Novels2Search

Chapter 142: Who is losing here?

Jullieta looks at William who is getting hold of himself. She hit him well, but all things considered, he is ready to come at her with some fight. Though, she seems to hesitate over something, as if wondering if things make sense or should be well within her head.

“So a Rank 0 then? I already guessed it with your lack of words, so here I go again, boy. Prepare yourself, and try to think of your attempts. I won't hold back.” Jullieta says without much regard for the last moments she fought for not long ago.

Since her strange limits are much broader than any first-timer's, she has no need to be too considerate of her own limits.

Hoverwer, she is forgetting that this is also a challenge to get some rewards, but then... William isn't one of her targets, yet he appeared out of the blue and forces her little ego to change.

Not only that but there don't seems to be any cameras in this hallway, which makes thigns involuntarily more difficult. And because of Jullieta's forgetful mind, and the personality of a golden retriever, she has no trouble going with the flow. She can do that, even though she shouldn't do that.

It doesn't even hit her mind, but there is no way she will live down another loss, let alone some giving up. Without having any restrictions on herself, there are few who could force her up amongst the new Walkeers. That's what she thinks, and knows because of the new rules.

In truth, she wouldn't find it too bad if she would lose, since she already did. Her fight with Celleste was a disaster, so others will surely complain and not like it.

Changing her stance by crossing her arms before her face, the fiery aura, as well as flames changes. Similar to when she fought against Celleste, her arms grow in might and power, yet some things are different. She already has a fundamental mold of her beast-like Claws.

They are similar to William's hand in some regards, but they are not as physical and wild, yet unique in their own way. The crystal appearance and Elemntalists' flame and core are what make those claws strong and somewhat different than before. They appear larger now, with emphasis on their appearance, rather than the flame or heat around her body.

Her armor around her body even shrinks, and the flame around her hair gets slimmer in many ways.

William observed her previous form well enough and figures that she has some way to mold her Emblem like him. Now, her arms appear much more dangerous than before, which speaks of dangers in various forms as his Gears work.

“Well, Fuck me... Again?” William sights. “It is yet another Walker who has both hands covered in their powers? First Zech, and now her? She seems stronger even... How am I supposed to do this with a single arm?” William asks himself and clutches his hands into fists.

He complains to his own arm in this way and doesn't realize that his own Gear 1 is more than twice bigger than her two Dragogiant Claws. Of course, size is not always an advantage, the terms are. The sole premise that he holds his Gear is already plenty of strong evidence of that.

William is in no way any way weaker in terms of going against her forms, yet in terms of surrounding things and Emblem, Jullieta stills hold the advantage.

At least regarding the physical realms of capabilities that a Walker of the earlier Rank can achieve, William is not far from her. And his Annihilation Claw and familiarity and success of the Gears is his main advantage.

It isn't something that a rookie like him can have, yet Roman put a large emphasis on them for a good reason. They put a large mindful care and training into the Annihilation, allowing William to get a hold of them better and get stronger. It is better to get hold of the Annihilation sooner, later than later and to do so at Rank 1 is about the best start Roman could come up with.

As one with that element as well, he did a great job with this idea, which William didn't appreciate before, and even now. He still has some doubts because he lacks the context of his own Emblem and System, even though Roman did tell him some things.

It is quite subjective to think about the earliest Ranks anyway. They form the most versatility and in unique cases, are quite confusing to even experienced and older Walkers. William's path just begins, and the amount of Arcanite matter in his body isn't dense or strong after 10 days of having Rank 1.

Add to that his experience, and he may not have enough time to make a drastic difference against a proper Rank 2 Walker.

So, he clenches his Annihilation Claw ~ version Gear 1, and makes a slick move. He pulls the Claw forward, and the Vectors turn a bit denser in their appearance, turning to sinister blade-like claws. They wince and swirl like crazy, enveloping and moving through his claw and they even turn into a deeper sheen of crimson.

Just now, William uses the premise of his Annihilation Element to put a bit more power into this Gear than usual. Gear 1 has the least dense Vectors, but that can change in place for some tougher control. 2nd have an average amount of everything, while the 3rd has the densest and most versatile appearance.

William considers neither to be the best form since he can't decide on that. He likes each for something different, but if he can take something unique about them, then Gear 1 wins because of special moves. Now, he puts a larger amount of Annihilation towards the Gear 1 than usual, which is dangerous and will strain his Vector Cyckles.

Though, it will give him strength and turns the Gear 1 into a much more ferocious claw. He could make the density lower or larger, maintaining the flow of his Vectors as long as his control over them is fine enough.

They aren't easy to follow, and the Annihilation Element doesn't make it easier.

