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<01/19/1972 – 04:25 | Route 96, Junon Region, Sprawn Valley>
Jane didn't trust her thoughts anymore to carry on. Though the battle against Belzer restored her own faith in Leray fights, the building exhaustion caught up with her again. Every muscle was aching in sore pain from being pulled, and the thoughts of Danny and Taylor stained her mind with a sharp heartache she couldn't get away from. Even if she couldn't help it, Jane knew the truth. She chose to leave them behind until reaching the Den of Purity, and there was not an easy way to turn back. Given the circumstances, it wasn't safe to just lay down on the side of the road and sleep, not on Route 96, and especially not for Jane.
The thought of her last battle reminded Jane how flexible and lighter she became without that metal suit of armor, but now it was gone, and it also highlighted how much thermal protection that thing provided. The cold air got to her more easily than the hours past, the skies above still perfectly clear. That metal suit could have done her more. Thousands of credits worth of armor, all down the drain. She was lucky that her previous battles have been making her much richer.
Jane tried her best to keep on going, when finally the shadowy figures of structures became visible in the distance. The gates left and right began to shift down the path, intersecting a bend and folding outward again. The gravel Jane was used to seeing on the floor was replaced with short grass and moss, flattening the landscape before her, each step easier to take. The structures in the distance did not resemble any tall buildings, nothing at all like that in Gross City, but this could be it; this could be the path that enters Lennith City!
From this range, it still had to be at least 0.8 miles away, but that was good enough for Jane. The gates exiting Route 96 were in visual sight, though they were still at least fourteen minutes away on foot. Her spirits lifted as she sped up her pace, turning a walk into a speed walk. In Jane's haste, she nearly slammed into something in front of her. After she dodged whatever got in her way, she turned around, noticing that the figure was an actual person standing up.
"What's your hurry?" the voice asked.
Jane didn't expect to meet another person this soon. Teresha said Jane was really close to the city by now. Maybe this stranger just came from there. If the place were better lit, the near-collision wouldn't have happened just now. "Uh, nothing." Jane could barely make out the person's face, but it was obvious that she was an adult female. Her dark hair went all the way down to the front ends of her shoulders, and her stance gave the woman almost twice the height of Jane's. "Just going to Lennith City."
"Are you a Leray wielder by chance?" she woman tested.
"Uh—" Jane cut herself off. She couldn't have a battle again, not now! She was so physically exhausted from all of the previous fighting and walking. "I can't be bothered to battle right now. I'm due there soon." Jane knew it had to be nearly five A.M. by now, perhaps later. The one who interrupted her might have actually started her day just recently.
The woman pointed at Jane close range. "Come on. It's not that hard. I'll throw 3900 credits onto the board, and we'll see who wins."
Jane knew it was a lot of credits to part with, nearly all of the money she had made in the short time here. Without her armor, and with her current exhaustion, Jane couldn't say yes. She was so close to the city now as well. Now isn't the time! "Sorry, but I can't battle you. I have to get in Lennith quickly."
"Some kind of emergency?"
Jane knew she had to answer with something, but a short beep interrupted her chain of thought. It was her license again. The woman in front of her was making a formal offer, and Jane's decision to decline the battle just now gave her another strike. On the other hand, there were still a total of one strikes out of three, lighting up as an orange X on her license card. That's right, Jane remembered. If she accepts three battles in a row (win or lose), a strike is automatically removed if any remain. Too bad that Jane just created another one, but the city is right over there! It won't matter anymore since it is too late to agree to this fight. She might as well make the most of this little penalty.
"I guess it's not that big a deal if your card's giving you strikes. Since emergency mode disables those penalties, your business in Lennith must be personal. Still, I'll only request the match a few more times." Jane gasped noticeably upon her threat. "Nobody says no to me, at least that's what they learn." The mysterious woman placed her arms behind her back. She was completely and totally comfortable bullying Jane like this.
But Jane kept her nerves calm. This idiot cannot seriously threaten to overstrike her card with sincerity. Must she forget the rule about a fifteen-minute wait? "It wouldn't work for you anyway. So I'll be going now."
"Who said I was going to ask? You really think I don't have my own ways of getting what I want from snobs like you?"
Jane winced slightly, and then placed her license into her supply sphere for now. It isn't usual to store the card into the supply sphere, even though it can still function inside the confines of that oracle device. In replacement, she pulled out an HP up spell bomb she would use for later. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this witch just discovered some kind of exploit worse than the one Jane recently learned about before. By the way things were looking, this person seemed to want Jane in her current crosshairs for this sort of charade. Her tone and inflections defiantly suggest that there are other ways of forcing strikes onto cards. It's still possible that using this excuse as an emergency may not work without some kind of physical evidence to her own claim. Why didn't they fix this system already? "What? Who do you think you are? You can't just force people to battle you like that!"
"Yet I'm doing it right now. You can either agree to a fair Leray match, or get your license revoked." The unidentified woman seemed quite cheerful in announcing the teen's punishment for refusal. "It's really up to you."
Jane couldn't believe this! She was worse than Ian, or Belzer, or anybody she had ever met so far on Route 96. This can't be legal! "How dare you!" Jane warned. "Yes, my business in the next town may be personal, but that doesn't mean you can just walk out on here and bully everyone to forced battles. Besides, your price stinks to hell. I can't afford to lose that many credits!"
"But you'll never know until you try. And I can battle anyone I want, anytime I want. You still don't know who I am, but after tonight, you'll remember my name." Her voice was firm and incisive, as if it were a skillful attack against Jane's morale in itself.
Jane squinted her eyes in anger, the remainder of her rage building up her stamina once again. "I can easily go into the city and have you arrested. I'm certain any Leray agent will love to hear that you force people into ridiculous battles, official or not. I bet you don't even have that amount of money to part with on your license."
"Hm-hm," she laughed. "The girl does have a brain. Why would I want to part with money I don't have on me? We can either battle the easy way or the hard way. I don't mind taking everything you own by force honey, but if you defeat me in a normal Leray battle, I think I'll consider letting you go, minus the bet offer of course."
Jane realized that this person must be bluffing, at least about the reward system. She would have received no such strikes on her card if the bet wasn't fair to begin with. This woman does carry that credit count on her somewhere, but she would have Jane think otherwise. Something else about this reeks too, but all that matters right now is getting away from this person.
"I'll just keep offering, you'll keep declining... Even by saying nothing for sixty seconds, it counts against you girl. That is my special power. And with that, you won't be allowed to use Le-way magic anymore!" She twisted the last bit of her words, making her tone deeper and contorted to sound like she was speaking to a baby.
Jane knew one fact was still true, that there are difficult ways of cheating the reward system, which remained the very reason Jane accepted all of those previous battles to avoid the penalties. Four weeks is a very long time to have a suspension on her license. "You—" Jane cut herself off, unable to think of anything else to say. What could she do but agree to battle? "You won't get away with this."
"Oh, and who are you going to tell?" She began raising her voice with confidence towards Jane. "You think the Leray police actually care about what happens to this road? None of them even patrol here anymore, and I've got quick money to make."
