Chapter 24

            Xund smiled.
            "Sounds like fun."
            Arestasia and Lupin were amazed.
            "He...just might be stronger than me..." Arestasia said.
            "I doubt it." Lupin replied.
            Arestasia look at him in confusion as he smiled, still looking at Dawnni.
            "What do you mean?"
            "He's only good at what he does. And that is to heal and to protect who he loves. That is his sworn duty as a healing magic user."
            "So what you're saying is, there's more to him than what was trained?"
            Lupin nodded.
            "He learned to love what he does and he would never forgive us or himself if we were to get hurt. The only way for us to actually die...is for him to die before us. You also have to keep in mind that light spells are nowhere near as strong as other magic spells when it comes to offense, so he has to push himself to incredible limits just to match our normal offensive power. He depends on us, just as much as we depend on him."
            Arestasia giggled.
            "'Destroy his surroundings,' huh?" Arestasia thought.
            "You can do it Dawn!" Lupin yelled.
            "Let's go!" Xund yelled.
            Xund flew towards Dawnni at a fast speed. He spread his paws outward and metal pierced from his skin and surrounded them before taking the shape of giant claws. Dawnni closed his eyes.
            "Respaltia's Gift..."
            Xund reached Dawnni and was about to slash downward with both claws, but he swiftly blocked his attack with his dagger.
            "...Seraphic Mimicry..."
            As Xund forcefully pushed down on Dawnni's blade, a doppelganger made of pure light came out of his body. The doppelganger then grabbed the scythe.
            "...Cherubic Innocence..."
            The dagger blade shined brightly and released strings of light that grasped onto Xund's claws and quickly extended before wrapping his entire body.
            "What is this?!" He yelled as he struggled to get out of the binding strings.
            Dawnni still had his eyes closed.
            "...Scattered Spirits..."
            The doppelganger split into three more that surrounded Xund, all holding a scythe. Dawnni knelt down.
            "Holy Sacrifice!" The doppelgangers spun around with their scythes before swinging them simultaneously at Xund. All four blades met at Xund's neck and suddenly stopped. Dawnni stood up and opened his eyes. Xund began to laugh.
            "Wow, that was some good work you did there!"
            Dawnni's eye grew wide as he noticed that the blades didn't even scratch Xund's neck.
            "Don't be surprised. You should know that we can't die. If you did this to anyone else, they would have been finished."
            The doppelgangers kept their position as they slowly faded away along with the strings and weapons. Xund's claws slowly seeped back into his skin.
            "I don't understand," Dawnni stated, "When I struck you with the hilt of blade, it seemed like it damaged you, but my scythe blades didn't even scratch you."
            "Our bodies get covered in a tiny indestructible veil of magic when the next strike is deemed fatal. It then instantly heals our wounds in a matter of seconds."
            "I see."
            "Here, Dawnni."
            Xund handed him a shiny silver ring.
            "That's the second piece of the device. You better make it back alive. I want to fight you again!"
            Dawnni smirked as he put on the ring. The ring fit perfectly.
            "You bet."
            Xund placed his paws on the ground and the cave wall suddenly began to collapse, revealing a passageway. A deep red tint flickered from inside.
            "Inside there is where the last piece is. He's the strongest of all of us, so be ready." Xund explained.
            The team nodded and proceeded towards the passageway. The ground seemed to go downward slowly. The team could see the other end, but couldn't make out the red light shining inside. As the team got closer, they had realized that it was a ring of magma around a giant rock island. The ring was surrounded by a flat rock surface that stood higher than the magma and the island.
            "Whoa..." Dawnni said.
            "Hey, look at that." Arestasia said as she pointed towards a black figure sitting on the island. It had a helmet that covered its face. It had spikes that slightly curved downward on the back. It wore a black leather vest with a black shirt, with black pants, boots, and gloves. It's entire attire made it a silhouette all on its own. The team couldn't figure out if it was a human being or not.
            "I've been waiting for you." It said as it slowly got up.
            The voice boomed and echoed inside the cave. Judging from the voice, the team had concluded that it was a male. The eye sockets of the helmet had glowed a bright white.
            "The name's Todi. You and I both know how this goes, I fight someone, if they win they get the last piece and if I win, they die. So who's skull am I cracking?"
            Lupin walked towards the edge of the flat surface surrounding the magma with full confidence.
            "Hey, I'm Lupin," he said with a small wave, "I heard you're the strongest of the team."
            "I guess you could say that in a way..."
            Todi pulled out a machine gun that was strapped on his back. It was shaped like most machine guns created in Visthalin except Todi's was designed to be held on one hand as if it was a pistol. Guns were pretty rare in Visthalin; the team was caught off guard.
            "Well let's have some fun shall we?"
            Lupin drew his sword before jumping onto the island.