CH- 43: Loss (I).
By accepting the gift/skill, Tetsu might survive. There isn't any backlash, the skill opened more escape routes, and Tetsu's entire being etched him pick the skill to survive. Yet a small part within him questioned why.
The skill came to him at an awfully convenient time, and he would not ignore Grandma's techniques anymore. Any and every scenario has to go through a harsh Razz screening before approaching him.
'I politely decline.' Tetsu loses the skill and switches to runes to escape the tendrils.
Left leg to the right and right leg to the left. Flip, Tetsu rotates his body.
Head down. Waist—go up. 'Mimic on,' follow.
Testu zooms between tendrils, moving with precise and improbable movements. The strain in his mind increased tenfold. His rising fatigue acts as proof and an indicator of his limits.
Tetsu might not live to see the results of his unique skills. There were a lot of similarities between 'Tenco Ten' and the magnetic field. It also had many similarities with some martial arts, yet Tetsu gained a unique skill. This was because of the techniques' unique nature and the many rules guiding its structure.
Tenco Ten is a ten art style with each style aimed at magnifying Tenco's strengths while utilizing his weakness.
First came the three [P] Perceive, predict, and persuade. In his old world, Tetsu used these to understand his surroundings, predict the outcome, and try to persuade the circumstances to benefit him. In a magical world, he used 'Perceive' to mark and familiarize himself with his surroundings. 'Predict' to predict the angle/power of an attack/skill, and 'Persuade' to persuade the incoming attack to find a different target by using its flow and angle against it.
In short, evade an attack, in the most cool-ass, calculated way possible.
Next came the two [C's] control and create. Control the situation and create a path to escape. Here, Tetsu used the fastest and most precise tool in his arsenal—his mind. One of the three basic powers. If you're still on Earth, then one of the two. Here, he used his mind to control the situation, his body, and his opponents' attack/skill/power/intent on creating an opening. Again, to escape.
The biggest advantage of a unique skill is its rarity, flexibility, and predictability. No one can say what it can turn into or how powerful it will get. You can mold it into the strongest skill or use it to escape the strongest skill.
Victory is a tricky bastard. Is it the king who won by claiming the kingdom, or a peasant who won by never witnessing a crime? Is a prince surrounded by wealth and threats the lucky one, or a vagrant, free from the shackles of society?
Just another debate that never got solved due to the system interfering with Kile's and Tetsu's debate time.
In under a minute, the Dandralith went from prideful, to cocky, to doubtful, and now landed on anxious. Yet another side effect of 'Persuade,' persuasion—control, and creation.
A higher form of the sixth art style is the 'Epilogue.'
Plant suggestions, create scenarios, and manipulate one's actions to the point of denial.
"Which magnetic field can do that, huh?"
Tetsu dealt minor cuts with the tooth implanted over the artifact. Every time the Dandralith healed her wounds immediately Tetsu would make a disappointed 'TSK' with his tongue and increase his frown.
At every turn, she caught onto Tetsu's frown and used more resources to heal her wounds.
'Poison. Invisible, undetectable poison.' She was sure about it. 'The coward and its darn tricks for victory.'
Switching things up, Tetsu cuts and releases the smoke, forcing her fear of smoke even further.
Dandralith retreats her tendrils. 'Suicidal as well.' She makes a mental note and creates a strong wind current, driving the smoke upwards.
This wasn't the first time she did so, and Tetsu predicted her predictions and used the tunnels to disappear from one spot and reappear in another.
This kept the Dandralith's illusion of the smoke while she kept her tendrils above ground, not seeing the point of using ground attacks over smoke, a disappearing mage.
One tendril can spoil his entire plan, revealing the underground tunnels, and solving the puzzle to find the weakness of Tenco Ten.
Tetsu knew this better than anyone else and played against time to finish the battle.
Deplete the Dandralith's mana pool before rational thinking unveils his facade.
Tetsu used the tunnels to gather more charcoal shards to hide, confuse, and scare the dandalith, all the while as he ate more meat, to keep up his mad assault.
Recover, confuse, and repeat. If he doesn't finish this battle fast, his fatigue will kill him.
Both of them were on a timer, while Tetsu matched the Dandralith's absurd mana pool by sheer dumb luck. AKA; the veil, his territory, the pre-prepped meals, and a superior intellect kept the balance tipped in his favor.
Until when was the question?
As expected, RJ bunkered down, making its shield visible, saving its resources, and playing the long game. Underground attacks were her shield's only weakness, so she spread her mold flat, forming a half cocoon.
