[Jaykobell]

This place was like a sanctuary to him. Once home to a most beautiful cathedral, it was only natural to feel a strong connection to Xai're here. Basantha had long lost its charms, and so, he remained here, in Lya Pointa, to dwell on his past and on the revenge he wished to execute against the angel who had prematurely executed him.

Today, he was at the Cathedral for a completely different reason.



The ghostly Frightmare was keeping a close eye on the Cathedral, waiting for the arrival of two particular individuals. The gentle deities were fools to believe that he and Xilat'l couldn't peek into their divine conversations with those who sought power. Ithina was a fool, lead by the pure, naive teachings of Yepha, believing in the misconceptions that powers can only be used for good deeds. The truth was that the world was far from being as heavenly as the Vaults themselves, and Taxat knew this better than anyone. As a roaming spirit, he knew of such 'misfortunes', as Ithina had described them; he knew of them, present every day, for everyone, on this sad, miserable human plane.

If those two peculiar characters from another world — Bentner and Morwena — wished for power, he would grant it to them... of course, only if they proved worthy. He wouldn't waste his time with weaklings who proved to be all talk and no bark. He certainly wouldn't go easy on them for being an old man and a woman, either.

He took a few steps around, walking about idly, as he waited for them to appear. "Come to me, if you wish for power," he repeated to no one in particular.

[Shieba]

(Bentner and Morwena, in human form right now)

"Ah, finally." Bentner rubbed his temples as Lya Pointa finally came into view. "It is about time." After having Ithina disappear in front of them without being able to say another word to the deity, both he and Morwena had heard that other voice speaking into their minds, together with that mental tugging towards this place. It was both intriguing and bothering to both of them - to have some magic bond affecting them that they, as the best mages of the kingdom of Pandovia could not control or truly grasp. Bentner didn't like things out of his control, but he lived for learning more, to understand and gain knowledge and power. As such, he was actually eager to meet whoever would wait for them here for that reason alone, not only because he still wished to aquire the power he had asked Ithina for.

Morwena followed him, as usual. She was happy that there was still a possibility for them to get the divine power, though she personally also wanted to get rid of that tugging in her mind, as it seemed to hinder her ability to concentrate a bit. Lya Pointa was far away from the Temple of the Voices and so, she had been forced to put up with this for quite some time.

"Morwena, we do not know who awaits us here. We might walk straight into a trap, after all, and one laid by a demi-god, too. Maybe even a demi-god more powerful than Ithina, since she didn't seem to have noticed someone else being there, either." Bentner glanced at Morwena. "Our lives are more important than this power, do not forget this. We will not be blind like the fish who wants the bait and overlooks the hook it hangs on. Be respectful, but even more careful."

"Of course, Dear!" Morwena was always careful when there was danger involved - she knew that her Dear didn't want her to die, so she valued her life a lot, but she also didn't even want to get a single scar onto her body since she wanted to be beautiful and desireable for him as well. Of course, making sure that Bentner was safe was her first priority, knowing fully well that she would die of a broken heart if he would die, but she also knew that he would not want her to protect him outright - he was the most powerful mage of the kingdom and it was not her place to doubt that power by thinking that he needed shielding. Morwena liked fights and she liked seeing those weakings of Pandovia who had dared to kill the old king and displeased her Dear with that suffer. But none of those idiots held a candle to her and there was no reason for her to be overly afraid of them as long as her brilliant Dear made the plans. But this, this was different. And as such, Morwena was worried.

Arriving at the cathedral, they stopped in front of the doors. "Shall we go inside, Dear?" Morwena glanced past the entrance doors. There seemed to be quite a bit of rubble inside. She wore, as usual, high heels to look prettier for Bentner and climbing over it would be bothersome and possibly displease Bentner because she hadn't anticipated that. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to enter - Morwena couldn't clearly make out which exact location the mental tugging wanted them to go to, now that they were right next to their goal.

[Jaykobell]

As soon as they had entered the realm of Lya Pointa, the tugging had started to fade. The closer they got to the desired area, the softer the tugging became. As such, when the feeling would fade entirely, it would assure the both of them that the place in question was the location they were supposed to meet with the deity.

