Astrid tried her best to remain conscious and repressed the annoying buzz inside her head. The last hit had knocked her to the ground, forcing her to look closely at the droplets of blood on the floor, dripping from her forehead. “Bloody bastard…” she muttered, spitting.

At that very moment, she wished nothing more than to glare at her enemy directly in the eyes, instead of staring at that stupid feline-shaped helmet.

“Come on, Comet!” her enemy shouted before stomping over Astrid’s head. “Give me a reason to fear you!”

“SON OF A--!”

The stomp tore down the building floor and the one below them consecutively. When they finally reached the ground floor, a thick dust cloud hid them from each other's sight.

Despite Astrid’s best efforts to be as less destructive as possible, their battle had reached another dense area and the collateral damage was inevitable.

Walls in their path could not slow them down. Houses, building apartments, and retail stores collapsed all around them.

After powering up, their steps were as heavy as any mythical creature, and the shockwave created from their physical contact broke any crystal and nearby window.

We could really give that dragon a run for its money. Hopefully, this area is fully evacuated, because it’s bloody difficult to hold back against someone that fights as if they were a natural disaster…

Heh… With that in mind, she can endure if I go all out, right?

Astrid emerged from the dust cloud and punched the enemy in the gut with a fire-engulfed fist. The sound of the armor cracking echoed through the entire building.

“S-Splendid… You really are something,” the Warrior said, as she tried to push Astrid back. Blood ran down from under their helmet. “D-Despite all this damage, you keep fighting as if the Safe Zone was a joke…”

Astrid snickered. “I’m not done yet…” Gathering her strength, she pushed her fist further into the enemy’s stomach, piercing the skin. Soon, her knuckles would reach the enemy’s organs. “I’ll burn you from the inside!”

“I’ll p-pass…” the Warrior breathed before performing a headbutt with all of their strength.

Astrid’s sight blackened for a second as she felt how half of her body made a hole in the ground. Since the height difference was significant, Astrid wondered if she had been driven into the ground like a nail.

Which sounds quite humiliating…

Memories of people calling her ‘short’ exploded all at once inside her head.

“F-CLASS FLARE!” Astrid cast without previously channeling, catching the enemy by surprise.

A pillar of fire as intense and powerful as the two-headed dragon’s beams of doom fired from Astrid's palms. The spell crossed the street and reached the Thermasis river 650 feet away, evaporating the water in its trajectory instantly.

Finishing that, Astrid gasped for air while getting out of the embarrassing human-sized hole. “Serves you right,” she mumbled as the smog cleared, revealing the building’s new entrance: A 50-feet half-oval shaped gap. In front of Astrid, a still-standing silhouette.

“D-Did y-you quick-cast a M-Major spell that easily?” the Warrior quietly moaned inside their helmet, sounding ecstatic. “A-Amazing…”

After saying that, they went silent. Curving their body forward, arms hanging low.

Did they die on their feet?

Astrid examined the enemy’s heavily damaged and melted armor, which looked ready to be discarded.

But something’s not right. I‘d broken their fist, made a hole through their stomach, and burned them to a crisp…

And yet…!

With a sudden gasp, The Warrior seemed to have come to life. “Oh, what a delightful experience! I wonder how much time I’d have last if you were at your full capacity!”

You’re kidding me…

Astrid threw a quick punch, but the enemy blocked it as if it had come from a mile away.

WAIT, WHAT?!

Astrid did not let her surprise show for a second longer and tried a somersault kick, but the unknown warrior stepped aside calmly.

Astrid’s feet cracked the tiled floor and the monument in front of her, depicting a fairy boy now cut in half. Astrid could picture the Warrior smirking inside their helmet during that infinitesimal pause.

Are they faster despite their multiple cumulative injuries?! That’s impossible! It’s as if they have… healed already… Huh? W-Whatever! I’m wide open now, so they should hurry and punish me…

I would if I were in their place…

The enemy’s fist radiated a fire aura, just like Astrid’s from moments ago. That’s it? Idiooot. Powering that up will give me the time to step back!

