Adam Taurus

But then, Adam had been the one to stand between those robots and innocent people, even at risk to himself.

___

If it was Adam, it might questionable as to who would win. Adam's Semblance allowed him to settle things with enormously powerful strikes after a fairly significant charging time, so he'd almost certainly win if he got one off early into the battle—but if it became a battle of attrition, perhaps things would go the other way.

___

"I'm sorry, Adam," I said. "I was just screwing with you a bit, no harm done."

"I hit my head," He said petulantly.

"Poor baby," I said as I healed him with a glance. "Better?"

___

Adam and I made short work of the small fry, pun intended, and then focused on them. It wasn't the leisurely battle of the night before, but we made do—I buffed Adam as much as I was able, healed freely, and wasn't afraid to step in and erase everything in an area when need be.

___

I reached out with an invisible tendril of my Aura, shaping it in a fashion I'd simultaneously never done before and was certain of down to my bones. The tendril pierced Adam's chest like a spear, burying itself deep into his heart, and then power raced down the line like it was a power cord. I saw Adam jerk in place once, drawing back a step, but it made no difference now. Beneath my sight, I could see his heart glowing like a red star inside his chest and each beat sent a pulse of the same color through veins, illuminating them beneath his skin. His eyes became solid orbs of the color in the world I saw and the song that had faded to the background doubled and redoubled into an echoing symphony.

In moments, his MP bar was full and mine had dropped the difference.

___

I smacked Adam's chest with the back of my hand, making him release a grunt of annoyance that caused Ulaan to glance over in turn.

___

Looking back, I checked on Adam to make sure nothing had happened to him, nodded once in satisfaction, and then shifted my attention elsewhere.

___

What was more concerning was what the Leviathan did next, firing a thin—at least, thin relative to its size—stream of black fluid at the surface of the water. On contact, it spread through the water, darkening it like it was an octopus's smokescreen.

But that sure as hell wasn't what it was. As the jet flashed towards the water, I looked it over and analyzed it with my senses, gritting my teeth as I noticed the similarities. I turned on a dime and ran back across its head to get a line of fire, but the jet was moving fast enough that it could have cut through layers of steel as quickly as air. By the time I leapt off its nose and fired a thin line of fire at the attack, quite a bit of it had already reached its target. Adam dodged easily, no doubt sensing the attack coming, and a wall of water rose to defend him from any spray but, though I was glad to see him safe, that wasn't the point of the attack.

___

"Okay," I said. "You might want to stand back for this."

"How far back?" Adam asked.

"Uh…I don't know," I admitted.

"Really, really far back," Adam decided, nodding to himself before jumping off the building and quickly putting some distance between us.

It was probably a wise move, I admitted as I drew up the profile of my newest skill, gathering power as I did.

Agneyastra (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00% MP: 2000

One of the legendary techniques wielded by the Astradhari, it was said to invoke the power of the God of Fire. Used as a skill, it can either empower an existing weapon or create one entirely from Aura—in either case, the effect is the same, releasing an inferno of supernatural flames.

___

None of my friends were truly hurt yet, with Autumn being perfectly fine, Gou being in acceptable parameters for someone who could recover from being flayed alive in a few seconds, and Adam and Raven having only spent their Aura. Granted, that was a concern in and of itself; even without Sahasrara, their Auras were essentially their HP, given that the moment they ran out, they'd be in exceedingly dire straits. Should I use this opportunity to heal them, just in case?