《Scarlet Warfare》
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All material is copyright ? with exceptions by the author of Scarlet Warfare
Dylan Frendo
December 20, 2020
{Content Edited in February 2024}
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Official Revision Version: 09
Copyright Exceptions: The cover is used from a royalty-free image. The Yamaha Motor Company is explained and included in this novel accurately, with exception to a specific product that does not actually exist outside this fantasy novel. Yamaha Motor Company is not an original idea by the author.
All rights reserved
This segment includes book #13/19 ~ #15/19 of the official Leray Series.
Breif Glossary Insertion
Viesiege (n): A conceptual siege of an entire nation or continent, not necessarily by physical means; rather by a degradation of important institutions and national infrastructure, all to occur within a 24-hour period. Viesiege is equivalent in meaning to a one-day takeover or forceful transformation of the entire country by multiple enacted plans.
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Montrum (N): A mental obsession (or state of mind where mental obsession occurs) regarding any particular subject matter, person, or concept, so much so that the mind is mostly occupied by such over a long period of time.
Chapter 0: Wrath of God
Those that know it best, claim magic to be nothing but a tool of indiscriminate use, a tool that knows neither benevolence nor evil. The wielders of this tool decide how magic is used, and seek thus their own personal accomplishments. But it cannot be denied that dark magic, when combined with the emotion of rage or hatred, yields power levels higher than Leray magic by a factor of 270%. And yet they fight. The defenders of Leray magic, or rather its idea - fight to protect it so. What do they not understand about their failing power struggle? What other than pure magic can be strong enough to stop the changes to the world?
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They are all sadly misguided fools. The world will beckon to present its true colors soon. Alpha Zero was only a taste of the new world. Skies will run red with rage. The ground will quake with fury. The air will burn with the wrath of God''s judgment. There is no other future. No alternative outlook remains. When the new world finally begins, only the chosen who understand God''s suffering will remain, tasked with maintaining his control.
Tick tock. Time to the end is now running down.
Chapter 1: A Battle to Remove Fear
<03/18/1972 ¨C 11:32 | (New Area), Gulop Region, Sprawn Valley>
"Three." A softly determined whisper harbored from the breath of air, stale from the faint scent of sheared metal and lingering body odor. In preparation for the work ahead, the soldier''s long pair of quality knives gleamed with the scattered sunlight breaking in through the height of the tunnel opening. They don''t mind the noise out there; these blades are built for chaos.
"Two." This isn''t even a real mission. They don''t know what they''re doing anymore. Standing just before the edge of the large arch-opening, the certainty of victory is already melting into all thoughts. They don''t need me to do this. But as long as I''m here...
"One." Blades will remain firm in hand and away from their holsters now. This is the time for battle. "Hah!" Verita exhaled confidently, ready for the next chained match. This area of land is now region owned property, but at least they decided to do something with it. Who''s to say nobody could notice?
The ground everywhere, hardened with sandstone drained this place of color, but all of the people here today transformed the entire stadium into a gathering spectacle. Beyond this stone archway lies the open circular field of challenge.
Only two miles north of Blue Port Town, this superstructure of ancient design has been constructed from the ground up. The region officials initially estimated years to finish its construction, but the city council pulled more resources and crew together, promising expedited construction of this magnificent arena. In just two weeks after the grand opening, thousands of people are gathered here today, for the same reason people gather anywhere in Sprawn Valley.
Leray battles. "It''s time to face off the final contesting teams!" Verita could hear the announcements projecting towards the center of the field beyond her tunnel, and she would be next again to face off another team in the official tournament. The Leray Arena; that is what people are calling this event. Challengers from all over the country are called to test their abilities versus other Leray wielders. The tournament builds up into a contest while the people safe in the circular stadium watch with their trained eyes. The winner of the tournament gets a modest prize and televised notoriety. There is just one problem.
"On team one, we have the three soldiers who have blitzed their way through all of their challengers with expert teamwork. Let''s hear it for team Tri-Fang!" At the end of the small announcement, the ambient noise level outside from the crowd quadrupled, though the hype made all of this highly expected. Anyway, back to that problem with the arena... That would be the pathetic worms they''re calling Leray wielders. Each and every one of these challengers so far couldn''t even pass a simple test from a gradyent with several attempts. They''re all weak, pathetic failures with no future ahead of them, with nobody to guide them in the end. Yet the people running this stadium and its channel are giving them so much false credit. False fame; false glory, tainted with deceit and evil; these are the elements which make up Leray magic.
"On team two, comes the lone wolf wielder who has shown no mercy against her foes. Being outnumbered will mean nothing for this fighter. Here comes, Verita Szeer!" Marching forward on cue, Verita swept past her own dangling hair, presenting herself to the thousands of eyes before her. Her own eyes were only fixated on the three targets she would need to defeat soon. They got one thing right so far. Being outnumbered means nothing here, and neither does all of this premium armor and metal. Team Tri-Fang won''t know what hit them. This might be too boring.
All three of the men wearing white fabric outfits took their time observing their final challenge. It''s a tall middle-aged woman, her face partially concealed by her own metallic armored helm. Those holsters with handles sticking out from them - she''s a small blade master, dual-wielder too. She doesn''t look all that threatening, but she is here at the finals after all. The same strategy has been working so far just fine. No reason to quit now.
By the time she was in range to initiate a Siriean dome, Verita slowed her pace and drew her blades to each hand. She calmed her thoughts before drowning out the noise of excited spectators. The three of these idiots can certainly work as a team, but it will never be enough to challenge the powers of her organization. With a simple open-liner, she threatened the three of them promptly. "I''m not holding anything back. You boys better not put me to sleep with your armature techniques." A short pause passed with nothing shouted back in return. They weren''t intimidated by her at all.
"And now let''s get this battle started!" By the time everything was ready, an artificial Siriean dome began to form within the entire field of the arena. They were sure to get every last inch of the room they''d spent money on. With this much space, there would be no way to feel cramped up. Now at last, this little test mission can begin!
As soon as the surrounding dome shield was generated, Verita and the other three contestants used what little focus was needed to generate the holographic status bar reports above each person. The holographic neon displays quickly became partially transparent to prevent distractions for the pending battle. Verita however waited patiently, giving the white dressed team their moment to go first.
Chapter Theme Shift: Pelican Escape ~ Jeff Williams
"Alright then. Let''s add some heat to start things off. Triple Fire!" Tri-Fang member-A was their team leader, and when he shouted the chant of the Triple Fire spell, he was really giving them a separate command at the same time. All at once, the three of them quickly charged their MP energy, creating a single red-colored holographic glyphring rotating slowly around their wrist. This glyphring belongs to the Fire Bolt spell. Though each member was only prone to launch a single bolt of fire, all three of them working on the same spell at the same release time would work together to create this energy efficient triple Fire Bolt action. This should do a modest amount of heat damage.
"Pathetic!" Verita shoved her knives back into their narrow pockets, kicking force off her feet and leaping into the air with a rough spin, transitioning into a downward slide through the dirt. Dodging Fire Bolts doesn''t take that much stamina, and they aren''t even high power level yield spells either. Verita proved her worth easily in the next split second, jumping back up and flipping to her left to dodge the second Fire Bolt. Her timing remained flawless with every little movement she made; a necessary quality since Fire Bolts have character homing properties attached to them, but in her last effort to dodge the final Fire Bolt attack from Tri-Fang, Verita was beginning to breathe a little heavier.
Successfully evading all of the damage and putting surprised faces on her dimwitted opponents, she began charging her own MP energy, one of a higher capacity than what was thrown at her so far. Invocation was naturally faster for her given the years of training. "Storm Build!" Aiming her glowing hands at the sky, Verita unleashed a delayed weather changing spell, which would affect everything outside of the dome shield in a kilometer radius. Neither one of them have dealt any damage so far, but this was all about to change.
Conversing with their team leader among the clarity of their dire situation, the soldier made his decision, tactical and careful as opposed to the usual plan. "Standby. Directional attacks won''t work on someone who has that speed. Shadow Wave!" The leader of Tri-Fang launched a standard Shadow Wave attack, heading quickly for Verita. There must be more to this chick than what''s been revealed. Anyone who can dodge homing bolts like that typically has excellent skills, but she''ll leave herself open dodging something that isn''t even much of a threat.
They''re trying to buy time with that lazy excuse of an attack spell, forcing Verita to dodge the incoming Shadow Wave while they brainstorm a more effective strategy. So predictable! There are too many ways to dodge and strike back in the same moment. "Flashpoint!" This is the spell that gives the user an incredible speed boost aura. Verita used it to her advantage, first by dodging the Shadow Wave spell at the speed of light, then by rushing into the center of the enemy team just before switching to a different aura spell. "Knight Dance!"
Verita immediately surprised all three of them at once before landing a single blow, simply by announcing how she shifted positions in the blink of an eye. With her blades now ready and glowing with a faint blue aura, she began slashing at the wielders who were suddenly on high-alert. Verita added several kicks and punches between each combo. The idiots bunched up closer to her in an attempt to surround their target and overwhelm her.
Despite Verita''s quick breathing and rapid pulse, she was too quick and accurate to be handled by all three of the men put together. Comparing spell power levels so far, nothing was different. The female warrior knew how to move, and countered every dodged physical blow the soldiers unleashed in her direction. It quickly became evident how different the training and experience is between the two teams early into the battle. The crowd would be excited either way since this is one hell of a show, but this was just short easy work without mercy for the lone wielder.
By the time Verita was done, she took a quick glance at energy scopes, realizing she has already done just more than 15% HP damage to every single enemy on the field so far. Now it will be time to finish this fast and kick things into overdrive. A simple matter transference action bought Verita a large distance between the team and herself, though they were surprisingly quick to recover.
The howling of echoing thunder now reminded everyone that a storm was building in the skies above the arena. The weather spell is working quickly for Verita, but this storm isn''t fully ready just yet. "Time to end this," Verita chanted, while launching two separate Electro-Ball spheres high up into the air, almost to hit the top edge of the Siriean dome. Time to get ready!
"Everyone get ready," the team leader shouted. He began charging energy quickly, relying on his teammates to carry out what was practiced several times earlier; the finishing blow! "Tri-Attack!" He and his helpers chanted the spell at the same time, forming a very unique Tri-Attack that could only be perfected with three people in synchronicity.
He started off by sending a Firewall spell, generating a quickly advancing wall of pure fire bound to the earth while it approached Verita from a distance, though that is just one of the surprises. "Shotwhirl!" Tri-Fang member-A simultaneously switched from a Firewall spell into Shotwhirl, a difficult to master spell that requires the use of dagger blades and an excellent practice with the Flying Guillotine skill. After throwing both glowing dagger blades to form what would normally be a Flying Guillotine, the circular arc of damage soon brightened up with additional magic, pending its destructive payload with a power level of 9.
"Earth Glave!" The other two Tri-Fang members both initiated the same earth elemental spell at the exact same time, but changed the initial starting location of their attack spells in the distance, hoping to surround Verita and cut off her escape route. Even before any of these combined spells got close to Verita, she reacted immediately.
Using little amount of magic to create a generation glyphring, Verita soon had a long estoc saber in her right hand. Despite noticing the Earth Glave from her front about to smash into her, Verita infused non-elemental energy into her blade while charging forward towards the danger. The timing here must be perfect for this. "Ragh!" With a winding blow from her saber, Verita smashed through the Earth Glave with brute force, causing the entire earthy structure to collapse and the spell to fail, but the incoming circular disk of damage was also more threatening to her current objective.
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It doesn''t matter if the fighter is still coming, because this isn''t the only thing Tri-Attack can do. "Meteor Strike!" Tri-Fang member B launched the final payload of the spell, Meteor Strike, hoping to hit Verita even if she could dodge all of the previous spells. An area attack as large as that would give her no chance!
I have to do this! Everything I''ve been training for leads up to this battle. Everyone in this world suffers in fear of their government, as they should! They''ve blanketed the truth about Leray magic with lies, tainted murderous lies! It has to stop here! "Now!" she ordered to herself. Verita knew they might try something like this, trapping her into a massive combination team-attack. An easy spell would make short work of this. "Mako Speed!" Launching a narrow blue beam of energy from her long blade, Verita quickly shot up into the air, in a way which normally defied gravity against her body weight.
Jumping high over the Shotwhirl and Firewall was easy enough, but getting down in time to avoid that oncoming Meteor Strike won''t be easy. Verita''s eyes opened wider once she noticed the two Electro-Balls she shot upwards earlier, heading down straight for her. She quickly held up her metal saber, allowing the projectiles both to clash into the metal, which immediately charged the weapon with electrical elemental energy. Instant projection infusion, a rare skill that gave Verita the edge in this situation. Casting Electric Blade would have taken longer and expended too much energy, but this method yields a different result. It also seems now like Storm Build is reaching its maximum potential. Now, all electrical damage dealt on the field will be improved. Just have to avoid Meteor Strike.
"Flashpoint!" Verita tried something she still had yet to perfect in practice, spinning around her body in mid-air while keeping her eyes aimed on the enemy combatants below. The Flashpoint aura around her body should be used to accelerate and control her descent down towards them, like a speeding bullet of light. With a few more spins, it finally happened.
Against what any of them have seen before, Tri-Fang leader had to hold up his backup saber to the lady above him, who shot downwards like a projectile, narrowly avoiding the meteor shower just after charging her blade with electrical infusion energy. It was like something out of the movies, a move that seemed to defy the laws of physics. But even now, his senses were sharpened in an effort to block. "Nagh!"
Verita''s blade slammed against her target from her descent, failing to break through or do any damage. The men were already close to their limitations against her tactics. "Electric Fury!" Noticing the surprised expression in the fighter''s face, Verita made short work of all of them using her customized tactics. Switching her skill into a close combat combination sequence, Verita used her natural speed to advantage while slashing open wounds into the solider in front of her. Other Tri-Fang members closed in fast to try and defend their leader, but they only got in the way.
Verita launched more cuts and strikes against the untrained men around her, performing backflips and kicks off their chests for support. It was now that she proved how well her training has benefited her from before; nothing at all can touch her. Several more strikes here and there put large dents into the health factor of her enemies, showing up on their energy scopes quickly.
But all while her charade continued, her chain of constant attacks was finally interrupted by Tri-Fang Member-C, who kept a level head against all of the frequent painful stabs. Holding his hands together with a slight twist aimed outward, he unleashed stored MP energy in Verita''s direction, who predictably tried to block what she would expect to be an ordinary magical attack. Out came an invisible force of energy, launching Verita off her feet and several meters backwards in a single instance. She should know not to underestimate the ability of a Push Wave. Not only did that stop her from dealing any more damage, but it also caused her temporary sword to fade away too. Her enhanced weapon will need to be regenerated again.
That Push Wave also gave the other member the time needed to charge up a spell of his own, though it was only enough to do little damage on Verita given the ordinary power level of the spell. "Lightning Strike!" A simple thunderbolt of electrical energy with a long range and perfect accuracy was sent on Verita while she was down. Though Storm Build above was passively causing electrical energy to have a small boost in power, the total damage alone wasn''t enough to push her HP any lower than 91%. Still was it worth the shot.
Grumbling in her own short failure, Verita pushed herself back to her feet as quickly as she could. Other than that lone Lightning Strike, the Tri-Fang team wasn''t currently attacking her... It''s still working. Presenting her skills early on has them all locked in a vice of fear. They won''t make any sudden moves against her anymore, because they realize how dangerous she is. The fools should have kept going after that Push Wave. Now it''s over. "Electro-Sheet!" Having practice with electrical spells, Verita charged and released the MP energy for her spell instantly, causing the entire floor under her enemies to spark and explode with electrical arcs and live current. All three of them took damage over time, the shock painful and draining to their stamina. But why stop there?
"Blitz!" A thin green aura quickly surrounded Verita, who would now have instantaneous invocation time on all of her spells to an inspecific limit. She started by throwing her two knives in a cross formation, the spinning blades picking up speed while turning into Flying Guillotine, aimed for the Tri-Fang leader. With her hands now free, Verita expended more magic, creating the spell Uplift on the other Tri-Fang members at the same time. Uplift shoots a long stone geyser from the ground under the target location, quick and forceful enough to launch then into the air. It doesn''t do that much damage, but it does make them vulnerable. Controlling two Uplifts at the same time, Verita also invoked two Creshendo spells at the same time right after, forming in mid-air, and closing in with a massive slamming force against members B and C.
All of them just took another massive blow to their HP, and Verita whipped out her knives again, all while charging more electric energy into them the normal way this time. Storm Build is still at its maximum effectiveness, and it would be wasteful not to make the most of this moment.
But against Verita''s plan, Tri-Fang member-A wasn''t too badly hurt from that last slashing attack, so he was now in range to hit her from a distance. "Median-Flare!" Using the same hang gesture technique his teammate used for the last Push Wave, he let Median-Flare''s bright light flush from his hands, ramming right into Verita from this position.
Verita naturally held her blades and hands to her face while shielding her eyes, trying to block the damage as best as she could, but her skin began to burn the moment that light-screen affected her. Her HP dropped even further, but it wasn''t a massive drain to her energy... "I see now why these guys made it to the final battle. But you''re all too pathetic to win! Downstrike!" Maximizing the use of her Storm Build spell, Verita combined her electrical payload to create a barrage of multiple lightning bolts coming from the storm itself, electrocuting all of the Tri-Fang members over and over indiscriminately, but Verita knew this alone won''t be enough, and she entered phase two of her combination spell. "Dark Strike!"
