwards as he sent out a wind attack from his leg. A cone of wind made its way towards Odin, who quickly dashed to his right to avoid the spell from hitting him. It seemed quite powerful, suggesting to Odin that this man was not someone worth going easy on. He held Gungnir in his hands as he considered just using it straight away.

It was at that moment that the man, who interrupted Odin's train of thought, decided to speak up, saying that he was confused about the situation, but that he wasn't gonna take his eyes off of Odin. It made sense, since a random Lich had just appeared out of nowhere and instantly attacked him. They weren't the friendliest of introductions.

Replying to the man, Odin took a few steps towards his foe, closing the gap between them to be around twelve metres. The entire time he moved, however, his eyes stayed fixed on his opponent's, in case he were to try anything, and his hands stayed on the drawn spear, ready to react in any sudden moment, as his deep voice echoed across the clearing, causing birds to scatter from the nearby trees, "I don't want anything with you in particular, simply testing the nature of beings. I'm curious to see how strong humans can be, and I must say, I'm disappointed. I don't think you're strong enough to beat me."

Odin knew that one attack from Gungnir would likely finish the man off, he would just have to get close enough to him, then the battle would be over.

1275

The skeletal figure fully emerged from its snowy haven to dodge the cone of wind. It was a form of a creature that Kazimir had never seen before. A living skeleton. he wondered if this being could actual be a lich. A creature he had only ever heard about from the faint whispers of older knights and some scattered text. It was almost fitting to have encountered one so soon after his battle with the tainted spirit.

The being seemed less intent on a savage attack at least, as he moved forward to respond to the wind mages question. In doing so the lich moved closer trying to close the gap between them but kazimir was weary about how close to let the spear wielding menace move. He held his position though, curious to see what distance the lich preferred to engage from. Twelve meters of rock and snow were between the two. It was a distance he thought he could deal with but would probably be a bit to close for comfort. Although a part of him was excited to see what tricks the being had up his sleeve.

"I see," his reply was almost a bit more light-hearted and relaxed seeing that the lich didn't actually intend to have a bout to death. It almost took his mind of the annoyance that the surprise attack had. "You could have just asked, but sense we're both here I suppose I'll make the most of the situation myself."

He didn't know at first how to take being called weak, but since his arrival into this new land he had encountered people of enormous power. "You may be right. But if you're here to test the nature of beings. You should know your not testing a human," he added as heis eyes glowed white revealing his divine blessing.

"I'm Kazimir. Let's see if I can prove you wrong," he said as he jumped backward to create a few more meters of distance leaving 15 between them. Wind began to gather around him and he concentrated harder on feeling the vibrations in the wind. Unsure about what his opponents next move would be.  

As he jumped, he brought his right fist up to his shoulder. A small raging wind surged around it. He focused his effort on controlling the violent current. Another technique that was shown to him in the vision. One that he had to master.

He opened his hand to thrust it outward towards the lich. A white magic appeared on the wind mage's hand and then another appeared in front of the lich. The area erupted with a 4 meter long, 4 meter diameter column of wind. As soon as the spell sprang to life, Kazimir breathed a sigh of relief having been able to conjure his newly formed attack. His moment of self-triumph was as fleeting as the wind itself as he kept his senses alert to the reaction of the Lich.

His staff was held firmly in his left hand and he was ready for a counter attack, already trying to calculate what would happen next and what he would do. He let his vibration sense attempt to pick up on anything helpful. An air of excitement surrounded him as this was his first challenging encounter since becoming a nephilim. With this last attack he was able to fully test his new capabilities initially. Now was just a matter of how to better weave them into what he already knew.

This strange dark being in the wild, even if far stronger than the wind mage, would prove to be more helpful than the lich may have realized in Kazimir's own understanding of his abilities. Although he knew that the lich had a fierce looking weapon and he shuttered to think what would happen if that weapon pierced into him.

Spells

WC 650
Total 1540

Of course he was a damn nephilim, because that would be Odin's luck. At this point, he was one of the only Liches in the entire world, and yet he was convinced he's now met most of the nephilims. He always managed to find a way to get into situations where he would have to deal with them. He was just glad he didn't know this one that well. Arisa and Kon, two of the strongest nephilim, they were two people with very strong links to Odin. The last thing he needed was another nephilim to know enough about him to hunt him down.

The man's eyes lit up as he announced that he wasn't, in fact, human, signifying the activation of that irritating buff they all seemed to get because of their 'divine power'. They were always annoying to fight against, mostly due to the fact that they all often wielded some form of light magic, which a Lich was weak to. Thankfully, it seemed like that wouldn't be the case with this man, who's magical abilities seemed tied to the element of wind, which made him a truly interesting match up for Odin. Avalanche magic was a combination magic that allowed its user control of both earth and ice. Wind magic was strong against the former, and weak to the latter. Perhaps, once Odin's arsenal of spells was complete, he could fight this man again and see how different the fight would be. But for now he had this one to win.