And even though Taxat hadn't even interacted with them yet, he could still hear their idle conversation. He narrowed his eyes at the old man; what an annoying chatterbox. The woman was no better, following him idly like a stupid puppet lead on by strings. Taxat grumbled at he watched the two approach the cathedral; he would need to make it clear that he had no intention to sit there and listen to their endless chit-chat about whatever world they came from. Words proved absolutely nothing to him; words were simply the weapon of the weak. They were the weapon of those too cowardly and weak to fight with real weapons. If they truly desired power, they would prove it to him... and they would also prove it to him separately. This, at least, was exciting.

As they approached the cathedral and pondered whether they were supposed to enter, Taxat reopened the mental link between the three of them. Enter the cathedral, he instructed, with a stern and even threatening voice. Wariness is for the weak. Doubt and hesitation will send you straight to your death, he commented about what Bentner had been talking about just earlier. Ithina is a fool of a deity blinded by the naive beliefs of the Heavenly Vaults. Less talking, and more walking. If you are truly determined to obtain what you want, step inside the cathedral, without hesitation.

This was their ultimatum. If they felt like giving up and going the easy way, now was their chance. But once they stepped inside the cathedral... it would be too late to stop.

[Shieba]

Morwena froze when the voice spoke to them again and faded once more afterwards. "Dear...?" she then asked. "I don't like this." They had been prepared for Ithina - a scholar, not a fighter and not someone who killed people. Now this voice here seemed to be quite the opposite.

"Neither do I, but we recieved our instructions." Bentner walked straight towards the entrance of the cathedral. "We decided to mess with the demi-gods of this world, now we have to see it through." He glanced inside. "Not a good battlefield, but there is little we can do."

"What if the demi-god attacks us, Dear? Can we beat such a being? Ithina's aura was really powerful. We cannot die here, the resistance needs us." Morwena didn't like this at all, but still, as always, entered the cathedral first, being able to react to attacks faster than Bentner.

"We will not flee. Even though this is not our world and our actions here will never be known to those of our kingdom, it also means that I am even less inclined to cower before a god who isn't even mine." Bentner followed directly after Morwena, scanning for magical auras while she looked around. "This has progressed past just a request for a skill. We had assumed that Ithina would judge us worthy because of what we have already done - our research. This being here just made it clear that the judging will be based on something that is yet to come. We requested, so we will not withdraw, even if the conditions changed. Be more confident in your power, Morwena."

"Ah! Yes, Dear! I- You did such a great job at teaching me! Of course I am!" Morwena started to walk slowly past the entrance door, doing her best to not stumble over rubble and still look for danger. With the mental tugging slowly getting weaker, she allowed herself to get guided deeper into cathedral, Bentner behind her.

[Jaykobell]

By Xai're, even now, they were still talking endlessly. Taxat wasn't one for idle chatter, and that was exactly what Bentner was doing. The ghostly horse watched carefully with glowing green eyes as the two stepped inside the cathedral. He had to give credit to the old man; at least he understood the situation. Yes, what you have done proves nothing: it is what you will do that will prove whether you were worthy of the power or not. Taxat's eyes glowed with anticipation.

And as Bentner and Morwena stepped inside the cathedral, the tugging faded entirely. Following that, the doors to the old cathedral shut closed, echoing with a harsh, loud bang. Taxat's eyes glowed again, and the cathedral started glowing, protecting the cathedral with a powerful shield so that nothing could get inside... and so that nothing could get out, either.

It begins.

Taxat made his way to the cathedral slowly, passing through the walls, ghostly body slipping through and translucent mane flashing along. The symbols across his body glowed a soft light as he stepped towards Bentner and Morwena, carrying a presence that was entirely different from Ithina. Not only was it more malevolent — but not threatening — but his presence also carried a certain feeling of unease — for, in fact, Taxat wasn't alive.

He stopped in front of Bentner and Morwena and observed the both of them from up-close. There was still a fair distance between them; a good few feet, if not more. "Humph. I will attack you only when the trial begins," Taxat commented, narrowing his eyes. "I am Taxat, Sumpter of Difference, and the God Xai're's most loyal follower, even in death," Taxat introduced himself, holding his chest high and his markings glowing with force. "Ithina — and the other deities — care only for the weak. Show me that you are more than just talk," he requested, as his eyes started to glow again, and the energy coming from him started to increase, although not in a threatening way. He had no intention of attacking them; not now. "Let me ask you again. If you do not turn back now, it will be too late to turn back once the trial starts. Are you ready to fight for the power you want?"