Just like that, Verita entered another phasic aura that enabled her the ability to fly through the air at the speed of light. She zoomed from point A to point B, slashing her knives into the Tri-Fang leader as soon as she made the pass. She then teleported to the other side of the field while retaining her auric state of light speed, slashing again and again dealing massive HP damage to each Tri-Fang member in the process. Dark Strike version 2 is what people call this now. It''s always been possible, but the stunts that girl was pulling on the championship battles brought this gifted power to light.
When Verita exited from the attack aura, her body felt weaker, and the soldiers out there seemed to be dealing with their painful crisis. The fight isn''t over until it''s over. This spell takes a lot longer to invoke successfully, but they''re all out of time and too stunned to react. "Pulsar!" Upon releasing the energy needed for this massive area attack spell, Verita''s total MP reserves fell down to 21%, causing her muscles to feel weak and her fatigue to catch up to her quickly, but without losing any focus on the spell or the battle at hand, she unleashed a massive barrage of dark photonic bolts, nearly invisible to the eye given high transparency. They shot forward like the wind, and drilled through the soldiers in battle like steel rain. The shock to their bodies instantly sent them to the ground on their knees, with the other two members fainting and passing out, dry on health energy.
To his dismay, the leader found his helpers passed out on the ground just like that. Verita ended all of them with just one incredible spell combo, and now he was about to fail too. Who is this armor-masked woman? "Very well. If we''re going to try instant knockout spells, there''s no sense in me holding back either." His words caused Verita to grab onto her blades again, though she didn''t take any immediate action. She''s much lower on MP energy, so she''ll be getting tired soon. "Shadow Copy!" Plenty of people know how to use the spell Shadow Copy. Here''s how it works:
The Tri-Fang soldier increased the MP consumption to his personal aura, and from that, a dozen other projections were made instantly. At the same time, he teleports and trades positions with one of the copies, as to not out himself too early. Now there are twelve Tri-Fang members on the field, each perfectly synchronized with the actions and noise level of the original. Perfectly identical, this spell enables the user to project false copies of himself all over the field, a trick for the eyes to ensure the enemy has trouble choosing the real target. Right now, it seems to have Verita confused.
"I''m finishing you off with this!" He held his hands back aside to his waste, slowly generating a massive amount of his remaining MP energy, and creating a powerful glyphring around both of his wrists. "Mega Bolt!" Mega Bolt is a single homing energy bolt much faster than other predecessors, and it has a power level of 10 on the scale. This should drain Verita of her health dry!
Verita got to watch some of the most amazing spells coming out of this lone warrior, who would still be fighting against the odds even if he were by himself. In team battles, only one of them has to win to be victorious in this arena challenge, but his tactics are completely pitiful. He must have forgotten that longer charging spells can be interrupted easily. Just because there are twelve of him on the field doesn''t mean he is immune to damage. Area attacks are the quickest solution to this little problem. Verita knew she wouldn''t ever have the speed to dodge Mega Bolt. She''s tried it before and failed. So instead, "Quake!" was unleashed into the field, causing a powerful earthquake beneath both of them. The spell Quake is not powerful enough to deal a good amount of damage, but the seismic disturbance is plenty enough to cause interruption in spells. It seemed to affect all versions of the Tri-Fang leader, though he was keeping all of the shadow copies alive through this. Luckily for her, the spell nearly blew up in his hands, his MP charging sequence failed.
Now it is time to end this. Another area attack will finish the job, but for Verita''s sake, it would have to work, as this will drain the last of her MP energy. With a solid spin down her front, Verita unleashed the MP energy with malice. "Rotation!" Generating the final massive vortex of wind elemental slashing damage, the vertical tornado scoured the field in front of her, growing in size and engulfing everything in its path. Every single version of the Tri-Fang leader got caught up in this tornado, even though only one of which is the real one. The slashing damage lasted for a lengthy period of time, leaving Verita in wait while she estimated whether this was a successful battle, or a failure in her mission.
Once the wind cleared up, all of the copies faded away with pixilation effects, until only the man standing in the far left corner was revealed to be real. Only, he wasn''t standing anymore. Verita caught him just falling to his stomach, unable to feel the agony of defeat since he too was now passed out on the sandstone.
Verita kept her posture steady even though it was very stressful to maintain right now. That fight took more out of her than she initially estimated. Not only that, but her MP was completely empty. Her health was fine, but she ended up taking a couple of stray magic hits. It may only be a scratch, but... Master might be very upset to see that I took any damage at all. It was expected of her to win this fight without taking a hit.
Chapter Theme Shift: End Credits ~ David Newman (Serenity)
"And there you have it folks. Verita Szeer wins the final battle by a landslide!" The crowd had been going wild with their loud chants and cheers for the entire battle, but upon the victory of that impressive show, they grew even wilder. The Siriean dome around the arena collapsed on its own, proving that all dangers were now over with. The battle has been decided, with Verita the winner. "Her name will now go into the top rankings of this week''s scoreboard!"
"Tch!" she spat. "Too bad for them, Szeer is not my real last name." Verita knew she could admit as much openly, since there are no nearby microphones. She would be expected right now to exit from the arena''s fighting ring, and head to the prize counter to claim the top reward. It''s mostly just money and a bonus item, but master would want to keep all of it in order to fuel the resources of their operations.
Verita examined herself and her current situation on her way to the counter. There is a reason her real identity is a secret. These idiots will accept anybody without cross-checking credentials. Her entire license card is technically a pretty fake, and that bit about being a successful wielder immigrated from the Chez Republic, it was too easy to be inconspicuous about that. Oh well. Verita Klear will just have to go down in arena history as a one hit wonder. Verita Szeer on the other hand has a long way to go...
"This battle is a test of my progress... But is wasn''t good enough. I''m still not capable enough to fight our enemies, master." Verita knew nobody could hear her talking to herself, as nobody was around her, still reaching the exit archway. Her body ached of minor battle damage and sandy dirt going everywhere into her dress sphere, but the significance of this small mission rang louder in her head. "I fight, so that the people of Sprawn Valley don''t ever have to live in fear under the rule of the government, the same government who lies each passing day about what magic really is, and what it is used for. I fight, so that people won''t have to live in a world with fear ever again. The people I''m fighting with, they all understand this, and they all want the same things. So shall I continue to train until nothing stands in my way. I will keep on growing, until I have deleted all Leray magic from existence, as it should have been before. It''s time to return to my real family, the Scarlet Syndicate."
For everything that exploded on the battlefield of the arena floor, as well as all of the action of the Leray match underway, every visual sight and sound became captured and frozen in her thoughts. The reflection of the events bounced off in a crystal view of her dilated pupils. She could see everything unfolding on the wall mounted screen in front of her in the bar of Ebel''s Diner. When it was over, a buzzing sensation was left growing, her fingers and toes twitching, her mind racing, and her heart itching for some action of her own. "That was so awesome!" Like a child witnessing a hero right in front of their eyes, Jane''s heart captured the entire battle unfolding there.
"Heh," Danny exhaled. Now she''ll never calm down.
Chapter 2-A: Water Warrior
<03/18/1972 ¨C 08:13 | Eldora City, Junon Region, Sprawn Valley>
"I take it you already know why I''ve summoned you here?" Danton played a guess using their intelligence he estimated earlier, ignoring how his voice echoed in his own chambers. Danny, Taylor, and Jane appeared much better this morning, like they''ve been reborn. Still...
Yesterday morning, Gross City suffered a nasty attack from those losers of the Scarlet Syndicate. JDT was dispatched immediately after their arrival into Eldora City to head there and assist his personal team. Danton helped teleport them to the area too, since there was no time to waste. So last night, they had to take a very long rest.
Danny still couldn''t get the scene out of his head despite his deep sleep earlier. The man behind the destruction called himself Lance, and was exceptionally powerful for just being one man. He could have killed any one of them... It is easy these days to question what is happening in the world.
Ignoring the delay in her friends, Jane Venn accepted the small favor willingly. "Of course, Sir Danton. You want us to revisit Gross City, and help with the reconstruction."
Danton knew they needed just a little extra guidance, but Jane''s guess is mostly true anyway. "And, you need to examine everyone there from a distance. Take notice of anyone acting suspiciously. It isn''t impossible to believe that part of Lance''s team would station an undercover agent of his there to check up on things, returning to the scene of their own crime."
The north end city square was reduced to rubble and ruins yesterday. Jane remembered every little detail of that horrifying experience. All of those poor people that were put in harm''s way, the fear they all must be feeling right now should have the entire nation in an upheaval. The citizens must be questioning Danton''s rule right now. So much pressure from a small attack. The Scarlets know what they are doing, they just won''t admit it. "Gross City will survive this Danton. We''ll help everyone there."
Danny let himself feel that invisible warmth from Jane. She''s so devoted to the health of her country, and that of Leray magic, a true nationalist. To most, that would be inspiring. But for him, just knowing himself, Taylor, and Jane will be working together again is stronger music to his ears. "What do we do about Lance and his team? Are we even sure that Kite or Gleeon are really still alive and leading the Scarlet Cult?"
The boy doesn''t understand everything it seems. "Don''t stress about it Danny. We have our backup Leray agents stationed in Gross City on patrol as we speak. Leave the tactical details to me. I know how those two think. After all, I''ve spent the most time with them aside from Mainne. You can believe me when I tell you that they''re both involved somehow, even if we can''t see them in person."
He sounds more paranoid than certain, but Danny let it go for now. This little mission Danton is putting on is a simple and easy one. Actually, it feels strange that he and his friends are getting missions like these at all. Danny never officially enlisted into the General Army or any other agency group. Yet, Danton is giving him and his friends personal missions and calling them errands to avoid taking questions from council officials. Despite how strong he is, Danton must be scared out of his wits right now, though he''d never reveal it to any of them. "A little house cleaning in Gross City sounds like something we can handle. Just warn us next time you teleport us there."
Danton nearly laughed, reminded of the severe tingling sensation of teleportation. "You''ll be fine, Danny." A small fraction of people who undergo full teleportation get a knot in their stomach, a feeling of dread mixed with nausea. For a short moment after teleportation completes, they feel very sick, the symptoms similar to a full minute of sea-sickness. Danny will have to get over that though, since teleportation will become a new thing. "Make me proud you three. I''ll send someone to return you here once I have a new assignment for you."
<03/18/1972 ¨C 11:59 | Gross City, Gulop Region, Sprawn Valley>
"Don''t worry," Jane reminded. "I didn''t forget our mission assignment."
Danny held his hands behind his head in rest, maintaining a smug expression of relief. "None of us did. They already finished rebuilding the place. We''re not even needed here."
Jane huffed while a smile curved through her face. "I was hoping you''d say that." Jane''s curious expression got Danny to pay more attention to her attitude. Watching that battle on TV was the very thing she needed to remind her how awesome Leray battles are. The arena was supposed to finish construction a couple of years from now. But all during her quest to the Den of Purity, and a while afterwards, those clowns were gathering in additional workers to expedite the construction of that arena. So now, it''s open to the public. Tickets to get in are not all that cheap though, and if you want to fight as a participant, you have to have a minimum skill level and credentials. Jane wasn''t too sure how that all works, but she knew she would be battling there someday, forging her skills even further. If only she were there right now! "Today is a good day to train for more magical abilities!"
She never changes. Taylor could feel the excitement radiating from Jane. Once she gets this pumped up, there''s no stopping her. It''s pointless to even try, but, Jane isn''t the only one feeling this way. A day ago, all Taylor could think about was her hateful family, that and the Banshee issue. If she ever returns to Kalamo by any means, she''ll be forced into the Banshee castle, a slave in secret. Her parents have the power to refuse, but they want her to go. Danny knew even without Taylor expressing it to him, that this has been eating away at her nerves for some time now.
But who has time to worry about that? Leray magic is such an awesome practice, and the spells are so cool! Taylor''s thoughts were already replaced by the potentials of tactical spell usage and battling already, her thoughts currently synchronized with Jane''s.
Danny wasn''t about to stop either one of them. Practice makes people stronger with Leray magic. This excitement for battle is one he felt too with solace. The ability for people to come together to test and grow their skills with cool magic harm-free is the idea everyone wants to protect. He too could use the practice. After all, that defeat he suffered back in New York, being thrown into a trash can with minor stab wounds just proves how weak he really is in comparison. Leray magic gives one the power to become stronger, but not from having access to that magic alone. The pain and humiliation of defeat lingers in us once we''ve seen how much further there is to grow, but the only thing it really does is drive everyone to work harder. I want to be strong enough to protect Taylor from everything, even those Banshee scum! "Yeah," he agreed aloud. "I think it''s time."
Chapter Theme Music: Blind Spot ~ Ace Combat 5 OST
Jane and Taylor lost their focus and glanced at Danny. He wasn''t exactly clear by what he meant. "Time for what?"
His eyes sharpened, fixated on Jane Venn, the bane of his strength after all this time. No longer shall his success remain so dependent on her natural talents. It''s time to break this link. "Jane Venn? I hereby officially challenge you to a Leray battle. We can use the park in the city for space. I''m going to defeat you today." Predictably, their faces were both full of shock, but Taylor was first to protest.
"No fair! I was going to challenge her first." Taylor noticed Jane letting out a confused hum, but she focused on her memory first. "If you''ll recall, back when we were walking to Blue Port for the second time, I challenged Jane to a match first, even though we''ve never carried it out yet."
I forgot I was popular with these two. Jane held her hands out parallel to her face gently, trying to coax them out of it. "Just hold on now. You want to battle me now? I''ve still got that mark though. It wouldn''t be a fair advantage."
Danny smirked with his confidence held high. "I don''t care about that stupid mark Jane. Even if that does give you an advantage in battle over me, having that only makes me want to try harder!"
Jane held back a solid laugh. Danny is so fired up and cute right now. He should try to be more nonchalant about this. But is Taylor really first?
"You can go at her right after my turn." Taylor stood up tall from the stool at the bar welded into the wooden floor, her fists balled up. "A long time ago, I challenged you to a battle whenever you were ready for it. I did this because I knew one day, I would become stronger and better than you. Then, I could wipe that cocky look off your face you have sometimes."
At that, Jane finally let it out, bursting with laughter while remembering their behavior from before, before she lied to everyone. She really did act all high and mighty, but only because she really was stronger than the rest of them. Now here they are, officially asking for a real battle between each other. Jane''s heart was racing already from the anticipation of battle. "How could I say no?" No point in hiding it. Let''s prove once more who the strongest one here is. Her response triggered such a volatile reaction of excitement among both of them, shoving their arms down in a victorious gesture.
"One more thing before we battle," Danny offered. "You and I both know that waging credits is pointless since you have so many of them already."
"I''m listening..."
Danny knew that risking self-humiliation would be the only way to make Jane fight at her best. She loves Leray magic, but she also strangely enjoys harmless pain if Danny is the one experiencing it. It is risky, but... "If I win the battle, you have to take us both to your neighborhood, and go door to door, announcing that I am stronger than you."
"That''s all you got?" Jane asked while partially laughing, a reaction that quickly made Danny a bit nervous. After thinking about it some more, Jane knew she would not enjoy doing that. Some of the people in Fronas look up to her strength and skill. One person who lives there is also a current student at Dakota. What would they all think if Danny emerged more powerful than Jane, after everything she''s been through?
"And if I lose, I''ll let Taylor do whatever she wants to me. It can be as humiliating as possible."
"What?!"
Jane laughed some more upon seeing how blind Danny still is to Taylor''s dark side. He really thinks she''ll be any less brutal about that stuff than Jane? This is too good to turn down! "It''s a deal," Jane decided excitingly.
Danny conferred with Taylor to delete her current confusion, only of surprise. "Don''t worry Tay. I know you won''t be as much of a burden about it as Jane would be. No take-backs."
A short pause, followed by a creepy, dark giggle emanated from Taylor''s mouth, immediately shifting Danny''s expression upon seeing her dominant side emerging. "Excellent. I''ve got so many outfits that you can try on while we tour Gross City next time."
"Ou-outfits?" She wouldn''t! Taylor wouldn''t be that harsh on trying to make Danny uncomfortable! She''s joking! Still, the thought of walking around so many other people wearing flashy dresses... Taylor wouldn''t!
"You said whatever I have in mind. And until your battle is decided, I can make any changes to this as I please."
There it is. That haunting stare Taylor was giving him now is proof that she isn''t joking. Even Jane is of the same face right now. Have they been discussing something like this behind his back? What else could Taylor even do to make Danny uncomfortable? Is public cross-dressing not humiliating enough? Are you serious? What did I just agree to?
"Not so confident now, huh?" Jane could see Danny''s sinking expression, the color leaving his face while he tried to pretend that everything was okay. He does know how to bargain. He just went a little too far today. "When I win, the first thing I''m going to do is buy one of those new digital cameras they''ve got. I''ll be taking as many pictures as I want, with Taylor''s permission of course."
Taylor added shortly after, "Permission granted."
"Come on you guys!" Both of them think this is funny, laughing at his situation before it was even decided. His idea worked to excite Jane even more, but she isn''t getting overconfident like he thought she would. She''s just toying with him instead. Thanks for the help Taylor!
"In any case," Jane directed, "Taylor and I must battle first, pipsqueak. I''d ask if you need to make a wager of your own Tay, but I think all you want to do is prove that you''ve become stronger than me."
