A thick, cold cloud brushed against my face as I twisted around Veronica's thrusting trident, causing a small surge of familiar energy to seep through my pores. Finishing my spin with a slash towards her neck, the battle mages palm slammed into the flow point at shoulder. Having dealt with being countered like this by Korbin before, my foot naturally launched up and slammed into her ribcage. Veronica bent to the side, flexing her abs and dropping her arm to snatch my leg.
*WACK*
Flow Strike triggered the moment my eyes locked on the opening, ripping through her valiant attempt to tank my shot. The impact admittedly didn't feel great on my shin bone, causing me to hesitate to test if I hurt it rather than follow up with another blow.
"Fucker.." Veronica growled hunching over with a hand at her ribcage.
"You started it." I replied with a grin, happily shaking out my leg realizing it wasn't damaged. Veronica's face darkened into a deeper blue as her scowl deepened, though her eyes began to redden around her pupils. Without another word, her Trident spiraled around her kicking up a twisting wall of steam. The moment she disappeared behind the simmering twister, the wall launched forward and began wrapping around me. Seeing no chance at retreating in time, my arm jolted up with my eyes as I trusted the first branch I could spot and fired my grapple hook. Every muscle screamed from my wrist to my shoulder as I yanked my full body weight up and over the towering steam wall, twisting horizontally to keep my legs from burning.
*TSSSSSSsss*
My backside flared a small sharp pain as I began falling back down just before the cloud dissipated to a safe temperature. My blades slapped together as my feet slammed into the moist forest soil, forcing Veronica to use her next summoned cloud as a shield. It didn't look like my bolt was blocked per se, though I lost all visual of her in an instant as the cloud wrapped around her. After a single beat, a vertical steam tower hissed out from the cloud. Being only a few feet away, the speed of her cloud forced me to Ripple Stride diagonally. A glimmer of light flicked at my periphery as I shuffled, instinctively causing my head to lurch back.
*WHOOSH*
A drop of water mana rubbed against my cheek as Veronica's trident replica spiraled past my face. A second replica forced me to drop low, finally locking eyes on her hand before the third was tossed. A light-blue Flow-path flashed before she released, the energy tracing toward my leaned down skull. Leaping up, my blades slapped together once more, nearly tearing a hole through Veronica's neck. Seeing her Trident twirling yet again, my grapple hook fired out and latched around its handle. Just as my feet fell back to the ground, a tinge of shock jolted through my arm as she yanked my full body weight in towards her.
Ducking under her thrusting trident, I jabbed my blade up towards the battle mage's chin having finally gotten in her guard. A light pressure tapped my fist before it could find its target however, her elbow knocking the strike off course. A firm grip snatched around my wrist this time, right before feeling my full body weight being tossed toward the ground. Recognizing the sensation, I leapt with the momentum, allowing me to land back on my feet and rip my wrist free. The shaft of Veronica's trident swung by shallowly behind me, right where my extended elbow would've been had my hand still been locked in her grasp.
My momentum launched back toward the battle mage unwilling to give her space, nearly leaping directly onto her lunging trident. Flow Inverse twisted me around the sharp prongs, giving me a gap to land a slash across her leather chest piece. Feeling an attack finally landing, I followed it up with a Lightning Strike hoping to end our exchange here and now. Instead, a wall of thick, hot steam fired from her palm directly into my face. The strike pulled my momentum forward, though I felt purchase was made before I could blink the hot steam from my watering eyes. My vision refocused in time to spot the backside of her trident swinging up towards my face. Flow Inverse spun my momentum on a dime as I threw a wild heel kick, landing flush against her ribs and evading her pommel strike.
Veronica grasped at her ribs yet again, this time wearing the pain on her grimace for a split second. Without thinking, a Lightning Strike immediately fired out towards the gap in her lowered guard. Her foot suddenly rose straight up, pressing against my shoulder and once again halting my strikes Flow. Her hand extended over her leg, snatching my wrist again and pulling me in. Panic immediately set in at being grappled as I leapt up, using her own powerful pull to swing both my heels straight up.
