As I land from almost having my neck broken, two longswords impact me. One harmlessly hits my cuirass while the other slips under the stubbed leather skirt bands which flew up because of my lion's step.
The blade impacts my thigh, causing a harsh pain despite failing to cut through my hard leather armor. I stumble to the side and retaliate with a backhanded slash that the plate armor stops.
This disruption construct is a significant problem. While it allows me to preserve my flow, it significantly hinders our ability to hurt each other, which is a problem because I'm definitely not going to outlast ten Nobles and my armor isn't as good as theirs.
Not to mention that my perception construct is eventually going to consume most of my energy, a single portion per ten seconds is only efficient when I consider how much more it cost me to accelerate my perceptions before.
I deactivate my perception construct and lion's step to the south. I stomp down in front of a Noble raising his shield to block me, receiving a glancing blow in the back.
I twist around the obstacle, and then lion's step again to land on the outer edges of their encirclement. I keep running so as to get out of the disruption construct's range.
Before I do, however, I hear greaves hitting the ground close behind me. I leap and twist myself around. The Lordling, with his right arm hanging limply by his side, is bringing his longsword down on me from overhead despite the shield strapped to his left arm weighing him down.
In fear of the impact bending the steel bands of my cuirass and thus creating an opening, I launch a backhanded lion's slash as a counter-attack. I intercept his sword in mid swing and easily manage to parry it away.
I then lion's stab straight out while rotating my wrist, drilling the tip of my sword in his visor's slit. I impact the ground with backward momentum. The Noble drops dead as I paddle back to recover my footing.
“Ihlmer!” Ladyling Marks yells.
Before I can savor my vicious counter, two more Nobles come running in plate armor. One of them is slightly behind and each of his steps is accompanied by the sound of twisting steel.
The plates protecting his right leg are bent, likely from falling from his horse, but it doesn't seem to be slowing him down much at all. I would prefer fighting Templars at this point, it would be a lot easier to outrun them since they wear heavier plate.
As soon as I regain some control of my steps, I leap forward at my opponents. They bring their shields forth and swords down. I once again stomp down and arrest my momentum, avoiding three slashes.
They try to bash me but I leap back, successfully widening the gap between us with this bait. I pay close attention to my quickly accelerating heartbeat to try to gauge the state of my body.
Unfortunately, I rapidly notice a stiffening to my chest which indicates I've not had nearly enough rest between battles. I glance over my shoulder and notice that the soldiers are rapidly closing in.
Another leap back gives me a wide enough perspective to spot the Nobles trying to flank me. I frown and try to power my runic defensive construct again. It works so I assemble a sundering construct with thirteen portions to end this as quickly as possible.
Nobles' armors start glowing golden. I land and buck back to absorb my momentum. I let flow stream out of my reserve and fall into grooves, activating a body-wide lion strike that propels me at the Nobles with such speed they fail to react in time to alter their course.
Their use of a disruption construct clearly shows they're wary of my ability to manipulate flow, so much so that they didn't even attempt to overwhelm me with superior reserves of energy.
I raise my arm for a high right to low left sideways slash while reactivating my perception construct. The Nobles raise their shields to block. I layer a second set of grooves atop the first and swing my broadsword.
The blade slices through wood, steel bands, steel plates, steel mail, padded cloth, and finally hard leather. Naught of what the edge of my weapon enhanced by my sundering construct encounters manages to slow it down in the slightest.
The tip cuts a trench through the first Noble's helmet and head as if it encountered butter, as if the blade's midsection wasn't currently slicing through a shield.
My speed I'm charging them added to the speed they're charging me and combined with the speed of my slash makes it so that the segments of my sundering construct dealing with redirecting kinetic energy have no lack of it.
As a consequence, the weapon continues on its trajectory while having barely lost any speed and merely consumed three portions to end a Noble who likely poured five times that amount of flow to keep their lives.
The base of the edge encounters the second Noble's shield and severs through it while the midsection slices down into the helmet to exit the breastplate on the other side, having cut the human in twain.
The sundering construct burnt through four portions, for a total of seven with six left to deal with Countess Marks who slams the lower edge of her shield into the pit of my elbow before I can adjust the arc of my swing to cut through it and then her.
No matter, I let my arm bend around the obstacle and flick the blade with my wrist, causing the midsection to hit the steel fauld of three steel lames protecting her waist.
The blade digs ten centimeters into her trunk but, for the first time, the sundering construct winks out for lack of energy because I'm unwilling to burn any more than this.
My broadsword stops, stuck in the steel it severed through. I impact her shield head-on, which cuts my breath and barely shakes her. I hurriedly try to recover the weapon because it bears the marks of my duel with Viki but the Ladyling swings her sword at me, forcing me to abandon it.