[Shieba]

Morwena had to suppress a small shriek when the doors suddenly closed. Both she and Bentner then looked around, assessing the magic that suddenly made the cathedral glow. Morwena started to chant a spell for a defensive shield, but Bentner stopped her with a small gesture, not wanting to break a rule of a game he didn't know yet.

When Taxat arrived, Morwena drew a deep breath, glancing at her Dear. They had, on their way to the cathedral, talked about who had decided to offer them this chance. In the end, they had decided it had to be either a follower of Yepha who was more open to different points of views than Ithina and maybe because of that didn't have a statue - or another demi-god entirely. Both ideas had been flawed; a demi-god so different from Ithina had seemed just as unlikely as a demi-god serving another main god but still able to grant powers of Yepha - or at least that was how it would have been in Bentner's and Morwena's own world.

Bentner and Morwena listened quietly to the demi-god when he started to talk, using the time to get a bit more used to the feeling of unease and general aura of the god. When Taxat finished, Bentner inclined his head. "We are indeed ready. We will not waste this second chance you gave us, for we are aware that this might be an exception...a loyal follower of one god being willing to grant a power from another."

Morwena stepped as close to Bentner as she could without touching him. Her Dear was so brave, even implying the question if this demi-god could even grant them Yepha's power at all or if he was just playing with them! She hoped that, if Taxat caught that, he would not get angry at her Dear. "We are ready", she confirmed, in case Taxat wanted to hear it from her as well.

[Jaykobell]

"You can eat with a fork just as much as you can eat with a spoon," the ghostly Frightmare commented, doing his best not to roll his eyes. Truly, if they thought that only one God could grant specific powers, they were terribly wrong. While Taxat couldn't grant just any ability, he certainly could grant a few. It showed what it is to be from a different world; when arriving in a different world, ignorance was written all over your face, sticking out like a sore thumb.

When Taxat noticed Morwena stepping close to Bentner, his face slowly turned into a devilish grin. Perhaps the man wouldn't suffer too much, but if the woman was so attached that she couldn't stray from his side, he would enjoy trying her much more than the old man — although honestly, he didn't have very high expectations for either of them.

When they confirmed that they were ready, Taxat's eyes glowed a devilish, radio-active green color. Something tugged at their minds, and just for a split second, the world went pitch-black, for both Bentner and Morwena. As the world came back, they would both realize that the other was missing.

~*~

The world didn't look any different, but it certainly felt different. It was still the same cathedral, the same temperature, the same everything; everything felt very real and lucid. However, Morwena and Bentner were now separated. In fact, it felt like Taxat had switched the planes. They were not in reality, but actually in both of Bentner's and Morwena's minds.

In a nutshell, the trial would happen in their mind and soul. Because power had to test the limits of your mind, didn't it?

With the woman out of the picture, Taxat stood in front of Bentner, the two of them alone. With a curious grin on his face, the Frightmare stared at the old man. "Show me if you can do something besides talking endlessly," Taxat invited, although without adopting an offensive, or even defensive, position.

~*~

And while Bentner was interacting with Taxat on his own, the same applied for Morwena, now alone with the demi-God. The Frightmare stood in front of her, grinning as he stared at the woman. "Can you do anything without the old man?" he taunted, resisting the urge to laugh. Testing a woman? It was almost a joke.

[ So, to recap, in case it wasn't clear. The trial is happening in their minds, and they are now separated (hence why they are separated by the ~*~). ]

[Shieba]

Bentner had been about to say something, but then the world had went black. He noticed the shift, but it wasn't one he had ever experienced before. When the world came back, he checked his surroundings. Morwena's presence had vanished, far more than an illusion spell could mask and the whole ether seemed off, but he couldn't truly place this, only that it was a different plane.

"Hm." He could only hope that his magic would still work like it usually did. "Very well, then." He remembered what the god had said - 'I will attack you only when the trial begins' - so the first thing he did was raising a magic shield. Testing if his magic worked normally was much safer done with a defensive spell than with an offensive one, after all.

******

Morwena went through the same experience as Bentner, but she didn't take it as well as he did as soon as she saw that she was alone. "Dear? Dear, where are you!?" For a moment, she panicked - the god hadn't killed him, had he? - but then she assessed the plane she was on now. Since she had a bit of Dracon-blood and Dracons could teleport through the astral plane, Morwena had, while lacking the full ability, a better grasp on planes than humans. "I see...is this my mind or yours?"

