Between Scylla and Dasha

'Forty seconds.'

Dasha leaped to his feet and glanced at Scylla. A massive amount of distance had been made. A hundred feet almost given that he could barely see the giant maiden now.

'Forty seconds for the build-up and one second for the actual attack. It's too fast to dodge but the focus required prevents Scylla from using her hydras. That is my opening. That is when and where I must counter.'

The attack was absurd. It didn't seem to have an end. If he hadn't reacted when he did, death would have consumed him.

'Black Cards,' Dasha chanted, five black cards in his left hand. Each card used up a hundred and fifty mana. The Shadows, entering the world of shadows, that cost two hundred mana per second. He was burning through his mana fast due to the Darkened Pulse. Even with Foundation Establishment, his MP regen per minute was at 600.5. Often, when he wasn't fighting, he had to unequip the Sorcerer Class entirely.

But against Scylla, he couldn't afford to lose it. Not yet. The health bar that loomed above it was halfway down. His attacks had been super effective. First the Black Cards, then the Blazing Fury Combo. Offensively, he was a monster. However…

'What?'

A bright, multi-coloured aura was glowing from her waist. Six distinct glints that, as he came closer, he recognized to be the same attack. There was a roar, then—

'Ultra Magic Barrier—!'

How fast! How absurd!

After one charge, Scylla could do another blast back-to-back!? He grit his teeth. Even though he knew it was coming at that split-second moment, the snapped speed of the attack was too much. It was the light-element! It seemed like its natural speed was melding with the other elements into an ultimate attack with no weakness. Scylla's attack was beyond anything he had faced before. The barrier strained against the force of the assault, crackling and groaning under the immense pressure.

And then, with a deafening roar, the barrier shattered like glass.

Dasha was engulfed in a blinding explosion of light and energy. Consumed by the light of terror, his body tossed about like a ragdoll in the ferocious maelstrom. In a moment that felt like an eternity, Dasha was lost in a whirlwind of light, pain, and chaos.

Searing heat. Blinding light.

"Haa...."

But he was alive. Just barely, he was alive, face inside the blood lake. He waited for ten seconds and found that Scylla wasn't attacking him. He rolled over and stared at the sky of codes and symbols. Lying there, teetering between life and death, Dasha muttered, "Open status."

[ Status: Dasha Pang

Class: Dark Sorcerer

Level: 52

HP: 760

HP/Minute: 126

MP: 6700

MP/Minute: 450.5

Attack: 611

Defence: 623

Attributes

Strength: 156

Resilience: 152

Agility: 963

Deftness: 479

Vitality: 252

Magical Might: 1250

Magical Mending: 150

Distributive Points: 122 ]

His health was in the red and Foundation Establishment was turned off. He had over a hundred points to spend and eight classes to choose from. There was no need to think for each, there were only three to focus on: Sorcerer, Dark Sorcerer, and Intermediate Martial Artist. He considered the Sorcerer Classes. Some of the skills involved were truly powerful. But then he remembered the Class Skill that could potentially turn around everything.

'Counterflow Stance.'

Swimming between shadows and activating power skills, they were mighty indeed. But they weren't him. He was a martial artist first and foremost. It was not a matter of being good with it or not, it was about being himself. Dasha Pang spent his life as a scientist and martial artist. He manipulated and learned from the best. 

To not be able to trust in oneself meant to not trust anything. Trust, reliability, to accept something else. Everything in this world had to be accepted to act in. 

[ New skill learned : Thunder Clap ]

[ Stamina Surge Lv. 1 upgraded to Stamina Surge Lv. 2 ]

[ New skill learned : Thunderclap Palm ]

[ New skill learned : Electro-step ]

[ New skill learned : Super Speed Lv. 1 ]

[ New skill learned: Storm Surge Kick ]

[ New skill learned : Rocky Chin ]

[ New skill learned : Stone Stance ]

Stamina Surge activated on the spot. His body, once burning, became filled with newfound energy. Twenty seconds had passed. Twenty seconds remained until the next six-elemental blast. He had been sent far, far away. Scylla had not moved, however, focusing everything she had on recharging her attack. Dasha saw six different blips of light.

'Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five…'

There was a roar. Dasha was running across the lake at record speed. If Scylla wasn't moving in the slightest and her focus was fully on recharging then—

A sound that seemed to tear through the blood like like a ferocious beast ripped out. A primal fury that nearly split the waters beneath Dasha's feet. It was a declaration of an attack. Dasha didn't blink. He simply saw white.