----------------------------------------
<01/16/1972 – 12:17 | Blue Port Town, Gulop Region, Sprawn Valley>
Jane and her friends had already made it back outside in Blue Port Town. There was already quite a crowd surrounding the general vicinity. Jane loudly and openly declared a rematch in front of everyone with much passion and anger. It must really be a hot show to watch with that kind of determination stinging in her voice. Jane's new beige colored suit looked pretty good on her, though it was also a tight fit as well. It would surely work out to her advantage in the end; at least that is what Jane was hoping for.
"It's rematch time Jane!" Jack called. The girl looked to be refined and ready, but the new leather suit made for most of that difference. "You're new suit won't be enough to defeat me alone. Let's see what you're really made of."
Jane stopped after getting close enough to talk back to her opponent. "Good. You won't mind betting 500 credits this time?"
"The more the merrier." After going through all the trouble, 500 credits would have been the minimum from Jack's demands. Jack accepted Jane's money bet, and waited for everyone to back way. The Siriean dome often forms in a huge radius like area, but there are too many people around. They were however backing up already, even Danny and Taylor knew to do the same by now. The location was a bit different this time. Instead of taking up on the western path out of here, this fight was happening right in the center plaza, where there are basically no structures to get in the way. The green field was flat enough to use, and the battle was already about to commence.
Danny and Taylor stood close together, watching the scene from the same distance as the crowd of pedestrians. Watching Jane battle through a tough situation would defiantly be interesting for now. Danny pulled out his small sized guidebook, opening it up to the spell list page. Hovering over Taylor, he promised, "I'm going to cover every attack they use from this book. It will help us understand what kind of damage is actually going on."
Taylor gave Danny a happily annoyed look. "You and your book of spells..."
"Hey, it will help us learn cool spells too," he argued. The book was full of attack skills and what they should do in battle. Since Jane and Jack will likely be chanting every single spell they use as usual, it will be easy to use that and check it out in the book. This will provide an excellent opportunity to check out what works in fights and what doesn't work, while providing strategic data as to why. But Taylor wasn't planning on looking away from the fight, not for one second. If Jack defeated Jane the first time, then she will fight even harder the next.
Taylor focused even more on Jane however. She looks so different in that suit. Taylor had gotten too used to seeing Jane wearing her numerous dress spheres. The benefit of a regular dress sphere is that one gets to look nice even in a battle, but Jane was finally taking off the gloves with this guy. Her leather outfit was defiantly fit for the current situation given the potential damage protection and elasticity of the material to provide for easy movement, but horrible to be seen with in a more casual setting.
Jane waited patiently for the Siriean dome to form around them. Nobody accidentally got caught in the nearly invisible bubble, which meant it was nearly time to fight. The same holographic text from before appeared again, indicating that the battle was now beginning, and reminding everyone about the bet being made.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Jane and Jack enabled their energy scopes even faster than before. It was almost the same routine just before going into battle. The holographic text boxes appeared above their heads, showing off what their current stats were at. That would all change quickly once the battle begins, though it has already really started. The only thing left is to decide who gets the first move, but that is something that is decided by force, not by some trick or coin toss.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/02dvNLgy/S2-Jane-N-000.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/FRqqPV2q/S2-Jack-N-000.png]
----------------------------------------
Chapter Theme Shift: Fight! No. 2 ~ Noriko Matsueda & Takahito Eguchi (FFX-2 OST)
----------------------------------------
And the fight begins! Jack already made the first move by getting a little close. Challengers naturally start out as far away from each other as possible, usually too far away to score a real attack at any range. Jane got closer too, but she kept her focus on Jack knowing he was surely going to get in the very first action. The small crowd around them was already cheering loudly, going wild. They were more hyped up than the last time, likely because they knew what to expect this time around. To the spectators, it was just one hell of a show, but for Jane, it was her honor as a destined Leray master on the line. She has to win!
Finally nearing his mark, Jack stopped in place charging a small amount of MP into his weapon holstered on his back. Before Jane could even begin to realize what was about to happen, Jack took advantage of his speedy situation and took the blaster weapon off of his back. Blasters are weapons used in battle to score damage at long range using energy shots, but they don't do much damage alone for that purpose. However, Jack had already aimed the small weapon at Jane and pulled the trigger, chanting the name of his battle skill all at the same time. "Scatter Beam!"
Several beams of evanescent blue lasers shot from the barrel of Jack's blaster weapon. They looked like fast moving photons that appeared and disappeared just as quickly. Jane was suddenly hit with about three blaster shots all together, but the rest of them naturally missed. Scatter Beam uses a blaster weapon to fire energy beams in the dispersal formation of a shotgun shell. The gun fires multiple blasts that scatter outwards from each other in a barrage of fire. Each individual blast taxes on less damage as a result, but used at close range, it would have been devastating.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/wMXC7sGG/S2-Jane-N-006.png]
Danny noticed that Jane's HP hardly took a fall at all, but he recognized the skill Scatter Beam from before. In the Dakota training facility, he himself learned how to invoke Scatter Beam using a training blaster. It was the very weapon he just discarded in order to afford his new short blade saber. He too knew of the small and almost ineffective power of Scatter Beam. It has a low power level, which means the damage is low because the MP cost is low, and the skill itself is really easy to learn compared to other skills. It can only be effective at a close range, enough to get punched or stabbed.
