With Knifefighting at level 8, my blow strikes true. My trusty armory-provided knife faces resistance from the tough fabric of the security uniform’s pants, but it slices through nonetheless. In contrast to his clothes’ well-constructed denim, the guard’s flesh parts like hot butter beneath my strike.
Even with Demonic Heritage healing me, I haven’t gained all my strength back. I’m confident that I could’ve severed his arteries easily if I had both hands and actual power to put behind the blow. As it is, I draw blood—lots and lots of blood—but I don’t think I’ve hit on anything vital. I Enhance Bleed anyway, drawing more out of the wound.
I add my new skill, attempting to use Woundshape to transfer the thigh hit somewhere more lethal, but the skill refuses to work. Does he have some kind of resistance?
“FUCK! YOU!” the man spits—he literally spits. Some of it gets on my face.
Not only is that gross, that’s a waste of breath. I take full advantage of his momentary distraction, extracting myself from his suddenly-loosened grip, and I stab forward again, this time targeting his gut.
Unfortunately, he has the presence of mind to raise an arm to block it. Rather than a direct, debilitating gut shot, I slice part of the way into one of his forearms. I twist the blade, trying to make the wound as painful as I can, but I have to withdraw the blade or risk losing it.
He stumbles backwards, his uninjured arm pressing on his thigh, and he curses again.
I try to press my advantage, dashing forward, but he’s finally recovered from his initial burst of disorientation. The guard barks out something unintelligible, and an invisible hand punches me in the gut, knocking me onto my ass. A moment later, another, larger force shoves at me, sending me toppling backwards. It threatens to batter me around, throw me into a tree, but I turn my momentum into a roll, stabbing my knife down into the ground under me to stabilize myself.
When I manage to regain my bearings, the guard has done the same. He’s crouching now, still applying pressure to his wounds, and he looks pissed.
He’s an actual combatant now. Not someone I can fool with Acting, not a victim I can easily assassinate.
For the first time, I Appraise my opponent.
Name: Fel
Age: 31
Race: Human
Class: Wind Warrior
Level: 9
Last Used Skill: Gust Strike
Oh, fantastic. At least he’s not strong enough for Appraise to fail on. Still, it looks like I’m going to have my work cut out for me.
The wind dies down, his skill exhausted, and I make a move to use skills of my own. His thigh and arm still bleed where I stabbed him, and I can make use of that.
I activate Shape Blood. With the skill leveled up all the way to level 5, my time restriction barely matters right now. It’ll matter later down the line, assuming I have to fight more of these guys, but right now only this fight matters.
The skill draws blood from both of his wounds. I can’t affect any of the blood still within him, but the fluid that’s spilled forth onto his arm and leg? That, I can. I drop Temporary Shape Self—even with its lowered cost when I’m only modifying my eyes and hair, it’s still magic power I’m wasting on a cosmetic effect that no matters.
At first, I try to build a spike with the guard’s own blood, run him through like I did to the snakes, but he shouts another word and air bursts forward from his skin, disrupting my magic where it hits. Not Gust Strike, but something similar.
I adjust immediately, drawing the blood back towards me. His spell sends some of the blood soaking into the ground, and I want to keep as much as I can. Even though he bleeds, he hasn’t bled enough. I have less than a cup of it to work with, and now that Demonic Heritage has healed my missing hand up into a bloodless stump, I can’t provide any of my own to increase that count.
Earlier, when he discovered me collapsed in a ditch, he started talking to thin air. I’m not stupid. I’m reasonably sure he has a way to communicate to others.
I charge forwards, knife in my one usable hand and blood swirling over my head like a halo. I can’t give him time to recuperate, to call more people in on this location.
The distraction is sufficient. He throws his right hand down and out, and the air shimmers. His hand closes around an invisible hilt, and with my enhanced Mind stats, I can make out the faint visage of a sword.
He brings it up in a practiced slash, and I have to abandon my reckless charge to dodge under the air-blade. I don’t know how solid it is, but he wields it with the certainty of any swordsman. I have to assume it’s at least as dangerous as one made of steel, if not more.
