The Great Hall

11:50 A.M.

“Sure, I’ll go.” I spoke first. “I don’t know what you’re getting at, but I’ll assist you.”

I stepped toward Crow. I figured that she was talking about Battle Aura, and I wanted to learn as much as possible about that ability.

As I stepped forward, I used Identify on Crow.

Character Sheet

Name CosmiCrow Level 100 Blood Points 250/250 Mana Points 678/678 Race Dark Apostle Fortitude 25 Strength 39 Agility 32 Wisdom 39

Attribute Modifier: Enhanced Mana Reserve (500)

“Thank you, Enzo,” Crow said as I walked forward. “Now, it is my understanding that all of us have a very specific but ultimately simple combat build. Our characters were built by GM to serve as a physical threat to the players. We can’t do anything special, as far as level 100 characters are concerned, but we can hit hard, and we can take a lot of damage. This is why GM gave us Danger Sense as well. When you feel an attack coming with Danger Sense, you can then harden your body in preparation with Battle Aura. With these two Talents, we’re basically invincible as long as we react in time and have enough mana left over. In order for you to use your build effectively, you need to learn how to use Battle Aura. Without the use of that Talent, you’re basically useless. If you throw a punch against something hard without strengthening your fist with Battle Aura, you will break your own fist.”

Kojiro nodded and rubbed his own knuckles, wincing at the memory of the pain he felt when he punched a marble pillar.

“Luckily,” Crow continued, “once you’ve unlocked Battle Aura in your Character Sheet, actually using it is pretty easy. You just need to learn the correct activation signal. Activating Battle Aura feels basically the same as tensing a muscle in preparation for an incoming attack. That’s why Enzo’s up here. It’s easiest to learn how to use Battle Aura by reacting to a potentially-harmful attack.”

Crow picked up a sword and started walking toward a more central area in the Great Hall. It must have been a coincidence because she wasn’t there at the time, but she happened to stand in the spot that GM had stood last night. For an instant, the image of GM holding up a dying Nailman flashed in my mind. Crow held the sheathed sword in her hand and turned to me.

“There are three distinct messages sent by Danger Sense,” Crow said. “The first type of message is for a potentially harmful attack, the second type is for a potentially lethal attack, and the third type is for an attack that will definitely kill you if you get hit. Since we have Battle Aura, we won’t receive the third type of warning unless we’re about to get hit with an attack that negates durability. We won’t be able to test out the third type of warning today because none of us have any durability-negating abilities. Trust me, if you’re about to get hit with a sure-kill attack, you’ll know.”

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“So,” Crow said as she stepped into the area a few feet away from me, “I’ll show you what these warnings feel like.”

Crow started to pull a fist back, causing my Danger Sense to activate. I felt a dull buzzing sensation in the center of my chest, so I brought my hands up to guard against the coming attack.

Crow’s fist returned to a resting position, and she gave a light smile. “That was the first type of warning.”

Crow’s hand slowly moved toward the sword she held in one hand. The moment her fingers brushed against the hilt of the sword, I felt a much more powerful warning. A sharp, painful buzzing sensation arced across my neck. The sensation was so overpowering that I could almost feel my head being cut off. I quickly stepped backward away from Crow’s sword. A few chuckles came from the direction of the lower Apostles.

I looked down at Crow’s sword, and it hadn’t moved at all. She had done nothing to indicate where she would attack, yet I had felt her intent to strike my neck so palpably.

“Good,” Crow said. “Dodging would have been the right move there. Now, in order to use Battle Aura, I want you to imagine tensing your neck in order to resist the sword. Imagine yourself stopping the blade with your neck alone.”

What? I imagined my neck being strengthened, but I just ended up tensing my neck muscles, causing the veins in my neck to strain against my skin.

“Is it working?” I asked.

“No clue,” Crow said. “I can’t know without there being some physical indication. I’m going to punch you in the stomach now. I want you to try to resist the attack with your own Battle Aura.”

“Just like you did when I shot you?” I asked. I figured the lesson would require something like this after seeing the pain Crow had to go through in order to learn how to use the Talent.

“Exactly the same,” Crow responded. She stepped toward me, and I had to resist the urge to retreat.

Crow drew her hand back in preparation to punch. Then, right in the center of my stomach, I felt a dull buzzing. I tightened the muscles in my stomach and tried to resist the coming attack. The buzzing continued for a long second before a cannon ball fired into my stomach. It was a crushing force stronger than any human could ever hope to match. Crow’s Strength of 39 met my Fortitude of 25, and I came out wanting.

The pain exploded throughout my entire body, and I felt several of my internal organs rupture. I flew several feet backwards, and an arc of blood briefly joined Crow’s fist to my stomach. I landed as my blood splattered to the ground and stumbled back several steps. Even though I had landed on my feet, the pain quickly drove me to my knees.

I gasped for air as I willed my Rapid Healing to activate. It was particularly lucky that I had retained that Talent. As soon as I could think of anything other than the pain, I got to my feet.

“Sorry about that,” Crow said as a sympathetic grimace showed on her face. “If it makes you feel any better, Battle Aura is kind of a meathead Talent. It requires you to let your body react automatically. Cerebral types usually have difficulty learning how to use it. Talwar over there was able to activate Battle Aura immediately.”

“Hey!” Talwar shouted.

“Do you want to go again?” Crow asked.

“Sure,” I said, steeling myself for another attack.

Crow punched me again, and another hole was ripped in my stomach.