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<01/19/1972 – 02:02 | Route 96, Junon Region, Sprawn Valley>
Jane felt much more awake and alive than ever before. The unforgettable realization claimed her after the battle against a tough opponent by the name of Belzer. No matter how much she was slowed down by random events, Jane decided that nothing she ever did was a waste of time. The cold breezes of wind still forced her to slow her pace every now and then, shivering under the mercenary outfit that she called a blanket. Her degraded armor was barely a thing of protection anymore. Only a thin layer of metal protected her left leg and an uneven fraction of her chest.
Even with this to worry about, Jane was satisfied again, satisfied because she knew she could make it to Lennith City before the end of the night. Even if someone does pop out to slow her down, Jane would simply accept the challenge and win the fight just like she did against Belzer, and if it was problematic enough, Jane could just bet really high and make the battle more worth it. Though she still pondered the definition of a Leray gradyent. The term was quite new to her, but that guy made it sound like a life time job since the beginning of Leray practices. Way to go Dakota! Another thing that should have been included in basic training. Eliza only managed a short description of such things.
It wasn't before long when Jane finally came into contact with another suspicious looking person. Another female, twice her size and age standing almost in the middle of the road. Actually she was slouching, long in wait for something or someone to show themself to her. Jane had an unexciting guess as to what that might be, just as the woman noticed her and took immediate action.
"Excuse me?" the lady asked.
"I knew it," Jane muttered quietly. When someone on this road wants to battle, they just stand there like a creep and approach anyone who might be passing by. Can't they just travel and fight at the same time?
"Do you have a Leray license?"
Jane knew it was coming. The woman is another Leray wielder eager for a battle. Of course! It didn't take long to get close to the woman. Instead of saying anything, Jane simply held up her license to the stranger, allowing her to take a good long look at the card and put her suspicions to rest.
"Perfect! I hoped so."
Jane put her license away, noticing how badly the person wanted to have a Leray match long before officially asking. "What do you people come out here to do anyway?"
"What do you mean?"
Jane quickly rephrased her question, "I mean, how can everybody on Route 96 just sit out in the middle of nowhere waiting for people to battle?"
"Route tribulations," she answered confidently.
Jane had never looked more confused than now. With every person she met, new words were invented out of thin air. "Uh... Route tribulations?"
She stood up straight, ready to answer the questions of her future opponent. "All of us graduates from Lennith's training facility were given a task. It's not something anybody has to do of course, but we all have a solid method of intense Leray training to become the best and challenge the champion this year."
Jane didn't realize until now that she wasn't the only person excited about battling the champion. Everybody wants a taste of fighting against the strongest wielder, and that means a ton of competition is soon to follow. Still, what was this person going on about? "I still don't get it."
"Well I can obviously tell you graduated from a different facility then. Route tribulations are like a training method after graduation. We create a quota of battles to win out of a certain amount for each and every single route. And after we've done it enough times for each road in every region, we do it again for towns instead of roads. After that, we try out for the big leagues. It's a very specific process designed to maximize training potential."
Jane needed moments to process what the stranger was talking about. "I think I understand... Maybe. You said we?"
"Oh! Where are my manners?" The woman held her arm out at Jane, urging her to shake hands. "My name's Teresha."
Jane shook her hand, and then introduced herself to Teresha. "I'm Jane. Jane Venn." At least this person is not as hostile as she once thought. Teresha seems to have more genuine intentions than most of the other people on this road. Her short explanation of route tribulations must be some sort of organized format of field training. It explains why people are just hang around waiting on people like Jane to swing by. Even though it is creepy, Jane figured this was a valid strategy for training.
"Well, most of everyone's gone home by now, but Clayton and I like to train here at night. Zack does too, but he already lost and went home for today."
Jane didn't see anyone else around, and her glancing didn't help either. "Where is this Clayton?"
"He's further down the road. I cover wielders coming from Monoc, and he covers wielders coming from Lennith City."
"I get it now. If I want to pass, I'll have to get challenged by you and this Clayton person on the way there."
"Yep," Teresha cheerfully agreed. "We're both doing pretty well, but we need to keep on challenging as many people on this route as we can. That's why it's teeming with wielders lately. I think another school near Monoc does the same thing."
