Thanks to my [Hyper Foresight], I was able to see well enough ahead where the scythe’s path will travel. Just as it approached me, I leaned back like I was doing a limbo before the crimson weapon cut the air right above me. My eyes followed the head, noticing that it was stretched waaay beyond its original length from before the battle abruptly started. The tip grazed over the ground while striking down, cutting into it with ease, before the entire head reeled itself back away, returning to its starting length. The whole thing was like a freaky whipping motion.
Noire, after finishing the motion of her preemptive attack, smiled mischievously while I straightened back up, “You better keep on your toes, Jinma. Despite being clean and proper as I am, I do not hesitate playing dirty when I see an opening.”
I thanked.
Nyra warned.
And yet, the way she pulled that off was oddly charming of her, I admitted to myself.
“Now, watch closely, I am trying to show you what I can do, after all,” Noire said before swinging her scythe, the head’s end of the shaft stretched and bended almost like rubber while moving in a whip-like motion again.
I get it now, I thought as I read Noire’s attack pattern, using [Hyper Foresight] and [Hyper Perception] to dodge and evade in a way that looked like I was making close calls. My [Hyper Thought Processing] was giving me a chance to quickly think things through and analyze her fighting style during the battle.
Using [Blood Manipulation], Noire was taking advantage of the blood’s viscosity to change the length of her scythe, while at the same time using the iron inside to harden and sharpen the blade, making it denser and deliver a deadlier force. She was still using a scythe, but it could also be used as a uniquely designed whip, or maybe something close to a chain and sickle. This would give her advantage in both mid and long-range, but there’s a chance after swinging that she’ll leave an opening for me to take advantage of. I could also sprint in close enough that the blade of the scythe won’t hit me mid-swing, but I saw Noire had an Orichalcum Knife equipped in her status. She was likely hiding it somewhere on her person in case of an emergency, and there’s always a chance that she’ll pull something out of her Magic Item Pouch as a substitute to catch me off guard.
After Noire finished a swing, she straightened her scythe to be at its default length. “Next … [Multi-Reap Slash]!” she exclaimed before swinging her weapon some more. What was different this time was that she threw wide, thin arcs of mana similar to the slash attacks from other bladed weapons, but I sensed these were far more dangerous than the ones I had seen back in Dondegarm. Noire continued throwing one slash after another, using the momentum of each swing to prepare for the next with grace, moving like she was giving an interpretive dance.
I dodged each of her slashes that came my way, and just as I feared, these were far sharper than usual. Their clean cuts into the ground, leaving a trail as they flew, told me just as much. If the [Multi-Reap Slash] was this powerful, then I shudder to think what the regular [Reap Slash] is like.
Nyra exclaimed, but I was too focused with my analysis to make a proper response.
To use weapon-based skills, it looked like Noire had to keep her scythe still and solid. There may be differences in power and range if she made her scythe bigger and denser, but she could not use her [Blood Manipulation] to stretch it out and use it like a chain-and-sickle while using her Attack Skills. Maybe despite the weapon being made entirely of blood, its solid form at an appropriate shape and dimensions was enough to pass it off as the real deal.
Using blood to make legitimate weapons that stretch and deliver strikes beyond the limits of their original counterparts, so this is the essence of a Vampire’s [Bloody Style] of fighting. I may not be able to control blood, but if it’s something similar … my thoughts trailed off until I remembered our discussion of her skills moments ago.
“Our main racial skill, our specialty, you see, is called [Blood Manipulation]. With enough blood, no matter the species it came from, we can change it to take any shape we desire.”
“So, it’s like my [Darkness Manipulation], but using blood as its foundation instead of shadows.”
Like [Darkness Manipulation], using shadows as a foundation …
It was after having that thought that I was struck with inspiration. Just like how I learned my previous fighting styles, I saw myself making fighting motions from a third-person’s perspective, using a black bat for the demonstration. This image of myself was making similar motions to Noire’s attacks, throwing my bat that stretched and recoiled, aiming to hit my target with a powerful, blunt force. All of it came to me in a flash.