Jane was showing her teeth, thinking of a way out of this, but the horrible things that her opponent was saying made her want to battle until she drops. The way she was talking about making her money; this psycho does this for a living. Think about all of those other people who have had their things stolen from them in this manner, or how many careers were put on hold because of their refusal to give into such ludicrous demands... That's it! If Jane does accept and win this battle, this moron will pass out completely, giving Jane the chance to report her to Leray agents. If she declines, won't she be forced to fight regardless? Jane's being threatened for all her items anyway! "I bet I'm hardly the first person you've done this to."
"Hardly," she answered so casually, shameless about the commitment to her own crimes in the dark.
"Fine," Jane agreed. "I will battle you after all. It will be my last fight before I reach Lennith City, but I'll win this for everyone you've screwed over."
"Hmhahaha!" Though the middle aged woman was wearing a dark colored dress sphere that seemed more like a cloak, her voice projected well in front of her. "What? You think by beating me you can give back what I took? I don't travel with all my things on me dear. But all of those other people do, the poor fools. There are so many easy targets on Route 96 today, and you will be one heck of a treat!"
By this point, Jane figured the woman was crazy with some sort of mental disorder, but the right thing must be done. "I'll win this battle, all because I have no choice. You're going down!"
"I certainly don't think so," the woman twirled. "I am Black Queen Patrissa; I am the queen of these parts. I've battled countless times, and have not lost a single fight in years."
Probably because you cheated! Jane drew her daggers out with stealth as a response, waiting for Patrissa to make her first move.
It didn't matter to Patrissa if she was shouting at Jane in the night. Nobody was around right now, despite how close Lennith City was to the edge of the road. "You will be no exception!"
"My name is Jane," she responded. "You'll be remembering that name for the rest of your life, right after I run your HP into the ground!"
Their voices bellowed into the darkness around them, and with Jane's sudden determination to beat Patrissa, the Siriean dome formed around them once again. This time Jane and Patrissa were already pretty close together from their argument. Both of them engaged their energy scopes while slowly backing away, but Patrissa kept her devious smile of confidence the entire time.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/02dvNLgy/S2-Jane-N-000.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/k4B8JQB7/S2-Patrissa-N-000.png]
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Patrissa whipped her hair behind her, preparing for the battle she forced Jane to take on. "Thanks for making it all formal Jane. I get to enjoy your big mouth a little longer."
Why even bother with an official battle anyway? Jane knew it had one advantage in particular for her. If the battle is official, the shield dome around them blocks out the usage of healing items, so Patrissa cannot cheat in that regard. Is she just trying to have fun with Jane before doing something crazy? Jane wasn't sure, so she kept her emotions tucked inside, pointing at her opponent to make sure she understands. "Don't get too comfortable Patrissa! After I beat you, I'll be free to do as I must, and then I'll make sure that your business on Route 96 stops forever."
"Bring it on," Patrissa taunted. She acted as if she were going to let Jane have the first attack, but shortly afterwards, Patrissa pulled out a long bladed sword, rushing in towards Jane without even invoking a magical ability.
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Chapter Theme Music: La gis sulva za Celow (Extended) ~ Magia Record OST
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The battle already started, and Jane had to react quickly to what was going on. The sword was Patrissa's primary weapon she carried into battle, hiding it rather well in the beginning. Still a short distance away from Jane, she pulled out that spell bomb she acquired earlier, smashing the glass around the cover with her bare hand since it was the part of design. As the orb began to glow and create a temporary aura around Jane, she quickly shifted her feet in the cement, then ducked down while jumping backwards at the same time Patrissa swung her sword.
In a quick instance, Jane managed to completely evade her opponent's sword slash while using a new spell bomb on herself to boost the odds of her success. The HP up spell bomb went to work in battle, adding to her base level of endurance in a permanent manner. Jane's body became shrouded in a white aura while the effects were taking place, giving Patrissa a bit of a surprise just after realizing that Jane evaded the first attack.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/jSmMYS8w/S2-Jane-N-028.png]
Patrissa slowed her pace to comprehend what was going on with Jane's energy scope. It was reporting a permanent boost to her endurance from Jane's own spell bomb, though it wasn't easy to believe that Jane would use one of those things right here in the battle.
While Jane allowed Patrissa to glare at the changes she already knew took effect, Jane drew her daggers out from her side pockets of the red mercenary outfit, refusing to give up. Jane had to admire the awesome dark dress sphere Patrissa was wearing, but it didn't put her at east that someone like her was the one wielding it. People like Patrissa didn't deserve expensive battle gear or amazing dresses with gothic fashion. So Jane made her first move now, unleashing energy into her daggers and pointing them at Patrissa like long range weapons. "Mako Beam!" Jane unleashed her Mako Beam attack, using the ends of her daggers to fire two beams of bright blue light into Patrissa's chest where she stood, and then added in a third beam as well. Jane only stopped after three beams, but it still surprised her how little they affected Patrissa's health.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/4dqcmY9V/S2-Patrissa-N-001.png]
Patrissa could feel the energy from those beams, but they didn't even faze her. If anything, the sensation was equivalent to a few momentary bee stings that faded quickly. "That's the best you can do, huh?" Patrissa gave up on taunting Jane and unleashed energy into her own spell. "Shock Wave!" The reactions created a large jade colored glyphring in front of Patrissa as she used her arm as its center to fire her projectile. The attack turned out to be some kind of refined version of Electro-Ball, only the projectile itself was three times the size and twice the speed as it zoomed through the air.
It was so fast that Jane couldn't even get a blink of reaction time. The projectile of electrical energy was there and then it was all over her, striking and then zapping her in place for 1.5 seconds worth of time. To Jane, that was a whole lot of time to be electrocuted. The pain level involved was really high as well, leaving her with a powerful tingling sensation all over that hurt at the same time.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/dVL5fy9c/S2-Jane-N-029.png]
Jane couldn't tell at first, but that spell bomb really was doing a lot for her at this point. With increased endurance, her health would not drop down as quickly as it had before. Still, even just 10% would not be nearly enough to totally negate the effects of her curse. Ignoring the pain from the impact, Jane knew it was time to retaliate quickly. "Shadow Wave!" She threw the energy towards the ground in front of her again, creating a large and powerful Shadow Wave attack that drilled through the ground while heading for Patrissa.
Patrissa was now in a predicament. She wanted to dodge the spell, but the Shadow Wave continued to get wider and faster with the size of its growth in height as well. In just another second, dodging wasn't an option anymore. Patrissa stood there, blocking the damage as the Shadow Wave continued to hit her with slashing attacks with magical potential. Her HP dropped significantly this time, pushing her backwards as the wave exploded with its ending sequence.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/1XFq6yGT/S2-Patrissa-N-002.png]
Patrissa held her guard up to retain her balance after taking that hit. Jane really was giving a lot more now. Patrissa was still confident that Jane would not be able to defeat her, but in all likelihood, she might try and escape her fate near the end of her demise. Giving another moment to think on her next course of action, Jane grew more curious. Finally, Patrissa looked up and unleashed her energy towards the sky. "Doom Shield!" Her energy shot upwards in a blue cinch of waves, slamming into the top of the dome shield. The reaction affected the entire shield, unphasing its visibility and darkening its normal color of blue. The shadowy dark auras filled the inner works of the dome shield as it slowly became only half as invisible as it did before.
Jane jumped back in surprise. "Doom Shield? Why Doom Shield?" Wasn't this a fight to the finish anyway?
