86 Chaos Walk

All of a sudden, Riku felt like physics stopped making sense. His weight felt off, his body more sluggish than usual as he forced himself to stand up. His grip was slippery, and the very ice beneath him felt both slippery and grippy at the same time.

What in the world was happening?

"I do apologize if my perception of you had been rather low, young man," Luke sincerely apologized to him despite his actions clearly aiming to kill. "This is just a Game, after all. One that I fully intend to win."

The former assassin could only grit his teeth as a new wave of attacks began to pummel into him. As opposed to the earlier attempts where the very elements themselves were seemingly out to get him, the projectiles trying to hit him now were all coming from the very environment themselves as any and all ice that were jutting out from the ground all came apart in order to pierce him without a second thought.

Standing his ground, Riku brandished his knife and began cutting through the attacks. His flaming blade hissing through the ice and water, he did his best not to take a single step lest he lose balance in virtue of [Chaos Walk] still being active. He really needed to utilize such a power, however. He had to come up with something to get out of this mess.

"You're clearly outmatched, young man. Perhaps a surrender is in order?" Luke pompously suggested. "While I don't presume myself to be the best combatant, even I can tell that you're utterly without options."

The former assassin bit his tongue to stop himself from speaking. He didn't want to give this man the satisfaction of an answer. Not now when he had no other option to retaliate other than to launch a hail mary charge at the man, assuming he didn't trip and fall on his own feet while doing so.

Still, this wasn't the way to live. If Nyx's power wanted him to have [Chaos Walk], then he just had to make it his own.

Slowly, Riku began to move his feet one small step at a time, each one resulting in a very light shockwave that cracked the ice beneath his feet. The balance was tricky, but slowly and surely, he was managing to hold his ground even while he was busy defending himself from all of the projectiles coming at him from every direction.

"I see... Perhaps I should adjust my calculations..."

Riku quickly turned his attention to Luke. The old man was starting to do something again, numbers and formulas starting to form around him again as the projectiles around him lessened to a great degree. Wait... Were his abilities channeled then? Did he need preparation for every attack that he wanted to do?

Testing his theory, the former assassin quickly lunged at the man, his steps booming with each step as the ice behind him fell into the sea below. His knife aimed at the man's neck, he was surprised that none of the frenzied projectiles came at him despite being this close to his target.

*CHINK!*

Swinging his knife, Riku blinked away the disappointment as an errant chunk of ice came between his target and his knife. Just as quickly as it happened, Luke opened his eyes and quickly jumped away, a slight smirk forming on his lips as he gave him a nod of approval.

"I was wondering when you'd actually make your attempt," Luke hummed aloud in thought. "It would seem that you've figured out how [Mimir's Knowledge] works."

"It wasn't that hard," Riku tersely replied as he flicked away some of the ice still clinging onto his knife. "You were saying it out loud."

Assuming that it worked exactly as Luke said it did, the old man was probably doing calculations in his head for every movement and trajectory for each and every moving object currently around them. It was impressive if that was the case, but he wouldn't put it past the most brilliant mind of their generation to be that gifted with crunching numbers in his head.

"I did say that," the old man chuckled. "Well, old habits die hard, I suppose. As much as I want knowledge, I just as much want to spread it to those who share my eager thirst to learn and improve."

"Then I suppose we share the same mindset then," Riku couldn't help but reply back. "My craft is something that I'm proud of, and I refuse to waste away even a single more second in this game away from what I do best."

"Ah, a career chef then. Or a career killer," Luke replied with the slightest hint of approval. "While I do not approve of the latter, I can respect a healthy thirst for knowledge for any kind of field. Why, I've dabbled in autopsies myself, and I must say that the human body does have its way of being cut open."

*CRASH!*

Before Riku could even react, the ice beneath him suddenly dropped right out of his feet. Thinking quickly, he stabbed his knife onto the side of the hole, barely keeping him on the floating ice platform as he hung on for dear life.

"So, you didn't expect that to happen, didn't you. Did you think that I've stopped doing calculations after you disrupted me? No, you merely slowed me down," the Champion of Mimir chuckled darkly above him. "Although, the slight tremors you made earlier with each step did cause me to be wrong a few times. I do thank you for the challenge you posed to me, however."

Luke then firmly put his foot down, nudging Riku's knife away from the edge with but a single kick, causing him to fall back onto the icy waters below... Or at least, that was what he thought would happen.

"I'm not done yet, old man."

With a scowl of determination, Riku quickly stabbed his knife right up underneath the floating sheet of ice, giving him just enough leverage to keep himself away from the water. Then, using his momentum, he swing himself up and kicked the ice above him squarely using both feet.

"[Chaos Walk]"

*BOOM!*