The Path of Ashes [Solomon, Valerie, Open]

"Quite well, given the circumstances, I suppose."

Solomon was no stranger to Africa by now, wholly familiar with the destruction that wrought by the hands of monstrous hollows. Each was no less alien in nature, and there was no particular end to them in sight as long as that hole persisted. Naturally, as a man who vowed to protect any and everyone to his utmost ability, he gravitated back to these lands to offer resources - financially and physically - as a means of assisting those whose lives were upturned in the blink of an eye.

His path ultimately led him to assisting the woman sitting beside him in the caravan. That was to be expected, though, wasn't it? Wherever help was required, he would show. From what he learned of her before they met, she was offering multiple resources of her own to assist these people. An admirable notion, to be sure, one worthy of his unyielding support.

"And you?"

"Almost calm is the best way of describing it, I'll admit. When you've faced your fair share of danger, you learn to develop a certain wit about what you might face. Of course, I might well change my tune by the time we get there."

Solomon offered a calm smile. His calm composure was mainly to maintain his own poise as they approached their destination, a way of removing any sense of doubt that would be a hindrance to their task. In his eyes, that was an ideal approach. It was an effective way of honing one's mind, not faultless by any stretch, but more than enough to face the difficulties ahead.

Experience was a cruel teacher, no doubt, yet it was precisely because of his prior battles that he could treat this with such a casual poise. Judging from the confident smile flashing across Valeria's face as they fast approached the looming battle. Exhaling softly, he maintained a firm determination in his expression as set his hand against his hip, the hilt slowly materializing within the palm of his hand, his eyes peering forward to the road ahead.

"Of course. Let's give it our all."

The time for battle was near.

Azure eyes bore witness to the sight of a monstrous hollow. An expected foe, to be certain, considering the enemy he fought last time, yet there was hardly any fear in his gaze. Determination painted his expression as he turned to Valeria and took the woman's hand, acquiescing to her strategy of tossing him upward to gain higher ground.

His body hurtled through the air at high speed as he landed atop the Stingray hollow's back. Solomon momentarily observed the woman's ability before rushing across the beast's back to generate a large column of electrified reishi around his blade. Before that beast would release any cero, he would have to contend with Solomon swinging his spirit weapon across its head, releasing that roaring column of energy across the topmost section of its body.

"Haah!"

He had no issue with playing offensive. He was no stranger to throwing himself into the jaws of the beast, after all. With Valerie at his side, he was certainly confident he could bring the greater depth of his might to bear to compromise this beast's attention. It would be a team effort on all fronts, no doubt, but he possessed a great deal of confidence in their talents.

Solomon turned his gaze in the direction of the metal clang as he furrowed his eyebrows. Another one? His senses hadn't immediately alerted him to the serpentine creature descending from the skies which made him wonder if even more enemies awaited them up above. Either way, he shot a grateful nod in Valerie's direction for defending him, his mind housing strategies of how to evade and attack these enemies. His electrical pulse of energy wouldn't keep the hollow beneath them stunned for long, which meant their path to victory likely lay in attacking quickly and efficiently.

"No kidding. Like I said, I've grown pretty familiar with how enormous these dreadful creatures can be. In any case, thank you for the assist, Valerie. I nearly took a nasty blow there. Here's to hoping there aren't enemy more waiting in the wings. For now, we should coordinate our offense. Choose an enemy and take them down. If it is of no hindrance to you, I'll handle this one while you contend with that winged serpent in the skies."

Solomon gave her a momentary opportunity to voice any disagreement with the plan of operation, but if she found it satisfactory, he formed another spirit weapon within the palm of his opposite hand. A thunderous battle axe thrumming with voltaic energy. An auxiliary weapon in nature, it was a tool he had recently formed in the spur of a moment in a prior spar. Though far from potent enough to eliminate defeat this hollow entirely, it would likely serve him well in attacking the other airborne foe. For now, he brought the two blades together as he drew an arc through the air, a chant echoing from his lips.

"Call the cloud and all it utters - lord of lightning, lord of storms. Draw the drops of the sky together...Break the back of burning weather... Lord of lightning, lord of storms---Thor!"

At the conclusion of that aria, Solomon slashed his spirit weapons through the air, manipulating and molding the ambient reishi in the air until they formed wide-ranging columns of electricity, resembling lightning bolts in the shape of a mighty lance. There were several in number, and he loosed that numerous array with the studied poise of a bowman, thrusting his blade through the air.

The countless number of electrified lances would be set forward at an imperceptible rate of fire, dancing through the air as they rained down upon the stingray's back, attacking any and every part with the sheer intent of disrupting the beast from the idea of even daring to attack. With each swing of his arms, each gained momentum, and some even shot upward, streaking through midair to strike at the serpent during his offensive.

Solomon offered the woman a reassuring nod as she accepted the terms of their game plan. He didn't necessarily consider himself worthy of calling the shots. From his point of view, this plan simply seemed the most ideal. Valerie's unique specialization allowed her to easily achieve flight while Solomon's abilities as a Quincy meant he had to devote most of his resources to collecting the ambient reishi in the air. One could be formed in an instant, the other had to be collected. To say nothing of the malleable nature of her Kinsugi.

In terms of overall resources, she certainly held the advantage of immediate offense on her side, a vast well of versatility to effortlessly operate from. His gaze kept pace with the activity of the creature beneath him and how his offensive efforts were bearing fruit. Since he didn't expect his numerous waves of spears to eliminate the beast in one fell swoop, he was able to telegraph the twin beams of the creature as it whirled through the air, advancing toward him at a rapid pace.

Propelling his body forward through Steigen, Solomon went airborne himself, avoiding those burning rays by a hair's breadth as it roared along its body. The immensity of its attack could not be ignored, prompting Solomon to ponder other strategies to suppress the hollow even further. Swinging the axe upward through the air to strike at its mouth, Solomon positioned his blade upward from an overhead stance.

From his stance, he generated another column of lightning around his blade, absorbing enough reishi into his spirit weapon to execute an attack capable of cutting through even deeper into the Stingray's wide frame. Swinging his blade forward, the vane of lightning shot forward in the form of a crescent-shaped ring intent on cutting into its frame as it dealt secondary damage from the shock impact of the attack. If that attack proved successful, Solomon would momentarily cast his eyes downward to maintain his focus on the caravan, then guide his upward to observe how Valerie was faring against the serpentine creature in the sky.