So that's what's up on this road! Jane thought there was something fishy about the amount of challengers here during night time. It's not unheard of to be challenged on routes of any kind, but back in the Gulop region, it's much less common, at least during nightfall. For this specific road, nightfall should have lowered the population more than it was now. "Well, I suppose you're about to ask me to a battle, huh?"
"You read my mind," Teresha answered while pointing at Jane's face, nearly clipping her eyes. "Please? I really want to show Clayton that it will be I who advances forward."
Jane didn't know how to respond, but at least Teresha wasn't a bad person, and though her request was formal, she was being cheerful about the whole thing. "Okay, but know this Teresha. I will be the one to challenge the champion someday, and that means I will have to defeat you and Clayton in one swoop."
"Wow! I didn't know you would be so confident! How about we aim a good bet then? How does eight hundred credits sound?"
"Not bad," Jane nodded. It's much lower compared to the last rewards she obtained here. Maybe this will be easier than she thought. "I'll accept." Jane felt so relaxed having to do this with someone she could get along with, and she quickly became excited on the prelude to a battle. Before, people were just forcing her into it. It wasn't the same thing with Teresha. She wanted to battle, but all with her heart in the right place. The good news didn't bother Jane either. Jane was slightly more than sixty percent toward Lennith now if Belzer's testimony was correct, and after Teresha, there should only be one more person around the same skill level as Teresha. This was good news indeed. "Now let's get to that battle."
Only a full minute passed. Jane and Teresha positioned themselves at the usual distance at the beginning of the match. After agreeing to usual terms of the match, the Siriean dome shrouded the entire battlefield with its shielding powers, while lighting up the field ever so slightly. The reward spoil system created its holographic text in the same usual way it always had, prompting Jane and Teresha to both show their energy scopes and begin the match head on.
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image [https://i.postimg.cc/HsSMFvSV/S2-Jane-Armor-029.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/5Nx48xSC/S2-Teresha-N-000.png]
Teresha and Jane's eyes then locked. At that, Teresha hollered through the distance to her opponent. "I'll let you have the first attack Jane."
Jane took a deep and calming breath. This was like any other battle, but it's also the kind that people should have all the time, on friendlier terms. Jane had to quickly accept that the battles before her, including the ones ahead of her would only make her stronger, even before fixing the curse draining her endurance level. With all of that desire to reach the Den of Purity, Jane was still not about to take the fight lightly either. "Right!" she responded.
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Chapter Theme Shift: La gis sulva za Celow (Extended) ~ Magia Record OST
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Jane immediately made her move, charging MP energy into her hands, feet, and daggers. Though she kept her blades withdrawn for now, Jane charged at her new opponent, starting off with one of her new and effective skills. "Time to use Knight Dance!" Jane got close to Teresha really quickly, prompting Teresha to try and block the oncoming assault.
Jane was simply too quick for defensive blocks however. She pulled her daggers at the last moment, striking Teresha's body where she could not block over and over. Jane switched up her combination frequently between punches, dagger slices, and kicks to make her movements and attacks unpredictable. Teresha could only stand there taking each hit, the damage amplified by Jane's magical infusion for all of her physical strikes. When it was over, Jane retreated as quickly as she could, assessing the damages of her work.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/vH3Qzp0S/S2-Teresha-N-001.png]
Teresha was fine, despite all of the sudden pains from those strikes. She had taken much worse attacks in the past, but Jane was obviously not holding anything back. In the few seconds of this battle, Teresha and Jane were both huffing and puffing with serious expressions staring in opposition. If Jane was going to take this fight seriously, then Teresha would do the same. She unleashed her charged energy from her arms, throwing the magic out in front of her. "Shadow Wave!" Teresha's Shadow Wave attack took shape and form, growing larger and more powerful as it headed straight for Jane from the ground.
Jane had a hard time seeing Teresha's Shadow Wave, and she had no choice but to take the full hit from its effects. The Shadow Wave pushed back against Jane, forcing pressure against her as her shoes slide in the concrete just so that she could keep her stance, but at the same time, Jane was taking constant damages, mostly from the slashing attacks embedded into the Shadow Wave aura.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/mgt943qV/S2-Jane-Armor-030.png]
Jane resisted the force as much as she could, her mind stirring into a new state of focus. This entire contest between the two of them felt more serious than it should of, but Jane used this life-threatening sensation to her advantage, motivating herself to give each moment all she had. If Teresha could see her motivated stare now, it would terrify the opponent.
