“Dark Arrow!” Ivory cast her spell, projecting it towards Gizli. 

 

The cackling Occultist giggled as she brought a wall of darkness up around her, easily repelling the magic. Gizli sent forth a howling wind of darkness, knocking Ivory off her feet.

 

“A Heretic can only borrow power from the Great Basilisk. However, an Occultist embraces the Primordial in order to increase their powers even further,” Gizli detailed. “Without it, you will never defeat me. And without defeating me, you will never learn the forbidden knowledge that I possess. And without that knowledge, you will forever remain as you are. A pathetic little girl.”

 

Ivory began to fume, her eyes piercing like daggers and her face turning as red as the sky above them. A dark mist began to form around her as her anger boiled inside her. 

 

“Pathetic...huh?” Ivory asked. 

 

Suddenly Ivory began to launch several more spells at her master. Instead of just a single Dark Arrow, a barrage of them headed towards Gizli.

 

The Occultist class master smiled and lifted herself higher into the air. Her speed quickened as the arrows kept up with her pace. The cackling continued as she flew through the sky. Gizli turned to face the arrows while she hovered high above the ground. She began launching a few spells of her own, each of them colliding with an arrow. 

 

Ivory continued to launch spell after spell, sending a multitude of Dark Arrows at Gizli. However, none of them would land their mark as Gizli outran them all. The Occultist’s own spells served to deflect the arrows as she summoned waves of dark essence to repel the attacks. A flowing mass of purple aura waved through the air as it shot out in a horizontal manner. The wave effortlessly dispelled every Dark Arrow in its path.  

 

Ivory collapsed as her futile attempts only served to quickly drain her of mana. Her eyes widened with surprise as if she weren’t expecting it.

 

“Ahahahaha! Look at you!” Gizli hovered over next to her. “Your emotions are so out of control that you’re just attacking wildly without putting any thought into it at all. Like I said, you’re pathetic!”

 

“I’m not pathetic!” Ivory snapped back. “Black Orb!”

 

A swelling mass of darkness appeared before Ivory. She shot the spell towards Gizli, hoping that the short range would prevent the old master from dodging it. However, just as the spell flew by, Gizli disappeared into a dark portal. She reappeared on the other side of Ivory as she came bursting out of another portal. One of Gizli’s legs began to glow with a dark aura as it came flying through the air. Gizli landed a direct kick along Ivory’s backside, sending her flying across the ground.

 

Ivory slowly lifted herself, scraped and bruised from the hard rocky surface. “What in the hells was that?”

 

“You didn’t think Occultist’s only relied on their magic did you?” Gizli snickered. “My dear, we can be proficient in martial combat as well. You didn’t actually think that rapier served only as a conduit, did you?”

 

“Well…yeah,” Ivory replied. “It hasn’t done much else for me since my enemies usually can’t get close enough to me.”

 

Gizli smiled wide and began to laugh loudly. “Silly girl, you cannot fool me. I’ve seen all your battles and quite a few of them had your enemy within reach of your blade. Had you had access to the abilities that I can teach you, you would have stood a better chance against that paltry demon…”

 

“What?!” Ivory recoiled in shock. “How did you know about that?”

 

“I can see deep into your mind, Ivory,” Gizli explained. “Ever since you first stepped into my region, I was able to pierce deep into the depths of your memories. I gazed upon your darkest secrets and made myself known to them. I have seen everything, Ivory. There is nothing you can hide from me.”

 

“You crazy old bat! You’ll pay for that!” Ivory cried out. “Darkness!”

 

A black shroud of fog began to cover Gizli, wrapping around her like a dark abyss. 

 

“Don’t even think that I’m finished yet!” Ivory lifted her tome above her while she twirled her rapier in the air. “Doom Particles!”

 

While the Occultist stood amongst the toxic fog, tiny black orbs began to swarm around her. Suddenly she was surrounded by a dark misty fog and several dozen black orbs waiting to combust upon impact.

 

Gizli smiled back at Ivory as the adventurer closed her hand, forming a fist. When she did, the tiny black orbs began to ignite in place, causing them to explode with dark energy. A flurry of smoke and black flame lit up the area.

 

“Let’s see you survive that!” Ivory looked around, searching for a portal incase Gizli tried to escape with one. 

 

Ivory hadn’t noticed one pop up so she could only assume that Gizli had been stuck in the blast. She faced the cloud of smoke and fog and waited for it to dissipate. When the mess had cleared, Gizli was left hovering in place with a dark aura surrounding her entire body.

 

“How many more times must I show you, child?” Gizli taunted her. “You don’t stand a chance against me. Your spells are elementary in comparison to mine. You cannot begin to fathom the power you attempt to control.”

 

Gizli began to hover towards Ivory as the adventurer was frozen with fear, seemingly unable to move from her position.

 

“Where you merely call upon the darkness for aid, I can summon it at will.” Gizli’s eyes suddenly displayed a purple tone as they began to glow. “You seek to control that which you do not understand. Such foolish behavior would only lead to your downfall.”

