Gnash and Drugos began to fight each other with intense ferocity. Drugos knew that the only way he could break through Gnash’s armor was through repeated strong attacks. So, he stopped caring to dodge Gnash’s attacks. Instead, he decided that he would allow his armor to take the damage while Drugos continued his assault.

  Gnash had much of the same mentality. He ignored each slash of Drugos’s axe and countered with his attack. The two enemies swung with their weapons wildly and without fear. The strength of their armors was enough that neither could make a decisive blow on the other. Their bladed weapons almost seemed like blunt objects as they relentlessly pounded into each other.

  Eventually, Drugos’s armor was the first to show damage. Gnash brought its glaive down on Drugos’s shoulder, and cracks started to form through the bone-white armor. Gnash immediately brought its glaive upward to swing down once more on the same spot. The glaive smacked down, and the cracks grew from Drugos’s shoulder to his chest. Before Gnash could continue the assault, Drugos jumped backward.

  “You getting scared now?” Gnash laughed. “Where was all that confidence from before? Weren’t you going to be the first to break my armor?”

  “Don’t worry, that’s still the plan,” Drugos replied. “I’m just giving you a breather.”

  “Still trying to act confident,” Gnash swung its glaive to the side in a flourish. “I don’t know if I should admire your bravery or laugh at your stupidity.”

  “Oh, I know I’m stupid,” Drugos said as light filled the cracks of his armor. The cracks in the armor then faded as if they were never there.

  Drugos dropped his axe before he sent more Essence through his arms. The bone armor on his forearms started to grow outward until curved blades extended from his armor. Drugos slashed his arms through the air a few times before he closed the gap between himself and Gnash.

  “Do you think a different weapon will make that much of a difference?” Gnash asked as he brought his glaive down on Drugos.

  Drugos ignored Gnash’s comment as he quickly spun around the glaive. He twisted towards Gnash and slashed with one of his arm blades. Gnash did not dodge the attack, still confident in the strength of its armor. The moment after Drugos’s attack landed, he followed up with a slash with his other arm.

  Gnash tried to bring its glaive down on Drugos, but Drugos’s attacks came faster than before. Even if Drugos was not breaking through Gnash’s armor, the continued attacks gave just enough force that it staggered Gnash. The speed of Drugos’s attacks, combined with the smaller range, made it nearly impossible for Gnash to counter with its glaive.

  Eventually, Gnash was forced to back away from Drugos’s assault. The gnoll swung its glaive in a wide arc as it took a step backward. Drugos quickly backed away from the slash before he tried to charge Gnash once more. He was unable to reach Gnash as the creature swung its glaive several times to try to control the distance between the two.

  “You lost your chance,” Gnash taunted as it continued to swing its glaive. “I have complete control of the distance between us. There is nothing you can do to close it.”

  “I do have to admit, you are powerful,” Drugos said before he let out a deep breath. “But I have a final trick up my sleeve. Something that you could never imagine with your dark magic.”

  “Is that so? Go ahead and prove it to me then!” Gnash yelled ferociously. The creature stopped swinging its glaive and instead entered a ready stance.

  Amber light started to shine brightly around Drugos. The light expanded outward until it filled the entire area. Then the light sucked into Drugos. A powerful gust of wind pulled towards Drugos and even forced Gnash to slide towards Drugos. It took all of the creature’s strength to plant its feet into the ground and prevent itself from sliding further. Suddenly, the air went completely still before a silent explosion shot outward. Wind pushed from Drugos and threw Gnash off its feet. The ground underneath Drugos even started to crack under the pressure of the explosion.

  Once the explosion came out, Drugos’s armor started to transform further. Plates of bone grew over the already existing armor and created an additional layer of protection. Tiny spikes grew throughout the armor and covered Drugos’s chest, shoulders, and legs. Even his helmet now had a crown of spikes at the top. The only thing that seemed to remain unchanged was the blades coming from Drugos’s forearms.

  “All of that spectacle for that? Seems kind of extra to me,” Gnash commented. Then the gnoll swung its glaive in wide arcs once more. “You still won’t be able to reach me and break my armor.”

  “If you were an Essence user, you’d understand the amount of trouble you were in,” Drugos shrugged. “I guess I’ll just have to show you.”

  “What are you talking ab-“ Gnash replied before it was cut off.

  Amber light flared around Drugos as he shot forward towards Gnash. He paid no attention to the swings of Gnash’s glaive. Instead, he moved forward in a blur of light and broke through the glaive. The weapon shattered into pieces as Drugos dashed through it. Then his shoulder slammed into Gnash’s with tremendous force. Gnash flew backward as it was struck and saw that its armor had cracked.

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  Before Gnash fell to the ground, Drugos leaped towards the gnoll. He then brought his fists down like a hammer on the gnoll’s chest. Drugos and Gnash went crashing to the ground from the force of the attack. Drugos did not let up his assault when they landed. He then smashed his head into Gnash’s. Red fragments scattered as Drugos’s attack broke through Gnash’s armor. Drugos lifted his head up and punched Gnash’s chest with intense, repeated blows. Each blow caused Gnash’s armor to break more and more until it finally shattered enough to expose the fur underneath.

