Point of Decay

Point of Decay is a powerful offensive spell typically treated as a combat-ender, due to its intense firepower. However, while it is fairly destructive, it's also relatively easy to misfire if one isn't sufficiently precise. - it can also be dodged relatively easy when one knows what to do. It's also hard to learn, requiring a lot of progress in the lore of the Ancient of Filth and, through it, a high risk of obtaining too much of its attention on the way to learn it.
It is, however, extremely dangerous to larger physical entities, to the point where it's sometimes treated as a form of a 'giant killer', a spell capable of instantly destroying or at least heavily wounding large entities, regardless of their ability to resist 'standard' physical damage. It makes a magician's equivalent of a tank cannon, in a way, except one working on much shorter range, typically.

Effect

Point of Decay instantly decays matter that the caster is pointing at, the exact range of effect being entirely dependant on caster's profficiency and level of attention they received from the Ancient of Filth. The objects (and people) turn to dust in a roughly spherical shape, unless they are small enough to be enveloped in it entirely. If there is more than one object within the afflicted area, only one of them will be influenced.
This means that a Point of Decay can be stopped simply by holding something in your hands. If you, for example, shield yourself with a chair, it will decay instead of you, even if your hands are within theoretical range of influence. That's because Point of Decay decays a singular 'object'. Wearing clothes or even armor isn't enough to shield you from the Point of Decay, as it'll target an entire 'object', in this case, a person. Similarly, a sufficiently connected objects - such as leaves on an targetted tree - will decay as well.

Side/Secondary Effects

Point of Decay is relatively easy on the sanity, however it carries a notable risk on ones corporeal stability. It 'decays' objects, a fact that at least partially appears to be influencing the person firing it, resulting in partial 'decay' of their form, the main source of the damage to the corporeal stability. There is a relatively high risk of mutations, especially more 'decaying' in nature, such as permanent shrinking of limbs or developing untreatable skin issues.

Related Deity/Higher Power

Ancient of Filth

Related Element

Filth

Effect Casting Time

3-4 seconds

Range

35-55m

Level

5