At first, the Dandralith attacked relentlessly, and she struggled to open the mold for air. Before RJ bunkered down, she spotted the human running away before disappearing altogether. Her best guess would be that he hid behind the veil. The first damn smart thing he did since forever. This is the sole reason she used this new technique. Yet an unsettling bubble settled in her belly.
And no, it isn't her belly wanting more food. She had her morning's third meal and a light snack ten minutes ago.
"Ah! Lunchtime is in half an hour." Her stomach reminds her.
Yet, no! This isn't about RJ's hunger. The Dandralith's attacks were reduced by frequency and power. She still loomed above and bombarded the place, and yet none of her attacks connected.
A new tactic? She would not fall for her previous move, so what did the Dandralith plan?
An incredible backlash comes with amazing benefits. Such was her current state. It prevented RJ from making the shield invisible, and opening the shield could give the Dandralith enough time to strike.
Having the cocoon technique helped RJ temporarily disconnect from the mold. This also disconnected her from the surroundings and any attacks the mold absorb.
With the detached shield carrying its own health pool, like when Tetsu made a boulder his target, RJ now had a defense one-fifty times over the original value it provided.
Before, even though slight, an attack over the shield took points from her health pool as the shield acted as an extension of her body. Now detached, the shield has its own health pool to tank attacks and she can restore the detached shield's health pool with her mana. As the shield is still her extension and with a mana pool three times larger than her health pool, she can live here forever without the fear of death. She didn't even have to rely on Regen, which topped her resources by the second.
Air was her only biggest problem. An enclosed space had limited oxygen and RJ overcame this problem by reconnecting with the mold, opening a small hole to peep and suck air, closing the mold, and disconnecting again.
"Gr..." RJ's nose rings and she frowns. "It's time to breathe already."
And CRACK...! Her gelatinous heart jumps into her mouth. The mold cracks and breaks. She misjudged the Dandralith yet again and for the last time, for this was the end of her.
The spectacle RJ witnessed after her ultimate shield broke left her speechless. The only sentence she could muster was overlapped by her stomach's protests. 'Brb...' It growled, and her final view of the wonderful blue sky was blocked by a dumb human's face.
A few moments ago, Tetsu used a similar word. "Dumb fucking rhino." Tetsu cursed out loud while shifting RJ's mold. "Who closes their senses during a battle?"
Tetsu shifts to the Dandralith's side and helps in pummelling the shell. "You were too proud to run, but hiding is okay? Come out, you fucking jelly for brains." Tetsu punches the mould, then uses 'Mimic on' to move it away.
Dandralith strikes twice on the same spot, rubbing Tetsu's pride the wrong way.
"What the... Did it take him for a fool?"
Mimic, mimic, mic, mic... Tetsu kept shifting the mold and the dumb jelly within.
Dandralith threw in some faints and used underground tendril to catch Tetsu off guard.
"Fuck it's smart," Tetsu grunts as a tendril claims half of his shoulder.
He uses a smoke orb and escapes through a tunnel, emerging behind the veil.
"Run little lamb." Dandralith smirks.
Her voice was only audible to creatures who had a powerful translation skill or who weren't in a shell. "That is all your species brought to the multiverse."
An intense vibration traveled underground as the Dandralith spoke. An icy shiver runs down Tetsu's spine. He took a blind guess, knowing the Dandralith said something villainy.
He emerges behind the veil and sinks his teeth inside a huge chunk of meat. All of his frustration and pain went into a muffled yell, the booger meat acting as both his recovery agent and muffler.
The Dandralith continued to attack a single section while Tetsu ignored his recovery and rushed back to help RJ. He replaced most of the charcoal shards with meat and wrapped another piece of meat over his missing shoulder.
The burnt t-shirt turned cape, now turned into a bandage to keep the meat on top of his shoulder. With all of his strength, Tetsu tosses one last charcoal shard toward the sky and exits the veil.
"I'm not done yet," Tetsu yells, dragging the attention back to him.
The sudden shift in focus slowed down the tendril and allowed Tetsu to see the section Dandralith targeted. Yet he kept a safe distance, waiting for the right movement.
Dandralith expected the human to help RJ, but it kept circling the quater:node's shield and only pulled the shield away from her tendrils when it was behind the section she targeted.
"What is it doing? Does it want to save the quater:node or... I get it now. He wants to steal my kill somehow. Despicable." She frowns.
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