The shadows stab caused the beast to lurch letting out somewhere between a screech and a bark as it collapsed to the ground, insubstantial, becoming translucent mist and floating off. However this still left the myriad of creatures he was now in the middle of as the three earlier chargers had gotten inside his striking range. It seemed that his shadow wouldn't be able to escape from the tri-fold pincer movement without taking damage from at least one of them. How would he respond to the relentless assault?

The shadow knew it was going to probably die here so with the moments it had, the shadow threw the blade with pin point accuracy at the head of one of the oncoming creatures. Joshua released the shadow after the blade was thrown. The blade and the shadow would disappear shortly after the sword would hit whatever was in it's path, hopefully one of the creatures.

"No holding back I suppose..." Joshua thought, he was finally ready for round two.

"Ka Tora No Vaki Nash, Ka Tora No Vaki Nikada Kota" Joshua said in succession, summoning a shadow magician and two shadow morphs. He would not be able to summon a fourth shadow for a little bit and this way he could easily switch from offense to defense if this plan backfires. "Work as a team, take these creatures out. But stop them from reaching me at all costs." Joshua said to his shadows, they nodded in acknowledgment.

Joshua's summons were a great team as they shared similar brain patterns, the mage would attack from the tower as the morphs would keep the creatures busy on the ground. They were fast enough to keep their ground and together they were hopefully smart enough to overcome the numbers.

As the three new creatures came into the playing field the heard of creatures began a new tactic. Transforming into insubstantial mist, they reformed and coalesced transforming into something...new....different....and much MUCH nastier. Soon, the mist had become a giant version of the beasts at least twelve feet tall with a myriad of spikes and blades jutting out of it at various intervals to dissuade anyone from getting too close. It sought to stomp one of the soldiers with a massive hoof, before bending down on the previously stomped leg and pushing off onto its hind legs, seeking to insert its claw/hoof into the window and scoop out the shadow summoner.

Joshua watched as the creatures changed into one much bigger, much more dangerous creature.

"That's interesting..." Joshua thought as it's new form attacked one of his morphs then promptly stood up and attacked him. Joshua wouldn't have had time to react but luckily his shadow mage was defending him.

"Toraga" Said the shadow mage, creating a shadow barricade between the creature and Joshua.

Joshua moved from where he was for safety. He wasn't sure what this new thing was capable of.

Down on the ground, the shadow morph dodged the stomp and both of them moved onto the offensive. They changed into cat-like creatures and started to climb the much larger creature.

"Let's see what this thing is made of." Joshua thought as his shadows continued to climb towards it's head at a rapid pace. Had they the time to reach that far they would attempt to pierce it's head by changing their arms into blades. The mage was also ready to attack.

The creatures claw was blocked by the shadow mage. But it would not hold for long as the creature continued to stab at the barrier, causing it to crack slightly. The beings which charged up at it would find it difficult as the blades across its body extended and sought to pierce them. Had they been unfortunate enough to be impaled, they would find themselves slowly drained of their magic, their essence joining the massive creature.

At least one of the creatures would make it to the creatures head and its claw would pierce into the mist like essence. However the penetration would not be enough as more spikes would jut out from the wound and seek to destroy the summon. The creature would shake itself vigorously seeking to dislodge its enemies before once again reaching into the tower...which seemed to have begun....tilting.

One of the morphs was killed and absorbed by the massive creature, the other one reached the head and pierced it's head. When something came from the wound it jumped from the head and rolled on the ground.

Joshua released the shadow morph as he felt the tower tilt. "Well... I guess it's time to leave this damned tower. Maybe I shouldn't have trusted that mage so much..." Joshua thought as he headed to the exit. He left the shadow mage to combat the beast as he made for his escape.

The shadow mage began casting offensive attacks, aiming at various points on the creature's body. It kept saying "Nori", a basic shadow ball was shot at the creature. They had a minor explosive effect every time they hit.

Joshua was about ready to leave but as he walked out the door he said "Ka Tora No Vaki Insara." He was sure that he would have to defend against the creatures attacks.

The blasts collided with the creatures head forcing it back. It pawed the ground as it charged the building its horns set to collide with it and uproot the structure. The ground beneath was torn by its charge and the tower ripped from its foundation. The creatures horns embedded themselves in the structure bucking it up...and it was stuck. The creature stood just as angry and vehement as before but now it seemed that it was carrying the tower on to of its head.

The beast shook it for a moment before its blades extended into the tower seeking to absorb it into its already massive being. It seemed to grow slightly larger still the more that it drained. But had Lyon on his shadow sphere managed to get out of the tower in time? Or would they find themselves stuck behind the door inside the uprooted tower as a myriad of blades swept into it, draining the magic of the place, forcing it do dissolve?

