Kyle stretched as he regarded the fae woman on the other side of the “arena” they’d selected. In reality, they’d just drawn a large circle in a relatively flat portion of the training grounds. While they had no idea exactly what the rules or terrain would be in Phase Three, this was the most neutral approximation they could come up with. With Tillienne still being a bit fatigued from training against Jax, their hope was to simulate a later-round battle. Kyle fully expected early to mid-tier D Grade obstacles to pop up in the later portions of Phase Three, and after their conversation, Kyle was more than happy to play the final boss.
The sky lit up with a bolt of lightning, and the crash of thunder marked the beginning of the fight. Kyle took a defensive stance, expecting Tillienne to close in to engage in melee. Instead, she touched one of the charms on her bracelet, and Kyle’s eyes widened as he activated IDENTIFY. The metal of the bracelet began to flow, and in mere seconds she was holding a greatbow nearly as tall as she was.
A click could be heard across the arena, and the weapon expanded further, now shaped like an “X.” Two of Tillienne’s arms pushed the bow out, as the other two pulled back a wicked-looking arrow, which she promptly released. Kyle darted out of the way, not daring to look away as she drew another. “Can you project the flight targets of the arrows, C.H.A.D.D.?”
[DR. MAYHEW, THE POSSIBLE TRAJECTORIES OF THE ARROWS ARE HIGHLY VARIABLE DUE TO THE NATURE OF THE WEAPON, AND DIFFICULT TO PREDICT.]
“Do your best, I won’t hold it against you if you’re wrong.”
Dozens of lights sprang up as C.H.A.D.D. lit up the angles of approach, right as Tillienne released her next shot. C.H.A.D.D.’s predictions were slightly off, though it was close enough for him to avoid the shot, this time getting lightly grazed across his left arm. The barbed arrow cut through his shirt, but was unable to break the skin thanks to his Enhanced Carapace. Still, he was sure that he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of a direct hit. Those arrows moved fast.
A third arrow was nocked, and Auric Perception warned Kyle that this one was different. As she released it, the projectile accelerated, closing the distance even faster than the others. STORM SHELTER instinctively sprang to life, barely intercepting the arrow as the barrier formed. He dropped the skill nearly as quickly as he’d activated it, and now dashed directly towards his opponent.
One thing he’d noticed as she shot the arrows at him was a shift in the mana coming from her bracelets. Each shot may have gotten more powerful, but IDENTIFY showed him that they each got more costly to fire, and took slightly longer to produce. Tillienne drew the largest arrow yet, setting it against the string of her strange bow. Kyle’s blood burned in his veins as he activated IGNITION, and he was on her in a moment.
To Tillienne’s credit, she didn’t skip a beat. Though her face betrayed a moment of surprise, both the bow and arrow flowed into silver metal as she released them, returning to her bracelets. Kyle could feel the mana around her stir as her own boosting skill was activated, and was prepared when her hands flashed out in a swift unarmed combination attack.
Risking a quick glance with IDENTIFY, he could tell that the boost was purely physical, though still qualitatively impressive. Kyle quickly found himself on the back foot, dodging attacks and trying to stay just outside of her striking range. Simply based on the number of charms she had on her bracelets; Kyle assumed she could draw out more weapons. As the frenetic pace of their battle picked up, Kyle fully expected she would have quite a bit to showcase.
Fighting an opponent with four arms was a real challenge, particularly given Tillienne’s raw physical Strength. He had to be careful to evade every blow, as each punch packed enough power to cause real damage. Even with two batons, he was forced almost entirely on the defensive, each counterattack he managed to launch nullified by her unorthodox style. Despite his situation, Kyle felt a smile growing across his face.
Suddenly, Tillienne slowed down, taking three quick strikes from Kyle’s batons. He pushed his advantage, as Tillienne tried and failed to activate her boosting skill again. Realization seemed to dawn on her face as she met his eyes. “How are you blocking my skill?”
Kyle grunted as he narrowly blocked a counterpunch, feeling the impact running all the way up his arm. “Are you offering a trade in the middle of a battle? This doesn’t seem like great timing.”
She didn’t respond, instead ducking to the ground and spinning. The move took Kyle by surprise, and he reacted too slowly as Tillienne swept his leg with hers. He swore as he felt himself falling backwards, her fists threatening to smash him into the ground. Cursing his carelessness, he pushed harder on PARASITIC RESONANCE. Her eyes widened as the muscles in her arms strained against the twisting mana, slowing her just enough for Kyle to regain his footing. Now that she was fully aware of the skill’s presence, she railed against it, but it bought him the time he’d needed.
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His fight with Ger’Sinh had shown Kyle that his current application of the skill was sloppy. Before upgrading the skill, he could only use RESONANCE while in physical contact, so he had grown accustomed to immediately trying to overpower his opponents’ Willpower and gain control. While that worked fine against beasts operating on instinct, more intelligent enemies could fight against his skill, or take measures to avoid it altogether.