She replied, "There''s only one way to find out."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
It only took ten minutes to find the park in Gross City. Having not been here before, Danny expected a field similar to Meaj Park in Eldora City, but this place was different. It was the same size, but the layout felt much more open. Not many trees or structures populated the floor here, and it was easy to determine why. It''s the same reason he''s here right now.
"It''s been too long," Taylor admitted. "I''ve been looking forward to this battle for a long time." Feeling prepared already, Taylor started gathering her equipment. Already dressed for the occasion in official dress sphere clothing, she also prepared her primary weapon, the Marine Eagle. Wearing a T-shirt and light denim pants, Taylor knew that this kind of dress sphere is designed to appear inconspicuously similar from ordinary clothing. Though the protection level isn''t all that impressive either. The Marine Eagle however is an extraordinary bow of craftsmanship, with a permanent magic aura already coated into the weapon''s special effect. The strap containing her supply of arrows hung over her right shoulder, and Taylor waited to make sure Jane was of proper distance before getting started.
"Get ready to lose," she snarled. Jane remembered ever moment of her training, most of which from before she met Danny and Taylor. Jane had been training for a very long time now, much longer than the two of them. Even without this symbol, she should be overqualified to defeat either one of them without breaking a sweat. "You must have forgotten who you''re dealing with."
"I like your spirit," Taylor remarked. "But I already know who you are." Taylor''s preparations were complete, and she held her bow the perfect way that made her body feel comfortable and relaxed.
"We''ll see whether or not you''ve improved." Jane held up her hand openly for a moment, using what little concentration was necessary to generate the 100 meter Siriean dome around them. Danny would be trapped just outside to watch. The transparency of the dome shield was more intense, enabling any nearby spectator to come and watch without visual interference. However, the only spectator for the moment was Danny.
Chapter Theme Music: Knock Out! ~ FFXIII-3 OST
With both energy scopes ready and both contestants holding their weapons in hand, the battle could begin. Taylor studied Jane with rapid thought, making sure there wasn''t anything left out of her consideration. As usual, Jane is using her Rigel Runes, the daggers that helped get this far. Her dress sphere was one of the flashier ones Alyssa gave to her, ended off with something known here as a long tower skirt. She looks the part for battle and for casual settings, but mistakes will not be made today. Jane is very powerful on her own, and she also has the ability to use infinite power shields.
"I''ll let you have the first move." Jane knew she needed to make sure Taylor was up to the challenge. Take all the time you need in determining which skills to use. A symbol might be illegal and unfair, but power shield techniques are valid methods of fighting while defending.
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Taylor wasted no more time. She creased her feet apart forward and back, hunching just carefully enough not to mess up her physical aiming technique. After loading an arrow into the special bow already in her grip, Taylor took a careful aim at Jane Venn, and unleashed her arrow. Without using any specific magic or spell while doing this, Taylor only used the non-magical skill known as Bow Charge.
The arrow''s travel was far more impressive than either one of them remembered. The moment the arrow left Taylor''s bow, a sonic boom flushed air into her face, and the arrow itself became shrouded in a whirling spire of wind. In less than a quarter of a second, Jane was blasted backwards with the same kind of force that would be present in a Power Blast spell. Jane''s backside and part of her head slammed into the grassy floor below her, which alone hurt like hell. A small pinching sensation flooded the side of her chest, right where the arrow impacted. Jane carefully got herself up, but she took her time, reminding herself that taking any Leray battle damage has serious consequences of pain and discomfort.
Taylor knew she had surprised both herself and Jane with that single launch from her bow. The Marine Eagle has a magic aura separate from her personal one, meaning any shot she uses requires none of her personal magic to work. But to think that a single shot also has this much speed and power built into it... No, Taylor would remember something as strong as that. The bow is working even better than normally. Is there a reason for this?
Jane got back to her senses quickly, but she had to consider how powerful that Bow Charge was. Taylor isn''t chaining any additional spells. This either means she doesn''t have any ideas, or she is also surprised to witness the power of the Marine Eagle. Does Taylor not realize that Bow Charge, while not officially a magical skill still improves in power level over time? It grows just like any other spell invocation. She''s becoming a better archer already.
With a hard exhale, Jane began charging her own energy. "That the best you got? Dualcasting!" Jane quickly surrounded herself with a thin green aura, enabling herself the ability to chain at least two spells together without waiting on long invocation durations. Now it can begin. "Rush Assault!" Sending herself flying towards Taylor at the speed of sound, Jane began unleashing a quick combination of kicks and punches, all infused with magical energy to boost her hit power, but as Jane began striking towards Taylor''s body, she became less predictable.
Using the entire side frame of her Marine Eagle, Taylor held it in front of her, shifting her arms and aiming to block Jane''s physical strikes. Jane was really fast using her Rush Assault combination, but Taylor just barely managed to keep up so far. Even though Taylor can''t use the frame directly to blunt attack anyone, it can be used to completely block enemy strikes if they are not too powerful. So far, Taylor''s quick reflexes were saving her the damage.
Taylor has improved! Jane knew that dishing out moderate attacks was going too lightly on Taylor. "Knight Dance!" Jane stopped using Rush Assault, and with the assistance of her Dualcasting aura, completed her next aura cycle of Knight Dance. The aura''s abilities are closely similar. Knight Dance has no speed efficiency, but it makes up for this in increased power level and MP conservation. Jane''s aura now only remained isolated to her hands, feet, and dagger blades after drawing them out to add to her combination, and each sides of the aura only activated the moment before impacting against Taylor or her weapon.
Jane managed to score in a couple more hits this time on Taylor''s arms and legs, but she was still adamant about using her bow to block the damage, working effectively well when Jane tried to dagger slash her opponent. Still, Taylor wasn''t fast enough to negate all of the damage. Near the end of her sequence, Jane back-flipped, tossing her glowing daggers and blasting a small magical bolt at Taylor all in once quick instance, preventing her from blocking with the Marine Eagle.
Taylor continued walking back for distance, doing her best to ignore the last two hits that dealt the most pain and damage. Jane''s aura was already expended, and it didn''t look like she was about to strike again. So using the bow as a shield actually worked! "Where''d you think you''re going? Cold Spin!" Having charged her magical energy into both hands in secret, Taylor unleashed the power of her Cold Spin, a combination of Icy Wind mixed with Rotation. Taylor was fast enough too, catching Jane in the vortex of freezing wind. She was sure her health would take a massive dive from that. Taylor could also feel the cold draft seep closely to her, despite standing eight meters away from the edge of the twister.
However, in light of catching Jane in that short-lived storm, Taylor made another mistake, dropping her guard. In a quick moment too fast for her to react, two spinning dagger blades carried with them a circular arc of magical slashing damage, which drilled out from the edge of the tornado, and continued through Taylor''s skin. The blades cut deep multiple times towards her lower waist, stunning Taylor with the pain, while the daggers wrapped around and cut Taylor again from the back, now flying around towards Jane for her to catch. The moment Cold Spin ended, Taylor and Jane could see the results of their plight.
Taylor realized her mistake shortly after. Jane knew she could get away with launching a sneak attack while shrouded in a cold twister. The wind itself from Cold Spin and Rotation are both highly opaque, which obstructs the view greatly. "Laser Rain!" Having learned the spell recently, Taylor knew she was more than capable of invoking a simple Laser Rain spell...
But on count of this, Jane had more than a few advantages given Taylor''s lack of strategy. Laser Rain isn''t the slowest or fastest landing spell, but Taylor is obviously new to using it. Jane knew she should have been hit already, from the moment she heard Taylor chant the name. And so, Jane rolled to her left on the floor, following the ear piercing sound of lasers crashing into the earth right next to her ear. Jane was just quick enough to evade the attack given how slow Taylor was to invoke it, but that was a close call. It would have been better to shield.
"I missed!"
"Shadow Wave!" Jane sent another one forward quickly. Her version of a Shadow Wave could deal an impressive amount of damage and travel faster than usual Shadow Waves.
Taylor already knew that she could not dodge something that moves on the floor as fast as this. Might as well accept it and strike back before the pain sets in. "Ice Beam!" Taylor held her left arm up straight with a perfect aim at Jane, her bright blue glyphring shinning in color as it rotated holographically around her wrist.
Jane was blasted with a solid beam of ice, just before Taylor was hit by the Shadow Wave. The results of Ice Beam were astoundingly painful for Jane to feel, her skin freezing up quickly as her mind panicked. Taylor was slashed in several places numerous times just before the wave exploded in forceful energy, blasting Taylor back off her feet, struggling to maintain her balance while stinging stabbing pains coursed throughout her body.
"Unbelievable!" Danny knew all along that Taylor might struggle with this particular fight, but she''s actually keeping up with Jane somehow. Those new spells she''s been learning are really paying off too. Taylor already knew how to use Ice Beam, but only after training for it on her second visit to Route 787, and she must have learned Laser Rain in this morning''s training before meeting up with him again. Has Taylor gotten this good in such short a time?
Danny glanced to his left and right, noticing four new people standing beside him at the edge of the dome shield, spectating the battle because they have nothing more fun to do right now. Still, Taylor is going to have to increase her speed and chaining skills in order to win against Jane. Otherwise, it would prove Jane is letting her win.
Jane gripped her daggers tightly again. "I''m not letting you get off that easily. Dark Strike!" Jane could see Taylor''s eyes widen with panic. There isn''t really a method of dodging version two of dark strike. With Jane''s MP declining rapidly, she sent herself into the aura, zooming around the dome shield in and out of existence, following the evidence of a white hot line that would slash into Taylor''s vulnerable body in different angles for heavy damage. Jane appeared again after the third hit high in the air, and smashed her daggers down on top of Taylor.
Luckily for Taylor, her bow somewhat got in the way of Jane''s final strike, though one of the two daggers still managed to slightly pierce the skin of her right upper-arm during her block. Taylor thus shoved the bow forward, launching Jane away and giving her the deserved chance to hold her free hand where it hurt the most. Jane managed to land on her feet that time too.
Taylor noticed Jane moving again, and she reacted immediately with another glyphring to her left wrist and a steady aim. "Side-Liner!" Shooting off a small blue sphere heading for Jane, the trick with Side-Liner would take effect right now.
"Splicing Vengeance!" Jane created a short-lived aura, boosting her speed with her daggers held out, all while ignoring that incoming bolt and accepting some more damage.
Taylor drew her hand back, and cupped her Marine Eagle in front of her quickly. Behind Jane, Taylor watched in defeat as her Side-Liner bolt relocated to the side angle of the impact zone, transforming into an airborne version of Shadow Wave, and striking where Jane was from the side. Only, Jane wasn''t there anymore, thus did she dodge the spell without even realizing it. "Hagh!" Taylor clenched tightly to prepare herself for the impact of Splicing Vengeance. It''s supposed to be a quick lunge attack using daggers designed to score a critical hit, but Taylor wasn''t going to let Jane get away for dodging Side-Liner, one of her newest learned spells.
Despite her efforts, Jane''s force was thwarted by Taylor''s quick decision to once again block using the side of that bow. Jane thus tightened her muscles onto her daggers, trying to push Taylor back as much as possible, but Taylor was still matching her physical strength somehow. That bow''s side-end is sturdier than it looks.
"Ice Bolt!" Realizing she was losing her edge, Taylor stopped this farce by letting go of the bow with her left hand, and using it to blast an Ice Bolt straight into Jane''s face. She had to be quick about it, but Taylor managed to score a hit, forcing Jane to stumble backwards. The interruption didn''t last long enough for Taylor to counterattack. Jane wasn''t going to let any amount of pain get in her way.
"Mako Strike!" Jane charged energy into her dagger tips, preparing to shoot off pure bolts of non-elemental energy in Taylor''s direction. This spell is quick and easy to invoke with these blades.
"Ice Dagger!" Taylor countered this by ignoring her Marine Eagle dropped to the ground, instead using two small generation glyphrings to bring out a pair of daggers both already coated with solid curved circles of ice elemental magic. With both daggers, Taylor slashed upwards into the first Mako Strike sphere, then side-slashed into the second one just before it could cause any more damage to her health. Jane continued firing each Mako Strike bolt, but Taylor now had enough time to dodge some of the spheres, and slash the others out of the air despite how fast they traveled towards her face.
This went on for many more seconds longer than they thought it would. Danny''s eyes were glued to the action of battle before him. Watching this is way more interesting than watching the arena channel. But Taylor... When did she get so fast? It''s like she''s in some kind of zone of her own. Nothing is distracting her this time. Defeating Jane really is important here, and now Taylor might actually win. Naturally, these bands of light were growing a small crowd.
"Creshendo!" Taylor shifted her attack strategy fast, trying to trap Jane into a closing wave of phased pillars, but Jane jumped out of their way as a means to dodge. Luckily, one of the pillars scraped the bottom of her leg during her leap away, so some of the damage was still inflicted against Jane as she fell flat on her stomach, though she didn''t look all that hurt about it. While she''s distracted, "Calling of Light!"
Jane gasped silently, now charging energy into her right hand. She stood up carefully, taking her time since Prism won''t be quick to charge up. Taylor finally just made a big mistake.
Though it''s true that Calling of Light is also one of Taylor''s newer spells, she''s already forgotten how to use it. Jane watched in pity as an aura building up around Taylor suddenly failed, leaving her slightly drained. "Idiot! That spell can only be used during nightfall!" She''ll pay for that mistake. "Prism!" Jane took no chances standing still to use her Prism. She''s seen her own skill interrupted once before, and Taylor is much faster than anticipated. Jane could feel her heart racing so fast, it might escape from her chest, but the fight isn''t over until someone''s health drops to zero!
Taylor prepared to dodge the first Fire Bolt launched from Jane''s prism, but she also noticed Jane running closer to Taylor, slightly sliding off as to not run in a predictable linear line. She''s closing distance and making it harder for Taylor to interrupt her. Gotta move! "Shotgun Blast!" Taylor generated an energy blaster into her left hand, letting the frozen daggers fade away in trade. She then rolled down to evade the Fire Bolt, noticing that an Ice Bolt and an additional Fire Bolt were on their way. Taylor picked up her balance, and fired the weapon''s dispersion energy towards the bolts of elemental energy. Taylor then kept moving around, running in a perpendicular direction from Jane''s movements as to not get skewered by Prism''s Lightning Strikes.
Taylor managed to dodge plenty of Prism''s bolts with her tactical movements, and she even shot some of the dispersion blasts into Jane as well. Shotgun Blast isn''t designed to be chained together numerous times, but Taylor had long since figured out how to do so anyway, and with several blasts of low-power energy bolts, she made it impossible for Jane to hit her. Taylor instead scored a few hits on Jane using nothing but an energy blaster.
Clenching her teeth in frustration, Jane launched a well-aimed Fire Bolt, shutting down her Prism shortly after to give her enough concentration to control her own Fire Bolt''s speed and direction using telekinetic magic. This finally caught Taylor off guard, as she fired and missed with her last slug round of energy blasts. The Fire Bolt didn''t hit Taylor directly, but instead blasted heat and force to the gun she was wielding in hand. Taylor shook her hand since it was about to burn from the explosive fire, while she in total lost her weapon. Taylor will need to pull out the Marine Eagle again, but there isn''t enough time grab it before Jane tries something once more.
"Marine Spin!" Having only last night to make use of the spell, and only in part, Taylor wagered her chances again. This time she engaged in pinpoint focus and accuracy while generating the spell. The target is right in front of her. Release the payload now!
Jane prepared a power shield, but was surprised to see something new happen with Taylor''s Cold Spin, upon realizing now that she was calling it Marine Spin. Taylor never tried this before in front of Jane, but the results were astonishing. Creating yet another unique spell that doesn''t belong in the official spell book, Jane found herself instantly surrounded by another powerful Rotation spell, but was also being splashed around with droplets of water. The water traveling as fast as the wind made each impact on her skin feel like thousands of needles! But becoming soaked in all of this water was also very discomforting. When did Taylor learn how to do that?
It worked! Now it''s time. Taylor pulled her Marine Eagle and readied the arrow into its bay. While pulling back, Taylor began infusing MP energy into the tip of the arrow, and unknowingly generated additional power to a floating glyphring too close to the tornado to notice visually. While Jane is being surrounded by this wet tornado, she''ll never see this coming. The timing has to be perfect, right as Jane becomes visible again.
When Marine Spin finally ended, Taylor launched her charged arrow with a glowing tip. The arrow shot forward as fast as ever, but it also traveled through the additional glyphring that Taylor generated unconsciously; a Molecular Boost glyphring. All she thought about was giving this shot more power, and that was the result of her unconscious mentality. With the tip of the arrow also infused with Taylor''s aura carrying the properties of Power Blast, the impact against Jane was unpredictable.
Combining Power Blast and Bow Charge with Molecular Boost like that isn''t typical for a wielder to try, and the reason why was quickly made clear. Against what Jane expected to be another Marine Eagle arrow, the impact instead crushed the inside of her stomach, pushing air out of her lungs while launching her off her feet with new found speed. Taylor and her area grew in distance faster than what Jane would have noticed if her eyes could keep up. Instead, she was shoved through the air with a speed faster than 250 miles per hour, only to plunge straight into the edge of the Siriean dome. The pain flooded all over the backside of Jane''s body. The force and impact strength of that Power Blast went rough on Jane''s lower neck, possibly her spine. As soon as Jane landed the ground with her knees bend poorly as to not catch her fall, everything she could see began to blur in synch with her pulse.
