Divinity

--- [Isaac’s perspective]

Her approach to battle is different from most other people here.

She doesn’t rush in, she doesn’t do anything flashy, and she doesn’t reveal anything.

All she’s doing is keeping her guard up.

I haven’t even approached her yet, but she’s already defending.

I can already tell she plans on taking this fight nice and slow.

Does her specialty have some sort of condition that requires her to fight like this, or is it purely a tactical choice?

I guess I have to be the one to make the first move since she clearly isn’t going to.

I slowly make my way towards her, watching out for any sudden movements…

She holds her stance firmly.

I’m taller than her, and my reach is longer, so as soon as I get within an arm’s length of her, I hit her with a quick jab.

She’s unfaced, but doesn’t retaliate.

While holding my distance, I hit her with a couple more jabs, before suddenly feeling the force of a dozen strikes all at once.

“…!” – Isaac

What was that?!

She didn’t move, yet I somehow took damage…

Is her ability an invisible ghost or something?

Is there a pattern?

Can I avoid it?

I need to figure out her ability if I’m going to win this…

I take a few steps back as I analyze her.

She still isn’t moving…

She’s in the same spot she was in when the match started, and her guard is still up.

Nothing seems to be hitting me…

Why not?

Is it because I’m further away now?

I take a small step towards her, then another.

Slowly inching closer to her…

Her guard is firm, and despite easily being within her range of attack, she isn’t letting it go.

No hits from invisible ghost men either…

Guess that theory is dead then.

What else could it have been then?

Wait…

I ease my arm towards her; she’s still guarding.

I lightly tap her on the shoulder, and she starts smirking.

“So, you figured it out then… No worries, you still won’t beat me.” – Hazel

As if that didn’t already confirm it, just a couple seconds later, I feel that very same light tap on my shoulder.

So she reflects ‘damage’ then…

That’s her ability.

Does she intend on only relying on that?

Is she not going to even attempt to hit me?

I guess she wants to make this an endurance competition.

Like with all other specialties, I’m assuming her ability is dispelled the moment she loses consciousness…

Will I be able to knock her out, or will my own power catch up to me first?

Before I can come up with a strategy, I need to get a good grasp of how sturdy she really is…

From my earlier hits, and that tap, it seems that the damage is reflected to the same body part that was attacked.

I can’t afford to mess up any part of my body that is still usable, so I’ll have to hit her the place it’ll least affect me.

This is gonna suck real bad, but…!

I clench my fist, and throw a punch with almost all my might right into her left fist.

It obviously hurts her, but her bones are fine.

Oh god…

This is going to hurt like a bitch…!

Suddenly, all that power comes right back at me, and lands on the very same spot she was attacked.

My already broken fingers on my left hand get completely mangled, leaving it disfigured mess…

Shit!

Fuck!

The pain is too intense…

I can’t even think straight…!

I should have attacked her anywhere other than there…

It might have messed me up a little, but honestly, I’d take that over this!

I take a few moments to collect myself, and let the pain subside.

It’s not completely gone, but the initial wave is over; I can deal with it now…

At the same time, she continued to just stand still.

She didn’t even attempt to attack me…

I would have asked her if I could…

Admittedly, it’s just a guess, but I’m assuming the reason why is simply just that she’s weak, slow, or both.

She’s at the level she is at because of her specialty and durability; attempting to attack normally might just be a waste of time and energy.

If that’s the case, then she’s actually pretty similar to that other girl who fought earlier…

What was her name again…?

Rin?

She was absolutely mindbogglingly fast, but even with a specialty that made her attacks more potent, she was still at the bottom of the list of the candidates that passed the second round.

She might only have passable power, but her speed is what makes her so strong.

Similarly, Hazel here is probably only a D-ranker due to her ability and defense.

She has yet to show off her actual power or speed, but given that she hasn’t even bothered trying, I’m assuming it’s on the level of an F-ranker at most.

Her defense is second to none though…

It’s going to be hard to break through, but I don’t have a choice.

I need to knock her out with a single hit, otherwise it’s all going to come right back at me.

