Chương 87: Chapter 83 - Too Slow

"Oh my god, Veyra, that was badass," I said with a beaming grin. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Two more wins. Let's focus."

"Same plan?" I asked. She looked like she was meditating while standing, as if all that existed right now was her staff and her mind. She said nothing, and I didn't press her. I was just fascinated by her level of concentration. On the opposite side, Annath towered over her two teammates like a parent scolding children. It worked. Even Prancer looked afraid of Annath's wrath. I didn't blame Annath for getting mad. Her two mages had essentially been outplayed two to one.

Neither had outright died to Veyra, but she had offered me way more support with Emerald Aurora, while Miko and Prancer were stuck dealing with Veyra.

"The same plan won't work," Veyra said.

"I caught them off guard with the portal into Time Freeze trick. Even with that, I was already pushing my limits to just barely win. They won't fall for it again. They can easily bait me in and kill me. I also managed to cancel Mana-draw Puppet before Miko got it up. He'll be more cautious now. If it gets up, I'll struggle."

"I played poorly that round," I said.

"I'm warm now. We'll win. Just buy me time." She snorted.

"You made no mistakes. That was about as perfect from us as performances can get. Our opponents screwed up." I pouted from her pessimistic approach, but I also couldn't disagree. Veyra had caught the enemy off guard with a trick, and it worked. Now she reevaluated the situation, and knew that the same trick wouldn't work. She needed other approaches. It didn't look like she could find any. The same plan would be less effective, and alternative plans weren't any better.

"I played without mistakes, but that doesn't mean I played well," I said.

"I'm ready to start pushing limits."

"You'll fight faster, then?" Veyra asked.

"I'll get through her armor faster," I said.

"Add that to your calculations." Could I actually do that? I wasn't sure. I knew I could match Annath, but if I tried to amp up the pace, I'd be more prone to mistakes. Perfect blocks were already close to impossible at the pace we just fought. The score of one to one still annoyed me. Annath should have been at zero. Both teams could lose once more. Two more wins, and we would have this.

"Same plan, then," Veyra eventually said.

"But expect more spells either supporting Annath or trying to snare you. I'll do my best." I nodded. Veyra was already fighting like one of the five gods. If she gave even a decent performance by her standards, she'd already outperform any back-line short of Renlia and FireBrand next to each other. I'd choose her over Heywin, and that wasn't only because Veyra was the most beautiful creature to ever exist. The Celestial Order seemed to still be arguing on their side of the arena.

Veyra and I silently focused, clicking ready, until our opponents readied as well. Earlier, Annath's pre-match stare had been directed mostly at Veyra. I was just an obstacle she had to clear. Now, her sword was aimed directly at me. She clearly wasn't happy with her performance either. Her previous loss could be attributed to her supports' mistakes, but it wasn't like she'd destroyed me. I'd been the one constantly stealing her defence. I stared back. Bring it, you piece of shit. The match started.

Annath looked mad. The silent type of mad, as if she was containing a wall of emotions with nothing but a light frown. She stepped forward calmly with her sword unsheathed. She equipped her helmet. My hands glowed as white wisps of time magic oozed from my skin. [Astral Defiance] was active, amplifying all damage I did by fifty percent. To my left, Veyra sprayed hail pebbles and got Emerald Aurora immediately active. Green spirits were added to my figure, floating around me.

I would have thought the effects wouldn't match the dark cloak of my shadow assassin style at all, but I felt surprisingly confident. I readied my daggers. I saved [Shadow Dash], opting not to use the missile strategy. Even if I managed to land a good opening hit with it, the risk of getting stuck in [Warlock's Territory] was too large. The slow would instantly ruin my chances. It sucked that I couldn't force Annath to duel me by dashing straight to her face, but my dash was way too valuable to spend on that.

Annath activated [Touch Of Godhood] and weaved ranged sword slashes at me, which I dodged. Her ranged slashes were easier to dodge than her swords up close for two reasons. I had more time to react and watch the trajectory of her swings. On top of that, the ranged slashes of [Touch Of Godhood] seemed to have an unwritten effect of making her sword ever so slightly heavier, making her attacks slower. A good way to balance the effect, in my opinion.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Annath's ranged attacks merely slowed me down. To kill me, she'd need to get up close. Annath doubled jumped, and flew to me, and opened the fight with pure strength, while Prancer and Miko stood a healthy distance off where they'd spawned, cautious for Veyra's disappearance. Any outside thoughts disappeared as the duel began immediately. Annath's sword made contact with The Immortal.

I gritted my teeth from the heavy impact, pushing my muscles to their limits to not be blown back. I had to steal defence; I forced a counter-attack for myself, grazing my dagger on her chestplate, stealing a smidgeon of defence. In turn, she slashed right through me, activating [Astral Rage]. She tackled me, and I found myself in a muddy swamp, arms suddenly sluggish, with Annath's sword crashing down on me. This was exactly why I saved the spell. I [Shadow Dashed] behind her.