Astrid knew how to deal with such an attack since she had perfected it in the last two years. What she did not expect after dodging the first punch, was that a second and third fist threatened to hit her face.

Oh, you little shit…

“Meteor Fall Punch!” the Warrior announced as they maniacally laughed. “Come on, Comet! Don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming!”

Four, six, ten, fifteen hits, all seemingly thrown at the same time for the naked eye. Although I can see each one of them coming my way, I won’t be able to dodge and block them all.

One punch hit Astrid in the belly, another in her right bicep, left breast, right side of her ribs, and nose. That last one sent her flying through walls and caused the inevitable collapse of the four-story building.

Although more than a hundred tons of debris fell over Astrid, that was nothing compared to the pain caused by that Special Move. She could feel the affected skin and injured muscles swallowing, and her ‘Pain Endurance’ Passive Skill seemed to do nothing.

It’s a nice kind of pain, regardless. The kind that causes a pleasant, itching sensation…

Astrid checked her HP bar. She could theoretically survive a punishment two times stronger than that.

But my gut is telling me that this wanker is still holding back…

After vomiting blood, she thanked in silence that her enemy had not seen that.

Let’s see, what do I know about them? They heal fast. So fast in fact that their regeneration is comparable to that of a Mythical Beast, something I’ve never seen before. Could that be their Unique Talent? And there’s something more that is constantly increasing their strength and speed. Hmm… I wonder if...

Astrid kicked aside large blocks of concrete as if they were made of cardboard and fixed her broken nose.

Above her, the still-gray Londorus sky greeted her.

“This sucks!” Astrid cried, pouting and stomping the ground without a care in the world if she looked childish in front of the enemy.

This debuffed state blows! It’s difficult to grasp what my current limits really are! If it wasn’t for my Libra, this battle would have ended right when it started…

Frustrated, she wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes at the enemy. “You knooow, it’s boring that you don’t have a name! So I’ll call you Crimson from now on due to your red armor. I’d call you Red for short, but it reminds me of a certain bitch that I’d rather not think about for the moment.”

“Fine, I’ll let you have that,” The Warrior said hoarsely, making Astrid pout again.

“What is it, Crimson? You sound disappointed. Is mopping the floor with me not as satisfactory as you thought it’d be?”

The Warrior sighed loudly as if something Astrid said had stroked a nerve. “Screw it,” they muttered and placed both large hands against their helmet to remove it. “I’d rather you call me Scarlett,” the young woman under the armor said. “And I can’t say I’m happy with this match since you’re still holding back…”

Astrid promptly used her ‘Eye of the Sage’ Active skill, hoping to get any info out of her enemy, but the System gave her no results.

A complete stranger… I know the face and name of every single registered Guilder in the top-ranking lists, and she’s not there. What the hell is going on? I refuse to believe that a User this strong has remained unknown this whole time.

People have egos. They want to be on the top and be admired by everyone…

Astrid bit her lower lip for half a second before beaming. “Look at you! There was a cute face under that thing all along! What about your mission? Is it okay for you to show your face just like that?”

“We’re supposed to be anonymous, but screw that,” Scarlett said, glowering. “That was my partner’s idea anyway. As I’ve already stated, my primary objective is to learn from you.”

“What about that ‘Embodiment of Progress’ crap?”

“That’s right! My own, fucking progress!”

Although Scarlett’s freckles and the orange bush she had for hair gave her a feminine appearance, her height, bulky frame, deep tone of voice, and the black eyepatch covering her left eye allowed her to keep her tough-guy persona. That last thing is just too much in my opinion. Unless it’s not an accessory…

I can picture her hanging around with jocks like Oscar or William The Stoic rather than having a girly talk with Tamara and Marissa.

Astrid formed fists, knowing that the next round would be the last.