"Can never be too careful Jane," Patrissa hollered. "When I defeat you, I want it to be a total win!"
She still think's I'll lose this fight? "We'll see about that," Jane retorted. Charging more energy into her hands, Jane unleashed another powerful ability towards the entire field. "Radial Blast!" As she took notice of the new battlefield, Jane realized that the new dome shield lit up the field a little better than before, given that the top light was more visible in synch with the Siriean dome, but it wouldn't matter soon. Jane unleashed one of her more powerful area attacks on the field where Patrissa was standing. Numerous sudden explosions erupted everywhere on that side of the area, all in randomized locations each time.
Patrissa couldn't do anything about this area attack. She had no choice but to brace herself for any one of those small yet potent explosions. Before waiting long, an explosion erupted under Patrissa's feet, forcing her entire body to fly backwards as her legs lost grip with the floor. The landing wasn't that much smooth either, since the additional shockwaves of the other blasts could get to her from here. Patrissa finally landed, but the landing was just as rough. Her dress got all dirty and messed up, grass blades scraped against her tongue while her face scraped against the earth. Though the floor was mostly cement, patches of the ground were smashed open from someone's previous battle here, creating rugged earth chunks in random areas within the Siriean dome.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/RCJf2LkR/S2-Patrissa-N-003.png]
Jane had a lot of time now to prepare herself for another attack, but she didn't want to throw in another hit too soon. Thinking on all of her spells of which she knew, there wasn't all that many she could use for a good defense. Armor Protector would have zero effect now, since it was designed for armor types that have damage eater attributes on them.
In the middle of Jane's thoughts, Patrissa pushed up her body, lifting herself out of the ground. She held out a deep expression of aggravation while she stood back up to face Jane again. Who knew she had the power to use area attacks? Jane didn't look that old to begin with, but she can't be a rookie if she possesses that much power. Patrissa nodded left and right, shaking off the pains in her neck. "Very well then. No need to hold back! Octoslash!" Patrissa bellowed the name of her skill while she drew her sword and charged at Jane again. In the beginning of the match, she only wanted to see how Jane responded to a simple physical hit, but one slash would hardly have enough power to do any real damage. That mercenary outfit she was wearing can't provide a great deal of slashing protection either; Patrissa was sure of this.
Jane knew that dodging would take too long even with her speed. Octoslash is a combination attack of eight sword slashes in one sequence, consuming zero MP in the process. Instead, Jane helplessly defended herself by changing her stance. By placing her arms out with her fists facing up to guard herself while her legs spread out forward and back to balance her current stance, Jane knew that she might be able to nullify some of that incoming damage by blocking. It would hardly work though, since blocking doesn't do all that well against slashing type attacks.
Patrissa let loose on her combination once she was in range to hit Jane. Jane was blocking the attack, but Patrissa gave in anyway, throwing her muscle and power into her long blade while cutting through Jane's body in the process. Jane just stood there the entire time after every single hit, intentionally taking in that damage that accumulated quickly with each strike. The blade went through her body as if she were hitting a ghost, though the force back on the blade was noticeable, the effects of the protection veil preventing Jane's internal intestines from being destroyed. Patrissa finally hit Jane with the eighth hit, jumping backwards to remain out of range of Jane's potential counterattack zone. Jane took damage alright, but she didn't seem all that affected by it, even after returning to her original stance.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/25W2kNJH/S2-Jane-N-030.png]
Jane was impressed to see the fruition of her energy scope stats. Her HP didn't drop as bad as she thought it would. Did her blocking really reduce all that damage, or was this the real power of an endurance boosting spell bomb? "Humph!" There wasn't any time for that. Patrissa has to be stopped right now. Jane put much more energy into another oncoming spell, immediately forming a gigantic red glyphring high above the both of them. "Meteor Strike!" Jane used another powerful area attack against her opponent. Patrissa was defiantly in a position to dodge anything if it weren't for the high area of effectiveness right now, but Jane had plenty more MP energy to spare.
Patrissa couldn't think much about her options. What could she do? Area attacks are designed this way on purpose. They deal a ton of damage, cost a ton of MP, and they are impossible to dodge. A massive swarm of red meteors shot down from the cloudless sky, jumping right through the Siriean shield and smashing into the earth in numerous places with shockwaves and sonic booms from each blast. Patrissa shielded her face with her arms. A moment after was all it took for a meteor to smash right into the top of her head, forcing her to smack down into the ground again.
Well after the Meteor Strike sequence ended and the giant red glyphring disappeared from above, Jane took note of Patrissa's stats by this point on. She was still hanging in there well enough to continue, and that was upsetting, but she had already taken a lot of damage. Patrissa was struggling to stand upright after the last impact, holding the back of her head which had to be bruised right now. It was proof that Jane was winning the match so far.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/gk9Rp6dP/S2-Patrissa-N-004.png]
Patrissa couldn't appear to look any angrier than she already was now, but she was already running dry on options. Her fighting style wasn't getting through today. Jane fights so differently than everyone else. Patrissa needed more time to think about her next course of action, and used a weaker spell to buy that time. "Fire Bolt!" Patrissa aimed her arm at Jane while the red glyphring of fire rotated in place with her hand as the center. Patrissa's hand then shot out a single bolt of fire flying quickly through the air towards Jane.
Jane knew these were hard to dodge stand alone, but she needed to try. The Fire Bolt was closing towards her so fast. Jane responded anyway, using her feet to kick off the ground once, then again at bounce. Jane used all of her momentum to perform a perfect backflip, putting a small bit of distance between herself and Patrissa. As Jane landed on her feet again, she was suddenly slammed by the brute fiery force of the Fire Bolt. It was enough to make her slide back about a foot in her shoes. Whatever she tried to do, the evasion failed to work. Jane ended up taking the fiery burst anyway, and the same sensation of her skin burning came back, though it didn't hurt nearly as bad as other fire attacks did in her perspective.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/vBdXDSw-G/S2-Jane-N-031.png]
Patrissa made her very next move. Using Fire Bolt like that bought her the time to get closer. She expected Jane to try and evade it successfully, but this obviously worked better to her favor. Patrissa charged in just as Jane took the hit from her previous attack. She drew her sword and began infusing her blade with magical energy. Jane's backflip did seem cool, but it didn't stop that Fire Bolt attack. Now it was her turn to really count up the damage against the brat.
Jane could see Patrissa homing in on her now. She already got over the impact from the last Fire Bolt though. Jane could try and do something, but she needed time before thinking how to counter this. Patrissa was nearly in stabbing range already. Before she knew it, Jane was out of time, and she simply let her gut decide on the next random spell. Jane had to imagine it happening in her mind first because of how quickly she would need to invoke this next counterattack. "Whirlwind!" Jane's body immediately became shrouded in a powerful, wide, and tall twister of wind that was visible to the naked eye because of its Leray magical properties. Just as Patrissa was going in to strike Jane down, the Whirlwind she unleashed pushed back with a lot of force. Patrissa was caught up against the strength of the vortex, and it shoved her backwards despite her effort, overwhelmed by the kinetic force of the wind. The attack itself was causing some minor damage at the same time, the sensation of tiny little cuts on her arms and legs from wind elemental damage. Patrissa finally used that wind to back away further, canceling her previous action. She had no choice but to momentarily retreat. Jane reacted well to deflect Patrissa's current plan. Now it was time to try something different.