 

“You’re only better than me because of your knowledge of spells!” Ivory claimed. “Teach me what you know and I will defeat you…”

 

“Ahahahaha!” Gizli cackled. “With the knowledge that I possess, someone like you would only be consumed by the darkness. You think you would be able to harness its power but nay!”

 

Gizli approached Ivory and began to shake her head at the adventurer. She lifted a finger and touched Ivory on the head. As she did, Ivory blinked and a sense of dread came over her. All around her, the environment turned black and void. The ground below her faded away and was replaced with a deep abyss. Only Gizli remained before Ivory.

 

Ivory looked around in horror as a gigantic creature began to appear from below them. 

 

“Take a look child and tell me what do you see?” Gizli stared down with amusement as she smiled brightly. “What do your eyes look upon?”

 

“What is that thing?!” Ivory shuddered with terror. 

 

A great and mighty beast arose. Its head appeared to be reptilian with a long mouth attached to a large wide jaw. The body was even more impressive in size and it stretched out into a long tail. There were no limbs to speak of and it was wrapped in some sort of armored skin that was black and scaly. The beast opened its mouth wide, revealing a terrifying display of teeth. Several thousand teeth, each the size of a person, were aligned in multiple rows.

 

“You should know!” Gizli claimed. “You’re looking upon the sight of the very being you wish to siphon power from!”

 

“This is the Great Basilisk?!” Ivory watched as the beast soared around them while it closed its large gaping mouth.

 

“Indeed it is,” Gizli answered. “This is the Primordial being of the occult element. The source of all occult magic originates from it.”

 

“When I look upon this beast, I do not wish to serve such a thing,” Ivory muttered. “How can someone bow to such a horrid creature?”

 

“And that is why someone like you can never be worthy of the knowledge that I possess.” Gizli turned to Ivory and raised the palm of her hand out towards the adventurer. “Now I shall add you to my collection of souls!”

 

Ivory yelped as a dark essence began to be siphoned from her. “What is this?!”

 

“This is me taking your very soul from your body!” An evil grin crept upon Gizli’s face. “Ahahahahaha!” 

 

“Noooo!” Ivory cried out. 

 

Desperate and out of options, Ivory lifted her tome in an attempt to cast a spell. When the tome came between her and Gizli, it collided with the path of the siphoning. When Gizli’s magic met with the tome, a great burst of light shot forth in a nova. 

 

Ivory went tumbling backwards onto the ground below as the dark void that had surrounded her disappeared. The environment around her had returned to normal and she could move once again. 

 

“What power is this?” Gizli questioned. 

 

Ivory looked up at the old master as she appeared dazed and confused. Even if for a brief moment, it was enough time for Ivory to make a move. However, it was not a spell she had planned for the Occultist. Instead, Ivory would utilize that moment to make an escape. She lifted herself from the ground and called her tome back to her. With it returned to her, Ivory took off in a sprint.

 

Gizli regained her composure and turned towards the fleeing adventurer. She began to cackle again as her hands glowed with a dark purple aura. Gizli lifted her hands high and shot forth two projectiles towards Ivory.

 

The adventurer turned just in time and forced her tome to come between her and the black swirling orbs that raced towards her. The tome shot forth another nova of light as the spells struck it. A translucent, shield-like crest appeared in the air around the tome as each one struck it. 

 

Suddenly, as the sky above began to darken and fill with clouds, a vision of Gizli appeared in the sky before Ivory. Only the shape of her head hovered in an enlarged but transparent form. At first it had hindered Ivory from continuing but after noticing it was just an image, she kept on sprinting. 

 

“Run! Run as fast as you can, little Ivory!” Gizli mocked her. “Never return to these lands again! You are unworthy of bearing the occult arts. If you shall ever return then your soul will be mine!”

 

Tears began to form in Ivory’s eyes as she continued to flee from the cackling image in the sky. Her path carried her farther west, deeper into the lands of Qeshor. Though she knew continuing in that direction would only serve to plunge her deeper into danger, Ivory desperately wanted to escape Gizli’s region as quickly as possible. Faster and faster she ran into the dark unknown. 

 

The frightening image of Gizli disappeared from the sky as Ivory began to depart from her territory. Ivory struggled to breath so she quickly found a rocky formation to rest upon. Though there were a few dead trees in the area she could have used, the reminders of her past experience made Ivory think twice about it. 

 

Ivory lowered herself to the ground, slowly sliding her back against the rocky surface. She placed herself firmly on the ground below and looked up at the sky above her. The sun had begun to set and the sky revealed a beautiful display of colors as it had returned to normal. However, as gorgeous of a sight as it was, it began to fade away.

 

Ivory looked down to see a black pool had formed around her and was slowly pulling her down into it. “Oh no! Leave me be, Gizli!”

 

Ivory reached her hand out towards the rocky ground in an effort to pull herself out. However, such an attempt remained futile as the darkness took hold of her and pulled her down within. Slowly but surely, Ivory was taken into the abyss.