Tara’s smile slipped off and she became the other entity. Her hair thrashed wildly and veins of electricity rippled over her arms. She flexed them, grinning as if seeing this change for the first time. Whatever force she was giving off was silent. This time there was no storm. She had contained it somehow. Yet, she was no less terrifying. There was no crown on her head, yet. Which meant she was still not going all in with the spar.

This is the power of one who has spent so much time refining herself. Her essence has been nourished and her sense sharpened. There is no hope of you winning here. With the right guidance she can become even str—

“Shut up, Ignis,” David whispered. His sword appeared in his hand, his grip tightened around the hilt. He couldn’t understand what he felt as he looked at Tara, but he was sure of one thing. She was stronger than him. Maybe the strongest of all of them gathered there.

Beside him he caught someone running to them. Hanna. David chided himself for not asking about her when he woke up. She gave him a stiff nod as she walked over to stand beside Zoey. She roughed up Chloe’s hair and then waved at Claire who smiled as if they’d known each other for a long time.

“Are you ready?” Tara asked. There was a new quality to her voice. Felt like a vibration at the base of David’s skull. He squared himself, preparing for Tara’s onslaught. He hadn’t noticed before, but the grass around Tara withered and died, turning black where the sparks touched the green surface.

David tightened the grip on his sword, reminding himself that there was no reason to fear her. She was just like him; human, albeit stronger. He gave Tara a nod, sighed, and tried to clear his mind. Worries would weigh him down and that would give Tara the advantage. He had to be calm as a stream with a uniform flow. No ripples. Just a smooth sail.

David thought Tara would charge at him, but instead, fat blue-white sparks charged the air in front of her, bending and forming as if slowly molded into what he realized was a bow. He cursed, breaking into a run for her. He wasn’t sure why he’d expected her to attack at close range.

An arrow formed across the grip. Its head was jagged, buzzing with raw essence. Tara pulled it back just a bit and let it go. David swung his sword, thinking he could slice through the arrow. His sword went through it but did nothing to the arrow. It slammed into his chest, lifted him, and tossed him back. Someone hissed. David rolled to his knees, ignoring the slight spasm of his chest.

There had been no real damage. All that fear was for…then he noticed how far away from Tara he was and this time her arrow was pulled back. She was like a wingless angel, divine power undulating her hair, suffusing the air with an energy so raw and intense that his skin felt like it was being invaded by a thousand insects.

“This was fast,” Tara said, with a grin that seemed too human for her face. David stood up, wincing from the realization that what he was about to do could tear him in pieces and this time he was not sure he could fix that. Yet, there was no choice.

Tara let the arrow loose. It tore through the grass and soil, creating a narrow depression in the ground, and uprooting grasses with its speed. David leaped for it. Letting his sword vanish. He reached for the arrow with his bare hand, cursing as the beginning of pain bloomed in his mind, devouring everything else.

That too vanished in a moment. The pain was stark in his memory, but he couldn’t feel it. In his hand, the arrow buzzed, rattling his entirety with an unimaginable power. Yet he felt nothing. No, that was wrong, David thought. He could feel the sting, but it was a dull vibration. The pain was greatly reduced.

“What is that?” Tara asked, and David looked up just in time to see Chaos floating behind Tara. The boy’s face was split in a wide grin. Pride, David decided. That was what he felt from Chaos. Around his left hand was a metallic gauntlet. It shone even though it was completely black, except the silver-edged knuckles and the marking on the top. A rune. Unclaimed, David thought. He shook his head, and as if his left hand had a mind of its own, it squeezed the arrow and shattered the conjuration. Essence flew up in front of David like fireflies until they faded away.

David stared at the gauntlet in disbelief, wondering why that had seemed like his voice and at the same time felt like Chaos sending him his thoughts. Unclaimed.

Partial understanding of World Tilter’s trigger: 20%

You have acquired the Left Hand of Chaos.

Amareth blesses the worthy and you have been found worthy.

