The countdown hits one, and Dante hyper-focuses on Melinda and the training he's had in the past. Melinda is completely out of his league, so winning isn't the goal. If Dante wants to survive out here, he needs to focus on mastering his ability. This freeform energy ball has made Dante's versatility his strength, if he can use this to keep Melinda at bay- That's a win!
_START
_LIFELINE: ENABLED
As soon as his HUD flashes green, Dante pulls up a shield and begins firing small darts of energy from it in an attempt to keep Melinda at a distance, since one of his immediate advantages is range. Despite this plan, Melinda easily dodges or punches through the low-energy darts.
She makes her approach, casually walking towards him as she punches through the energy darts. Dante peers at his lifeline to gauge whether to continue his current strategy, since she's moving through it regardless.
_HP: 100
_MANA: 87.5% REMAINING
_DETAILS: 70/80
Dante drops his shield, and converts the energy into a hula-hoop-like blade that extends around his body, slanting from his right shoulder to his hip. With a soft bump of his shoulder, the blade begins oscillating around his body- increasing in speed with each rotation.
His concern is his mana. Despite the amount of mana he can store, each of his abilities come at quite a hefty cost right now. He needs something that won't continuously charge his deposit.
He glances back over at his lifeline,
_HP: 100
_MANA: 75% REMAINING
_DETAILS: 60/80
"Interesting," Melinda halts, and tilts her head as her eyes follow the twirling blade. "You can just make it up as you go,"
"I try not to," Dante whips rather defensively.
"Why not?" Melinda raises an eyebrow, genuinely curious, "This is the most versatile ability I've ever seen,"
She already knows?
Dante ignores her prying, considering they're in the middle of a fight- The less she knows about his ability, the better.
"I wondered what 'energy ball' meant," Melinda chuckles. "Sounds kind of silly,"
Is she trying to get under my skin?
Dante takes his stance as the circular blade loops around his body as Melinda inches towards his striking range- which should still be longer than hers.
As soon as he's close enough, he spins the blade over his head and to the end of his arm. Whilst in motion, his body spins with the momentum and he leaps into the air. Melinda takes a sudden step back, and with a fierce downward force, Dante's blade crashes into the ground before bouncing into the air. Before it bounces again, he catches it in rotation on his other arm and continues the spinning.
"You have some neat tricks," Melinda comments with a snicker, "Is that a form of dance?"
"Yeah… so?" Dante squirms.
"It's actually really clever," She says, "It would be quite deadly if you weren't so slow,"
"Wha-"
Before Dante can respond, Melinda dashes forward. Fortunately, his stance requires constant momentum. In an attempt to strike first, Dante uses the last moments of his range advantage to strike the blade at Melinda's head. But before it can collide, her fist hurls through the energy blade, shattering it completely.
Dante glances at his hands to see the shards of energy crashing to the floor and when he looks up again, Melinda's fist ploughs into his stomach- launching him across the arena and into the wall.
_ID: DANTE FORST
_HP: 0 (-100)
_NOTES: Total organ failure, entire skeletal system fractured.
"Boom!" Melinda throws a first in the air as the crowd of spectators cheer, "One hundred to zero!"
Melinda laughs heartily, before glancing at Dante with a large grin. Dante can't help but think much right now, nor see past the endless sea of white light before him- How am I still conscious?
_ARENA: SIMULATION DISABLED
_FIGHT DURATION: 1 min 15 secs.
Melinda makes a few hand gestures and walks over to Dante who takes a deep, panicked breath as the life slowly seeps back into each of his limbs.
"You're an interesting one," Melinda smiles, extending a hand to Dante. "You could end up being one of the strongest Zo'an ever, if you get your shit together," She adds, as Dante accepts her assistance.
"You're just higher ranked than me," Dante grunts.
"No, no. I could kick your ass even if I had your rank," Melinda says sternly, before gesturing and bringing up Dante's stats:
_DANTE FORST (FIFTH TEIR)
Stolen story; please report.
_SCORE: 0.2
STRENGTH: 2
AGILITY: 6
MANA: 8
PERCEPTION: 2
STRATEGY: 2
**3 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE
"You have a total score of two hundred, yes?" Melinda asks. "Hence your total score is zero point two, yes?"
Dante nods.
"Your highest investment is your mana, with eighty points, yes?"
Dante nods again.
"You had seventy-five percent of your mana left," She rolls her eyes before looking back at Dante and folding her arms.
"So?" Dante asks.
"So?" She laughs, "If I was limited to your mana and strength, I would have spent one hundred percent of that mana on two punches and beaten you the exact same way,"
Dante drops his shoulders as he starts to grasp the perceived wastefulness of his mana.
"Your technique is cool- I'll even admit it threw me off… But, you lean so heavily on your versatility that you don't commit to your decisions. Thus turning each of your attacks into a half-baked execution of a good idea,”
"I see," Dante says as he drops eye contact.
