'What...? How did he suddenly have such power...? Valira was puzzled as her eyes went wide at the sight of her broken arm.
Then, Zayne grabbed her by the throat and threw her aside as far away from their point as possible because of all his strength. Maybe he should have tried to strangle her, but he had too little time left, everything in front of his eyes was already dark, and his vision was blurring. He needed oxygen immediately.
Whoooooooooooosh.
Zayne quickly swam to the surface, sticking his head out of the water. His wet hair blocked his view, sliding down his forehead.
"Agh... Agh... Agh...!" Zayne was breathing heavily, trying to come to his senses. Valira had almost succeeded in her task, a little more, and she would have strangled him.
Zayne returned to the stone platform and raised his sword, then he looked at the hole Valira had dragged him into.
At the same moment, a bright gleam appeared from the bottom, then Zayne saw the dark tips of a trident emerge from the crimson water.
He pulled his head back, and the trident swept right in front of him, narrowly missing him.
A splash of water followed the trident from which Valira emerged. Her only arm was broken, but every creature always had some other weapon with them, especially monsters.
"Argh!!!" Valira opened her jaw wide, aiming her powerful and sharp fangs towards Zayne's shoulder.
Zayne's pupils narrowed, and he reacted instantly, caving his palm into Valira's throat. This brought her to a halt for a moment and allowed Zayne to pull back, jumping backward.
"Damn... I thought a youngster like you would have mediocre fighting skills..." Valira muttered angrily, staring intently at Zayne.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThen, Valira abruptly swung her arm to the side, trying to pull it out as hard as possible. There was a loud crunch, while her powerful muscles forcefully pushed the bones together. It may not have been a full treatment, but for the duration of the fight, Valira could use her arm further.
At the same moment, the trident fell directly into her hand. She tapped her weapon against the stone platform, causing ripples in the water, and pointed the trident at Zayne with a hard stare.
"Who trained you? For a Human Young Man, you fight too well! Moreover, you're definitely from the lands of the Empire and not the Dark Lands." Valira asked sternly, she was serious about finding out everything she needed to know.
Zayne shrugged, "No one. I didn't have a teacher. A few weeks ago I didn't know how to fight or handle a sword at all."
Even though Zayne was telling the plain truth, no one believed him, including Valira. The monsters watching the fight looked at each other with confused expressions. They had all seen the skills and prowess Zayne possessed, it was obvious to them that he had been through many battles along the way.
"Hm? Do you really expect me to believe that nonsense?" Valira frowned, "We are fighting a mortal battle, there is no point in lying."
Zayne sighed, shaking his head, "I told you the truth, whether you like it or not. In fact, I didn't have time to train with anyone and learn secret techniques. Everything I have, I got from fighting, just like in this one."
Valira was slightly puzzled. She felt on a gut level that Zayne was telling the truth, but her mind was telling her that it was completely illogical.
"Whatever. If that's the case, then I'll be happy to be the one who defeated the genius. It's a bit of a shame not to let the talent blossom, but at the same time it's such a welcome fruit." Valira smirked as her eyes sparkled.
Then, from the water in the lake, dozens of bubbles popped up. They looked harmless, but soon enough, one of them burst, sending a water slug into Zayne.
Zayne had faced such an attack before, so he easily deflected the water bullet with a swing of his sword. However, he became wary, taking a few steps back and clutching his sword tightly.
'Hmm... If all of them burst at the same time, I won't have a chance to dodge or reflect them, that's for sure... In that case, what should I do?' Zayne pondered while looking around, 'Oh, I know.'
Whoooooooosh.
Zayne's eyes became brighter as for a moment, his consciousness moved into a secret space with boundless darkness. Then, the world froze for him as his mind worked much faster than before.
In front of him was a thread with seven dots, these were his remaining moves. The dots were of medium size, containing quite a large amount of energy, but not the maximum amount.
