The Fight's Conclusion

After walking for over twenty minutes, both Kirou and Bladesmith's clone was now standing in a relatively open area. Kirou took in the surrounding area while the clone just stared at him with mirth in its eyes. Eventually, Kirou focused his eyes back on the clone before him radiating a slightly weaker but still potent beastlike aura like the original Bladesmith.

Both stared at each other for a few seconds before the clone spoke up, "You better come at me with your best and with the intent to kill. Otherwise, you'll be in for a world of pain and suffer." The clone equipped a pair of beast-like claws, complementing the natural pair that it already has.

Hearing those words prompted Kirou to chuckle as he faced the clone standing a few feet away from him. This caused the clone to narrow its eyes slightly as it stared at Kirou. Seeing this, Kirou made a deliberate show of putting on his wired gloves as he spoke, "It's quite funny for you to say that. Those were the exact same words that I was about to give you."

Following those words, Kirou immediately vanished from where he stood. This prompted the clone to lower its stance as it started searching around for Kirou, only to be greeted by a punch to its chin from below. This was followed up by a kick that sent the clone flying back a few feet before the clone regained its stability mid-air and landed roughly ten meters away.

<Critical>

[-425]

<Critical>

[-530]

Kirou never followed up on his attack as he now stared at the clone before him. The clone brushed off its chin where he took the punch before spitting out a glob of blood. It now stared at Kirou with cold eyes, fitting for someone in a fight. Although it was just a clone, it was a clone of Bladesmith himself so it now started demonstrating Bladesmith's attitude when he got serious, erasing all emotion from its mind and focusing solely on the target before him.

Seeing this, Kirou nodded slightly before his body vanished once again. This time, his body appeared behind the clone. Before Kirou could take advantage of this, however, he was treated to a pair of claws aiming for his eyes, forcing him to narrowly dodge the attack by ducking down. This action was quickly followed by a backflip as Kirou had to dodge the knee strike aiming for his face, one he was positive would have dealt some serious damage if it had managed to land.

Unfortunately for him, he had no reprieve after this as the clone chased after Kirou, intending to complete its mission of beating Kirou into a pulp. While facing these attacks, Kirou too adopted an expressionless state as he focused on the clone after him. The duo traded blows, many of which nearly resulted in Kirou's health instantly evaporating.

Whenever Kirou sensed that an attack from the clone felt too dangerous, he made sure to dodge and when he couldn't, he did his best to redirect it away from himself, oftentimes using the energy from the attack to deal a vicious counter. This was reciprocated by the clone as it didn't have it easy facing Kirou in the slightest. In fact, taking it as a whole, while both were trading blows, Kirou was coming out on top as he was actually dodging or deflecting the clone's attacks while the clone was steadily losing health after each hit. If it was wasn't for the fact that it had so much health, it would be possible for Kirou to grind its health down like this.

Following this, both sides opted to distance themselves from the other before they started a round of ranged attacks. While the clone made use of energy attacks in the form of claws, Kirou was making use of his wires to counter this by having them spin in a buzz saw-like motion to deflect those energy attacking while also rushing towards the clone. Seeing this, the clone did its best to dodge the attacks, resulting in it only receiving a few shallow cuts here and there.

The duo kept up the ranged attacks while simultaneously dodging each other's attacks by flipping, rolling, and lunging out of the way whenever possible. When these actions aren't possible, they just blocked the attacks with their own attacks before renewing efforts in dealing with the other. Eventually, the duo grew tired of this before they reengaged each other in close combat, where the situation from earlier just repeated itself.

*******

While Kirou and Bladesmith's clone were locked in combat, over at the entrance to the <Unnamed Training Grounds>, the original Bladesmith was currently leaning on the door to his cottage. Although he wasn't capable of seeing the fight from up close, he could currently make out bits and pieces of how it was going from the various sounds and vibrations within the air.

This caused Bladesmith to have a frown on his face as he spoke to himself, "Even at this level, it seems that the lad isn't facing too much of a disadvantage. In fact, it seems like he's holding the advantage, albeit barely, from what I'm feeling in the air." A few seconds later, Bladesmith turned towards his left, staring at a tree a few feet away. After staring for a few seconds, he spoke aloud, "Do you plan to remain in hiding even though I've already sniffed you out, lad?"

A few seconds passed before a silhouette emerged from beyond the tree. Surprisingly, the silhouette belonged to the person that was supposedly locked in combat with his clone at the moment. Staring at the being for a moment, Bladesmith turned away from the clone and focused his senses towards the fight taking place in the distance. As for the clone, it just sat down a few feet away from Bladesmith in a meditative position. As it was, Bladesmith had no reason to pay attention to it and since Kirou was currently under quest conditions, even if he felt like doing something to the clone, Bladesmith wouldn't make a move himself as he's prevented from doing so.

