Think outside of the box, Dallion told himself.

It had been a while since he’d done that. When it came to the wilderness or awakened abilities, the gorgon outperformed him in nearly every regard. However, an area in which she didn’t compete—one in which she couldn’t compete—was his knowledge of Earth.

Time to stretch those wings, Lux, Dallion said, then took the kaleidervisto from his belt and threw it into the air. Knowing its owner’s intentions, a blue flame emerged from the object, keeping it hovering high up in the air.

Euryale tensed up a bit. She had seen all too well what the firebird was capable of in the real world. In theory, its speed was greater than Eury’s, though Dallion had never put the matter to the test. Now was as good a chance as any.

“Does a hit from something I own count as a hit?” Dallion asked. Keep behind her at all times, Gleam, he thought.

She’s a gorgon, the shardfly replied. She’ll still see me.

I know. But it’ll make it more difficult for her to react.

“I’ll allow it,” the gorgon said. “Three hits from you or your items. However, they must be direct hits. No gentle grazing or such.”

Dallion nodded. She had no intention of making it easy for him. However, he didn’t expect any less. Taking a single step back, he split into a dozen instances. However, instead of attacking, the instances rushed to each side, aiming to create a circle around the gorgon. The exercise was more exhausting than it initially seemed.

While Dallion had gotten quite good at splitting into large numbers of instances, the amount of time he could hold them remained quite short. Normally, an instance would easily last several seconds—five, if he pushed far enough. After that, they would snap out of existence.

It took three seconds for the Dallion’s instances to form a semi-circle arc around the gorgon. Some kept on running, in their attempt to form the full circle, but vanished well before that could be achieved. In the process, Dallion felt a dull pulsing in his temples—an indication that he had tried to go beyond his limit. It had been a while before he had felt this sensation. Normally that would be a good thing, but as Vend liked to say: “the lack of pain was a clear sign that one was getting soft.”

Half a circle, Dallion thought as he tossed his Nox dagger from one hand to the other. That was the area with which he had to work with. Hopefully, it was going to be more than enough.

Lux, Gleam, This’ll be a bit tricky, so better get ready. Dallion took a deep breath, then split again. Gleam, keep on the other side of Eury in relation to me, he ordered in each instance.

A semicircle of Dallion instances formed facing the gorgon, as well as a semicircle of whip blades behind her. The only things that remained in the same position were Euryale and the kaleidervisto above her.

Then the fight began. Years of playing games back on Earth had taught Dallion the ability to control single units as well as entire armies in order to achieve such a task. There was no reason this shouldn’t work here, and thanks to Vend’s training, he had the means to achieve it.

Twelve instances gave twelve sets of instructions to his familiars. Whip blades slashed forward, while the kaleidervisto propelled down at its target like a bullet. Meanwhile, all instances of Dallion remained safely away. Through this, he combined a perfect attack and defense. Eury would have to evade two simultaneous attacks per instance, while also keeping an eye on Dallion in case he joined in as well. At the same time, should she try to attack any of his instances, Dallion would simply choose the one that was furthest away and repeat the process once more.

How do you like that? Dallion asked rhetorically. He knew that his girlfriend had the skills to stop any attack, but could she stop all of them at the same time?

Combining athletics, acrobatics, and guard skills, the gorgon twisted in such fashion as to avoid all the twenty-four attacks. It was an impressive feat, sadly it didn’t give her any advantage whatsoever. Since the gorgon was technically evading only two attacks, she couldn’t complete a full defense sequence and take advantage of the bonus it provided. Dallion had already given strict instructions that Gleam retreat after performing a single attack. The shardfly didn’t particularly enjoy it, but complied.

Half a minute of constant splitting ensued. A casual observer would probably note that during this entire process, the gorgon’s reactions weren’t getting slower in the least. However, that had never been Dallion’s plan. He knew that Eury could outlast him in terms of stamina. The goal was for him and his familiars to get better, and slowly he was. Attacks that used to be inches off now missed by a hair. There were even a few cases in which the whip blade had grazed the gorgon, as she avoided the brunt of the attack.

Time to move to phase two, Dallion said. Gleam, create six illusions of your blade, and have each attack in a different fashion.

I’m not a whip, you know, the shardfly grumbled. Six move blades emerged, all from the same hilt.

Now make the real one invisible.

I should have guessed. The familiar sounded rather pleased.

That was one of the principles Dallion had learned about the wilderness—never be afraid to exploit every advantage. Fair fights were only for fair rules. In an environment where everything went, keeping oneself at a disadvantage was the same as arrogance.

A total of seventy-eight extended blades flew at Euryale throughout twelve instances. However, it didn’t end here.

Lux, flash each time you get close to Eury, Dallion ordered. Might be before, or after, just do it. And be as bright as you can. Oh, and tell me before you do.

A series of bright flashes followed. Being used to hearing dozens of items talk to him at almost any moment, Dallion was easily able to make out the twelve chirps and react accordingly in each instance. Euryale, however, didn’t fare as well.