She adopted a defensive stand, being aware that she had to get out of this place as soon as possible. What if her Dear was attacked on the material plane while she was stuck here?! "My Dear taught me well and you better not do anything bad to him while I am here!" Morwena felt a combination of fear for Bentner's well-being and anger because of being separated from him. But if anything, this would maybe serve her well - if Taxat thought she was helpless without her Dear, he might underestimate her. She had no love or even true respect for anyone but her Dear and right now, she wasn't happy, so if the demi-god wanted a fight, she was more than happy to give him one. "So this is a battle, then?" All she wanted was a confirmation that she was indeed supposed to attack the god - her Dear had told her to be respectful, after all, and firing spells at a god not wanting to fight would be disobeying that order.

[Jaykobell]

Taxat had to admit he was grateful when the old man didn't just start rambling about everything. Good; perhaps this would be interesting, after all. The Frightmare remained where he was, calmly staring at the old man. When Bentner raised a magic shield, Taxat had to admit that he wasn't very impressed. A shield was usually for still fighters, those who didn't move or who moved very little. Wasn't this old man trying to obtain a power that would allow him to avoid others? Taxat would've much preferred an offensive spell.

"Are you so weak that you need a shield?" the deity asked, actually sitting down in front of Bentner, seemingly in disinterest now. "If you can summon a shield, why are you asking for a power to avoid your enemies?" Not to mention, raising a shield was useless for this trial. If Taxat couldn't attempt to land a hit, there was no meaning to this trial. "Drop this shield of yours," the deity instructed, narrowing his eyes slightly. "If you do not suffer for power, then you are not worth the power that you are seeking so desperately."

~*~

Back in Morwena's mind, Taxat didn't know whether to be annoyed or extremely unimpressed. He was right in assuming that the woman was ridiculously attached to that old man, even if the reasons for that affection was beyond Taxat. He didn't care for something like 'love'.

Ironically, Taxat found more excitement out of Morwena than Bentner; the woman was actually trying to start a fight, unlike the old man. The Frightmare grinned wider, and his eyes glowed again. "He is being tested in his own mind, just as you are," Taxat answered to her question and, perhaps, threat? But she was ignorant if she thought he wasn't going to try to injure that old man. Oh, he would try to injure her, too, of course.

From behind Morwena, a fast, powerful force flashed towards her, as she was waiting for Taxat to confirm if this was, indeed, a battle. Taxat cared not for politeness or respect; she understood the meaning of this trial, and so, he would land the first move if she wasn't going to.

[Shieba]

"I summon a shield when I expect a battle. I wish to gain this power you can grant to avoid death by assassination attempts before I can get a defense up." It was, Bentner mused, probably nice to be a demi-god who didn't age and had no problems with aching bones and a hurting back. However, as instructed, he dropped the shield, but only reluctantly so. Suffer for power? He had become the most powerful mage of the kingdom by research and work, not through cruelty. "If this is a trial of how much pain I can endure, why have me fight back in the first place?" Bentner did not like to not understand the rules of the game. Magical exhaustion was already unpleasant, combined with pain, it was downright cruel. If the demi-god only wanted to test his pain resistance, Bentner would not waste any magic of his own.

******

Morwena only felt the blast coming; she had no time to turn around, but instinctively reacted and used a wind spell to take flight; preferring combat from the air. However, despite her knowing the spell by heart, chanting it did take too long to fully avoid the attack. There was a scorching pain on her leg, but Morwena hissed and forced herself to ignore it. She had to do this hard and fast - the earlier she got out of here, the better. Spells like this were known in Pandovia, though only immortal creatures could cast them, but it was said that they could damage a mind permanently. Morwena didn't know if this applied to Taxat's spell as well, but she didn't want to take any chances. Also, while she couldn't aid her Dear directly, keeping the demi-god busy here might make things easier for Bentner - maybe.

"Well, that clears that up!" With another blast of air, Morwena tried to get behind the god via flight while releasing a few dark bolts of lightning from her fingers, aimed directly at Taxat. She wanted to avoid area spells, if possible, in case that this would actually harm her mind. "I sure hope that this will not leave a scar on me on the real, material plane! If you dare make me less attractive for my Dear, I'm gonna be so pissed!"