Dropping to the ground gets me under the first slash, but this guard is much better at wielding his weapons than any of the monstrous enemies I’ve faced so far have been with theirs.
He readjusts halfway through his followthrough, swinging the blade down at my now-prone body.
I roll as fast as I can, but his slash isn’t a completely straight one. He slices at me like he would with a club or bat, swinging in an arc. This time, I’m on one knee, so I’m in a position to defend instead of just dodging. I bring my dagger up, Knifefighting and my hours of practice guiding me to bat the blade away.
Cold air bites into my left shoulder, half an inch away from my neck, and I feel my flesh part as my enemy tears into me. I smack his air-blade again with my knife, and this time I manage to get it away from my body. My blood drips from the air, outlining the edge of the blade where it struck me.
My wound hurts, of course, but Pain Resistance and my own willpower makes that a non-issue. It’ll heal if I win.
The floating red outline gives me an idea, and I use Shape Blood to spread my own blood further out across his air-blade, gluing itself to the magical air construct. He doesn’t waste magic power blasting it off with a Gust Strike, which means he either doesn’t care or he can’t use it right now.
With the blade outlined, I might actually be able to parry it properly now that I can see it coming. It still has me beat in reach—it’s almost two feet long, while my dagger can’t be more than six inches—and I’m sure my enemy has higher swordfighting skill than I do, but I’ll take every advantage I can get.
For a second, both of us just stand there, five feet from each other, breathing hard.
I’m half-tempted to Bloodstep behind him, but that wind ability he showed is spooky. I don’t want to see what happens if he blasts me out of my blood form.
I do think I know how I can win, but there are potential gains for me in this fight.
Once more, I charge forward, this time with a little more care for how I place my feet, how I approach with only one hand.
This time, when he slashes downwards, I actually manage a parry. I’m watching for the strike this time, and the fact that the blade is practically encased by my own blood helps. Even if I closed my eyes, I would be able to sense it coming, and that helps me position myself perfectly to match it with my dagger.
When he hits the knife, it nearly flies out of my hand, and my hand goes numb as the blade vibrates with the force of his swing. The sword stops, but it takes everything I have to keep it there.
Shit. He can put way more force behind a sword swing than I can behind a dagger. If he hits me again, I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold onto the knife.
I can’t fully block it, but then again, do I really need to?
He brings the blade back for another swing, and this time, I meet it with my eyes closed, relying on my sense of Shape Blood over my own vision. His swing targets my side, aiming to slice me apart. This time, I don’t try to stop it. Instead, I duck and slash upwards in the same motion.
Redirection is far easier than meeting him with pure force. I sense the blood go above me, the attack going wide as I force his blade upwards.
Knifefighting advanced to level 9!
Your knife-based attacks are now 130% more effective and consume 90% less stamina.
Even with my left shoulder slowing me, the skill-up is welcome. That’s what I was looking for, so I think I can move to end this fight now.
He slashes again, but I’m slowly understanding his pattern.
Overhead slash. I turn it aside with a perfectly-timed dagger strike.
Diagonal strike, down to up. I lean to one side, not even needing to parry to avoid the strike.
Direct stab. With a swing of my knife, I manage to push the blade far away enough to only nick my side instead of my heart.
Knifefighting advanced to level 10!
Your knife-based attacks are now 200% more effective and do not consume stamina.
Woah. That’s a big jump.
I don’t have time to process it, though. He’s still fighting.
With another strike turned aside, I close in—and wind blasts me once more.
While the last Gust Strike was a full-body strike, sending me flying backward, this one is more of a direct gut punch.
I feel the wind get knocked out of me—literally. His skill impacts me right in my core, and pain explodes outwards. The sensation sharper than the last one was, and I realize a moment later that I’m bleeding. Badly. Warm liquid trickles down out of my gut, and it doesn’t take an innate sense for blood for me to realize that there’s far too much of it.
But I’m still standing, even if there’s a fist-sized hole in my abdomen. It’s just a flesh wound, anyway. I’ll heal it off.
And he’s walked into my trap.
The last time he used Gust Strike, he had to wait for… two minutes? Three? However long this fight’s been, it took him time to recharge.