Of course, with a blast that powerful, Jane wasn''t the only person affected. Taylor was launched back by at least 16 meters from the force of that shockwave alone. Her landing however was much less painful than Jane''s. On top of that, the dirt and dust which settled on the ground was shot up so high, the earth had been damaged down the center, and apparently, the small group of people gathered around watching were also somehow blasted backwards, just enough to knock them down lightly. After getting back to her feet, Taylor brushed off what little damage she took, stunned that her single hit was that powerful. "Did I really do that?"
Did Marine Spin do all of that damage? Or was Power Blast mixed with Bow Charge this incredible? No, something else had to happen. Jane is in that far corner, unable to move.
"Raaaagh!" Jane let out painful gasps, while a raging headache and other pain flooded in with delayed effects. Taylor cannot possibly be this powerful. It isn''t right... "No!" Jane concentrated quickly, trying to shut off and shut out that particular sensation. The top of her hand is tingling strongly now, energy is building there. It''s a familiar sensation, the kind Jane remembers every time that symbol is beginning to activate. It likes to come out when it somehow senses that her body is in danger. This fight isn''t over yet, and Jane isn''t going to use her symbol to cheat. No! Not today!
"Had enough?" Taylor held her bow carefully. Jane wasn''t surrendering yet, but it also seemed like it would be difficult just to talk in her position. Taylor was only at half health, but Jane was almost done. On the other hand, most of Taylor''s MP was gone, with just enough remaining for one last spell. This bow will have to finish her off.
It''s painful, but get over it! It''s just pain! "No!" Jane stood up carefully. She knew she wouldn''t be running around anymore. But Taylor is still not more powerful than her. It''s too soon! "I''m not giving up just yet." Refusing to let Taylor have the time to wait on Jane chanting her spells aloud, Jane just sent her energy into the ground, causing a massive earthquake while the ground felt as if it were tilting around on a pointed fulcrum.
Jane''s not done yet! She''s using Gyrobreak to prevent Taylor from aiming while masking her own attack spell. Whatever it turns out to be, it won''t be a light hit to her health. Taylor concentrated on everything she''s learned so far, mastering her ice elemental abilities to their maximum level. There is another spell that can hit Jane regardless of aim, with just enough energy left. Taylor let it charge, all while noticing Jane walking towards her. Jane wasn''t able to run, but she still wants to get closer. "Try Ice Wall!"
Ice Wall is another unofficial spell, based off the Fire Wall spell. An advancing wave of instant freezing air rushes forward in a wall formation all hugging together. Though bound to the ground, she''d have to jump twelve feet high to get over the damage boarder of the wall. Even with a power level of only 4, it would be enough to finish Jane off.
Jane didn''t react by trying to dodge. Instead, she unleashed a sudden Shadow Wave in front of her, quickly colliding with the advancing wall of towering ice. The Shadow Wave seemed to have more power to it though, as it broke and smashed through the center of the advancing ice wall without any trouble. Now it will pass Jane by without dealing any damage to her.
Taylor is bound to realize her mistake just before her downfall. Now it is time to use it. Jane held a secret strategy all along in case something like this happened. It was originally planned for Danny''s skills, but once Danny sees this spell, he''ll be ready for it. The charge cycle is complete, glyphring ready. "Return Fire!" Under most circumstances is this spell risky to use since it is never the same per invocation. If used right after being dealt a terrible blow, this spell seems to always power up to maximum potential.
Jane had to aim tightly, as Taylor was ready to dodge. Once the energy was ready to fire, Jane unleashed her Return Fire payload, which turned out to be a large horizontal beam of unknown elemental energy. The beam was glowing a hot orange-yellow in color. As soon as it began, Jane could feel the intense heat radiating from the tip of the spinning glyphring. As soon as the end of the beam reached Taylor, Jane could hear a raging scream of pain crying out. The beam lasted for several seconds, draining Taylor''s HP out of that energy scope faster than any spell Jane saw before. This elemental energy must be fire, but the heat from this is stronger than any fire spell Jane has ever known, with only one exception. How is the beam this hot, to cause Jane''s face to sweat from the radiating heat when she isn''t even the target?
It didn''t matter. In another second, the beam shut itself down, revealing a knocked down Taylor, her skin and clothes smoking as though she would ignite. Jane quickly wondered if that spell exclusively inflicted Leray damage. But if it didn''t, Taylor''s energy scope would not remain that same orange color right now. Still, the readouts now say she has zero HP... So that''s the end.
Chapter Theme Music: Infiltration ~ FFXIII-3 OST
It was still hard to believe somehow. Jane examined the palms of her own hands to reconcile how this one spell did so much damage. Then again, Return Fire is designed to be this harsh. It works better if you''ve taken a death blow right before using it. Anyone could have done that. But Taylor...
She fought so hard, her skills so dramatically improved compared to before. And yet, she still lost. At that moment, the dome shield collapsed, as did Jane. She didn''t fall out, but her senses were still fairly distorted. That blow to the back of her head could not have been great for her health. Luckily for her, Danny rushed in towards her side first.
"I can''t believe you two battled that hard! You could have destroyed the whole town if it were any more intense than that!"
"Don''t be a baby!" Jane snatched the healing orb Danny was offering aggressively. Doesn''t he realize that fighting in a Leray match with virtually everything you''ve got is the only way to improve? Sure, that must have hurt Taylor badly, but it''s not like she''s going to be in poor health because of it. Besides, Taylor delivered Jane a painful blow first. It just wasn''t enough. "Taylor will be fine. You and I won''t battle until everyone''s stats are back up."
For a moment, Danny was silent. He noticed Jane using her supply sphere to bring out an opaque white orb. That''s a painkiller orb, used to heal any painful injuries minor enough not to register as real time damage. So Taylor''s blast had that much an effect on Jane, huh? "What the hell did she do?"
"I was hoping you could explain that to me."
So Jane didn''t teach her that? Who then? While he waited, Danny delivered his deliberation. "Return Fire shot Tay out in one hit, but at least it''s understandable given the tactical moment you just used it for. But then, how was Taylor''s Power Blast - Bow Charge so effective?"
"Are you not surprised that she came up with Marine Spin all on her own as well? She''s learning to fuse new spells together without costing additional MP energy." That truly is impressive. "She almost had me."
Jane actually seemed upset about that. What if Taylor is really all that powerful? Danny won''t stand a chance against Jane... Then he''ll have to do terribly embarrassing things in this city someday!
Why does Danny look like he''s about to puke? "Go on. Go help your girlfriend, so she can recover faster."
Jane knows there is no way to boost the wake up time of automatic passive recovery when someone gets knocked out, but Danny knew he needs to check Taylor and make sure that blast burn didn''t actually scorch her skin. On the way over to her, Danny counted the people growing in the area. There were at least fifty people far behind Jane, still lingering to absorb how crazy that battle was. Are they sticking around due to shock, or in hopes that the fighting is only going to get more intense?
Now at Taylor, Danny helped her up to his shoulder, the quick examination failing to confirm his paranoia. Taylor''s hands and bottom legs appeared to be fine. Even the dress sphere was undamaged, though dirty from how many times it hit the ground. Danny carried her over towards Jane''s position, now remembering the large break in the ground caused by the battle damage. Even though most Leray spells avoid causing the ground any permanent damage, something wrecked that one spot over here. The park manager is going to yell at everyone later for this. Of course, Jane won''t care one bit, and with his important bet on the line, neither will Danny.
Chapter 2-B: Tactical Analysis
<03/18/1972 ¨C 13:06 | Gross City, Gulop Region, Sprawn Valley>
Okay. Just concentrate, and everything will be alright. Danny stood far apart from Jane in a different location of the park, since the last area was damaged from battle. Taylor finally woke up and healed, which was their cue to prepare for battle. Now is the time to be on top of everything.
Danny knows who he is up against. This is a woman capable of almost anything. Jane didn''t use her power shield against Taylor, but that''s only because Jane found it to be an effective strategy given Taylor''s unexpected speed. I can''t run that fast, and Jane must know that, so her attempts to use power shield this round may actually come in full play. Still, there is another problem with this... "Jane Venn? I request that we change one small rule for our battle."
"And what would that be?" I swear, what is he trying now? Danny dug his own grave with that hilarious bet he made, and he is going to follow through with it.
"I request that the both of us be allowed to switch our primary weapons during the battle without any penalties."
He wants to enable weapon switching? Jane technically didn''t have a problem with that. Danny relies on two weapons, the Dynamon Hammer, and the HT-T2 Mark 55 Seeker T-sword. The sword is his more favorite weapon, but he must be feeling on edge to request the ability to swap between the two. "Sure. I don''t mind."
"Really?"
"I''m going to kick your butt anyway. Switching your primary weapons isn''t going to do anything against me."
As usual, your overconfidence is going to be your downfall again. Jane can switch weapons too, but she only ever relies on her Rigel Runes daggers in order to fight. Still, that Dark Strike ability she can invoke with those small blades is scary enough. There must be a counter against it. "Very well. I think I''m ready to begin the match."
Taylor kept an impressive expression of curiosity on her the entire time, focusing directly on Danny Mason. He''s improved his skills over time as well, but not as much as Taylor would have believed. Still, he really doesn''t want to wear woman''s clothing out in public. It can be seen on his determined expression from all the way over here. Will desiring to win harder really be enough to give him an edge against Jane Venn? "If I lost to her, then he doesn''t stand a chance."
Danny held his HT-T2 Mark 55, (or Seeker T-Sword for short) firmly in his grip, holding both his hands to the handle relaxed in front of him. This sword can do a massive amount of damage, provided any of his attacks land. Danny realized already how much he will have to pull out in order to land hits on this wielder. "Okay. Let the match begin."
At that, a Siriean dome formed to trap Danny and Jane inside, with the same transparency as before. Because of this, all of the previous crowded spectators rushed in to watch, with a few turning away since they have other things to get back to. Despite the growing traffic, more people were hovering around to watch, curious in their heads as to what kind of battle would do the earth so much irreversible damage. Taylor will be watching too this time, so it will be extra important not to mess this up. Just stay relaxed, and think about everything.
Chapter Theme Shift: High Voltage ~ FFXIII-3 OST
"I''m going to pick out some of the most gorgeous dresses! I think I might even start a website to post those pictures on."
Danny chuckled quietly to himself. Jane is seriously trying to trip him up with that strategy? It might give him butterflies in his stomach, but during a real battle, there is no time to think about such dubious details.
Danny cut the nonsense by charging energy into his blade, and unleashed it with a hard slash towards Jane''s direction. "Splice!" Sending just one solid white hot line of sharp energy from the blade, Jane was left surprised and unguarded just before the Splice line zoomed through the distance of the field and drilled through her skin like butter. The instant pain from the spell haggled Jane down, causing her to come close to losing her balance while she tangled with the deep cut on her chest''s left side. Danny then wasted no time in utilizing the weapon switching skill, phasing his blade away back into the supply sphere and pulling out the Dynamon Hammer. The hammer is heavy even to this day, but Danny still had enough in him to throw it with full power. "Midnight Strike!"
Jane exhaled through her teeth, doing her best to ignore that nasty gash. Danny is pulling all his best moves to start the battle. Such a relentless skill as Splice feels like a dirty first move to make. "Ah! There''s more?"
Danny charged the energy into the hammer, then threw the device as far as he could, doing his best to concentrate so that the aim assisting magic could do its job. As predicted, Jane held her daggers up in a feeble attempt to block, failing to remember exactly how this spell works. Three electrical glyphrings formed quickly surrounding Jane from randomized angles, and started electrocuting her helplessly for two seconds. By the time the stunning was over, the spinning hammer finally made contact, knocking the wind out of Jane and sending her flying as predicted. By the time it was over, Danny already began switching back from his hammer to the T-sword again. He then checked the energy scope response on Jane to determine how much damage that strategy did.
Considering how much MP it took for Danny to start that, and the fact that Jane would expect the same move once more, repeating this effective strategy would not be possible. Jane is smart after all; it''s the reason she''s gotten this far.
"Why you?!" Jane could feel her anger building quickly. Danny wants to win this battle the other way, by putting Jane through as much pain and misery as possible until she quits. Two can play at that game. "Shadow Wave!" Jane quickly got back to her feet, launching her signature Shadow Wave in Danny''s direction.
But, Shadow Wave? Danny held his sword firm. If Jane is supposed to be smart, what is this? A simple Shadow Wave on its own cannot possibly get the better of him. This isn''t even worth dodging.
Perfect. Danny''s eyes and focus are on a useless Shadow Wave. "Aura build," she spoke softly. "Flashpoint Strike!" Jane launched herself forward, just before teleporting right behind Danny. She then transitioned her Flashpoint energy into a single uppercut with her fist, the magic force assisting her into launching Danny forward, right into the oncoming Shadow Wave. It might be nothing but a dirty trick, but that''s payback!
Danny finally felt nervous enough to respond to these situations more quickly. Jane wants to get up close and personal. In fact, it''s how she fights at her absolute best. But if Jane wants to win with speed, she''ll need all the help she can get. "Rush Assault!" Throwing energy into his new white aura, Danny planned to use the speed boost from Rush Assault to pound on Jane, but he soon noticed something odd. At first it sounded like an echo in his voice when he chanted the spell, but now Jane has the same white aura about her...
He used Rush Assault at the same exact time. It doesn''t mean he''s faster! "Give it up!" Jane shot herself forward using the aura to assist her speed, when Danny did the same towards her. What started with a new strategy quickly transformed into a clash of physical hit combos. Danny would exchange sword hits with Jane''s small dagger blades during the long combination sequence. But for the long tiring minute that followed, their farce was an epic stalemate. Danny would overpower Jane''s daggers with the sheer force and size of his T-Sword. Jane was also just slightly faster than Danny, enough to dodge some of his hits so that she can side-step into a new attack window.
Taylor couldn''t believe her eyes even knowing how today has been going. Seeing Jane Venn fight Danny Mason is a rare sight to see, but they''re both so engaged right now. That must be part of why so many people have come to watch this fight so far. The crowd is twice the size it was when she and Jane battled together.
Danny continued to press into Jane using fast sword swinging tactics that prevented Jane from making any new openings. Jane reacted quickly using an unexpected magical spell. "Earth Glave!" The uplift of earth started so closely to Jane that she tripped backwards over herself. Danny on the other hand was shot up into the air, hit by the brute blunt force of the earth spell.
With another new idea in her head, Jane held her left hand out in front of her, coaxing Danny to prepare himself despite his current struggle to get back up. Her right hand aimed at the sky, and this is where the real magic began to drain from her. "I summon you! Massife!" Her reaction already created a massively large yellow glyphring to appear in the sky, right at the edge of the Siriean dome. Now, a new ally will join her battle!
"She''s summoning!" Danny knew he had to remain calm, even in a situation such as this one. Jane isn''t using her left hand, but that''s because she''s concentrating too hard on her summon. That hand is reserved for a power shield... No, more like a Farshield spell. How to interrupt? Will intimidation tactics work? No, Jane won''t be so easy to intimidate while she''s calling a Flare Drake. Better prepare for this then. "Crimson Blade." Danny calmly chanted his next spell, using his free hand to manually coat his own blade with a strong fiery aura. This will add fire elemental damage for every physical strike he inflicts. On top of that, this is one of the pre-requirements needed to activate the next spell. "Summon Hell!" Danny slashed his sword forward as if to send off Splice. As with this spell, the signature three bolts of enhanced crimson fire shot off like cannon balls. They will hit Jane soon! She''ll have to take her focus off summoning!
"Farshield!" Jane did as Danny expected to. She generated a solid wall of energy in front of her, which easily absorbed the three bolts of fiery energy. Jane knew she would be capable of this by now. However...
"If you keep that Farshield up, summoning Flare Drake is just going to take twice as long!" Jane couldn''t deny it. It is a truth in Leray magic that when you divide your focus like that, you also divide your invocation time, which is terrible when using a summon spell. "Have a Firesurge!" Danny sent off a bright Shadow Wave like attack, Firesurge. It''s basically Crush Wave and Shadow Wave combined with a lot of fire elemental energy, keen on dealing tons of HP damage if it hits.
Jane was on top of this, using her left hand to telekinetically move her Farshield downwards so that it touches the floor. It took a lot more concentration to move her own Farshield. Still, Danny must not have thought his plan through if that''s the best he could do. As expected, the Firesurge wave drilled small hexagons into the wall of energy, until the wave exploded, damaging the shield wall even more.
"It didn''t work!" Jane can move her Farshields with such little effort. Danny never recalled seeing Jane capable of this before. She must have kept that secret to herself.
Jane dropped her Farshield before it could fail on its own. If that did happen, her concentration aura on Massife would collapse as well, but it should be good to launch him now. Jane unleashed the final energy burst from her spell, causing the yellow glyphring in the sky to solidify. The center of the glyphring turned to a solid blinding white light, and out came the Flare Drake that Danny was afraid of seeing. The drake roared with fire coming out of its hot breath, while an artificial energy scope auto-generated for him.
The Flare Drake can''t be any threat if Danny ends this right now. Jane uses her shielding ability a lot, but there is one fatal flaw in that spell. "Crimson Flare!" Danny launched another ability, creating a massive fiery sphere of magic in front of him. The sphere traveled so slowly forward, but that was the idea. Luckily, Jane would need to focus on dealing with this before giving commands to the drake. If she can''t focus on giving those commands, she cannot use the drake to attack.