Jane felt the stinging sensation of the Scatter Beams hitting her, but it was short lived. Easy enough to shake off that simple attack, Jane knew it was now her turn. Her next course of action would naturally lower her defense, but there was no choice. Jane began to charge at Jack after pulling the daggers out of her suit's side pockets. Now was finally the time to show off everything she learned before Dakota.
Taylor watched as Jane got up really close to Jack, and then unleashed a barrage of physical combination attacks. Jane was kicking, jumping, punching, back flipping, and slashing at Jack with her daggers in the most elegant momentum of grace. Jack was unable to dodge or block out Jane's close combat attack completely, and it was all thanks to Jane's special training and her high agility movements. Jane however wasn't even using an official Leray skill. This is simply what happens when one uses plain physical attacks to add on damage. Physical attacks usually have the lowest scale of damage since they don't use MP energy to help increase the power level, but with Jane, it is not the same. Because of her incredible speedy combination of punches, kicks, evasions, and dagger slashes, Jack was taking on a lot of damage for sure, little bits at a time that would add up to something larger as soon as Jane finally backs away to a safer distance.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/2Sw-tpDsn/S2-Jack-N-006.png]
Jane jumped away again just before Jack had the chance to try and intercept another of her moves. Jane really threw in a lot of hits that time, and now it was over. Her combination was of course limited in the sense that it tired her out physically. Jane was already beginning to sweat, while her quickened breathing rate forced her to bob up and down more noticeably. Jane then counted Jack's damage on the energy scope above him. Though it was only ten percent damage in total, that's actually pretty high for only using physical attacks with no MP attached. Jane was already in the lead now.
Jack felt like he had taken damage everywhere. It was almost as bad as taking a Thunderbolt attack head on, and now he realized that Jane really did have some more hidden talent she never got to show off last time. Jane could end up becoming the victor if she keeps up those close ranged attacks of hers. Is this Jane's secret, the reason she wanted to win so badly?
Taylor screamed over the crowd, "Go Jane! Keep it up!" Cheering Jane on was a must right now, seeing as this Jack guy could finish her at any moment's notice. Jack was however not showing off how tough he was yet. Hopefully, Jane isn't going to give him the chance. As it was right now though, Jane had backed up a bit further, while Jack was standing tall and still. It looked like he was about to take his turn in total to attack Jane with all his might.
Jack unleashed the energy he was charging from his reserves, which immediately threw down much of his MP capacity on his energy scope. Anyone who watches them carefully can predict when a magical attack is incoming, but not everything can be dodged either way. Jack threw in his magical spell towards Jane. After creating a quickly spawned red glyphring at the front of his two open hands which are now aimed straight at Jane, Jack chanted the name of his next magical attack. "Flamethrower!"
In the blink of an eye, Jane was now tangoing with a powerful fire based attack spell known as Flamethrower. Facing a steady narrow stream of fire, Jane quickly reacted by attempting to dodge the attack altogether. She jumped far to her right, nearly diving into the ground. At first, her quick reaction saved her some of the damage as the stream of fire nearly grazed her, but then the rest of the stream came and charged into her entire body as it changed direction in control of Jack's glyphring. Jane was now in a bit of trouble, feeling the full burning sensation of flames all around her. The attack was short lived since she had dodged at least half of Flamethrower's effects, but it didn't work enough to completely avoid it. It would have done much more damage had Jane not attempted a dodge however.
Danny's jaw dropped, since he had never seen that spell before. He quickly glanced down at his book, flipping the pages to the Flamethrower section. It was quick work since the pages were all divided by elemental type and power level, followed by alphabetical order. "Here it is!" he pointed. Danny was reading out loud the important details about Flamethrower, while Taylor used her eyes for Jane. "Flamethrower. Power level 4.5, and it deals damage over time while executed." Danny looked back towards Jane, who was now out of the flames, but struggling to shake off that painful sensation of a burn.
Taylor finished Danny's thought in words. "That had to hurt. Even though Jane only suffered half of the dose of damage by dodging the first second of it, Flamethrower sure has a leading name."
image [https://i.postimg.cc/HWbDSfk9/S2-Jane-N-007.png]
Jane felt like every inch of her body was on fire. That intensity faded only bit by bit over time, but she had to shake it off faster, or else Jack would get in another attack. It would take even longer for Jane to run up and get at a closer range again. Now is the best time for long range attacks that don't suck as bad as Radial Stars. Since it was also her turn to try something, Jane already used up some of her MP. The charging and invocation of the simpler spells tends to happen much faster than more potent spells. Still, Jane was choosing another elegant skill never before revealed.
"Silver Arrow!" A quick rotating yellow glyphring formed and faded really quickly, level to Jane's head on the right. It wasn't an attack glyphring though. Small yellow glyphrings are used to temporarily summon weapons into battle that one may not already have. That person can then use that weapon in battle despite not having chosen it as the primary tool. For Jane, the start of her spell consumed about 6% of her MP level, and generated a bow in her hands with arrows ready to be used as well. Jane immediately went from spawning the bow to shooting off her first arrow. She practiced a lot with this skill, making sure her opponent would have as little time as possible to dodge, less time to figure out what she was about to do. Though it takes time to prepare and shoot an arrow this way, her practice gave her unusual speed and focus during the entire process.