The frown on Bladesmith's face soon changed into a smile as he spoke under his breath, "Keep it up, lad. The longer this fight drags on, the more danger you'll face in dealing with my clone." After saying this, Bladesmith released a chuckle, completely ignorant of the fact that a glint had flashed within the eyes of the clone nearby.

*******

Somewhere within the vast skies, overlooking the various continents of Immortal Era, a loli dark elf currently had an inexplicable frown on her face. A few moments prior, this dark elf had felt a chill rushing down her spine, prompting her to narrow her eyes. Since she had felt a similar chill once before, she decided to forego the checks on her main body and started operating her globe. She had a sneaking suspicion as to what caused it, so she decided to search for the source at the moment.

Tapping the globe next to her a few times, a display appeared before her, showing the fight going on between two familiar Lycans. The dark elf loli watched the fight going on before her with a frown on her face. From where she sat, she could see everything taking place in the fight, including the fact that Kirou currently held the advantage over Bladesmith's clone in the fight, though that shouldn't be possible considering the handicap he is currently under.

After scrutinizing the fight for a bit, the frown on dark elf loli's face grew more pronounced as she spoke underneath her breath, "I never thought this bastard would be this good. To be able to predict his opponent's attacks to this degree, completely ignoring the gap in stage and skills isn't something just anyone can do. It shouldn't be possible to do that at this stage at all."

The dark elf loli watched as the fight progressed without a change in her expression. While she admittedly wanted to interfere and make Kirou lose the fight, failing this attempt of his class advancement, she was completely entranced by the fight taking place on the screen. It wasn't every day that she gets to witness a fight like this and she wasn't deluded enough to think that Kirou would give her a repeat performance.

Eventually, the dark elf loli released a sigh as she sat down and got into a comfortable position. She might as well enjoy the fight as it is instead of plotting ways to get one over Kirou, at least for now. She can always do that another day when she's got time.

As the fight progressed, the dark elf loli noticed something peculiar. Tapping her globe a few times, the display of the fight zoomed in a bit. Feeling that she's missing something, she tapped the globe a few times more, prompting the color scheme of the area to change a few times, revealing something that caused her to stare at the screen with wide eyes.

The dark elf loli stared at the screen before her while simultaneously running a few simulations within her mind, all of them leading to the same conclusion. She could only release a sigh as she spoke to herself, "What terrifying weapons. Who knew wires could be used like that, especially during the middle of such an intense fight? I'm actually starting to feel sorry for messing with that quest now."

Although the dark elf loli said that, that didn't stop her from enjoying the fight. For now, she would watch it to the end, waiting for Kirou to pull off his finisher. As she did this, a thought flashed through her mind, 'Maybe I should make a set for myself to play around with when I'm bored. I should be able to copy his skills since he's able to do it.'

*******

Roughly two hours later, Kirou and Bladesmith's clone were now running low on health. Both sides currently had less than 10% of their health to work with. Kirou had roughly 4% while the clone was doing a bit better at 8%. Although Kirou's health was lower, the clone wasn't going to underestimate him in the slightest. There was a bit of distance between both sides but neither had any intention of making use of their ranged attacks.

At the moment, both sides have dropped their emotionless masks and were now staring at each other with complex expressions on their faces. The clone's conflicted emotions stemmed from the fact that Kirou had managed to deplete over 90% of its health, all while preemptively dodging or redirecting most of its attacks. With the fight so intense, he didn't even have enough time to take health items in between. This caused it to look at Kirou with both appreciative and apprehensive eyes. Appreciative as someone of such skill and mental fortitude is a member of his class. As for the apprehensive side, he truly cannot gauge how Kirou's growth will be in the future.

As for Kirou, his mind was currently exhausted to the max. Through the earlier fight, he had expended all of his mental energy, predicting where each and every attack that the clone made would land and what path they would take, all so that he could decide whether he should deflect them or outright dodge them. Because he kept this up for two hours, his mind was now as empty and as hollow as can be. If it wasn't for the fact that the clone was equally tired at the moment, Kirou would have straight-up surrendered right then and there. That said, it's due to both being in this condition why he hasn't given up. He has one more ace up his sleeve that he's ready to play and all he needs to do right now is catch his breath.

Both fighters stayed like that for a few moments, with the clone being the first to recover from the fatigue. Seeing this, Kirou only released a sigh as he knew that it was time to reveal his last ace. Completely unaware of Kirou's thoughts, the clone adopted an offensive stance as it spoke up, "Give up, lad. You've lost this round, if only slightly. I can tell that you're mentally exhausted so you won't be able to predict any of my attacks from this point on."

Kirou stared at the clone before him while taking a few more breaths. He then calmed his breathing as best as he could before speaking up, "Even if that's the case, I'd rather be beaten outright than surrender." As he said this, Kirou slowly started tightening his hands into fists. It was time to spring his ace in the hole.

Hearing Kirou's words, a faint smile formed on the clone's face as it spoke, "Have it your way then, lad. No hard feelings." Following those words, the clone had just started to move his hands when he noticed the abnormality around him, along with a horrified expression forming on his face.