Annath had already turned around by the time I came out of the shadow, her sword about to cut me down. A block would have sent me straight to the stratosphere. I side-stepped just barely and shot an [Afterimage]. She hopped back and counter-attacked, cutting the afterimage, which let me land a hit from a different angle, until I was forced back when her sword returned, every swing coming at me with the full intent to cleave me in half. In these moments, Wonderwind wasn't just a game.

Murderous intent was very much real, and its existence was one of the many reasons why most players preferred to play with the [Swing] system. That gamified Wonderwind, making fights to the death much less stressful and trauma-inducing. I was well past getting traumatized from getting a sword through my throat. I'd fought my fair share of maniacs in the wilderness, who played the game like a serial killing simulator. If anything, I'd had people call me a mass murderer after I assassinated them for gear.

Fighting with a blade was a skill like any other—one that I'd trained for well more than half of my life. I watched Annath's footwork, her hops, and her sword's trajectory. I threw feints, looking for any opportunity to land a hit. Her sword got faster and faster as we both increased our pace. It became harder and harder to read her movements. Sounds quieted down as I focused.

A bad sign, considering two enemy mages were still behind me with the ability to [Snare] me with a single spell, but our duel moved so viciously that any spell they shot risked hitting Annath just as easily. Veyra was still distracting them. Everything around me dimmed. I saw only Annath and her sword. My job was to get rid of her—to fuck her armor up during the time Veyra provided for me. I couldn't let Veyra down. I had to push myself to my limits. Except, I wasn't the one pushing the pace of the match.

Annath got faster and faster with each swing. I hadn't landed a hit in over four seconds, and she kept hitting on Sablethorn's side, making perfect blocks difficult. Soon, I'd lose my stacks. Annath hopped back, flew, and shot a ranged attack before diving down at me with [Celestial Slash]. I raised my foot for a side-step, only to find my muscles utterly beat. I raised my dagger for the block, but I panicked last second and [Shadow Dashed] through.

If my legs were too tired to dodge, they were certainly too tired to hold another block through her ultimate. The dash allowed me one more hit on her chest. I heard a slash behind me. The green glow around my body stopped, and [Emerald Aurora]'s effects disappeared. [Teammate Veyra has died.] Before I could react, a beam of light pierced my chest as Prancer shot [Binding Illumination] on me, landing it perfectly. [You are Binded. Movement is Restricted.] With my legs stuck on the ground, unable to move, Annath cut me down. I died. [You Have Lost Round Three] [Team Solo Mage 1 - 2 Team Celestial Order] I found myself in the loading room, staring at the empty black menu. What just happened? I just got completely outplayed, didn't I? Veyra also ran out much quicker this time. I'd been too immersed in the battle against Annath to pay attention to her side at all. I loaded into round four, where Veyra spawned in next to me.

"Ahhh!" she said in frustration.

"I'm sorry. I got hit."

"No, that's on me," I said.

"Did Celestial Slash hit you as well?"

"No, I…" Veyra bit her lip.

"I just couldn't keep up. I had to speed up, and I… I just missed a pattern. The spell got canceled. I'm so sorry." She took a deep, wavering breath. Her hands were shaking.

"It's getting too hard. I can't deal with both of them. I'm sorry." I couldn't tell how much of her shakiness was from embarrassment and how much of it was adrenaline from the fight. Her spellcasting was insane. It was bound to be taxing to keep up. But I knew Veyra was the type to blame herself for mistakes. The standards she put herself to were insanely high.

"Don't apologize," I said.

"I'm the one making you fight two to one, and I failed my promise. Annath beat me." She looked away, as if to hide her face.

"You had plenty of armor. I'll have to do better." The sadness and guilt in her look spread to me. My throat tightened. I grabbed her into a hug.

"Veyra… You're amazing. We have one win all thanks to you." She stood still for a short while, until she accepted the hug, leaning on me just like she had when we first hugged when I asked her on a date, atop the beautiful cliffside view.

"This match might be my limit," she said.

"I can't beat both of them at the same time. It's too hard. I'm not fast enough."

"Veyra…" I said softly.

"Yes?"

"You're literally the best quick-caster in the world. I can't have you saying you're not fast enough." She pressed her head on my shoulder and kept it there.

"I can cast spells quicker. I know I can. My practice drills are faster than this. I'm just not accurate enough to keep it up for a full match."

"I'm the one who screwed up," I said.

"I failed to get enough hits in at the start, and Annath fucked me up after that. I couldn't do anything." She snorted, keeping her head on my shoulder.

"Sorry. We still have another round." She smiled.

"At least the forums will go crazy over round two."

"They'll also go crazy over round four," I said.

"What, you've got a plan?" she asked, amused.

"Let me think," I said. That was a lie. I wasn't thinking of anything. I just enjoyed the hug. VR or in real life, as long as I was around Veyra, I knew I couldn't have a bad time.

"If I carry this next round," I asked, "will you be my girlfriend?"