I activate Bloodstep, and I make my way behind him. It magically exhausts me, but it works well enough to move me.
I throw my arms around him, and even as he shouts out something obscene, I bite him on the back of the neck, pouring his death into him with Venomous Bite.
Venomous Bite advanced to level 2!
The potency of venom increases, and you can now use this skill up to thrice per hour.
He screams in pain, but magic surges within him and I’m thrown off by another burst of wind.
It’s not Gust Strike, I realize. He has another wind-based skill he can use in close proximity to him.
I don’t care. It’s too late for him already.
The guard, though, seems to still have something to say about it. He turns around and faces me, having knocked me prone once more, and his green eyes burn with rage.
“You have…” I rasp, the wound in my abdomen burning away at my ability to speak, “nice eyes.”
That stops him in his tracks for a moment. Only a moment, but it’s another second where venom creeps through his veins.
“Maybe I’ll take them for myself,” I add with a chuckle.
His fury redoubles.
“You don’t know the half of what I’m going to do to you, you fucking bitch!” he screams, diving forward.
Even on the ground, I can try to defend myself. Knifefighting makes it so that I don’t even expend energy on my knife attacks, so I really can do this all day.
Not being able to move under my own power doesn’t really help, though.
I still have some tricks up my sleeve, though. Now that I have a massive wound in my gut, I have blood to work with, so I send a burst of it geysering up at my enemy, using Shape Blood on the mess at my gut and throwing up a smokescreen of sorts, aiming for his eyes.
He swears again, wiping his eyes. He doesn’t stumble back, but the combination of blood in his vision and the venom that has to be pumping through his veins makes his attack sloppy.
With as much effort as I can muster, I punch upwards with the knife.
And I catch the sword.
Knifefighting advanced from Bronze to Silver!
Knifefighting (Common)
Tier: Silver
Level: 1
You have grown into the way of the sharp death. While knifefighting, you now gain insight into your enemy based on your Mind (Speed) stat. Knife-based attacks consume no stamina and are drastically more effective.
With Knifefighting at level 8, my blow strikes true. My trusty armory-provided knife faces resistance from the tough fabric of the security uniform’s pants, but it slices through nonetheless. In contrast to his clothes’ well-constructed denim, the guard’s flesh parts like hot butter beneath my strike.
Even with Demonic Heritage healing me, I haven’t gained all my strength back. I’m confident that I could’ve severed his arteries easily if I had both hands and actual power to put behind the blow. As it is, I draw blood—lots and lots of blood—but I don’t think I’ve hit on anything vital. I Enhance Bleed anyway, drawing more out of the wound.
I add my new skill, attempting to use Woundshape to transfer the thigh hit somewhere more lethal, but the skill refuses to work. Does he have some kind of resistance?
“FUCK! YOU!” the man spits—he literally spits. Some of it gets on my face.
Not only is that gross, that’s a waste of breath. I take full advantage of his momentary distraction, extracting myself from his suddenly-loosened grip, and I stab forward again, this time targeting his gut.
Unfortunately, he has the presence of mind to raise an arm to block it. Rather than a direct, debilitating gut shot, I slice part of the way into one of his forearms. I twist the blade, trying to make the wound as painful as I can, but I have to withdraw the blade or risk losing it.
He stumbles backwards, his uninjured arm pressing on his thigh, and he curses again.
I try to press my advantage, dashing forward, but he’s finally recovered from his initial burst of disorientation. The guard barks out something unintelligible, and an invisible hand punches me in the gut, knocking me onto my ass. A moment later, another, larger force shoves at me, sending me toppling backwards. It threatens to batter me around, throw me into a tree, but I turn my momentum into a roll, stabbing my knife down into the ground under me to stabilize myself.
When I manage to regain my bearings, the guard has done the same. He’s crouching now, still applying pressure to his wounds, and he looks pissed.
He’s an actual combatant now. Not someone I can fool with Acting, not a victim I can easily assassinate.
For the first time, I Appraise my opponent.