The woman crumbles down to her knees with my blade still in her, she releases her sword to seize the hilt of mine but oddly doesn't pull it out of herself and merely holds onto it as if fearful the weapon would fall off or dig in by itself.
I burnt almost half my energy to deal with four Nobles and ten warhorses, leaving six Nobles. It isn't a good result by any stretch but it did rid of me of a Count and Countess, there should only be Barons left.
I draw my shorter broadsword, choosing it because it'll be easier to maneuver with it in melee range. I swipe up just in time to block a swipe from a Noble with a breastplate designed to hold ample breasts who had to jump over the larger piece of the Lord I split in twain.
And a gruesome piece that is. I think as I easily dodge the woman's next strike with his armor-piercing sword. I cut the neck almost vertically, it left a flapping bit. Jess? Are you okay? Kh, kh, kh.
I chuckle, front-kick my opponent's shield, and reach out to intercept a silver air-blade that comes slashing at my left from an arcing trajectory. I almost see myself reach out and break the connections between the molecules of air with my flow to seize the energy that made up the construct.
I repurpose it into an air-blade of my own that I launch at my stumbling opponent. It smacks into the Noble's shield and rips it in half, defeating the defensive construct.
I plunge my sword in the break and visualize the kinetic energy piercing through his breastplate to impale his chest. My broadsword flashes golden as a portion of my energy pours into it to shape itself into a new kind of kinetic construct.
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The blade impacts the steel infused with flow and causes it to bend back. Unfortunately, it doesn't rip but the curve is so sharp I have no doubt his ribs were broken. As expected, the Noble drops back. I hear distorted chocking sounds but also greaves ripping grass strands as my opponents move in.
A disruption construct falls on the area, causing my armor's runic construct to fall apart. I scowl because I almost had the solution to kinetic energy on the tip of my tongue. I lion's leap back to avoid a series of coordinated lion strikes, most of which I manage to dodge.
As one of the blades falls towards my arm-guard and another pierces towards my left side, I seize the flow I had in my armor to counter these threats which could compromise the integrity of my cuirass.
As the weapons hit my armor, I try to store the kinetic energy to send it back at them later but, as soon as I express this intent, I know I will once again experience failure.
Instead, I decide to hurriedly start hardening my armor by using the same method I have for air but suddenly pause because something just hit me when thinking of those molecules.
It was explained to me, and I've experienced, that to turn air solid I must reinforce the links between each molecule which is rather similar to what a defensive construct does if less complex because the purpose and methods of the latter construct are more diverse.
But, Celyz never spoke of kinetic energy in the same way as she did about lightning or fire. Never mind the fact she couldn't get into depth about these forms of energy, it's clear that kinetic energy hasn't the same palpable existence as the others.
Air-blades have kinetic force if much weaker than... wait, movement, weight, those increase the force. I explode in laughter that reaches my ears distorted because of my perception construct.
The Noble's blades hit my armor and, with but the shadow of a thought, my flow moves and renders the impact nonexistent. This application, while the same as I've always used through the shredding segments to redirect kinetic energy, was much quicker and efficient than it was before.
My flow negated the blows by merely seizing half the force transferred and turning it against the other half. It was so simple. The reason for my failure so obvious. It isn't possible to store kinetic energy to use later because that force is mass and speed, it is weight and movement.
By immobilizing kinetic energy, I turned it to naught so it couldn't be reused unless by recreating momentum. That force is palpable but at the same time it isn't, not like fire or lightning are.
To manipulate it, I must think of it as a concept rather than something I can bottle up like heat. Redirection is the key. I extend my broadsword to meet a blade. I channel my intent through unstructured flow to turn the kinetic force of my enemy's sword against itself upon contact.
When our weapons hit they both turn immobile. There isn't an aftershock, not a tremble, no impact of any kind. As if we both swung feathers. My opponent blinks. I twirl my weapon around his and jam it in his helmet while enhancing the kinetic force behind my blow.
Despite little starting momentum, my sword crushes through the slit of the Noble's visor and twists the steel. Yet, it sadly doesn't go very far because I've been using scraps of energy, a tenth of a portion, two tenth. Kh. Kh.
Still, I laugh and laugh in my mind because the day is now easier to win. Yet, my happiness has a distinct taste of sadness because it'll still be difficult to survive, because such bloodshed isn't what I had hoped would happen when I chose to build Jessica Freepath's reputation.
I've so far managed to keep the Nobles from locking me in an encirclement but that won't last with their soldiers closing in. The Noble I struck pulls back and brings his gauntlet up to his helmet. I likely pierced his eye if he forgot he's wearing armor.
I lion's leap back several times to widen the distance and slash out to pour five portions of flow into the air, which drains me of the energy I took out and leaves me with only thirty portions in my reserve.
