Her body knowing a sense of new freedom and control it had never enjoyed before, Synthia managed to find a new burst of stamina thanks to Devil’s Swiftness. Slashing at Rynne in a controlled, horizontal arc, she forced the elf to vanish at the last second.

“She’s coming for me again!” Iggy shouted. Before she had even finished, Synthia was there to block Rynne’s attack.

“From your left!” Synthia parried, her temporarily empowered state allowing her to get more of a feel for Rynne’s attacks.

“From above!” Synthia waited a little longer than normal to roll out of the way of this one, instead using the gale of wind encircling her to lift herself around Rynne as she fell down towards her. She swung the Mioja along with her momentum but Rynne had vanished once again.

Taking the moments in between Iggy’s directions to think, Synthia began discerning a pattern to Rynne’s attacks. She’d known for some time that the elf would attack where she was most unprepared to block. When she tried to account for that, she only ended up wearing herself thin and got hit even more. But with Iggy’s help, she had managed to at least evade Rynne. The real trick would be finding a way to pre-emptively get ahead of her opponent.

VOOM! The blocks Synthia made with the Mioja didn’t even phase her anymore. She allowed herself to get into a rhythm with the blade, a tandem that would only be broken if she allowed it to be. However much her enemy pressured her, however tired she got, under no circumstances could she become out of tune with the weapon.

The Mioja were described as keystones of elemental power, but Synthia realized that description didn’t quite do it justice. Ever since she had seen the object back in the mine, she sensed it was something greater. You could call something a keystone or important relic or whatever else, but that did not properly convey its true nature. It was the manifestation of a deeper connection to the world, something binding the fabric of reality together. Her accident back at the aeternus fields had proven that it could control time as well, at least under specific circumstances. But the question was, what would happen when it was combined with the other Mioja? And who would be the one to unite them?

Synthia almost lost her concentration as she pondered this, only just blocking Rynne’s next powerful punch. Sliding back along the floor, she brought the Mioja up and sprung back with a flurry of slashes, using her enhanced speed to aid her. Rynne evaded them all, but she was being put on the defensive for once. Synthia knew the climax of their fight was nigh, she just needed to push that extra bit further to reach it.

“Synthia, if you’re gonna do something then do it now!”

VOOM!

“That spell will run out of juice soon! You have to hit her, please! It’s all on you!”

VOOM! Sliding back from that latest attack, Synthia clawed at the ground to slow herself down. She bounced back up and brought the sword in front to guard, but no further attacks came. She felt Devil’s Swiftness begin to sputter out, true to Iggy’s prediction. Rather than feel pressured, her trademark eager grin spread across her face even as she sucked in as much oxygen as she could.

“No problem. Guess I’ve just gotta give it my all and then some. Just say the word and it’s go-time!”

This was the decisive moment. Using every ounce of strength she had, she kicked off from the ground and let the remaining wind guide her through the air. She was soaring, twirling, and twisting, Devil’s Swiftness keeping her aloft for these precious few seconds she needed to execute her plan.

“Synthia, from below you!”

Somehow, Synthia already knew that Rynne would be doing that. It seemed she had grown attuned to her opponent’s style at long last, and it was during the battle’s most critical moment. Giving herself more momentum, she let the last of Devil’s Swiftness spin her through the air, sword a whirlwind heading toward Rynne. She saw her tense up, eyes growing wide with shock at the blade spinning toward her. This had to be it!

Yet at the last second, Rynne disappeared before Synthia could hit her. Iggy gave an exhausted groan of frustration as she disappeared, reappearing higher in the air. She let loose another volley of electric arrows, all of them raining down on Synthia.

The thief, who had put her all into this final attack, desperately spun around and fired off a large blast of darkness magic and, with it, the last traces of Devil’s Swiftness. The resulting spell was overwhelming, a gaping maw of inky blackness crashing upward like water crashing against a cliff face. It was so spectacular that Iggy felt herself being pulled toward it, the force behind it being as strong as it was.