*BAM*
Both of my boots smashed into her face, the momentum pulling me over her head. Before I could twist back and jab my blades into her spine and neck however, I paused realizing she still held an iron grip on my wrist. The wind whistled in my ear a second later as she tossed me back over her shoulder, slamming me on my back and snaking her forearm under my chin.
*chomp*
"AAAH!?" Veronica hollered as I bit down hard on her wrist and tore it away from supporting her choking arm. The lack of leverage and audible reaction gave me my chance, slamming the back of my head up into her nose and rolling away from her grasp.
"D-did you just fucking bite me?!" Veronica said with a guffaw as a deep blue liquid poured from her wound. I grinned, wiping the same fluid from my chin and off on my cloak, then shrugged.
"You arrogant bastard, I hope they fail and you get everything that you fucking deserve-" Veronica angrily shouted before suddenly halting all at once, turning her head toward the first.
"…look, just chill out with the flashy shit is ALL I'm asking." A familiar voice beckoned sarcastically in the distance.
"You can't just call every move you didn't teach me 'flashy'." Another female voice replied, growing even closer through the forest. Suddenly a mess of massive leaves separated at my backside, sending both Veronica and I into a defensive stance.
"Oh shi-…hey guys?!" Korbin said after a jump, peering between the two of us. Cassi emerged from the brush beside him, flashing me a short grin before noticing Veronica.
"She tough?" Cassi asked me, pointing her thumb at the battle mage. Before I could respond, Korbin let out a chuckle.
"Wait, she's kicking your ass?" Korbin asked breathily through his own hardy laughter, holding his gut.
"Don't act as if you don't know what I'm capable of, Korbin. You ought to know better than any of these little pawns of yours." Veronica hissed angrily, capturing both their attentions.
"And what exactly were you trying to do right now?" Korbin asked, suddenly sounding far more serious, borderline sinister in his tone.
"Whatever the hells I like, now. You know, I've grown utterly fucking sick of you Chosen, who've been spoon-fed power by the gods since their little Placement Tournament, constantly trying to tell ME how to live my FUCKING life." Veronica barked back at Korbin, rage stirring in her now fully red eyes.
"You know it's not my call, just quiet do-." Korbin began to reply.
"Bullshit. You're bound by convenience to a patron, not by force. You've chosen to be their pet." Veronica interrupted.
Ohhh shit.
Korbin's fist clenched tight at hip, turning his cold gaze towards Cassi. They both exchanged a nod before turning back to face Veronica.
"No, no you two won't take this away from me." Veronica said, pointing over at me. Her wild eyes whipped over to me as Cassi and Korbin slowly split up around her.
"Don't let them tarnish this. Don't tell me you're such a coward to let them die for you." She hollered over to me from several feet away.
"I wouldn't be so confident they'll be who's dying." I replied calmly, plopping down and sitting crisscrossed. A ball of flame manifested above Korbin's palm as he positioned himself several steps further then Cassi at a slightly different angle.
"FIGHT ME, you dirty rat?!" Veronica screeched, her face shaking from the fit of rage.
"Nah, I'm good." I said, leaning my elbows against the soft forest foliage and getting comfy. Veronica took a step toward me, when a rush of water shot out from under Cassi as she glided into a swiping strike with her bo staff. The blow whipped into Veronica's chin, causing her to stumble back. Cassi dashed by yet again, this time spinning her staff around Veronica's trident landing a jab to the battle mages temple. Cassi followed up with another barrage of strikes, though Veronica apparently realized she was a threat and began focusing on parrying away her bo staff.
After several deflections, Cassi slid her staff down Veronica's trident, bashing her fingers free. Cassi reached out and snatched the bottom of the mages elbow, pulling it under her armpit in an attempt to break the mages arm. Veronica spun her arm and ripped it free, and summoned a wall of fog that obscured her enough to create some distance between her and Cassi.
"I see Korbin's found himself another follower of Anutir. One clearly more subordinate." Veronica scoffed looking Cassi up and down.
