24

Fragmentation

Standing with his shining hands held up in a defensive stance, Goam merely waited as Rian approached. Rian started pacing around him, waiting to see what his first move would be, but all he did was slowly turn to face him.

“So we’re supposed to fight, huh?” Rian said.

Goam didn’t answer, his expression emotionless. Some of the blood on his face had dried, but more began to roll down from the top of his head. It was soaking into the bandanna. Up close, his face was distinctly human—dark hair and eyes, wide nose and lips—but the rest of his body was some kind of monstrous abomination of skin fused with rock. His breathing was staggered and shallow as if he could hardly take a breath, but he didn’t let any sign of weakness show across his face. With each inhale, the rocky crags of his skin closed, then widened with each exhale. The insides of the cracks glowed red as if with heat.

“You look like you’re on your last leg, if I’m being honest,” Rian said. “We don’t really have to fight, do we? You’re one of the Four, aren’t you? You wouldn’t happen to know anything about Yin—”

Goam dashed forward and swung a blinding blue fist at him. He was disturbingly fast; there was no telegraphing of his movement, no visible cue as to when he was preparing to strike like there was in human players—like Rian had seen with Torgo.

Rian’s first instinct was to block.

He realized, a moment later as Goam’s fist caught the outside of his arm, how stupid of an idea that was. The punch hit him so hard that it knocked him away, his feet sliding painlessly across the brick floor. Before he was about to topple backwards, he pulled a leg backwards to plant it behind himself and stay upright.

Damn, he thought, slightly winded as he came to a stop. That was actually pretty cool.

And then he saw a fourth of his HP had vanished, and his stamina was sitting at less than 50%. From a single hit. The meter above Goam’s head had filled to the 10% mark as well, and his body was glowing again, though fainter than his fists.

On the bright side, Rian supposed, he was probably going to die before he saw what that meter would do when full.

Goam started approaching—at first with leisurely steps, then picking up into a jog. Rian backed up, though he knew he was getting close to the walls of the temple.

I need to get out of the way. I—

You have gained a buff: Earthen Harmonics (Time remaining: 60 seconds)

A sudden vortex of wind surrounded him as if he’d leveled up. But this was something else: there was a feeling radiating from his feet all the way up his legs and down into the earth itself, as if his bodily awareness had extended into the ground.

An icon appeared on his HUD, but there was no time to inspect it with Goam closing in. Rian leaned into a dash to evade, and when he took off, the dash was faster than before—enough to feel his body cutting through the air like a knife. He still covered the same amount of distance, but the time spent in the dash was shortened.

Landing, he turned around to watch Goam, who hardly seemed to notice that Rian was no longer where he’d been before. Slowly, Goam turned around. With emptiness in his gaze, he limped toward Rian again.

Keeping him in sight, Rian focused on the buff icon resting on his HUD.

Earthen Harmonics (Level 10 [MAX]) (Time remaining: 54 seconds)

(452 MP; Cooldown: 1 minute)

Allowing their spirit to become aligned with the earth itself, a Fighter moves swiftly. For 1 minute: while grounded, movement speed +50%.

The MP cost was outrageous, but he’d somehow managed to cast it with a mere thought, and his MP bar had only depleted by about 10%. And the speed bonus had somehow applied to Dash even when he wasn’t touching the ground, as he was technically airborne during the Dash skill.

When he tried, he couldn’t bring up his stat page to check anything, nor could he see any numbers on his HP or MP bars. He could, however, see three other skills that weren’t there before.

Goam, still limping, was nearly halfway to him now. Rian read the skills as fast as he could.

Vital Strike (Level 10 [MAX])

(204 MP; Cooldown: 60 seconds)

Temporarily reveals weak points on nearby enemies for 5 seconds. Successfully striking a designated weak point will slow the target’s movement speed by 10% (+ 10% of STR) for 5 seconds.

Charge Punch (Level 10 [MAX])

(Cooldown: 0 seconds)

The Fighter’s meter increases upon receiving damage (-1% of max HP grants +2% meter) or dealing damage (+1-10% meter depending on severity of hit). When unleashed, deals +400% damage.

Quadruple damage? Now that was a move. And it was probably what Goam’s meter represented, too. Rian hadn’t even thought that the meter was something he shared, but when he looked up—further up than his HUD—he could see his own meter for Charge Punch. It was sitting at 50% already from the hit he’d taken.