Danny looked in his book again. Jane knew lots of skills for sure, but Silver Arrow was new to him. "Silver Arrow. Power level of 2.5, uses a bow and arrow to fire five sharp pointed rounds in a combination attack. Piercing damage."
Because Jane did not use a bow as her official weapon, the MP energy was really spent just on summoning that bow into her hands to use. That is the trade off to using weapons one does not bring into battle in the first place, but they still do damage all the same, disappearing as soon as the attack sequence is over. Jane went really quickly, shooting one arrow after the other by pulling back on the tight thin string. She fired her last one with much better aim, taking note in her mind of the sharp pointed silver tips on all five of the arrows.
Jack had little time at all to try and evade them. Arrows fly in the air quickly too, and Jane wasn't a terrible aim. He ended up getting hit by three of them including the last one which Jane pulled back on with more force than before. Since arrows are sharp only at their tips, they cause physical piercing damage in particular. For Jack, that's good news to his HP overall, but terrible news for his pain receptors. Piercing damage always has low damage dealing potential in regards to total HP capacity, but the design is more oriented to dealing pain damage instead. The sensation of having three super sharp arrows stuck in him for a portion of the battle wasn't going to sit right with Jack at all.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/5t2RbrJT/S2-Jack-N-007.png]
With arrows stuck in his left leg, right arm, and right chest, Jack knew he would now have trouble maneuvering in close ranged attacks. The arrows stung where they dug in. Jane's bow faded away in her hands by molecular disintegration, since it was not her official weapon. Jack thought of something quick, a way to counter the pain, remove the arrows, increase his defense and offense, and attack Jane all in one move, but it won't come cheap. With a quick burst of a colorful green aura now surrounding Jack's body from invoking his next magical skill, Jack's aura exploded where it was, brushing off the arrows that were stuck inside of him instantly. "Deliverance Offense!"
Taylor winced in surprise from whatever was happening with Jack. Danny went straight to work on identifying the new spells. Danny found it rather quickly, since his guide book was alphabetized neatly. "Deliverance Offense. It's an attack and a support aura at the same time. Deliverance Offense uses MP over time with an aura as it increases your physical attack power completely, and it raises your defense for a short while too. Combined with a close combat attack, it really turns the tide in battle, but it costs some initial MP and HP from the user as well."
Taylor had no idea that such a magical aura attack even existed, and from the looks of it, neither did Jane. She noticed already that Jack's energy scope stats already changed as his aura surrounding him had gone complete and turned red.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/6Qb13h53/S2-Jack-N-008.png]
Jack's move cost him 10% MP and 10% HP, but now for a shortened period of time, all of his physical attacks will become much more powerful. Of course, throwing any punches, kicks, or the use of physical weapons will also drain his MP slightly each time too. Jack was certain Jane was not coming back from this regardless.
Jane knew she was in trouble now, as Jack was charging at her instead. That was usually Jane's thing. Since she is quick and agile in a close combat situation, it was unlike Jack at all to try this, but all that said more about his confidence with such as reckless skill. Jack already entered Jane's personal space, so Jane reacted immediately by dodging the first few hits. Jack was throwing punches at first. Then, with just one upwards kick, he got the best of Jane, knocking her off balance and preventing her from dodging the next combination of punches. Suddenly, Jane was being hit hard with punches and kicks. Jack wasn't as fast as Jane, but his attacks were much more powerful at the same time, forcing Jane to cringe in pain with every single hit. After taking thirteen devastating blows, Jack finished it with a brute jab that knocked Jane flat on her back. He noticed that his aura had already faded, and his attack power returned to normal. Time to back away from Jane.
Taylor gasped with her hands close to her mouth. "Oh no! Jane!"
Danny felt sympathy for Jane's position too. According to her energy scope, Jane could keep going. "But all of Jack's attacks were three times as powerful. Every punch and kick he delivered was infused with magical damage as well. It increases the power of normal physical attacks by up to 600%. I hope Jane plays it safe."
image [https://i.postimg.cc/wTHKn0t8/S2-Jane-N-008.png]
If you'd ever been punched in the face before by someone strong, double the painful sensation, and that is about the force of each hit Jane had to feel in that moment. It kept her on the ground a moment longer than she would have considered acceptable, but Jane knew this wasn't over yet. The painful bruising she now had everywhere begged to differ, but she bravely fought through it and forced herself to get back up slowly and carefully. She could hear the crowd going wild. Most were probably just cheering for the current winner, and after that crazy performance, it was Jack for sure. Jane's eyes opened wider, now that she had realized something. It was with Jack's energy scope.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/vB1266cv/S2-Jack-N-009.png]
Whatever he did took a major toll on his MP levels. He has to be getting tired too. Deciding to stay at long range, Jane invoked her Fire Ball spell, but she was chanting something different. "I'm not stopping till it's over!" Jane spun her arms while shooting her Fire Ball towards Jack. This naturally gave it more force, and it looked cool too since the glyphring was following Jane's wrists. Usually, a Fire Ball attack shoots from the glyphring as it forms around one's wrist, but Jane also had two glyphrings, one for each side. Though it counts as two magical attacks, and thus uses twice as much MP to invoke this way, Jane spun her other arm around, successfully shooting out two Fire Balls instead of one. This time, she didn't chant the name of the spell itself.
