Kila kept up with Noki’s furious attacks. Powerful as they may be, they lacked precision and thought; he was just attacking on instinct. It was no problem for Kila to use the flat of her daggers to redirect his punches since she used his own momentum against him, the issue laid in how long she could refrain from seriously harming him. Each errant attack teased her senses; an overextended punch told her to stab a bundle of nerves in his armpit, a lowered shoulder invited a clean path to cut his throat, and the fact that he would expose his back to counter with a kick…
“No,” Kila commanded herself, “I can’t kill him unless I absolutely have to. I still have a mission from Kolo Amani and I have to see it through.” Since she was a child, Kila knew that her family’s position was precarious at best; if they weren’t able to show their worth, they’d be dismissed as a Minor Vassal Family and their meager territories would no longer be protected. The only way to secure her future was to grow in power and what better way was there than having a Kolo as an ally; all she had to do was complete this mission.
Kila repelled two more of Noki’s blows before creating some distance between them. Noki snarled and stamped the ground, but instead of moving in on her he only watched. Kila took a defensive stance until she noticed a slight change in his tera waves.
“Wait, that felt like Noki's Tera, is he still in there?” Kila had deactivated her Divine Sight during the fight to conserve tera, but quickly activated it. The instability of Noki's Tera was evident now, she could see the faint traces of white tera eating away at the orange, only to be replaced by more orange. Kila didn’t know exactly how Noki was doing it, but now she had a new plan of attack.
“I’ll press him, force him to use more tera. Hopefully that’ll make it easy for Noki to come back to his senses.” If her plan worked, she’d never let Noki near a scourbeast in her presence ever again.
From the Abstraction Noki saw his other self lose control for a moment; he knew what he was doing was working. All he had to do now was-Noki felt an intense pressure focus on him, like he was suddenly being targeted by a feral scourbeast.
“Guess that makes sense he noticed me,” Noki said aloud, “but that doesn’t matter, I just need to finish this.” He felt the invisible force of will intensify and responded in kind. The tera from the Kulda slowly flowed from the core but the portion was smaller than before; his other self was aware of his plan and actively resisted the loss of power. “What do I do now? The tera is barely moving now and if I don’t hurry up…”
Noki looked back at the viewing screen and saw Kila engaging with his physical self. She still held an advantage but it didn’t look like she would for much longer; each attack Kila defended from grew in both desperation and speed, he’d eventually score a hit and with the power he was outputting, it could seriously harm her. The tera in the core stopped flowing outwards and started returning.
“Dammit, it’s gonna take all the power back. I need a faster method, something to take it from the core all at once! Wait a minute…” Noki looked at the giant orange core in front of him and formulated a plan. He had visualized the core into existence, so why couldn’t he do the same for his other ones? Noki closed his eyes and focused on his core, willing it to take shape in the Abstraction. Purple clouds swirled around an empty space that slowly formed a bright, white ball of tera. His Physical Kulda, the size of his fist, floated just behind his head. It was laughably smaller than the other core in front of him, but he was in the Abstraction and if he understood things correctly…
The core behind him expanded, swallowing the purple clouds into itself and growing in size until it rivaled that of the orange core. “Oh wow, this place is awesome! I can make it as big as I want,” Noki said as he faced the orange core. He was no longer content with taking the tera out bit by bit; instead, his new plan was to take the entire core into his own. “I have no idea if this will work, but I don’t have any other option now.” With all of his will behind it, Noki forced his core to move towards the orange one.
Kila’s physical tera was starting to run out. Normally she wouldn’t even have to use it fighting against an Earthen or Stone Soul, but this version of Noki was fighting on a level equal to her; meaning any natural physical advantages he held would be a factor now. She now regretted not focusing more on her physical conditioning as the force of each attack she redirected numbed her arms bit by bit. She had reached her limit on being defensive, it was time to attack. She sidestepped an errant punch, ducked, and in one fluid motion cut Noki on the back of his leg. As he stumbled, she picked up her speed and cut his other limbs in quick succession rendering him temporarily paralyzed.