There was one more skill to read, but he didn’t have enough time. Goam’s glaringly bright hands were almost in his face again. Rian dashed away to get more distance, but this time Goam dashed to follow him.

Running now, Goam closed in and wound up for another strike, his empty gaze resolving into momentary, concentrated aggression.

Rian started to back away. He’d just used his dash, putting it on cooldown, and now there was no way out.

Shit, I can’t block. I’ll have to—

Parry (Level 10 [MAX])

(Cooldown: 0 seconds)

Sensing the flow of battle through time, a Fighter can redirect an opponent’s attack. Grants 0-100% damage deflection. When performed, grants bonus damage equal to percentage of successful damage deflection for 1 second.

He blinked at the text box appearing in front of him, only managing to read the name of the fourth and final skill. I was thinking “dodge,” but that works, too. You’ve really got my back, game.

Goam’s shining fist careened toward him.

With his feet planted, Rian held out his arm and narrowed all his attention onto the trajectory of the incoming punch. Everything seemed to slow down as adrenaline surged through him. He swatted at Goam’s fist, but the timing was slightly off. Though it was painless, he could feel the radiant energy from Goam scraping against his palm during the parry and as the redirected punch grazed his shoulder.

A sliver of his health vanished, and everything slowed to a crawl. It was more than adrenaline; Rian could feel his body growing heavier, his thoughts accelerating. He wasn’t even sure how it was possible, but it was happening, unfolding before him: the nature of time itself had changed as a result of the parry.

In slow motion Goam staggered, unbalanced, his punch veering off-course.

Following up, Rian threw a jab at his side. But instead of impacting Goam’s body at full-force, Rian’s fist met the blue aura around it, and he could feel resistance as if his attack were being slowed by some kind of field. Even with the damage bonus from parrying, only the tiniest sliver of Goam’s HP bar fell away as the hit connected, and the encompassing aura dissipated. Rian’s meter for Charge Punch incremented, and even his stamina bar had hardly moved; it seemed almost limitless right now.

Recovering from the parry, Goam lurched forward, reaching out his glowing palms. Rian hesitated. Unsure of how to parry whatever attack was coming for him now, he opted for a jab again—to hopefully interrupt it.

The moment his fist met a palm, time stopped completely.

Rian could hardly believe what he was seeing: his jab, at an angle, struck one of Goam’s palms. He felt the impact resonate as it dealt damage, and then his fist hung there, frozen in time, before phasing through Goam’s arm entirely as time resumed an instant later.

Aw shit, Rian thought, knowing it was already too late. He has super armor?

Goam’s palms reached him, grabbed hold of him by the torso. He lifted Rian up, then tossed him into the air like a tiny child—with about ten times the necessary force.

Spinning, watching the sanctuary blur around him as he helplessly ascended, Rian wondered what the hell just happened. He ignored my attack completely. That had to’ve been super armor. Was that what the blue aura around his body was?

Each time he spun around, practically flailing, he saw Goam in a different position than before: at first he was backing up, then stomping a foot into the ground hard enough to crack open the brick floor. The cracks spread as a section of floor collapsed in a circle.

No, Kat said he would have every subclass’s skills. That means he has access to the skills of Monks, Brawlers, Grapplers, and whatever the hell the fourth subclass is.

And if there was any class that would have a super armor mechanic on a grab, it was undoubtedly Grapplers.

Cool. Glad I could figure that out right before I get wrecked.

He was falling now. He thought as hard as he could of Dash, to hopefully activate some kind of airborne version to get himself out of the way, but nothing happened.

Below, a gigantic boulder rose out of the collapsed section of floor, Goam having apparently stomped the ground hard enough to create one.

Well, that was just delightful.

Goam jumped, kicked the boulder mid-air. Just before Rian would’ve struck the ground, the boulder smashed into him like a freight train and shattered. He landed hard and went sprawling, rolling along the ground amid the pattering of rock fragments falling all around him.

As he came to a stop, he almost wanted to laugh, seeing his HP bar resting at a quarter. That should’ve been the most painful thing he’d ever experienced, but the game had dampened any sense of pain to the point that he felt invincible, in a way. Getting pulverized by a boulder? A walk in the park.

The boulder-kick wasn’t exactly an effective move, either. Due to the physics engine, landing from that fall probably would’ve damaged him as much. Kicking a boulder into him wasn’t just unnecessary; it was plainly showing off, which was probably what the advancement fight was meant to do. Show off what the Fighter class and its subclasses were capable of.