In the end, knowing what she looks like under that helmet doesn’t really matter. For someone that bloats about being part of something ‘big’ and avoids any kind of spotlight, this face could be another one of her masks. Her name is surely fake, too.

Astrid looked in the distance. The gigantic two-headed dragon could be seen firing up breath after laser breath at something flying over its heads.

“You want me to take you seriously, huh,” Astrid said in a low voice as she ran a hand through her hair. “You know, if you and your partner haven’t destroyed a fourth of the city, I could admit that your tenacity is admirable. You’ve really learned my moves and techniques to such perfection, that it sends chills down my spine!” Astrid's friendly smile twisted into a malicious grin. “I mean it. You REALLY creep me out. This is not an obsessive behaviour I’m seeing. Trust me, I know all about it… No. You’re more akin to a scanning machine. Yes! Something that tracks someone’s motions but has no moves of its own. Gross!”

Scarlett frowned notoriously, before laughing out loud. “Did you really say all that with a straight face, Comet?!” She sneered, stretching out her arms to her sides. “Who is the real inhuman here, eh?! Little, insignificant copycat, me?! Or you, the woman that practically broke this game’s balance and caused a snowballing, power-creeping worldwide effect that the Administrators have been trying to address for the last year?! I, like many others, only broke our limits after learning what could be done from you! You’re the original Powercreeper here, Monster Girl, not me!”

Astrid's mocking face got stiff in an instant. “What did you call me?”

“You heard me right, you freakazoid!” Scarlett scoffed. “The only one that fights inhumanly here is you! Always cold-looking, as if fighting bored you. Always using a handicap, or finding different excuses to not go all out! I haven’t even seen you using your Super Mode once! So stop restraining yourself and show me that monstrous side of you, the one that you never show in public! COME ON! JUST LET IT OUT!”

As Scarlett got into a fighting stance, Astrid shook her head vigorously.

“‘I-Inhuman’? ‘Monster’?” Astrid sobbed while covering her eyes with both hands. “Why did you call me all those horrible things, you—you—BIG JERK?!”

A bursting red aura surrounded Astrid, showing that she had used a Fire Boost.

“That’s more like it!” Scarlett crowed, exerting the same fierce aura. “Fire Boost, Valor+! Ha-ha-ha!”

“Scarlett, can I ask you something?” Astrid said in a low voice after wiping out what seemed to be genuine tears from her cheeks. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

“What are you mumbling about?”

“Your Berserk Mode…” Astrid whispered as she raised her head, showing her cold, glowing blue eyes. “The after-effects are quite painful, so I can’t imagine what it’d feel using it at all times…”

Scarlett cracked a smile. “So you finally noticed, eh? That means I don’t need to hide it anymore…”

Scarlett chuckled as she calmly removed her eyepatch. An explosive purple aura took over her body immediately, overwhelming the red one. Scarlet’s green eyes changed to golden and her irises resembled those of a predator. Even her youthful appearance changed into a feral expression.

“That’s right,” Scarlett continued, “being in this constant state HURTS LIKE HELL! Ignoring the feeling of my blood constantly boiling, and disregarding the fear of getting a heart attack at any moment, this constant agony it’s EXHILARATING! This is the secret of my power, Comet! It doesn’t matter how many times you impale me, burn me or break my bones, I’ll heal immediately and get a quick power boost as a bonus! Simply said, the longer the battle, the stronger I’ll get!”

While Scarlett laughed maniacally, Astrid sniffed and rubbed her eyes. Exhilarating… Huh…

Astrid disliked the idea of casting Boosts on a regular basis. The Fire-Type ‘Valor’ Boost, for instance, a basic but useful spell that even all-brawn warriors could cast without worrying about their low mana reserves. It enhances their strength beyond their limits like a short-time steroid.

Astrid described it to Tamara once as a cheap adrenaline rush. If the heat of battle had not awoken someone’s fighting spirit, the Boost would do it for them instantly.

Through her time in The Novus, Astrid had seen warriors getting addicted to it. Some would fire up Valor before even unsheathing their weapons.