Kazimir, as his introduction betrayed, decided to lengthen the gap between himself and Odin, pushing it to a total of fifteen metres. As he did so, he cast a spell. Odin didn't know what the spell was to be, but he stayed ready to react. The moment the magic circle appeared in front of him, his legs moved, dashing backwards in an instant. He managed to get half of this distance before the spell went off, creating a large column of wind where Odin had been standing. Thankfully, the dash had taken him just out of the cyclone, but he didn't expect to be free of the spell just yet.

With a distance of about twenty metres between the two now, and this great windstorm between them about five metres away from Odin, it was about time for the Lich to act. He threw Gungnir up into the air, and it stayed there for a time, the runic markings along the spear dimly sending out blue light over the mostly white landscape. Odin couldn't see his foe through the windstorm, and he suspected the same was true for Kazimir. But all Odin needed to do was see him, and the battle would soon end.

Activated Odin's hunt

1745

The lich had no words for Kazimir, but the wind mage left little time for a response in summoning the storm. The whirlwind filled the area but Kaz could see no figure caught in it or hear any verbal confirmation of the spells strike. It still whirled indicating the Lich had evaded it. Something kaz was not too surprised by given how powerful the man seemed and the strength of the people in this area in general.

The wind raged on obscuring the sight of both the mage's. Kaz's eyes keeping an eye out for any movements that may be coming from the sides while continuing to focus on his wind based vibration since.

It wasn't long before the appearance of that ominous spear loomed overhead in the sky. An unnerving blue light radiated from it and Kazimir knew he needed to try and do something about it as well as the lich presumably behind the whirlwind.

Kaz brought his staff up and swung it upward at an angle aimed at the spear. A 1 meter blade of wind shot forth directed at the floating spear. At the same time, Kazimir thrust the hand forward that controlled the whirlwind sending it forward where he could only assume his opponent was. the whirlwind would rush forward 10 more meters. He only hoped the undead creature wasn't agile enough to keep up with the size and speed of the attack and that it would act as a distraction to the blade of wind he launched at the spear from behind the whirlwind.

With any luck the attack on the spear would reveal something about its nature to him, but with it moving on its own it was as if he faced off against two opponents. Despite the nonchalance of the Lich's statements, treating the being and the spear as anything less than being able to deal lethal damage would be foolish. If all else failed he would have to find a way to prevent that spear from touching him. That blue light seemed like it could suck the life from the living.  

This conflict was the first time he had this many spells to try and navigate between. It wasn't exhilarating for him but he also had to remember that the intentions of the lich were still vague. He only knew that the man had abilities to sap stamina and a spear that grew more dangerous by the second. He was curious to see the extent of the magical arsenal his opponent held but an underlying fear came with the idea of the unknown.

Encountering a lich was a new experience and one he didn't want to take lightly. The thought had yet to cross his mind if the man was wanted or what the knights standpoint was on the undead. He was simply interested in self-progression at this point and fascinated by any knowledge he could acquire.  

The wind mage waited with batted breath to what counter attack the Lich had in store. Regardless, the wind mage never cast a spell he could manipulate before and he felt he was quickly getting a grasp on how to manipulate it and work it into his style.

spells:

wc 500
total wc 2040

Odin knew exactly where his opponent was, or rather where he wasn't, and the nephilim was in the exact same position. A large spell had been cast between them both, blocking one's view from the other, but that left only a small number of locations where the opponent could be found. And, despite the height of the whirlwind, it wasn't all that wide, and Odin knew he could dash around it and get the right view of the man.

Odin motioned to go to his right, but it was at that moment that he saw his opponent's spell move too. And it was much faster. A plan formulated in Odin's mind in that instance, and hopefully it would work. With one foot stepped out to the right, the momentum instantly switched, using that side foot as a spring board. Odin pushed himself forwards, directly into the whirlwind. It dealt some damage, but Odin pushed through, exiting the other side and running straight for his enemy, who he now saw in plain view.

Before he had dashed into the whirlwind, however, Odin had pushed Gungnir to move straight towards where his enemy was. While in the whirlwind, and once finally able to see his foe, making tiny adjustments in the trajectory would be simple, allowing the spear to move towards his opponent without hindrance. The spell sent towards Odin's spear would simply pass through it, losing a little of its strength but otherwise moving on towards the opponent at it's maximum speed. Odin wouldn't be able to take another hit from the whirlwind, but that didn't matter much. If the man wanted to hit Odin with the spell, he'd have to take himself out too.

