181 CHPT 181: The girl and her Sword, The PitWolf and his Power.
On the half of the Obstacle Course being warmed by the rapidly setting sun, a young woman faced off against a young man in gruesome— yet beautiful, fashion.
The Noble boys movements were trained— movements he'd obviously repeatedly practiced under the watchful eyes of instructors and practitioners of bladed combat.
He tirelessly sent strike after strike, moving with the natural speed and agility all Archers worked to hone into their strongest attribute— yet he was losing. Poorly.
The young woman he fought had an unorthodox fighting style, combining the fluid grace of dance with the high speed ferocity of a wild swordsman. She moved like the sea. Her body swayed, twirled and gyrated, sending unseen pierces and slashes while also dodging and slipping the attacks Zach's spent hours tirelessly perfecting.
As they continued fighting, Zach remembered the way she looked at him after her bizarre request, speaking of enslaving the water and going to kill Goblins. That wasn't what mattered, it was how she held herself in that moment— during this whole fight.
The way she held her slim button nose to the sky with the sun casting it's golden rays on her glowing skin and shoulder length jet black hair that flowed down around her sharp and regal features. Even though he'd heard that she was an Orphan, she held herself like anything but that.
And now, in the midst of their fight, with all the cuts along his arms, legs and ribs. Compared to her uncut body, he felt like he was facing something leagues ahead of him. Something inhuman. The way she watched him through cold eyes, searching for any mistake or opening in his stance, was downright chilling.
This fight was already over. He could slowly feel it. His stamina running dry, his legs going limp and lifeless while he fought for more air, more power.
The feeling was akin to drowning.
He was drowning, slowly sinking into a unknown sea of black defeat. And she was the heartless deep sea predator beneath, just waiting for him to fully submerge into her domain.
***
Shwip!
Another swing from Zach aimed at Maris' face that missed.
Woo!
Shlck!
She ducked beneath his shining dagger and sliced at his side with her sword held in a reverse grip.
"ACk!" Zach yelled in pain as he stumbled backwards, holding his side.
Maris stopped attacking for the first time and stared at Zach who stood across from her bleeding from a handful of places. Her eyes traced the lines in the fabric of his armor that leaked with the vermillion fluid that was his blood. His heavy beating heart forced it out in large quantities.
Her head tilted and turned to follow the red run offs on him while she considered the odd feeling she had for the substance.
In the books she read to try and get better at manipulating the Element of Water, it said high level users could mess with the fluids inside their opponents, making some low level Monsters explode from the inside or increasing the flow of their own blood to increase their physical capabilities. Initially she saved the fact at the back of her mind for when she got a better hang of using her Element— but she kept thinking about how easy it felt to grasp.
It was an incredibly odd feeling, like she could just reach out to the bleeding weak Noble in front of her and run him dry. It felt like it was right there for her to grab ahold of it. But, she was only just Reborn— and mediocre with her Water Element at best.
Despite this, she couldn't stop considering it while she stared at him. The more he bled, the louder the thought became until it drowned out the noise of battled and students around her.
Badum….Badum….Badum.
All she heard was her own heartbeat in her ears while Zach's tired face changed from his own to the Goblins that plagued her mind.
She saw them every time.
"…..I-Ugh!"
Thud!
Out of nowhere, Zach took a few sluggish steps towards her before falling face first onto the path. That's when she noticed it.
From where he previously stood across from her, and now laid, small ravines of blood ran along the stone and grass surface of the Course. They ran like a handful of snakes, twisting and overlapping until they stopped directly under her free hand where droplets rose up off the ground— dripping almost, but in reverse.
Drop after drop, they rose up to her free hand where she was accumulating them to her surprise.
"….." Not being much of a talker made Maris being shocked into silence as easy as breathing.
She simply stared at the medium sized orb of bright red blood that floated in her palm. It sloshed and twirled with the fusion of her Magic and will to have it.
She stared at it for a long stretch of moments as the orb of blood randomly sharpened— looking similar to a vermillion spike ball, before flattening and spinning to form a small blood red hurricane in the palm of her hand.
[Mana Reserves below 0%!]
The system message snapped Maris out of her trance, causing the orb of blood to lose form and splatter on the path in front of her.
"Maris, you good?" Isaac called out to her from his spot on the path next to her while he clashed shields with his opponent.
"….Of course I am. He gave me no challenge..even though I told him to." Maris replied before noticing a thick coppery substance on her top lip.
She quickly brought her finger to her nose and realized it was bleeding.
"I'm fine." She told herself silently before hopping across to the other pathway to help her closest teammate, Isaac.
***
Frosty and Midnight split from another quick exchange of missed bites, scratched and stomps. Both being thoroughly tired, with Frosty having the most energy to burn of the two.
While regular Wolves have two layers of fur. Frosty being a PitWolf and made for combat, has three. His final coat being made of very dense and tough fibers that act as an extra layer of defense against the claws and teeth of creatures in the Tangents or even the swords of Heroes while they protected the Orcs they were usually accompanied by.
This allowed Frosty to safely absorb a good deal of the scratches and slashed the sleek black wildcat sent at him at lightning speeds. But he still took a handful of cuts to the snout and chest that reddened his dark brown fur.
"GrRRR!!" Frosty growled at the wildcat, letting the hairs along his back raise to make himself look larger and intimidate the cat.
Midnight hissed and flexed her razor sharp claws, pinked by Frosty's blood.
Fwoo!
Frosty lunged, closing his jaws over open air where the cat previously stood.
PTPT!
Two smacks from Midnight hit Frosty's head. The rock hard collection of muscle that sat there absorbed the damage, allowing the PitWolf to lunge at Midnight.
Fwoo!
The cat snarled and hissed as the hulking PitWolf flipped it into its back and slammed his large paw onto her chest.
"RAGH!" Frosty snarled at the cats face, baring his fangs while his blue eyes glowed and Smokey spirals of cyan energy rose from his fur.
At the same time, a small wave of his energy was expelled from the paw he held on the cats chest that rippled over the creature before seeping into its oily black fur.
Midnight went completely still with its ears flat against its head while it's tail rolled up to lay against its stomach, showcasing the way it was forced to submit through immense feelings of fear.
For the first time, Frosty used the beginnings of a skill the PitWolves are known and famed for, (Intimidation.)
