Our True Use

As Austin started to speak in that grim tone, I slowly walked as close to Rin and Ren as possible.

I knew our situation. With a flick of his fingers, Austin could put blades everywhere... and his sister, if she ever came out, would kill us instantly. We needed to keep him occupied, and her hidden.

"Just move carefully, Ellios, you and I will circle around Austin the entire time while Rin and Ren attack, okay?" I whispered to them. Austin seemed to try to pick up what I was saying, but I was talking too quietly for that.

"You, girl. You seem to be smart, what are you planning? Do you think you're smart enough to best me?" Austin asked me. He played with the frills on his scarf with a wicked smile. He was cocky, and cocky people usually have an ability that's crazy strong. I was waiting to see what he could truly do. Of course, I've only ever heard of explanations of his ability, and never saw it in action.

"Well, the plan is to always be smart enough to beat my opponents. I don't have the strength, and I'm not very fast. Usually, people are built like that. They're strong, fast, or smart... which are you?" I asked Austin.

On the low chance I could stall for time, Sky could come to help me after he was finished with Cole. Maybe not Sky, but anybody else. The more we can outnumber each member of Quake, the better. If Ruby's Soldiers weren't evacuating all of the citizens, we could easily take him out.

Fighting Austin is a testament to the strength I've gathered since I first woke up on that beach. It wasn't me who got their face torn off on the beach, it wasn't me who drowned, it wasn't me who was stabbed, it wasn't me who lost to a Deity... I have to keep going from that point. I was given the foothold.

"Change of plans... Rin and Ren, you two circle Austin and come in for attacks when Ellios and I aren't attacking. Ellios and I will throw attacks. We keep him cornered, and remember, don't stop moving," I rearranged our strategy based on a hunch, but I was already thinking of different ways to take him out.

"Ready? Let's do this," Ellios shrugged his shoulders forward and bolted at Austin with Rin and Ren following shortly behind him.

I watched from a distance, and Austin didn't react at all, he only maintained eye contact with me.

I figured... Amy is a separate entity from him.

I ran at him with a knife pointed in a reverse grip toward the floor, and chucked it at him, knowing he would deflect it.

Austin snapped his fingers and a set of three differently shaped blades exploded off of the serrated edge of the small knife I was holding. They were larger than I could believe and reversed the knife's trajectory back toward me.

I simply struck it down with a downward swipe from my broadsword. After I was done distracting him, Rin and Ren were already circling him slowly with subtle side-steps, and Ellios was trying to attack him.

The scarf around Austin's neck was metallic, and he used it to diffuse Ellios's attacks toward him. He kept eye contact locked with me... he gave away his secret after we locked eyes.

He has eyes in the back of his head, and they aren't his.

Amy isn't a fighter, she's there to protect him. I get it... it's like Sky and Avie, except a failed copy, to put it nicely.

I ran in with Ellios next, attacking Austin's front side.

I swiped horizontally where his head was, and he snapped his fingers again.

I tried to analyze where his ability was going, but by the time I heard the snap, blades spawned on the ground and rose up violently like they were being pushed. It just barely cut my pant leg and caused me to stumble.

While I was on the ground, I quickly noticed my mistake and pushed my body up once more before it was too late.

Blades spawned this time, without the snap, and Austin's face turned ugly with disappointment. The scarf on his neck was still blocking the hits from Ellios and even landed a hit on his arm.

The hit was like nothing I'd seen before, as instead of blood spraying everywhere as metal slid against the skin, a piercing hole was shot through his right arm, and on the opposite side came a ton of water like a jug was dumped on his wound.

That was it... Amy's Incarnation.

Ellios quickly caught on, grabbing ahold of the scarf and yanking it toward the ground. The frills on the scarf were sharp, like blades, and they had the power to shoot water into a wound.

Had it not pierced Ellios's arm, it would've blown him up from the inside out...

Rin and Ren caught on, closing the distance in their intimidating circle and held their katana's back, ready to strike.

By the time they closed the distance, Austin grabbed onto the scarf himself, and the position of the frills changed.

And then, I snapped my fingers.

Blades appeared on the scarf right where Ellios was, but because of one of my newfound abilities, I was able to completely block them with Essence Strands.

Essence Burst.

The ability to mobilize Essence Strands, to shoot them out of your hand and wrap them around something. It was a technique specifically meant for taking out an enemy's Strand Saber and would wrap around the target and render it useless. His blades, his scarf, it was all made of strands.

I successfully outsmarted Austin's strategy and exposed him for who he was in front of everybody.

The clash came to a standstill as Ellios ran behind Austin again, unscathed from the most recent attack, and as Rin and Ren ran onto the opposite end from him with their blades still ready, he chuckled.

"It's a shame you're on the wrong side, you would've made a good strategist for Quake," Austin told me. I sneered, spitting in front of me.