[Jaykobell]

At least the old man had taken down the shield.

"You requested a power that would allow you to avoid your enemies. How are you planning on obtaining such a power if you cannot train your body and mind to use it effectively? A cook does not gain experience by hiring a crew to cook the food for him," Taxat lectured, almost wondering if this was going to work at all. Was he just wasting his time? For someone whom had claimed to be a truly powerful mage, Bentner really wasn't impressing him much at all.

Or perhaps that old man understood better via actions rather than words — even if spewing words seemed to be what he liked the most.

Without answering any further, Taxat dropped his head and started scrapping the ground at his hooves, sending some tiny pebbles flying. Ghostly symbols glowing brightly, the deity started charging towards Bentner, hoping the old man would be smart enough to realize that the idea was for him to step aside, and therefore, avoid a hit.

~*~

He had to give some credit to that woman for being able to retaliate so quickly. However, he had to admit her constant whining about the old man was slowly grating on Taxat's nerves. While he could understand loyalty, this just sounded like a ridiculous obsession.

The Frightmare watched the woman carefully, piercing green eyes staring at her the whole time. He had fought angels, demons, and many more in his time; a simple human wind mage was certainly no threat to him. But admittedly, not much was at the skill level of a deity, except for the upper Gods such as Xai're, Yepha, and Zu'hai.

Seeing the woman coming, Taxat didn't make any attempts at avoiding Morwena; although he knew very well that she was now behind him, the deity simply started running in the opposite direction. Perhaps because of him being a soul and not alive, the lightning bolts went straight through his body; while the Frightmare felt them tingling all over his body, that wasn't enough to faze him. His goal wasn't to avoid her attacks; the goal of this trial was for Morwena to avoid him. Building a good enough distance between the two, Taxat eventually turned around in his run and dashed towards Morwena. Building up a glowing green fire all around him, the deity darted and jumped, aiming straight for the woman. This time, however, Morwena could clearly see him coming, even if he was closing in fast. If she would avoid him, however, was a different question altogether.

[Shieba]

"I prefer to discover new powers by changing those I know step by step towards something else so that I fully understand what I do instead of trying something completely new by trial and error and ending up burning myself." This demi-god clearly wasn't a scholar and had no idea about how important it was to protocol everything so that the most knowledge could be gotten out of it. Bentner wasn't bad at dodging - he used flight caused by wind magic, of course, in his age - but he preferred a shield on top of it to avoid harm further. Being forced to drop his usual battle style did not sit well with him, as it disturbed his concentration and habits in battles.

Taxat had given Bentner enough of a hint of what was to come when he had been scrapping the ground and because of this, Bentner was actually able to avoid the hit in time by using wind to fly straight up. He quickly used the spell to land quite a distance away from the god - if the god wanted him to dodge, the more space there was between them, the easier it would be for him.

******

Morwena didn't know what to make out of the fact that her attack had went straight through the deity. She was used to some magic having no effect, but just passing through? That was new. She wished she would know more about the demi-gods of this world, but she had been prepared for Ithina, not Taxat, and had no idea what was going on. Her Dear had probably already figured it out by now - most likely because he had actually read the texts about all the demi-gods while Morwena had used the time to swoon over him - so hopefully, he was doing better than her.

However, she was not ready to give up so easily. Trying to decide to fight fire with fire, Morwena switched to her second favourite element. The god was approaching so fast that she knew that she couldn't dodge him just like that. Quickly, she raised a wall of flames in front of her, both to test if fire had more effect on the deity and to conceal her movements so that Taxat had no idea now in which direction she would evade. She couldn't see him anymore, either, and only had to hope that he would either simply keep charging straight at where she was or guess wrong. As quickly as she could, she ended the spell and used a bit of wind to blow herself to the left and hopefully out of harm's way.

[Jaykobell]

For a fact, Taxat was not a scholar, nor did he care about the inner workings of magic. His goal here was to grant the power Bentner wanted. The old man's words fell on deaf ears as the deity simply kept on charging towards the old man; the deity had no interest in words, simply actions. Taxat wasn't fighting at his full capacity, but he still wasn't underestimating the old man. Whether Taxat would crush that old man's bones if he so happened to hit him, was none of his concern.

