Northwest pathway - morning

In front of us, our opponent healed his brother, showing that he has the same powers as Richard.

“Marie, did you see that?”

“I did.”

The healed enemy throws a few punches in the air while turning with his torso.

“Yeah, I’m feeling good,” he exclaims.

“I am glad that you are. Please watch yourself, I’d like it if you didn’t get needlessly hurt.”

“Gotcha! Now, let’s kick some ass!” They face us down. “Hey, shit for brains, your damn time is up, so why don’t you just--”

I charge at him, using one hand to carry my spear while it’s facing my back. With my dominant foot forward, I swing my spear at my enemy's sides. It’s too sudden, so they’re gonna be caught by surprise.

“Ha!”

In an instant, my attack is deflected. No, it has been repelled.

“A very close encounter there,” the polite brother says.

“W-what just happened?”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot allow you to harm him.”

He steps towards me in a lowered stance. He thrust the palm of his hand against my chest. He pushes me backward, my body rolls on the ground.

“Marie!” Brother catches me, breaking my roll. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… I should be.”

Despite that, I can feel a sore spot on my chest as well as a pounding sensation. But for the most part, I am fine.

“How rude of me, attacking before I even introduced myself. Then again, you did the same, so it is only right for us all to introduce ourselves.”

He can’t be serious, is this guy even a Flame Wraith…? Wait.

“Which one of you is the Flame Wraith,” I demand an answer from them.

“That is simple, I am the 8th Flame wraith captain: Zell. It is a pleasure.”

“I’m the 8th’s brother/subordinate, and I’m gonna kill--” He stops mid-sentence as he notices his brother staring at him. His brother’s glare says it all, “don’t say that last part”. “Um…it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he grumbles.

I kind of feel bad for the guy. Alexander plants his sword into the ground, his hands on top of the butt of the hilt.

“I am Alexander, and I am honored that you wish to share your names with me before battle.”

Guess I got no choice then, huh?

“I’m Marie,” briefly introduced myself.

“Rather curt, but I am not bothered by that. Now then, let us fight!”

“Finally!”

They both charge at us. Brother and I ready ourselves for the enemy. The hot-headed one jumps to the air only for his brother to catch him. He throws him at Alexander. He reacts fast enough to dodge the attack. However, the one who hurled the hot-head comes running after Alexander. I swing my spear at him, but he catches it. He swings it and me around with no problem. I grip my spear as tight as I can. He throws me off the waste end. Such strength, is this another one of those Source abilities!? I land on the ground, my footing is a bit unstable on the landing.

“Brother!”

I hurry towards him, but the brother named Zeal gets in my way.

“Not so fast, woman!”

“Get out of my way!”

“Screw you, you gotta kill me if you want to touch my brother!”

“Don’t tempt me.”

He pulls out two short swords as he steps forward. He breaks into a dash, I go for a stab. He blocks it, but that doesn’t mean I’m done. I repeat my thrust several more times. He continuously blocks the attacks. I’m surprised that he’s able to block my thrust like this, but he’s stuck blocking. With a lance or a spear, you want to keep your enemies at bay. Keeping up this consistent motion of stabs gives me the advantage in distance. If he loses concentration and misses a block, then he’ll get hit. However, this is only if I can keep this going.

“Stop...this...shit!”

He deflects my last stab above his head. He makes a mad dash toward me. He steps about 2 meters in front of me. I take a firm grip of my spear and twirl it around my body, making my opponent back off.

"The shit," he curses.

"What, thought you had the advantage because you got close? Hate to break it to you…" I take a slightly crouched posture, both my hands are on my spear as the blade is pointing to the ground. "...But I'm much better than you think."

"Tch, whatever!"

He charges in recklessly. His blade comes closer to my head. I deflect it with ease and go for a counter. He blocks the attack but I press on. He attempts to pressure me into defense, but it's not going his way since I'm putting as much pressure on him as he is. My spear's handle is made out of metal. This takes away any advantage that comes with being able to bend a handle, but this does change how I can swing it. Plus, I don't need to worry about bending it too much before it breaks while I spin it around, and it's good for blocking swords. So, it being a strictly straight weapon is exactly what suits me.

"Bastard, how are you doing this shit!"

I spin my spear at him, slashing upward at three different angles; straight and diagonal from left and right. He backs as he uses his weapons to block the attacks.

"Close range is usually a spearman's weakness. So my teacher taught me to get over that weakness."

"Think you're the hot shit!?"

I take on the same crouched posture.

"I don't know, maybe I am. Care to find out?"

…

My saber finds its mark against the enemy, but it's blocked by their bare hand. I don't gasp in awe, instead; I go for another attack. He's quick to block my attacks, even with my advanced techniques. Still, I can tell he's doing his best to keep up with me. Overall, this is a battle that isn't going to be won by luck, but by skill and the perception to find a weakness in my opponent's defense.