Jane finally stopped using her Whirlwind spell now that it was over. Patrissa was further away now than before, proving its effectiveness. Jane didn't really come up with the idea; she just panicked and chose to use something at random. How did it work out so well?
image [https://i.postimg.cc/xTKm1TTN/S2-Patrissa-N-005.png]
Jane tensed up again; now wasn't the time to relax. Patrissa was already up to something, using the Whirlwind as cover to hide her actions until it was too late to realize them. Patrissa's wrist had a bright blue glowing glyphring around it, her arm already aimed at Jane. "Ice Needles!" Jane wasn't expecting this already, and it was working in Patrissa's benefit again to buy herself some more time. Patrissa fired her barrage of Ice Needles at Jane, holding her arm steady to keep the aim spot on. The barrage of needles would not all hit Jane because of how wide the spell ordinance was spread out, but that was the design, forcing Jane to take the attack with the inability to evade it.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Jane still reacted to the skill though, pulling out her daggers and slashing into the air just as the Ice Needles caught up. Jane was actually trying to cut down the sharp projectiles in midair, just like she had in her evasion therapy training back in Dakota during a demonstration with Eliza. Patrissa thought it was unusual, but it didn't work out in Jane's favor. Jane actually did manage to cut a few needles in half just before they dug into her skin, but that hardly reduced the amount piercing her body. In the same instance, Jane was also randomly jumping back, trying to avoid taking any hits to the face. It was too long before Jane realized that she wasn't as fast as she wanted to be, likely from all of her earlier fatigue.
Patrissa wasn't done yet. This was the perfect opportunity to keep up the pressure. After unleashing more MP energy into a different kind of glyphring, Patrissa chanted the name of another spell. "Sphere of Might!" Patrissa's actions created and spawned a big red sphere of magic, spinning in place midair without actually changing position. It was at the top of Jane's average height, but the sphere that was supposed to spawn partially inside of her body didn't end up where it should have been. At the very last moment Patrissa created the Sphere of Might, Jane took another leap backwards, likely in response to those Ice Needles. Whether Jane knew about that sphere or not, she jumped far back enough to evade the entire attack. The sphere just floated there, damaging absolutely nothing until it disappeared in its place.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/tTtk6t9W/S2-Jane-N-032.png]
Jane finally survived the barrage of Ice Needles with minimum damage. Though many of those shards penetrated into her skin, Jane cut a few of them down. At the last attempt to jump, Jane noticed a red Sphere of Might right in front of her, spinning to cause damage even though her body was nowhere near it. Totally taken by surprise, Jane just realized that by jumping back like she was doing, she had accidentally dodged Patrissa's Sphere of Might. She must have used it while Jane was too busy with Ice Needles. It was clever, and Jane got lucky enough to come out unaffected by her dirty tricks. Her luck can't persist for much longer though.
Patrissa couldn't believe that didn't work. She simply stood there dumbfounded that Jane dodged her own attack by mistake. Despite the mistake, Jane could use that to her own advantage. She quickly created a jade color glyphring around her wrist, releasing energy into an electrical attack. "Lightning Strike!" Jane carefully aimed her hand at Patrissa, zapping her just as the magical ability took effect. The bolt of electricity traveled through the long distance and hit Patrissa where she stood in just a millisecond of time. Jane saw this as getting back at her for that Shock Wave spell Jane got hit by earlier. Patrissa could feel the painful electricity go everywhere, finally wearing off a moment too late. The lightning attack ended up draining a bit of her energy, Jane's aim was perfect with that spell. Now Patrissa had to come up with another ingenious plan, her last one ripped apart before her very eyes.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/sgshQdv6/S2-Patrissa-N-006.png]
Patrissa wasn't certain what else she could do. Her own specialty was ice and fire type attacks. She would always use them to slow down any competitors, but Jane wasn't slowing down at all. If anything, she was speeding up more than ever before. Patrissa decided to go with another random ability. Standing here and thinking too long will only give her opponent more time to try another attack without letting up. "Flying Guillotine!" Patrissa had to use a little extra magic this time, forming two small yellow glyphrings into her hands that began forming two simple daggers. She then threw those daggers in a crisscross formation, causing a flat red circle of magical slashing damage to form as the perimeter of the blades as they spun in the air.
Jane wasn't expecting a dagger attack like this. Patrissa could simply spawn them using magic and then throw them, and it was already too late to react. Jane managed to jump out of the way from the spinning circle, but since it had the properties of a boomerang, the circle simply struck her from behind a second after, slashing her over and over many times in just a tiny increment of time. Jane helplessly stood there in shock, unable to interrupt the damage being done to her. Finally, the guillotine attack guided by the simple daggers left Jane's body, flying back to Patrissa's hands. Jane felt gashes everywhere, but one in particular skinned her lower abdomen. Jane felt sort of nauseous from that pain, and it nearly forced her down to her hands and knees.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/7hHVnGLc/S2-Jane-N-033.png]
Somehow that one attack did a ton of damage to her health, possibly an effect supported by her own curse. Patrissa didn't know about this curse, but she would remember how effective the strike was just now. Jane knew that the sides were currently even. Though her health was slightly higher than Patrissa's, Jane has exhausted much of her MP already, while Patrissa stored so much more. Patrissa must be a person who can bully others because of her unyielding strength in battle. It's clear she has had tons of practice, but Jane wasn't going to lose. She made a promise to Patrissa and herself that this battle would end with Jane as the victor. It's wrong to force other people to battle else threaten to take their belongings, and Jane needed to prove that here and now!
Jane thought of a good way to get an upper hand, something she didn't try yet. The night was still deep, so the timing was still good enough to go with it. Jane unleashed some of her MP energy into the sky, creating magical streams heading up and through the dome shield. "Moonglow!" Because of the current position of the half-lit moon, Jane knew she needed a bit more time before this spell would take effect. The spell takes longer to invoke if the weather is only partially clear, or if the moon phase isn't automatically set to full, or if the position of the moon is further towards the horizon.
Patrissa waited and waited to see what exactly was happening. No noticeable effects have shown themselves lately, and she had to ignore it for now. Jane just left herself open to an attack by not performing an attack spell of her own. Patrissa drew her saber, holding her hand over its metal blade. "Frost Blade!" Patrissa's sword immediately reacted to the magical energy being fused into the weapon. Her entire sword suddenly became surrounded in a solid river of frozen water that formed from the hilt. The water forming around the steel froze as it traveled, allowing it to reach the top. The ice formed even higher than the normal edge of the blade itself, adding an extra three inches of ice at the tip. The ice then solidified and sharpened, curving at the top edge of Patrissa's new blade. With magical light assisting the spell, the visual effects were all the more noticeable. The spell known as Frost Blade was just getting started. Patrissa's sword was now infused with ice elemental properties. Any time she uses that sword to strike anything now, it adds ice elemental damage with the normal physical slashing damage at the same time. Patrissa thus charged at Jane with her enhanced blade, preparing to cut multiple gashes into her target.