  Drugos finally let up his punches as he successfully broke through the armor. For a moment, it looked like Gnash was going to comment, but the creature was quickly stopped. Drugos brought his forearms downward to allow the blades on his arm to pierce into Gnash’s chest. The rest of Gnash’s armor broke apart as the gnoll went limp.

  Gnash’s body started to break apart into red and purple dust, but Drugos did not immediately get up. His chest heaved while he took deep breaths in. Before he stood up, his bone armor shrank piece by piece until it returned into Drugos’s body. With his armor gone, his appearance could be seen. His once black hair had become completely white, and his eyes changed color to amber. Next to his original tusks were now smaller tusks.

  Drugos continued to take deep breaths as he stood up. His legs felt heavy, and he stumbled a bit as he tried to stand. He looked downward at the spot where Gnash died. “I told you that I would break it.”

  Drugos turned towards Austin’s direction. He saw his friend was kneeling and holding his arm. He immediately recognized that Austin was in pain and limped towards him. He knew he was about to face a major backlash after forcing himself to Steel, but he needed to help his friend. Austin was definitely in much worse condition than he was.

  Drugos stumbled as he walked towards Austin. Eventually, his body fell to the ground. The backlash was already hitting. He looked towards Austin, and the last thing he saw was that Austin’s eyes were blank. His friend had passed out from the pain. Drugos tried desperately to reach for Austin, but he could not keep conscious. Everything around him faded to black.

  ***

  Austin felt exhausted and confused as he opened his eyes. He was not even sure when he lost consciousness and tried to understand his current surroundings. His tired eyes felt barely functional. As if they were looking at Austin’s surroundings but not processing the information. Austin heard noises, but could barely understand what they were. He felt like it was people talking, but his body and brain were too tired to understand what they were saying.

  Austin felt something wrap around him and pull him upward. As he moved to an upright position, his brain started to process his surroundings better. He now recognized that he was in a cot inside some sort of hut. He then turned his head to the side and saw what had helped him into an upright position. It was Drugos’s wife, Romi.

  Romi lifted Austin’s arm in the air, and it immediately fell downward as she released it. She then did the same with his other arm, which Austin could keep upright for a moment before he dropped it due to exhaustion. Romi’s face grew closer to Austin’s while she observed his eyes.

  Once she backed up, Romi finally began to speak. “How are you feeling?”

  Austin took a moment to respond. He felt like he had to use extra brain power to understand Romi. Once he could understand, his response was slow. “Tired, really tired. I feel like I got hit by a bag of bricks.”

  “You probably are going to be tired for a couple of days. You really pushed yourself,” Romi said. “How does your right arm feel?”

  “What do you mean?” Austin asked with a raised eyebrow before he looked downward at his arms. His right arm was covered in thick purple veins. His eyes immediately widened in shock. He realized he could not even feel his right arm. His left arm felt heavy, like he could barely move it, while his right arm felt like it was not even a part of him. He tried desperately to lift his right arm, but it was completely unresponsive.

  “Can you even feel it?” Romi asked with a concerned expression.

  Austin shook his head with his eyes wide. “Not at all, it’s like it is not even part of me.”

  “I see,” Romi nodded. “This is the first time I have seen it up close, but a Death Curse has been placed on you. I’m not sure if the lack of feeling is a direct effect of the curse or if your body shuts down feeling to deal with the pain. What I do know is that until we get the curse healed, you will be unable to improve your Essence.”

  “How long will that take? I’d like to get back to it as soon as I can,” Austin asked with some concern. He did not like the idea of waiting, but at least he could get healed and get back to it.

  “It isn’t a matter of time,” Romi said with a grave expression. “A Death Curse can only be healed with the right materials. There is a collection of rare herbs that need to be combined into a pill to clear the Malis from your body.”

  Austin tried to comprehend the seriousness of the situation. If he did not get those materials, then he could be stuck. “Where do I need to go? What do I need to do?”

  “I wish it were that simple,” Romi sighed. “Most of the herbs needed only grow in an area where Malis and Aether interact without overwhelming the other. An area like that would be incredibly difficult to find.”

  “Then what am I supposed to do? Just sit around?” Austin’s voice grew more and more frustrated.

  “That’s not what I am saying,” Romi shook her head. “If anything, you’ll need to do the opposite. Back before our planets combined, there was a clan of orcs called the Twilight Fang. They used a combination of Essence and Malis in their search for power. They could very well have applied their methods to an area and transformed it to suit their needs.”

  “Then I just need to find that area and get the required herbs?” Austin asked.

  “In theory, yes. But we cannot be sure where they emerged during the planet fusion,” Romi explained. “And they were always very hostile to the people of our clan.”

  “I’ll just have to deal with that when it comes,” Austin said with conviction. “If there even is a chance, I have to take it.”

  “I figured you would say that,” Romi nodded. “You’ll be in a much weaker state until you are cured. So, you’ll need to bring people with you. I will also need to come so I can create the pill to cure you.”

  “That’s fine,” Austin nodded. “I already have some people in mind.”