A Battle with Lord Flinnder

Travis attempted to calm his nerves.

Today was the day, the duel with Flinnder. All his work was about to be tested. He intended to give results.

Travis walked out into the training area.

Flinnder smiled upon seeing Travis approach, "Remind you of anything? They say history repeats itself, but to think it would be so soon."

Travis took a deep breath and nodded, "This,doesn't bring up pleasant memories."

Flinnder chuckled, "Are you ready?"

Travis unsheathed his sword, "As I'll ever be."

"Good answer. Dimitrin, if you will."

Dimitrin stood between them and held out their sword, "The battle begins as soon as the sword hits the ground."

The sword was tossed into the air, it spun elegantly as it fell back to the ground. With a 'thud' its blade dug into the ground.

Boom-!

Travis took off towards Flinnder. Immediately swinging once getting close. Flinnder rotated and the sword swung past, he flicked his wrist and a long silver knife extended into his hand.

With a blur he stabbed towards Travis' neck. Travis jerked to the side, the knife giving a thin cut on his neck. He clicked his tongue, he needed to go faster.

Woooosh~

A pressure was exerted from Travis. Flinnder grinned upon it hitting him, "There it is!"

Clang~

Travis attempted to cut Flinnder's chest, but was thwarted with a parry. With his arm forcefully moved out of the way he was left wide open.

Flinnder thrust his dagger towards Travis' heart. Travis kicked the ground and dodged to the side. With Flinnder's arm outstretched he aimed for the shoulder.

Yet, it was stopped short. Flinnder held the blade between two fingers, "Did you think because I was dodging I couldn't do this?"

A rare smile appeared on Travis' face, "Nope."

The sword turned to a mist, with his hand now free he punched Flinnder's face. The royal's head was moved back from the recoil.

Travis canceled the skill, making the sword reform in his hand earlier. He charged the sword with [Abyssal Enhancement] and swung towards Flinnder's exposed chest.

Although receiving a punch to his face, a grin still remained. This was a significant improvement! Without the strengthening skill he managed to deal more damage than when he gave it his all. To harm him was no easy feat!

Flinnder's arm flickered, the dagger easily thwarted Travis' attack. The dagger easily cut through Travis' armor and the force sent him sliding back. Travis ignored the pain and sent dark energy down his blade. He swung through the air twice, two dark crescent shaped attacks went flying towards Flinnder.

This was one of his newest skills: [Depth's Slash]. Flinnder easily destroyed these attacks with his dagger, however upon destroying the second he found Travis right in front of him!

Travis swung forward, aiming for Flinnder's neck. Flinnder raised his dagger to parry the blow, but Travis disappeared.

He was behind Flinnder! Using [Mark of Return] he teleported behind Flinnder, but that wasn't all. The chaotic pressure releasing from Travis seemed to grow stronger. Yet this was only for Flinnder!

Both Flinnder and Dimitrin were shocked, this was. . . !

Travis had reached a new realm of control! He condensed the pressure to a single person, Lord Flinnder, essentially multiplying the effects! Moreover he triggered both [Mark of Pause] and [Mark of Targeting]. Flinnder would only be paused for less than a second, but this should be enough!

The edges of Harbinger of the Abyss were covered in a pitch black essence. This was a skill Travis intentionally aimed for. [Depth's Edge]

[Depth's Edge:

The edge of a sword holds innumerable depth. From the experience it holds, to the events it partook in.

Cost:

5%MP

Effects:

Ignores 20% of armor]

Finally, he triggered his Berserk Skill. He was going to throw all he had in this one strike! The sword cut through the air, a dark line following its tip.

Whooom~!

The sword made contact with Flinnder's side. It cut half an inch deep before coming to a stop. Travis sighed, with all his effort it could only come to this much.

Crack-

The pommel of Flinnder's dagger smashed into his jaw. He dropped his sword and tumbled across the ground. Upon sliding to a stop. . . he did not get back up.

The pressure of his War Sight vanished, the dark mist expanding from his body followed. Flinnder attacked with a skill of his own, and it knocked out Travis.

