As Dave was struggling to keep upright, the Nodefox made no move to advance. It was content simply standing there and watching Dave struggle with a smile on its face.

What it didn’t know, was that it wasn’t Dave’s first brush with a being ranked higher than him.

With nothing but his iron will and grim determination in his eyes Dave slowly straightened himself. This was nothing compared to what he felt when facing Marekiel at the river. The dark Nodefox had made Dave unable to move, paraylzed by fear, and played with him like a toy. He made Dave’s body a stranger to itself. Compared to that, this was a walk in the park.

“That won’t cut it.” Dave grit his teeth. He looked his opponent in the eyes and saw something arise. Between the cold hard satisfaction and the hot burning anger for slaying its comrades, he saw uncertainty, only for a brief second.

Mustering all his willpower, Dave raised his arm and shot a Spark towards the Nodefox. He was too far off for serious damage, but the Nodefox didn’t know that. A thin crackle of electricity jumped from Daves’s palm towards his opponent. It was caught in a thin sheen of light, summoned by the Nodefox without even a gesture, and fizzled out of existence. His opponent sneered at Dave’s futile attempt.

But Dave had accomplished his goal. Like a thin layer of ice on a pond, he felt the cage around him breaking. Cracking in a hundred directions. Whether it was by breaking his opponents concentration or by proving to his mind that he could overcome the suppression, Dave wasn’t sure. But he felt free again.

Dave tasted blood in his mouth, and realized it came running down from his nose. He was battered all over, his clothes torn and dirty. A big gash was bleeding down his legs and a dozen small cuts all over his arms. Still he smiled and moved forward.

The Nodefox sneered at him. It looked entertained, interested even. Holding both arms out, a thin layer of light started shining around it. It shifted and flowed until it settled into multiple pieces of armor. Weapons made out of light, almost too bright to look at directly appeared. A hammer in its left, and a shield in its right hand. It made noises that Dave couldn’t understand and strode forward, still a smile on its face.

Their exchanges were brief. Dave had to use all his speed to even be able to block in time, without his passive boost in perception, he wondered if he would’ve even seen some of the strikes. The Nodefox swung lazily, obviously not giving its best, and Dave was trying to dodge and find openings to counter. But the attacks he managed to sneak past the Nodefoxes shield weren’t even enough to pierce its armor. So Dave redoubled his effort.

Dave was weaving attacks into complicated patterns, more so than ever before. He feinted, dived into danger only to capitalize on it and scored a few hits here and there. He was lost in the moment, his mind empty and his body moving. The situation pushed him to his very limits. The place where thoughts, worries and even pain vanished. Deeply enthralled by his instincts all around Dave vanished. He didn’t fear his opponent anymore. He didn’t respect him anymore. All they were were two equal partners in a dance, moving to the rhythm of the fight.

He wasn’t able to penetrate the Nodefoxes armor with his spear, but his fighting style was so much more than that. Something clicked in his head and he started using Spark. Obviously he had used Spark many times before in his fights, but never did it flow so flawlessly into his movements. A sidestep to the right, spinning the spear to deflect a shield thrust downwards and a Spark over the top of it.

The electric discharge made his opponent stagger backwards a few steps. In a sudden burst of speed Dave followed it up with a spear thrust, making the Nodefox take another step backwards. His demeanor changed ever so slightly. His eyes narrowed and the carefree smile got a little smaller.

Dave took no notice of it. In fact Dave took no conscious notice of anything. He just kept pressing his attack.

All Max could do was watch. The indestructible seeming barrier of light still hung in the air. Its golden hue separating Max from the battlefield. But even if it didn’t, Max knew he wouldn’t be of much help. He looked around the trench, and saw the same realization in the faces of his friends.

The fight between Dave and the other Nodefox was like a whirlwind. Max could barely follow most of the movements, much less all the subtle feints and tells a fight involved. At this point he didn’t even trust himself to shoot into the chaos for fear of harming Dave.

“We must do something.” Mira said desperation thick in his voice.

Max put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her. “Just trust Dave.”

“But…” Her voice trailed of weakly.

“If I could at least heal him.” Sam said.

Mira turned towards Sam and nodded, her voice full of conviction.“Yeah he looked a bit ragged from the start, that’s probably why he hasn’t beaten that guy yet.”

Max and Bixby shared a look. Sam and Mira didn’t have as much combat experience as the rest of the group, and they never trained against Dave. But Max and Bixby saw the fight for what it is, a one sided beat down.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

It was obvious the Nodefox was holding back. Even though Dave had surprised it with his Spark spell and seemed to be doing rather well since then, his opponent was just toying with him.

They needed to help them, Rlyand and Sarah had finished their opponents, but even they were only able to stand on the sidelines. Max tightened his fists around the grip of his weapon until it got painful. And then he held it until his knuckles almost turned white.

He just felt so helpless. He was frustrated and frightened as he watched his friend struggle in a fight that he was clearly losing. And for the first time in his life, Max wasn’t able to punch Dave out of trouble. Wasn’t able to save him. All he could do was watch.

“I might have an idea.” Bixby said.

