Fighting the stranger
('Now that I think about it, This will be my first fight with another wishmaster') Ron realised he had met with another wishmaster, however he didn't fight Jacob. Ron looked at the man closely, He was dressed in loose clothes with leather boots and had a dagger. Ron frowned a little when he saw the dagger it almost seemed to glow? Was it a magic dagger?
"Heh, looks like your friend here doesn't care for your life" The man laughed when he saw Scarlett doing nothing.
"Nah that's not it, I just think you're not much of a challenge to him" Scarlett said to the man. Ron knew it was a lie to provoke the man into attacking him instead of her. And true to logic the man didn't like to hear that.
"Oh yea? Well let me just kill your boyfriend here" The man said as he suddenly dove back into the sand. ('Looks like he had an ability to travel using the sand') Ron concluded it made sense how else did he keep up with them while not showing himself.
Ron heightened his sense of feeling, if he couldn't see him or hear him maybe he could feel him travel through the sand. Ron felt a slight shift at his feet and saw a dagger suddenly shooting up from the ground. Ron quickly jumped up, he felt a slight pinch in his foot as the dagger barely nicked him. The man in the sand was a little shocked that Ron was able to dodge him.
The man dove back in and wanted to repeat the same strategy. Ron knew where he would be coming from this time and prepared his left hand into a claw, he knew if it hit the man in a bad spot he would die. Ron steeled his nerves and waited for the shift in the sand.
The shift came as predicted and Ron saw the dagger coming, instead of jumping out the way Ron's left hand came down at the opponent. The opponent was happy to see Ron in the way of his dagger but quickly paled once he realised the left hand's nails were unusually sharp and heading for his head, the blood splatter that Ron was expecting didn't happen instead the man's head suddenly accelerated and swerved out of the way only cutting his cheek.
The man suddenly jumped out of the sand and looked a little wary at Ron, that exchange just now nearly cost him his life seems like the woman wasn't just boasting. Ron on the other hand frowned a little. ('His head just sped up unnaturally') It gave Ron a weird feeling like he'd seen it somewhere before.
The man suddenly rushed at Ron foregoing stealth completely and attacking head on, Ron didn't have the chance to use the whip. The man was pretty fast and quickly reached Ron where he stabbed at him with his dagger, Ron narrowly dodging every stab. The man's entire body suddenly sped up which caused Ron to be late in dodging and the dagger hit him in the shoulder. In retaliation Ron swiped with his left claw and made streaks across the man's chest.
The man jumped back pulling the dagger out and looked at the streaks across his chest, Ron was a lot more trouble than he expected. Ron had a headache figuring out what that speed up move was. It felt like it was right at the tip of his tongue. Ron lashed out with the whip but the man was a step ahead of Ron and charged at him once more.
In a repeat of the last time the man stabbed at Ron with the dagger while he narrowly evaded, however soon a change would happen. The man sped up and aimed at Ron's heart once more, Ron however also suddenly sped up as he entered the kindling mode and narrowly evaded the dagger causing it to hit his chest instead while Ron's left hand pierced the man's torso.
Ron saw a shocked expression on the man as his left arm went through the man, Ron felt the warmness of the blood all over his arm he realised he just punched a huge hole in the man's stomach. ('Is he dead?') Ron thought as the man went limp. Suddenly the dagger shone brightly as the man suddenly reanimated and pulled out the dagger and seemingly running backwards? He stopped after a few feet and to everyone's surprise the hole in his stomach healed completely.
"Damn that hurt" The man playfully said to Ron while he stroked his belly. Ron saw the actions and felt like a lighting bolt went off in his brain, he finally figured out his abilities and looked at the dagger closely. Just how many points had he spent on it?
"Could it actually be? The Dagger of Time?" Ron concluded that was the only fit to what he had seen so far, he would speed up time to get an opening and revert time whenever he was severely injured.
"Oh? You actually know it, pretty nifty thing huh. Indeed it is the Dagger of Time from the Prince of Persia series" The man confirmed Ron's thoughts as he twirled the dagger in his hands.
"You can only use your time abilities with Sands of Time and I'm sure you don't have much left" Ron called out the weakness of the Dagger of Time.
"Well let's see what runs out quicker your life or my Sands" the man said as he rushed at Ron once more. Ron however was currently in the kindling mode boosting his physical capabilities greatly.
The roles were suddenly reversed as the man went on the defensive as Ron was the quicker one. The man had to use his Sands in order to dodge lethal strikes and take the minor cuts.
Ron was slowly dominating the man when he suddenly roared and took a heavy hit through the stomach only to stab Ron in return in the same place.