The ‘Berserk Mode’ is ten times worse…

It produces Bloodlust, raises the rank of ‘Pain Endurance’, and enhances the User’s strength every time they get a fatal wound.

Astrid sighed. I hate it… It’s bloody difficult to reason with someone that thinks that has become unstoppable. As if the Novus’ fighting community needed more people like that…

“Do you really intend to surpass me, Scarlett?” Astrid asked softly.

“I know I will!” Scarlett shouted, hitting her chest.

“Which Class did you choose?”

“Battlemage! The same as you, of course!”

“WRONG,” Astrid pronounced in a deep voice before reverting to a girly tone. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but I’m not specialized in that class. Tee-hee!”

Astrid saw a glimpse of distress in the enemy’s face.

And it’s glorious…

“W-What are you talking about?” Scarlett stuttered. “Battlemage! A class that excels in both strength and magic! That’s your class!”

Astrid giggled, covering her mouth with her right hand. “Ah, my sweet, noob child! Who’d want to master such a useless class? Being a Battlemages is the equivalent of being a Jack of All Trades. You’d never excel as a martial artist nor as an elemental mage, becoming just glorified cannon fodder!”

Scarlett tilted her head to her side, looking perplexed. “B-But it’s obvious what you--W-Why are you doing this?! You can’t lie to me! It even says so in your Guilder profile! You’re a Battle--!”

“Well, they have to put something there, don’t they?” Astrid interrupted. “For the fans, of course. But the truth of the matter is that I’ve never revealed my true class publicly. If you’ve been following my career, you should know I’m telling the truth.”

Scarlett’s lower lip trembled as the purple aura around her increased. “N-No way… No way, NO WAY, NO WAY!”

“And even if I WAS a Battlemage, you’ve failed miserably, regardless. Want to know why?”

“I HAVEN’T FAILED! I’M KICKING YOUR ASS IN A HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT!”

“And in all this time you’ve never copied my long-range attacks!” Astrid replied, laughing out loud. “Why didn’t you cast a copy of my ‘F-Class Flare’ too, huh? You could have shown me you could do it better. Or is it too difficult for you? Hmm? Or maybe…” Astrid grinned maliciously, “...maintaining that Berserk state drains all of your mana? Tee-hee. That means that as long as you fervently use this Berserk strategy, you’ll be nothing more than a cheap knockoff…”

“EARTH BOOST!” Scarlett shouted, emanating a third battle aura. “LIVING ROCK!”

“Getting pretty desperate, huh.” Astrid snickered. “The longer the battle, the stronger you get, right? What if I told you your strategy has a clear weakness, Scarlett? Something easy to exploit if it weren’t for these Safe Zone restrictions.”

“Oh, I’d love to see you laying a scratch on me now!” Scarlett roared, making the ground shake by just stepping forward. “My body is now harder than anything on this shitty island!”

Astrid closed her eyes while emanating a blue aura. “It’s easy… One just has to beat you to the point of no recovery really fast… Water Boost, Overflow+.”

Notice: Your Spirit has increased by two ranks!

“What are you going to do with that?!” Scarlett scoffed. “You’ve already seen I can tank your magic!”

Astrid ignored Scarlett’s taunts and continued channeling mana. “Earth Boost, Living Rock+.”

The ground beneath Astrid’s feet cracked as if she had gained mass and weight.

Notice: Your Vitality has increased by two ranks!

Alan, the day you disappeared we promised to be on top of the world, right? Well, to this day I’m still striving to be just that. I don’t know if you’ve already checked the ranking charts yet, but I owe you an explanation of why I’m in 7th place in the Individual Power category…

“Wind Boost, Speed Demon+,” Astrid continued, as a green gust of wind flew through her loose hair.

Notice: Your Agility has increased by two ranks!

“What the hell are you planning?” Scarlett asked in a low voice, fully conscious that the last two Elemental Boosts were incompatible. “Wait… Why are you stacking up boosts as if there was no tomorrow?! You just said that ‘Jack of All Trades’ are cannon fodder!”