In that moment it sounded like a chorus of angels to Max.

Dave was lost in an exchange with his opponent. He barely dodged underneath his hammer and landed a spark onto its shoulder. While stepping back he was greeted with a shield to the face that rattled his teeth.

Dave’s head was thrumming from the hit, as if he had stuck it into a church bell right as it hit twelve. But he was way past the point where a little pain would stop him.

He looked his opponent in the eye. Dave knew he had been holding back. He knew he had only been toying with him for the last few minutes, and it infuriated Dave to no end. But as he looked into the Nodefoxes face right now, he saw a sliver of respect in his eyes. Somehow that gave Dave a boost of confidence. He took a step forward and raised his spear in anticipation, but a voice cut into the quiet duett of their battle.

“Hello Sukanst.” Bixby was marching towards the other Nodefox, his face carefully controlled.

His opponent was even more surprised than Dave. It raised both eyebrows and turned towards Bixby. “Lauretius.” It said, surprise evident in its eyes.

Still wondering what was going on, Dave knew better than to waste such an opportunity. He rushed forward, his spear in one hand and started charging his other palm with Spark. He released his attack at the back of the Nodefox, but it suddenly vanished and reappeared a few inches next to Dave.

Dave didn’t know what happened next. In one moment he saw the Nodefox raise its hammer and in the next he found himself sailing through the air. He blinked and suddenly found himself on the ground. Waves of pain crashed over him, he had trouble breathing and then the world around him turned black.

“Dave!” Max couldn’t help but cry out after seeing his friend being thrown across their camp like a ragdoll.

The other Nodefox spared him a short glance, sneered after judging him to be only a minor nuisance, and returned its attention towards Bixby. The rest of them was as surprised as Max after Bixby announced he knew the Nodefox. What’s more, the Nodefox apparently seemed to recognize Bixby as well.

“What are you doing here Lauretius?”

Max was shocked by the way the Nodefoxes voice sounded. Bixby had explained to them before, that his British accent was a manifestation of his Translation Skill.

“I will expand my Skill, so that you can understand what’s being said between us.” Bixby had announced before leaving the trench. “I don’t exactly know how he will sound to you, but don’t let it distract you.”

At the time Max was confused, but now, hearing how the scary looking Nodefox sounded, he understood Bixby’s warning. Because this lightning beam throwing, indestructable shield dropping, badass Nodefox, sounded almost exactly like Mickey Mouse. The tonality was a little more nasally, but its voice was high pitched and squeaky. Under different circumstances Max would’ve had to stifle a laugh.

“I could ask you the same Sukanst. Are you still playing lapdog for Maer?” Max had never heard Bixby so borderline angry.

“Pah I won’t be insulted by a cowardly traitor like yourself.” There was venom in Sukanst's voice, but also something else that Max couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Then his expression turned soft. “You could still come back with me, you know?” He took a step towards Bixby. “Me and Juklio and the others can put in good words for you.”

Bixby looked at the ground and took a few steps, as if pondering these thoughts, seemingly considering the offer, but Max recognized the sign. He was trying to draw the Nodefoxes' attention away from Ryland and Sarah.

Both of which didn’t know what to make of the situation, Max could see Ryland getting ready to charge the Nodefox, but he caught his eyes and signaled him to stop.

After a few gestures he managed to convey to both of them, that they were supposed to sneak back towards the trench.

Sarah pointed towards Dave’s direction questioningly, but Max shook his head. Invisible to them, Sam was already making his way over towards Dave, slowly inching along the trench.

“You have a plan?” Sarah asked after a few tense seconds of sneaking back to the trench.

Max gave her his most confident smile, definitely more confident than he felt. “Of course I have a plan.” Then he turned towards Ryland. “Punch me.”

“Sure.” Ryland was already drawing his arm back, no hesitation in him.

“Wait wait what?!” Sarah stepped between them, trying to deescalate the situation.

Max put his hands on her shoulder calmingly and looked into her eyes. “Listen, we thought this through. The only way we can get rid of this Nodefox is the Grace Period shield. It’s up in a minute and we need to trigger it.” He pointed towards Ryland. “With Dave out of commission, Ryland is the safest bet.”

“Why?” Sarah asked.

“Because I will be thrown out as well.” Ryland said calmly. “There’s a slight chance Max won’t be able to allow me back in immediately, and I have the best chance to survive outside should anything happen.”

Max looked at his friend with some surprise. He had understood the facets of their plan as soon as Max had asked him to punch him. And he had accepted the consequences. Ryland was sharper than he let on most of the time.

Sarah seemed to think for a second. Bixby was still keeping the other Nodefox distracted, but their voices were only a faint echo in Max’s ears. His heart was pounding. It was only a matter of time before the other Nodefox decided he had enough of the delay and would want to finish his job.

Finally Sarah sighed and stepped back. “Do it.”

Ryland nodded towards Max and took a step forward. Max returned the nod. A nod was enough, there was no need for more words between them. Still Max was never one short on jokes.

“Ohh this will suck.” He said jokingly. Then Rylands fist thundered into Max’s stomach like a battering ram.