Alpha Instinct

Leonard's mind raced, desperately sifting through possibilities, but none seemed good enough to pull them out of this fiery mess. The heat was becoming unbearable, the air thick with smoke.

Kaleb looked equally panicked, uselessly waving his staff as if trying to swat away the flames. All his magic was geared towards making fire, not extinguishing it. He could nudge flames, maybe direct them slightly, but putting out an inferno like this? Not something a second-circle mage could manage.

"Think, Leo, think..." Leonard muttered under his breath. In the background, the high-pitched screams of the burning Gnolls were fading, replaced by the roar of the fire itself. The acrid smell of burnt fur and flesh mingled sickeningly with the stench of charred wood and boiling mud.

An idea sparked. It was risky, incredibly draining, but it might just work. He just needed to clear a path. The biggest danger? He'd be running on fumes if Fleshripper decided to show up.

He turned to Kaleb, grabbing his arm to get his attention. "Kaleb, focus! What are the principles for creating fire magic?" Leonard had a vague idea, but he needed Kaleb's precise understanding.

Kaleb blinked, startled out of his panic. "What? Principles? Now? You serious?" He took a shaky breath. "Well, obviously, you need something to burn—fuel. Something for it to react with—an oxidizer. And something to get it started—heat. Mana's the fuel, usually. The air," he gestured vaguely, "is the oxidizer. And the heat comes from yours truly, smashing the particles together at high speed. Basic elemental theory, Leonard. Try to keep up."

Leonard ignored the sarcasm. "Can you control those elements separately?"

Kaleb looked offended. "Of course! Do you think magic is just waving a stick and shouting nonsense? It's performed in stages, Leonard. Precise stages! It's not like swinging a sword!"

"Okay, okay," Leonard said quickly. "Then pull all the air from the area right in front of us. Gather it. Make a massive fireball. Can you do that?"

Kaleb stared at him, bewildered. "Pull the oxygen? To make another fireball? What good would that do? The air in an open environment is... well, everywhere! It won't put out the fire, Leo!"

"Just do it," Leonard insisted, "but cancel the spell the instant I tell you to, or you'll just make more fire, you blockhead." Despite the urgency, a flicker of a provocative smile touched Leonard's lips.

Kaleb bristled. "I'm not a blockhead," he retorted hotly. "My genius is simply operating on a level currently inaccessible to... limited minds. You wouldn't recognize brilliance if it set your hair on fire!"

"Do it now, Kaleb! We're out of time!" Leonard ordered, his voice was tight.

Just then, a roar, different from Skullcrusher's chilling cry, ripped through the swamp. Heavy, rapid footsteps pounded the earth, closing in fast.

Leonard and Kaleb exchanged a look, eyes wide.

"It's not Skullcrusher," Kaleb said, his mana sense confirming it. "The signature is... less overwhelming, but still powerful..."

"Fleshripper!" Leonard completed, a grim satisfaction mixing with the urgency. "He finally showed up."

"Looks like it..." Kaleb replied, his voice trembling slightly again.

"Alright, listen up," Leonard said quickly. "As soon as we execute the plan, I'm going straight for him. No rest, Kaleb. It'll be too much for my body to handle two stages!"

Kaleb nodded grimly and began the task Leonard had set. He spun his staff with impressive speed above his head, his lips moving in a rapid, whispered chant.

"Gather, breath of air, heed the pull, ignite the core!"

Leonard watched, fascinated despite the danger. He had never actually seen a mage recite before. What the hell is he doing? Reciting wasn't strictly necessary for casting, but it served as a focus point, a mnemonic anchor for a specific step of a complex spell, helping to concentrate mana precisely without having to focus on the entire execution sequence at once.

Strong winds suddenly whipped around them, rushing towards Kaleb's spinning staff, not away from it. It felt like a localized whirlwind, sucking the air, including the strength from Leonard's own lungs. He found it difficult to breathe, the air thinning rapidly. He noticed the flames directly in front of them flickering, diminishing, starved of oxygen.

The heavy footsteps were closer now, accompanied by furious, guttural screams.

"Now..." Leonard thought, focusing his ELEV, pushing it to its absolute limit. He activated his Battle Aura, electric blue sparks crackling around him with maximum intensity.

He glanced at Kaleb, ready to give the signal to cancel, and discovered something strange. Kaleb wasn't looking up; his eyes were tightly shut in concentration. Above Kaleb's head, where the air was being drawn, a massive vortex of fire had formed, spinning wildly around his staff, fed by the very oxygen he was pulling into the surrounding inferno.