"Oh yeah?" Jane immediately sent both her hands outward, generating a new power shield around her body. The shield is a good idea, since Danny is crafty enough to do something with that Crimson Flare, probably change the speed of it somehow.
"Excellent!" Noticing Jane''s subtle surprise from within her own energy cocoon, Danny didn''t bother explaining it to her. Instead, he kept walking forward with his flaming sword in one hand, keeping very close to the Crimson Sphere. The Crimson Flare sphere itself is also made out of pure energy. If Jane were to drop her shield and try attacking Danny, the large sphere he is walking behind will simply absorb the hostile energy. If Jane keeps her shield going, by the time the slow moving sphere begins to attack her own aura, she''ll already be struggling to hold on and keep the power shield going. There are two weaknesses to that power shield. The first - is that it isn''t invulnerable to damage. It blocks out 100% of all damage; but at a certain power level, or if damaged successively over time, the concentration aura is harder to maintain on the same aura. There is another couple of issues. The concentration aura also gets progressively harder to maintain over durational periods of time. If Jane drops her shield now, Danny will strike. If she doesn''t, he simply has to wait for that shield to fail on its own, and that''s not all. If her shield fails or is dropped intentionally, there is about a four-to-five second delay before she can begin to use it again. The power drain to her energy even with that symbol on her hand is incredible coming from that one spell. It is impressive, but not when you''ve figured out the flaws.
Danny is walking towards Jane, hiding right behind that incoming Crimson Flare! And it''s already been five long seconds. This isn''t good!
"Crispy," Danny mocked. The Crimson Flare sphere was now engulfing Jane''s shield at this very moment, flooding her personal aura with small hexagons everywhere. As predicted, she cannot give commands to her Flare Drake right now, not with her focus needed on that shield. Any moment now, either from the damage from Crimson Flare, or from time, the shield will fail. Danny already had his energy charged and ready for it. And speaking of Flare Drake... "Summon Hell!" Using that remaining fiery energy from his saber, Danny shot three more fire spheres towards the Flare Drake flying slowly in the air. That large animal is a huge target. Though Flare Drakes are resistant to fire damage, Summon Hell does not deal purely fire-elemental damage.
The small dragon roared in agony, proof of his pain as Danny''s spell was effective in cutting down his health. And now for Jane. She''s already sweating inside of there. She must realize by now that it''s too late.
Jane was eyeing Danny''s free hand, glowing with a small yellow aura. He planned this. Jane should have known how crafty he can be when backed into a corner. There has to be some way... "Nagh!" Jane tried her best, but the aura around her was finally collapsing. At the moment, Danny unleashed his energy before she could do anything about it. With her shield failed, Danny''s magic spell turned out to be a sudden Earth Glave. As expected by that, Jane took a modest amount of damage once she was shot up into the air, and more damage from the fall.
Danny could tell how effective his strategy was. Not only did that work well, but his secondary theory was proven to be correct. Regardless of what that MP counter reports, Jane struggles to maintain a proper link with her own aura if that shield fails on her. She''s tiring out without having low MP already. Still, Earth Glave was a weak move. He should have stuck with Splice again.
Jane was quick to recover this time, back on her feet and her weapons drawn. "Don''t forget to watch for attacks above and below!" After the useless hint Jane handed out, she glared at her summon and gave him commands. "Use Thunder!" Another secret Danny didn''t know. Abilities from summons can be moderated just like they can with humans. Now that her Flare Drake knows a more powerful spell, this should end nicely.
Danny took notice of the Flare Drake above him, now rolling around to reposition itself to use a Thunder spell. Jane might attack him with his attention diverted, but there isn''t time for that now! Quick! What elemental factor cancels out electrical energy in Leray battles? Earth and wind. Earth spells cannot reach the drake. At this point, wind would only cancel out the thunder by displacing the electrons in the spell if it''s strong enough. "Okay then." Danny charged more energy than the usual requirement for this spell, careful not to overcharge it to the point of failure. "Aero Blast!" Without the use of a glyphring, Danny shot forward a nearly solid mass of fast moving air, aimed right at the drake''s open mouth. The results were catastrophic!
Jane was about to attack Danny, when she saw something incredible. That small Aero Blast Danny shot upwards collided with the rolling arcs of the Thunder Strike spell, which both canceled each other out before going anywhere else. Thunder, a spell with a power level of 8 was made useless by Aero Blast, a spell with a power level of at most 2, and she soon remembered why. Fast flying air attacks, or rather wind elemental attacks absorb or diffract electrical bolt attacks. The electrons in the air from the electrical energy are displaced too quickly. That usually gets overridden when one uses elemental projectiles instead of arcs, but Danny is fighting with his wits while using the basic elements of knowledge to his advantage. Still, he has no defense against what comes next. "Dark Strike!"
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Uh oh!" Danny knew it was coming eventually. Jane''s Dark Strike seems to have no way of countering. He could only brace himself like a stone while Jane unleashed her fury against him.
Predictably, Danny froze up the moment before Jane''s initial launch. It won''t matter though, because the deep strikes of Dark Strike cannot be blocked. Jane went into her light speed aura once again, and slashed over and over until Danny''s health suffered a significant loss. Even on her last strike from above, Danny was left too open to block or dodge it. The final strike drove her blades deep into his skin, and Danny was barely holding it together through the pain.
Luckily for him, Danny thought ahead and tried using a painkiller orb on himself without Jane or Taylor knowing about it, pretending like it was an MP orb ensuring his maximum stamina. Surprisingly, this works well, at least for the first few hits. Those Dark Strike hits are still a massive sting though, even with that effect lasting. At last, Jane is at the end of her ropes if this is the best use she can make of that spell. Danny began expending energy into a new kind of aura, one as dark and translucent as an aura could go.
"What now?!" Jane never saw this before. What spell is this?
"What I saw on television today was not the only source I had for learning new spells. I knew already that camera filters don''t always capture aura effects. Shadow Copy!" With his eyes changing color to bright blue and glowing for a moment given the magical build up, Danny invoked Shadow Copy for the very second time in his life. It was very hard to use the first time, and almost as difficult in this moment, but it seemed to work already, when a dozen copies of himself appeared all over the floor. On top of that, Danny made sure to relocate himself as the original during the invocation, so now Jane won''t be able to tell the real one apart.
Jane found it a bit shocking that Danny was advanced enough to use the Shadow Copy technique for real. It''s supposed to consume a lot of energy to make that many projections of yourself, but the copies Danny left for Jane to find in front of her were acting strangely. Danny appeared to be holding an electric sword, but he was holding onto some weird object, struggling to stay on. Beneath him elevated on the ground by two feet was... some holographic pixilation error? Something about it didn''t seem right.
Jane won''t be able to understand why the Shadow Copies will show strange data. It only copies himself while he moves around the field, but not other objects larger than himself. This one is hard to hold onto though!
Another whooshing sound scathed his ears roughly. Danny did his best not to make any noise before Jane realizes that he''s holding onto the bottom neck of the Flare Drake. A single command from her to Massife could throw him off this wild dragon. Just have to aim properly with the right strength... Danny had to concentrate heavily on slashing a final blow to this demon. Cutting the underbelly of a Flare Drake, or that of its neck on the bottom side is said to cause critical damage since the scale armor is weak in those two zones. With an element he isn''t resistant to, this blade should be more than enough.
By the time Jane realized what was going on, it was already too late. She shot her glance upward to find Danny, falling down just as his blade left the other end of the drake''s neck. The cut was so deep that the creature was oozing of green blood from its wound. With that lone hit, Danny dealt with getting to the ground safely while Jane watched in horror as her summon glyphring returned to suck the drake back in for losing too much health.
The drake wasn''t sucked into the glyphring though, not initially. Instead, the large creature flew off course and into the hard ground just as Danny did, both of them clashing into each other. The impact blew dirt and dust everywhere, forcing Jane to cover her eyes. Only then did the drake burst into small light particles of energy before dispersing the summoning disk. "He''s crazy," Jane concluded.
After the dust cleared, though he took minor falling damage, Danny was ready to bounce back and keep fighting. Jane will not win this battle. "You cannot win Jane. I simply have too much now to consider every counter-skill for your strategy."
"Oh really?" Does he think he can just be that bold and get away with it? "Let''s change that then. Zero Zone!"
By the time those two words registered into his head, it was already too late. Jane created a Zero Zone aura, which quickly expanded infinitely to affect the entire universe and not just the surrounding area. When it did, everything became so much darker, and absolutely colorless. It takes a large chunk of her MP energy to do this, but Danny can''t do anything if he''s frozen in time. Once the aura took effect, Jane went to work immediately on maximizing her damage window.
"Shadow Wave!" Why start with one? Jane made sure to generate three separate Shadow Waves coming from multiple directions. She then followed that up with "Laser Storm!" The spell on its own would come down on Danny with heavy piercing damage as to enforce a stronger sense of pain on top of heavy damage. "Magical Blitz!" Jane only threw two spheres at Danny for this last part. She saw three Shadow Waves explode, hundreds of lasers barrage his frozen body, and now threw two energy spheres at him on top of that. It might not be enough to wipe him out, but with her MP energy now running on fumes, there isn''t much more damage she could enforce. Taylor was more threatening than this. She has a bow that costs Jane 5% HP damage for any hit without the use of MP energy.
"Energy Cycle!" Jane knew she couldn''t win on dry MP energy. This will allow her to charge it all back up. And at last, the battle is now over.
At first, Danny couldn''t understand why he sunk to the ground, pains growing everywhere at once. Then he recalled hearing the words Zero Zone for a short moment. If Jane can use Zero Zone, she can win easily. But... Danny glanced up at his own energy scope, sure of his suspicions. If he can have these thoughts about Zero Zone, pain, and losing, he is obviously still conscious and going. Jane must not have had enough energy to finish the job.
After another examination, Danny was perfectly correct. He''s seen that faint purple glow to Jane before. That''s Energy Cycle. It''s good to know the secret behind that spell. If Danny attacks her in any way, her aura will convert all of that damage into a massive amount of usable MP energy. Otherwise, if left alone, she will still regenerate MP at a faster rate than average.
But now that the training gloves are off, two can play at this game. Danny stood back up, shrugging off his heavy HP damage and numerous pains. He knew he needed to concentrate. Jane won''t be willing attack him with that aura running. She needs him to try something first, but trying to calm his mind and thoughts to invoke this skill was as difficult the fifth time as it was the first. Pure mental clarity is required for this one. "Mitigation Aura!"
"Another new spell? What''s Mitigation Aura?" Jane was speaking softly, intending the question only to herself and not her opponent. As soon as Danny got started, Jane noticed a strange thin aura of magic coat his entire body, a color mixing between blue and green.
Mitigation Aura, Danny remembered. It''s a new ability he perfected very recently. This is an aura similar to Energy Cycle, but also much better by comparison. It''s an aura that requires a calm mind and pure focus to continue running all the time. It can function for up to a full minute, and if left active that long, the user would only spend about 5% MP energy to regenerate 33% lost HP and 50% lost MP energy, the design boosting the healing effects of the veil using personal MP as a catalyst. It''s a slower regeneration though with a constant requirement of focus, so it must not be interrupted. Danny knew this already, both about his skill and Jane''s. Jane might be able to do a little bit more while using Energy Cycle, but if she uses any particular magic spell, her Energy Cycle aura will fail. With Danny''s Mitigation Aura, it''s even more restricting. If he makes any sudden movements, anything as quick as a jump or a dodge, or if he uses any magic for any spell, the aura will fail. It will only last as long as he commits to no action. Walking or side stepping slowly is okay, but it isn''t easy to do while running the aura.
It took Jane another longer moment to realize, but the stats on Danny''s energy scope were slowly going up, both ticking upwards from the MP and HP side, faster than passive regeneration should allow, plus passive regeneration doesn''t work on HP during a battle. That aura is going to completely heal him! "Fancy aura," Jane complimented. "But you''re forgetting that I can run two of them at once. Armor of Darkness!" Jane coated her body in a secondary aura, a dark red shape that acted as a different kind of power shield. However, Danny for whatever reason did not seem to be impressed or distracted.
Oh, I didn''t forget Jane. She must not realize that we already know what happens to any and all of her auras if she tries to power shield for real. Jane cannot run two auras at once if even one of them takes the amount of concentration it takes to run that real shield, and she knows she''s bluffing with that Armor of Darkness spell. It''s no match for a full powered power shield. Time to make a show. "Charge - Attack." Danny kept his mind still, using the smallest amount of magic possible. His saber in hand grew an extra inch of light, while a new coat of magical light covered the entire blade.
Jane feared the worst, that Danny had a new trick up his sleeve that was going to destroy her if she doesn''t change tactics in her favor. She released hold of her Energy Cycle, giving her just enough of a boost to keep going. "Moonglow!" She released the small amount of energy into the sky, set with a delayed weather changing effect. Used during the day, it will take longer than normal to work. This Armor of Darkness should protect her until then...
Why is Danny walking so slowly? Normally during a Charge Attack, he''s chaining abilities like he would with Blitz, and rushing in on foot with speed. Danny is being extra careful for some reason, and that glowing blade looks like it could hurt anyone. Not only that, but his stats are still rising!
It''s working. She''s being too cautious of the unknown. "Your shields are useless!" Danny cried. He then prepared his saber cutting off the link to his aura and tossing the blade with all his might. His aura will fail, but his plan will work!
If that saber is as cocky as he is right now, there must be a lot of magic built up in that blade. "Power Shield!" Jane had no choice but to cut the power to her Armor of Darkness aura. It has a strong defensive effect, but Danny is convinced he can break that and her power shield. Hopefully he''s mistaken.
"Heh!" As expected, Jane dropped her perfectly fine aura and replaced it with a worse one. Under Armor of Darkness, you can move around as you please. It''s still weaker than an ordinary power shield from Jane, but Danny''s glowing saber of light is only charged with luminescent energy, and nothing more. The sword bounced off the shield, leaving behind a very large hexagon for Jane to study while Danny picked up his blade again with matter transference. "Simple, aren''t you? I knew you would try that again."
"You idiot! You used a fancy light show to trick me? What kind of special attack is that?!"
Danny nearly laughed at how funny this was. It was easy to tell Jane was upset, though her voice is too muffled for him to hear anything. That power shield is a little more than 70% sound proof. Now she''ll have to hold that shield until it fails, or drop it on her own accord. MP energy is already charged for the next spell. "Get ready."
Jane growled under her teeth, making another tough decision by dropping her own energy shield. "Better to learn from my last mistake and accept my mistake!"
Danny made sure to give Jane no room to dodge, react, or brace herself for the gigantic sword crashing down from above. Ozcom''s Razor is the spell he used just as Jane''s shield failed, but this time, she dropped it on purpose. It wouldn''t make all that much a difference in the end. It only means she can now react faster once she gets over that next painful spell.
The crushing pressure of that large blunt blade gave Jane more aches and pains, but this time, she was ready to invoke a counterattack, thanks to her decision to drop the shield early. "Flaming Volley!" Two can play at the pain game Danny! Here it goes!
Danny held his ground while noticing the Flaming Volley come his way. Those arrows might make it through, but it''s worth another shot. Using projectiles to attack from any angle always has at least one weakness! "Whirlwind!" Aiming upward, Danny generated a powerful Whirlwind gust around himself with an expanded range, catching all of the flaming arrows, putting out their fires, and disrupting their flight paths, all with minimal MP energy. Jane was soon to notice, but now it would be too late. Danny already charged additional MP energy into the other hand with immense concentration. "Photon Burst!" The next spell he launched shot down from the sky, his voice absorbed by the whirlwind now calming down. As soon as Danny got visual sight of Jane again, she was being bombarded by the payload of Photon Burst. It was hard to learn how to pick that skill up from Jane either. She always thinks she is so tough and above everyone else. How does it taste Jane?
Jane struggled to get back up, and ignored the building pain. Her stats were getting lower and lower. Somehow, Danny was quickly coming up with ways to counter every little thing she does. Either that, or he really doesn''t want to lose this bet! But at last, a saving moment entered her field of view. The skies above both of them darkened for miles with the blackest of clouds. From these clouds, an opening in the sky revealed absolute darkness, riddled with bright twinkling stars, and a nearly full moon. Moonglow has finally kicked in. It can work during the day time, just not for as long. Any amount of assistance is good enough for this fight.
Jane pushed herself back up, while Danny took notice of her sudden motivation to move at all, and the weather from above. I''ve seen Jane use a spell like this before. She uses this to go totally invisible for a few moments. Danny began charging MP energy without knowing what to do with it.
"Moonshadow!" Just like that, Jane entered a new invisible aura, which in turn made her entire body completely invisible. Danny won''t be able to hit what he can''t see.
"Spark Storm!" Danny held a small electrical bolt in his right hand after releasing the charged spell. This is one he learned a long time ago, though it never had any real application until now. This will be too close for comfort, but here goes something. Danny threw the electrical bolt towards the ground, close to where Jane was last seen. Once the bolt impacted the ground, electrical arcs suddenly shot out everywhere. It''s an omnidirectional electric attack designed mostly to deal damage to a higher number of targets. Used this way, Jane can be anywhere nearby and still be affected.