“Well… I’m clearly lying about one of those things, right? But which one? The part about me not being a Battlemage, or what I really think about versatile people?”

Alan… The reason why I’m not the most powerful User in all the Novus right now it’s because time has taught me that being number one is… a pain in the ass. If I climbed to the top of the ranking charts, other Guilders would hate me more than they already do. You just met Kathleen Maher, right? Well, imagine 98 more bitches and wankers like that.

I can deal with the haters just fine, but I’d prefer not to have that kind of attention. The pressure on my shoulders would kill me young. That’s why I prefer to be in the spotlight doing something different… Something that gives joy to the people!

But regardless of my personal feelings, the reason I stubbornly remain in the 7th spot, it’s because I want the Novus population to know my face, and that they shouldn’t mess with me or my city…

It had worked pretty well until this day. So let me remind this person that comets are unreachable…

Feeling the increasing flow in Astrid’s power, Scarlett stepped back for the first time since their duel started. “W-What’s wrong with me?!” she cried with clenched teeth and hit herself in the nose, drawing her own blood. “To hell with you! Stacking different boosts won’t matter if you can’t take a hit!” Scarlett’s fist irradiated fire and prepared her attack. “METEOR--!”

“Berserk Mode…” Astrid calmly cast.

I haven’t climbed to the peak of the mountain because I don’t want people to see me as a monster, Alan…

Although… That’s what I really am…

“PUUUUNCH!” Scarlett roared as her fist connected with Astrid’s face.

The resulting sound echoed through Londorus’ streets. People from all over the city turned their heads in the same direction and mistakenly attributed the twin-headed dragon as responsible for such thunderous noise. There were no cameras around to witness such a spectacle, but if there was a brave soul that could have recorded the incident, people would have debated for weeks if that single punch was one of the most devastating in Novus' history.

Of course, after the following one…

“I heard it! The sound of your skull breaking!” Scarlett celebrated, raising her fist victoriously, before noticing that her hand looked weird. “N-No… Not again.”

“More like the sound of your knuckles, wrist, and arm getting crushed at the same time,” Astrid said while a purple aura similar to Scarlett’s took over her body. “I have to give you some credit, Scar. That hurt. A LOT. So you know what that means, right?”

“This doesn’t make sense,” Scarlett muttered, stepping back. “What about all those boosts then?! Why cast a Water and Wind boost if you’re not going to use them, huh?! ANSWER ME!”

“Oh, you’d love to know that,” Astrid said softly. A mischievous, almost evil-looking smirk adorned her face. Her blue eyes had been changed for those of a beast, golden and dangerous.

I became powerful so I could protect those I love. So you don’t have to worry about anything, Alan… As long as I’m here...

Then, with a single whisper, Astrid concentrated all of her power in her right fist. “Libra…”

For a fraction of a second, Scarlett saw a tall figure behind Astrid. It resembled a blindfolded woman wearing a pristine dress. She was holding something aloft in her right hand, but Scarlett could not distinguish what. Something that seemed important.

Scarlett wished she could know what that object was.

“Beautiful…” Scarlett muttered. Astrid’s punch did not produce a deafening sound, it only impaled Scarlett as if she was made of butter, followed by a burst of fire coming out of her back. “Truly beautiful.”

“I’ll discover the trick you used to get into this city unrestrained. So never come back. Did you hear me? Next time I'll go all out from the start.”

Scarlett rested her chin over Astrid’s left shoulder as if they were embracing each other and coughed blood. “Whatever. Our work here is done…”

Something glowing in the distance caught Astrid’s eye. It’s coming from where the dragon is… Is it firing its breath in this direction?

No… THIS IS DIFFERENT!

Astrid’s instincts told her to get out of that zone immediately, but her agonizing rival restrained her with the last of their strength.

“I also lied…” Scarlett breathed as an increasing dome of white light engulfed them both.