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Chapter 21: Vytal Festival (Part 8) Winner is..

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NOTE: I've made slight changes to Robin's Semblance for clarification. It now gives status effect Intimidation which is basically the foe hesitating to attack but weaker ones are more prone to than stronger ones. I've also updated Robin's Wolf pack thing to mention that the bonuses increase at certain level benchmarks. I figured to mention that in later chapters but some of you were a bit anxious about Robin's bonuses being really poor so I updated it. More on that later, I'm concentrating on the story part of my ff rather than the numbers atm.

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As Robin stepped up to the stage, he noticed the girl was closely watching his movements.

= Great. And she's super observant too. =

Robin had no doubt that when Raven watched his earlier fight, she figured out he had acquired the skill Acupuncture. Unlike other kids, she seemed very cautious.

“Lets both do our best.” Robin called out to her.

“Yeah,” she nodded, “Lets.”

“Are you both ready to begin?”

The two of them nodded.

“Alright! Begin!”

The whistle blew but neither of them moved. Instead they cautiously circled around one another, their red and silver auras enveloping their respective bodies. Each of them waiting for the other to move. Robin purposefully did so to learn more about her fighting style since she probably learned more about his style through his earlier bouts.

= My only chance is to defeat her using Acupuncture but she'll be on her toes to avoid me from getting a good grip. However, she doesn't know about my [Bloodlust]. If I can somehow combine my Intimidation with Acupuncture, I might stand a chance. =

Evidently, Robin wasn't going to budge no matter how long she waited, so Raven decided to make the first move. With a sudden burst of movement, she approached him with a right kick. Robin caught the leg between his arm and side. Raven kicked her other leg to his right side this time, and he caught it with the same method.

-19

-17

He had put more aura in that area for a moment for protecting himself against her kicks, resulting in taking less damage. Raven used Robin's arms as support to lift herself up and then smashed both her elbows downward only to be caught by his hands.

Raven immediately bent them outward, causing Robin to form an awkward position between holding her legs and her elbows. Raven used this opportunity to use both her hands to choke Robin.

Struggling to breathe, Robin jumped off the ground and they both landed on the ground. Raven took most of the impact and lost her breath.

-14

Her grip loosening up, Robin freed himself and backed away. Raven quickly got up and rushed Robin yet again to throw a right punch this time.

Carefully distributing his aura, Robin caught her fist while being careful not to underestimate her power. But she didn't stop with her fist, and the moment her hand was held she moved her elbow forward instead and smacked Robin face.

-37

Immediately after that, she used her left hand to punch him in the gut.

-25

In response, Robin swept his left leg at her feet and knocked her down. Falling with her, his elbow landed on her gut.

-44

Raven used their proximity to grab Robin's head to prevent his escape as her knee rushed up to smack him in the face. Robin, instead of escaping, leaned down toward her crotch to nullify any force behind her hit.

Acupuncture

Four spots glowed white on Raven's body. With her knee missing, Robin used the opportunity to strike her pressure point in her leg. It successfully landed.

-19

You have successfully disabled Raven R. Branwen's right leg.

= Yes! =

But his victory was short-lived as he felt an all-too-familiar sensation on his own shoulder. With the sensation of numbness once again reaching his left shoulder, Robin got up and forced some distance between the two.

-22

You've lost feeling in your left arm for 60 seconds.

“You don't think you're the only one who can use Acupuncture do you?” Raven questioned as she sat up.

If there was any silver lining, Raven was also crippled, but as if to mock his thoughts, she pressed against another spot on her body and stood up.

= Oh for the love of all that is Dust. Are you kidding me?! =

This was not looking good. Not even a minute had passed and he already was in deep trouble. Stronger, more skilled, and uncrippled. FANTASTIC.

Raven did not hesitate to rush towards him. In response, he tried to keep their distance by backing off and using swift kicks to keep out of range of her attacks. Eventually she started to get too close, so Robin turned and ran. Pumping more aura into his body, Robin dashed away like a coward. Raven followed suit and also pumped more aura into her body. Raven was not battle-crazy like Yang nor slower like Ren, so she effectively cut off his escape routes quickly.

Faced with a confrontation and about fifteen seconds left before he regained control over his left arm, Robin started to sweat. In an attempt to break past her, Robin tackled her to buy himself time. However, Raven saw through the attempt and jumped up into the air. As Robin went underneath her, he felt a soft sensation around his neck.

Raven landed on her hands and used her legs to lift Robin off the ground and throw him off the stage. The speed was too quick, and even if he stumbled on the ground, Robin knew he would fall off the stage. In order to avoid that, Robin increased the amount of aura in his right arm momentarily as he stabbed it into the stage to forcefully slow himself down. The pain causing some damage to himself.

-18

“..Wow. Nice guts.” She nodded approvingly.

“Thank you.”

The two approached each other and began throwing rapid punches and kicks. Eventually, he regained feeling in his arm, and he chose that moment to make his move. Throwing a punch to her face, Raven leaned to the side and threw one of her own. At the exact same time, Robin threw his other fist to catch her off guard with the arm that wasn't moving up till now.

Raven had been keeping tabs on the timer though, so she wasn't surprised and merely moved her hand to block. At this moment, Robin activated his two skills.

Bloodlust

Acupuncture

Robin's eyes turned as red as Raven's as a feeling of blood-thirst emanated from his body. Raven stiffened slightly thanks to her weak state and shock at feeling a vague feeling of fear throughout her body. That moment was all Robin needed to strike the two spots on her shoulders, effectively rendering her arms useless.

-27

-25

Robin kept up the attack. He pounded her body with kicks and punches to quickly end the match. And then, when his punch looked like it would connect, it was instead caught in the same arms that were supposed to be useless a moment ago. However, this time Raven's body was covered in a mixture of black and red aura and her eyes were faintly glowing. As she held his fist, the aura spread to Robin's own body and a bizarre feeling washed over him.

Robin backed away in panic, only to find the aura that covered his body had disappeared. The strength that he used throughout the fight was gone.

“Sorry. But it's my win.”

With a step forward, Raven punched Robin in the gut and sent him flying. Without being able to muster any aura or having any to enhance his body, his reaction was too slow and the single blow knocked him unconscious.