"Follower of who?" Cassi asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"Pff, don't sit here and play dumb, unless it's no facade?" Veronica shot back.
You don't know me, bitch." Cassi growled, summoning her signature orb of water that swooshed around her bo staff. Veronica shuffled back, tossing several trident replicas toward Cass, who narrowly slipped around each one.
"Damn?!" Korbin and I both called out in near unison. It took a second to notice myself pressing a closed hand over my lips as a visceral shock response to Cassi's brutal reply. Korbin and I shared a look of shared surprise. Then, my oldest friend shrugged lazily as if to say 'I guess I'll help', and finally tossed the billowing ball of fire hovering over his palm. Veronica used her misty dash just as it left his hand, landing directly under its path. The battle mages eyes shot open wide as she rolled back the way she came.
*WHACK*
Cassi's Bo staff bent lightly from the power she packed behind the dashing rib-shot that nearly crumbled Veronica, causing her knee to wobble. Instead however, the battle mages arm wrapped around Cassi's staff. In one move, Veronica yanked the staff in and jabbed her trident out toward Cassi's midsection. Except, Cassi let go of her bo staff immediately, causing Veronica to pull too hard without any leverage knocking herself back off balance. A wave of water swooped up under Cassi, quickly closing the distance before she leapt off and slammed her boot into Veronica's chest.
The admittedly tough battle mage bounced twice on her neck before finding her footing, her hands and knees dragging across the wet soil. Cassi's kick sent Veronica flying several yards away, giving Korbin space to toss another fireball.
"Funny, three of the gods' favorites just to deal with me!" Veronica half-growled, though her eyes wild with excitement at seeing the ball of fire descending from above. In one motion, the mage swiped her open palm over her head, spaying a thick fog wall from her hand.
*TSSSSS*
I whistled at how impressive it was seeing Veronica's fog completely extinguish Korbin's fireball, a feat I'd yet to witness anyone else accomplish to date. Korbin peered back at me over his shoulder wearing a look of sheer disappointment at my commentary, shaking his head and slowly approaching the melee.
Cassi's staff clashed with Veronica's trident, sliding along the center of its ashen shaft being thrusting straight up toward her face. Veronica's head barely leaned out of the way, landing in Cassi's open hand.
*THUNK*
Cassi's knee rose up and slammed into Veronica's nose, using her hand to yank her much shorter opponent by the back of the neck for added force. Veronica's head whipped up, spraying a dark blue liquid from her nostril. Still, the resilient battle mage slashed a horizontal wave of steam at Cassi, forcing her to retreat and evade the sizzling cloud. Before Korbin could toss another fireball along his advance, Veronica tossed a pair of trident water replicas his way forcing him to stop his momentum and evade each splashing construct.
Korbin tilted his head looking down at the puddle of water at his foot, pausing several seconds and taking the same rock he'd fiddled with in the waiting area from his pocket. Then, he drew one of his glowing glyphs in the dirt with his boot. Veronica tossed another trident replica over at Cassi, who somehow managed to parry the replica away with the watery orb at the end of her staff.
"Why do you defend them? Don't you want to be more than their gods-forsaken tool?" Veronica asked, glancing between Korbin and Cassi. The two of them slowly came together, bringing both my friends within 10 paces from their angry opponent.
"Simple, some of us weren't abandoned by our patrons, V." Korbin replied, summoning his battle axe mid-thrust up to the sky. A stream of reddish-orange energy shot up above, separating into a dome that cascaded around all three of them. Veronica lobbed another trident replica into the walls, watching as it fizzled into a puff of steam.
"How unfortunate it is that their resources were wasted on cowards." Veronica sneered, turning to face the both of them. Without a word, Cassi glided along another wave under her feet, her staff twirling at her side. Veronica slung a watery trident her way while summoning a wall of steam in front of her from her free hand. Cassi easily ducked under the replica, leaping off her own wave nearly over the entire steam cloud. A portion of her heavily armored leg dipped into the steam, the metal hissing as she descended behind Veronica. Korbin watched her trident replica fly by intently, then flicked his open palm open. Suddenly, a short, jagged rock-spear extended in Korbin's palm before crumbling almost immediately.
