Her entire body felt like it was on fire. At first, it felt like a welcome warmth. Something to drive out the chill that had been ever present since they reached the borders of the barony. But now, the heat was all-encompassing and overpowering.

A common question posed by students at the Academy was how biology and physics played into the System. Until the Break, humans weren’t able to perform feats of magic and power on the scale that Skills and Spells allowed for. Of course, there was no answer. Instructors at the academy could only answer for the effects of such powers, not their source.

So while she had no explanation for how she could channel fire-magic, Willow knew the effects. The burns on her fingers and hands were proof enough of that.

Willow cut off the stream of fire again, leaving the monster open for physical strikes from Seunghyo and Hana. The danger of the situation aside, Jinyoung could only be impressed by how well the divorced couple worked together.

Seunghyo was obviously less-experienced with close-range combat, but Hana more than made up for it by creating openings he could capitalize on. For each [shield bash] or physical push-back attack, Seunghyo was there to take a swipe with his short sword. For his part, Seunghyo made sure to cut when necessary and push back when he needed to. It wasn’t unlike watching Cyrus’ battle with the mid-boss, but so much more impressive to see it in close quarters like this.

On the other hand, the strain of absorbing and casting fire-magic was showing on Willow. Despite the subzero temperatures, Willow was drenched in sweat. It wasn’t just the heat from casting [ember], it was the heat from the fire-mana coursing through her body and stress of making sure it didn’t ignite inside her body.

The strategy was simple and elegant. Each fiery attack left burns across the wraith’s body. Burns that could be struck by physical attacks from a sword or shield. It might’ve been easier to cast a high-level fire spell, but that would require a high-level magic-user of which they were in short supply.

Instead, they had a rookie scholar with a basic understanding of magic casting the lowest level fire spell in existence backed up by one veteran shield knight and a pathfinder with no arrows and a short sword. It wasn’t perfect, but it was working.

“It’s slowing down!” Jinyoung called out.

It was true, the wraith’s movements were just a bit easier to dodge and it wasn’t as quick, making for an easier target. The floors and ceiling of the staging area were ripped to shreds. Cold air blew freely through the arena as Jinyoung shivered.

Jinyoung readied his sword and took up a position next to Willow. He longed to jump in and battle the wraith himself, but he didn’t want to break the delicate choreography that had formed between Seunghyo, Hana and Willow.

The wraith was flailing, but its attacks were no less dangerous. Hana and Seunghyo moved back and Willow cast [ember].

“This is the last Fire Stone! Make it count!” she yelled.

The wraith was engulfed in the flames, but he could see it was moving. Lowering its claws as if-

CRUNCH!

The monster struck upwards with its claws, burying itself under a shower of rubble.

Willow kept the spell going until the Fire Stone sputtered and cracked and she cut off the flames.

“Is it dead?” she whispered.

The rubble was charred and embers of the fires remained, but nothing moved.

“I’ll [scan] it and-”

He felt it. A worryingly familiar pull of air as it moved past him and towards the rubble.

He barely had enough time to reach Willow before the icy cold air exploded outwards along with tons of concrete and rubble. He did his best to cover Willow, but he felt a sharp pain as something struck him in the head.

Closer to the source of the attack, Hana had enough time to raise her shield. Seunghyo tried to get to her, but his legs couldn’t move fast enough and he was knocked back by the force of the wind.

She’d barely lowered the shield enough to peek beyond it when she saw what was coming. Quickly she threw her weight backwards and tumbled to the ground, just in time to see a smoldering claw whip past her face.

She scrambled to her feet as quickly as she could before the next strike came. WHAM!

The impact nearly threw the shield from her hands and her body shook from the blow.

WHAM!

The next strike came faster and hit harder. Each blow came quickly, rattling Hana’s bones and her nerves. Hana tried to crane her neck around to look behind her, but any lapse in attention would be lethal. There was no opening to strike back, much less take a second to survey her surroundings.

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The fight was less of a choreographed ballet and more of an umbrella against a tempest. The blows were knocking Hana about, making it hard to keep her balance. She tried to turn the tide by parrying a blow, but the wraith simply ripped the sword from grasp and sent it clattering away.

With each attack, the wraith grew bolder. Swinging wider and attacking more recklessly. Fewer and fewer attacks were being dodged and nearly all of them were being blocked. But Hana no longer had the strength to repel each attack and she was being pushed back.

“Willow!”

There was no response. Not from Seunghyo. Not from Willow. Not even from Jinyoung.

***

The world was spinning.

All Jinyoung could do was keep his hands and knees on the ground and wait for it to stop. He felt the back of his head and when he pulled his hand away, there was blood. Thankfully not too much, but that explained the sharp headache that was slowly settling into a dull throb.