Jane knew about this ability from her studies. Frozen Sword is actually the same ability as this one, if in a lower spell tier. It infuses ice elemental damage into the user's sword, but Patrissa used Frost Blade, the upgraded version of Frozen Sword. Infusing weapons like that usually takes a lot of time. With Frozen Sword, it takes so much time that it would count as its own single turn if one were to judge it by average invocation time. But with Frost Blade (also sometimes called Ice Blade), the invocation is much quicker and stronger, allowing the user of the ability to actually attack with their new weapon in the total time it would take to use any normal Leray ability. Patrissa was acting really quickly with her strategy, getting the jump on Jane.
Patrissa was running so fast, Jane was having a hard time believing it, but she knew now was the time to react. Her earlier spell had not taken effect just yet. Jane pulled out her daggers, using them to deflect the very first hit from Patrissa's sword. Successfully blocking the physical sword slash using the crossed force of her blades, the clash of metal sounded with an ear piercing cling that echoed in the wind. Jane knew Patrissa was not going with just one hit, so she immediately kicked the ground in front of her, using that force as her chance to jump back.
Patrissa swung her sword from the side again, and Jane immediately ducked down, bending herself backwards as the frozen blade nearly swiped into her face. Jane's duck was enough to dodge the slash as well, but Patrissa wasn't stopping. She drew her blade out again, now stabbing the entire tip towards Jane's position. Jane quickly twirled herself to the left, dodging the piercing stab by spinning around.
Patrissa was getting frustrated quickly, but kept her cool. Jane was so quick at moving around like this. Patrissa gave it another try, slashing her sword from the side again, and then again from the right to the left in a diagonal pull. This time, Jane's body felt both of the slashes of ice penetrate deep into her skin. Jane couldn't dodge everything, and she ended up taking damage with each slice as her momentum had been cut by Patrissa's blade. Patrissa then tried the shoving trick again, thrusting her blade forward into Jane's shoulder as if it were a spear. Successfully, Patrissa managed to score another painful jab into Jane's arm. She then pulled back on her blade, drawing herself closer to Jane for another big strike.
Jane felt the brutal sharp pain from all three hits. The last one especially hurt more. Wielders can use swords to cause piercing damage as well when they use them different, but Jane had to get over it fast. She was already in trouble from this. Just as Patrissa was pulling back to get another edge at Jane, Jane lifted her leg and kicked Patrissa's right knee cap. Jane's simple kick had a lot of intentional force though, causing Patrissa to slide backwards again. It didn't put that much distance between either of them, but it stopped Patrissa's current combination of her actions, and gave Jane just enough time to retaliate from this position.
Jane could finally see it without having to look up. The powerful glowing light from the full moon was summoned by her ability earlier. The moon phase wasn't actually full, but the purpose of her spell virtualizes the process temporarily. It was ready now, and Jane simply needed a bit more time. Just after kicking Patrissa back away like that, Jane summoned her energy into another red glyphring. Patrissa gasped in the quick surprise that Jane provided. It was a rather powerful attack, usually not used at this close a range. Because of practice, Jane also had the ability to invoke this spell in the flash of a flicker. "Tri-Fire!" Jane's Fire Bolts began shooting out before she could even finish her chant. Patrissa was blasted by a Fire Bolt right to the face. The pushback put three more feet between them. Jane didn't stop of course, she needed to unleash the other two Fire Bolts as well. Patrissa couldn't do anything about dodging them. The first hit to her face had fazed her just enough to allow the next two bolts of fire to take total advantage of her interrupted state. The second bolt slammed into her chest, while the third one ended up cutting through her frozen sword.
Jane found it interesting how it worked out in the way of damage. Even after Patrissa took those hits, the explosions of fire from Jane's sudden attack immediately forced all of the ice on her sword to melt away and disappear. Jane didn't know that was going to happen, but as her glyphring receded, it was time to go on to the next ability.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/D0xcjvJz/S2-Jane-N-034.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/hts7VymS/S2-Patrissa-N-007.png]
In just another instance, Jane and her own energy scope disappeared out of view, no trace of it remained but the shadowy aura that shrouded Jane's body only for a moment. "Moon Shadow!" Jane used the shift in weather conditions and the powerful bright glow from the moonlight to shroud herself in its magic. Jane quickly became invisible in every spot imaginable. As she disappeared, Patrissa nervously looked around, trying to find Jane.
"What happened?" Patrissa demanded. There wasn't an answer, but because the dome shield was still up and running, and because it didn't seem like Jane used a spell of teleportation, Patrissa got the idea that her opponent became totally invisible to the eye. The energy scope was invisible too by design, still technically active. It was her best guess, and Jane wasn't going to make a sound if it were true. The powerful sudden glowing light and position of the moon from directly overhead was a likely culprit, but it was too late now to disable the two-tier support spell. Still, Patrissa wasn't about to let Jane get in an initiative by going invisible. Patrissa reacted first, charging MP energy into her right hand, creating another blue glyphring around her wrist. "Ice Needles!" This time, Patrissa aimed anywhere, starting with the path in front of her with a thirty degree deviation to the right. She twisted her aim while repositioning her shoes to wrap around a good measure while unleashing the barrage of the spell, ensuring more of the area is affected than usual. The shards of frozen needles flew onward, then suddenly stopped halfway to the dome.
The two needles that stopped were only the ones digging into Jane's skin. Patrissa somehow got lucky enough to use an attack wide enough to get Jane. The needles were just stopping in midair, creating the slight sense of Jane's current location. "Found you!" Patrissa yelled. She quickly shifted to another magical attack, taking aim at the general location of the ice shards stuck in the air. Jane was still perfectly invisible, but the Ice Needles hanging halfway out of her skin gave away her position even now. "Ice Ball!"
"Dark Strike!" Jane saw a ball of ice in the form of a projectile, but she invoked her spell first, turning everything completely dark only for a split second. Once Jane could see again, the needles stuck in her body quickly faded away with the rest of the Ice Needles. Since the spell was over, the needles would disappear, including the ones Jane was hit by, and this reduced her visibility to Patrissa once again. By invoking Dark Strike, Jane dodged the Ice Ball by transferring to a new position, now standing right behind Patrissa. Patrissa seemed very confused when the Ice Ball collided into the dome shield surrounding them. At the same time, the floating needles suddenly vanished too, giving Jane the perfect chance to retaliate. She took out her right dagger as a continuation of this next attack, infused magical energy into the short blade, and then struck upwards into Patrissa's body while she still faced the opposite direction.
Jane's slash affected Patrissa completely, launching her five feet into the air before she hit the ground again. Patrissa took immediate damage from the unexpected slash, and she struggled to get back up while looking around.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/pdd5CfQK/S2-Patrissa-N-008.png]
"Crimson Flare!" As Jane unleashed another attack, Patrissa couldn't make out exactly where the loud chant came from, but she didn't need to. Jane's crimson colored glyphring that formed in front of her invisible body was not invisible in itself. It provided light for Patrissa to find, and then summoned three massive sized crimson spheres all floating in Patrissa's direction. The left and right spheres were going their own separate ways though, splitting from the center one. The center sphere was already on top of Patrissa the same instance she had seen the glowing glyphring due to the starting distance being so close. Patrissa wanted to react to the situation, but she was too slow. The powerful sphere of magic swallowed her body whole, now beaming a burning hot blast of energy and damage into her skin as it slowly continued floating down the ground.