Both Fire Balls hit Jack immediately, since they pick up speed traveling in the air. It's an interesting way to quickly attack at long range. Fire Balls are easily dodged, but not when one sends them the way Jane did to double their speed. The small explosions of fire on Jack were evident, and his HP took some more damage in response.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/W3QWmbZc/S2-Jack-N-010.png]
"What?!" Taylor jumped. "Jane didn't chant the name of her spell."
That's what surprised her? Danny felt it more appropriate to praise Jane for launching two fire glyphrings for two Fire Ball spells in the exact same instance. Danny briefly explained to Taylor, "She didn't have to. It's not against any rule to use any official Leray ability without chanting its name. The only reason people do it in the first place is to ensure their magical invocation goes without error. But once you've done it enough times... Jane obviously doesn't need to name something that comes to her so quick, so fast. It proves how long she has already come since her training days."
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Taylor wanted to call Danny wrong since that isn't what she meant. It's common knowledge, but to see Jane forgetting to chant her own abilities and still execute them without fail was a good thing. It just took her by surprise is all.
Jack had to shake off the pain from the double fire attack. It was strange, seeing how she was fighting back much harder than before. Her defense was practically the same, but Jane was different this round. Still... Best to be sure she won't back down if things don't go her way. It's disgraceful to end a match by forfeiting more than once in a row. Jack prepared his MP energy, charging it into his right fist. He then chanted the name of his special skill, while charging his fist all the way down into the earth beneath him, the magical force cracking the earth. "Doom Shield!"
Jack's fist came down with a lot of force, and this causes some sort of visible shockwave to travel outward in a circular direction. Jane put her arms up to guard against the unknown magical attack. She had never seen it before, but the shockwave didn't hurt her at all. The only thing she immediately noticed was a rush of wind pass her by quickly. But then... The shield!
Jane noticed something happening to the Siriean dome shield surrounding them. It was suddenly more visible than before, changing color and intensity. The dome shield became a darker shade of blue pulsating in design, while the texture detail changed as well. The Siriean dome then became slightly more translucent, but overall, it was much more visible than it was at the start of the match. "What's that?"
"It's a Doom Shield!" Danny cried. He already took the time to study up on a few of these abilities in advance from his guide book. Without needing to turn pages and read the details, he was already aware of the effects of a Doom Shield. "Doom Shield is a special power that prevents either side from forfeiting the match and quitting early."
"What do you mean?" Taylor requested.
Danny only accepted to give Taylor the short explanation, given a short moment of inaction by Jack and Jane. "You see, normally Jane or even Jack could just call it quits. By doing so, they automatically lose the battle, but they get to keep themselves from passing out at the end. Usually, passing out by running dry on HP is what officially makes you lose the match. But by calling in a Doom Shield, Jack has just made it physically impossible for Jane to quit if things don't go her way. Now Jane has to battle all the way to the finish for sure. The only way the battle can end now is if either side loses all of their HP."
Jack knew what he was doing. The effects of Doom Shield works both ways. Jack can no longer escape from the battle either, but he had full confidence that he would emerge victorious against Jane. "You made your bed. Let's see how you keep to your word. No quitting early this time!"
"I don't plan on it!" Jane immediately charged in another magical attack. It was officially her turn to go anyway. Jack still had a high HP amount, and Jane needed to change that quickly. Her next spell would be simple to use anyway. After chanting its name, "Shadow Wave!" Jane threw the magic out of her body, forming the familiar Shadow Wave attack that she and Jack both used last round. Jane's Shadow Wave was more powerful though, all because she had more training with it. While the quick unavoidable Shadow Wave was now on approach towards Jack, he was powerless to defend himself. Though from the looks of it, he put his arms up to try and block it instead. Dodging must not be his style.
Jack had trouble blocking this attack. Blocking an attack usually reduces incoming damage, but only against specific spells. Shadow Wave infuses non-elemental magic into physical slashing damage at the same time it is dealt; therefore, blocking has little effect; it's also a combination attack as soon as it hits the target. Jack had no choice but to accept to incoming damage being done to him over time. The wave that pushed against him forced him to remain still. He couldn't try and break it free either. The slashes all over his frontal body and especially his hands hurt with a vengeance.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/mkCdmf3z/S2-Jack-N-011.png]
The Shadow Wave burst into a dark mist which shortly faded on its own after finishing the damaging touches against Jane's opponent. Though it was now Jack's turn to go, he wasn't moving very much. That last Shadow Wave attack obviously had him stunned where he stood. That low MP energy of his wasn't helping out either. When MP energy runs dry, any physical attack or movement becomes sluggish as that person quickly tires out on their reduced stamina. Additionally, using skills which costs MP becomes less possible at the same time.