The Left Hand of Chaos unifies disorder. Low to Mid-level attacks will be nullified with direct contact. Partial absorption of essence is possible. Due to a lack of required insight, this function had been restricted.

David grinned. This was a perfect pair with Ignis’s Bone Shard. He summoned the sword and infused essence into it. He felt himself shudder a little, noticing that he was losing essence quickly. He hadn’t noticed how much essence the gauntlet on his left hand consumed, but it was absolutely worth it.

He didn’t wait for Tara, instead, he attacked. Tara pulled the bow back, increasing the size of the arrow. Red veins of suppressed fire burned down the length of David’s sword. He didn’t have to cut through the arrow of lightning she was about to shoot at him.

David didn’t stop even as the arrow flew at him in a straight line. He swatted it with his left hand and leaped. Tara’s hair whitened immediately, her crown appearing. The spark of jagged lightning was roughly crenulated. Her eyes were completely white and the tint of blue was gone. The hair on David’s arm rose stiffly as his mind screamed a warning at him.

Tara’s morphed once more, turning into a long and straight blade. Bare hilt. It looked damn terrifying when compared to the wood-like sword he held. But he knew what he could do. At least a good portion of it at the moment.

Tara’s, white hot blade looked refined. The essence on it seemed precisely refined. David sidestepped, not wanting to test the strength of his gauntlet against Tara’s blade. It dug into the ground, disintegrating whatever it touched. It illuminated the darkening evening, creating a small pocket of steam as whatever moisture clung to her hair dried up in a long hiss. David grinned.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Excited huh?” Tara bellowed and David laughed. Not because he wasn’t terrified by the woman’s power, but because he could see how wrong he was. He had thought she used her maximum strength in the fight against Galan and his orc. How wrong he’d been. The sword splintered into a million tiny lights that stretched into head-sized balls. They formed a wall of overlapping white balls.

David didn’t stop. His lips were curled up in a manic smile. He couldn’t shake off the excitement. Just before Tara shot them at him, David’s sword exploded with compressed flames. He twirled, tearing through the many circles of lightning. They shattered like glass, fading finally. He looked up to see that Tara had shifted farther back, creating even more distance.

He imbued his legs with essence, groaning as he felt his body reach its limit. He pushed forward and for Tara. He covered the distance between them, his sword coming in a crescent arc. In a normal fight, David would have sliced her in half. Instead, he stopped and that was a bad idea.

Tara kicked his right hand at the wrist, sending his sword flying back. David cursed and threw his hand wildly. He almost caught Tara in the face, but the woman crouched under his fist and tapped his sternum lightly. David was about to disregard when his body trembled slightly and then it felt a forge had been opened in his chest. He groaned, staggering back, and then stumbled to one knee. He tried to speak, but only a guttural sound came out. The pain was blinding.

“David!” Chloe screamed. Panic was raw in her voice.

He touched his gauntlet to his chest and immediately the pain vanished.

Chaos has been tamed.

You have acquired the temporary deviant skill: Lightning Fist.

Can only be used twice!

David grinned, teeth a dull red. He wasn’t sure if the pain was gone or if the gauntlet completely nullified the attack. Still, he was grateful.

“You almost died,” Tara said. “And yet you are smiling? Are you still sane or the pain has done a good one on you?” David stood up, stabbed his sword into the ground beside him, and stretched. He had to think, had to find a loophole in Tara’s attacks and exploit it. He wasn’t sure what kind of defenses the woman used yet.

He was almost out of essence. The gauntlet was a greedy thing. It fed on his essence like a fattening beast. He wasn’t sure how long he could hold on to it. That was alright, David thought as he watched Tara’s crown get more defined. The crenulations were smooth now. And in the middle of the band was a white tear-shaped stone. It was so white, it almost seemed to glow.

“I guess you are thinking the same as me,” Tara said. Two short swords formed in both hands. She could use her lightning to create weapons. What a cheat, David though.