Patrissa was stuck in the sphere, and it hurt her worse than any other attack she has taken so far this entire battle. Patrissa couldn't stand it! Her skin was scorching in place by lone magical damage with a high power level. The sphere eventually passed her, burning her skin and dealing a ton of damage that she was able to feel the entire time she was standing there. After it passed, Patrissa put her hands on her knees, trying to recover and catch her breath. Jane was still invisible.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/ZqDBMWj2/S2-Patrissa-N-009.png]
Patrissa was taking in quicker breaths now. The battle had worn her out like none other she ever got involved in. Was Jane really this powerful?
"Knight Dance!" There it was again. Jane's voice was easy to find, but harder to pinpoint. Patrissa tried to figure it out, when sudden blue pulses of magical light ended up slamming into her, hit after hit. Jane used Knight Dance, performing a close combat attack by infusing her punches, kicks, and dagger slices with magical energy to increase the damage. By doing this, those parts of her body became visible to Patrissa just the moment before impact, but it didn't matter. Patrissa was unable to break free of Jane's incredibly fast combination attack. She took punches to the face, kicks in the stomach, and dagger slides from the side every fraction of a second as Jane relentlessly pounded on her body. The damage was racking up quickly, Patrissa was already beginning to feel so much weaker than before. At last, Jane's Knight Dance was over with, leaving Patrissa to deal with all the pain.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/4d77kXSd/S2-Patrissa-N-010.png]
After another second, Jane's body became completely visible again. It didn't seem as if Jane had noticed it either. Patrissa saw that Jane was forcing more magic into another spell, and since Patrissa was able to spot Jane long before she used that ability, she spun around as a feeble attempt to dodge the next attack.
"Median Flare!" Jane blasted a beam of light forward, but somehow Patrissa leaped out of the way and evaded the attack altogether. In that same instance, Jane could physically see her arms and hands again during her magical release of energy. She was now visible, and Patrissa must have used that to get out of the way of a devastating close range attack.
Patrissa knew that she successfully evaded the attack. Jane and her energy scope became totally visible again, so now it was time to strike back. Even at this close of a range, Patrissa wanted to keep on using her tactics like before. She created a glyphring around her wrist again, invoking her magical skill before Jane had a chance to even move. "Ice Bolt!" This time it was an Ice Bolt instead of Ice Ball. Dealing even more cold damage, Jane was helpless to stop the attack that plunged into her chest. Patrissa backed away in the same moment, but Jane was still feeling additional effects from the attack.
Before it was Fire Bolts, damage that causes the feeling her skin is on fire, but Jane had yet to experience a full powered Ice Bolt attack. She took minimum damage in it all, but the after effects of the blast decreased the heat in her entire body. Jane could suddenly feel the chilling winds that were outside and more. Her body temperature dropped significantly, compelling enough to stop Jane where she stood to hold her arms and shiver.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/1RBM5HCZ/S2-Jane-N-035.png]
It was at this point when both Jane and Patrissa noticed how incredibly low her MP stats became with the relentless attacks. Jane was really in a tight spot now, freezing where she stood from the effects of Ice Bolt while wasting away with her low MP energy. Patrissa was getting ready to try another attack while Jane was slowed down, but Jane still reacted first. "I can't let you win!" she promised. "It's time to finish this Patrissa!" Jane pulled her daggers while Patrissa was backing away for distance. It wouldn't be easy for Jane's opponent to predict her next move with such little MP remaining, but Jane had to go for it. Patrissa still had a much lower health status than her, perhaps low enough for a critical strike to take effect. The thing about getting a successful critical hit without using magic is that the opponent's HP must be low to begin with.
Jane threw her daggers again, retaining the same toss kind and formation as Flying Guillotine. The daggers had no magical energy infused into them, not this time. Instead, their thin red auras of damage were the most visible thing in the darkness. Patrissa ended up taking the hit to her chest, forcing her back and almost off balance, but Patrissa was still standing, quick to remain holding in her balance with her feet on the ground with a fast recovery. She returned her stance to face Jane again.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/PxgLd0gM/S2-Patrissa-N-011.png]
Jane's daggers returned to her side pockets, but now she was in trouble. Jane wouldn't be able to attack just yet, her critical hit attempt failed. Patrissa was wearing out too though, her noticeably heavy breathing was bobbing her entire body as she stood in place withstanding attacks anyway.
Patrissa then created another glyphring with her right arm, aiming at Jane while she helplessly stood in place with nothing to do. "Lightning Strike!" Patrissa bellowed the name of the attack this time, praying it would be enough to force Jane to pass out. Jane wouldn't be able to give up either, not with Doom Shield still in effect. Patrissa unleashed her lightning bolt, and discovered that the ease of seeing more detail in the darkness was coming from above. Jane's Moonglow spell was still in effect, though she wasn't turning invisible anymore. It worked against Jane in the end, making it easier to see in this darkness while they battled together. Patrissa had to give it everything she had this time. Never before could she remembered a battle so intense, not since her earlier days in childhood.
Jane was once again defenseless, trying though failing to block a spell due to the properties of an electrical attack. Jane's entire body heated up again, nulling out the earlier effects that made her nearly too cold to want to move an inch, but the pain involved with the attack and the drain that followed shortly afterwards wasn't worth it. Jane ended up taking a lot of damage while her MP charged slowly.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/Dyz6WXH4/S2-Jane-N-036.png]
Patrissa hadn't counted on Jane's quick recovery in speed. Though Jane appeared to be suffering the draining effects of that last lightning hit, combined with her critical MP conditions. Jane pulled out her daggers again, waiting just until Jane's MP recovered to exactly five percent before throwing them. Jane infused all of her magical energy into her daggers again, tossing them in a crisscross formation. "Flying Guillotine!" Jane usually used more energy for each Flying Guillotine spell, but she put faith in the idea that her total magical potential grew by a wide margin just from tonight's battles. If she was right, the successful invocation would mean the new MP usage for her specifically would be reduced slightly. Shortly after her determined attempt to activate the magic aura, the red rings of damage came alive after all. Patrissa was hit twice with the swirling red circle that represented Jane's spinning daggers, sharply cutting into her opponent's skin as she let out gasps of pain.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/Zn6WnVZz/S2-Patrissa-N-012.png]
Patrissa's endurance was rather impressive in the eyes of Jane. Though her high MP levels were helping to keep Patrissa going with such a critical HP condition, Patrissa was only breathing quicker than normal with a heightened heart rate that made her bob while standing still. She wanted to sit down after this, rest on her hands and knees, but it would make it too easy for her to be defeated. How did Jane survive all of these hits? It couldn't be! Patrissa wasn't going to let it happen, not by the likes of some snotty teenager. She quickly jumped to the side, unleashing a powerful red glyphring in Jane's direction. Though it seemed like Jane was ready to evade attacks, Patrissa saw that her opponent was breathing heavily as well, tired from all of the fighting despite a higher HP level. "Triple Fire!" Patrissa shot a total of three Fire Bolts from her glyphring, all launched consecutively as opposed to the timing of all three matching completely. It depleted a lot more of her own MP energy, but unlike Jane, Patrissa had plenty more to spare. Jane took all three Fire Bolt attacks, one of them slamming into her face and knocking her down to a complete crawl. This time, Jane's HP was lower from the attack, and it seemed that she suffered a lot worse than Patrissa had earlier.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/c45mfJG9/S2-Jane-N-037.png]
Jane's combination of critical HP and MP conditions affected her in worse ways than Patrissa's low HP was doing to her. Jane was stuck on her hands and knees, begging her body to get back up into the fight. Jane didn't want to battle anymore. The damage to herself became much more significant this time. Jane was tired from the physical exhaustion prior to even battling, but now, she wanted to pass out, giving into her dizziness and nausea. The pains all over her body were ultimately compelling in keeping her down on the ground. Jane couldn't help it; she has become a slow and helpless target for even more attack spells, despite her will to get up and fight again. She didn't even have the MP energy for a single magic skill.
