The Great Hall

10:40 A.M.

I looked over to Kojiro, and I could see that he was clearly impressed, though he tried to conceal it. He briefly touched a hand to his own face where Talwar’s punch connected.

“Whatever,” Kojiro said. “Things travel faster than the speed of sound all the time. Can we get back to the fight now?”

“Sure,” Svenheim said. “If you’re so eager to get hit with another Mach Punch, then be my guest.”

Kojiro and Talwar once again faced each other. Svenheim placed a hand between the two of them before shouting, “Begin!”

The moment that Svenheim’s hand flicked toward the ground the two fighters rushed toward one another. Kojiro initiated his attack a half-second before Talwar, and a straight kick hammered into Talwar’s midsection. Out of breath, Talwar took several faltering steps backward. Kojiro pursued his opponent and struck Talwar with a series of rapid jabs and straights. Talwar blocked most of Kojiro’s punches, but a single hit slipped through the Second Apostle’s guard. The punch struck Talwar’s face, and sparks flashed between the two surfaces as the sound of metal on metal rang out.

Talwar reached forward and grabbed Kojiro by the shirt. Talwar attempted to wrench the Fourth Dark Apostle to the ground, but he only managed to create a large tear in Kojiro’s shirt. Kojiro stopped for a moment to look down at his torn shirt, and Talwar used this opportunity to grab Kojiro by the arm. Talwar slipped his foot behind Kojiro’s foot, and then he twisted his body in order to throw Kojiro to the ground.

Talwar threw a hard punch at Kojiro’s head, but he missed. The punch struck the ground, and the stone floor of the Great Hall cracked. A single fracture about ten feet long appeared beneath Kojiro’s head.

Kojiro raised a foot to Talwar’s chest and pushed hard. Talwar flew backwards about fifteen feet and landed on the thick wooden table in the center of the Great Hall. He would have landed on his feet if the table hadn’t broken in half under his feet. Having lost his footing upon the collapsing table, Talwar landed on his back and rolled himself back into a kneeling position. Already back on his feet, Kojiro rushed toward Talwar once more.

I briefly turned my eyes over to Svenheim who was watching the fight diligently. Looking closely, I could tell that the red-haired man’s eyes would flash yellow once every few seconds. He would look at one fighter, and his eyes would turn yellow for a second. Then he would look at the other fighter, and his eyes would turn yellow for an instant. I figured he must have been using his Identify Talent.

When I looked back at the fight, Talwar was throwing a wild combo of punches at Kojiro’s head, but none of them would connect. Talwar came a bit too close to his opponent, and Kojiro pushed him back to arm’s length with an open palm. Kojiro then used this opportunity to pull his rear hand back in preparation for a powerful punch. A look of fear appeared on Talwar’s face for the first time during the fight.

In an instant, Kojiro’s fist had impacted against Talwar’s body. Another echoing crack filled the air, and Talwar stumbled backward. Kojiro smiled as he pursued his opponent. Kojiro landed a solid punch on Talwar’s face, causing sparks to scatter through the air, before Talwar’s hand shot forward and he gripped Kojiro by the upper arm. In response, Kojiro used the arm grappled by his opponent to grab Talwar by the shoulder.

Talwar, now holding Kojiro in place, threw a hard punch at Kojiro’s face. The blow connected, and sparks skimmed off Kojiro’s cheek. A moment later, Kojiro’s own fist rocketed forward, catching Talwar in the nose. This sequence of events continued for several blows. Talwar would strike Kojiro in the face, and then Kojiro would do the same. Each time, sparks would fly off from the point of impact, yet neither man seemed to be particularly harmed by the attacks. As the two fighters punched each other with one arm, they each used their other arm to jostle for a better position. Neither man would be able to gain a better position in the stalemate.

Stolen story; please report.

Just when it seemed that the turn-based violence would never end, Svenheim said, “Stop!”

Faster than any human could possibly move, Svenheim leaped forward and grabbed both men by the shoulder. Due to the unexpected nature of the intercession, neither of the two fighting Dark Apostles were able to resist when Svenheim pulled them away from one another.

“The fight’s over. Kojiro won.” Svenheim spoke with a sense of finality.

“What the Hell are you talking about!?” Talwar shouted. “What do you mean, I lost!?”

“You’re out of mana, Talwar,” Svenheim said with a faint hint of relief in his voice. “The next hit would have killed you.”

“What? Really?” Talwar asked, shocked. He quickly closed his eyes in order to check his Menu.

I decided to use Identify on the two fighters.

Character Sheet

Name Talwar13 Level 100 Blood Points 240/250 Mana Points 10/630 Race Dark Apostle Fortitude 25 Strength 48 Agility 36 Wisdom 30

Enhanced Mana Reserve (500)

Yep, Svenheim was right. Talwar was definitely out of mana. I was surprised that it was even possible to go through mana that quickly. I only had eight mana when I spawned as a Revenant, and Talwar had used hundreds of mana points over the course of a few minutes.

I used Identify on Kojiro.

Character Sheet

Name Kojiro19 Level 100 Blood Points 244/250 Mana Points 105/630 Race Dark Apostle Fortitude 25 Strength 48 Agility 36 Wisdom 30

Enhanced Mana Reserve (500)

Kojiro wasn’t doing much better, I thought. He must have used about eighty percent of his mana reserve during that fight. Running out of mana was probably our biggest potential point of failure as Dark Apostles. If we couldn’t use Battle Aura, then we would have to rely on our 25 points in Fortitude for defense. Assuming that the standard “10 is average, 20 is the realistic human maximum” attribute system was used in Ferrum Online, our durability was only slightly higher than a particularly durable person. Considering how easy it was to use all of your mana on Battle Aura, I saw how this could be a major problem for us. Without mana and Battle Aura, we could be killed by even the weakest Revenant armed with a pistol.