Jane started first by comparing their separate invocations of Shadow Waves. It was true that Jane's Shadow Wave was somehow more refined. Teresha's Shadow Wave attack contained less force after its explosion, and the size of the wave itself was not nearly as large as her own. Still, with her armor now failing, Jane's low endurance was beginning to control the battle against her all over again. The metal armor she was wearing did so little now to protect her from magic damage; it was a miracle that it was still attached firmly to her body.
Jane focused on her next move, using abilities only from the list of new ones she had learned. There wasn't anything wrong with the abilities she learned from before her training on Monoc port, but using a variety of powers is usually the best way to get the upper hand in a Leray match. Jane knew that better than she thought, and went with another simple yet effective power. "Drilling Fate!" Jane threw her daggers forward again, this time taking on the horizontal twisting formation that allowed her magic and her daggers to fuse together and create a horizontal twister attack. The tornado became a large spinning projectile, slamming into Teresha with kinetic pressure. The damage caused to her was a mixture of wind elemental and slashing damage, one with much more force than any ordinary twister. Confirming the impact, Jane decided she loved her new style and tactics. They worked well to quickly deplete Teresha's HP.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/GmtbSqN3/S2-Teresha-N-002.png]
Teresha was forced backwards in a slide like Jane was earlier, and her dark hair became all frazzled by the powerful gust of wind. Meeting force with force didn't deter Teresha however; she instead became twice as motivated to wipe Jane out of the game early. She began to charge at Jane in response, forcing her to try and block out whatever attack was coming. Jane suspected an early on close combat attack, as it would be easy for her to evade or even retaliate, but as Teresha got much closer, she chanted the name of a spell which formed a yellow glyphring above her body only for a short second. The glyphring formed a very large hammer, the kind that was larger than any other weapon available. "Hammer of Might!" Teresha must have a lot of hidden muscles, because she was able to lift the massive hammer and swing it forward at Jane effortlessly. Jane couldn't respond in time, taking the hit right to her chest plate and forcing her backwards off balance.
Jane landed on her side, stunned by the force she took from that powerful hammer smash while the sound of clashing metal deafened her ear drums, but the pain didn't feel half as bad as it should of. The magical hammer hit her right in the chest plate, so it must have absorbed much more of the damage than she did. Jane didn't see any critical breaks lingering on her armor, so she stood back up determined as ever.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/jSm7Sw-YT/S2-Jane-Armor-031.png]
Jane was prepared to try a counterattack, but Teresha had other ideas. Already being close to Jane, she unleashed some more of her magic, charging in closer to her opponent with her hands and feet glowing blue with magical auras of damage infused into them. "Power Attack!"
Jane couldn't tell exactly what Teresha was up to, but it was clear enough she was feeling lucky to score a second hit against her. Jane was worried more about her armor. It was probably time to just let it go, but it still did a good job at protecting her. Teresha must be trying to finish it off with that skill. Jane responded instead by using a different spell, knowing it was going to leave her open to Teresha's oncoming brute force. "Armor Protector!" Jane whiffed her hand over her chest plate, causing it to become surrounded in a dark red aura with black spots moving around inside. It was the aura that she enabled last time to protect her entire suit of armor from damage.
In the nick of time, Jane's Armor Protector spell took full effect just as Teresha unleashed her combination attack against Jane. It was just a random series of punches and kicks infused with magical energy, just like Jane's Knight Dance attack. Teresha didn't have any weapon drawn out with her; she was just using her body to attack, but in Jane's perception, it was quite effective anyway, knocking her off guard and off balance. Teresha eventually put enough power into her last punch to knock Jane completely on her back again. Teresha then retreated while Jane tried to get back up, no longer the target of unrelenting hits.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/k4dRW05h/S2-Jane-Armor-032.png]
Jane immediately noticed that her armor hadn't taken any damage this time, protected by the powerful red aura that acted as a personal shield for the armor itself. The energy shield would remain there until her opponent could somehow strike enough damage against that aura. Jane was thus feeling fine, and she stood up unwilling to accept any additional damage. Still thinking about the new spells only, Jane went in for a tricky kind of attack. After pulling out one single dagger, Jane unleashed her energy with the chant, charged during the time she spent on the ground. "Dark Strike!"