While Korbin tried copying their opponent, Cassi was busy in a melee with Veronica. Both women traded blows and clashed weapons repeatedly, Cassi making her way through Veronica's guard until the battle mage used her outbursting steam skill to force Cassi in retreat and create space. A cloud of fog whirled between them before Cassi could press forward again, several trident replicas flying out from the opaque wall. Cassi barely managed to dodge all but one, instead slashing the watery replica down the center with her staff. I felt my head recoil in shock at how quickly Cass reacted to the barrage, almost losing sight of Cassi's spinning staff before it slipped around Veronica's guard and blasted into her knee.
"Ugh!" Veronica growled through gritted teeth, barely managing to get her trident up in time to parry away Cassi's overhead smash attack.
*THUNK*
Cassi's staff slid straight between the prongs at the end of Veronica's trident, something the battle mage immediately utilized twisting her weapon out of Cassi's hands. Twisting on her heel, Veronica attempted to jab her trident straight through Cassi's chest. Instead, they both found themselves in a momentary deadlock as Cassi had caught the trident by the prongs. In one quick step, Cass tossed the trident off course and landed a quick hook to Veronica's chin.
I glanced over at Korbin, who stood beside a pile of crumbled rocks and his battle ax buried vertically in the soil. In one hand he still clutched the rock he'd had for who knows how long now, and in the other a thin, jagged stone that crumbled in his palms the moment I glanced over.
"Hey, are you gonna help out or..?" I yelled, waving to Korbin from outside the rippling red dome. Korbin turned back, wearing a look of wild fury I'd only ever seen on extremely rare, destructive occasions. Yet all at once his contorted expression relaxed into a look of wonder as he peered down at his favorite stone. Taking a breath so large his shoulders rose and fell in dramatic fashion, Korbin's eyes shut tight as he clenched the stone. Within mere seconds, another longer, sharper, more uniform stone extended from his palms forming a double-tipped spear.
"Ha!" Korbin proudly heckled, pointing directly at me through the dome. Deciding that was enough to ignore his clear personal breakthrough, I turned my attention back toward Cassi right as she slipped free from a possibly arm-breaking hold between Veronica's trident and armpit. Cassi managed to plant hard on her escape, spinning back into a front kick aimed from the battle mage's gut. Even more impressively, Veronica managed to dig her heel into Cassi's hip before he could snap the kick, killing her Flow in its tracks.
"Slow!" Veronica shouted as she let loose a front kick of her own to Cassi's chest. Just as my towering student turned general fell within a hair's reach of the soil, Korbin's hand snatched inside her armor's collar and pulled Cass to her feet. As if expecting the hand, Cassi popped and summoned her staff back, then extended out for Korbin who's arm lit up bright orange as he snagged the other end. In one strong twist, Cassi launched Korbin at Veronica as his body was fully engulfed in the flames of his boosting skill, the rock spear still clutched in his other hand.
*SMASH*
Korbin's spear spiraled around his body like a chopper and he twisted through the air, with the same level of skill Cassi has ever displayed with a bo staff. In one fluid motion, Korbin's spear shattered around Veronica's Trident, fragmenting across her face on impact. Korbin took one shuffling step around her as the battle mage shook the rocks free from her eyes, landing a quick knee to her mid section before conjuring a second rock spear in his hand. Almost on queue, Veronica whipped back in a violent counter attack, slashing her trident wildly.
*SMASH*
Korbin bashed his spear against her trident, sending even more rock fragments scattering across her face. Her free hand opened wide as she prepared another attack, only to suffer the end of Cassi's staff smashing into her nose. Cass snagged her wrist as she staggered back, leaping up and locking her elbow inside Cassi's legs and arching down toward the dirt.
*CRACK*
Veronica let out a single pained groan before a cloud of sizzling steam poured from her broken arms palm, engulfing Cassi. Korbin dashed across Veronica's center line, bashing another stone spear over the battle mage's head. Cassi however rolled out of the steam cloud vigorously, appearing somehow completely unharmed by its heat.