After taking time to rewatch his fight against the beastmaster, he’d realized that he needed to shift his thinking. His inspiration came from the concept of parasites themselves – the longer they went undetected, the more dangerous they were. Why should he be any different? Forgoing the priority on immediate attack, Kyle had instead been practicing making the tendrils of PARASITIC RESONANCE thinner, more subtle. He was plenty happy with the results so far, even if there was still room to improve his application of the skill.
Kyle couldn’t rest on his laurels, however, as the brief break in their engagement had given Tillienne the time she needed to pull out three items from her bracelets. With PARASITIC RESONANCE still active, he was surprised to see that there was no real mana manipulation involved. Instead, the bracelets seemed to just draw mana out of her, with the items themselves doing the work of shaping the weapons. The pink-skinned woman stood before him with a spear in one hand, a shield in another, with two hands grasping a colossal battleaxe.
Her expression had grown serious, and Kyle thought he saw a flicker of anger in her eyes. “You’ve been holding back on me. That’s not just a nullification skill, is it?”
Kyle shook his head, not seeing a reason to lie about it. “It’s not one that I particularly like using in a friendly match.”
She responded by leveling the spear and raising her shield. “I don’t appreciate being treated like a child, Kyle. I’m D Grade nobility of a fae house, and I will not be toyed with.” Without another word, she charged. Kyle avoided several thrusts with the spear, though with the shield raised there were few opportunities to counterattack. He kept his connection with PARASITIC RESONANCE to suppress the activation of her boosting skill, and fought defensively, waiting for an opportunity.
One thrust from the spear overextended, and Kyle seized the moment. He batted the weapon to the side with a baton, creating a small opening. He rotated back as he brought both batons down, catching her lower-right arm which held the spear. His blow caused her to drop the weapon, which turned to silver liquid and flowed back into the bracelet around her wrist.
Kyle was celebrating internally, when he realized his error. Against a normal human, this would have disarmed their primary weapon. Because she hadn’t used the axe thus far in their fight, Kyle only now realized how exposed he was. The weapon came crashing towards him in a brutal arc, a light jab with the shield forcing him further off-balance. STORM SHELTER was an option, but some part of Kyle felt like using the skill was admitting a loss. Instead, he went with plan B.
“Now!” Kyle’s cry was answered by orange light flashing brightly in Tilliene’s eyes, while at the same time Kyle pushed energy through PARASITIC RESONANCE, focused on the hands holding the axe. Kyle tucked his legs tight to his chest as he moved with the force of the shield bash, falling to the ground and landing on the C.H.A.D.D.pack. The ground shook as the axe crashed into the ground where he’d been standing. He used the surface as a foundation to roll backwards, managing to clamber to his feet.
Another thrust with the spear was headed directly towards him, and there was no avoiding it at this range. The weapon struck him in the chest, puncturing his armor and managing to draw a thin trickle of blood. Embracing the pain from the injury and IGNITION, Kyle stoked the skill further as he regained his distance. Connecting C.H.A.D.D. to his stonebloom armor, the wood began to slowly grow to repair the hole caused by the blow.
Tillienne paused several steps away, her gaze landing on the wound that was already closing. Turning her eyes to meet Kyle’s she spoke. Her voice was calm, not a hint of flirtation. “You’re a real monster, aren’t you?”
Ouch. “Monster’s a little harsh, don’t you think? But I told you, I’m a bad match for you. There’s no shame in that, it was a great fight.” Kyle could tell from the change in her tone and attitude that she’d genuinely expected this fight to go an entirely different direction. He couldn’t blame her – she was a true elite after all – but he hoped that they could call it here. Pushing much farther could get dangerous for her.
“Matchups? That’s an excuse for the weak. I’m not stopping here, Kyle. Not for you. Not for anybody.”
Kyle felt a chill go through his body as the air around Tillienne began to shimmer. PARASITIC RESONANCE didn’t reveal any mana moving differently in her body, so he activated IDENTIFY. His eyes widened as he saw her pure vital energy seeming to surge like magma, pulsing through body in conjunction with her heartbeat. Then, she moved.
In a flash he could hardly follow, she was in the air above him, axe poised to cleave him in two. This time, Kyle didn’t hesitate. STORM SHELTER sprang to life, deflecting the blow. As she bounced off the shield, she launched several other mighty blows against the barrier, each landing with the force to pulverize stone to dust.
Still, Kyle’s skill held up. There was a component of STORM SHELTER that scaled with his Willpower, and he was well beyond what most D Grades around his level would achieve. IGNITION continued to burn in his veins, the ramping effect offered by Unbreakable Willpower becoming truly noticeable.
He met the woman’s eyes through the barrier, and a moment of silence was shared between them. When STORM SHELTER expired, there was an unspoken guarantee that their fight would be escalated well beyond the level of a training match. He saw her pride, her drive to prove her path. And he knew, without a doubt, that he would need to take her completely seriously when things continued.
With a sigh, he deactivated his skills and raised his hands. “I give up. You win.”