As soon as the Spark Storm happened, Jane was electrocuted in place, revealing her position to Danny just from the way the electrical displacement happened, but the shock to her system also shut down her invisibility aura completely, making her entire Moonglow spell useless. However, Danny also played with fire this time, because the electrical arcs were also zapping him at the same time Jane was hit. The spell has a high radius of effect, which means you can''t use it at close range without also being hit by your own spell. Every nerve in their bodies burned and tingled painfully at the same time, the ending draining both of their health and stamina.
Danny shook it off faster. Jane was obviously stunned a bit longer since her stats were a little lower than his own. Now it''s time to end this in one go. "Firesurge!" Danny shoved his blade into the ground, creating a strong Firesurge wave to advance on Jane. He then used his weapon swap skill, switching from the Seeker T-sword currently stuck in the ground to his Dynamon Hammer. As soon as he held onto the hammer, the T-sword faded from view, going into phase since one cannot use both weapons at once even with weapon swapping enabled. This hammer is all he will need to finish Jane off. After infusing the metal material with non-elemental magic, he tossed the hammer with all his might, calculating as Jane already took a hard hit from Firesurge weather this extra hit will do it.
Jane was sent back some more by the sudden blunt force of a flying battle hammer, struggling to keep herself conscious as the room felt like it was spinning everywhere. Her heart rate was faster than it was at the beginning of this battle. Is Danny going to win?
"Hm... Wasn''t enough, and that was most of my MP. I''ll just stick to Blast Shot."
Jane turned around stiffly with an evil glare in her expression. "You think it would be that easy?!" Jane knew she surprised Danny, but she has to win this, to prove she isn''t the weaker one here! "Telepower!" Jane began kicking, punching, and fighting Danny''s unguarded figure from a distance, transferring her hits telekinetically into his body. She used this moment to close enough distance to Danny''s position to slide into another combination sequence. "Median-Flare!" Jane launched her directional light screen spell, dealing a great amount of HP damage to Danny. But even while reading the scope readout, she wasn''t stopping there. "Kill Wave!"
Kill Wave is a deathblow no matter what. Danny knew he needed to get away from here and fast, but Jane will also be defeated soon too. Only one thing to do. Danny aimed himself and his free hand carefully at the ground with an angle while his back was turned to Jane. "Power Blast!" Danny''s idea was interesting, as it launched himself at a high rate of speed into the air, out of the kill zone of Kill Wave, and straight towards Jane.
Danny could hear the minor explosions happening where he just left, but now he was about to head-butt straight into Jane, who had no defense against this. Although, a simple body collision won''t do any HP damage either, and Danny has no MP left to fight with after Power Blast. On top of this, his sword is facing the wrong way to slash at Jane at the right moment.
Jane was suddenly soaring through the air after a blunt hit from Danny''s torpedo head. The sudden closure coaxed Jane into yelling out, all while forming an SMG in each hand, holding the trigger and shouting out to end Danny''s physical tirade. Jane felt strange firing bullets like this in the air while flying back. Her health is so low, but she''s still okay so far. The bullets that hit Danny didn''t knock him out, but with his health already so low, the impacts dealt a lot more pain than they normally would. Now she had the upper hand again, and plenty of MP energy to finish this off.
"For someone with such a tactical mind, you let your MP run completely dry. Quantum Beam!" Jane quickly charged all of her remaining energy into her aura, and launched her wide-area beam straight into Danny while he was down. The impact was almost explosive given the force behind it. The loudness of all that fighting made Jane''s ears ring during the ensuing silence that followed...
At last! Jane finally won against this psycho! At last! "Yeeees! I am the stronger one!"
Chapter Theme Shift: Paradox ~ FFXIII-2 OST
Taylor got to witness the whole thing. She could tell already that Jane wasn''t entirely herself at the moment. Her health stats are nearly drained as well. She might even faint or fall out if she continues like this. But now, the fight was finally over. That idiot almost had her too, using his own style.
The Siriean dome collapsed around everyone. The crowd spectating were cheering, really for either winner as all they enjoyed was the action, but it was difficult for Taylor to feel any kind of success. After she got to go first battling Jane, she learned firsthand what kind of opponent Jane is like. If Danny can get as close to defeating Jane as she did, that right there deserves some praise. How can a person fighting like that still be stronger than everyone, without ever invoking her own symbol?
Jane wasted no time in using her healing orb, but she felt a little hazy in the head even after its effects began to take hold. Jane soon sat herself down in the soft grass, taking a full body rest from the amount of stamina that took out of her. She noticed Taylor slowly approaching Danny to check on him. She looks so defeated. After all, Danny losing that bet is so worth it.
Still... That pipsqueak actually came closer than Jane initially realized. No, it''s more than that. Danny learned so much during this fight alone. Jane also learned something. She has a few more weaknesses left open to work on than what she previously believed she had, and that''s a real shame.
By the time Danny finally woke up, their moods were beginning to change, but for Jane, one thing was always going to be a constant. The amount of fun and action in both of those battles was the most fun she has ever had in her entire life! Even against fighting Danton, Jane had to worry in the background about her symbol activation. But out here, it doesn''t matter. Both of them know her secret. Half the people in Sprawn Valley, especially here in Gross City also know that she is marked, if only they''d recognize her. There isn''t anything to worry about with these two. Even so... "You know, I don''t think I''ve had enough fun today."
Danny sat up quickly upon hearing more of Jane''s insanity. "Really? You haven''t had enough fun kicking my butt and rubbing it in?"
Jane refused the subtle giggle. Her mind was weighing on something more intriguing. "The both of you have grown a lot stronger than I made myself aware of. In both of those battles, we had close calls. I''ve seen you both fight at your hardest today. However..."
Jane let the "however" clause sink in a little further, but her dramatic affect wasn''t all too welcome. "I''ve only seen you two at your absolute best when you''re fighting together as a team."
"Huh." Danny heard Taylor utter the same response. Couldn''t really argue with that. After all, Danny would never allow Taylor to fall behind. If she did, protecting her would be even more difficult.
"That said, I think we can have one more battle. Let''s settle something Danny. I can give you one more chance to redeem yourself from your mistaken bet."
"You can?!" Danny didn''t care about the honor of winning. Dreading this lost bet he made was already more than enough to restore his will to fight Jane again. "How so?"
Jane replied, "It''s simple. What I crave now, is a taste of your powerful teamwork. I want to battle against the both of you this time, in a team-battle."
"A team battle?" Taylor questioned. It''s still there. That look in Jane''s eyes, that excitement from before, it''s the same way she gets when she''s about to battle, but Taylor has never remembered seeing Jane this fired up since back before she was marked.
"Yes. You two, only against myself. And before you refuse, Danny, if you actually are able to team up with Taylor and defeat me with everything you''ve got, I will reverse your bet, meaning you would win and I will still loose."
"A second chance," he clarified.
"But," Jane added, "to make things more interesting, I know already that Taylor might not want to win. Can''t be sure if that is true, so I''ll add this. Taylor, if you can team up with Danny and defeat me, I will bestow upon you, twenty thousand credits from my arsenal. You would then be able to buy all of the favorite clothes you like. Or, you could use them to go on a nice romantic retreat with Danny. Either way, I don''t care what you do with the winnings."
Taylor felt a little embarrassed still to have Jane talk about them both like that, but she was calmer about it today than before. "I guess if it''s okay with Danny?"
Danny didn''t bother giving Taylor a look of confirmation. There is already a small issue Jane is forgetting about. "Jane? If we both went all out against you, really gave it all we''ve got, then there isn''t a doubt in my mind that your symbol will activate on its own, against your control."
"I''ve got the hang of it now. You didn''t see it show up when we battled separately."
"Exactly," Danny agreed. "Me and Taylor against yourself? What are you trying to prove here? I know that once you''re already to a certain point of exhaustion, that symbol will kick on whether you want it to or not. It''s a protection mechanism, not a toy."
It''s hard to argue with that fact. Jane didn''t realize that Danny pays this much attention to those details. "In either case," Jane defended, "even if it were to activate, I would never do anything to harm either of you. You know that I get to control how I use that power."
That''s not how it turned out in New York. Danny didn''t say that aloud. Jane might already be depressed for having that mark as it is. It seems to only get worse the more she learns about it... What did Mainne call it again? Lunastasis? "If you''re sure..." Danny exhaled with a long breath, preparing his nerves for this. "We''ve still got time. Let''s have the battle of a life time!"
Jane almost jumped for joy literally. "Yes! I knew you couldn''t refuse another opportunity to prove me wrong!"
How childish do you have to be? Danny felt this way not too long ago, but right now, the reason is different. He glanced back behind him with a different expression, out towards the far stretch of the city limits. There is something about the outside world that doesn''t feel right. Yes, it might be paranoia again, but Brash Danton just publicly declared war on the Scarlet Syndicate for their attack on Gross City, yesterday morning. It doesn''t take a genius to know that this isn''t going to end well. The days of fun battles and relaxing hangouts, they might very well be numbered.
Chapter 2-C: Defining New Limits
<03/18/1972 ¨C 14:00 | Gross City, Gulop Region, Sprawn Valley>
Despite the several minutes taken to cool down, Danny realized how much attention the three of them were already drawing. Many of the citizens or other wielders at the park have been walking away, satisfied enough to witness an intense battle to go about their business. A few others straggled however, waiting patiently in prediction that another battle is soon on its way. Newcomers were stopping by, using the current congregation of a crowd as an excuse to risk their time wondering if another battle was about to start.
Soon it will begin. Danny and Taylor stood apart from each other only by four meters, with Jane on the very far end of the invisible boarder lines of the battlefield. Jane wants to fight them both at the same time. Danny already thought about a couple of tactics they could use to fight Jane, such as Molecular Boost glyphrings, and a few other skills. But in truth, it has actually been a while since Danny and Taylor fought together. That trip to New York has made them both rusty.
Taylor pulled out her Glass Daggers, but her thoughts were chattering away like a noisy storm. It''s hard to concentrate while figuring out what is the best way to fight. Taylor also wondered why Jane wanted to battle so hard. What is she training for, really?
I have to get stronger, without the help from this symbol. Jane knew she could tell herself as many optimistic assurances as she wanted to, but the sinking feeling deep inside always managed to take over one way or another. This mark inside of her, something that Mainne calls lunastasis is capable of utilizing pure lunar magic without harm to herself. It can however cause great harm to those hit by it. But is that really what happened all of those times before, when it activated on its own and gave Jane a boost in stamina or healing? What happens if Danny is right, and she cannot control it as well as she wants to?
The Scarlet Syndicate gave her this power. Well, not really on purpose. So long as this mark remains on her, there is no possible way she can fight people fairly, right? Perhaps Danny and Taylor are evidence to the contrary. Maybe they can both really defeat her at full power, and prove that this symbol isn''t all that dangerous. "Please, you two. Show me how strong you can be together." Jane didn''t project her voice loud enough for them to hear at this distance, but she meant every word.
The people that Danton''s team is fighting against, they''re very powerful, and they use the forces of dark magic to reject the veil''s protection on their targets. They''re dangerous, and they could kill anybody with a single bolt of magic. Jane cannot be the only person left to protect Taylor from this threat. Danny knew that his job and duty as a Leray wielder is going to be protecting Taylor at all costs, and the only way to toughen up his abilities are to test them against somebody currently stronger than himself. Jane Venn, you may have the power to use lunar magic as Danton suggests, but that doesn''t mean you are immune to damage. "Taylor? We''re going to fight Jane together. Get ready!"
Taylor had not seen Danny this fired up in a long time. Is he really all that serious about making sure he doesn''t lose a silly bet? Taylor had to wonder to herself what the reason is that she is so deeply involved in Leray magic. Sure, Leray magic is cool, but... Even Taylor knew that she was lying to herself earlier, to say that she enjoys this as much as Jane does. Jane is addicted to Leray magic and combat. What does Taylor really want out of this? It''s hard to realize what you really want when you think back and realize that everyone has a desire for everything to be great or perfect. Helping Jane has always been a heavy goal since she first arrived in Sprawn Valley, and that is because we''re the best of friends, but it has to be more than that. Taylor knew deep down how hard she has been trying to figure out this Banshee problem. How do you take care of an issue in a separate country without relying on magic to do so? It would help if her parents were on her side.
"Snap out of it Taylor," Danny barked. She seems to be locked in some kind of trance again. That''s been happening twice as often since Danton announced war against the Scarlets. "I need you."
He really is serious about this battle. "I''m ready for this, Danny. Shall we then?!" Taylor has been ready the entire time. It''s up to Jane''s agreement to start the Siriean dome.
Jane prepared herself and her energy, generating the Siriean dome as well as her personal energy scope. Her friends did the same from the distance, while everyone already had their weapons drawn. As soon as the holographic text from the updated reward spoil system faded away, the battle begun.
Chapter Theme Shift: Flight to the Cora ~ Morrow Forge [Soundcritters]
<20,000 CR> | Battle Mode (Weapon Switch Enabled)>
"Let''s strike first!" Danny shouted. Without even coordinating with Taylor, the first order of business will be to hit Jane before she could react. If she does use a power shield, there will be another way to counter it. Jane must already realize this by now. Danny charged up his MP energy quickly, but it wasn''t ready to be released into the spell just yet.
"Air Strike!" Taylor already charged her MP energy from before, and released it into her spell. This area attack will prevent Jane from doing something crazy to dodge the attack, and as soon as the spell started, small projectiles began to rain down from above. As soon as they make contact with the ground all over Jane, each projectile will unleash an explosive payload of shrapnel.
"Earth Glave!" Danny was used to using Earth Glave, but Jane wouldn''t see it coming from behind! Danny generated an Earth Glave to hit Jane from behind, which only required a little extra amount of MP energy and concentration. It looked as if Jane was about to move, but Danny''s strategy and Taylor''s timing proved to be an effective combo, because the first attack knocked Jane forward, straight into the effective downpour of explosive shrapnel. The combination worked because it was too fast for Jane, and the damage stats were proving how awesome that was.
Jane forced herself back up while ignoring the bruising pains everywhere, dragging out her dagger blades to reiterate her plans. For a simple combination attack, that was a very effective way to attack Jane, using her blind spots to their advantage, but these two obviously don''t know who they''re dealing with. Charging the energy into both of her daggers, Jane launched them forward with a great amount of energy, testing one of her newer skills. "Shotwhirl!" The daggers spun forward with a red disk of damage similar to Flying Guillotine, but Jane knew the difference.
Danny and Taylor tried to jump out of the way to dodge this, but as soon as the spinning arc came close enough to nearly graze their skin, the material stopped and shot out an explosive burst of pure energy bolts in all directions, several of them piercing through Danny''s and Taylor''s body like phased bullets. The damage and pain of this attack alone were devastating. Danny and Taylor both nearly screeched in pain while trying to hold their balance and stances ready. If Jane gets in more than one attack at a time, she will be the winner.
As soon as Jane received back her Rigel Rune dagger blades, she used only a small amount of energy, and initiated an invisible aura. "Charge Attack!" Jane began running forward on foot, brave and prepared to use her close combat tactics against the both of them.
Danny noticed it quickly however, while pulling out his Seeker T-sword for protection. "Get ready!" he hollered to Taylor. "We attack at her together!"
"I''m on it!" Taylor held up her Glass Daggers, a similar weapon to Jane, which might not be as powerful on a physical level, but Taylor has had some practice with these blades already. Now it''s totally up to their speed and reaction timing. Taylor stood a few lines away from Danny, but not too close. If they get in each other''s way, Jane will win it right here.
Jane lost her grin while running. Danny and Taylor are both standing their ground ready. They aren''t afraid of anything anymore. Still, Jane knew her speed and style were more than enough to handle two fast enemies at once. "Raaagh!" Jane went first, slashing her daggers towards Danny in two places at once, using all of her momentum and force for an added effect of damage potential, but the loud clash of metal echoed out instead.
Danny blocked Jane''s first strike with his saber, so perfectly placed as if he knew where Jane was going to strike. He then quickly pushed away with a spinning force, allowing himself to quickly spin, duck down, and swipe at Jane all in the same move. Jane however was just as fast, enough to jump away to avoid taking the hit. That''s when Taylor involved herself as well, slashing upwards towards Jane, forcing her to block dagger blade against dagger blade.
Danny thus cut in with his sword, slashing Jane just lightly enough to deplete her health a few points, but his slash left him open to one of Jane''s high kicks, launched at his lower stomach with enough kick to push him back. Jane then spun around twice while twirling her ankles in a certain direction. The motion allowed Jane to dodge Taylor''s slashes and move in right behind her at the same time, thus did Jane get to cut into Taylor a couple of time before Danny jumped in again to stop her.
This crazy parade of close combat danger went on for more than a minute. Jane was losing all of her breath, even though she could hear it in her opponents at the same time. When did the two of them get so fast? When have they had the time to properly train with this much skill? Jane did everything she could using the tactics that she trained to use, but Danny and Taylor both were avoiding more than half of her physical hits, while Jane took a few stray cuts and punches as well. Against two targets at once, this fight was impossible to win!
Danny had to block another one of Jane''s crazy speed attacks, having her slash her daggers in wild directions though coordinated enough to prevent Danny from blocking everything. He had to dodge some of the kicks as well, all while knowing when the right moment would be. It didn''t always turn out in his favor. He figured that he of all three took the most amount of physical damage, but once Jane started to single him out and focus on Danny alone, he realized what more openings this left him with. Taylor isn''t jumping in, but that can be helpful as well. "Power Blast!" Danny launched his charged sphere of energy quickly, slamming into Jane and sending her flying backwards by dozens of meters. The blast wave was powerful enough to force Danny to slide back in the grassy terrain, and knock the wind into Taylor as well, but Jane suffered the most since she just jumped into the air right before taking that attack. Danny watched as Jane was dug into the ground, her close combination sequence canceled. "I''ll back you up Taylor!"
