--- [Isabella’s perspective]
What do I do?!
Should I fighter her?
Maybe stopping her was a mistake; it’s not too late to let her pass, right?
While lost in thought, she slashes me with her claws.
Five long gashes on my upper arm are ripped open.
Luckily, cuts were shallow.
It hurts like hell, and blood is running down my arm, but I’m fine.
I can’t afford to get lost in my own thoughts like that again; I need to concentrate!
“Do you understand now, miss? Let me pass, and I won’t hurt you.” – Jennifer
“No!” – Isabella
“…” – Jennifer
For a moment, she looks disappointed.
It’s like she’s annoyed that she has to ‘deal with me’, even if she sees me as inferior.
But then that disappointment quickly goes away as a smirk forms on her face.
She licks the blood off her claws, and gets ready to fight.
“Very well then… If I have to waste my time fighting someone like you, I’ll make the best it.” – Jennifer
As soon as she finishes speaking, she launches her attack.
A wild combo attack with seemingly no rhyme or reason behind it ensues.
With a combination of intense focus and a lot of luck, I manage to dodge her attacks by the skin of my teeth.
She mixes up her attack pattern by switching away from rapid attacks, to a methodical wide swipe that cuts everything in its path.
Trees, rocks, and even the ground…
Nothing is safe once it touches her claws.
She simply cuts through it all.
It’s so hard to find an opportunity to strike back when I know a single hit from her is all it takes…
Mentally, I can’t get myself to do anything other than focus on defense.
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Should I let her out?
No…
Not yet.
She keeps attacking me, and I keep hopping backwards to get away.
But eventually…
!
My back is against a wall…
She led me to the side of a small hill.
With nowhere left to go, I’ve been cornered.
Every attack she threw at me was designed to make me dodge in just the right way…
All to lead me here…
She was controlling me like a puppet this entire time.
If I want to survive, and I do, then I’ll need to take some risks.
No longer can I just avoid her attacks.
I need to block them, then counterattack.
It’s the only way…
“Goodbye.” – Jennifer
She swings her claws at me one last time.
With my sword still in its scabbard, I put it up in the path of her attack.
“Heh! What good is that going to do? I’ll just cut through that too!” – Jennifer
Her all-powerful claws that can cut through anything clash with my scabbard and…!
“Augh!” – Jennifer
Her claws all snap in half; her attack was stopped!
Taken aback by it all, she takes a few steps back.
“What the hell? Is that thing indestructible?!” – Jennifer
“Well… Yes.” – Isabella
“…” – Jennifer
Nothing can even put a dent in it; not the scabbard, nor the blade inside it.
It is fully and completely indestructible.
She takes a few seconds to collect herself, before letting out a chuckle.
“Well, that won’t stop me. I might not be able to cut through your weapon, but I can still cut through you!” – Jennifer
Like nothing ever happened, her claws regrow, and she once again starts attacking me.
It’s fiercer than ever before, but luckily, I at least got away from cliffside.
I dodge what I can, and block everything else.
Despite that, some of her attacks land…
A scratch here, and a cut there.
Nothing deadly so far, but with each one she lands, she slowly wears me down.
Whenever she’s sure that her attack will get blocked, she slows it down as much as possible to keep her claws from breaking.
I suspect regrowing her claws drains her stamina quite a bit, so preventing it from happening is crucial.
She’s not trying to end me in one big attack anymore…
She’s trying to outlast me!
I can’t even land any attacks on her…
At this rate…
I’ll have to do it…!
I start pulling my sword out…
“Oh! You’re unsheathing it… Finally time to get serious, eh?” – Jennifer
--- [Shin’s perspective]
I’ve yet to come across anyone…
Does that mean I’m lucky, or unlucky…?
If I don’t meet anyone, that just means it’s up to the rest of the team to deal with them.
Besides the new girl, I completely trust them.
They can handle whatever life throws at them.
Although, I can’t say I’m not itching to test my abilities in real combat.
The training was harsh, maybe too harsh…
But in the end, it was worth it.
I’m not the same as I was back then; it’s not even comparable.
The days of passing out after a single use of the fire sword are over.
I can finally fight for real now.
“Look, there’s only one of them.” – ???
“Let’s take him out, then get the flag.” – ???
Someone’s here!
Two in fact…
I know I wanted to test out my abilities, but that’s a little more than what I asked for…
I can’t take them lightly…
If I can’t beat them alone, I’ll have to drop my pride and retreat to base so Illian can assist me.
“Hi there! I’m Shin, and who do we have here?” – Shin
They look at each other, like they didn’t expect me to talk to them.
“Why do you want to know?” – ???
“Oh, because I’d love to know the names of my first two victims.” – Shin
No matter how I actually feel, presenting myself as confident is crucial.
It’ll make them more careful, giving me more time to come up with a plan to defeat them.
If I’m lucky, my cockiness might piss them off too, making them make rash decisions I can take advantage of.
“Do you hear this guy? Who does he think he is?” – ???
She looks at her teammate and scoffs.
“Anyways, I’m Nellie and this is James. There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding. You’re not beating us. Why? Well, it’s pretty simple actually. We’re strong.” – Nellie