…wait, steam is just like…fucking water in the air.
The realization Veronica was using essentially water mana for every skill I've seen nearly made me smack my own forehead in frustration. The familiarity I felt in her clouds of mist and steam should've been a total tell after all the fuckin' mana manipulation training I've done. Clearly, Cassi recognized the sensation of water mana currents immediately and deflected or maybe even absorbed most of the active water mana. It's hard to tell from outside the dome, especially with Cassi chasing Veronica using her misty movement skill around their hellish arena. Korbin didn't follow after the moving melee, instead lobbing stone spear after spear at Veronica from afar.
Between each tossed spear, Korbin's foot danced across the soil drawing his infernal glyphs. Cassi continued angling the battle mage around the edge of the dome with a flurry of strikes until Veronica finally turned heels back toward Korbin. Veronica's thick fog rose between her and Cassi as she turned to face the path she blindly retreated along, physically stuttering at finding Korbin's orange figure waiting with two thick, blunt stone batons in each hand. She managed to parry away his first and second horizontal strikes, only to suffer a thick stone pole to her wrist with an audible crack.
Korbin spiked one stone baton directly off Veronica's nose and snagged her forearm with the same hand in one fluid motion, the type of move that still makes my skin crawl like my back scar. My eyes shot wide seeing Veronica's red flow-pathing illuminate along her trident hand aimed straight for Korbin's throat. Her arm jutted forward, only to recoil back as Cassi slid her own arm between Veronica's elbow and cranked it behind her back. Korbin landed a brutal uppercut blow that shattered his second stone baton on Veronica's chin. The momentum threw Veronica back as Cassi dropped and snagged under the back of her knee, lifting the battle mage up and slamming her down on the back of her head.
"Ff-fucking cowards!" Veronica grunted, still spitting blood as she snatched Cassi's wrist and locked her in an armbar. Korbin strutted over and slammed his heel down on her skull repeatedly until she released Cassi. One Cass's arm was free, Korbin summoned a stone spear in his open hand.
"Hah..haha…hahahahah-" Veronica choked on her own blood laughing as she stared up at her impending elimination.
"That's one way to cope." Korbin dryly said. I popped up and jogged around the dome, trying to listen as Veronica began to whisper quickly to him.
"…and it still took…all three of their prized puppets. Remind them of that for me." Veronica said in a weak hush, still spitting up her own dark blue blood. Korbin sighed, turning away and making eye contact with me. Without another moment of hesitation, his stone spear pierced through her throat. A massive orange-red pulse of light consumed my vision with Korbin as the epicenter, the soft soil around him slowly hardening, even jetting the occasional flame. I peered over at Cassi standing beside the scene, looking like she hadn't even suffered a scratch. Meanwhile Veronica, someone who might've…no, certainly would've given me a run for my money, just got corralled and pummeled to death in a matter of minutes.
"Too easy." Korbin said, extending his hand out.
"Nothin' new." Cassi replied as they proceeded to complete one of the most intricate, finger twisting handshakes I've ever seen in person. It was like a professional team had just scored, except instead of some sport they just decimated another sentient being for points. Not to mention the fluidity they worked together, even when Korbin was clearly fucking around with a new skill idea. It was clear to me now those two must have been having one hell of a good time out here. It's even possible they've grown bored with how well they synergized, it reminded me of Steve and I in a crowd of enemies.
Shit…I don't think I can win if they…
Korbin snagged his battle ax from the dirt and finally dropped the dome, snapping me from my stupor and dissolving the red hue I'd watched them work through for some time now.
"Well, I'll give you credit Tom, she got pretty damn tough since the placement tournament." Korbin said with a breathy sigh.
"…she was there?" I asked, confused how I wouldn't have seen her. Korbin scanned me thoroughly for a few seconds, as if weighing out how to respond. Finally, he just turned over to face Cassi.
"Let's get moving. Don't want to get caught in another cross fight."