Yet even this was not enough, as Rynne simply vanished and appeared beneath it as it rushed up. Pulling back the string of her bow, she created the biggest bolt of electricity yet and fired it without mercy into Synthia’s chest. Gasping, Synthia slammed into the crystalline floor, the wind knocked out of her.

“NO!” Iggy tried to get to Synthia but stumbled. Her own fatigue was weighing her down. The thought of repeating this process however many times weighed her down even more, and she brought her head to rest on the ground in defeat.

Landing gracefully, Rynne put her bow away. She looked down at Synthia with interest. “I must admit, you put up a better effort than I expected. For a first attempt.”

Coughing through the pain, Synthia began chuckling weakly.

“Hmm?”

Rynne’s quizzical hum beckoned forth more chuckling from Synthia, which quickly erupted into a full-on laughing fit. She began wheezing, having to bend herself off the ground with how hard she was cackling. Iggy was watching in fear of her delirium. Rynne just brushed it off.

“Fighter’s high, then. Figures, with all the adrenaline rushing through your system. I guess I should’ve taken you for somebody to laugh after a battle.”

“No,” Synthia wheezed out. “I’m not laughing because of some fighter’s high... I’m laughing because this actually is going to be our first and last attempt.” She pointed above Rynne’s head before passing out, her strength spent. Before Rynne knew it, she was slammed into the ground with what felt like the strength of a locomotive.

The elf, normally rather composed, found her jaw pressed into the floor the next moment. Her confusion continued even as she slipped through it to evade whatever this new attack was, only clearing her head once she had backed a good distance away. She caught a few wisps of darkness vanishing from where she had stood once she resurfaced from beneath the floor. It was then she finally discerned what had happened.

When she had fired off that last blast, Synthia had somehow combined the effects of Devil’s Swiftness with her own spell from the Mioja. Darkness magic naturally sunk due to its density, but most attacks simply vanished before it could fully descend. But when put in conjunction with something like Devil’s Swiftness, it could then accelerate towards its target at the speed of sound before evaporating. It was a mortifying attack, and nigh suicidal if too much mana was put into it.

Wincing, Rynne massaged her back. The spell had packed quite a wallop. More than she’d been prepared for, honestly. She might’ve been hurt even worse if she couldn’t slip away as quickly as she did.

That thought crossing her mind, Rynne remembered that Synthia had been directly in the spell’s trajectory as well. Hurrying over, she checked the girl over for any more harm she may have endured. Rynne quickly surmised that she was okay, breathing a sigh of relief. It seemed the spell had somehow not affected her.

Rynne looked at the Mioja, the colourless blade seeming to thrum with life. If she had to guess, the weapon had something to do with Synthia not being damaged by the spell. Had she managed to shield herself just before said attack could hit? No, she was clearly exhausted and Rynne never saw her casting any spells for protection. Even from the way she fought, Rynne could tell she didn’t know many spells herself. She was mostly employing the Mioja’s inherent power or charging blindly.

Scratching her jaw, Rynne pondered Synthia’s compatibility with the Mioja. She said she was going to give it up, and if she truly wanted to do so there was no way she could force her not to, but still, she had trouble determining whether or not that was the correct decision. The potential she had shown from her last minute improvisation was a rare trait to begin with, but she also demonstrated an optimistic tenacity that was all too rare.

Looking between Synthia and Iggy, she observed how exhausted they were. She sat down with her legs crossed, determining to wait until they were rested enough that they could go back up the dimension levels without issue.

As her new bruise continued aching, Rynne was surprised to find she had a smile on her face. It was a rare display of emotion for her. And if she was being honest, she was quite tired as well. Stretching out, she enjoyed the calm and began meditating. She could do so satisfied in knowing Synthia and Iggy had what it took to work together properly. She could rest easy knowing that one obstacle had been overcome, even if it were only the first.

Her smile disappeared as she thought about the one waiting for them up above. He would prove a difficult challenge, and she couldn’t be sure the girls were ready for it. Hell, she didn’t know if she was even ready for it, all things considered.

Wait for me, Rell...