Teresha didn't understand it when Jane suddenly disappeared in a dark cloudy mist. Before she knew it, Jane had reappeared behind her, striking her dagger upwards with enough force to launch Teresha high into the air. The first thing she noticed was the damage and the pain from that single hit, and then the smack down as she slammed back into the cement without enough control to prevent it. Jane infused magical energy into that strike as well, causing a good deal of damage against Teresha.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/htYKFVWL/S2-Teresha-N-003.png]
Teresha didn't expect to take the last dagger strike, but she managed to get back up much quicker than she and Jane expected. Jane apparently didn't back away very far, standing so close to Teresha right after using her Dark Strike attack, likely for another attack. Teresha reacted quickly in her recovery, pushing some invisible energy out in Jane's direction with a chant. "Push Wave!"
Jane was suddenly forced backward by an invisible force more powerful than wind. Her feet slid in the concrete as Jane maintained her balance, but the force pushed her nearly eighteen feet backwards without causing damage. It was the effects of Push Wave. It's actually a skill that pushes the opponent away from the user if they are too close for comfort, though it doesn't cause any magical damage as a result.
Jane didn't mind it though. She had ways of attacking from far distances after all, and Teresha would not be able to rely on close range skills forever. After pulling out both her daggers, Jane charged more energy into the very tips of each blade, aiming them at Teresha as if they were guns. "Mako Beam!" Jane shouted. Two beams of bright blue energy shot out of each dagger one at a time, Jane firing them from the tips of the daggers as the firing arc. Each beam was as quick to strike and fade as bolts of lightning naturally occurring in the sky. Jane's evanescent beams of light scored small damage for each hit against Teresha, making it impossible for her to dodge or block it out. Jane shot a third beam from her left dagger as well, scoring a third hit. She usually just went with two solid beams of light, but it didn't need to be two every single time. As Jane discovered the damage drop in her opponent's HP levels, it turned out to be true that Mako Beam's power level was most unimpressive.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/HL7dTjdf/S2-Teresha-N-004.png]
Though each hit from the beams temporarily interrupted Teresha's stance and balance, it hardly made it difficult for her to make a full recovery and retaliate quickly. This time she didn't hold back, unleashing a ton of MP energy while aiming both arms at the ground in front of Jane. "Radial Blast!"
"Uh oh!" Jane responded with worry. Radial Blast was something she could use too, and that means she knew exactly what power she would be in for. Multiple explosions already began populating the battlefield, coming out of nowhere in random locations all centered around where Jane was standing. Jane couldn't do anything but hope not to take any hits, but a short second afterwards, her hope was in vain. One explosion caught her off guard, sending her off her feet and giving her body a spin from all of the force of the blast involved. Just before Jane was about to smack face first into the ground, another small explosion erupted right there, in the place she was destined to fall down on. The next explosion forced her back from there, causing a high amount of damage as she was forced on her back with a searing kind of pain that felt like a massive bruise to her entire body. The aftershock made Jane's ears ring while everything became harder to hear.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/Y0r4sQY6/S2-Jane-Armor-033.png]
Jane was lucky to still have her armor covered in a protective veil from the spell she cast earlier, but it didn't look like Teresha was about to give up on the attacks either, not by the way she was shifting around.
Jane immediately stood back up, willing to fight as strongly as before. She went with a more simple kind of counterattack, hoping to get the initiative afterwards. Jane's small blue glyphring surrounded her right wrist as she unleashed the energy in her opponent's direction. "Ice Needles!" Jane fired a barrage of frozen needles capable of dealing Ice elemental piercing damage, and the wide area of the barrage wasn't going to make things easy to dodge.
Even still, Teresha reacted anyway, shifting her legs and running far to her right without facing away from Jane. In a quick sprinting effort to evade the entire barrage, Jane gasped in surprise after Teresha actually managed evasion. Teresha dodged the entire attack of Ice Needles by running to the side, and she was now creating a strange colored glyphring in front of her chest aimed at Jane.