Thankfully, the old man caught on and avoided the hit, and relatively well, at that. Taxat stopped in his charge when he saw Bentner flying off. There was now a fair distance between them, but that wouldn't deter the deity in any way. Taxat remained planted where he was, and pulled the same trick he'd done to Morwena at the start. He summoned a quick wind of energy that came straight from behing Bentner, obviously aiming to hit in the old man straight in the back.

~*~

Thus far, he was satisfied with the woman. He was much more entertained by Morwena than by Bentner; he felt like he could go all out with her more so than him.

He stopped the charge when Morwena pulled up the fire shield. Taxat gritted his teeth before dashing downwards until he reached the bottom of the shield. His idea was to resume dashing from the bottom, dashing upwards to hit Morwena from below.

However, he was ironically pleased when he dashed upwards only to see Morwena had already moved aside. Stopping a little ways above Morwena, Taxat simply redirected his attack and dashed downwards and to the left, straight for Morwena, from above. Her reflexes were fast; if she could keep it up, it would probably be enough to judge her abilities.

[Shieba]

Bentner was a far too well-trained mage to not notice the energy immediately, but then it was his experience that hindered him. After over fourty years of doing so and being used to being so powerful that no other mage could penetrate his magic shields, it was a shield spell again that instictively came to him and which he started to chant and the split second he needed to remember he wasn't allowed to use cost him. Having no time to chant another wind spell anymore, all he could do was to throw himself to the side to avoid the blast as good as he could.

The magic shields woven into his robes thankfully absorbed most of the damage when he was hit pretty square in the side, but he still had the wind knocked out of him. Coughing, Bentner landed on the floor, knowing he would feel this blow for days. He had no chance on the ground - his only chance was to remain in the air. Since he doubted that he could chant any spell that would harm Taxat, he had more than enough magic to spare for this at the moment. As quickly as he could, he started casting the spell and rising into the air, hoping that it was fast enough before he got hit again.

******

Morwena was right now very happy that the cathedral was big enough to allow air combat. She knew how to do this, being her preferred way to fight and because she was used to get chased by air after she had robbed so many museums. On the ground, she wouldn't stand a chance against the demi-god - a human in high heels against a four-legged deity was hardly a battle she could win.

Still, even in the air, she had to think more than quickly. Taxat was faster than any human she had ever faced. For now, she had enough magic, but if she couldn't find a way to stop the demi-god, she would either run out of magic sooner or later or simply react too slowly sooner or later.

The deity had avoided the fire, but that didn't mean that it could harm him. With his flaming mane, maybe it was water that was more effective? When Taxat came straight at her from above, Morwena directed a huge blast of water straight at him and simply ended her wind-spell for a few seconds, allowing gravity to pull her down towards the ground faster than she could have flown, hoping that the combined effect would be enough to throw the demi-god off course once more.

[Jaykobell]

While the old man had managed to avoid the blow relatively well, Taxat wondered if this was even worth his time when he saw the old man getting knocked down to the ground. The deity straightened some, dropping the offensive position. He had no interest in torturing or even killing that old man; he had much better things to do. He was about to consider ending this trial and judging it as a failure; but then Bentner seemed to still have some energy left in him for the test. Taxat hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should continue trying to test this old man.

The deity figured, if that old man was still standing, he could probably still do something. Lowering his head again, Taxat started charging again. Once he was at a reasonable distance, the deity jumped, darting straight for Bentner.

~*~

Despite being a soul, Taxat was still alive in his own way. While attacks went straight through him, he could still feel the damage in a multitude of ways, such as electricity tingling all over him. Darting fast towards Morwena, the deity stopped abruptly when the woman summoned a splash of water in-between them. Taxat stopped, but that didn't stop the water from hitting him — so to speak. While the spell went through him, the deity certainly felt the water crashing onto him and drowning him momentarily. Taxat shook himself to get rid of the watery feeling, after which he stared down at the woman who'd hit him.

The deity humphed angrily, but he was far from being done. Darting again, he continued to attack relentlessly, dashing straight for Morwena. This time, however, he had readied a small catch. While he was charging towards Morwena, Taxat also readied an energy blow right from behind her. Coming from two directions, would she be able to avoid both at the same time?

Avoiding one attack was one thing, but dodging multiple was a completely different story.