The chimes of two bells sounded out as the man sidestepped the spear with relative ease, the beginnings of a light smile becoming visible on his thin, malnourished face.

“To attack a bound, blindfolded man that has no means of resisting, it seems the denizens of this world are more ruthless than I expected,” The man’s accent was unlike anything Jack had ever heard before— a mix of foriegn and synthetic, pitch oscillating between high and low, that sounded unpleasant to his ears.

“How do you know our language?” Sarah asked the blindfolded man, no doubts sharing similar doubts as him. It didn’t feel like the man in front of them spoke English, yet somehow they could understand him perfectly.

“Your language? How presumptuous,” The entity responded with disdain in his voice. “To not even know of the gift of languages, you must be new. Very new,” He added, sounding thoughtful.

“Who are you, and why has the system come to our world?” Jack pressed on since the man seemed so inclined to share useful information.

“You have come to kill me, have you not? Why tire me with these pointless questions, then?” The blindfolded entity’s words oddly carried no malice, but neither did they seem sympathetic to their cause.

Jack’s vigilance shot up, and he signaled to Sarah to be ready for an attack. He wasn’t sure exactly how the entity tracked their movements, but sight seemed unlikely.

“Oh, no harm answering I suppose,” The blindfolded man shrugged, much to the surprise of Jack. “I am an inconsequential pawn who wanted to be something greater, in the grand scheme of things. Look where that got me,” The man mirthfully chuckled, raising his chains slightly for emphasis. “As for why the system came to your world, well, it is hardly a secret. You will find out if you survive,” The entity stated with an air of finality to his voice, and with that, he charged.

Both Jack and Sarah, by prior agreement, cast [Qi Pulse] at the same time— the first blow was likely to be the deadliest, especially when they didn’t know how the man planned to attack. He heard the entity’s approach before he felt it, the tinkling of bells echoing out in his wake— and Jack was starting to understand why he had been shackled with bells. The entity’s footprint in his pulse barely left an imprint, as if his body weighed close to nothing- three steps were taken in quick succession, his speed in itself a feat beyond human capabilities. Even with his [Qi Pulse], it was easier to track him by sound than sight or feel.

However, the next instant Jack’s expression turned horrified, as the entity simply disappeared from his perception— [Qi Pulse] could no longer detect his movements, the skill he had relied upon for so long failing him. But Jack could hear the two small bells tinkling, and the sound came from…. above.

Jack hurriedly canceled [Qi Pulse] and tilted his gaze above, only to realize that the entity’s had leapt forward in an almost defiance of gravity— cutting through the air with such ferocious velocity that Jack could instantly tell that the man’s physical parameters eclipsed his own, his left leg poised to strike Jack’s head.

He barely had enough time to calculate the entity's velocity and defend himself with his sword, casting [Qi Sword] barely a second before impact with a scream. Jack felt his sword cut into the entity’s flesh, but he was blown back the next second as he felt the full extent of the attack. It took all his awareness and willpower to continue gripping onto the sword like his life depended on it, before he smashed into the wall of Qi that had encased the arena.

The impact rattled him, and Jack felt the air being knocked out into his lungs. Vertigo overwhelmed him, and his ears were ringing— barely having enough presence to hear a loud, anguished “No!” shrieked out, the voice so loud and raw that it made his ears ring even louder. Was that Sarah?

Jack’s eyes grew heavy, and for a second he felt tempted to close them and rest— just for a second. A part of him protested, and as if his mind itself rebelled against the thought, his subconsciousness sent an image bubbling forth— Jack’s eyes widened with terror, as he took deep, heavy breaths, having forced himself into a state of alertness.

Parsing through his pockets with his shaky right hand, Jack pulled out a bright red pill that practically exuded what Jack could only describe as vitality, swallowing it down without second thought.

Jack puked out a mouthful of blood the next second, not realizing he had been injured so heavily— but the warm, comforting sensation of the pill spreading throughout his body gave him the strength to stand.

On the other side, Sarah was like a woman possessed— her spear thrusts were like an endless barrage rained down upon the entity, cleverly interspersing every third or fourth strike with [Qi Spear], to serve a dual purpose- conserving Qi and also forcing the entity to stay on guard, not giving him any time to simply leap away to safety. The entity dodged with grace, but that should not be mistaken with ‘ease’, for he was forced to parry every [Qi Spear] blow with his thick manacles, sparks flying off them each time they made contact.. While the manacles themselves didn’t bear any damage, the entity was far from invulnerable— blood pouring out of the wound Jack had left, biting deep into his right leg, but the entity seemed unbothered.

Jack rushed back to reenter the fray, Sarah’s spartan charge faltering as soon as she saw him return– promptly lashing out with one last burst of [Qi Spear] before retreating. The entity took that opportunity to retreat as well, both sides reaching an impasse. Sarah made the correct decision, her charge, while glorious, was unsustainable. Jack would be lying if he said he wasn’t moved by the display, knowing how Sarah had burned through her Qi reserves to give him valuable time for recovery.

Sighing, he pulled out a light blue pill from his pocket— the sole [Qi Replenishing Pill] in his possession and offered it to her.

“Eat this,” Jack whispered under his breath, his eyes trained on the entity like a hawk. Sarah turned around to face him, and Jack realized that there was a single tear trickling down her face. Jack felt an unfamiliar tightness constrict around his heart, but there was no time for emotions on the battlefield.

She gingerly plucked the pill from his hands and nodded, smiling slightly before consuming the pill. Qi Infused across her body with such energy that Jack could see her skin glow a light azure for a second, but she seemed to feel no discomfort at the process.

“You were supposed to die. How vexing,” The entity finally spoke, head tilted downward as he peered at his own wound, as if he could see through the blindfold. Was that the truth, or a misdirection?

Jack himself felt ashamed, realizing that his overreliance on [Qi Pulse] almost cost him his life— as long as his target was airborne, all it did was slow and befuddle his reactions instead of providing assistance. The entity standing in front of him knew that, and he had exploited that weakness knowing what would happen— if Jack had been overwhelmed by panic the moment his target disappeared from [Qi Pulse’s] ‘radar’ of sorts, he would have his head torn off from the sheer momentum behind that kick. ‘How vexing’ was truly an apt way to describe it.