NOVEL NEXT Chapter Three Hundred Sixty Nine
My first move was to immediately trigger Moonlit Night. Danger Sense wouldn't stop trilling in my head, but with the push a second ago it at least dimmed. I'd need to adapt it to the situation so it would actually work. Sensing that you were ALWAYS in danger wasn't actually a warning of anything.
Abel, meanwhile, stared into the fog with amusement. I'd moved out of the way immediately, making sure he couldn't see or hear me well enough to aim. He could probably cover the whole arena with his manifestations and a couple flurries of punches, but that would be sloppy and desperate, which were things Abel wasn't. I knew my teacher well enough to be aware that he was genuinely excited about this fight.
I'd sparred with him before, so I knew that none of my old tricks would work, but I had new abilities now, new tricks I could use. I needed to time this though, Abel's instincts were insane, and if I got close enough to attack he WOULD sense it. I wasn't sure if it was Perception, Fantasy, or some sort of combat sense from years of constant attacking but he was tough to sneak up on.
"Smokescreen." He said lazily. "Mediocre idea. Interesting execution though. My Perception should be enough to pierce a veil like this, which means that you somehow mixed stealth into the fog. Fascinating. I take it this is a new trick? Or were you sandbagging during training?"
It actually wasn't entirely new, but I hadn't shown Abel Moonlit Night yet, since I was keeping it secret for the tournament. I was guessing he hadn't bothered to come watch my matches either. Wanted to make sure he got a decent challenge. Deciding to buy some time, I triggered Pit of Despair, creating a silt trap under his feet that sucked him right in. He vanished into the ultra thin particles in an instant.
Knowing it wouldn't hold for more than a second I dropped to my knees, triggering my Magma Limbs, I just barely had time to apply my Touch of Tears before Abel came shooting out of the ground like a rocket, arcing down right towards me somehow.
My eyes widened in shock and alarm, and I saw his hands move, the images of other arms condensing on his right as he wound up for one of those layered punches. Without waiting I triggered Stone Limb from where my feet touched the ground, coating my whole body, then used Mountain Stance for the first time, as well as a triple strength density shift. Stacking every defensive move I could possibly think of.
Abel hit me at speed, smashing a fist directly into my chest...and stopping cold. His feet landed, and he just gaped for a second, unable to see me, but having felt that a full force punch from him had stopped when it hit me. Don't get me wrong, it HURT. I think he slightly cracked my sternum. But with the massive defensive bonus of Mountain Stance (triple defense when my feet were firmly planted on the ground) enhanced by the density shift AND Stone Limb, not to mention the bleed off from my armor, I'd actually tanked the punch.
I didn't waste it either, I triggered Steam Arrow, and when Abel's non punching hand flew up to bat away the attack with his spatial lubrication, I triggered State of Grace and laid into his ribs with the strongest punches I could manage. I pummeled his midsection as hard as I could, but his armor wasn't bad either, and he somehow absorbed the blows as they made contact by clenching his abs. Some martial arts trick probably.
He stepped into a trail of lubricated space and slid effortlessly away from me, stopping about five feet back. "Ok." He grunted in amusement. "That was pretty good. I didn't know you had that kind of durability, kid. Must be new. I can't believe you took a serious punch from me head on." Reaching up, he shucked off his jacket, cracking his neck as he went about limbering up his shoulders.
I swallowed hard. That...that wasn't comforting. Taking off his jacket was the first sign that Abel was getting serious. He still had his mask on, so he wasn't going all out, but it also meant he didn't think he NEEDED to go all out, which wasn't at all comforting to think about.
Letting Mountain Stance fade with a sigh, I winced a bit as I felt the soul weight. That little defensive setup hadn't been easy to pull off, even if it was apparently a bit delayed, but sitting still and taking hits was the exact worst way to handle Abel. He'd punch through any defense I put up once he had time to build up steam. I needed to go on the offense.
I triggered Double Trouble, and then once I arrived I used another new skill. Marked for Death. Marked for Death was my most recent finishing blow from my rogue class. I got one every other level, and this one was both amazing and sub par. The actual damage increase wasn't great, just double. but the real value of Marked for Death wasn't the damage increase. Once the Mark was applied, the next blow would land with perfect accuracy. Regardless of space, defenses, or anything else, Marked for Death was an unblockable sure hit attack.
Probably. There were most likely high ranking Ascendants who could avoid or stop it, but within the confines of reasonably close ranks to mine, it would work. I grinned as I leaned on State of Grace and triggered Ripple Running to bounce away from Abel's response to my appearance, because despite leaving fast, I could see the glowing purple mark of my sigil, the well of wishes, on Abel's shoulder as I slipped away.