Flinnder winced at the injury, "How long had it been since I had actually been damaged? This hurts."

Dimitrin shook their head, "Far too long my Lord."

After ordering a pair of servants to bandage his wound, and carry Travis back to his room, a grin spread on his face. He looked at Dimitrin and asked, "What do you think?"

"To have done this much in such a short time, I have never seen such progress before."

"This is truly exciting. We have many more months ahead of us, just how much stronger can he get?"

"Only time will tell my Lord."

Flinnder's wound was treated and he nodded, "This will fully heal in moments. I may have lost my temper upon getting injured, so my Champion may not wake soon. I would give it an hour most. So let me know when he is awake."

Dimitrin nodded, "Of course."

Flinnder shook his head, "Why does he always pass out at the end of battles?"

"I'm afraid this time was you my Lord."

~ ~ ~

The next day. . .

Tilia walked into Yielya's room and sat, "You weren't on yesterday, so I couldn't chat."

Yielya nodded, "I had things that needed to be done."

"I wanted to ask why you were so adamant about not meeting up."

Yielya immediately responded, "It's nothing. Don't worry about me."

"No, something's wrong. You answered too fast. 'Don't worry about me'? When you usually say I'm here for you? Just know that no matter what, we will all help in anyway we can."

Yielya remained silent for a while. She fought with her stubbornness to solve it herself and ask for help from whom she trusted. The silence dragged on for several minutes, but Tilia didn't care.

Yielya's voice cracked slightly, "I'm fine. Really."

Tilia comforted her, "Tell me, say it all."

. . .

Tilia walked out of Yielya's room half an hour later, gripping her thumb she spoke with Akiol, "Yielya's fine, but there might be something we can help with."

"Good to hear, let's meet with the others."

Rapidly sending a message out Akiol gathered the party. They arrived at the house five minutes later. Tilia lead them all Akiol's room, since it was the emptiest, and began to explain the situation.

Wrock sighed and placed his head against the wall, "I see why she didn't speak about anything."

"So what can we do?", Jarvis asked.

Tilia patted her lap with a hand as she began to explain her idea, "It seems they enjoyed the stories she told of our adventures. Since Yielya refuses to leave their side until the time is right, I offered to have us go to her instead."

Akiol crossed his arms, "What purpose would that hold though?"

Yielya entered the room at this moment, having overheard the conversation. With a sigh she said, "Mother- Er, Jenna's mother seemed to always worry about Jenna having a life outside of providing care. I think meeting in person would. . . bring the solace that they need."

"I see, but the way you word this would mean. . ."

"Yeah, their time isn't long at all. I fear that the relief they would receive from this will also be the end of their lives."

Lifting himself to his feet Akiol asked, "Wrock, could you?"

"Yep, I can get the tickets here soon. Everyone send me your locations so I can coordinate this properly."

Yielya fidgeted with her staff, "Thank you."

"Of course, anything for you.", Akiol walked over and placed a palm on her head. 

Tilia began to leave the room, "I'll start preparing, so I'll be offline for a while!"

Jarvis and Wrock were next, also beginning to leave and log off. Kan'na didn't leave as quickly however, she spent a moment to look at Yielya. After a few moments had passed she got up silently and left herself.

Akiol grabbed Yielya's palms, "Why didn't you mention anything before?"

"I. . . I believed myself to be capable. Capable of saving them during their final moments. To provide comfort. I just. . ."

"You are capable, just this time you needed some help. We can do that much right?"

"You're right, I really shouldn't have kept quiet about it for so long. I just can't bear the thought of letting them go."

"Is it because of Jenna?"

Yielya nodded solemnly.

"I understand. We'll handle this together then, like how we handle everything else."

"Right. Thank you again."

Akiol smiled, "Like I said, anything for you. Now I'm going to prepare myself."

Letting go of her hands Akiol moved to log off. Yielya outstretched a hand just for a moment as she saw his figure disappear. Biting her lip she moved her hand to log off herself, she too had to prepare.