Name: Fel
Age: 31
Race: Human
Class: Wind Warrior
Level: 9
Last Used Skill: Gust Strike
Oh, fantastic. At least he’s not strong enough for Appraise to fail on. Still, it looks like I’m going to have my work cut out for me.
The wind dies down, his skill exhausted, and I make a move to use skills of my own. His thigh and arm still bleed where I stabbed him, and I can make use of that.
I activate Shape Blood. With the skill leveled up all the way to level 5, my time restriction barely matters right now. It’ll matter later down the line, assuming I have to fight more of these guys, but right now only this fight matters.
The skill draws blood from both of his wounds. I can’t affect any of the blood still within him, but the fluid that’s spilled forth onto his arm and leg? That, I can. I drop Temporary Shape Self—even with its lowered cost when I’m only modifying my eyes and hair, it’s still magic power I’m wasting on a cosmetic effect that no matters.
At first, I try to build a spike with the guard’s own blood, run him through like I did to the snakes, but he shouts another word and air bursts forward from his skin, disrupting my magic where it hits. Not Gust Strike, but something similar.
I adjust immediately, drawing the blood back towards me. His spell sends some of the blood soaking into the ground, and I want to keep as much as I can. Even though he bleeds, he hasn’t bled enough. I have less than a cup of it to work with, and now that Demonic Heritage has healed my missing hand up into a bloodless stump, I can’t provide any of my own to increase that count.
Earlier, when he discovered me collapsed in a ditch, he started talking to thin air. I’m not stupid. I’m reasonably sure he has a way to communicate to others.
I charge forwards, knife in my one usable hand and blood swirling over my head like a halo. I can’t give him time to recuperate, to call more people in on this location.
The distraction is sufficient. He throws his right hand down and out, and the air shimmers. His hand closes around an invisible hilt, and with my enhanced Mind stats, I can make out the faint visage of a sword.
He brings it up in a practiced slash, and I have to abandon my reckless charge to dodge under the air-blade. I don’t know how solid it is, but he wields it with the certainty of any swordsman. I have to assume it’s at least as dangerous as one made of steel, if not more.
Dropping to the ground gets me under the first slash, but this guard is much better at wielding his weapons than any of the monstrous enemies I’ve faced so far have been with theirs.
He readjusts halfway through his followthrough, swinging the blade down at my now-prone body.
I roll as fast as I can, but his slash isn’t a completely straight one. He slices at me like he would with a club or bat, swinging in an arc. This time, I’m on one knee, so I’m in a position to defend instead of just dodging. I bring my dagger up, Knifefighting and my hours of practice guiding me to bat the blade away.
Cold air bites into my left shoulder, half an inch away from my neck, and I feel my flesh part as my enemy tears into me. I smack his air-blade again with my knife, and this time I manage to get it away from my body. My blood drips from the air, outlining the edge of the blade where it struck me.
My wound hurts, of course, but Pain Resistance and my own willpower makes that a non-issue. It’ll heal if I win.
The floating red outline gives me an idea, and I use Shape Blood to spread my own blood further out across his air-blade, gluing itself to the magical air construct. He doesn’t waste magic power blasting it off with a Gust Strike, which means he either doesn’t care or he can’t use it right now.
With the blade outlined, I might actually be able to parry it properly now that I can see it coming. It still has me beat in reach—it’s almost two feet long, while my dagger can’t be more than six inches—and I’m sure my enemy has higher swordfighting skill than I do, but I’ll take every advantage I can get.
For a second, both of us just stand there, five feet from each other, breathing hard.
I’m half-tempted to Bloodstep behind him, but that wind ability he showed is spooky. I don’t want to see what happens if he blasts me out of my blood form.
I do think I know how I can win, but there are potential gains for me in this fight.
Once more, I charge forward, this time with a little more care for how I place my feet, how I approach with only one hand.
This time, when he slashes downwards, I actually manage a parry. I’m watching for the strike this time, and the fact that the blade is practically encased by my own blood helps. Even if I closed my eyes, I would be able to sense it coming, and that helps me position myself perfectly to match it with my dagger.
When he hits the knife, it nearly flies out of my hand, and my hand goes numb as the blade vibrates with the force of his swing. The sword stops, but it takes everything I have to keep it there.