Jullieta sees the change with her own eyes as she finishes her own molding. She spreads her larger claws of bright color and shine from her body. “You think you can take my Dragogiant Claws?” She asks as she takes a proper stance akin to a boxer, watching the large crimson with seriousness and a hidden surprise. It shocks her, in truth.

Everything about it seeps of dangers, and she has never seen this sort of thing before.

Not even when considering the aspects of many adult Walkers, and talents in the Academy. This seems to be another monster in the making, and a dangerous one, in another fact. She realizes it enough, yet it is too late to stop what is about to happen.

“Dragogiant Claw?” William asks as he finishes his own preparations while standing up straight. “That's a rather fancy name for your form. Mine is just a Vector Claw, or Annihilation Claw if I am honest with you. But I am also thinking of some other names... Not sure if my System's name is cool, you see? Gears... or something, and numbers. So simple and uncool, or am I wrong?” he asks and shakes his head in disappointment.

Pausing, and rising her brows, Jullieta is momentarily stunned, as he heard his words with the right context and knowledge.

“You... That's Annihilation within your Crimson? I thought... something else, but that? Do you even have good control over it? Wait... Nay! Do you even feel right in your head to force things to such large proportions? I don't want to make things worse for you, or... me.” she tells with a drastic difference in her tone of speaking. She appears concerned on all fronts and speaks with some hesitation and open surprise.

William isn't all that shocked to hear her worry since it is a proper reaction that one would say in this kind of situation. If they would hold some knowledge about the Annihilation, which she seems to have. Roman explained to him plenty of possibilities and worries about the way issues that Annihilation can have. Not everything, but every current and potential problem is better said than forgotten.

Troubles of many Annihilation Walkers in the past are a peculiar topic, and it includes everyone, of course. Roman, William, and a few others.

Regardless of that, William doesn't know how to respond to her words. He can agree and cry for all that he knows, or acknowledge or stall for further time? He thinks about this for a moment, but from what he wants, this is a chance to understand himself. So he forces things up a little, and this girl seems to be a better target to try himself than Zech.

Seeing his Emblem and a rather big Annihilation Claw, Jullieta does fear it a little. The course of the Annnihiation is well known in the Academy and every word she speaks of it is understandable.

Its destruction as well as its sheer unreliability to control it by the Wakjers causes her to hesitate.

In this sense of her brief hesitation, William is the first to attack because he can and is willing to do it. “Don't worry about that!” he shouts.

He charges forward, putting his Gear 1 into a slamming strike that strains his entire body. Speed is his largest problem in this form, but its size and palm sure can make it work. He knows it, so he puts a palm strike forward, letting the crimson smack fly toward the stationary Jullieta. It is his hands, which also go along his own body. He leaps forward and runs into her with everything he has.

Frowning, she observes the attack and regains her composure. There is no time to mind such things and from what it looks like, some thigns also become clearer.

“Such clumsy and slow attack. You are a rookie when it comes to it, yet an Annihilation rookie... God forbids...” She sights and changes her stance again. Lowering her body and placing her claws palms together. Appearing like a swimmer ready to pounce towards the pool, she dives right into the approaching palm with a large leap and push of her body.

There is no Skill in this. It is a simple move by her physicality while using her Dragogiant Claws. She almost turns into a flaming arrow, pointing with her pointy claws forward. They make a quite decent shape, and fire charges past them to make her appear as a spear curled in flames. Her movement isn't that fast but forms incredible strength. She goes along with other ideas and strikes in a try to test his Annihilation.

This speak of her own ego. Diving into it isn't one bit different from a charge to a house set aflame.

In a mere moment, both forces clash with one another. A tremendous pressure hits William's palm, letting explosive pressure hit the ground and shakes the walls. He also tries to go against this pressing stab and flame that hit his palm. This Gear 1 has an abundance of sheer and raw power, yet he doesn't think he would reach a standstill against her much smaller body.

But he does. Jullieta completely negates his power and halts his steps and pushes his Annihilation.

There is only a little of his control left in his mind, as he feels one bit away from losing control over his Vectors that stretch under the fire and sharp and dense fire element.

It's too fierce. Jullieta stabs her both claws into his palm, and small explosions follow this attack as she spread her fingers inside, and charge her claws with more flames.

She looks forth and stomps the ground to do the last push. She uses some flaming ability that flickers a large amount of Annihilation away from Williem's control. Yet it doesn't go too deep and even stops her attack from going further. That fact kind of surprises her, giving her a tough idea that William may be quite versed in his Annihilation that may be well within his grasp and control.

He restrains her enough to force her into seriousness?

It isn't as if she complains, but she can feel anything she wants. That is her freedom.