Jane ultimately had the advantage for sure now. Jack wasn't going to attack in the next second, and that left Jane's attack window wide open. Without even hesitating or holding back, Jane charged some more of her MP energy into another magical skill. It wasn't designed to do much damage anyway, but Jack can't seem to handle pain anymore, now that his HP has been cut in half... With a quick chant of a magical spell, Jane formed another wrist-bound glyphring to her right arm. "Ice Needles!" Out of the bright blue spinning glyphring, a barrage of dozens of frozen needles flew in the direction of Jane's opponent. Even though Jack was getting over the last Shadow Wave attack, he still had no interest in dodging attacks thrown at him. Though even if he did, the barrage of icy shards would make it difficult to avoid. Much like Scatter Beam, the massive amount of small frozen icicles were wide spread and inaccurate. More than twenty managed to pierce through Jack's skin. The added damage with the pain of a high-powered piercing attack left Jack unable to move once again.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/J7kdrZwr/S2-Jack-N-012.png]
"There's that spell again," Danny called. He saw Jane use the spell Ice Needles before. Actually, Taylor could use that ability as well, but it was still new to them both. Danny didn't need to explain out loud the effects of Ice Needles, since they were both familiar with the spell. Ice Needles spams a barrage of frozen pointy edged shards of water towards the target. The barrage can spread wide, making it hard for every single piece to hit the target, but the damage adds ice elemental magic to the normal piercing damage which would hurt on its own. Ice Needles is a large step up from a similar attack known as Needle Barrage because it can do much more elemental damage to one's HP.
Taylor cheered, "Jane got to score a second hit!" It was true that Jane used her timing and Jack's moment of instability to use a second attack. It was perfectly legal to continuously interrupt an opponent by spamming consecutive spells. If the opponent cannot get in a single hit, that's officially on them. Now it seems that Jane might actually win this after all, and with a new bet of 500 credits, she will earn a net gain of 300 back on her Leray license card.
Jane tried it once again, even though she wasn't sure if Jack was as fazed from her last spell as he was from the Shadow Wave. Charging in yet another magical skill, Jane formed the same glyphring around her wrist while taking aim. "Ice Needles!"
"A third attack?!" Danny winced. Is Jane being crazy or stupid?
Jane shot another barrage of Ice Needles straight at her target, but much against her hopes and wishes, Jack was suddenly ready for her.
"Whirlwind!" Jack unleashed some of the energy he was charging for a good defensive technique against such an attack from Jane. Jane simply did not see it coming. Shortly after Jane's Ice Needles came really close, Jack finally unleashed his magical spell known as Whirlwind. The powerful gusts of air suddenly surrounded him, spanning outward as the completely visible Whirlwind grew in size and speed.
This time, it was Jane who was taken by surprise. Jack used Whirlwind, even though he was much too far away for that attack to reach her own range, but that was never the intention for her opponent. As soon as the high speed winds spawned, every single piece of the Ice Needles became swept up in the windy currents, spinning up and around totally out of control. In that short moment, Jack's Whirlwind space grew even more after Jane's Ice Needles spell was completely decimated.
Jack's Whirlwind eventually faded away. Though it scored no damage on Jane, he managed to get the upper hand on her unrelenting combination of attacks. Now it was his turn for sure, and any attempt Jane could make to add to her chain of attacks would only leave her vulnerable to Jack's next decision. It was a bit rare to see Whirlwind used in this way. Whirlwind is a weak attack that makes use of wind elemental magical damage by surrounding the user in the wind that deals such damage. It's almost like an attack and defensive aura, except put into a full magical spell rather than a real aura. One must be at close range to use it correctly. That was proven so until now. Jack used Whirlwind as a defense against those light-weight flying projectiles in order to not take any hits from Ice Needles, and in doing so, he was now ready to act, his attack window wide open.
Jane could only prepare herself to dodge while watching Jack charge up his MP energy. Already, Jack's hands were glowing brightly from the reaction, and a bright green glyphring formed around his right wrist. The glyphring was larger than most glyphrings are, and the coloring was most unusual. Jack only chanted the name of his spell as loud as he could just before releasing all of that energy. "Exa-Plasmosis!" Jack plunged his right hand through the glyphring, shooting out a powerful purple colored Fire Bolt. Jack pulled back his arm, and threw in his left one through the same glyphring, shooting out a second Fire Bolt that was green in color, and he did this again with his right arm for a third and final purple colored Fire Bolt attack. This spell was different in many ways. The Fire Bolts acted strangely, and the color was purple mixed with green instead of that usual orange fiery glow that goes in with fire based attacks. Whatever it was, Jane was in trouble already.
Danny watched what was happening before going down to look in his book. Fire Bolts have homing characteristics on the target, so Jane wouldn't be able to dodge it as well. Since there are three of them, it makes dodging that much more difficult. In just a flash of time, Jane couldn't react correctly, taking all three consecutive hits from the charged up Fire Bolts. The last one packed enough force to send Jane flying backwards through the air for a good fifteen feet.
Jane never felt such a powerful force slam into her like this before. It mixed the sense of a forceful blunt attack with a fiery burning sensation all over her skin. No ordinary Fire Bolt could have been that powerful, but Jane had to deal with the pain plus falling hard on her back before she could get back up and figure out what just happened.
"Awh! What spell was that?" Taylor had no idea what Exa-Plasmosis does. Luckily, she had Danny next to her flipping through pages to figure it out.