"Yeah," She sighs, patting him on the shoulder before chuckling, "You have to suck really bad to turn your strength into your weakness,"
Dante chuckles under his breath, partially unable to subside his frustration and shock. But also because he can see the error in his ways. If that were a life-or-death scenario, he'd have died without using over seventy percent of his mana.
Dante shakes his head as he laughs a little louder.
"But if he uses all of his mana in a single duel, how would he continue fighting?" Nadia asks.
"For Dante, it would seem his versatility comes at an exorbitant cost of mana in exchange for effectiveness," Melinda shrugs, "Thus, it will be situational for him. But, he'd be better off using all his mana and winning a fight, than saving it for a future he might not be a part of,"
Dante steps out of the sim, and looks out towards the audience of soldiers, engaging in chatter and seemingly discussing the abilities of some of the recruits.
"If you can learn how to distribute your mana efficiently, you'll be fourth tier in no time," Melinda says, giving Dante a thumbs up. "Think long and hard before using those stat points you got,"
----------------------------------------
Seriously?" Cassie says with her arms crossed and dressed in her navy blue onesie, standing in front of Commander Preston's desk.
"Yes," Commander Preston says.
"How can you know already?" She asks.
"I just do," He responds, "It's tradition,"
"Pfft," Cassie rolls her eyes, "You know Nadia is the obvious choice, right?"
"Maybe to you," Preston chuckles, "But that's why I make the call,"
"Ugh," Cassie sighs, "What I still don't get is why you're telling me this now,"
"I don't know what's going to happen," He responds, "I just thought I should let you know as soon as I made up my mind,"
"You knew before the training, didn't you?"
"Yeah…" He responds, "I knew before they arrived,"
"How could you have possibly-"
"I don't know," Preston says, leaning forward in his chair and reaching to pour himself a glass of Scotch. "I think I had a vision,"
"A vision?" Cassie raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Preston responds before taking a swig of his drink. "I don't really know how else to describe it,"
"Was it a feeling?"
"No, Cassie… I think I saw the future,"
"Was it a dream?"
"I was wide awake…"
Cassie leans back in her seat, squinting her eyes to get a read on Commander Preston when she notices the sincerity in his face. He may be kindhearted, but he doesn't often discus the supernatural. Not like this. She's put her life in his hands so often that she rarely ever doubts his decision-making. Usually because it's clear and concise… but, this is the first time he hasn't had a reason.
A real reason.
"Can't argue with that," Cassie shrugs, masking the doubt she feels with the trust she has.
"Neither could I," He responds.
----------------------------------------
In the middle of the night, after the beating each recruit received from Melinda. Dante lays in his bed staring at the HUD glowing ahead of him.
_DANTE FORST (FIFTH TEIR)
_SCORE: 0.2
STRENGTH: 2
AGILITY: 6
MANA: 8
PERCEPTION: 2
STRATEGY: 2
**3 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE
Melinda made some good points about the extent to which Dante commits to his abilities. Would it be wiser to invest in some of his other strengths, considering he's a generalist?
"Agh," Dante sighs as he sits up and reaches for the shirt beside his bed. Stepping out of the shared tent and exhaling deeply.
"Hey," Julz says as she walks up behind Dante and hugs his back. "You've been blowing me off lately,"
"Yeah…" Dante stammers, "Honestly I don't know how I feel about it yet,"
"You aren't happy that I'm here?" She asks, turning Dante to face her.
"Of course I am," Dante says, "It's just… I didn't think I was going to see you again. I'm scared that-"
Julz kisses him, and rests a hand on his cheek before giving him another hug and pressing her cheek against his.
"Me too," She says.
"Speak of the devil," A voice calls out from behind them, prompting them both to turn in a panic. "Look who's out after curfew,"
"I didn't know there was a curfew," Dante stutters as he turns to see Cassie stomping out of Commander Preston's tent in a navy blue onesie.
"Are you wearing pyjamas?" Julz giggles.
"That's cause I can wear them and still get into my PEGs quicker than you recruit," She responds, reaching into her pocket.
"Oh shit, she's going to-"
"Relax," Cassie interrupts Dante as she pulls out a box of cigarettes, "There is no curfew. The Commander's just pissed me off is all,"
Dante and Julz both sigh with relief as Cassie sparks up her cigarette and glances at the rubble skyscrapers backlit by the moonlight.
"Why?" Julz asks.
"Ah, it's nothing you'll understand just yet," Cassie says as she takes a deep inhale from her cigarette, "I saw you all got shit on by Melinda,"
"You were watching?" Dante asks.
"Of course," Cassie responds, chuckling lightly, "She did you dirty- Getting one shot like that must be embarrassing,"