Joshua barely escaped the building just before it was smashed into. He ran a few meters away to stay clear of the wreckage.

"This just keeps getting better and better..." Joshua thought sarcastically. (Yes, you can have sarcastic thoughts)

His shadow mage was killed and absorbed by the beast.

"Now the problem is that thing can absorb my summons, so my defense won't last long if at all against him. I guess that means defense isn't much of an option but it will have to do for a short time." Joshua's thoughts raced to think of some way to kill this think but he was coming up short on ideas. His defense won't last long, he needed a little more time before he could use his summons, the beast kept getting stronger and stronger with everything it absorbed. Time seemed to be running short so he would have to think of something.

"I haven't actually tried this before but... it will have to work..." Joshua thought, as he finally came up with an option.

"Ka Tora No Vaki Insara" Joshua said. With his swarm already out the amount of the swarm that there was nearly doubled. This would drain his energy at a rapid pace but what he had planned wouldn't require much time.

He figured the beast would hear him, he also knew that this was his last hope. Had this failed he would probably die, and yet he stood there waiting for the right time to act.

The beast wasted no time in its absorption of the tower and soon doubled in size as a result. The creatures head turned to see the small being who had so much power left in it still. A fitting meal for them as they charged it one final time seeking to trample gore or swallow the shadow summoner. The young mans fate would be decided by his next course of action.

"Just as I planned." Joshua thought as the creature charged at him.

The swarm was the key to this plan and in moments the beast would be quite surprised of what was soon to be in store for it. The swarm could sense the beast entirely because of it absorbing the other shadow creatures earlier making timing much less of an issue. Joshua did not have to command the swarm as they already knew what the plan was and in a sense had a mind of their own. The beast was now 10 meters away and the swarm moved to not only stop the beast but to overtake it's enormous being, or at least most of it. The swarm moved Joshua fluidly out of the path of the beast. At this point the momentum of the creature in conjunction with it's size would work to the swarms advantage. Though the range of the swarm was limited what it could reach when the beast was by Joshua the swarm latched onto the arm and started to shake so violently they were burrowing into it's skin. This was only half the swarm that latched on and dug into the beast. As they dug they were deteriorating the beast's entire arm. The rest of the swarm actually moved Joshua along with the beast so he stayed in range of the rest of his swarm. It would only be a mere two seconds until the swarm could completely destroy the arm and move onto the main part of the beast's body. There would be nothing the beast would be able to do as the swarm slowly broke down, multiplied, and consumed it.

This plan was good but it was also heavily draining on Joshua. The great thing about it was that half the swarm destroyed the beast while the other half could actively move and protect Joshua from any outside threat.

The beasts spikes couldn't defend against the swarm. As its leg was devoured the beast sought to escape thrashing about and around, rolling against the ground to squash the myriad of unfamiliar insects devouring its essence. As it bucked and ran around the plains it at last reached the conclusion that it needed to give up on this prey. Far too dangerous for its consumption with those things around it. The beast sought to dissipate into mist and flee, but would Joshua allow the beast to escape or would he persue it and have his swarms devour the mist itself?

Joshua watched as the beast was freaking out. He knew that had he continued letting his swarm devour it that he would kill it. It was at the point that it started to turn to mist and try and escape that he decided that he would let it retreat. Though if he were to encounter the creature again he would not be so merciful the next time.

"I suppose I will allow you to leave... for now." Joshua thought as he let the beast turn to mist and disappear.

The night was almost over and Joshua had slept very little. His energy was severely drained so he would need to find a better suited place to rest. He would wait till the light would break the darkness of night before he released his entire swarm but for now he released half of it to conserve energy. After releasing half the swarm he layed down to relax and wait. There would only be a few minutes of darkness so until the light broke he layed motionless on the ground.

"Time to relax I suppose..." Joshua thought as he stared into the sky as it would soon turn to dawn. His swarm still defensive as to ensure that nothing would come near him in this state of exhaustion.

"You don't often see shadow mages with mercy" a voice echoed a distance away from him. His voice easily carrying across the open ground and directly to the resting mans ears. The sky began to light up gently, chasing away the night, leaving the figure from before writhed in the incoming dawn.

Joshua had only been laying down for a short amount of time when he heard the voice. He took a few moments before replying to the man who now stood before him.

"It's good to know you're shadow tower was so safe from the creatures of the night." Joshua replied, his exhaustion was apparent.

