Chapter 123: Ghosts in the Mists
The stranger stopped shouting at the night sky with his arms spread when he was fully engulfed in the fog. The transparent shield seemed to only prevent external attacks, having allowed Coop to approach without warning the stranger and letting Fog of War spill beyond its threshold. The light drizzle continued to sprinkle through the shield as well, but it did little to diminish the mists. The oathsworn spun around, seeking the source of the sudden bank of fog to no avail.
“Finally!” The man seemed relieved. “The first tribute from Ghost Reef… I welcome it!” The stranger shouted into the mists, taking a combat stance as if he had been instigating the fight from the beginning.
The oathsworn grunted as he flexed twice in a most muscular pose and his body immediately doubled in thickness, shredding his dirty white robes and exposing tight skin rippling with muscles. He repeated the motion and doubled again, as if he was being inflated with energy. When he went for a third boost, Coop’s spear pierced his flank. The turbulent trail that followed the spear only existed for a brief moment before the rest of the fog consumed the disturbance and erased the trajectory.
“Ach!” The stranger coughed, caught completely by surprise and barely maintaining his balance in the sand.
The tip only pierced a few inches through the man’s waist even though Coop had meant to end the fight with the opening strike. Coop resummoned his spear as the man’s meaty hands gripped the shaft and began to pull the tip out. The ethereal weapon disappeared from his grasp as if the fog itself swallowed the spear, causing his hands to involuntarily clap together.
The man abruptly laughed as his wound rapidly healed with muscle fibers intertwining like strings followed by skin regrowing over the hole. “Come! Enrich Chakyum with your power!” He spoke in an inhumanly deep voice that matched his freakish build. Blood dripped from his chin as he turned to face the completely wrong direction. He was clearly confident in his powerful physical resistance, but his Mind stat and aura skill left him to the whims of the fog. The Ones That Hunt had been even more resilient, with the ability to counter his fog, and they had ended up fueling Coop’s progression. This Oathsworn had bitten off more than he could chew.
Coop swapped his weapon and cast Legacy of the Mists, still standing in the middle of the path, surrounded by thick billowing clouds of fog that rolled across the sand like a vaporous storm, taking his time as he felt completely in control of the fight.
A phantasm leapt through the mists from a different angle and sliced the back of the oathsworn with a ghostly sword. The blow cut deep, revealing the man’s lacking magic defense relative to his physical protection. The man spun with abnormal speed, twisting his torso with unbelievable flexibility and blindly punched through the obscuring fog. When his fist struck the phantasm’s shield, a bang reverberated through the fog as it billowed away, revealing a ghostly knight in plain metallic armor before refilling the gap. The oathsworn’s wrist broke with a snap, leaving the phantasm with an opportunity to counter attack with another slice, cutting deep into the stranger’s thigh before abruptly disappearing into the fog.
The man shouted in pain and frustration as he lost track of his target and yet another phantasm struck him from behind, forcing him to wheel around again, flailing his uninjured arm while the other rapidly repaired itself. “Honorless cowards!” He yelled and Coop scoffed at the exclamation. Coop may not have any real interest in taking lives, but it had nothing to do with honor. “I demand a duel!” The man screamed.
“This is a duel.” Coop muttered to himself, letting the sounds be smothered by the mists, never reaching his opponent’s ears. This stranger sure was demanding, but the idea of unspoken gentlemen's agreements after an apocalypse was questionable at best, especially after shouting threats and challenges for anyone to hear. He was sure it was a simple ploy to avoid defeat. It seemed his opponent was truly confused because he believed he was being attacked by a coordinated squad. Fog of War lived up to its implicit promises.
Coop flexed Presence of Mind, trying another of the feints that hadn’t worked without Fog of War, pretending a ghost was gearing up to attack the man’s flank again. The man spun and punched at the ghost, finding nothing but fog. He bellowed in growing rage as Coop made another discovery about his skills. Fog of War was a necessary base for magnifying Presence of Mind and their synergies shouldn’t be underestimated.
Coop tried again, spinning the man around with the impression of attacks; an imaginary onslaught leapt at the man from different directions in the fog, but none of it was real. Until it was.