Snippet #1373735

Antius nodded briefly at Asmara as he felt the comforting familiarity of an Arcane Shield cast upon him. He decided to boost the power of his shield as well as that of Asmara's and Bruce's. Hopefully, the Templar would recognize this as beneficial magic. At the moment, however, he was distracted by a trio of darkspawn heading his way, one wielding a two-handed axe, the other a shield and sword, and the last, smallest and fattest one wielding a couple of daggers. Instinctively, the Mage raised his staff forward and cast a Cone of Cold towards them, fighting back a whoop of relief as they froze solid just a foot or two away from him, their momentum carrying them forward, causing them to crash at his feet, splattering him with ice and Darkspawn guts. He grimaced.

"My new robes! You're going to pay for this!" he cried, turning to cast Winter's Grasp on a Darkspawn that was throwing itself at Bruce, freezing it solid and leaving it to shatter against the Templar's shield. Antius grinned at his discovery. Frozen things shattered easily! His relation was short lived, however, as more Darkspawn began to converge upon him. He gulped as he stepped back, casting another Winter's Grasp upon the closest one to him before taking another down with Lightning. He was almost out of mana and he had no time to chug a Lyrium potion. In fact, his Lyrium potions were feet away, safely tucked in his pack. That meant he had only one option left. He drew his sword and frowned.

"I've only done this once before..." he mumbled as he back away. He thrust his sword and staff up and muttered an incantation as the Darkspawn began to strike at his Arcane Shield. When, at last, it broke, Antius felt a surge of energy run down his spine and he gave out a rather panicked cry as he thrust out his sword, beheading the Darkspawn, much to his surprise. Antius shivered as he clutched his sword and staff. He could feel the raw energies of the Fade coursing through him, as though he were a conduit to its power. This was Combat Magic, the first of the spells of an Arcane Warrior.

Before he could marvel at his newfound power, a group of Darkspawn again charged towards him, this time as though directed. Antius grinned and allowed Fade energies within him guide him, parrying blows and even managing to slice off an arm of a hurlock that got too close.