Winds gather where the tip of my broadsword traveled to fill the golden shape of the unstructured air-blade. The Nobles pause and gather together to present their shields as a unit.
I smirk so widely in my helmet that my rising cheek touches my helmet's cold steel. The high born flinch and I witness one reach out to presumably remove the disruption construct.
Too late. I launch the air-blade while enhancing its inherent kinetic energy. The golden scythe eats the distance in less than the blink of an eye to crash into the wall of wood and steel.
Three shields shatter instantly, the two on the edges are split and those wielding them are thrown back. Of the three that take my attack straight on, only one dies from having his breast-plate breached while the others' armors hold despite rips in the steel plates.
I count them out of the fight and charge in only to find that the disruption construct vanishes and those that remain move in with apparently all their energy poured in their defensive runes.
I mingle with them for a while but the injured soon start working with them to attack me with air-blades, air-needles, and fireballs which are all rather simple but destructive.
These Nobles are either experienced or stubborn to be using constructs in their states. My mind, witnessing these air-needles, returns to Izla Meria. I witness the Duke at the plaza a moment before he shaped the energy he stole into projectiles to make people yield.
My anger roils and I launch myself at their front-liners. I slash out with precise blows aimed at two throats that they both intercept with their swords shining from armor-piercing constructs.
I negate the kinetic energy on impact, causing their swords to be unable to slice through mine. At first they seem to think that I've used a defensive construct because they press down on my weapon but soon give up as they fail to make me budge a single millimeter.
The inconvenient part of this technique is that I can't move either, but that's alright. As they struggle, I shape an improved air-blade over my head with a couple portions of energy.
The two pairs of eyes widen as they recall how bad things went for them last time. They instantly slam their shields into me, throwing me back, and leap away to dodge despite the fact they can use constructs to block me this time.
I activate the construct and send it to the injured who desperately work together to shape an air-shield. They use five or eight portions and still almost fail to block my attack.
My temper flares and I advance on them but, suddenly, a sharp pain seizes my chest. Most of my muscles freeze on instinct with my mouth gaping open to ensure I can breathe while a numbing agony, that somehow feels humid, spreads out.
I hurriedly deactivate my perception construct which gives me some slight relief that doesn't last because the pain keeps growing and quickly reaches its previous heights. I stand as I am, paralyzed while listening to soldiers charging at me from behind and witnessing the Nobles who, far from broken, gather back together.
One with a mangled breastplate suddenly departs from the group to go around me. I can see the Noble head south before leaving my field of vision. I remain as I am, agonizing, panicking with cold sweat dripping down my back. Is this it?
How many do you think we can take with us? Liz' question snaps me out of my lurch. I focus myself and weave intent towards kinetic energy into my armor's runic defensive construct before forcefully raising my sword which hung on my fingertips.
The hazy silhouettes facing me lower their stances. The sounds behind me grow more rapid. I flick around at the last second and slash out with my sundering construct.
Before I can even witness the result, harsh pain hammers my chest and almost causes me to drop. I wretch my mind away from the depths and put it back on task, linking a backhanded blow into my previous slash.
I hear gurgles but don't stop there. I twist my wrist and arm to send an uppercutting slash and, this time, feel vibrations from the ground signifying a body or several dropped.
I hear steel clink and turn my head. A glimpse of a foot sliding on red grass informs me of an upcoming overhead blow. I bend, turn on my foot, and hack down into a chest.
Half of a large blade hits the ground next to my foot and then a Noble in plate follows with a gaping tear that goes from helmet to fauld. It seems my sundering construct has turned unstable if the shredding segments did so much damage when the lightning-armor-piercing segments are meant to sever steel.
The panging agony seizing my heart prevents me from lingering. A weapon impacts the hard leather armor protecting my elbow and is stopped dead there. I counter-attack behind myself with a climbing swing.
I feel vibrations as my blade tears through the enemy but find no time to focus on my external circumstances as a severe bout of pain suddenly rips through my chest to leave deathly immobility behind.
“Surrender or die!” Ladyling Marks bellows.
A silver construct in the shape of a long javelin enters my perceptions. I instantly know that it is solid and heavy, that it'll cost me too much to block, that my heart just stopped, that the meat of my body can no longer sustain me by itself.
In desperation, aware that my life is moments from simply ending, I let go of my broadsword and reach out with my fingers half-open as if to make a sheath for the javelin to land into.
I experience a slowing of time as if I had used a perception construct but recognize the experience as one I've felt when injured to the brink of death. The projectile's tip flies past my palm, blowing wind into it. The shaft then slides into my hand and stops dead.
“Catch.” I whisper as I reverse the javelin's momentum.