"Your swordplay is splendid," my opponent compliments me.

"Thank you, but I am impressed by your blocking skills. How are you doing that?"

"Ah, I cannot blame you for being surprised that I am able to do this. I was only able to do this for about 4 years now. As for how? Sorry, I shall not reveal that."

"I see, then let us continue!"

My sword aims at his neck. He blocks it only for me to turn my whole body to the other side of his neck. His hands aren’t able to block my sword in time this time. My attack, however, did nothing to him.

“An excellent strike, but futile.”

I immediately jump back. Not only is his hands hard, but so is his neck. Is he truly invincible? No, I shall not believe that. There must be a way to hurt him. But how do I find such a weakness in his defense…

“Maybe If I…?”

I pick up two rocks without having him see me pick up the second one. I throw the first stone at him. It bounces off him without him, as expected. I go in for another strike with my sword. He blocks the attack with his hands as he leads it past him, pulling me along. Now! I throw the second rock in my hand towards his head.

"Gah!"

It hurt him! But why, that's what I need to figure out? Hm, so far, he's guarded with his hands and neck. Speaking of hands, why does he guard with them? If he is indeed invincible, then he doesn't need to block my sword at all. Of course, my sword did no damage to his neck; it was as hard as his hands. However, his head still retains the scratch mark from the rock. So perhaps he is not invincible, but can turn parts of his body impenetrable?

"That was foul play, Alexander," Zell calls my improper attack.

"I am truly sorry for such a dirty trick."

“Sorry, I just wish to at least hit you once, even if it was foul.”

Now that I discovered his secret, I need to test its legitimacy. I charge at him with my sword in front. He grabs it with his hands. As expected of him. I kick his knee, he grits his teeth as the sudden attack bends in his leg. He withdraws from our engagement, but I pursue him. I bring my sword toward his side. He puts up his guard, however, in vain. I kick his gut as it's open for an attack. He releases air from his lungs as he clutches his gut. That's it, I was indeed correct, he can only make parts of himself invulnerable!

"My, it appears you figured out my secret, I assume?"

"Indeed!"

"Then I suppose fighting you is going to take all of my skills!"

He takes up a rather odd pose. He lowers his torso's elevation and spreads his legs away from one another. Putting his left fist out and reeling his right arm behind his side.

"I hope you are prepared because I am no longer holding back.”

Evacuation area - morning

The hairs on my arm are standing as I face down my opponent. He is simply stretching his arms and legs, preparing for our fight.

"So, you wanna fight me? Are you sure?"

“O-of course!”

“Sure about that?”

“I am!”

“Okay, then…”

A moment, a singular moment passes as he kicks off the ground and out of my field of vision. He’s coming from the side! His movements are too swift to follow with my eye. I move back, only for him to close the distance. He throws a punch but stops an inch short of my face. He snorts, a laugh following after.

“W-what the?”

“I ain’t gonna fight you, get serious,” he retorts as he cackles. “I’m gonna go fight that girl, so you can sit around.”

No, she can’t be distracted from saving the others! I use a portion of my Source to strengthen my leg. I shoot towards my opponent by kicking against the ground with that one leg. Wildcard turns to see me darting at him. My body hits him, launching him forward. Our bodies roll on the ground. I’m getting a bit dizzy and nauseous, but I can’t give in to that. I break my roll with my hands and feet. Looking at him, he seems to have done the same. I can feel his eyes staring me down. He slowly raises himself from the floor.

"Okay, if you really wanna fight, then you got it!"

He gets down on all fours. His stance resembles that of a leopard or a cheetah. With a strong kick, he speeds off! His speed is incredible, I can't see him coming at me! Damnit, this is no time to be amazed, I need to move! I enhance my leg again. I put some distance between us. I barely jumped in time to get away from him. Despite that, he changes course and comes after me. You serious, this guy is swift! He can't catch up with me since I'm strengthening my leg, but I'm not running away. I'm going to ram him again. Stopping my current course, I use my enhanced leg. Right, now it's time. I use all the strength in my leg and I launch myself at him.

"Gotcha!"

He jumps over me before I can make contact. I jerk my head behind me. A punch makes contact with my cheek, flaring up not only pain, confusion as well. How did he know I was gonna do that; did he predict me doing it? Damnit, this is bad! If he did, then I need to stop doing that tactic.

"One punch and you fold like a child!"

I get up, wiping the dust off me.

"I'm not out yet!"

I say that, but I have no idea how long I'm gonna be able to last. As long as I can get those goggles back and wait for Nunnalé to return, that'll be fine by me.

"Come on, let's get the show on the road!"

He’s going on the offense again. I'm not going to run, I need to confront him! He jumps, spinning his body in the air to build momentum for a kick. It smashes against my gut. With that one kick, I feel as if I'm going to puke everything out. My knees are about to buckle from the pain. No, do not let yourself fall! Instead, I charge off against him. I need to get those goggles, whatever it takes! I swing my hand against his forehead, making it seem as if I'm going to punch him. If he figures out that I'm trying to take it, it'll make it even harder to get them back.