"Photon Wave!" Teresha's excellent power and much of her energy went into this spell, creating a brightly colored grey glyphring in front of her. This time, the glyphring wasn't actually connected to her body, though she still used it to unleash the rest of her magical energy. Jane didn't know what to do of course, as many don't get to experience this kind of spell and stay awake to remember it. Teresha performed her special ability, shooting a massive barrage of beautiful dark photons out from the glyphring. Each photon shooting out of the spinning disk was almost black in color with a shadowy body, all with long tails forming as they traveled quickly through the air. In the darkness, they became incredibly hard to see the closer they got to Jane, and there had to be at least sixteen of these photons all on their way towards Teresha's target. All of them have homing capabilities too, so Jane could only stand there and block the attack as best she could. Teresha knew better; the force of this is high in potential, causing only magical damage without elements involved, while evasion is impossible.
Jane felt like she was being pelleted by big burning bricks and stones, the painful sensation quickly draining her own life energy as she stood there getting weaker after each and every hit. The last one made Jane dizzy enough for her to drop down, fragile from the insane amount of damage the attack called at once. At the same time, the spell was more than powerful enough to completely shut down the aura that was previously protecting her armor. With the Armor Protector spell now disabled, Jane's broken chest plate was nothing more than chipped metal and mangled mesh again.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/mkmcfhy0/S2-Jane-Armor-034.png]
The massive damage to Jane was irreversible at this point, but it also put an incredible amount of stress on Teresha's MP reserves as well. Despite the incredible drain it caused her, Jane forced herself back up to fight again. She got a compliment from her enemy mid-battle.
"I'm impressed!" Teresha cheered. "Not many survive my Photon Wave attack."
"It's not over yet," Jane promised. Before giving Teresha time to let the thought sink in, she quickly invoked another magical ability. Jane had some trouble in the past using her Lightning Strike because of how long it took to invoke the spell in a battle, but much to her own surprise, her invocation was almost immediate. The glyphring formed and fired the bolt of electricity, hitting Teresha and holding her down with high voltage before getting the chance to chant the name. Jane never got this spell to come forth so quickly before, but this usually happens after one use the same ability over and over in succession.
Teresha was being electrocuted in place, feeling the full and incredible sensation of the electrical shock to her muscles and nerves for a good 1.6 seconds of time. Even after Jane's electrical attack ended, Teresha felt charged up in a way that made her much more nervous, yet inexplicably drained at the same time. The pain to all of her nerves kept her from moving quickly afterwards.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/rmXcscpz/S2-Teresha-N-005.png]
Teresha replied to Jane's earlier remark. "I for one have to agree. Flash Kick!" Teresha struck immediately, just as she invoked her attack. Her entire body began to glow with a white hot light, and then she zoomed in with a running charge towards Jane. Teresha disappeared in her sprint towards Jane, becoming as fast as light. Just before stopping again, Teresha jumped into the air with her leg far out in front. At the last second when she reappeared, her foot slammed into Jane's chest plate. Though it got blocked partially from her armor, the magical kick with that speed put more than enough force to cause mayhem as Jane once again flew back off her feet, landing against the cement.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/gcsL6BbN/S2-Jane-Armor-035.png]
Jane's stomach had been emptied of air from that last kick. Though Teresha kicked her in the chest, it left Jane winded with pain and damage. Flash Kick is pretty much the same skill as Flashpoint, but it involves a kick at the end instead of a punch. Both skills are still infused with magical energy to increase the damage, making the body charge at the speed of light prior to impact. Teresha was not giving an inch to the battle, but Jane could tell that she was already losing.
After getting back up and getting over the pain, Jane simply came up with her next spell. Teresha would have a hard time dodging or blocking the attack, and her dress sphere made it obvious that she wouldn't be resistant to the elemental damage. "Tri-Fire!" Jane's red glyphring formed in front of her, surrounding her wrist as she held aim at Teresha again. Jane shot the first Fire Bolt from her hand with ease. She then had to twist and pull back on her arm slightly with a directional curvature to the left and right to fire the last two Fire Bolts. Her arm became the cannon, but her aim was still spot on. Fire Bolts have homing properties to account for aim loss anyway.