2039

To the surprise of the wind mage, his opponent only hesitated briefly before showing their grit and charging through his most powerful spell. Yet again, another being capable of largely shrugging off his offensive capabilities. But the thrill of the fight was invigorating as it further tested his abilities and skills. Even if the beings identity and motives remained largely a mystery.

It was a two pronged attack as he seemed to manipulate the spear with magic and launched it down in an attempt to skewer the rune knight. Both foe and spear were aimed and racing towards the mage while his whirlwind was 25 meters away from him now and the Lich began to close the distance between them. Seeing The Lich charge forward, Kazimir realized there was one thing he had on his side. Speed.

A magic circle appeared around his feet with the rising of wind ruffling through the grass. Kicking his foot away from him to his right he shot himself 10 meters to diagonally back and to the left with a powerful gust of wind.

While he kicked himself away he pulled his hand towards him that controlled the whirlwind. It caused the whirlwind to rush forward from behind the Lich, keeping him aimed in the center, closing the distance in a fraction of a second. The whirlwind's trajectory would place it where the wind mage once stood and thanks to the 10 meter dash, Kazimir would be out of the way of his own attack and the area that the ominous spear was striking towards. Playing it safe, as soon as his feet touched the ground from the dance of the wind he made another magic circle and dashed straight to the left 5 more meters with 'step of the wind.'

The spear seemed to move as fast as a spell but hopefully he bought himself a little more time by dashing away and disorienting the Lich with the attack from behind. The spear was still a major threat and he readied a counterattack by gathering wind around his legs again. He didn't know whether the Lich could evade the assault or would most likely tank through the damage again and send the spear bearing down once more. He had to try and think of a way to mitigate the next retaliation as much as possible.

The closer the spear came the more terrifying it was to fill its vibration in the wind as it cut through the air. He wondered if there was even a way to damage it as it sliced through his own spell with unmitigated ease.

spells:

Wc 380
Total wc 2420 (spell trained: Wind Storm= 2400 with 40% WCR from INT.)

Physically, despite being a Lich, Odin was quite impressive. He was stronger than most people he knew: even without the spear he could deal a decent amount of damage with a single punch. He could also last longer in combat, and think quicker than many people he would encounter, save for the ridiculous powerhouses. Unfortunately, there was one thing that he didn't have in abundance, one physical ability that he was severely lacking in, and he knew he was lacking in it. That attribute was speed, and it was to be the reason why Odin would lose this battle.

He ran through the spell, sent his spear towards the target, thinking he could attack, but he was stopped by the windstorm. It was now behind him, but it could still move, and it enveloped Odin once more, dealing a severe amount of damage to him. Even he knew he wouldn't be able to take much more than that, and so he simply held up his hands, surrendering the battle and allowing the man to gain victory.

"I give up, you take this one. That is a nasty piece of work spell, well done on crafting that one."

Gungnir flew back to Odin's outstretched hand, and he held it next to him, ignoring the obvious thought that one may have as he began to leave the man.

Gungnir could move faster than the man, much faster, and it had landed maybe about fifteen meters from Odin's foe. Landing there, it would've been able to instantly change direction, having lost all momentum. It could have moved through the air, straight towards the man, and hit him without him being able to escape. It mattered little to Odin though, he was finished for the day.

-Exit-

Thankfully the windstorm connected one final time with the advancing lich. This time it halted the beings progression. Kazimir stood ready on the lightly snow covered ground. Anticipating the next charge and clinging on to the spell he had cast that was keeping him in safety for now. The snow flurried around his opponent as he stepped forward with his hands in the air. A motion that caused the wind mage to relax if only slightly and tense back up thinking it was a trap.

Then...the lich accepted defeat and complemented his spell. The wind mage could tell that his opponent was a powerhouse of strength and stamina. A single strike or punch from the man would be devastating to the frail body of the sorcerer. "Thank you," he said with a heavy breath after having to evade so many times, "I worked hard on it and that spear of yours is a deadly sight to see. I have no doubt it would have pierced through me and meant the end."

The spear had landed a just fifteen meters from him and the lich summoned it back to his hand. At that distance it would have been hard to evade. His only real hope would have been to unleash as many spells as he could and hope for the best. A situation he hated being in and one that reminded him how much harder he needed to train to be able to stand toe to toe with others. To be able to protect the people around him. He may have one this battle but it taught him just how far he needed to go still in order to accomplish his goals. How high that bar was.

Just as calm as the falling snow on a windless winter day, the lich turned and left the frigid battlefield. Its skeletal body disappearing in the field of white. Kazimir never found out why he was attacked or who that was but hopped that they would not become a future enemy.

-exit-