My mentor spun slowly, waiting for the next attack, and I considered the best way to hit him to do as much damage as possible. "I have to say Shane." He said warily. "You got lucky as hell with that Skill. It makes up for so many of your shortcomings."
He was right, though I frowned at the dismissal of my hard work. I'd built my Path of the Doom Sovereign Skill from the ground up. First in DS itself, and then with other Skills and hard work. It was unrecognizable from the original Skill, and the combination of it with my stored attacks gave me a ton of versatility. I was willing to bet I was leagues stronger than your average Candidate in a straight fight, and I didn't like the implication I'd just tripped and fallen into my powers.
But on second thought, I had definitely gotten a heaping helping of good fortune in more than a few ways. That thought was enough to deflate my ego a bit and let me clear my head. Once I did, I rolled my eyes. Of course Abel knew what buttons to press to piss me off.
Sadly for him, it wasn't going to matter. I was going to end this in a single blow. Afterburner, Steam Arrow. Touch of Tears, Consecration of Flame, triple stack density shift, triple stack tranq, a shadow attack for good measure, Mercy Kill. I piled my advantages and power ups so high I thought my brain was going to explode, but I barely managed to trigger the hit.
Marked for Death meant a certain hit attack, doubled the blow, further enhanced as a sneak attack inside Moonlit Night, sped up by State of Grace and stacked with Mercy Kill. It was the most devastating direct attack I'd ever made in my life, and I saw Abel roar in pain as the horrifying tranq fire shadow steam arrow abomination slammed into his fucking rotator cuff and tore right through it, bypassing all his defensive skills and armor.
Of course, I wasn't exactly in good shape myself. That had been WAY too much soul weight, and I was currently on my knees in agony as I gasped and clutched at my skull. I'd come VERY close to blacking out from shock with that one. I used heal burst, hoping it would help, and staggered to my feet, swaying slightly as I stared at my currently blood soaked mentor.
"Fuck." He spat. Looking genuinely annoyed for the first time this match. "You took my arm? Not cool." I closed my eyes, focusing on trying to recover at least a bit. He wasn't down, and I knew he was going to be coming at me hard. I was completely tapped, and I had no way to put him down. That attack had been everything I had. Hell, I had no clue how he was conscious, given all the boosts applied and the tranquilizer aspect of the attack.
At the very least, I could see lines of searing toxic magma radiating through the wound, though Abel wasn't showing what must have been the agonizing response to being eaten alive from your arm with poison. Contrary to his statement, his arm wasn't actually gone, though it was pretty much dead meat on his shoulder at the moment. I didn't respond, I didn't want him to know where I was.
That didn't work out, somehow he'd felt where the attack came from, because as he hauled back, my previously oscillating Danger Sense became a damned storm siren. A manifestation coalesced above his head. A fist the size of a bus. Then another and another. Six of them, all floating there before he compacted them down into one single fist and swung at me with everything he had.
I knew that fist would seriously injure me if it hit, and my immediate response was to try to turtle up. Mountain Stance, density shift, and luckily Stone Limb was still coating me. I hunched my shoulders and brought my arms in front of my face, trying to defense as best as I could from the coming attack. My head was pounding like a war drum, and I was about to pass out, but I held on, just for this one last move.
Afterburner was still in effect, and that had boosted both defensive abilities, though not Stone Limb, since it had already been active. As the fist landed I felt a crack, not just from the stone but from my arms and legs. I kept my feet planted because I had to or I'd lose Mountain Stance, but all four of my limbs fractured under the impact.
With the punch over, I barely managed to stay standing, mostly because of the still active heal burst patching me up, and as I watched the fog receded, Moonlit Night fading as I fought to stay upright and functional. To my shock, Abel was staring at me shakily, the tranq seeming to be wearing him down, he started thumping toward me, one foot in front of the other, almost dragging himself, his arm hanging limply.
I could hear the burning of the flesh as he approached, and I tried to pull back to throw another punch, but with my arms broken I couldn't move them, barely able to keep them up. Abel made it to the spot in front of my, wobbling on his feet as he grinned at me proudly.
He put a hand on my shoulder, something I couldn't resist at all in my current condition, and chuckled. "That was a hell of a fight kid. You almost had me." I wanted to reject the statement. To tell him it wasn't over. But I couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Could barely think. I was so close. I was almost there. But I just couldn't make it. I couldn't beat him. He gave a gentle shove to my shoulder, and Mountain Stance broke as I tipped over backwards, toppling to the ground with a loud thump. The last thing I saw as my vision faded out into blackness was the crowd going wild. Oh well, at least I put up a good fight.