Responding to Jane's Triple Fire attack, Teresha tried to dodge the very first one, but she slid a bit too soon, and took the Fire Bolt head on. Then she absorbed the next two Fire Bolts just after, forcing her down and grunting in pain from the burning sensation of the magical ability.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/V6qwbTSg/S2-Teresha-N-006.png]
Teresha obviously didn't stand a chance against fire-based attacks. While the damage to her health was high already, it seemed to be a very painful experience for her as well. Impacts after a fire attack does more than inflict damage; it also gives the target the sensation of feeling burned on the impact site as well. Jane unfortunately had to learn that from the receiving end of the experience, but if Teresha has a weakness for fire, it would be best to exploit it in battle.
Teresha got over it quickly, creating a jade colored glyphring in front of her. Jane immediately knew that an unannounced Lightning Strike spell was already on its way. That color in the glyphring usually indicates as much. Obviously it can't be dodged...
"Lightning Strike!" Teresha fired her own bolt of electricity, getting back at Jane for what she did to her earlier, but as soon as the electrical bolt launched from the glyphring, the end of the beam ended up striking something else. Jane instinctively deflected the lightning bolt using the metal at the end of her daggers. The handles on the daggers were made of a rubbery material on the inside, and it allowed Jane to redirect the impact site of the electrical attack completely. Teresha gasped from the very idea that it was possible, let alone carried out right before her own eyes.
Jane didn't know if it would work until trying, but she held out the ends of her daggers far in front of her, the Lightning Strike being totally drawn and absorbed by the metal of her weapons. At the same time, Jane remained unaffected so far, but she really had to push back with a lot of force to keep this up. The kinetic push of the Lightning Strike was impressively strong. She was surprised in herself for getting so lucky as to hold her daggers in just the right spot to split up the damage this much. At last, the attack sequence ended with enough time, and Jane ended up deflecting the bolt away from her, striking the ground below instead.
Teresha took two steps backwards, unable to contemplate what just happened. "What was that?! You can deflect electricity with your daggers?"
Jane wasn't sure about that until now, but the confident ability and experience she just obtained would be remembered for a long time. The Rigel Runes are specifically infused with permanent magical essence energy, meaning they are capable of absorbing damage without physically breaking, and that also means it can potentially attract stray magic to the metal tips. This made Jane smile in determination, realizing the payoff in her perpetual persistence. "I already told you. I'm not losing this battle. I have a duty to make it to Lennith City, and I'm not stopping until it's over!" Jane never felt so energetic and charged up like this for some time, but it felt amazing. She gave into that sensation, charging up more energy for attacks. If Jane timed it well enough, she could keep it going over and over. "Triple Fire!" Jane shouted the name as her red glyphring formed again like before. Jane shot all three Fire Bolts successfully, one after the other with her arm twisting and turning in motion to make sure all three of them were launched outward.
Before the third Fire Bolt attack hit Teresha, Jane's red glyphring disappeared to signify the end of her spell cycle, and Jane reacted right then and there to keep herself going. She ran towards Teresha only for a few steps, then slid down on her shoes while spawning two familiar weapons into her hands. "Bullet Blitz!" Jane got hold of her sub machine guns, holding down the triggers to fire the barrage of bullets at Teresha. Jane's opponent continuously took damage shortly after feeling the effects of the last Fire Bolt attack, and it made her unable to overcome the pressure that was being put on.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/BbNGmKB1/S2-Teresha-N-007.png]
Jane didn't even consider to check the damage level right now. After her magazines emptied, Jane tossed her guns aside and pulled her daggers out while standing straight up. "Mako Beam!" She jumped right into another attack skill, not giving Teresha a chance to fight back. Jane's daggers shot blue beams from their tips like before, hitting Teresha again and again. This time, Jane used three beams instead of two, but after that, she put her daggers away and jumped back a bit while unleashing additional energy. The response created yet another powerful red colored glyphring in front of her. "Give you another Tri-Fire!" Jane immediately shot the Fire Bolts through her glyphring, invoking the skill slightly quicker than before. After the third Fire Bolt had been shot out, Jane suddenly stopped from her new-found exhaustion, the last spell draining the rest of her MP energy on the spot.