On the very first combat split after the change, she was caught off guard, resulting in an opening. It wasn’t a large opening—something any double digit would easily miss. Dallion, however, had been honing his skills for the opportunity.

Gleam! He shouted in one of the instances. The whip blade reacted immediately, hitting the gorgon’s left shoulder blade. The wound wasn’t deep. The moment the tip of the sword ripped through Eury’s vest, she twisted away, with as little as a scratch. Still, it was a wound nonetheless.

“That’s one,” Dallion said. Two more to go.

Displeased by the outcome, the gorgon burst into instances to try and reduce the odds against her. Unfortunately, splitting wasn’t her strong suit. Even with all her levels, she didn’t create more than eight. This wasn’t a huge issue for Dallion, who simply created a dozen more. The pressure in his temples was building up, but as long as he kept the session length to four seconds, it wasn’t going to be an issue.

Instances clashed with instances, creating a cacophony of images. Instances and illusions merged on top of each other, forming a bubble of business around Euryale. It was only a matter of time when she’d create her next opening... and a minute later, she did. This time, it was Lux who had the honor, striking her in the back of the head. The firebird had been cheeky enough to flash shortly before hitting her, then—when a section of snakes on Eury’s head closed their eyes—struck the back of her head.

“Two.” Dallion shouted.

Eury tilted forward. It was clear that if things continued as they did, she’d lose. Much to her surprise, Dallion had proved to be stronger than she had expected. However, that was only because she remained at her weakest. Even with all those tricks, if she fought at her full potential, she’d likely win. In this case, the gorgon decided to pick it up a notch.

During Euryale’s next combat split, she dashed forward. Following Dallion’s logic, eight instances rushed towards eight parts of the semicircle. This was no matter where Dallion ended up being, she was certain to reach him.

Dallion was, of course, expecting that from the beginning. Immediately, he resorted to another of Vend’s teachings, ending his combat split prematurely and starting a new one before Euryale was anywhere close. That was enough to render her own actions meaningless, though not enough to make her give up. Rather, she did the same.

A series of re-splittings followed, with each ending their instances and starting it anew, vying for an advantage. However, with each time, Euryale was getting closer and closer.

Lux, next time flash and fly towards me, Dallion ordered, then did a new combat split.

Everything started the same as all the previous times, but on this occasion, Dallion didn’t end the split. Instead, he stood there, letting his girlfriend get close.

Lux, now! Dallion thought.

The firebird obeyed. In twenty-four instances, the kaleidervisto burst through the air, like a missile. In twenty-three of them, it missed its mark, often causing the gorgon to leap to the side, but in one it didn’t. In that single case, the snakes on Eury’s head took an instant longer to open their eyes after the flash, and she wasn’t able to move fast enough to prevent Lux from hitting her right arm and cracking her radius.

The sound was loud enough for Dallion to hear with his current level of perception. Beyond any doubt that was a hit. However, not one he wanted to see through.

It was almost natural that it would come to this. In fact, it was almost as if he was going through an awakening trial in real life. Here, as there, he was given a simple choice: earn his chance to become a hunter apprentice, or spare Euryale from having her arm broken. Logically, the best solution was obvious: he had everything to gain by letting the attack go through. A broken arm wasn’t that much of a big deal, especially now that Lux had leveled up. At most it was going to take the firebird an hour to heal the damage, and it wasn’t like Eury hadn’t had anything broken in the past. Still, was that the right thing to do? His heart didn’t feel tight, which meant the Green Moon didn’t have any concerns on the matter.

Choose an instance to become reality, Dallion thought. That was all he had to do to succeed. And ultimately, he did.

The sound of a bone cracking followed. All other instances disappeared, as neither Dallion nor Eury went on for another round.

“That’s more like it.” Eury smiled. “You were something else just now. Why don’t you normally fight like this?”

“I don’t know,” Dallion replied. The truth was that he had become too complacent with the new elements of this world, that he continued to forget everything he knew before. “Lux.” He reached out. The kaleidervisto flew into his hand.

“No need,” the gorgon said. “I’ll be fine. We’re not in the realms here.”

“Your arm is broken…”

“Cracked. I know.”

Suddenly an interesting thought came to Dallion’s mind. Exploring it further only made it more logical. The idea was ludicrous, far more reckless than he was. And still…

“The third time,” Dallion began. “Did you let yourself be hit on purpose?”

“What makes you ask that?”

“I’ve never seen you get wounded. Not to such a degree.”

“There’s only one type of victory in the wilderness.” Eury put a hand on Dallion’s shoulder. “You won. Let’s leave it at that.”

“If I didn’t choose that instance. Would you have failed me?”

There was a long moment of silence.

“We’ll never know.” The smile remained on her face, but Dallion thought he saw a hint of internal conflict. “Let’s go back to town. After this, I think the both of us have earned some rest, and some alone time, if we can find it.”