Chapter 47

Chapter 47

As the figure dropping down from the balcony came plummeting towards my face, there was a split-second to decide how I was handling this. If I could get off in time, it would be easy enough to fuck with their landing, potentially shattering their leg from the fall.

I hesitated, drawing my hand back.

Despite the clear ambush, muted reaction to the preceding series of events led me to believe it wasnt entirely as it seemed. That left only one real possibility. This was a test.

And that, placed me entirely within my comfort zone.

I hopped backward easily, letting the figure land hard directly in front of me. Saes mouth was tightened in concentration, her body off-balance from the fall. She was fully decked out in lightweight armor, a glowing escrima stick in her hand. Behind her, I saw Nick reluctantly drawing out a much larger stick with a cross-guard.

Now that I think about it, recruitment went a little too smoothly.

A small smile played across my lips. Okay. They had no intention of making this fair. If I went all out, there was a possibility I could win, but that would likely reveal far too much and put me at odds with the team. The point of this was probably to assess how well Id do in physical situations. Still. They were Users with access to Selve and healing potions.

Meaning, there was no need to make this easy.

flared in my mind, guiding my movements. I stepped in, grabbed the side of Saes head and spun her, anchoring a foot between her legs to keep her off-balance, and slammed her face into the foyer table. There was a crack of wood and an audible yelp.

The stick in her hand clattered to the floor, still glowing.

I needed a weaponeither the stick or something else non-lethal. Pulling either the dagger or crossbow would have the same effect as pulling a handgun in a fistfight, and that wasnt the sort of impression I wanted to make.

Nick wasnt going to give me time to breathe. He charged forward, practice sword extending backwards. triggered in my mind, a whispered warning that the attack was a skill, and the strike would be far harder to dodge than it appeared.

So, I didnt attempt to dodge. I grabbed a handful of Saes dark ponytail, yanked her up from the table, and planted a foot in the small of her back, shoving her hard towards Nick, positioning the girl between the two of us as she stumbled.

Only, Nick didnt panic.

He canceled the attack and hurdled over Sae, with a practiced ease that immediately invoked his sports background.

But the detour gave me time to grab the stick from the ground.

flashed in my mind, and I ducked low instead of rising, feeling a breeze as the practice sword slashed diagonally through empty air where my shoulder would have been.

If he keeps this level of aggression up, hes going to steamroll me. I need to get him to back off.

Instinctively, I pulled my arm back and slammed the stick into his newly healed leg.

The reaction was immediate. Nick hit the ground and rolled away from me, hand inspecting the place of impact, sheer terror on his face. nove(l)bi(n.)com

I retreated deliberately, fighting the instinct from to block rather than dodge. Right when the positioning was almost perfect, disaster struck. Sae feinted with a finger-strike towards my face, and when I reacted, immediately grabbed my arm. The warning from came too late.

Creeping frost spread quickly from my arm to my shoulder. Sae gloated, smiling victoriously.

Without enough leverage for anything else, I reeled my head back, then plunged it forward, my forehead colliding against her already broken nose andhopefullyobscuring her vision further.

Sae staggered backwards with an understandably stuffy cry of Motherfucker! When she rallied, her charge was half-assed and half-blind. Harnessing the momentum, I slid the glass door open, grabbed her and narrowly avoided her glowing hand as I threw her out.

A discrete application of ensured that her stumble was extended, sending her careening, fully clothed, into the pool.

Nickin the meantimehad clearly lost the struggle to keep the bust intact, as it was lying shattered on the floor.

Sae seems nice. I commented.

Yeah, shes great, Nick paused. A lot better when she has access to her whole repertoire.

I circled back to the center of the living room, next to the oval shaped crystal table. Are we done?

Nick shook his head. I want to see what you can really do, when youre not pulling cheap bullshit.

Uhuh. I crouched down and grabbed the crystal coffee table by its base, ignoring the pain in my frozen arm as I brandished the top of the table towards him like an oversized shield.

Nick audibly groaned, muttering something that sounded like Come on, man. He was both faster and stronger than I was. No way in hell was I giving him a fair fight.

Before either of us could break the stalemate, a cloud of gold, glowing dust settled over both of us, carrying with it the scent of lilac. I tried to move and found I couldnt. My entire body felt like I was encased in tar, unable to budge more than a few inches at a time. The table slipped out of my hands in slow motion and landed on the ground, glass unmarred and intact.

Jinny? You were supposed to sit this out. Nick said, voice as strained as I felt.

Jinny was sitting sideways at the top of the stairs. Her armor was similar to Saes, though it was white rather than black, with flowing white fabric that seamlessly meshed with silver regalia. A single wooden scepter topped with black iron-work framing a violet jewel crowned the top.

Figured Id end it, before the two of you destroy our base of operations. Jinny scowled at Nick, then gave me a friendly wave.

I waved back, though the action was hilariously slow with the spell in effect. If the point of this was to test me, I could see why Nick had asked her to sit out. A single cast of that at the entryway, with the others out of the area of effect. It was a review of the lesson Id learned on the third floor of the dungeon, facing off against the gnolls:

Magic was fucking scary.

There was an angry sounding knock at the glass door.

I held my hands up in mock surrender and smiled. You got me.