'The fewer dots the stronger my physical attack, however, the more of them the faster I am. Given the circumstances, I have to do this, don't I? Zayne pondered as he swung his hand, making the thread longer.
Gradually the dots became more and more, until Zayne decided not to stop without making from 7 dots to 21.
'That should be enough. I won't be very fast at first, but Valira will be surprised, and it will take her a while to get used to the change. However, by then I'll be near the end of the thread, and she won't be ready for it, for sure.'' Zayne thought and with a calm look closed his eyes.
At the same moment, several bubbles exploded, simultaneously attacking Zayne from different directions.
Then, his eyes sparkled and his arms and legs were covered with blue energy. Before the blobs could pierce him, Zayne managed to dash forward, heading straight for Valira.
She didn't attack with the blobs, as they could have hurt her as well. She had created them, but that didn't mean she was invulnerable to a dense blob with firepower more like a bullet, complete with voluminous magical energy.
"What...?" Valira was surprised, but she quickly came to her senses, swinging her trident.
Zayne easily bounced to the side using one of his moves and quickly swung his sword. Valira didn't expect that, so she didn't dodge it in time and the black sword left a shallow cut on her body, blood gushing from it.
Valira grimaced in pain, attacking swiftly. At the same moment, several bubbles behind her exploded, sending bullets into Zayne.
The situation was dangerous, and Zayne should have ducked, but he decided to act differently.
'I'm fast enough to keep track of every single one of them!" Zayne exclaimed internally before rushing forward.
"Agh...?" Valira's eyes went wide as Zayne approached her.
Two drops flew right over his shoulders, a third next to his leg, grazing slightly and leaving a light cut.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe remaining few drops couldn't even get close to him since Zayne had chosen the right angle.
He didn't have to worry about Valira's trident, as she hadn't expected Zayne to attack, so she wasn't prepared for such a development.
Then, Zayne stepped forward confidently, stopping and swinging his sword with a turn, thrusting it deep into Valira's shoulder.
Her armor failed to protect her from the damage, Zayne's sword easily went through it, without any resistance as well as through her skin.
A normal warrior would have cried out in pain and tried to heal her wound somehow, but Valira realized that at that moment it was impossible to do so. She had to get into the fight right away, otherwise, Zayne would simply overwhelm her and quickly defeat her, leaving her no chance.
'Shit! What's wrong with this guy?! Valira inwardly exclaimed while swinging her trident, 'He was practically a loser before, but once he did something he became invincible!'
Whoosh.
Zayne swirled around Valira like a blue flash, occasionally leaving cuts and various wounds on her body. Despite her best efforts, Valira could do nothing, Zayne simply overwhelmed her, dodging all of her attacks. None of her attempts were successful.
'Shit! Shit! Shit! Why does he keep getting stronger!" Valira internally exclaimed, swinging her trident, and aiming straight at Zayne. But, his silhouette blurred as he ended up behind her, leaving a long cut on her back.
"Argh!" Valira cried out in pain as she lost her concentration and balance. She started to fall to the ground and at that moment her gaze went to one hill where there were three silhouettes.
One silhouette was a cat, the second a huge bull, and the third, was a tall man, he was as calm as powerful.
His crimson hair fluttered in the wind, sometimes hiding his amber eyes, which at that moment met Valira's gaze.
Valira's eyes went wide as she recognized the man looking at her. They had never met in person, but in the particularly dangerous places of the Dark Lands, his face had been on many wanted posters, most often with a huge bounty.
'If you are here... It means something important is happening... Wait... This young man has quickly become stronger...' Valira got goosebumps, 'I see... Now it's clear to me what's going on. In that case, this fight has become even more important... For now, I'm not ready to accept death!''
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
Before Zayne's sword was about to reach Valira's neck, a powerful aura began to emanate from her, and powerful streams of water covered her entire body. Then, a powerful wave crashed down on Zayne, completely engulfing him and carrying him as far away as possible.