Keeping her distance in comfort, Patrissa realized that Jane was slowing down again. This time it was from all of the damage together, not from the chilling cold tactics that were of her own style. Patrissa decided to give it some more gas, unleashing magical energy into the ground for another long range attack. "Earth Glave!" The ground beneath them shifted violently, shooting up more and more as it neared Jane.
Jane was too tired and hurt to move an inch, despite noticing the powerful Earth Glave heading her way. In its last moments, Jane closer her eyes and looked away. She wished that she could somehow be saved from taking the hit of the Earth Glave attack, but it was a wish denied. Jane was punched from the ground up, launching her into the air until she slammed into the earth again on her stomach. The falling damage knocked the wind completely out of her, giving Jane blurred vision in response to her critical MP and HP conditions.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/wjyk2d66/S2-Jane-N-038.png]
Patrissa could feel herself getting tired too. The more energy she used, the more it took effect, and that was coming from her critical MP conditions. For now, Jane didn't seem mobile at all. She was finally giving in to all of that pain, the last Earth Glave keeping her down on the ground despite her constant struggle to stand back up. Jane didn't even exceed the definition of sitting up. "You put up a good fight Jane, but it's like I said before. Only the strong get to lead. I know I put up a Doom Shield, but I'll let you give up now and pay me the credits if you want. I don't have to keep the Doom Shield up ya know. I'm not that cruel."
Jane heard what Patrissa was saying. It isn't true that Doom Shield can be disabled if both participants actually agree to one giving up in a match, so she must be bluffing. Though her gesture was a nice one, Jane hadn't forgotten what Patrissa forced her into earlier. It's people like her that cause problems for all Leray wielders. Battles shouldn't be forced upon others. It was even stupid how they haven't updated the license cards to prevent these exploits. Patrissa thinks that she can just defeat anybody who looks weak and steal all of their money. It's not like she had money to part with. The reward spoils system said it loudly. Patrissa only had 500 credits available on her card. It wasn't a fair fight. Asking a person three times in a row within a few seconds to rack up their strikes, that's just plain wrong, not to mention impossible. Patrissa might be strong alright, smart as well to have found a bug allowing her to instantly remake the same offer to others, but she isn't noble.
Jane had more to consider as well. She never forgot about her many goals. She had to reverse the endurance curse she attached to herself by mistake. Jane knew she didn't just train and travel this long road all night for nothing. Lennith City was her rest stop, the place she needed to be. Only then can she become the Leray master she wants to become. Only then... Jane carefully pushed herself back up, going from prone to crouching. "I won't - let you." Jane's voice was being squeezed by the tightness in her chest, all coming from previous battle damages. It was causing her to pause in her own sentence, but Jane was still of one mind. "I won't ever - give up. No way!"
Patrissa hissed at Jane's pathetic attempt to recover herself. She only had two percent of MP charged up by the time Jane finally made it to the position of standing, and Jane was hardly able to keep her stance balanced well enough to count. "That's a shame. I guess I'll have to take it all from you by force."
"Aero Blast," Jane mumbled. She charged up the only two percent of the MP energy left in her. She could still use magic on a very low scale, and Patrissa has just 3% HP left. Something has to make her go down!
Patrissa saw what Jane was trying to do. At first it made her nervous. With just 3% HP remaining, Patrissa knew that even a weak attack could end her fighting right here, but after Jane threw the wind elemental magical attack her way, Patrissa just decided to take it. She was incredibly tired and weak herself from the damages and stats, but Aero Blast is a no-brainer weak spell, almost as weak as Radial Stars and Knife Toss. Jane's ball of wind flew at Patrissa, slamming her in the face, but she didn't even flinch from the forceful impact she took. All it really did was blow her hair in its wind.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/h4mz2PmZ/S2-Patrissa-N-013.png]
Patrissa laughed briefly again as Jane realized the error of her ways. Though minor damage was done, only one percent of Patrissa's HP had dropped down, putting Jane's MP back to zero again. Because of the time she waited though, Jane's MP rose back to one percent from the passive regeneration every Leray wielder has. "Now it's my turn." Patrissa began charging towards Jane while unleashing more of her MP energy. Jane was in no condition at all to move, not even enough to take a step back from anything.
"Fatal Charge!" Patrissa's body became shrouded in a white hot aura of magical light as her running speed quickly sped up to match the speed of light. Patrissa became invisible with her incredible speed as her body flew towards Jane. It only happened for a split second, and then the collision occurred. Patrissa's body slammed against Jane's, sending the girl flying back again before she bounced. Patrissa quickly recovered from using that skill. Only now did she realize that Fatal Charge was rather risky to try for only having 2% HP left. Since Jane was not an armored target, Patrissa's HP didn't budge an inch, while Jane's dropped down even lower.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/7ZFnQQ6S/S2-Jane-N-039.png]
Because she got hit again in the stomach, Jane couldn't differentiate the difference between her nausea and that of a painful cramp brought on by the bruising. Jane's vision blurred much more than before, coughing on the floor as she once again tried to get back up. All of the pain from battle only grew stronger, and the will to keep fighting began fleeting away.
Patrissa could see how pathetic Jane was right now. Five entire seconds passed, and Jane still couldn't put enough weight to her knees to sit up at all. "Now - now, be a good loser and let me end your suffering. Tornado Strike!" Patrissa charged at Jane again before she could get near any kind of stance. Her body didn't glow in color this time, but the magical ability formed a Whirlwind around her body as she ran. Patrissa finally made it to Jane, already causing her damage from the wind around Patrissa's body. Jane got caught up in its Whirlwind, and then Patrissa finished it with a tough punch in the face. Jane flew back once more, taking on additional damage form that hit.
Patrissa's Whirlwind came to an end after she hit Jane, but it was surprising to see that Jane still survived after the attack skill, as if something was holding her HP above a threshold.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/rFdWXC7j/S2-Jane-VT-001.png]
It's normally at this point of minimal MP and HP where the wielder simply passes out from being too weak to go on, but Jane was still struggling, still trying to stand up and get in just one more hit. That was all it would take for Jane to finish off Patrissa, but it wasn't going to work. Jane was in no condition to keep on fighting, and Patrissa had carefully conserved some remaining MP to keep herself conscious in the fight. Jane's energy scope even began to glow red in color, indicating that the fight was officially over.