Shit. He can put way more force behind a sword swing than I can behind a dagger. If he hits me again, I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold onto the knife.
I can’t fully block it, but then again, do I really need to?
He brings the blade back for another swing, and this time, I meet it with my eyes closed, relying on my sense of Shape Blood over my own vision. His swing targets my side, aiming to slice me apart. This time, I don’t try to stop it. Instead, I duck and slash upwards in the same motion.
Redirection is far easier than meeting him with pure force. I sense the blood go above me, the attack going wide as I force his blade upwards.
Knifefighting advanced to level 9!
Your knife-based attacks are now 130% more effective and consume 90% less stamina.
Even with my left shoulder slowing me, the skill-up is welcome. That’s what I was looking for, so I think I can move to end this fight now.
He slashes again, but I’m slowly understanding his pattern.
Overhead slash. I turn it aside with a perfectly-timed dagger strike.
Diagonal strike, down to up. I lean to one side, not even needing to parry to avoid the strike.
Direct stab. With a swing of my knife, I manage to push the blade far away enough to only nick my side instead of my heart.
Knifefighting advanced to level 10!
Your knife-based attacks are now 200% more effective and do not consume stamina.
Woah. That’s a big jump.
I don’t have time to process it, though. He’s still fighting.
With another strike turned aside, I close in—and wind blasts me once more.
While the last Gust Strike was a full-body strike, sending me flying backward, this one is more of a direct gut punch.
I feel the wind get knocked out of me—literally. His skill impacts me right in my core, and pain explodes outwards. The sensation sharper than the last one was, and I realize a moment later that I’m bleeding. Badly. Warm liquid trickles down out of my gut, and it doesn’t take an innate sense for blood for me to realize that there’s far too much of it.
But I’m still standing, even if there’s a fist-sized hole in my abdomen. It’s just a flesh wound, anyway. I’ll heal it off.
And he’s walked into my trap.
The last time he used Gust Strike, he had to wait for… two minutes? Three? However long this fight’s been, it took him time to recharge.
I activate Bloodstep, and I make my way behind him. It magically exhausts me, but it works well enough to move me.
I throw my arms around him, and even as he shouts out something obscene, I bite him on the back of the neck, pouring his death into him with Venomous Bite.
Venomous Bite advanced to level 2!
The potency of venom increases, and you can now use this skill up to thrice per hour.
He screams in pain, but magic surges within him and I’m thrown off by another burst of wind.
It’s not Gust Strike, I realize. He has another wind-based skill he can use in close proximity to him.
I don’t care. It’s too late for him already.
The guard, though, seems to still have something to say about it. He turns around and faces me, having knocked me prone once more, and his green eyes burn with rage.
“You have…” I rasp, the wound in my abdomen burning away at my ability to speak, “nice eyes.”
That stops him in his tracks for a moment. Only a moment, but it’s another second where venom creeps through his veins.
“Maybe I’ll take them for myself,” I add with a chuckle.
His fury redoubles.
“You don’t know the half of what I’m going to do to you, you fucking bitch!” he screams, diving forward.
Even on the ground, I can try to defend myself. Knifefighting makes it so that I don’t even expend energy on my knife attacks, so I really can do this all day.
Not being able to move under my own power doesn’t really help, though.
I still have some tricks up my sleeve, though. Now that I have a massive wound in my gut, I have blood to work with, so I send a burst of it geysering up at my enemy, using Shape Blood on the mess at my gut and throwing up a smokescreen of sorts, aiming for his eyes.
He swears again, wiping his eyes. He doesn’t stumble back, but the combination of blood in his vision and the venom that has to be pumping through his veins makes his attack sloppy.
With as much effort as I can muster, I punch upwards with the knife.
And I catch the sword.
Knifefighting advanced from Bronze to Silver!
Knifefighting (Common)
Tier: Silver
Level: 1
You have grown into the way of the sharp death. While knifefighting, you now gain insight into your enemy based on your Mind (Speed) stat. Knife-based attacks consume no stamina and are drastically more effective.