I could make a big sacrifice, but it might be easier to simply use a charged attack…

I walk up to her, and make sure I’m at the perfect distance by reaching my arm out.

Right before it’s fully extended, it touches the side of her head.

I practice my swing a couple times before actually going for it; if she’s not going to move, I might as well make the most of it.

A charged attack right to the head could very well be lethal, even to someone as sturdy as her…

Despite that, I don’t have any other choice.

If I don’t put my all into it, I can’t be sure that she’ll be knocked unconscious.

If she isn’t, then whatever injuries she suffers, I’ll experience something many times worse.

If she’s scared that she’s not going to survive, she better surrender…

Enough stalling, time to start gathering up Divinity…

I take a deep breath and completely clear my mind.

Every worry, every thought…

It all fades away as I put my mind on one thing, and one thing only…

Making this the strongest attack I’ve ever produced!

Right before I’m ready, I notice that she closes her eyes and relaxes her body…

She’s doing it too!

She’s charging up, except in a defensive manner.

I mean, she’s not moving anyways, so she might as well try, right?

But…

If we’re both doing it, she’s most likely going to end up on top…

She could take more than I could produce normally, it’s likely going to end up being the same when we’re both fully charged up.

I’ll have to use my specialty too…

Normally that would be fine, but if she somehow stays awake after this, I’m done for.

There is no way I’m surviving the combined power of a charged attack, and the power gained from a sacrifice…

This is literally life or death, but…

I’ll do it!

If I can’t even beat her, then I’ll never be able to beat Gael…

What’s something that is valuable to me?

The rest of my left arm?

No…

It’s irrelevant to the outcome of this fight, the boost would be minimal.

I need something else…

I know…

My vision!

If she notices and moves away, I’d have no way to know.

My attack would miss, and there would be no way for me to beat her.

It’s risky, but it’s exactly the kind of risk I need to take right now.

I sacrifice my vision, and the world turns dark…

It’s a temporary sacrifice, but the power it gives me is unlike anything I’ve felt before…

I hear something…

Is that…

Leanne?

She’s whispering something…

“Get ready, I think something big is about to happen.” – Leanne

I’m guessing she’s talking to the healers…

Whatever, that is of no importance.

This power won’t last long, I need to make use of it while I still have it.

I absorb and manipulate every drop of Divinity I can before it feels like my body is about to explode.

I let it all out in one violent motion, completely ignoring the practice swings I did earlier…

It feels like an eternity as my fist is piercing through the air…

If this doesn’t land, the fight would be over, and I won’t rank up.

If I don’t rank up, I can’t participate in the battle festival.

It’s a public event with tons of eyes on it; it’ll definitely be the best way to get his attention and find him…

Right when I’m starting to lose hope, I feel my fist banging into her head.

It’s insanely hard, but I feel my fist digging into her skull.

It all happened so fast that only a small crack was able to form before she was launched across the arena, slamming into the wall on the other side.

Was that enough…?

I can’t see, so I can’t tell if she’s still awake or not…

These next few seconds might be the most intense seconds of my life…

She’s either unconscious, or she’s not…

The answer to that decides whether or not I’ll die…

“The final match is over, Isaac Lux is the winner!” – Leanne

Before she even gets to finish her sentence, I feel a healer already tending to my wounds; I assume another one is doing it to her…

I didn’t have to wait; she called the match immediately…

Those grueling seconds never came to be.

Although I couldn’t tell exactly how badly damaged she was, Leanne could.

I guess this is why she got the healers ready beforehand; they had to be able to get in as soon as the match was over.

“What the hell, why aren’t your wounds healing?” – Healer

“…” – Isaac

“Answer!” – Healer

“…” – Isaac

“Can you not speak?” – Healer

I shake my head…

“I see…” – Healer

He fixed some of my minor injuries, but the broken fingers on my left hand, my inability to speak, and my lost vision, are all still there.

Only time can heal those wounds.

They were all temporary sacrifices, so sooner or later, I’ll be back to normal.

Can’t tell him that though…