"Found it!" Danny kept his finger on the words as he read. "Wow! It's a power level five skill! It warps Fire Bolt attacks into a plasmatic form, increasing their power and changing the damage type from fire elemental to pure magical damage."
"Ouch!" Taylor replied. "And Jane got hit by all three of them. No wonder she lost the first round. Hang tough Jane!" It's still earlier than mid-day, and the weather had not changed one bit. Nobody even realized this for now, since Jane's battle against Jack was getting really popular so fast. Taylor finally discovered the reason for why Jane lost. She really did pick a tough customer. Taylor feared that she and Danny combined against Jack alone would result in failure.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/2S8sSyF0/S2-Jane-N-009.png]
Jane could feel her head spinning rapidly. People tend to get dizzy when HP runs low, so this indicated how poorly she was faring. She managed to stand back up, but the plasma bolt that hit her right leg was making it hard for Jane to maintain her balance. Still, she was able to continue, and she vowed not to lose to this man a second time. Her own leather outfit wasn't doing all that well to defend her, but perhaps it was because Jack was fighting really well to counter that specific factor.
Jane shook her head, pretending to shake off the other pains all over her body as well. In another attempt to get in a good long ranged attack, Jane began releasing her energy, already forming a large jade color glyphring around her right wrist as she took perfect aim at her target. "Lightning Strike!" Jane's hand released a powerful steady stream of electrical energy that immediately made contact with Jack.
In the first round, Jane was the one hit with Lightning Strike, but now the tides were different this round. Both Jack and Jane were battling really hard. In the end, that's what matters. Jane remembered what it felt like to be hit by a lightning blast, and almost took pity on her opponent as he was constantly taking damage over time. Lightning Strike is an electrical attack with two official names. Some people prefer to call it Thunderbolt, but it's all the same in battle. The person hit with this is locked in place by the surge of electrical damage. Their HP is reduced over that time in intervals, and the pain associated with this kind of attack is uniquely scary. Without the Leray protection zone, an electrical jolt would not even be remembered by the person experiencing it, due to death or incapacitation, but in Leray matches, the victim feels the pain while remaining completely conscious enough to feel it, the pain and force of an electrical current running deep through their veins.
After it was finally over, Jack was left stunned in place from the after effects of that spell. Thunderbolt cannot be dodged no matter what, since it is an ability that strikes as soon as it begins. Only if the user's aim is bad will it miss. What Jack was feeling right now was a mixture of pain, heat, and the tingling sensation of being stuck with millions of tiny needles, plus a major drain in stamina from that jolt hold.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/1517fXPp/S2-Jack-N-013.png]
Danny silently considered a unique possibility of something just after seeing Jane fail to evade some of the abilities shown against her so far. After witnessing her evasion therapy last week, it was quite a surprise to notice the opposite results here in a real battle. But did that have to do with the condition Jane recovered from before?
Jane wanted to score in another attack right now, but that much use on her own MP plus her more critical HP levels left her nearly as drained as Jack was. Both of them were now slowing down as anybody would be able to tell.
Jack had other methods to turn the battle around in his favor. Since it was still sunny out with a clear sky, and he was losing his health fast, the only best way to recover is with a conditional aura of which only he knew. It didn't take much time to charge in the MP needed to use the spell, but since he was low on his remaining MP, it was really difficult to invoke, draining him even further. "Solar Regen!" Jack's voice was not as loud as before either, clear indications that he was wearing down quickly. As soon as he launched his Solar Regen spell, his body began to glow with a green aura, brighter than the one he had after using Deliverance Offense.
"Solar Regen?" Taylor repeated.
"I'm on it." Danny began flipping the book more, all the way over to the S category under the Aura section. "Solar Regen. It's a support aura with a power level of five. Using the environmental factor of bright sunlight, the user can gradually regenerate lost HP over time, up to 25% overall."
"Jack can regenerate his own health?!" Taylor was taught that only healing orbs and gradual rest outside of battle can restore lost HP, but this information wrecked that constraint. If there are healing spells out there, even if difficult to learn, making use of them can totally make that user a winner every time.
"But he can only use it once every hour! It says so right here." Danny pointed the text out to Taylor since she was interested. It means that Jack can only heal himself like that just one time, and there is no chance of this battle dragging out longer than ten more minutes from now.
Jane could barely make much out through the dome shield around her. It's partially sound proof by design, but she managed to hear Taylor's voice. That didn't boost her confidence though. Jack can regenerate his health? Of course! That glow around his body, it's a support aura, and that change on his energy scope was proving it.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/TYj7mxYB/S2-Jack-N-014.png]
Though it was happening very slowly, Jack's HP count went up by one percent every ten seconds or so. Jack was still too tired to do much of anything right now, but soon, he would be back up. Jane knew this was bad, and took initiative to fight back faster than he could regenerate his health. She immediately charged her MP energy into another attack, one that was harder to perform and taxing on the MP levels. Jane still had the advantage over Jack as far as MP reserves go, so it won't be easy for him to make that many moves right now. "Tri-Attack!"
