Chapter 14: Unwanted Rematch
If I remember correctly, he's a long ranged fighter. I close the distance between us instantly, covering the distance between us in a few quick steps. I duck underneath his swing, the heat of the pipe sending chills through my body that's already used to the cold. I dash back, putting distance between us once more. He has changed how he fights. A fireball shoots out of his hands, heading straight for my chest. I draw my staff and deflect it, sending it hurling towards the wall. The building catches fire and begins burning, despite the cold outside.
"I've got you right where I wanted, punk." He swings the pipe around and begins walking in through the door frame. He stops shortly after and begins charging another attack. I step in and close the distance again, but he swings the pipe, keeping me back. He's not letting me get close at all. If that's the case, then…
I stand completely still, purposely letting him charge his attack without interruption. Wait for it…
"What are you doing? Are you just going to let me hit you?" He laughs as a ball finishes forming in his hand. Not yet, almost there.
The fireball launches from his hand and makes its way towards me in a blaze that burns the furniture in the building. As soon as I confirm the smoke and projectile are covering his vision, I sprint to my left and break the wall open with my fist, not using electricity so as to not give away my location. The hole behind me gets covered in flames as the building starts to crumble away slowly. I make my way back around to the front, hearing maniacal laughter coming from inside the building. I stand outside patiently, waiting for the attacker to exit. As the footsteps get closer, I wind up a punch from my side, infusing it with generated electricity while I wait. They stop.
The footsteps stopped. I quickly put my arms up and use Wind Burst to make a wall of wind as a burst of flames breaks the wall next to me, sending me tumbling backwards into the snow. Burn marks coat my forearms as the searing pain becomes noticeable. I turn my hands around to examine them, noticing they aren't too bad from my previous wounds. I grab the spot on my hip where Clara's bandages are wrapped. I can't drag this out much longer, I must finish this quickly.
He finally makes his way out of the door, one hand on his hip and the other holding the pipe over his shoulder.
"Are you serious!? You thought such a simple trick would work on me! I could sense your killing intent the moment I started taking my steps out!" He laughs again, mocking me.
How could I have forgotten! Enchanted can sense other Enchanted if they're close enough! I get up, wiping the snow off of my clothes as I scan the surroundings. To the left and right, just the open roads of the abandoned town and the occasional lifeless body. In front of me is the psycho in front of the hospital, and behind me is the sheriff's station. I look up above the hospital and notice the rusted sign once again. An idea strikes me. I mimic a javelin thrower and get in the throwing stance. I manifest a spear of electricity as it rests on my shoulder. It's very dim compared to my previous feats, but it'll work for now.
I throw the javelin purposefully to the right just slightly of the attacker, missing him. It's just wood, so… I then point my fingers up, driving the spear straight up through the building. After just under half a second, I pull my entire hand back, bringing the spear out of the building right where the hospital sign is.
"You idiot! How the hell did u miss a stationary ta-"
He gets cut off as a big red plus sign falls on, crushing him. I cough as I look down at my shivering hand. That took more out of me than it should've. I need more rest. I get up and walk down the path I came from before. The same spot me and Clara split up catches my eyes, and I see her path of footsteps on the snow. Maybe I should catch up to see what she's doing.
I follow along her footsteps, which leads me to a run down supermarket store. What? Is this even supposed to be here? I've seen buildings from the old west, but this seems more modern.
Clara's footsteps lead inside the worn down building, and I decide to follow them in. My shoes tap lightly against the tiled floor as I make my way in.
I walk down the aisles, looking down the long rows carefully. On the last one, I see a hooded figure in the corner rummaging through supplies. I walk lightly, making sure to be as quiet. I kneel down behind them, waiting for them to notice, but they just keep happily rummaging away. After a few minutes, I lose my patience and decide to reveal myself.
"You have the survival skills of a potato."
She jumps and instantly puts a barrier of water around herself made from a water bottle tied around her waist.
"S-stay back!" She yells.
"Relax, it's just me."
Her face relaxes as she recognizes my voice
"Xyle! Don't scare me like that!" She says while pouting, her cheeks puffing up slightly.
"I stood behind you for about 4 minutes. Way more than enough time to finish you off."
"I couldn't even sense you!" She exclaims. "Any normal Enchanted would've at least given off a slight presence, but you didn't at all. How did you do that?"
I shrug, not knowing what to say.
"Hurry up, we might run into some unwanted trouble."
"Why? Did you run into someone?"
"Remember the guy who broke into our school a while back? The one I saved you from?"
"Oh him! Well, what happened?"
"He's uh… taking a long nap."
"You knocked him out?" She asks. She almost seems like she's pretending to be so innocent.
"No, he's probably dead," I bluntly reply.
Her eyes widen as she stands up and punches my head lightly through the hood.
"It's not good to take lives, you know?" She says, acting like a mother.
"I'm not an idiot, obviously I know that. But it was my life or his. Survival of the fittest."
"At least knock him out!"
"I'm not experienced enough to do that."
That isn't a lie. I don't have enough real fighting experience to knock someone out. All of the Colosseum fights have been drawn out for a decent amount of time, and my style of combat relies on more wits and thinking rather than pure power and skill. She heaves a sigh and begins packing up.
"I've finished gathering the things. Let's leave." She gets up and fastens the bag around her shoulder.
"What did you get," I asked her.
"Food and water. What about you?"
"Medicinal items."
"What about that big box on your back?"
I touch the case holding the Silent Aegis.
"A weapon. I have no use for it though, so I'm holding on to it."
We walk outside, and make our way back to the building we were resting earlier at.