I was driven all the way to the ground by the second hit. Blood spurted from a new hole in my abdominal cavity, and I tumbled backward for several steps. I lost my footing on the last step, tripped, and fell on my back. I could do nothing but groan in pain as I held my damaged stomach and willed my Rapid Healing to work faster.

That was just a non-enhanced punch by someone with 39 Strength, I thought. I could only imagine what a punch would feel like from Kojiro or Talwar who had 48 Strength. The supersonic punch I saw the two fighters use would have to be at least equivalent to a 160 Strength attack.

I got back to my feet. The bottom of my shirt had gained two significant rips, and deep crimson blood stained most of my outfit.

“For God’s sake,” Melkior shouted, “pull your punches!”

Crow flicked her fist, causing several heavy droplets of blood to scatter to the ground. “It wouldn’t work,” she said. “Danger Sense won’t activate unless the attack is strong enough to draw blood.”

“It’s fine,” I wheezed. Apparently, my Rapid Healing hadn’t completed its job by that time. “Hit me again.” I removed my jacket and threw it a few dozen feet to my right. I had managed to keep blood off of my jacket before that point, and I wanted to keep it that way.

As I prepared myself for the next hit, I heard the sound of a group of people entering the Great Hall. I didn’t look over to see who had entered.

Crow hit me again, and my intestines ruptured again. I was able to remain standing that time, though I felt a thick liquid dribble down my chin as I stabilized myself. I put a hand to my lips, and it came away covered in blood.

I took a step toward Crow and coughed out a single word. “Again.”

“Again.”

“Again.”

“Again.”

“Again.”

“Again.”

On the ninth try, the dull buzzing sensation lanced through my shoulder and lightly radiated through my entire arm. Hold on, I thought. If Crow were to hit me there with that level of force, she’d take my entire arm off. I took a step backward with the intent to dodge, but Crow’s fist rocketed forward much sooner than I expected. There would usually be a full second between the activation of Danger Sense and the beginning of the punch. This time, however, Crow’s fist started moving through the air in the same instant that Danger Sense activated. I didn’t have time to dodge.

I tried to clench the muscles around my shoulder in a feeble attempt to resist the blow. The punch would connect in a few milliseconds; I did not have time to do anything physically or otherwise come up with a plan. All I could do was grit my teeth and focus my willpower on resisting the coming pain. Like animals had done for millions of years, I braced for the coming strike.

Crow’s fist struck my shoulder, and sparks arced between the two surfaces. Her fist diverted off, causing her to overextend slightly. I had done it.

Stolen story; please report.

Relief caused me to collapse into a seated position. I had activated Battle Aura. I wouldn’t have to get hit with another cannon ball.

“You did it,” Crow said with a smile.

I closed my eyes and opened my own Menu.

Character Sheet

Name EnzoTheBaker Level 100 Blood Points 81/250 Mana Points 630/633 Race Dark Apostle Fortitude 25 Strength 48 Agility 30 Wisdom 34

I was down to eighty Blood Points. I had lost enough blood to kill a large man. If my Fortitude wasn’t so high, that ordeal would have killed me.

“Hit me again,” I said as I got to my feet.

“If you insist,” Crow said. She struck her fists together, and, an instant later, I felt a buzzing sensation in my chest. I focused my willpower on the center of the buzzing, and I felt Crow’s fist deflect off my chest a moment later. She followed the chest punch with a quick boxing combo to different parts of my body. I didn’t expect the follow-up attacks, but I was able to resist every strike with Battle Aura. Once I had learned to activate it, I could activate Battle Aura within milliseconds with subsequent use.

“Excellent, you got it,” Crow said, stepping back out of arm’s reach.

“Why did it take so many tries for me to activate Battle Aura?” I asked. As Crow answered, I used Identify on her.

Character Sheet

Name CosmiCrow Level 100 Blood Points 250/250 Mana Points 615/678 Race Dark Apostle Fortitude 25 Strength 39 Agility 32 Wisdom 39

Crow had used quite a bit of mana in the process of kicking my ass. Considering how many times she hit me, I figured she must have used about five mana per punch.

“You were thinking too hard,” Crow answered succinctly. “Battle Aura is supposed to be an automatic ability. You tried to use it as an active ability. That’s why I hit you in a different location on your last attempt. I figured you would have a better time acting automatically if you had to react to an unexpected attack.”

“Thanks for the help,” I said, smiling. For the first time in a few minutes, I looked down at myself. My shirt and jeans were absolutely soaked in blood. It was as if I had taken a bath in a thick red liquid. The ground beneath my feet carried several large pools of blood. It was hard to believe that so much blood had come out of one man. The sight made me light-headed, and my stance faltered as I almost fell over. Even with this super-human body, I was not immune to the effects of exsanguination.

A contingent of sorcerers rushed forward to aid me. By their footsteps, I could tell they were my sorcerers. I raised a hand with my palm outward in order to halt the sorcerers’ advance. I didn’t want them to stain their robes unnecessarily.

“I’m fine, I just,” I looked down at the liters of my blood that stained the ground, “lost a bit of blood.”