Dave was a blur, moving faster than ever before. He knew he needed to make it count right from the beginning, since different to the last times, this second rank Nodefox really wanted to kill him.
He feinted high and went low with his spear, hoping to compromise the Nodefoxes movement. But differently than last time, the Nodefox didn’t simply jump back into safety with its Skills, instead it simply sidestepped Dave’s real attack. Supernaturally fast, as if he had known where Dave had wanted to strike all along.
The process kept repeating itself for a few exchanges, Dave working hard to catch the Nodefox offguard, but it was just too evasive, too fast. Without even using its skills, it was superior to Dave through its sheer attritubes.
Finally, Dave decided to one up the Nodefox. From the way the Nodefox had been moving before, Dave tried making a read, targeting the spot where the Nodefox would likely appear with his Spark Skill.
But even this was too slow for the Nodefox. A barrier out of thin blue light appeared, catching Dave’s Spark, making it simply fizzle out of existence.
The Nodefox gave Dave a sly smirk, but Dave was already upon him. With the boost from his additional effect on Spark, his movement speed was increased after Skill usage. It was slight, but in a fight like this, even small advantages mattered.
And indeed it did. Dave managed to land a thin little slash across the Nodefoxes torso. Dave thought it would enrage or provoke the Nodefox, but it simply made it grin even wider.
“Finally. Just as I was beginning to think the tiger has no claws,” the Nodefox said. “Maybe its time to play for real now, no?”
The Nodefox suddenly appeared behind Dave, shooting two blades of wind directly at him. Dave barely managed to turn in time to see them coming, one he was able to block with his spear, the other he very narrowly sidestepped, getting himself a little cut on his bicep in the process. Those wind blades were tricky to dodge, consisting of air they were hard to see and moved fast.
From that point on the fight kept repeating in a similar way to their first fight. Dave kept trying to get into close range, only for his attacks to be dodged with ease. In return the Nodefox kept peppering Dave with his wind blade attacks.
Dave was shocked by how much the Nodefox had grown. He had thought there would be no quicker way to level than he had. Dave had fought every fight, faced every challenge and overcame every obstacle. And now it seemed as if Nodefox still had managed to grow faster than him. Sure the Nodefox had had a head start, having already been ahead of Dave on their first meeting, and it probably also had a whole clan of mentors teaching it, but still, Dave’s pride took a hit.
The last time they fought, it had been able to run circles around him, making him seem weak and useless. But back then Dave had managed to make the fight at least somewhat competitive, even forcing the dark Nodefox to step in at the end.
Now it was different. Even though it had a language skill now, with the snark remarks from their first fight gone, the Nodefox seemed to be fighting with a more serious air.
Differently then last time, the Nodefox didn’t seem to use his jump or float powers anymore. In their last encounter, the Nodefox used to float above Dave from time to time, making him a much harder target. Now it simply avoided Dave’s attacks through normal means, his speed more than enough to match Dave’s and its reactions much quicker.
It also seemed less urgent in its fight than the last time. The wind blades were hard to dodge or parry, but there always came only two of them. Dave knew the Nodefox was capable of doing more and wondered why it was holding off.
His best guess was that it wanted to see what else Dave could do, understandably after such a long time of living with the shame of losing to a newly initiated human. Since Dave truly had one more trick up his sleeve, that was good for him though. He was confident in his epic skill and trump card. Zeus Punishment.
Dave had held off on using this skill so far, because he knew the skill would take him out of commission. If the Nodefox managed to dodge his attack, that would leave Mira alone with the beast.
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So far she had stood safely on the sidelines, the Nodefox seemingly only having eyes for Dave, driven by its hatred. Dave was grateful for that, but he had no reason to expect the Nodefox was only here for him.
If he wanted to use Zeus Punishment, he had to make it count.
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Max emerged from the Node zone between the trees, anxious to see if Sam and Sarah were still there, safely waiting for him. To his relief, he saw that the other group, consisting of Ryland and Bixby had also arrived by now.
As it seemed, his friends had already started gathering around their essentials, backpacks, tents, food, and other things. The small clearing was busy, the group making everything ready for their departure, hurrying around quickly and efficiently like an ant colony.
“You got it?” Sarah asked, walking up to him.
“Yep. One single use teleportation token coming right up.” Max smiled. “Still no sign from Dave and Mira?”
“No.” She shook her head.
“Do you think they’re alright?”
“Well they’ve taken the longest way, approaching all the way from behind the camp. Of course they’ll take a bit longer,” Sarah shrugged. “Besides you know how Dave is. Careful and meticulous. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s looking twice behind each tree.”
“Yeah that sounds like Dave.” Max sighed.
An impish grin crept up on Mira’s face. “Maybe having Mira and Dave go alone together also wasn’t the best idea, if you know what I mean.”
“If so, good for him.” Max snorted. “But..”
Suddenly a big crash rang out over the nearby forest, scaring a score of birds away from the treetops. The whole group turned towards the direction of the sound. Max wasn’t sure if it was the sound of a tree falling, a monster rampaging, or something else, but he knew the sound definitely meant trouble.
“That’s the way Dave should be coming from?” Sam asked.
Max and Bixby shared a look, nodded, and took off. The rest of the group followed suit.
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mira watched the fight, her hands balled. Nerves tense. Dave was obviously outmatched, struggling to even parry the few attacks the Nodefox kept throwing his way. Just one of the monster blades of wind that it casually threw around that had felled a tree with no problem. Dave had managed to dodge it, barely, but how could he hold up to that power?
In the beginning the things had looked rather balanced, Dave had even managed to nick the Nodefox, giving it a small wound. Although that wound had healed by now, no trace of it remained.
Mira watched helplessly as the fight kept progressing in a pace much too quick for her to match, and much too dangerous for her to intervene.
Mira felt just like she did when her parents sent her away to study. When they forced her into a life she didn’t want, coupled her with people she didn’t like and made her learn what she wasn’t interested in. They made her not the protagonist of her life anymore, but a mere watcher.
That’s exactly what she felt like right now. A spectator. Standing on the outside and observing but unable to do anything.
As if a barrier of glass was separating her from the real world, and no matter how hard she banged against it, she couldn’t break through. Couldn’t make the glass crack. That barrier had been a constant so long in her life, that she wasn’t even struggling against it anymore.
She just sat in her prison, unmoving and emotionless, surrendered and watching. Dave caught another wound. The Nodefox grinned like a maniac.
Mira wanted to scream, wanted to help, but no sound emerged from her mouth and no action from her hands. It was one of her dozens of self preservation mechanisms feeding into her anxiety.
She truly felt separate, but she knew she shouldn’t be. She had to help Dave. Wanted to help him. But how could she? What could she do to help in a fight such as that. Useless girl that she was.
But that wasn’t true. There was one way she could support him. With that new but ominous sounding skill she had gotten after the spawner fight.
*Life Candle
Rarity: Legendary
Level: 1
Effect: Burn life force to enhance ally. *
Mira willed her hands to move, but nothing happened. Her body refused to oblige her. Refused to let her participate in the fight, potential drawing the Nodefoxes ire. In that moment Mira noticed what the glass barrier that was separating her from the real world was.
It wasn’t something to protect herself. Something to shield her. It was just her own fear. Fear of letting life hurt her. Fear of what would happen if she participated in life, of what would happen to her if her hopes were squashed once again.
But it was Dave who’s life was on the line. He who had risked so much not just for her, but for all their friends.
So she took a deep breath and willed her body even harder.
She began casting the skill. Her hands started feeling a bit cold all of a sudden, her knees becoming a little weak. But she kept focusing, pushing through it.
This was her chance to push life right back.