Jane managed to unleash her energy in a most incredible way. After her hands were brightly glowing from the magic being released, Jane ended up spawning a total of three separated glyphrings, all floating closely to Jack in the air. One of the glyphrings was red. Another was bright blue, and the third was a darker blue with the hint of green. All of them were rotating, aimed at Jack with totally different angles. From an aerial view, the three glyphrings would have formed an equilateral triangle in shape with each other, but this was the power of Jane's special attacks. She unleashed her energy, forcing all kinds of magic to emerge from each glyphring.
From the red glyphring, a Fire Bolt attack shot through. From the bright blue glyphring, an Ice Bolt attack was sent towards Jack. From the darker colored glyphring, another Lightning Strike zapped Jack where he stood. This all happened in such a way where Jack was being electrocuted a moment before the other two elemental bolts of magic struck him where he was frozen. All three attacks hit him for massive amounts of damage. And at the same time, the effects were shown in more than just his energy scope.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/P5t6Q7CJ/S2-Jack-N-015.png]
Jack was down on his knees in pain, or perhaps from all of that sudden exhaustion. Now his HP and MP were both critical, and that makes a major difference in battle with regards to will and stamina. Jack was really slowing down now, but he wasn't backing down just yet. He wouldn't be able to honestly, since he went and used Doom Shield, which prevents escape for as long as the current battle lasts. Even after that massive attack he just took, Jack managed to try and use another ability while balancing on his knees.
Danny was amazed at how insane this battle was becoming so far. Jane's Tri-Attack was really something. It's a skill that enables one to use three elemental attacks at the same time, with the outrageous cost in MP. But now Jack was getting back up. His HP just went up by one percent thanks to his Solar Regen effects.
"Rip-Tide Wave!" This time, his voice was loud and mean, and so were his magical capabilities when it comes to attacking too. Despite having a really low MP level, Jack managed to somehow successfully invoke a magical attack against Jane. From the base of his hands, he ended up throwing a small yet powerful horizontal Whirlwind of air in the form of a projectile. Actually, he threw three of them consecutively.
Jane was helpless to identify the attack, and so she could not dodge it effectively. Rip-Tide Wave is a strange attack that mixes a projectile of a wind elemental spell with physical slashing damage inside as well, but the range of the projectile itself makes it tough to identify in the air. Jane was already feeling lightheaded already, and this was the last thing she needed right now. With the first wave of the attack, the impact on Jane's chest carried in a solid slam!
Jane was already tossed off balance with a gust of air that somehow hit with more force than it should of. In the same moment, Jane could feel that gust slice across her stomach as if it were the edge of a sharp pointed blade. After being knocked down again, Jane was hit by the next two, equally as powerful as the first one. The pain from it all had her stunned too much for thought.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/9Fp32ZT4/S2-Jane-N-010.png]
"Oh no!" Taylor was in fear that it was now over. Jack would be the winner of this battle at this rate. Jane was in too deep of a bad situation, and to make things worse, Jane can't call off the battle and admit defeat without passing out completely. It's not unhealthy to black out at the end of a fierce battle, but it would take Jane fifteen humiliating minutes to regain consciousness again. That would become a moment that reminded Taylor of something she would rather forget. Of course, calling off the battle to admit defeat still means you lose, but at least you get to make a speedy recovery that way. The Doom Shield is always in effect once used, all until the battle is decided for real.
Jane felt as if her head was under the darkest depths of water. It was really hard to think anymore, let alone move a single muscle. In just another moment, Jane was suddenly aware of where she was and what just happened. She was still in battle, still barely awake. Her aches and pains disagreed with her will to win this match, and her critical HP was making it tough for Jane to see straight.
She knew that Jack's last spell had to at least drain the last of his MP, so he will have to get closer to attack again. But with his Solar Regen in effect, how can she get in one spell after another in a safe and calm way? By asking the question in her mind, Jane immediately had her own answer. She remembered a really high level special ability that can be the real tide turner in any match. Now would be the best time to use it. Of course, Jane never managed to make it happen before, even in training. Hundredth time's the charm. Jane forced herself to stand up admits the severe lightheaded sensation taking her. She began slowly charging her MP energy for this one. It was going to take a while just to properly invoke this skill anyway.
Jane also tried to speak to Jack. Even just by taunting him, she might buy herself some more time. "I'm not losing this match. You're going down!" Her voice was pathetic as she tried to project. Her balance was not well maintained and she stumbled for a moment without cutting the supply of her growing MP energy.
"You don't look like you could harm a fly," Jack retorted. "Not right now anyway."
"We'll see about that..." Jane's hands were glowing as bright as anyone had ever seen them glow before. Her next magical attack was going to be a big one. While chanting the name of her spell, Jane also threw her hands outward in a spiral motion. "Zero Zone!" At first, whatever Jane was doing looked really cool, and her balance somehow was maintained during her invocation of her Zero Zone spell, but as another few seconds went by, nothing happened. Everything went sort of quiet except for the crowd of fans cheering both of them on. Jane's hands stopped glowing, and her sense of balance had been lost again as she struggled to stand up properly. Her exhaustion suddenly intensified with the massive drop in her MP levels.
"What's this?" Jack inspected. "Drawing blanks now are we?"
Jane checked her energy scope. Her MP really did get used up, dropping from 45% down to 14%. She had enough energy to use that skill, but once again, she failed to invoke it so. "Why didn't that work?" she muttered under her breath.
"Zero Zone?" Taylor provoked. "What's that?"