Kila took a moment to catch her breath as Noki laid motionless on the ground, his eyes burning a hole into her.
“Dammit Noki,” she said with noticeable fatigue wearing her down, “If you’re gonna come around, hurry it up or I’ll-”
Steam rose from Noki’s wounds, along with a faint orange aura as he slowly, but surely, rose to his feet.
“That’s insane, he has enough physical tera to fight me and heal his injuries at the same time?”
Kila’s next thought died before it could form. In a blink of an eye Noki had crossed the distance between them and struck Kila’s last second guard. She dug her feet into the soil and crossed her swords to absorb the blow. It was much heavier than before, if he landed a direct strike he could have broken her ribs or worse.
That was the last straw.
She did her best, she really did, but she would not let herself be killed for the sake of someone else; not when she still had so much to accomplish. Kila burned away the vestiges of the personas she had adopted,from the plucky weak Divine Artist to the Baira-like guide,until there was nothing but Kila left. She kicked Noki in the chest and sent him bouncing off the ground and rolling backwards until he landed on a heap of upturned roots and debris. Kila stared impassively at Noki as she twirled her blades and shifted to an offensive stance, and circulated her mental tera.
Kilas eyes caught the reflected moonlight from her blade and they were devoid of compassion and warmth; nothing remained but the cold eyes of one who deals in the art of assasination. Her Waxing Moon Corporeal Art isn’t typically suited for one on one combat, but that’s only when Kila is focused on fighting primarily with her mental tera; when the need arises, she can shift phases towards Waning Moon by altering her brain chemistry with her mental tera.
The change to Waning Moon forced the mental tera into the Body Kulda, mimicking the energy and temporarily augmented her body enough to use the techniques. Kila only learned how to switch before the Divination Ceremony and had only done it a handful of times; as it stood now, she could only keep it up for a minute before the strain of it would drain her and leave her core empty.
Noki finished mending his broken bones and leapt to his feet. More blood poured from his body as his healing was dedicated on fixing the most severe injuries first. He bared his fangs at Kila, who in turn extended her arms to the sides, and darted for her. Before Noki could lift a foot off the ground, Kila swung her right arm with such might that a crescent shaped blade of air flung towards him.
Instinctively Noki dodged the attack and continued his pursuit. Undeterred, Kila launched another crescent air blade, then another. The space between her and Noki became filled with the blades of air, limiting his mobility. Waning Moon: Cutting Vortex is a technique designed to control the movements of an opponent by giving them only one way to progress. By channeling physical tera through their arms and wrist, the Divine Artist can accelerate their attacks to such a degree that the mere shockwave can slice through skin.
Noki continued dodging the blades, but each time he did so the speed of the attack increased, throwing off his instinctive timing. After a few moments the blades that passed behind him cut across his clothes and skin. He healed from some of the damage, but not all as there were hundreds of blades coming at him at varying speeds. The onslaught of blades continued and he was forced to break off his charge and find a place to flee to. Noki took a step to his right and immediately fell to the ground as his tera suddenly fluctuated. Without hesitation, he rolled to the side as the ground beneath him exploded under the force of the volley and found himself directly in Kila’s line of sight.
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Cutting Vortex is capable of dealing with weaker foes, but that isn’t its true purpose. Now that Noki was right where she wanted him to be, Kila prepared Ghost Fang; a technique only usable when dual-wielding a bladed weapon. Instead of channeling physical tera through the wrists, it’s concentrated through the shoulders. Kila raised her daggers overhead and swung them down until they arced passed her sides and nearly made a complete rotation. The ground ripped in the wake of the two massive airblades hurtling from the tips of her dagger and towards Noki, but Kila wasn’t done yet; her time was running short and she needed to end it now. She waited until her attack was half way at Noki before throwing one of her daggers straight at him.
“She’s gonna kill me!”