"Man, you fight like an idiot!" He grabs my arm and punches my face. "...You swing around like you don't know how to use your arms." I swing again but I whiff. "Your attacks are also predictable!" He deflects my attack and hits me in the ribs. He hits my chin with his knee. My brain rattles in my skull from that last attack. "Most of all, you're just so damn pathetic!" He punches me square at the head, cocking it back. I hit the ground as I clench my nose. “This was a waste of my time. I’m going after that chick. You can stay here.”

Damnit, I’m too slow to enhance the body parts that need to be protected and I can only do one body part since I’m still picking this stuff up. Of course, I can just enhance all of my body easily if I don’t concentrate into a single area, but it’ll possibly lightning the damage, not full-on negating it since all that Source isn’t concentrated into one or two body parts. So, this leaves me with only one option…

“Hey, we’re not done yet,” I yell at him. “Unless you can’t put down someone weaker than you? How pathetic.”

He turns his body around, facing me once more. His eyebrow is raised, as he has a hint of annoyance on his face.

“The shit you say!?” He venomously asks me to repeat myself.

Judging from what I’m reading from his words, he’s pissed. Good.

“I said you must be pathetic as to not be able to finish off an opponent that’s weaker than you.”

“Watch that damn mouth of yours, unless you wanna really die!”

“Then come and kill me, if you can, that is!”

With a spine-shivering scream, he charges at me. Okay, this is it, I need to predict where he’ll hit me. Think, what’s the best way to kill someone in one hit…?

“That’s it!”

The realization dawns on me. I found my answer! My opponent is 7 seconds from hitting me. I dash towards him to go through with my plan of attack. His fist zeros in at my head. His fist makes an impact with it, coiling my head back. My feet don’t leave the ground even when I’m pushed back.

“Gaaah!” Wildcard cries out in excruciating pain. He clenches the hand he used to punch me with. “What...what...did you do? How did you break my hand!?”

I was right, I knew he was gonna go for a headshot, so at the last second, I used everything I had to enhance my head. With that call, I broke his hand without even trying. Not only that, but…

“Look at this.”

In my hand, is Proxy’s goggles. He pats his forehead to see if I’m messing with him.

“Give those back,” he demands, his tone filled with anger mixed with pain.

“No, they don’t belong to you. They belong to my friend!”

“Wait… You know the guy those belong to.”

“Yeah.”

“What, couldn’t get them himself?”

“Of course he could, but you happen to run into me. But don’t worry, you’ll fight him again soon.”

“Oh yeah, then I guess I’ll give him more motivation to come at me, after I kill you!”

With a broken arm, he makes a mad dash toward me. Right as I raise my defense, something comes between the two of us. Nunnalé is the one who lands between us. She heads off against the enemy with her sword. He jumps over it with an athletic leap. Landing on his feet, he runs past me. He whistles as loudly as possible. An animal appears from out of nowhere. He gets on it.

“From this point on, I see you both as my prey! Tell your friend this as well. I’ll be coming for him, and all of you!”

He rides off, gaining distance.

“Master Richard, shall I?”

“No, let him go. He has a broken hand, he’s not going to be useful to anyone with that.”

“Broken arm? Did you inflict damage onto the enemy?”

“Yeah, surprisingly enough.”

“Fascinating, I expected nothing less from my master.”

She says that, but she’s failing to hide her shock. Never mind that, I need to confirm if she took down the wild animals.

“Nunnalé, how is everyone in the cave?”

“They are safe, I eliminated the wild animals.”

“Excellent, let’s go back into the cave, just in case.”

“Yes, let us go. But before we go, I’d like for you to heal yourself.”

“Huh, right, I almost forgot.”

I place a hand on my face. The healing process begins. Switching between healing and enhancing is not too different; one enhances healing abilities and the other just enhances physical capabilities. Thinking of it like that makes it easier to switch between the two since this gives my Source the command to either heal or enhance.

“Done.”

The pain my face was going through is gone, as if it never happened.

“Excellent, let us be on our way.” Nunnalé scans the areas with her eyes. “Proxy is not back?”

“I know, I’m a bit worried.”

“Shall we go search for him?”

While I would like to, we have to consider the possibility of Wildcard bringing back up. If that happens, then everyone here will be in danger.

“No, we have to protect everyone here, that’s what Proxy left for us to do, so we have to trust he’s fine.”

Nunnalé closes her eyes, opening them a moment later after what seemed like a consultation to herself.

“Very well, I will trust your judgment. Let us stand guard out here then.”

“Right, I’ll do my best to aid you when you need it.”

We take our positions at the cave entrance. I take out Proxy’s goggles from my pocket. I can’t believe I got them back. Now I can finally repay him for saving me back then... I just hope he’s okay.