Taylor didn''t know what Danny might try in order to help Taylor with her next attack, but it better be something excellent. It isn''t always wise to rely on newly mastered spells to get the upper hand. It might fail to work, or backfire completely. Still, this is worth the risk! "Ice Rain!"
"Molecular Boost!" Danny held his arm out steady and controlled his MP dispersion carefully. He never heard of that spell before, but it should go smoothly with this boosting glyphring in front of Taylor''s spell. He placed the support glyphring just in front of Taylor''s left hand, since she was also using a glyphring of her own.
Taylor welcomed the support glyphring, since it will ensure her spell reaches Jane without a hitch. Jane is still getting herself together. She must hate it when Danny uses Power Blast or Push Wave against her, but this time, Jane will have something new to worry about. "Now!" Taylor coaxed the spell out of herself, launching the large and bright blue sphere of frozen water through her own glyphring. The bolt became twice as luminescent once it traveled through the center of Danny''s support glyphring, the power level effects amplified. Taylor never got to test this out on a live target, but the moment was already exciting for her. Taylor couldn''t give up on her concentration though, since this is one of the spells that requires focus all the way through.
The enlarged Ice Bolt zoomed quickly towards Jane, and homed in on her position. Just as Jane was standing prepared to dodge, the Ice Bolt suddenly shifted its course and flew higher above Jane''s head instead. But instead of passing her for a near miss, the bolt of ice suddenly exploded in synchronization to Taylor''s hand gesture, closing her palm with her fingers into a tightly compacted fist. At that moment, the bolt of ice exploded, shooting out hundreds of high energy frozen needles down to the ground, most of which penetrated through Jane was she stood there helpless and confused. Just like that, Jane''s health took a massive dive, but the incredible shooting pain of high intensity needles got to Jane even faster. Since the element of ice was involved, Jane''s entire body temperature also became dramatically lower, making her shiver in the absence of her own heat, and cringe in the painful aspect of this new spell. It hurts twice as bad as Needle Barrage, and the sensation sticks without fading too.
Taylor isn''t the only one who can make up new spells during a battle. Jane shot away her pains as best as she could, focusing on her keen ability to warp her location while generating a particular aura around her. "I''ll update my own skills to make sure you don''t win. Dark Strike! Version 3!" Jane decided to change up an existing ability to get her own advantage against the two of them. She shot herself forward with the aura of Dark Strike, side slashing into Danny, then warping to side sweep into Taylor, but this time, Jane shut her aura down temporarily, following up her skill with a few physical kicks and slashes into Danny and Taylor both. Used just after they''ve taken a fair amount of damage from Dark Strike slashes, Jane knew they would fail to block or evade her hits due to their inability to focus right after receiving a painful gash at light speed. Jane entered her aura again, performing a similar action, warping twice to score a second hit on Danny and Taylor both. She stopped once more between both of them, launching a low powered Ice Ball directly into their faces. Jane then finished her skill by warping far away from the two of them. It was hard to concentrate this much with such little time to execute the skill while shutting on and off the same aura, but the results seemed to be a little more effective than before, while the MP cost in total remained unchanged.
Jane took another examination of herself, surprised by the minor though visible red gashes appearing underneath her dress sphere. Ice Rain really has this much power to it? Danny did boost the power level, but if these cuts appear this visible, shouldn''t the energy scope report real time damage? No, this must still be Leray damage. Jane never realized until now how improving one''s endurance over time also increases the amount of punishment a person can handle before entering vital drain, or something worse.
But now isn''t the time for that. Danny and Taylor are becoming more aggressive now. Even after sustaining that damage, they''re not even fazed from their exhaustion. Jane thus prepared more of her MP energy to be ready this time.
"Back me up!" Danny coordinated with Taylor, proving how effective team work is against Jane. "Crimson Blade Charge!" Danny knew how powerful his blade can be when he needed it to. The blade burst into red flames of special energy, all while Danny was charging forward on foot. Jane won''t be able to resist the power level of a blade encased in magic flames!
Taylor charged her own energy more slowly, running in behind Danny. It wasn''t certain what Jane might try to counter their move, but she began thinking of powerful ice elemental spells to use for the moment.
"Power Shield!" Jane knew there was going to be a good time to use it. After encasing herself in a transparent shielding aura, Jane expected the two of them to stop running to reassess their strategy. Instead,
"We''ve got her now!"
Jane felt more confused by the second. Danny and Taylor were still running towards her, despite the presence of her power shield. They can''t really expect to overpower her aura, could they? They wouldn''t be stupid enough to wait out the seven seconds it would take for the shield to fail on its own. Jane would be ready to counterattack the moment it drops. How is he so confident?!
Danny could feel Taylor dragging herself behind, but it was fine as long as they could both take down this shield. Jane cannot counterattack from dropping her shield during a moment where she is being attacked. Danny let out his gasps of strength as he slashed his blazing sword down into Jane''s power shield. The strike created moderately sized holographic hexagons at the impact site, though Danny retracted his blade to try it again and again, putting all of his physical strength behind each sword slash. Danny followed up his plan with a lengthy combination attack, relentless against Jane''s power shield.
At first Jane thought their idea wasn''t going to work. Even though she knew Danny''s combination attack with Crimson Blade would never be enough to break through her shielding aura, his eight hits so far were messing with her ability to concentrate on keeping the aura going. It wasn''t too hard though, considering he was hitting her quickly as to not draw out the shield''s natural time limit.
Danny jumped away with a spin after his ninth hit against the shield, instructing Taylor to go next. "Switch!" Danny got his distance away from the shield, and all while powering a new spell in his right hand with tremendous amounts of MP energy, something that would be needed to execute the high power level ability.
Taylor knew what Danny meant by switch. It was her turn to attack Jane while she was still shielded. Normally, Jane would have used this moment to drop her shield and stop Danny''s secondary attack since he needs time to charge that energy and invoke his spell, but Jane cannot do anything now that Taylor is unleashing her own attack at a quick moment. Still rusty in her practice with some of her new spells, this one should have enough power behind it to get to Jane. "Ice Glave!" Inspired by Mainne''s demonstrations of powerful ice spells, Taylor unleashed one of her own, a spell very similar to Earth Glave, using ice glaciers instead. The large chunks of ice slammed into Jane''s personal aura with an incredible force. It wasn''t as strong as Taylor wanted it to be, but the generation of hundreds of small hexagons all over the aura meant Taylor had done it. In the last second ending Taylor''s attack spell, Jane''s personal shield collapsed downward to the ground, leaving her drained of her stamina.
That''s when Danny decided to strike. "Prone Strike!" The Shadow Wave aura Danny launched in Jane''s direction was already close to his position, thus did he and Taylor back away the moment the spell invocation was successfully used. As expected, Jane was helpless to do anything about the Shadow Wave coming towards her. At the moment before impact, the entire Shadow Wave jumped into the air above Jane, and exploded into a high energy barrage seeping through her skin. That ability is Prone Strike, and it can deal a lot of damage to a single target.
Jane felt the burning and bruising sensations everywhere following up the explosive damage done to her, a blast that knocked her backwards and into the ground. Her face drilled into the earth with the sheer force of the blast wave, and Jane had to pull herself back up from a heavy attack yet again. These two are showing such effective coordination. Danny is remembering his last defeat, and using what he learned already to exploit Jane''s weaknesses. Meanwhile, Taylor is a good supporter in a moment''s notice.
Jane shook her head, trying to focus. There are spells that she knows how to use, spells that will always get the best of them in battle. There is always a way to win! "Stalagmite!" Jane unleashed her ability with her right glowing hand, using extra MP to force the spell through since there usually needs to be a ceiling for the ability to spawn the massive stalagmites to come crashing down on her targets, but as expected, Danny and Taylor utilized a special energy, creating thin auras around their feet, and enabling them the ability to jump impossibly high into the air. They both have seen Jane jump on top of these stalagmites before, so of course they would try something similar.
But the idiots don''t realize what mistake they''ve just made. "Zero Zone!" The moment Jane shouted her skill and unleashed her energy, the aura of a colorless time void shot outward from Jane at the speed of light, freezing everything in time except for herself, and making it harder to see. Jane could catch up to them now. Danny and Taylor are both currently standing on top of separate stalagmites, which also are now frozen in time. Jane followed up with her plan, shooting out two non-elemental energy bolts towards each targeted stalagmite in order to break up and destroy the structure. She then calculated where Danny and Taylor would fall down from the moment Zero Zone ends, and charged both of her hands with each a separate electrical glyphring, draining most of her remaining MP energy. "Electro-Blast!" Just as Jane shot off the energy bolts, she intentionally shut down Zero Zone''s aura, and waited for the results, but she waited with a third tactical advantage.
Energy Cycle. Jane didn''t need to chant the name aloud anymore, so her entire body was now coated with a purple aura that will increase her natural MP regeneration, giving her more time to use powerful magic spells. Neither one of them can do the things Jane knew she is capable of.
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As soon as the stalagmites of Jane''s choosing broke apart, Danny and Taylor both found themselves falling down off their balance, Jane''s interruption too quick to counter. Then, an Electro-Blast sphere each slammed into Danny and Taylor while they were beginning to fall down, the bolts each expanding instantly into the sphere used in a Thunder Flare spell. The attack electrocuted both of them, keeping them high in the air during the discharge and zapping their nerves of their energy. As soon as the attack was over, Danny and Taylor were both so stunned from the powerful shock, that they crashed into the ground without the necessary consciousness alert level needed to try and break their fall or protect themselves. A short-term of low-grade paralysis got the better of both of them, and Jane assessed her current plan while waiting on her aura to rack up MP energy for her to use again.
Though it took more time than before for Danny and Taylor to recover themselves, Jane wasn''t actively attacking either one of them. She needed to milk that Energy Cycle for everything it is worth. By the time Danny and Taylor were back on their feet, it was finally time to invent new strategies to take Jane out.
"Taylor," Danny instigated. "Another boost please."
Taylor didn''t know what Danny was about to do, but he was specifically asking her to use Molecular Boost on his next spell. Luckily, Taylor is good at using that skill too. "Molecular Boost."
"Spirit Arrow!" Danny generated the bow and arrow into his hands since he didn''t have a bow to switch to. Then he loaded the arrow, infused with spirit elemental energy. It should do a small amount of HP damage to Jane, but more so should it confuse or disorient her. Who knows how it will react with another Molecular Boost aura?
When Danny released the arrow, it immediately traveled through the center of Taylor''s special glyphring. Instead of improving the power level, the arrow''s flight speed instantly shot up to the speed of a bullet, piercing straight into Jane''s left shoulder over the distance. Because of her Energy Cycle aura, Jane lost a small amount of HP and gained a larger amount of MP from that spell.
"Now!" Danny charged forward with his blade, needing no aura to be able to reach Jane this time. Taylor followed behind Danny with her dagger blades, soon realizing how different this Charge Attack sequence is going to be.
Jane suddenly watched Danny and Taylor disappear into a mist, then reappear again even closer, a phenomena that continued to happen on and off. She knew instantly what this was. While the pain in her shoulder wasn''t that intense, spirit elemental damage can have this psychological effect on the person affected, but Jane has dealt with this kind of confusion before. There are more than two ways of dealing with targets she cannot visually track. "Gyrobreak!"
The earth quaked violently, while the ground felt as though it were shifting planes on a fulcrum. Jane could see Danny and Taylor struggling to keep their balance now, easier to track them due to their lowered mobility. Jane then took care of them with a follow up area attack spell, driving her MP back downward to a dangerous level while disrupting her Energy Cycle aura. "Fiery Plume!"
Admits the loud quaking of the earth, small explosions of geysers shooting out hot fire lifted from below, landing into Danny and Taylor both. Danny knew Taylor was hit when he could hear her loud and painful shriek of painful first degree burns, but Danny was being hit with this painful spell too. It divided his attention for the entire time Gyrobreak and Fiery Plume lasted.
Danny turned to Taylor, who shared with him a glimmer in their eyes. Her determination to win this is perfectly fit for Danny''s barrage of well-executed plans. Jane won''t be able to stop them if they both have the same boosted power levels. "Now to each other." Danny held out his hand with a glowing aura familiar to them both. "Molecular Boost!"
Taylor had to guess what Danny wanted by his words. "To each other?" she repeated. Danny must want to try and stretch Molecular Boost to its limitations. It works on personal aura too with enough practice, not just individual spells. Taylor thus held out her left hand aiming at Danny, mirroring the same spell. "Molecular Boost!"
Jane watched in amazement to yet another new kind of power. Danny and Taylor are using Molecular Boost on each other at the exact same time. It''s a known fact that you cannot chain multiple uses of Molecular Boost, but they''re not using it in that way.
"Crimson Blade!" Danny charged his saber with a red fiery aura with power unseen to his eyes before. The aura was much thicker, making the blade heavy with magic.
"Power Drill!" Using an artificial name for an unofficial skill, Taylor copied Danny, infusing both of her dagger blades with non-elemental energy to give them a bright, thick glow for damage potential. Then at the same time, they both charged forward at Jane, their energy potential raised to an unknown level.
It was enough to panic Jane into using another Power Shield. Danny knew how to make short work of these by now, but Jane wasn''t sure what was going to happen anymore. Her attempt to block out the damage is all she had to defend herself.
Taylor practically jumped blade first into Jane''s shielding aura, while Danny took a massive swing of the glowing blade in the same direction. The moment both of their weapons impacted against the shield, Jane felt a kind of drain she wasn''t expecting to experience so soon. The tiny hexagons forming everywhere from their double strike collapsed Jane''s shield in one blow, and she nearly fell to the floor from the loss of focus and energy.
Danny didn''t stop there however. He continued slashing into Jane relentlessly, switching with Taylor, who used magically charged dagger blades to add damage into Jane. The combination against Jane was different this time, as she could offer little to no resistance. In short of a few slashes to the target, both of their efforts knocked Jane down into the ground. With Jane''s stats now so low, it was affecting her desire to continue battling.
Though Jane couldn''t tell, Danny and Taylor retreated to a safer area, exhausted by their constant attacks and heavy energy usage. As for Jane, she was facing a new problem. A whirling hazy sensation came over her, and the inside of her head felt heavier, as if pressure were added around her skull. With that, a tingling sensation emerged strongly at the top of her right hand. Jane knew she had no choice but to try and block it.
"What?"
"Look at that!" Danny didn''t want to point it out, but the very thing he feared was now happening right in front of him. Jane''s right hand is glowing like a sun right now, so bright and easy to detect. All of the people gathering outside the dome shield would see this too, even though they should already know this fact about Jane by now. Her symbol is activating against her control.
Chapter Theme Shift: Vortal Combat ~ Valve
"More energy! More stamina! I''m not going to faint from battle!" Uncertain of the words she was saying, Jane was now giving into the natural ability installed to her genetic structure, lunastasis. The symbol finally revealed itself in a strong holographic display above her right hand, revealing the mark once again to everyone around her, but Jane couldn''t think about anything else right now, only the parameters of battle! She stood back up on her feet gracefully, rejuvenated from the cure of the mark.
Danny and Taylor exchanged a nervous glance with each other briefly. She had to ask for confirmation whether this is safe anymore. "Do you still want to fight her with that kind of advantage?"
Danny knew he made Jane promise to forfeit the match if that symbol allows her to cheat... But even with that symbol working to heal her stats, there is always a way to win against such odds. I need to be stronger! "Does it look like I''m ready to give up?" Taylor''s expression seemed to be oddly satisfied upon Danny''s rhetorical question, and now wasn''t the time to ask.
Jane charged a clear green aura around her body, enhancing her invocation speed by a factor of four. "I''m going to make you wish you had given up sooner!" Utilizing the effective aura of Blitz, Jane chained her next several skills behind it for improved effectiveness and speed. Her energy drained much faster than before, but that is because these next set of spells is designed to be overkill. "Photon Burst!" Jane unleashed her Photon Burst spell, causing it to rain down blue photons of non-elemental energy over a wide area to cover Danny and Taylor together, but just to make sure they don''t get to try anything to dodge it, Jane activated another skill with her glowing daggers ready, prepared to continue the battle despite her bright glowing symbol revealing itself to everyone. "Dark Strike!"
Danny miscalculated only one thing. Upon Jane''s symbol activation, she might get a little more aggressive than what is recommended for a Leray battle. While he and Taylor were being bombarded by a Photon Burst barrage, he also got to feel the stinging heavy force of a light speed slash coming from Jane''s second version of Dark Strike.
Jane turned herself into a single line of light, warping over and over until she scored additional damages to Danny and Taylor using her blades and special speed auras. As soon as her Dark Strike had ended, she warped to another safe distance with her Blitz aura still active, and spawned one large Shadow Wave for each free hand she had, one for Danny, and one for Taylor. By the time those two got themselves back up, they were too late to dodge or block the Shadow Waves, or so Jane thought.
Danny at least got smart enough to try and use his saber to block the Shadow Wave, shoving it into the earth and holding his strength against it, but the Shadow Wave was stronger this time, and it blew Danny backwards, stumbling on his feet in a failing attempt to hold his balance strong against Jane''s relentless attacks.