Noki was still struggling against the orange kulda having barely overtaken it’s outer shell with his own kulda. Even with the time dilation of the Abstraction, Noki knew that his time was at an end; he needed to get control back now. He could see the thrown dagger slowly slice through the air, aimed straight for his head. He could also see that Kila was drawing her blade closer to herself and lowering her stance…a follow up attack maybe?
“Dammit, dammit! Come on, work already!”
The dagger was drawing closer and the other Noki was going to duck underneath and lunge at Kila, Noki could feel his intention.
“Wait no, if he does that, then Kila’s gonna attack and he won’t have anywhere to go.”
The Ghost Fangs traveled past the other Noki just as the dagger was an arm’s length away. The other Noki was relying on pure instinct so it wasn’t sensing tera, otherwise it would know what Noki did; that it could step around the dagger and not expose itself to a follow up.
“I need to take this tera away all at once! I need to devour the energy!”
Whether it was due to the press of death against him, a desperate need to survive or an overwhelming unknown desire, Noki didn’t know why he chose the word devour, nor did he notice a small, impossibly dark spot appear in his core when he said it. His core suddenly swallowed the orange kulda in an instant and circulated the tera throughout his pathways. One moment he was still in the Abstraction, the next he was seeing a dagger fly towards him with his real eyes. It was too close for him to duck underneath, so he moved his head to the side as the edge of the dagger sliced across the right side of his face and buried itself deep into the side of a Stonebark Tree.
“Kila, it’s me!” Noki yelled as another dagger pressed against his throat. Kila stayed her hand, but didn’t remove the blade from Noki’s throat until her technique wore off and she dropped to her knees. Noki assisted her to the ground so she wouldn’t hurt herself, but Kila pushed him away.
“You stay away from me,” Kila said.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do any of that. Did I hurt you?” Noki took a step forward to inspect her but stopped when she held the dagger towards him.
“I don’t know what the hell you are, but I’m done with it…with you.” Kila staggered to her feet, “I took you to the edge of the mountain, whether you live or die here is none of my concern now.” She turned her back to Noki and began walking.
Noki wanted to say something, but what could say? Yes he was shocked that she was suddenly like a different person, especially when she had been so kind and patient with him before, but did he have any right to expect her to stay? Especially after she nearly had to kill him just to protect herself?
“Thank you,” Noki said to Kila, causing her to stop but not turn around and face him. “I’ve learned a lot from you and you’re right, you did get me to the edge of the mountain so I’m in your debt. I know saying sorry isn’t enough, but if you ever need anything from me or need me to do something, just ask and it’ll be done. I know I”m still an Earthen Soul, but…”
Noki didn’t know what to say after that, he was just stuck in a stream of consciousness. Thankfully, Kila responded.
“You’re an idiot,”she said with her back still turned, “you don’t even realize you’ve ascended to Stone Soul. If I ever do need assistance, it won’t be from someone weaker than me, that's for sure.” Kila tucked her remaining dagger into her clothing and walked until she was swallowed by the darkness of the forest.
Noki ignored the initial insult and focused on the latter statement; she didn’t say she wouldn’t ask for help from him, but someone weaker than her.
“Is she telling me I need to get stronger?”
Noki thought about it for a bit before a loud boom broke him out of it. Now that he was truly in control of his body, he was aware of the battle raging around him. “Mion…and that other stonebear! How’d I forget that? Oh wait, I didn’t tell Kila that Mion knows she was with me! I need to warn her.”
As Noki moved to chase after her, something like a boulder crashed into the ground in front of him. Noki found that using his Divine Sight came easier as he reflexively used it to see through the dust cloud in front of him. Mion laid there, his body a battered mess covered in gashes and torn clothing. Noki could tell that, though he was still much stronger than him, Mion’s strength was less than half of what it should be.
“It must be because I’m only a Soul Rank below that I can notice these things now. His physical tera is low and it’ll be a moment before he can move on his own.”