[You have now learned [Shady Style] LV 1!]
… Really? Of all the names that can be used, that was the best they can do for this fighting style? Who even comes up with this shit? I thought.
Just as Noire threw the last of her skill’s attack, she held her scythe behind her and pointed an open palm towards me, “[Flare Rain]!” At her chant, multiple flicks of fire shot from her hand in a wide, scattered pattern approaching me at a fast pace. They were all too close together for me to evade efficiently and too spread wide for me to move out of the way fast enough.
I could attempt to jump over them, I’m confident I could do it high enough with enough power in my legs, but not only would I be completely vulnerable in the air, but I’m afraid I might freeze up after looking down from a high enough height. When I thought I was getting pulled off the ground in my spar with Gabriella, I had to fight off the urge of going into a panic attack from my acrophobia. That was just to retain enough of my senses to use [Darkness Manipulation] to pull us back down earlier. I don’t think I’ll have that mental strength again to think straight while being so high up in the air.
Dammit!
With no other option, I cast the [Water Magic] spell, [Water Blast], to extinguish Noire’s flames. I did this without voicing a chant, which I probably shouldn’t have done if I wanted to keep my magical expertise on the down-low, but it had become a habit at this point. Thankfully, it looked like [Flare Rain] wasn’t a spell that had homing properties as those my water spell didn’t touch only flew past me. At least, that’s what I was guessing since I couldn’t feel any flames hitting me.
The reason why I had to use this spell as a last resort was because it would obstruct my view after it was cast. I had to make it big enough so Noire’s flames wouldn’t graze me. Any hit I would take, magic or otherwise, would be an automatic loss for me, no matter how little damage it does. I needed to play it safe, and I could only make [Water Blast], a magic that shoots a perfect, circular pillar of water, bigger by increasing its area. I couldn’t manipulate it into an elliptical shape that benefitted me. So really, I was making my own large blind spot by casting this spell, not giving me any view of what’s coming from the sides or the back, until I deactivated my spell.
I would be screwed at this point if I didn’t have a second pair of eyes helping me out.
Thanks to my [Hyper Foresight], I was able to see well enough ahead where the scythe’s path will travel. Just as it approached me, I leaned back like I was doing a limbo before the crimson weapon cut the air right above me. My eyes followed the head, noticing that it was stretched waaay beyond its original length from before the battle abruptly started. The tip grazed over the ground while striking down, cutting into it with ease, before the entire head reeled itself back away, returning to its starting length. The whole thing was like a freaky whipping motion.
Noire, after finishing the motion of her preemptive attack, smiled mischievously while I straightened back up, “You better keep on your toes, Jinma. Despite being clean and proper as I am, I do not hesitate playing dirty when I see an opening.”
I thanked.
Nyra warned.
And yet, the way she pulled that off was oddly charming of her, I admitted to myself.
“Now, watch closely, I am trying to show you what I can do, after all,” Noire said before swinging her scythe, the head’s end of the shaft stretched and bended almost like rubber while moving in a whip-like motion again.
I get it now, I thought as I read Noire’s attack pattern, using [Hyper Foresight] and [Hyper Perception] to dodge and evade in a way that looked like I was making close calls. My [Hyper Thought Processing] was giving me a chance to quickly think things through and analyze her fighting style during the battle.
Using [Blood Manipulation], Noire was taking advantage of the blood’s viscosity to change the length of her scythe, while at the same time using the iron inside to harden and sharpen the blade, making it denser and deliver a deadlier force. She was still using a scythe, but it could also be used as a uniquely designed whip, or maybe something close to a chain and sickle. This would give her advantage in both mid and long-range, but there’s a chance after swinging that she’ll leave an opening for me to take advantage of. I could also sprint in close enough that the blade of the scythe won’t hit me mid-swing, but I saw Noire had an Orichalcum Knife equipped in her status. She was likely hiding it somewhere on her person in case of an emergency, and there’s always a chance that she’ll pull something out of her Magic Item Pouch as a substitute to catch me off guard.