Danny went to the back of the book, since it begins with the last letter, but after reaching to correct destination, he couldn't find the entry to Zero Zone at all. Jane once told them about that kind of powerful attack before, but Danny wasn't sure if he remembered it correctly. Didn't Jane said it had something to do with warping space and time all together? No, that can't be it...
Jack twisted his arms in a gesture to stretch. "I guess I'll have to go then."
Jane backed away in fear. She knew she was now screwed. "No!"
"Bullet Mirage!" Jack pulled out a pair of Uzis from two yellow glyphrings summoning each weapon into the space for him to hold onto. The MP it cost to spawn those weapons into battle only took up 3%, which had regenerated for Jack in the time Jane was leading on with her failed attempt of whatever a Zero Zone attack was supposed to do. It didn't matter now, since Jack drew his weapons at Jane and pulled the trigger, firing a barrage of bullets in her direction. Metal bullets infiltrated through her skin everywhere, drilling with incredible pain that was not long lasting. As quickly as it takes for a lightning blast to hit someone, Jane was already on the floor, completely unconscious as her energy scope degraded the HP stats to nothingness long before the Bullet Mirage spell could come to a closing sequence.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/mgX0z4mB/S2-Jane-N-011.png]
Even though Jane had now just been officially defeated, Jack's weapons were still auto-firing bullets into the field, blasting the sound of explosions through the soundproof shield dome. Naturally, the bullets that missed were absorbed by the dome shield surrounding them. Now that Jane was done and passed out completely, this match was finally over.
Jack was sure of it. Jane was totally and completely incapacitated now. It was sort of a shame to put all of her hard work down like that, but she almost had Jack down for the count. "Excellent battle Jane. Thanks for that." His words charged the excitement in the crowd of spectators quickly, as they were momentarily silent to find out that Jane had lost. As soon as that happened, the Siriean dome around them completely faded from the ground up. Doom Shield becomes disabled after either side loses their HP completely, in order for the shield to go away after the match. Now that it was over, the reward spoils were transferred.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
Chapter Theme Shift: Mystery Theme ~ Aleksandar Randjelovic (Genesis Rising OST)
----------------------------------------
Taylor and Danny were in total disbelief. Jane not only lost, but she was totally out of it now. Anyone who faints in a Leray battle is perfectly healthy in every sense of the way, but this scene of Jane laying on the ground unconscious was much scarier than it was degrading. Danny and Taylor both thought of Jane as their best friend. It would be unthinkable if anything bad really happened to her.
"Jane!" Taylor took off, unable to accept that Jane was really down and out of it. Danny followed Taylor closely behind, but he at least knew that this is the way things were right now. The battle he had before realizing Jane was going at this Jack character was nowhere near as intense as this moment. How incredible! At the same time, Jane is going to be angry after waking up from this one, and to think, she lost all because she relied on a spell she didn't even know how to invoke.
"Jane, come on!" Taylor seemed to be nervous, concerned for Jane’s physical health as she could not respond to anything else, lying flat in the grass.
"She's out!" Danny reminded. Taylor didn't seem to understand that in Sprawn Valley, this is totally normal for people who really lose the battle. Although, nobody ever gets knocked out in training sessions. So this really is a first for all of them. Still, he could tell the difference between this and a more real danger. "Jane will have to wake up when she's ready to."
"Damn!" Taylor cursed. "She lost!"
"It was a possibility, even for Jane." Danny knew it. Jane acts all tough all the time; in truth she really is. Jane could likely defeat him and Taylor in a Leray match two against one. But against this guy... Danny scanned around for Jack. He knew that Taylor hunching over Jane like that would draw in enough attention to be spotted by anyone, but the crowd of people were already dispersing, already on their way back to run their own errands they were now late to finish. Jack was hard to spot in that crowd of growing civilians, but he was also approaching them.
Jack found Jane's friends hovering around Jane's body, who was currently incapacitated. After approaching them, he sent his gratitude through the words left unaccepted before. "That was some battle. I underestimated Jane for certain, so I guess that is the reason she asked for a rematch. That said, we both need more training. I didn't expect her to get much further in the second round." Jack held out his open hand in front of the young man.
Danny didn't know this was coming. Leray matches must really be a formal way to prove one's strength and connection with Leray magic overall. If Jane lost honorably, that means Jack is so impressed that he honors Jane's abilities too. This handshake was meant for Jane, but since she is the one who cannot respond to anything right now, he was her substitute. Danny huffed for calm air while he stood up tall to shake Jack's hand. "Thanks."
Jack knew he could not stay long after having two battles against the same person, and he let go of Danny's firm grip. "Excellent battle. Good luck to all of you. I have to be on my way now, as I quota my battles daily." Jack turned around, preparing to walk off in the direction of Gross City. He lifted his hat up as a gesture, "Good day," and placed it back on his head while walking away.
Taylor managed to have her healing orb ready and available, but as far as these items go, it can't use it on people while they are unconscious, else it will be totally wasted. Jane must first wake up from her nap, after which, her HP will automatically be restored to 10%. Even in that moment, Taylor will use her own healing orb to restore her. Danny probably cannot detect this yet, but Taylor knew exactly what was about to happen, just as soon as Jane wakes up.