"Now that you mention it... It really does seem too easy." Serena says.
"Stay on guard." Iskandor warns, knocking the elf out.
The 4 of them (plus hostage) cautiously make their way out, only to see Lar tied to the tree she once hid behind.
"Don't rush off, it's obviously a trap." Roku warns.
"I can see that." Iskandor replies, shooting his crossbow into the trees above. "Huh, either the enemy isn't in the trees or left the best spot in the trees to hide open in case someone like this would happen."
"Or you missed." Roku replies with a deadpan expression.
The bolt comes back down, now with a note tied to it. Iskandor carefully picks it up and unrolls the note.
"Either we kill the girl or you join us." Iskandor reads aloud. "Not like that's gonna happen."
'Jarvis, I got points for an element, can I purchase time?'
*No, you can only purchase the conceptual elements after the primary elements and the special elements.*
'Then get dark.'
After this mental exchange Iskandor wills the shadow cast by Lar to turn into a blade and cut the ropes. "Anyone who dares to harm those I care about or anything they care for will recieve my wrath!"
As he finishes the threat a giant magic circle appears, Iskandor recognizes runes for fire, earth, chaos and death.
"SHIT, EVERYONE RUN! OUR FUCKING LIVES DEPEND ON IT!" He yells, but stays behind trying to break the magic circle.
Everyone else bolts, somehow not noticing Iskandor stayed behind, they realize that they won't get far enough away to survive the blast.
Iskandor realizes that he can't break the magic circle so he tries interfering with it, making it unusable and creating a backlash that would kill the caster. He has more luck doing this as he can use the magic crystals he grabbed earlier to not only increase the backlash but also screw the spell up even more. The spell becomes fully charged, but luckily Iskandor did enough damage to the structure that the spell fails and rebounds the mana back into the host violently without reverting back to nuetral mana. Not far from here a robed man melts into magma while dying a very painful death as spell rebound.
"That was cutting it a little too close." Iskandor exclaims while falling over.
BOOM
The cave collapses, likely due to a magic circle that ignites after the death of the caster. Luckily the explosion wasn't strong enough to harm anyone nearby.
"Now that I kinda expected..." Iskandor says.
"Thanks for saving me." Roku says, stting down near Iskandor.
"It was nothing, I was just doing what any guy worth something should have done: help those he cares about. In this case Hikari." Iskandor replies.
"Don't get any funny ideas, it's forbidden in our clan to have romantic affairs before 300, especially outside of the clan." Roku scolds.
"Wouldn't that lead to incest?" Iskandor asks.
"Well... That could explain great uncle Stan..." Roku mutters.
"Anyways, on the hypothetical Hikari falls for someone outside the clan and feels she's ready I will respect her decision and back it up, even if we become enemies. Afterall love isn't something everyone gets to experience, especially with arranged marriages and such. I'll summarize a story I read to give an example of the heart wanting what it wants." Iskandor says, and summarizes Romeo and Juliet.
"It goes against the clan but makes sense, however, honor is more important than any relations one may have." Roku claims.
"Hikari, do you agree with that?" Iskandor asks.
"No, I don't remember the clan or anything, and I want to forge my own path now. I'm sorry but I don't think I want to go back." Hikari exclaims.
"Amnesia! That alone is enough to permit me bringing you back by force." Roku says, shocked.
"If you even think about it I will cut your tails off." Iskandor warns, aware that the tails of a kitsune are a source of pride in a sense, and important to their culture.
"You are lucky I owe you a life dept, otherwise I would have to kill you for making that threat." Roku replies bitterly.
"Honour and prestige, blah blah blah. What is truly important is how one chooses to live their life and how the influence the lives of those around them." Iskandor explains. " A wise man was once asked 'What is the meaning of life?' The wise man replied 'Life has no meaning until you give it one.' Meaning you make your own path, you forge your own destiny."
"But that goes against everything we know!" Roku protests.
"Many revolutionary ideas do. We only make progress when we discover something that turns what we know on its head. Many believed Terra was flat until someone proved otherwise." Iskandor says.
"Impossible, Terra IS flat!" Roku exclaims.
"Actually, it's the opposite, Terra can't be flat if it produces this much gravity, it would become a sphere, although it may be imperfect is still is a sphere." Iskandor continues.
"If Terra is flat why doesn't water fall off? Why can everyone stay on it wherever they are?" Roku asks.
"Gravity pulls us to the center of the planet, not some universal down. Gravity explains many things, why the moons circle Terra and why we circle the Sun. It explains why what comes up must come down, it explains many things." Iskandor elaborates. "It seems your clan either withheld knowledge or didn't have it."
These sudden revelations seem to be too much for Roku as he starts rocking himself muttering, "All I've been told are lies. What is real and what isn't real? Who is right, my clan or this man who seems to know everything."
"I think you broke him..." Lar says as Hikari rushes to comfort him.
"Perhaps I took it a little too far, but at least I planted a seed of doubt in his mind, I hate when clans essentially brainwash their members and give them the illusion of free will. Even if that isn't exactly what happened." Iskandor explains.
"Harsh but effective." Lar agrees.
"Well, let's interrogate the elf before we head home." Iskandor says.