Time reversed for the man and he was back to before he rushed at Ron again all his cuts and wounds healed with only the cut on his cheek visible. The man didn't look pleased when Ron was still standing and seemed to hesitate whether he should continue.
Ron however didn't hesitate and ran into him the man panicked and wildly defended himself. Ron's strikes were still as quick as ever and pressured the man immensely even though he had three gaping holes in his body along with some other minor cuts. The man made another desperation suicide strike and managed to strike Ron's chest once more in return Ron also pierced the man's chest.
Time reversed once more however the man made a miscalculation and his body didn't run back this time because Ron was the one who rushed him instead. The man's body weaved in and out and suddenly stopped right in front of Ron, Ron went for the final killing blow as he figured the man's Sands were empty when fear was clear in his eyes. However the man suddenly sank into the sand below him wanting to escape.
"Don't think you can escape!" Ron shouted at the man, Ron could feel every move of his under the sand with his heightened senses under the kindling state. The kindling state was a temporary boost in all his senses and physical capabilities at the cost of fatigue and weakness later on.
"Weight times ten!" Ron shouted and the whip became ten times heavier. Ron whipped away where the man was travelling. With the weight increase it caused the sand to fly upwards, the man wasn't that deep in the sand and could feel the impacts through his body. The man was suddenly lashed hard and flung out of the sand, several bones cracked when the heavy whip landed on him.
"W-wait I-I'll leave and never come back!" The man started pleading with Ron. After trying to kill the man over 3 times by now Ron had long moved on and went in for the kill with his claws. The man saw his pleading were falling on deaf ears and reached into his pocket, he pulled out a round ball and threw it on the ground to which it exploded in a huge cloud of smoke.
The smoke stung Ron's eyes a little and made him cough, his senses in disarray the man sunk into the sand once more and ran away with all his might. When the smoke cleared Ron couldn't see or feel the man anymore, he had escaped.
He looked at Scarlett a little disappointed that she didn't kill him, however he quickly shook his head and dispelled those thoughts. He was the one who picked a fight with the man not Scarlett, it was his responsibility not hers. Ron exhaled and dispelled the kindling mode and sat down wanting to enter his sea of consciousness aka the white void.
He entered the white void and could feel the flame calling to him. He had gathered tinder for close to a week with the latter half in harsh conditions, it was time to ignite it. He touched the flame once more and a pulse shot out lighting all stars until only 33 remained lit. He had gained 2 stars after a week of training.
He opened his eyes to see Scarlett had come over to him looking a little angry at him. "Sorry, I couldn't kill him. It was my responsibility, I know" Ron apologised to Scarlett for being unable to kill the man. Scarlett seemed to accept the apology when he said those words.
"I was about to knock some sense into you for it being your fight and all but it seems like you realised it quickly after" Scarlett was indeed a little angry about that dirty look Ron shot her way. "For not being able to kill him, don't be sorry, technically you did kill him three times over." She continued.
"The Dagger of Time, a weapon that can actually influence the fabric of time itself. It's no joke alright, although I seem to recall the real deal much more powerful" Ron clarified about the dagger, it seems like the man couldn't show all its powers. He probably didn't have enough wish points to unlock them.
"So what now? We chase him?" Scarlett said looking into the distance, she had seen where he left and could track him down.
"I don't know how many more smoke bombs he has and how long it would take to recharge his Sands of Time, he uses those to use the time abilities. Plus I'm not in the best shape" Ron didn't know how a second fight would go with his weakened and injured state.
"So we just let him go?" Scarlett frowned; this was not the answer she wanted to hear.
"Of course not, have you heard of the old saying; the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Ron smiled mysteriously.
"Do you even know his enemy? How is it possible? You don't even know his name" Scarlett was surprised Ron would even know a stranger's enemy.
"Those who use the Dagger of Time may be visited by the Dahaka, a guardian of the timeline. An immortal beast which chases the users of the user to the ends of the earth to kill them" Ron recited the biggest fear when using the Dagger of Time, the only thing Ron would need to do was point in the right direction and the Dahaka would sniff them out like a bloodhound.
"Getting others to do your dirty work for you?" Scarlett scoffed a little but was inwardly pleased that Ron didn't spare his enemies when they escaped, instead he would send an entity that would chase them until death.
"I don't think I can summon it for long with my meagre 350 points" Ron feared that the Dahaka couldn't find the man in time but it had only been a couple of minutes since he escaped so he remained hopeful. Ron opened the wish store after it had been sealed by the fight and wished to summon the Dahaka.
"CALCULATING... THE PRICE FOR SUMMONING THE INDIVIDUAL KNOWN AS 'DAHAKA' COSTS 8,500 WISH POINTS PER DAY". Ron could only summon it for around an hour; it should be enough, Ron confirmed the wish.