Teresha then sunk down to the ground much like Jane just did, but she didn't look like she could go on any longer either. Jane struggled to keep her balance as she stood up. Teresha looked up to see what Jane was up to, and then checked her own energy scope.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/Y0tHN3YH/S2-Teresha-N-008.png]
This was crazy! Jane just wasn't letting up anymore, spamming one spell after the next. It was no wonder why Teresha felt so dizzy and exhausted. The battle was already over, and she ran out of ideas rather quickly. Quitting wasn't her style, but Teresha saw no other choice. She couldn't stand up like Jane could right now, and she had to call it in with her voice. "Enough," she croaked. "I've had enough."
Jane canceled her next plan of attack, realizing that Teresha was throwing in the towel. She didn't hear her whisper from her current distance though, instead using Teresha's body language. "You give up?"
"You win Jane. That was impressive," she commended. Teresha struggled just to sit up properly. Her health was in a critical state of condition, but after announcing that Jane won the battle, the Siriean dome finally responded. The dome faded away like it normally does, leaving behind some more holographic text in the center of the field.
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Chapter Theme Shift: Mine 24 [A+B] ~ Resonance of Fate / End of Eternity OST
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Jane and Teresha both turned off their energy scopes with the battle now over. Jane proceeded towards her conquered opponent after setting her daggers into her mercenary suit pockets, helping Teresha up by extending her free hand. Teresha took Jane's hand for a boost back up before used a healing orb on herself.
Jane had the same idea to heal herself right after the battle, but she also checked her Leray license card curiously in question to see her grand total in credits so far. The bottom of her card's credit count had been updated. 4405 credits were stored on the electronic card. It was getting to be a rich amount already. Jane had to wait until now to realize that this was her fifth victory in a row. Amazing how much that armor and the new skills changed her odds of battling, but each victory came with close calls too. In almost every single battle, Jane knew that her HP was getting close to zero near the end. Even so, it gave her more to think about.
"I guess I need a lot more practice," Teresha admitted. "You might have what it takes to beat Clayton after all." Teresha was feeling completely recovered already, but because of the way Jane battled at the last second, Teresha couldn't take her eyes off her for a moment. Jane is so impressive!
Jane was still taking more time to recover herself, but the idea of another battle forced her into more preparation. Looking at Teresha with a proud smile, Jane announced, "Clayton's next huh? I don't suppose he'll just let me go by freely?"
"He is determined." Her voice made it sound more like a question than fact when answering Jane, hinting that Clayton may possibly let Jane by.
Jane returned her answer with much enthusiasm. "Well I'm more determined! Clayton can't stand in the way of me getting to Lennith City. And besides, all I have to fight next is him. Then I'll be scot free. Finally!"
Teresha hadn't thought about it before, but it almost seemed like Jane had to battle many tough opponents on this route coming all the way from Monoc town. If she keeps winning these battles, she'll receive a bonus exemption from battles for the next thirty-two hours. "You must have battled many people on this road so far today. I hope he is your last opponent. It will be sunrise in a few more hours."
Jane's happy expression quickly degraded. "I hope I'm close there by now."
Teresha exhaled calmly. "He'll be pretty close to the city. I'll have to go back there myself as well. You were my last opponent tonight anyway."
Yeah, if only Jane's last opponent was defeated long ago. Still, the ensuing cold of wind reminded Jane again of how alone she was on this road... "Want to come along and watch?"
"Of course," Teresha happily agreed, her voice getting high and excited. "I'd love to see the look on his face when he loses to you. I underestimated you Jane, and I think he will too."
"Right..." Am I that weak looking? Jane had enough energy still left in her. Despite all of the battles and training tonight, and despite all of the long hours of walking this path alone without many stops, Jane couldn't let her body's fatigue get to her. It just wasn't possible anymore. She was finally getting close! Closer and closer to Lennith City, and her final battle on Route 96 was imminent. Instead of feeling tired and exhausted, Jane couldn't be any more excited and prepared. She might explode with exhilaration!
Jane and Teresha set off together this time to the rest of the road. The path before them was still very much the same, and the cold frigid air made Jane shutter frequently, but now she wasn't alone anymore, at least not for the remainder of the path. She pressed onward, making Teresha keep up while both of them prepared to give Clayton a real battle. It would only be a matter of time now.