50%

*********************************************************************************************************

"What?!"

"You don't believe me." Bast stated.

That wasn't exactly true. It wasn't that he didn't believe Bast. No, it more like he couldn't believe him. Darlia was a whirlwind of vengeance, every turn, every twist of her blades ripping life from her opponent with unrelenting ferocity. Dethgargar looked like he was completely outmatched, suppressed in a way that left no outs for him to escape. Yet Bast implied that this was all to be expected?

It seemed too much for Meliadol, even though he was inexperienced.

"You see this one-sided beating and assume that it will stay this way?" Bast continued, glancing at Meliadol from out of the corner of his eye, "When two skilled people fight, both enter with a game plan. Darlia is flashy, and seems to have the upper hand, so that's all you can see. But trust me, as a fellow berserker, I can see Deth's game plan laid out before me, and it's something I know Darlia can see as well. That's why she's treating this as seriously as she is."

"You…think he is skilled?"

Bast laughed, "Of course. He's someone who solos as a criminal status. You'd have to be skilled to have any success at that. Just because he's a jackass, doesn't mean he isn't good. Don't let your personal feelings blind you to the truth of a situation."

"I see." Meliadol's ears burned, but the berserker's words rang true, "Well, how's he going to win this then?"

"Haha, I didn't say he'd win, just that this isn't a blowout like you think." Bast turned back to the fight, "Darlia is playing a game of cooldowns, while Dethgargar's is a waiting game of attrition. She has to drop him to fifty percent before her Whirlwind of Biting Steel wears off, or else she's going to be in trouble."

As if triggered by Bast's words, Darlia struck one last time before grinding to a halt, each hand holding a dripping weapon. Her other two swords fell to the ground behind her, sticking into the cobblestone road with surprising ease. Dethgargar, for all his bluster, was streaming blood from wounds on his chest, yet, with Bast's words fresh in his mind, Meliadol thought he saw a small smile on the berserker's face.

"Not half bad." Dethgargar spat, "But not quite good enough!"

Berserkers, as their name implied, were warriors of all-consuming rage, and Dethgargar kept true to that. If Darlia's attack was a measured dance of slashes, then by comparison, her opponent's counterattack was a storm unleashed within the still of a summer night.

With a single mighty swing, a shock-wave flew from the blade, knocking Darlia into the air.

"What? Why didn't she dodge?"

"Animation lock." Bast answered , "The end animation of Whirlwind of Biting Steel is quite long. More than enough time to attack back while she's recovering.

Dethgargar was completely different from before. Previously, all he had used was basic attacks to try and defend. But now skill after skill came out like a gatling gun. Waves of light and wind battered the blade dancer, keeping her aloft.

"Oh, that was pretty solid. See? He used Crescent Rising, a three strike ability, to displace himself closer, before canceling the animation into a Falling Meteor to smack her back to the ground." Bast's commentary was so relaxed.

Wasn't she his friend?

Darlia's body actually bounced, but she went with it, using momentum and a slight push of her arm to barely twist out of the way as the berserker crashed down from above, cratering the street. Like a dervish, Darlia sprang right back in.

She was fearless!

It was then that Meliadol noticed that the bandages from her arm were even longer now, whipping around like snakes…

She threw her sword like a missile at Dethgargar's face, but it bounced off his Iron Skinned forearm. In the small window where he blocked, the blade dancer spun, and to Meliadol's surprise, her bandages struck out like snakes, latching onto one of the swords suck in the road. With a yank, she flicked her hand forward, the same bandage now wrapping around the berserker's forearm, pinning him in place, bringing her weapon along with it before releasing the handle, the sword now spinning rapidly in the air.

Darlia leapt gracefully, using Dethgargar like a platform, receiving the spinning sword midair before plunging it directly into the berserker's neck. Electricity arced out and Dethgargar shook, as if electrocuted. With a flip, she struck twice as she landed.

Dethgargar fell to one knee.

"Beautifully done!" Bast clapped, "To think she'd use her living weapon like that, using her thrown sword to block his vision and then using a Strapdown into a Paralysis Strike! Bravo! Then she even managed to get off two Hobbles!"

"What the hell is up with her bandages?" Meliadol couldn't help but to ask.

"Blade Dancers can use five weapons. Most use five swords, or some use knives, or a combination of the two. But Darlia decided to make her legacy weapon into a living piece of armor. Those bandages are her fifth weapon."

Meliadol gaped at the vision before him. The blade dancer's bandages were writhing now, like angry snakes. "You can do that?"

"Mhmm. There's remarkable flexibility with the DFS. In addition to weapons and armor created by the programmers, every character is allowed to have a single 'legacy piece'. It's armor or a weapon created with DFS rules, meaning, depending on your creativity, the skill of the blacksmith, and the right resources, you can create unique gear solely on your playstyle."

"Oh…wow."

The possibilities of such a thing opened yet another perspective for Meliadol. There were so many ways he could take this. A legacy piece, huh? He wanted one. Meliadol wasn't sure what he wanted it to do, but the allure of something that was uniquely his, something that would allow him to fight battles like this…

He got the jitters just thinking about it!

"Too bad." Bast muttered, "She waited too long to reveal it. She's in trouble."

Meliadol looked up just in time to see Dethgargar begin to glow blood red, heat escaping from his body as his eyes faded to white. With a mighty roar, cobblestone cracked and shattered as torrential wind tore the space around him. Was that from just his yell? What kind of insane power was this?

"He's at fifty percent. Berserker Rage is now active." Bast said solemnly, as if saying a prayer.

*********************************************************************************************************