No, it is you who is limiting yourself.

David agreed. He was not doing much at the moment, but that was because he didn’t have enough essence. No, he thought. He was making too many excuses. He had to use what he had to make chances. What, he asked himself, did he have? Ignis’ memories of fighting techniques? Those might as well kill him. Or maybe he was just too scared? He could see some of them, like leafing through memories. In them, Ignis’s body moved with unreal speed, enabled by his devastating sturdy physique and unusual essence capacity.

Tara blurred out of sight, a white afterimage in her wake as she came for him. Her swords, David assumed, would pulverize a boulder with ease. If he let it touch him even a little, he’d be dead in a moment. She wouldn’t kill him, but he’d lose.

David sighed. There was no other choice. He had to take a leap and have faith that he’d be guided to victory. Ignis rumbled within him, his sword humming as the dragon awakened. Chaos had disappeared, but David could feel its presence. It was there, just like Ignis.

David eased into the sword stance. Within him, Ignis’s nostalgia filtered through like a growing mist. There was a slight overlapping, like a merge of memories. He reminded himself to be flexible, reciting the dancing trees as if he’d read it before. Yet, Ignis’s conviction was his own and the dragon’s sword skill bled into him.

David slipped left, dodging one of Tara’s white blades. With the flat of his sword, he caught the next swing, dancing back, his foot movements uncertain.

Tara’s slash went for his neck, but David slipped into a locked sense, moving with the blade but just a little bit in front, making it seem like Tara was missing by a breath.

The dance stretched for a moment, both sweating and grunting as they weaved around each other. David realized suddenly that he wasn’t following Ignis’ movement. He’d somehow changed them, created one that fit his physique. It still strained him, but his every step was measured just right so that it didn’t put too much pressure on him. His heel angled just right for the spin that had him dodging Tara's lunge, then the backward swing that almost opened his midsection.

Interesting, Ignis moaned, but David had pushed the dragon to the recesses of his mind. Even Chaos was a distant watcher.

David caught one of Tara’s swords with his left hand, twisted it, and heard it snap. Essence shaved off the weapon and it quickly formed again. Her recovery was fast, and her speed increased as David adjusted to it. She was controlling the motion, pulling David into her dance. He let her. She swallowed him whole, the weight of her battle experience mounting on him.

David grunted, hating how obvious it was that he was still lacking. Yet, he could see the faintest of openings.

How will you win?

The question came in Ignis’ voice, but David knew he was asking himself. The answer was right there, becoming clearer the more he parried and dodged. He was the trap, and Tara was flowing into it, thinking they were still in her domain.

“Tara!” Someone yelled. David tried not to figure out who. Although he could guess. There was no time. He’d felt the crack in the gauntlet. He was out of time. He made a false error, shoving into Tara’s space. She grinned, eyes shining. So sure of herself.

The short sword in her right made an upward slash; a fast kinetic-spurned charge of electricity popped in front of David’s face. A slight hesitation made David grin. His gauntlet cracked through the wild lightning and then punched through the white blade. He let the sword in his right go and guffawed because the surge of lightning within him was both invigorating and euphoric.

Skill: Lightning Fist

Master of all: +2%

Damage: Unknown

David’s teeth rattled, and his body shook violently, still unfamiliar with the technique he was about to use. Tara tried to rush in another attack with her other sword, too stunned to fix the shattered blade of the first. She was too slow. David’s fist found her torso. A spark of fire lights flared on impact. She was lifted off the ground and David hissed, his wrist throbbing.

He stumbled back, away from Tara as she tried to heave out all of her lunch. Jeremy rushed forward, but before he got to her, she waved for him to stop. David hadn’t noticed, but it was dark already. The last of the sun was already leaving shadows.

“You won,” Tara managed, leaning on Jeremy. “That was amazing!”

“Yeah,” David said with a large smile, still reeling from the ecstasy of that last attack. “Yes, it was.”