He continued to lay on the ground but seeing the sun light he released his shadow swarm.

"I appologize for my failings to protect you" he nodded. "However it seems I misjudged you as someone the beasts of the plains would not want to devour. This was also my mistake. And I fear that unless you let go of your power, or become much stronger, you will most certainly be attacked by such creatures again."

Joshua continued to lay on the ground as the conversation progressed though he was still curious as to who this person is.

"You did not fail to protect me. You provided shelter for long enough for me to collect myself and fend off the beast. In no way were you obligated to help me either and I thank you for warning me of what might come during the night." Joshua said, grateful and relaxed. His eyes were now closed though he had no plan of sleeping. "I thank you for that much." Joshua sensed that the man thought it his fault for bringing the dangers upon him or something to that regard. "Though I ask, why do you seek to isolate yourself from others?"

Joshua figured that based off the location of his home, the way he first reacted to Joshua's presence and that he would not allow Joshua to accompany him back to his house that the man sought isolation. Though he did not expect a direct answer, but either a dodging question or completely ignoring it as people would normally do.

He sighed before speaking again. "Tell me...have you ever heard of the thing called the "paradox of power"...The truth is, it's exemplified in virtually all of those comic books little boys inn japan like so much. A person faces a problem, perhaps a monster, or another person, or maybe even a natural disaster. And while there are others there, they experience the sensation that what has happened or is about to happen is a deep personal failure. They think, "If only I was stronger then I could have stopped this"."

He drew closer to the prone man as he continued to speak "Thus the person works as hard as they can using whatever methods they can find, and usually, they succeed and become stronger than they were before. Assuming they don't die when they face the problem again, they will succeed. But the entirety of life is conflict. So it will naturally follow that they face another challenge. And if they don't die from it, and are unable to overcome it the first time, they will seek to become stronger."

Mortimer now stood almost directly over the man casting his shadow on him. "They will keep fighting, and keep training to become stronger. Thus the cycle never ends. Continually beset by new challenges becoming stronger and stronger for no other reason than to face a new enemy. THe cycle is endless and the irony of it all is that despite being as strong as they are, people still find themselves inadequate to the task they seek to face."

He gave another heavy sigh "To my knowledge there are only two escapes from this vicious cycle. The first is to die while facing one of the myriad of challenges along this road. The second...is to walk away. Now which path do you think I took to escape from this?"

Without opening his eyes he knew the man stood close to him. He thought for a few seconds then replied.

"The problem conflict brings is not just about getting stronger to overcome that problem. It is what one decides to do with that power after they have obtained and overcome what they had to face." Joshua said, opening his eyes and looking the man in the eyes. "Power is not about absolutes and one does not always succeed when faced with a problem. Some times walking away is the answer but to just walk away because you are afraid of more power is ridiculous. Power is obtained through experience and to avoid that means you are escaping the inevitable."

Joshua was not sure why he said these things but it seemed to just come to him as he spoke. Joshua stood up and continued to look at the man.

"Maybe you aren't afraid of power, maybe you are afraid at what you might do or already have done with it." Joshua was only standing a couple feet from the him.

"Since I discovered power, I have never been afraid to act. And what you speak of is wisdom. Wisdom may come from age, but power must be bought with blood and sweat. I have never once regretted doing something. Whether this stems from having power or the reason I obtained so much I do not know. What I am sure of is that the only things I truly regret are when I wasn't able to do something.

Power may be an oversimplification of it, but the point stands that had I been better than I was, I could have accomplished those things I regret. Take my warning now. Power is a thing best left avoided. Be content with the way you are and someone else will embark on this foolish path in your stead. Be content with yourself and what little you have and the magnitude of your failings will be decreased, as there would have truly been nothing more you could do." He began walking away from the prone young man hoping he had dissuaded him from the path which had only brought him ruin.

Joshua wasn't sure what to say. Nothing Joshua said seemed to get through to him, maybe there was no reason to continue talking to him.

"Well, perhaps it is time I go then. You seem to be locked in you're own world." Joshua said as he watched the man walk away. "I seek not power but the knowledge to guide me to where I need to be." Joshua muttered to himself for no apparent reason.

He turned around and started to walk away. This conversation seemed over and even though there was more Joshua could say it seemed pointless to argue with this person.

"As much as I would like to see what he is capable of he seems so afraid of his power that it seems pointless to follow him." Joshua thought as he continued to walk away.

[end?]

[Sure]

Rewards:

Lyon: 3 SP, 3 MP and 420,000 Drachma
Alberio: 3 SP, 3 MP and 420,000 Drachma