Point-of-View: Argent Stryker

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"Elemental Flame: Mega Fire Blast!" I exclaimed, as I finally raced towards my other blade and picked it up, before leaping away as Severa sprang towards me and slashed both her arms outwards.

She’s covered in burns...and they’re already fading fast. That healing Skill of hers is completely unfair!

"Stop running away, that’s no fun...stand your ground and fight me!" She exclaimed, as she shot towards me.

Damn it, she’s faster, stronger and more skilled than I am...should I use Limit Breaker? But if I do and she activates that nullifying barrier again, I’ll be abruptly hit with the backlash like last time. I really don’t want to lose in the same way that I did last time. I’ll hold off on it for as long as possible...

"Elemental Earth: Rock Bullet!" I chanted, firing out a rapid rock projectile at her.

She didn’t try to evade, instead swinging her foot out as it closed in on her, slamming her heel onto it and breaking it apart. Damn.

"Hm...Elemental Plasma: Plasma Arrow," She chanted in response, shooting a straight, narrow projectile at me.

I let it pass through me by turning intangible, before I shot towards her and leapt at her, slashing my right blade across at her. She raised her left hand defensively, my blade phasing through her spikes and deeply slicing through the side of her left arm.

But it healed rapidly, before she backed away and got some distance. I swiftly chased after her, closing in on her rapidly while she kept her gaze downwards.

My eyes then widened as I closed in on her, as a Magic Circle appeared right in front of my feet. I began to jump back in alarm, grimacing as I felt earth spikes pierce the bottom of my feet right before they left the ground, another one shooting towards my torso from the front.

I turned that spot intangible as I began to spring back, starting to turn myself fully intangible-...right before I could, a sharp pain burst out across the right side of my lower back, a startled cry of pain escaping my lips before I turned fully intangible and gritted my teeth to try and ignore the pain.

"E-Elemental Flame: Jet Soles," I chanted with a strained voice, flying high up into the air.

From what I’ve seen after she took down her barrier, she isn’t capable of casting large scale Spells. It’s possible that she’s begun learning Magic only recently.

That said, while she can’t seem to use highly powerful Spells, she uses the Spells that she can cast very effectively, as she just did now.

Crap, the wound in my back feels pretty deep, it’s bleeding profusely...and unlike her, I can’t heal myself. I clenched my fists in frustration...even if I do somehow manage to beat her, I doubt I’ll be satisfied.

She isn’t using her nullifying barrier, and while that doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s going easy on me, because I really don’t think that she is, she’s still making it easier for me than she needs to.

Yeah, right now, I’m not sure she even realizes it, but...she’s handicapping herself a bit, in order to enjoy this fight more. At least, that’s how I’m seeing it.

Well, it’s fine, I can’t change the way she fights...I’m in a lot of pain, at a disadvantage even with Intangibility to rely on, while she doesn’t have so much as a scratch on her.

"Alright, here goes nothing, I guess...," I sighed to myself, before I rapidly swooped down towards her by intensifying the output of the flame jets under my feet, chanting as I began to close in on her, "Initiate Skill:...Limit Breaker!"

I swung one of my blades at her with all my strength, which she managed to block but the force upon impact caused her to stumble back a step, before I angled my feet across to rapidly spin myself and swung one of my feet at the side of her head.

My foot slammed onto the left side of her face, severely burning it as I intensified the flames shooting out of my sole, before attempting to kick her with my other foot as well...when I suddenly ended up shooting myself away from her as she slashed at me.

I landed on the ground with a shaky stumble as I deactivated the Spell...huh, I was going for a kick, but lost control and ended up flying away from her. Might have been a blessing in disguise thought, I think that worked out in my favor...if I hadn’t flown away, she likely would have landed that slash on me.

She’s already healing the damage to her face...well, I expected as much, so yeah. I hopped a couple of times to loosen up before I shot towards her, grimacing and doing my best to ignore the throbbing pain from my feet, as she simultaneously rushed in towards me as well.

As we closed in on each other, a rapid flurry of cuts and slashes was unleashed upon each other, deflecting, parrying and blocking some of each other’s attacks, while we both also inflicted damage.

Cuts were appearing on my hands and fingers, while I avoided damage to the rest of my body by staying intangible, but she was managing to avoid sustaining any severe damage herself, it was taking everything I had just to nick and graze her skin.

"This....this is the best! You’re the best! Come on, boy, let’s keep fighting to our hearts’ content!" She exclaimed gleefully, letting out slight chuckles more and more frequently.

And as I found a small opening and managed to slash her right eye, she didn’t so much as flinch, the ecstatic smile on her face only widening as a delighted laugh escaped her lips even as I blinded her eye.

I then managed to pierce one of my blades through the middle of her torso...but something’s wrong, she didn’t even try to evade or block it. She suddenly ceased her slashing assault and grabbed my hand.

"Oh, crap!" I blurted out, a sharp pain bursting out across my fingers right before I turned my hand and blade intangible and sprang back, backing away with a grimace as each step erupted throbbing pain through my feet.

The adrenaline was helping me ignore it somewhat, but the soles of my feet are in a lot of pain right now. Also, two of my fingers are broken, she managed to break them before I turned my hand intangible. Also, I think I’m starting to...get kinda...light-headed...

"More...let’s have more fun, here I come!" She yelled out enthusiastically, as she shot towards me.

"Bring it...on...," I uttered weakly, starting to sprint forward.

I arched back my arm as we closed in on each other, when suddenly, my vision blurred...my knees then buckled, and I felt myself starting to fall, my vision rapidly darkening as I collapsed onto the ground, everything going black...

...

Hm...? Where am I? Why’s the ceiling so high? I sat up with a weary groan, shaking my head as I felt kind of groggy and fatigued. I feel so worn out, why am-...my eyes then widened as I recalled what I’d been upto, sitting up straighter with a start.

"Calm down, you’re okay. You lost consciousness due to blood loss, all your injuries have been patched up," Came the receptionist’s voice to my left.

I glanced that way, calming myself down as I nodded and slowly got back onto my feet, dusting myself off.

"Well, this is probably stating the obvious, but I lost, right?" I sighed wistfully.

"Yes, you did. But it was quite close, you landed a deep hit before you fainted," She informed me.

Huh? I did?

"I should apologize, I got quite carried away. Towards the end, as you began to collapse, I was briefly taken by surprise when you started to fall...but your still swung your arm and cut through my throat, anyone else would have died. And if your reach had been about two inches longer, it would have been enough to decapitate me, which I couldn’t have healed from, so the barrier would have activated," Severa informed me.

"Huh, so that’s how it ended. Well, even if I had managed that, it would’ve been a fluke," I pointed out wryly, "Guess I’m still a ways away from Diamond rank."

"Not exactly. You actually might be able to defeat some other Diamond ranked Adventurers fairly easily. Severa is a bit of a special case since she’s got two extremely powerful Skills, she’s at a level slightly beyond most other Diamond ranks," Explained the receptionist.

Yeah, come to think of it, I saw a couple of other Diamond ranks in action while I was traveling over the last few months, and they definitely were powerful and impressive. But I remember thinking that they didn’t quite seem as powerful as she is...I just assumed I was judging inaccurately since I’d been a lot weaker when I first fought her.

"Oh, come now, you’re exaggerating," Severa waved her hand dismissively.

"Anyway, while you performed impressively, I’m afraid I can’t approve your promotion. The rules are the rules, and in the end, you did lose the duel. You can try again in three months," Said the receptionist, giving me a pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I plan to. But, uh...next time, could I please face an opponent who isn’t her?" I requested wryly...forget a rematch, I never want to fight her again, it’s just way too exhausting...

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