He surveyed his surroundings and spotted Seunghyo, crumpled in a corner. Willow was down next to him, unconscious but breathing.

And in front of him was a sword. It wasn’t his sword. He still had his sword under his hand..

Slowly, he lifted his gaze and saw Hana, facing off against the wraith alone. Again.

But this time, it was different. She was holding the shield with both hands. It was her sword that was lying in front of him, presumably knocked away during the battle. And from the looks of it, Hana didn’t have the strength of the speed to counter any of the wraith’s attacks anyway.

“Okay, there’s… there has to be something.”

Jinyoung scanned the arena looking for something, anything that could turn the tide of battle. The wraith was on its last legs, but so were they. And at this rate, they would reach the end of their rope before it did.

“Something…”

His eyes circled the battlefield until they came back to rest on Hana’s sword. He looked down at his own sword before looking back up at the wraith.

Charge boosts one attack, he thought.

Hana’s sword was lighter than he expected. It was a one-handed sword, but it was weighted well. His own sword felt heavier by comparison and he made a mental note to compensate for that.

“Hana! I need an opening!”

Hana nodded and grit her teeth. Her body was exhausted beyond measure and it hurt just to move. But she’d have to move if she wanted to survive this encounter. If any of them did.

The wraith pushed in and thrust its claws. Instead of blocking, Hana shifted sideways so that the blow glanced off her shield putting her just a step away from the monster. She took a split-second to gather what reserves she had left and [shield bashed] it at close-range.

It shifted its weight back a bit, barely flinching as it did so. But it was enough.

Jinyoung was on the monster and swinging both swords in a wide slash. He could feel the [charged] energy coursing through him, letting him move faster and hit harder than he normally could. He judged his attack perfectly as both swords impacted the wraith’s torso at the same time, knocking it backwards and throwing it into the concrete arena’s walls with a THOOM!

The monster attacked viciously, but each attack met empty air as Jinyoung timed his [dashes] perfectly. It was terrifying how close each swipe and trust was to ripping him open, but Jinyoung moved swiftly and, when necessary, he created distance between himself and the monster. It was several exchanges before Jinyoung realized that he was controlling the tempo and flow of battle.

Jinyoung thought back to his training sessions with Youngho. As much as he hated to admit it, those sessions in preparation for the Academy had shaped him in the years to come. The lessons were hard learned, but they allowed him to move ahead of his classmates and, even now, were the difference between life and death.

Step left. [Dash]. Lean right. [Charge]. [Dash]. Two-handed slash.

Again and again, Jinyoung pushed the wraith’s advances back. The burns across the monster’s body glowed and bled freely from where Jinyoung had cut it.

The monster fought back, but every cut and thrust it attempted was telegraphed by the onion knight’s [scan]. Better still, attacks made with [charge] hit like hammer blows and knocked the creature back.

Careful, he thought to himself. Let it come to you.

Youngho had been adamant that there were hundreds of ways to lose a battle, but you only needed to find one way to win. Stronger enemies were clumsy, faster enemies overextended themselves, and smarter were overconfident. The wraith was stronger and faster, so he’d have to wait for it to be clumsy or, more likely, overextend itself.

And, just like it had with Hana, it extended its arms in a piercing thrust. If Jinyoung had a shield, he might’ve tried to deflect it to the side. Or if he were more skilled with a sword, parry the strike in order to create an opening.

But he didn’t have a shield. And he wasn’t nearly as skilled with a sword. But he did have [scan], so he could see the attack coming..

Instead of giving the attack a wide berth, Jinyoung stepped in and let the monster’s claws sail within inches of his face. He let the monster’s momentum carry it forward and cut straight through the wraith’s torso with both swords. Unable to stand, the wraith crumpled to the ground, dripping pools of dark blue blood.

Jinyoung moved closer, swords at the ready. But the wraith wasn’t moving much aside from ragged and shallow breaths. He approached it carefully, but the thing didn’t look at him. It was hunched over, head facing the ground. It almost looked like a runner who had just finished a race.

He placed his swords on the back of its neck. Jinyoung couldn’t tell if it was his imagination or not, but it looked as if the monster dipped its head lower. But at the least, the thing didn’t shy away from the touch of his blades.

He nodded to himself, lifted up the swords, and, with all his might, swung down his blades.

QUEST: Hard Target

OBJECTIVE: Defeat the SIN Wraith in battle.

Current progress: Complete

REWARD: Wraith Shroud

QUEST: The Path of the ONION KNIGHT (I)

OBJECTIVE: Reveal and COMPLETE 3 secret SUBQUESTS.

Current progress: Complete

REWARD: New ASPECT

[Level Up!]