NOVPUBRain kept her guard up until the last moment… and as soon as Rain planned his next attack, she soon dropped her guard and prepared her own attack. It looked like Kei hadn't changed that much in the last one hundred years… while she wasn't a fighter back then, she was very impatient, so Rain wasn't surprised when he saw her pulling that stunt.
"Well, what kind of big brother would I be if I were to run away from a challenge from my little sister?" Rain thought.
Rain moved his arms to the side and spun them 180 degrees before rotating them and attacking. Kei also concentrated all of her energy on the next attack, and her right claw increased in size by around fifty percent.
The clash of their attacks sent a shockwave throughout the arena, creating a powerful blast that spread in every corner. The force of the impact was so immense that numerous cracks appeared on the once-unyielding surface of the ring, not sparing a single block of metal. Initially, Rain and Kei stood their ground amidst the aftermath.
Still, the sheer power of their colliding attacks eventually pushed them in opposite directions.
They spun through the air in a breathtaking display, mirroring each other's movements. As they touched the ground with their hands, they managed to decelerate their descent. Rain teetered dangerously close to the edge of the ring but narrowly avoided falling. On the other hand, Kei, too, seemed on the verge of staying within the limits of the arena until a sudden sharp pain shot through her arm.
Blood gushed from the fresh wound, causing her to flinch involuntarily, and in that moment of vulnerability, she lost her grip on the edge and fell from the ring. The intense exchange had taken its toll, leaving both combatants battered and tested by the limits of their abilities.
"Rain is the winner!" Esmeralda shouted.
Everyone was left astonished by the end of the match, but soon, they began to shout and vibrate in response to it. They didn't care about the results all that much, but their blood pumping didn't allow them to remain quiet. Rain sighed in relief… that had been a close match… a bit too close, in fact.
"I guess it is pretty much predetermined that I am going to lose tomorrow at this rate," Rain thought and then sighed.
Kei finally relaxed her expression and then sighed and smiled… She didn't imagine that the end of the match had been decided in a moment where she had the upper hand. When she was attacking Rain relentlessly, he copied Seara to wound her right shoulder.
"I need to be more mindful of the dominant arms of my opponents," Kei thought. "Weakening them over time might give me a chance to win in the end, just like it happened here."
Although he won, Rain still looked like he had taken quite the beating, so at least Kei could take pride in that… the next time, she won't make mistakes, and her fighting style will be more polished.
"I almost got you…" Kei said when she approached. "How are your wounds?"
"Eh, it is fine," Rain shrugged. "It felt like I was fighting with a playful cat. A bit of spit will do the trick."
Kei couldn't resist that playful jab from Rain as she threw a light punch towards his left side. Despite the jesting tone, there was a twinge of annoyance in her gesture. Rain may have been joking about his wounds, treating them with casual disregard. Still, Kei knew that beneath his nonchalant demeanor, there were areas where his muscle tissue had taken some damage.
In the aftermath of their intense match, Kei couldn't shake the feeling that she had not only lost the physical battle but also the contest of wills. Rain, despite the injuries, managed to maintain a stoic composure, never revealing the extent of the pain he endured. It was as if he was supposed to feel a lot more pain, yet he never let it show.
In her attempt to push Rain to his limits, Kei found herself acknowledging his physical and mental resilience in the face of adversity.
"You fight like that now, huh?" Rain asked. "It is quite impressive. Is there a path for that?"
"No, at least I didn't unlock it," Kei said.
"We can work on that. I thought that I taught you all how to come up with skills and new paths," Rain furrowed his eyebrows.
"It is too much of pain, you can do that for me, and I will obtain the results of your hard work," Kei shrugged.
That was the kind of person Kei was… she probably would have won if she had turned the techniques into skills and leveled them up. Regardless, they left the arena since they needed to heal themselves, and Kei taught Rain the secrets of her techniques in exchange for tips on how he also copied the others.
Druid Path: Delving into the ancient art of druidic magic, practitioners of the Druidic Path master the ability to assume powerful auras of wild animals, enhancing their physical prowess and gaining unique abilities associated with each creature. All parameters + 10
Level 1: Tiger's Grace - Assume the aura of a tiger, gaining enhanced agility and speed. Movement speed increases alongside dexterity by one percent per level. Cost: 50 stamina per second.
Level 5: Bear's Resilience - Embrace the aura of a bear, gaining increased durability and resilience. Physical damage taken is reduced by fifty points per level, and the user becomes more resistant to crowd control effects. Cost: 50 stamina per second.
Level 10: Wolf's Cunning - Adopt the aura of a wolf, boosting strategic awareness and coordination. The user gains heightened senses, allowing them to detect nearby enemies, and their attacks have a chance to briefly lower the target's defenses by ten points per level for ten seconds. Cost: 50 stamina per second.
"Ah… the path is here now," Kei said.