With such close proximity to this Annihilation element, Jullieta feels it for the first time. Face to face with this element and she even touches it and challenges it? That is a surprising and rather strange desire. A smile involuntary creeps into her face, and she almost giggles. She feels the aura of destructive Annihilation with her claws. It's a hostile and unique feeling that she only heard about.

It is so threatening, she even thinks her flame isn't close to this and it can make one unable to think.

So, she grits her teeth and stomps to the ground again. Two strides of her legs and a twist of hips go along with something she thought she wouldn't use.

1 diagonal, and 1 vertical slice from each of her Claws makes a large and swift dent into the swirling vectors of already flickering Annihilation. It destroys William's palm in 10 portions, and he feels as if no chance is there for him any longer.

Bearing fangs that this Rank 2 Walker is giving him are too fierce.

He couldn't see it, but Jullieta follows this with other strikes. 3 wide striders of her clutched claws come, and her wide and fierce fist stretches the Vectors to their limits. With power and focused strength that goes a long way beyond William's capabilities, he watches his control slip away.

He could feel his Gear 1 crumbling, and his Annihilation element flies from him too back to his Emblem. He barely manages to get it to his grasp, which is something Roman made sure he got more than 15 times.

Now, even a tear flies from his eyes in those relocations, forcing William to accept his defeat.

It occurs in an instant, and all he could see is a dim blink of flames, and a terrific fist struck his body. Directly against his chest, he loses his stability and feels as if Roman hit him again.

He flies away, out of breath and out of his mind. It comes as no surprise since his Annihilation Claw has some forms and he probably used the worse he could. The Gear 1 has some raw power, as well as defense, but it has nonexistent flexibility. He would manage to dodge her attacks with the other two Gears. He is sure of it, but it is too late to cry over spilled milk.

Nothing is enough, and it is too late for him to withstand that power. In fact, he doesn't dare. Since she forces her way through his defensive Gear 1 that even has additional strengthening from his Annihationt, there is no doubt about her strength.

“Jezus... You took my Dividing Spear and even Double Focus Spread head-on. You are some tough freak, let me tell you that.” Jullieta says, standing and appearing somewhat tired, but it isn't visible on her face nor it is hearable in her voice.

Far from her, William is still standing on his feet, yet he wouldn't if it wouldn't be for a wall. The hall isn't that wide or tall, and he ends up on the end where he came from.

He ends up with his back facing the cracked wall. He leans on it by now, still lingering on his Inner Enchantment that still works. Though, he struggles with a headache and something he knows very well. When a loss of control or force goes along with the Gears, it hurts his head.

He glances at his right arm, looking at the strained muscles and veins all over his flexed arm. He is barely able to move it, while the Vectors swirl around it without much control. There is no Annihilation at least, which speaks of his mind and training to stop any problems from happening.

Now, not even claw is within his appearance, since he lost like a poor miner facing the lone mountain.

Struggling to feel his upper body, he breathes with some trouble. But he can move still, so he looks at the front, cursing the fierce Jullieta to oblivion. “You aren't the least bit gentle... So much for a pretty girl...”

Raising her brows, she smacks her claws together and pounces at him right at that moment without giving him a chance. It will work quite well because William couldn't even pull his Vectors together, let alone move in this tight corner.

“It's for the Vials, so don't think too much about it. I will make it up for you one way or another later if you will succeed, and won't be such a clumsy person in the following Trial,” she tells and changes her right claw. Flames and claw widen, and fingers spread forth, growing stronger and grabbing his wide-open body.

Her claw completely envelops him with shiny rope threads, because he is temporarily unable to follow any defenses. It's the lack of focus that makes this change and another is Jullieta's firm decision to stop the fight.

It's not the first time he feels this sort of thing. Roman did this to him dozens of times on the last day of his lectures.

And indeed it is the same. He can't move a muscle, because she makes sure to put her Rank 2 Skill called Crystalflame Rope to good use. She completely restrains him around his legs and torso. She also focuses more on his right arm so he wouldn't even move it if he could

“I've got you now. Caught you like a fish, but I guess you won't yield?” she asks while forcing her grip a bit tighter. Since she already used a large portion of her best Skills, she figures forcing things a bit more wouldn't hurt.

However, Jullieta far underestimates the person before her.

Not changing his expression, William only looks at her with indifferent and resolute eyes. Inner Enchantment is still working, which adds some protection, but how much it can take is another thing. He feels her grip will be enough to rip it apart, which may happen soon enough.

Jullieta doesn't hesitate to force her to him, but speaking of which, she is sure she can't just willy-nilly torture this newbie. It's the same case with past restraining methods she tried and she is terrible at this. It's a problem she realized too late.

Now, it no longer puts her in the big threat of losing, but it is giving her a tough choice and situation instead. That is great from one perspective, but on the other, she has no idea what to do next. She even thinks for a second, that some loss wouldn't hurt her more than this situation.