He picked himself up off the ground. Man, this is great.

With the anticipation of pain out of the way, he wasn’t scared of dying anymore. This place clearly wasn’t the overworld; his body was faintly glowing, almost translucent, as if he were some kind of astral projection of himself. It was similar to the PVP instance back in the forests. If he died to Goam, he doubted he’d lose one of his lives. He’d probably just face a penalty for failing the advancement fight.

Of course, he could be completely wrong about everything. But that was the game itself—making guesses and predictions with all the information he had, and then capitalizing, using them to his advantage. Dispelling his fears took precedence. He was a little desperate to find something to latch onto, but finding anything to restore his confidence in the fight was key.

“I like your style, Goam,” he said, standing. When he was sure he wasn’t dizzy from getting knocked around, he jumped lightly in place to loosen himself up. “But you can do better.”

Goam didn’t respond. He seemed entirely dead-set on fighting—or at least when he didn’t have that empty look in his eyes.

With hardly any warning, Goam dashed toward him. Midway through the skill, he landed and then jumped, imparting all his momentum into a forward leap. He bent his knee, thrusting it forward. Blue-white electricity crackled all around it.

Rian got the hell out of the way just as Goam soared past him and landed. There’s my opening.

He knew what he had to do. This was the test: his ability to harness all the Fighter skills in tandem.

Weak points, he thought. Show me.

His MP bar depleted another chunk, and everything darkened slightly as Vital Strike activated. Goam, righting himself, turned around. Appearing on his limbs were red, glowing areas—on the inside of his elbows, on his neck, and at the center of his chest.

Rian closed in. Vital Strike’s effect went off with each attack, so there was no point in going for slow, hard hits. He jabbed repeatedly at the glowing spot on Goam’s chest, and a de-buff icon appeared over Goam’s head: -40% speed.

Recoiling, Goam prepared to retaliate, then threw a hook. But now with Vital Strike’s proc, his movement was sluggish. Rian had plenty of time to place his hand in the right spot. Timing it, he knocked Goam’s fist aside, the motion fluid and seamless.

He took no damage. A perfect parry.

The time-dilation effect kicked in, turning a single moment into a moment three-fold. With surreal tranquility, Rian leapt backwards, feeling as if he were floating. As soon as his feet met the ground again, he dashed into Goam. With the bonus damage granted by the successful parry and the momentum of the dash boosted by Earthen Harmonics, he was moving almost too fast for himself. He focused his mind on Charge Punch and let it rip.

Rian’s fist tore through Goam, shattering half of his body. The HP bar emptied to nothing.

Eyes wide with exhilaration and horror, Rian watched the rocky fragments of Goam spread across the ground then begin to combust and evaporate. He could feel the heat radiating from the glassy, molten innards of Goam’s body—like standing next to a volcano.

Goam fell to one knee. With his only remaining hand, he grabbed ahold of Rian’s arm.

“She sent you,” Goam said, gazing at the floor with the same empty expression. “Is it true—you carry the Mark?” He looked up at Rian, and for the first time there was emotion in Goam’s eyes. Pleading. Regret. “You’ll do it this time, won’t you?” The rise and fall of his chest—or what remained of it—slowed, his breaths turning even shallower. “Won’t you? Please, you must.”

Rian nearly looked over his shoulder to make sure Corvis wasn’t suddenly here, but then Goam’s hand slipped off his arm. Closing his eyes and bowing his head, Goam placed his palm against the ground.

You win!

Combat grade: C

Time remaining: 5:23.04

As Goam remained motionless, the vortex of fog spun up again, shrouding the walls of the sanctuary. Ruby light surged from within Goam’s body, and Rian stepped back, shielding his eyes.

Goam’s body exploded. An instant later, time stopped: thousands of rocky shards hung on the air, trailing through space as if their presence were destroying the fabric of the instance itself. Each fragment burned so brightly that they appeared like crystallized, molten slag.

Everything seemed to recede as if Rian were moving, but he was only standing still. The black fog consumed him, pulling him away. It was eerily similar to his dream during the coma—falling backwards through a fathomless distance. And yet, even as the sanctuary disappeared behind the veil of churning fog, he could see one thing: a light, shifting from crimson to blue.

A crystal, standing where Goam had once been.