Patrissa sighed in relief, and held out her hand towards the top of the Siriean dome. "It's a shame we have to do this the hard way Jane. Try as you may, I wouldn't want to kill you. That's just not my style. So I'm ending the match first." Patrissa's hand began to glow, and shortly after, it caused the entire dome around them to collapse like before.
Jane could barely make out what going on anymore. Patrissa was still standing over her, Jane could only pull herself to sit on her legs while her head hung heavy towards the ground. The world was wobbling heavily around her; Jane never felt so weak in her entire life. The sensation of passing out grew stronger and stronger each second, the pains getting worse without even taking additional damage. Jane could tell her own energy scope was now burning red in color and warning, but what happened next was even more impossible.
Doom Shield doesn't allow either side to quit the math early, even if both participants want to stop fighting. Yet as Patrissa held out her arm towards the sky, she managed to shut the whole thing down with Doom Shield in effect. The battle immediately ended, the reward spoils delivering its message in holographic text.
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"Too bad you don't get to keep that reward."
"What are you - talking about?" Jane's throat hurt so bad that she could cough at any moment. Patrissa was now speaking in riddles. Why did she stop the fight and allow her to win? Why not just stamp it out here?
Patrissa snapped her fingers in the air. Jane didn't notice anything at first, aside from her swirling head pain and the total overpowering urge to pass out completely. "What's...?" Jane didn't want to speak. It only made her weaker and weaker, but another second afterwards, the result of Patrissa's finger snap came into fruition. There were more people than one now. Two other dark figures were now walking this way, coming from each side of where Patrissa was standing. They must have been hiding in the shadows. What did they want? Who are they?
Jane could tell that they were following some sort of command that Patrissa was giving them, but whatever it was about couldn't be the act of anything good. The battle was over; Patrissa had given up. Jane wanted to make out their faces, but her vision was blurring so much that everything seemed to echo and stand out as more than one thing.
Patrissa pointed to Jane. "Take her supply sphere and her other things. If she gives you any trouble, you know what to do."
This is insane! Jane wanted to scream out for help, but nobody else seemed to be around right now. Jane could feel herself getting ever weaker. The two persons approached her closer and closer, taking very cautious steps. No! Get away! Jane didn't know what else to do now, but giving up was no longer an option. Patrissa tricked her! She never planned on losing no matter what, and this is what she must do to those who pass out in a battle. Patrissa overpowers her prey at the last moment by outnumbering her opponents, and then steals all of their stuff while their unconscious! It certainly explains a lot about why Patrissa acts the way she does. She's an organized thief and a trickster!
No! Jane couldn't let this happen. It can't end here! If she got her things taken, it would forever be the end of her entire career. Without a license to continue fighting, Jane would have to renew hers, which takes forever. Not to mention that her own actions from earlier would be unrepairable. Jane had stolen a lot of money herself just for her own needs, but she promised to herself and her victim to pay the money back. She can't ever do that if Patrissa gets her way. Lennith City would be a thing of the past as well. Her chance to remove this curse would be lost forever. No! No way! "No!" Jane gathered up all of her courage and remaining energy. She knew of one last way to stop all three of them at once, but she would have to give it everything to make it happen.
Patrissa suddenly saw a change in Jane. Though her stats were unchanged, MP charged only to 4%, Jane was getting back up to her knees. She was still kneeling, though Jane was now charging energy, obviously plotting something by the looks of her body glowing in a magical aura. Patrissa could tell with her intuition that it wouldn't end well, and she had not personally healed herself using a med kit orb just yet. Jane's determination to fight back until the end was far from invisible. "Stop her!" she commanded.
Jane knew it was already too late, too late for them. She finally charged as much MP energy as she possibly could. Patrissa's helpers had full health and stats, but they were incredibly close to her by now, making her next action most effective. Patrissa only needed to get hit once, but her helpers would get hit with everything in one move. Jane sent all of that energy outward. She gave it her all, screaming all of her will into her one and only chance to survive! "Redemption!"
It was by far the loudest scream Jane could ever give, even with her voice damaged like this. She unleashed her power while sitting down, and imagined only the powerful ability and invocation alone. Jane literally thought of nothing else. In the very same instance, the bright and powerful beam of light shot down from the sky, illuminating Jane's entire body with a wide radius. Patrissa's helpers tried to touch Jane, but the light bathing her pushed them back with an incredible kinetic force of burning pain. They both jumped back, and then Jane's Redemption attack took full form.
The single beam of light dispersed into five smaller forms, spanning outward and swirling around to form a spiral formation as it traveled everywhere. The vertical rays of light reached Patrissa's gang first, slamming them over and over multiple times. The beams of energy hit them the most amount of times based on how close they were to Jane. Right before Patrissa's very eyes, her team members collapsed onto the ground with the very last hit that knocked them backwards and down. Their energy scopes appeared for a short moment to report that both of them had totally been knocked out. Patrissa had never seen this before, Jane's secret weapon, and before she could completely grasp the concept that Jane was fighting to keep everything she had with a powerful and unexpected ability that was now working against Patrissa, it was too late. Patrissa could now see that one of those rays was now on a collision course to her from the left side. Though it was just light, it acted as a physical barrier of damage at the same time. Patrissa couldn't react in time, she couldn't even believe what just happened. Jane's spawned rays of lights kept spiraling around everywhere, and the light on approach to Patrissa slammed into her body with an incredible push back force.
"Naagh!" Patrissa was only able to get out a short cry of pain as soon as that light slammed into her as well. Patrissa's eyes rolled into the back of her head, her body no longer able to support the Leray damages she took earlier. She then fell down to the ground facing forward with nothing soft to land on. The rays of light finally disappeared, leaving behind catastrophe.
Patrissa went down in front of Jane's eyes. Her vision was heavily distorted by her own stats, but with all three of them down in just one attack, Jane could finally take a relief that she had won. She won the real battle and not just the fake one.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/wTdtZ8cq/S2-Patrissa-N-014.png]
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Chapter Theme Shift: Kamihama Polyphonic ~ Magia Record OST
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Jane was too tired to be impressed by her ability though. She wanted to get up in her victory, take out her supply sphere and secure her own belongings, but all of those painful sensations from before were lasting. It only took a quick moment for a new sensation to take over. Jane knew how reckless it was to use Redemption, more so with less MP energy. This time she only poured five percent into the spell, which shouldn't have been physically possible given the circumstances. That's what makes Redemption so special. It only requires a small amount of MP energy points to still be used, but underpowering it costs enormous non-magical stamina, and Jane no longer had any.
The wave of dizziness slammed into her, while the sensation that her entire head was under pressurized water overpowered everything else. Nothing on her own energy scope seemed to change in response to this, glowing red while reporting Vital Drain status, but the physical sensation draining her every millisecond was nothing like what Jane had experienced before. The exhaustion was suddenly all she could think about. It felt like a mixture of being badly injured and becoming sedated with medicine. It was just too much.
Jane's vision blurred more, getting darker and darker all without any control. Passing out no longer sounded like a bad idea after all. It would put Jane out of her own misery. In just a few seconds, it wasn't something she could fight. Jane simply allowed herself to take the rest she wanted so badly. After letting her body slant forward into the ground, she kept there, lying on her stomach, slowly closing her eyes. Jane felt weaker and weaker, like a rush that swiftly faded away continuously. Finally, everything she felt degraded away to nothing...