But she already clutches him well, so a loss is impossible.

“Not saying a word?” Jullieta forces some nasty smile on her face but she isn't so great at this, even though flames follow around her body to make some tougher impression.

William still chose to look at her, unrelenting and stubborn. He doesn't even know this is all about the test of their heart, beliefs, and bravery. It isn't about some defeats or losses, but about giving up. Surrendering in this case isn't for the student to decide as it is the purpose of this whole trial as a whole.

It's a simple test with not-so-simple results. It also gives students some challenges, while also testing the first-timers. It is a win-win situation throughout the plot that Tiberon came up with a while ago.

However, some youths would easily overthink this Trial, making it harder for everyone involved.

It's a similar case to William, who doesn't know that. He is simply stubborn in the hands of Jullieta. He is both unyielding and thoughtful about how to get out of this harsh reality.

Jullieta, close to his face obviously won't let him away. The reason is some reward for the already more experienced Walkers. One couldn't help being mad about it, yet complaining about it means nothing.

“So..” Jullieta sneers, squeezing the shif out of him thanks to his unsustainable demeanor. For once, the Inner Enchantment cracks, and William grunts but doesn't change his face much. She knows why it's bad for her since no matter what, being defeated means nothing to William. It may very well be a meaningless fight for her.

Looking at each other, Jullieta is the one who is having the upper hand, but it may as well be the opposite.

Who is clutching who?

Grunting for who knows why, she says. “You are making things difficult for me!”

“Since you find it so difficult, you can just toss me to the 31st floor and have this done with. Easy business, isn't it?”William offers her his piece of mind.

“You wish!” Jullieta grunts. “I would rather toss you across the room, to the ground, and slowly torture your Inner Enchantment. Be it the 5 minutes, or... 10?”

“Would you?” William says a simple question filled with a lot of unyielding spirit. Appearing calm, he makes things significantly harder for her to even speak, let alone do anything to force him to give up.

She isn't one to go hard on things, especially to others like her. Gritting her Crystalflame Rope tighter, she decides on something new. She swings William toward the floor as if he is a ragdoll, smacking him face down.

Dizziness overlaps his mind for a second, but it soon returns.

He can't do much, but his Emblem at least never ceases away. His claw is slowly swirling back to its proper appearance. Unfortunately, it isn't that fast. There is some time limit to that, but William has no time to look at or care about his System which may give him some ideas. His Vector Claw is getting ready for some counter, but whether that may happen or not is another question.

“Oh, crap... I may as well wait for the 5-minute timer to go away. No need to force this girl to unknown lengths. She appears nicer than the rest at least.” he thinks to himself, but it is nothing but an excuse and lies. He is glaring from the ground at Jullieta who glares at him back.

This push of hers has been an attempt to make some sense of her power, but her opponent finds it more like a futile attempt.

It makes some thigns easy to understand. For Jullieta, that is.

“Just so you know, my Fire Element isn't so nice. I can scorch you to your death if you want to see that.” She laughs and points at him with her left claw that holds a raging fire. Throughout this time, William feels the hotness enveloping his whole body, but the Crystalflame Ropes aren't flames. They are almost like chains in their structure, appearing like shiny metallic crystals made from fire elements. They are still hot, but they aren't burning him.

William isn't too happy to be like this, but hearing her words or seeing that flame makes him smile. “I know that. That is convenient. I bet you can start a barbeque in a minute. That's too bad that you can't do that.”

“But I can try!” Jullieta crouches down and points with her flame at his face.

William can't move, so he faces the raging flame that stops far enough from his face. “Is it worth getting this sort of trauma for vials or however you called those... rewards?”

“You...” Jullieta, surprised by his remark grits her teeth. Appearing agitated, she is about to get into another argument until she figures out some problem. “You have no idea what Vials are?”

“I am new to this. You see, figuring the Annihilation got me no time. I am even Outsider to be exact, so I don't know much about some Systems that you probably find trivial.” William answers, hoping to stall for more time.

“No shit.” she curses, backing away and swinging William towards a distant wall.

“Oy! Wait. Be reasonable!” William shouts, unable to do something yet he smiles just as he is swung away.

He leaves a small surprise for Jullieta, who hasn't noticed something on the ground. Around her feet is a burning rope, that William carefully placed there when she crouched down. He got it when he secured his bag away, hiding it in his inner pockets.

Flying about 20 feet away, he grips the rope in his left hand, forcing surprised Jullieta to follow along with his toss.

It isn't enough to toss her to the wall or ground, but she smacks herself on the head a few times. In the end, she faces the end of some supporting pillar that goes through the many floors.