Eridanus raised a brow when Matthew refused to yield. It seemed that humans tended to confuse emotions and logic in the midst of panic, and tend to take the less beneficial decision. Still, it put him in a corner, for it was clearly a hostage situation.
Wordlessly, he tapped into the djed in his body. Bringing the flow of arcane energy to his mind, he brought the desperate youth's aura into view. Like a window being opened figuratively, his view of the physical world became blurred at the edges. His mind focused solely on the kid, and he began to see his features in greater detail. Every twitch of the muscle, every bead of sweat, every frantic eye movement.
Then his aura came into view. It was a typical aura of a non-magic practitioner, large enough to show that it belonged to a sentient being but too small to wield any magic effectively without training. The aura was a dark blue mist, though he could see the disturbance in it. The ripple of waves as if there was a sort of stormy weather. The rolling of the various textures and layers of the aura-mist that showed his desperation.
Eridanus could tell. Despite his thuggish personality, he could never really bring himself to kill a helpless woman with his own hands. Perhaps in the heat of the moment, he could have gone too far in beating someone and accidentally kill his victim. Perhaps he could have stood by while his thugs whacked someone to death. But in this one-on-one moment, he could not slit the throat of fellow citizen with his own hands, at his own time.
The ethaefal read that much from his aura, and with that information he shut down his flow of djed.
"What are you doing? Don't come any nearer!" Matthew screamed, waving his knife around carelessly.
Eridanus just stood there, waiting and watching. When he noticed the relevant body language he needed - information he picked up via observation and aura-reading - he willed the two balls of res in his hands to begin transmutation.
"Do you think I care if she dies? Both of you shall burn, then," Eridanus replied coldly, a cruel smirk on his face.
There was a crackle, and flames burst alive in the two spheres. Simultaneously, he threw his palms forward as if he was going to hurl the flames at them. With a hysterical scream, the boy flung himself away, trying to get as far from Eridanus as he could while throwing Nira'lia towards the ethaefal so that she could shield him from the fireballs.
However, the spell was not thrown. Eridanus had simply released his focus on the res, and the gaseous white substance dissipated without the proper mental energy to sustain it. His arms remained outstretched, and he grabbed the konti as she was thrown towards him, helping her stand properly.
It was an act, and it succeeded.
"You... you!" Matthew yelled angrily, realizing that he had been conned.
"You okay?" Eridanus asked his friend, before turning his sombre gaze on the young punk.
"Well well well. What shall we do with this kid?"
Wordlessly, he tapped into the djed in his body. Bringing the flow of arcane energy to his mind, he brought the desperate youth's aura into view. Like a window being opened figuratively, his view of the physical world became blurred at the edges. His mind focused solely on the kid, and he began to see his features in greater detail. Every twitch of the muscle, every bead of sweat, every frantic eye movement.
Then his aura came into view. It was a typical aura of a non-magic practitioner, large enough to show that it belonged to a sentient being but too small to wield any magic effectively without training. The aura was a dark blue mist, though he could see the disturbance in it. The ripple of waves as if there was a sort of stormy weather. The rolling of the various textures and layers of the aura-mist that showed his desperation.
Eridanus could tell. Despite his thuggish personality, he could never really bring himself to kill a helpless woman with his own hands. Perhaps in the heat of the moment, he could have gone too far in beating someone and accidentally kill his victim. Perhaps he could have stood by while his thugs whacked someone to death. But in this one-on-one moment, he could not slit the throat of fellow citizen with his own hands, at his own time.
The ethaefal read that much from his aura, and with that information he shut down his flow of djed.
"What are you doing? Don't come any nearer!" Matthew screamed, waving his knife around carelessly.
Eridanus just stood there, waiting and watching. When he noticed the relevant body language he needed - information he picked up via observation and aura-reading - he willed the two balls of res in his hands to begin transmutation.
"Do you think I care if she dies? Both of you shall burn, then," Eridanus replied coldly, a cruel smirk on his face.
There was a crackle, and flames burst alive in the two spheres. Simultaneously, he threw his palms forward as if he was going to hurl the flames at them. With a hysterical scream, the boy flung himself away, trying to get as far from Eridanus as he could while throwing Nira'lia towards the ethaefal so that she could shield him from the fireballs.
However, the spell was not thrown. Eridanus had simply released his focus on the res, and the gaseous white substance dissipated without the proper mental energy to sustain it. His arms remained outstretched, and he grabbed the konti as she was thrown towards him, helping her stand properly.
It was an act, and it succeeded.
"You... you!" Matthew yelled angrily, realizing that he had been conned.
"You okay?" Eridanus asked his friend, before turning his sombre gaze on the young punk.
"Well well well. What shall we do with this kid?"