"Kaleb! Look up, you clumsy mage!" Leonard yelled, alerting his friend.

Kaleb opened his eyes, looked up, and his jaw dropped. Then, he burst into uncontrolled laughter. "HAHAHA! See?! I created a new spell! I'll call it... Fire Twisted Serpent!"

The reality was simpler and far more dangerous. To pull the air, Kaleb needed mana. And as he had explained, air plus mana, in the presence of heat, created fire. He hadn't needed friction; the swamp was already burning.

Leonard didn't waste a second debating Kaleb's accidental "Fire Twisted Serpent." Seeing the path forward blocked by raging flames, he made his move. Activating his 'Battle Aura', the blue energy crackling around him, he charged straight into the inferno.

Kaleb's eyes widened in disbelief, his maniacal laughter dying in his throat. "What is that lunatic doing?!"

Inside the wall of fire, the heat was suffocating. Leonard ignored the searing pain, his focus absolute. He drew his swords and unleashed his technique: "Electric B-Twist!"

He spun, an acrobatic whirlwind amidst the flames. The electric whips extending from Smiling and Absolution lashed out violently, not just cutting the air but dispersing the fire. The intense electrical energy seemed to disrupt the flames, pushing them back, extinguishing them in a localized vortex.

He executed the move again. And again. Each twist carved a path through the inferno, a narrow corridor through the raging sea of fire, just wide enough for him and Kaleb to escape.

After the third execution, Leonard landed heavily, stumbling forward. His heart hammered against his ribs, the exertion catching up to him. He glanced back; a clear path, about ten meters long, now cut through the wall of flames behind him. It wouldn't last long, but it was enough.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the far side of the fire, undeterred by the flames licking at its singed fur. Burnt patches marred its hide, but its eyes burned with an intelligent, malevolent fury. Fleshripper. It had simply walked through the inferno, driven by pure rage.

Leonard saw him, and a storm of conflicting emotions crashed within him. Raw, visceral hatred surged, fueled by the memory of Liam's mangled body pinned to that tree. A wave of repulsion followed, disgust at the creature's grotesque form and its cruel intelligence.

But beneath it all, an icy-hot thrill, a dark excitement, began to build.

This was it.

The chance he'd craved, the opportunity to finally settle the score. "Liam," he thought, his grip tightening on his swords until his knuckles turned white, "you'll finally be able to rest in peace."

Leonard took a step forward, ready to engage, but froze. He recognized the pattern, the subtle shift in Fleshripper's stance, the way the Elite Gnoll gripped its massive axe. "The axe throw..."

"Kaleb, look out! Hit that bastard right in the face!" Leonard yelled, pointing towards Fleshripper.

Fleshripper, momentarily caught between the two Neumonds, hesitated, its intelligent eyes flickering between Leonard and the swirling vortex of fire Kaleb was barely controlling. It hefted its axe, preparing its infamous opening move.

Kaleb, hearing Leonard's desperate command and seeing Fleshripper's intent, didn't waste a second. With a grunt of effort, he shifted his focus, redirecting his "new" ability. The churning column of fire above his head tilted, then shot forward like a released serpent, tearing through the distance between them. The sound of the spinning fire changed, morphing from a crackling roar into a dreadful, frightening whistle.

The fire vortex slammed into Fleshripper head-on. The Elite Gnoll, clearly not expecting such a premeditated magical assault before it could even move, was engulfed in the swirling inferno. It roared, a bellow mixed with surprise and agony, thrashing wildly as the superheated air and flames seared its flesh and scorched its already burnt fur. The smell of burning hair intensified, acrid and sharp.

But the agony was brief. With another furious roar, Fleshripper burst free from the dissipating vortex, shaking off the lingering flames. Its armor was blackened, patches of fur completely burned away, revealing raw, red skin beneath. It was hurt, significantly so, but far from incapacitated. The pain only seemed to fuel its rage, pushing it into a battle frenzy.

It ignored Leonard. Its eyes, burning with hatred, fixed solely on Kaleb. It slowly raised a clawed hand, pointing directly at the terrified mage.

"Flesh meat," it rasped, the voice like stones grinding together, horrifyingly intelligent and filled with chilling promise.

Kaleb felt his blood run cold. "...Screwed..." he thought, his mind going completely blank with terror.