As the dust cleared, Noki could see Mion unimpeded and his condition was indeed as bad as he thought it was. The slices across his chest exposed the white of his muscle and bone in some areas. His left eye was severely damaged and bone stuck out from his left shin. “I don’t know how he was able to withstand this much damage, this should have killed him.”
Noki felt approaching and turned in the direction Mion had come from. The large stonebear was impossibly silent, but the sheer amount of physical tera it possessed was so great that even Noki could sense it. It felt like the air itself was pressing against his entire body, he couldn’t believe that something so powerful was roaming The Red Forest; it made the tigerbull he fought seem like an ant. Fear once again gripped Noki, but this time it was due to the insight he acquired from ascending to Stone Soul.
“This thing is so strong that my body’s in fight or flight and my tera is automatically circulating. I need to get out of here right now.” Noki looked back at Mion and hesitated. If he left now, that would leave Mion to deal with the enemy and in his current state, he’d most likely die. That was fine by him, afterall Mion had made his life a living hell…so then why was he hesitating?
“If I leave now, then I’ll be able to go down the mountain and escape. I need to survive this, so move” Noki said as he slowly shifted towards the edge of the cliff.
The stonebear’s gaze was fixed on the laying Mion as it approached, casting a long shadow over both Divine Artists. Each monstrous step it took created tremors and they appeared to have woken Mion up. He groaned briefly before getting to his feet, completely ignoring his wounds and facing down the gigantic stonebear.
“You’re much stronger than your children were and hit harder than that Wildling. You’re indeed worthy to wound me.” Mion circulated his tera, accelerated the healing of his most serious wounds but leaving the superficial ones alone.
Noki watched as Mion fearlessly approached the encroaching stonebear. That thing was so much stronger than both of them, yet Mion circulated his tera with the full intent of fighting a losing battle.
“That’s insane, he should be trying to flee from here, not walk towards his death.” Noki’s entire life had been about survival, getting by each day so that he may eventually reach his goal of making his way to the Wilds as Delver. He was so close to it now, just a few more steps and a descent down a mountain was all he needed to do. If Mion wanted to die, that was his business…right? “Why is this bothering me so much? Just go already, they haven’t even acknowledged you. Amani, Baira and Kila did so much to get you here! If you die here, all of that goes to waste.”
The stonebear lunged at Mion with all of its weight and power behind it, missing him but creating a miles deep crater upon the ground. Mion used his remaining Earth Aspect to augment his already incredible strength and punched the bear with enough force to crack a stone on its front leg. The stonebear barely registered the hit and swiped at him with his other paw. The blow was intercepted by Mion’s guard with a thunderous crack that knocked both he and Noki to the ground.
Noki’s cheek rubbed against the trembling soil as the stonebear roared. He righted himself in time to see Mion struggling to get to his feet; his leg that was wounded earlier had completely given out and his physical tera had dwindled to well below Noki’s. The next attack from the stonebear would kill Mion, Noki was certain of that…and it didn’t sit well with him.
“Why do I care if he dies? He’s a heartless monster that made my life so much harder, it serves him right to be taken out by another monster.” At that moment, Noki thought about all the times Mion had attacked him, embarrassed him, frightened him. “No, if he dies here, then I’ll never be able to get my payback.” It was dumb, petty and went against all of his survival instincts, but Noki couldn’t deny the fact that he’s always wanted to take Mion down,especially now that he was a Divine Artist. Noki got to his feet, ignored every sensation telling him to flee, and charged towards Mion. He stood over the face down Okari and removed the remaining strips of stonebear fur from his body and placed it on his own.
The stonebear’s eyes were still fixated on Mion until Noki circulated his tera and yelled at the beast.
“Hey! You’re attacking because of these right?” Noki pointed to the fur tucked into his waist, “Then you have to come for me too!”
The stonebear snarled and turned its head towards Noki, sniffing the air. Once it bared its teeth at him, Noki knew he had its full attention. All he had to do now was escape down the mountain and try not to get killed by the enraged stonebear.