Caught off guard, Jane carefully tracked Danny''s failed attempt to block the Shadow Wave, even though he did get a slightly reduced damage sentence for trying it. Jane made short work of that effort by creating a bright purple colored glyphring around her right wrist, one indicating the use of spirit elemental energy. "Spirit Bolt!" By the moment Jane successfully launched her Spirit Bolt, her crest lost all its light and stopped functioning to help out her stats in battle. The instantaneous healing only affected her the moment the symbol came online, with the dramatic boost in focus being the effect of the crest''s current assistance.
Danny finally recovered, but not quick enough to do anything about the Spirit Bolt about to slam into his face in the next second. "Cold Spin!" Taylor intervened just in time, launching her own Cold Spin twister attack to spawn just in front of Danny without damaging him at the same time. As a result, the Spirit Bolt was quickly swept away and dissolved into useless energy. Of course, Taylor''s Cold Spin wasn''t going to harm Jane Venn either, but it did buy the both of them some more time, despite their heavy damages.
Covered and protected by a temporary twister shooting out freezing air, Danny and Taylor huddled together for another new plan, which might end up being their last one if it fails to take Jane down in the next shot. That symbol really is something useful to her. Danny put his sword into his back hilt, freeing up both of his hands. "Get ready Taylor! I''m going to throw you!"
Taylor almost winced with how reckless that idea is, but she complied upon realizing which spell she could personally combine to make this work against Jane.
Danny held out his hand, grabbing Taylor''s firmly. His strength was already above average given all of the practice he had holding that heavy blade, though lifting Taylor into a spin was something even more challenging. Danny however pulled it off, lifting Taylor off the ground while rotating his alternating feet to drag her around for extra momentum. As soon as the angle was correct, Danny let Taylor go in a desperate attempt for a final strike against Jane.
"Flash Kick!" Taylor had her own way of making sure this would work, the white aura around her feet creating a blunt damage modifier, while the invisible aura around her body accelerated her movement speed tenfold. She quickly became a shooting bolt of light drilling through the tornado of her own spell, emerging from the other side quick enough to surprise Jane. Taylor flew through the air at a tremendous speed, her feet far out as the weapon force to be used in conjunction with her flying kick. Taylor ended up using a naturally boosted Flash Kick against Jane, landing her glowing shoe straight into Jane''s stomach, and knocking her back by several meters, while Taylor fell on the ground with little resistance or damage.
Jane sunk to her knees frozen by the pain of that unexpected blow to her stomach, and having the wind knocked out of her for a temporary blockage to inhale more air. But even in this condition, Jane launched powerful bolts of energy from her hand towards Danny without effort.
"Summon Hell!" Danny already charged his saber with fiery energy after throwing Taylor; now it was time to hit Jane while she is down. Danny slashed his sword through the air sideways, launching three fiery bolts of energy forward at a quick speed. One of the three bolts intercepted Jane''s magic bolt attack, causing it to explode, while the other two went on and slammed into Jane while she was already down and exhausted.
Even before Danny could calculate the damage of that impact, he knew his last attempt wasn''t good enough to defeat Jane. Taylor was already backing up quickly to obtain a better distance. Danny knew what to do next. "Another new spell." He''ll just have to have faith that this skill will work without ever testing it extensively. "Juvinile!" Using a made up moniker to a made up spell, Danny combined elements of Star of Darkness, Downstrike, Laser Storm, and Power Drain all into one super spell. Its invocation speed is also unmatched by anything he has ever worked with before.
Once Danny unleashed Juvinile, Jane found herself sitting on top of a holographic circle, about half the size of Star of Darkness, and designed in the center with an unusual kind of artistic marking. Then, eight electrical arcs of energy covered the ends of the surrounding circle, with two arcs high and low connected to the same circle to trap Jane in and surrounded her with electrical energy. Whatever this spell is, she knew this was not a recognized ability. Before she could shield again, Jane was suddenly bombarded from above by hot painful lasers barraging from the same spell, each of which were equally painful enough to stop her from moving or interacting entirely. As soon as the laser barrage ended, Jane noticed that the surrounding electrical arcs were moving closer to the center of the circle, closer to her.
Just then, Jane was hit again with two bolts of energy which, instead of dealing any damage to her, drained her of all of stamina in the same instance. The next moment later, all eight bolts of electrical energy began zapping Jane''s health away in a painful electrocution lasting for 2.7 seconds. By the time the electrocution ended and the circle underneath her faded, Jane found herself drained and unable to move from the stunning effect of electricity.
Danny noted already how much trouble he was now in with his MP counter reaching zero. He already felt lightheaded and dizzy. Luckily for him, Taylor was backing up for a good reason.
"Storm Echo!" With Taylor waiting out Danny''s spell long enough to invoke her own, she had to ignore how cool it was to see something new coming from Danny, and her Storm Echo skill should finally put Jane to sleep once and for all! Twenty glyphrings all surrounded Jane from random positions and angles in the air surrounding her. Once Jane realized what was about to happen to her, it was already too late. Taylor unleashed her payload of twenty separate Thunderbolts, all sequencing one after the other, over and over, the timing followed by the noise shocking Jane numerous times and adding meaning behind the name of the official spell. The sounds of Thunderbolt echo out over and over with a dramatic effect. Taylor knew this would drain all of her remaining MP energy, but it would all be worth it now.
Jane could see herself trembling, in her arms and in her legs. She already felt like she was at the brink at passing out, but even right now, even after having her energy drained, she could read the other two energy scopes in the distance. Those two have drained themselves of MP energy, and she hasn''t! Jane stood back up, disregarding her intense pain, and she thought of the only way remaining to win, to defeat her enemies once and for all.
"You''re open!" Jane drew her daggers out, and charged forward in a wild sprint to catch up to them. Danny and Taylor both weren''t sure what to do in that moment, but Jane could tell that Taylor was attempting a weapon switch to use her arrow techniques, while Danny was planning to hold his ground with that saber. It won''t work. "Firesurge!" Jane unleashed a fiery Shadow Wave in Taylor''s direction, then shifted her aim and balance to target Danny, matching her focal point of vision perfectly with his position. "Mize!" Jane''s right hand created an instant glyphring which fired a burning beam of color faster than any other known spell. Mize fired a beam of energy similar to Splice, drilling through Danny''s body like paper, and sending him to the ground. Taylor was also slammed by that Firesurge attack, launching her backwards. Even after that double attack, they still had some health in them. Jane''s thoughts began racing faster, her heart pounding in an attempt to keep her conscious.
They''ve still got health! They''ve still got potential! Jane held in the last of her MP energy, charging it into an unusual sphere of energy building in between both palms of her hands, but it put an enormous stress on her everywhere else.
Danny couldn''t believe it! Jane hit them both last, and now he and Taylor are at Vital Drain status. Any additional damage done to either of them could be dangerous, potentially lethal... So why is Jane charging more spells?
Taylor noticed it before Danny did. Jane''s empty and confused eyes; she isn''t paying attention to her surroundings anymore, curtsey of her own low stats maybe? "Jane! We give up!" Given everything Taylor just said, the Siriean dome around them collapsed quickly, with the reward spoil system text showing up for a brief moment.
This sentiment however didn''t change what Jane was about to do. Danny couldn''t really imagine why she would still threaten to harm both of them even after she promised not to lose control again. She must be forgetting where she really is. Danny stood up slouched, barely conscious himself, but he tried desperately to stop Jane Venn before everything ends in a very unfortunate accident. "Jane! Stop this! We''re not your enemy!"
"You wouldn''t hurt your friends, would you?" Taylor knew her added words might not reach Jane. In reality, Jane never threw her energy sphere. Instead, she seemed to be frozen, holding the ball of light until it dispersed in her hand, Jane drained of energy and unable to sustain it.
My friends? They''re... "Danny... And Taylor." Jane held an expression of detachment from reality, but her thoughts were finally beginning to stabilize again. Danny and Taylor are here. This is the battle Jane is in right now.
Jane didn''t seem to be very responsive anymore, so Danny let his body relax. Was she really about to launch that heavy attack at them both? Jane, did you almost lose control again?
Chapter Theme Shift: Cranktown Night ~ Resonance of Fate / End of Eternity OST
The realization came to Jane several silent moments later. The color of their energy scopes have changed, and Vital Drain status was being reported. Even after checking her own, Jane''s energy scope was normal and orange despite her low stats. "Ah! What am I doing?!" Jane realized another moment later that the dome shield around them was already disabled. Guilt panicked her rapidly as Jane struggled to use her trembling hands to reach her supply sphere, and pull out three healing orbs. She used one on herself first to regenerate her stats, more of a precautionary measure to stay sane before something else could happen. Jane then rushed to her two friends with healing orbs prepared in each hand.
"I''m so sorry you two!" Jane''s face began glowing red with worry, but Danny and Taylor were still conscious enough to speak and move, even with the lowest stats.
Danny and Taylor both used the healings orbs as Jane gave it to them, and by the time their stats returned to normal only seconds later, Danny let Jane have it. "Idiot. What are you apologizing for?"
Holding back her gasp, Jane refused to let herself off the hook for this. It was so hard to remember right now, but Jane felt so hazy a moment ago, more like she was angered into a state of auto-pilot. "But I almost brought you both harm! Why didn''t you stop the battle when you saw my symbol activate?"
Speaking of which, Danny became a bit more nervous when remembering the presence of all of the spectators watching. They weren''t clapping or cheering this time. Instead, they were huddling together, whispering in people''s ears, some of them rushing off like they''d seen a ghost. All of them witnessed Jane''s symbol activating, and perhaps a few of them have never seen it before. But that isn''t the biggest concern right now.
"I told you," Danny reminded "I couldn''t resist a tougher challenge."
Jane finally lost her nerve, and slapped Danny one, her hand stinging to his jaw. How could he be so blind?! "I wasn''t in the right frame of mind anymore, stupid! I could have killed you both!"
"And you didn''t!" Danny reminded.
Taylor had to drag Jane back away from Danny, before they both get into a fight. Taylor couldn''t agree with him on this. They should have called the match way earlier than she did before. Jane wasn''t coming to her senses even with the Siriean dome put down, and that proves that what she was seeing and processing in her head were two very different things. Was that the low stats to her energy scope causing this? Or is it this thing inside of her? "Stop fighting! It isn''t going to happen again." Taylor had to look Jane in the eyes for this. Her face is so full of shame, it''s clear she didn''t mean to get carried away. "We''re not going to die."
Jane knew she should have listened to Danny earlier. Why did he ignore his own warning in the middle of battle? "I couldn''t stop this stupid crest from activating again. I don''t even know what happened to me."
Danny didn''t dare share his dark theories with Jane, less it only serve to panic her into paranoia. It''s very obvious what might be happening to Jane. Her symbol is a dangerous weapon, one that amplifies the abilities of the user, but only by pushing them to their limits. He has seen this symbol activate before. And every single time it does...
Danny flashed back every intense battle he got to witness. Jane''s symbol wouldn''t always activate, but every time it did, she fought five times harder, as if her life was on the line. No, it''s even worse than that. She''s put into a mixed state of aggression or stress. In that moment, it is too easy for her to mix up the difference between an opponent and an enemy. That night in New York only adds to the proof before him today. Jane''s symbol, when activated makes her far more aggressive than anything else ever could. It''s amazing she can even fight with something so strong pushing her stats so high. It''s unnatural!
So of course she may lose her mind during battle. Jane will simply let that marking do all of the hard work for her. If she loses focus even for a second, her mind will belong to that power too, as if melting into some personal madness. It''s a form of unconscious fighting, as far as Danny could theorize. And yes, this was a dangerous idea, to fight Jane while her symbol was active. It was stupid, and Danny knew he deserved more than a slap on the face... But Jane doesn''t need that kind of worry right now. She cannot handle it. "Don''t get all bent out of shape! We''re all to blame for ignoring that potential threat. Besides, what''s even to show for it when Taylor and I both lost anyway?"
"You just don''t get it!" Jane was speaking through her teeth, ready to throw magic at Danny anyway. Taylor seemed shyer about it than Jane predicted. "You don''t understand how much it would kill me inside if I end up causing either of you real harm."
Danny knew all too well, and yet, during the fun of battle, he let that responsibility slip out the door. Even now, he isn''t doing anything to prove Nyar wrong, or to ease Jane''s frustrations. There is no other option left then. Danny let out a heavy regretful sigh. "I''m really sorry, both of you." Danny didn''t want to have to present himself this way, but there isn''t any other way to calm her down now. "I promised not to let this battle get carried away, yet I did." Taylor was about to interrupt, attempting to share that blame with him. "We''re both going to figure this out Jane."
Figure what out? Jane felt relieved after Danny proved that he really is sorry about this. It can be hard to understand him sometimes, but this is also Jane''s fault for failing to control her own symbol.
Danny elaborated on what he meant given Jane''s confusion. "You''re not going to be controlled by some dumb symbol for all your life. I already promised you this several weeks ago, though I doubt you''ve remembered. Meanwhile, we''ll watch over you to make sure you get that support."
He sounds like a councilor right now. Jane held back her laughter, but failed when her thoughts circled back to the bet he just lost. Taylor found her reaction confusing, and Danny found it worrisome. "I can forgive you Danny. After all, we''re going to have a fun day in Gross City playing dress up!"
"Grhmmmm." Danny rejected his stare to Jane for bringing that back up. That was the other only way of calming Jane down, having her humiliate himself, which doesn''t make any sense to him. "I guess we did kind of botch that battle."
Taylor exhaled with a close laughter, and remembered the fun bet Danny had on the line. "Don''t blame me for losing," she reminded.
Jane found it strange that in spite of their failure, they really don''t understand how close they were if Jane''s symbol had to come online. Her stats were very low at the end, compared to both of theirs. "You both almost defeated me. Or did you forget?"
But Danny and Taylor were both in denial this time, assuring Jane that they were not even close. "Come on Jane! We both went into vital drain while you mopped the floor with us. Even if you would have stopped attacking, we both would have given up anyway because of the red energy scopes."
Taylor is right, but also wrong. Jane stared at her right hand while proving to Taylor that it was never that simple. "If it weren''t for my symbol, you both would have beaten me fair and square. I never thought you would get so close to defeating me in battle, even as I went all out holding nothing back." Jane knew her slight praise was accepted when they went silent and modest. "You''re both a lot tougher than I thought. I know that we teamed up together and defeated that Gaia creature in Alpha Zero, but even now, you''ve both improved so much."
Are we really that impressive to Jane? Danny found it strange, Jane giving him any praise at all. Perhaps he really is catching up to her level. Though most of his new skills were a large coin toss. With new spells, it can be hard to correctly invoke the ability, more so to do it quickly. With Jane to fight against, there is plenty of urgency to get it right the first or second time. Maybe Jane is right. "You know Jane, I..." Danny couldn''t see it any other way. A person by themself can only be as powerful as they train, but a team of wielders fighting either together or right beside each other, it does something wonderful to people. There isn''t any other feeling like it in the world. "I think that¡ª"
"What are you doing out here?!" Everyone looked to him, the guy in uniform hovering closely to the three young adults planted into the grass. They all stood up nervously upon his arrival, but it was also clear that nobody recognized him, as they wouldn''t.
Danny stood up, but he held his tongue with caution. It wasn''t hard to tell that this man is a Leray agent, given the badge and uniform. However, he is also a stranger, and that makes him untrustworthy enough. What is a man like him doing here? Does he know Danton? He seems to know who Danny''s team are. Either way, that wasn''t the only concern Danny now had. He remembered now that the few people who stuck around to watch the battle were now also wondering that that symbol business was about earlier. A couple of fans were already shouting out that Jane is marked.
The stranger introduced himself, seeing it necessary. "I''m Clint. I''m one of the agents tasked with repairing Gross City, but I''m also a messenger for Danton. Now why do I find the three of you blasting magic around when you should be reporting in to your boss?"
Who does this guy think he is? Danny stopped Jane from replying to this piece of work. "Last time I checked, flaunting Leray magic around is still legal. Besides," Danny pointed directly to the agent. "You say you''re a messenger for Danton, but how do we know any of us can trust that you don''t work for someone else?"
Jane and Taylor looked at Danny, uncertain if they should agree with his precautions. When is too much uncertainty too much?
"I see," he realized. They really want to play this game right now? "Well, we could simply walk into the Leray agency located in Tilsit Port, present my credentials, and prove that I am who I say I am."
Sounds like a lot of work. Jane didn''t announce that little detail though.
"Or, you could all just do your jobs, and allow me to teleport you three back to Eldora Tower. I realize that there are not many pending clean-up tasks for you do to here anymore. However, that doesn''t mean you''re services are not needed. Danton has been bothering me to take you back to his chambers for the past two hours. You never waited in front of the north exit as instructed."
He seems real enough. Danton is the kind of person who would pester his own staff to make sure something gets done. If the guy is willing to present his own document before a building full of Leray agents, he can''t be a liar. Jane felt it is best to just agree with the guy and find out what Danton wants.
"What does Danton want now?" Danny knew he had to ask.
"I''m not sure what a champion of Leray magic would want with three teenagers. However, it must be something urgent, judging by the fact that he wants me to drop everything I''m doing just to teleport you three to him."
Urgent? Danny felt a dark wave of dread wash over him. "What happened now?" Sprawn Valley really can''t just be a peaceful place for twenty four hours? Must something always come up so urgently? Danton, what kind of war are you starting with these guys?