After Noire finished a swing, she straightened her scythe to be at its default length. “Next … [Multi-Reap Slash]!” she exclaimed before swinging her weapon some more. What was different this time was that she threw wide, thin arcs of mana similar to the slash attacks from other bladed weapons, but I sensed these were far more dangerous than the ones I had seen back in Dondegarm. Noire continued throwing one slash after another, using the momentum of each swing to prepare for the next with grace, moving like she was giving an interpretive dance.
I dodged each of her slashes that came my way, and just as I feared, these were far sharper than usual. Their clean cuts into the ground, leaving a trail as they flew, told me just as much. If the [Multi-Reap Slash] was this powerful, then I shudder to think what the regular [Reap Slash] is like.
Nyra exclaimed, but I was too focused with my analysis to make a proper response.
To use weapon-based skills, it looked like Noire had to keep her scythe still and solid. There may be differences in power and range if she made her scythe bigger and denser, but she could not use her [Blood Manipulation] to stretch it out and use it like a chain-and-sickle while using her Attack Skills. Maybe despite the weapon being made entirely of blood, its solid form at an appropriate shape and dimensions was enough to pass it off as the real deal.
Using blood to make legitimate weapons that stretch and deliver strikes beyond the limits of their original counterparts, so this is the essence of a Vampire’s [Bloody Style] of fighting. I may not be able to control blood, but if it’s something similar … my thoughts trailed off until I remembered our discussion of her skills moments ago.
“Our main racial skill, our specialty, you see, is called [Blood Manipulation]. With enough blood, no matter the species it came from, we can change it to take any shape we desire.”
“So, it’s like my [Darkness Manipulation], but using blood as its foundation instead of shadows.”
Like [Darkness Manipulation], using shadows as a foundation …
It was after having that thought that I was struck with inspiration. Just like how I learned my previous fighting styles, I saw myself making fighting motions from a third-person’s perspective, using a black bat for the demonstration. This image of myself was making similar motions to Noire’s attacks, throwing my bat that stretched and recoiled, aiming to hit my target with a powerful, blunt force. All of it came to me in a flash.
[You have now learned [Shady Style] LV 1!]
… Really? Of all the names that can be used, that was the best they can do for this fighting style? Who even comes up with this shit? I thought.
Just as Noire threw the last of her skill’s attack, she held her scythe behind her and pointed an open palm towards me, “[Flare Rain]!” At her chant, multiple flicks of fire shot from her hand in a wide, scattered pattern approaching me at a fast pace. They were all too close together for me to evade efficiently and too spread wide for me to move out of the way fast enough.
I could attempt to jump over them, I’m confident I could do it high enough with enough power in my legs, but not only would I be completely vulnerable in the air, but I’m afraid I might freeze up after looking down from a high enough height. When I thought I was getting pulled off the ground in my spar with Gabriella, I had to fight off the urge of going into a panic attack from my acrophobia. That was just to retain enough of my senses to use [Darkness Manipulation] to pull us back down earlier. I don’t think I’ll have that mental strength again to think straight while being so high up in the air.
Dammit!
With no other option, I cast the [Water Magic] spell, [Water Blast], to extinguish Noire’s flames. I did this without voicing a chant, which I probably shouldn’t have done if I wanted to keep my magical expertise on the down-low, but it had become a habit at this point. Thankfully, it looked like [Flare Rain] wasn’t a spell that had homing properties as those my water spell didn’t touch only flew past me. At least, that’s what I was guessing since I couldn’t feel any flames hitting me.
The reason why I had to use this spell as a last resort was because it would obstruct my view after it was cast. I had to make it big enough so Noire’s flames wouldn’t graze me. Any hit I would take, magic or otherwise, would be an automatic loss for me, no matter how little damage it does. I needed to play it safe, and I could only make [Water Blast], a magic that shoots a perfect, circular pillar of water, bigger by increasing its area. I couldn’t manipulate it into an elliptical shape that benefitted me. So really, I was making my own large blind spot by casting this spell, not giving me any view of what’s coming from the sides or the back, until I deactivated my spell.
I would be screwed at this point if I didn’t have a second pair of eyes helping me out.
