Chapter 104 A Victory?

"Attack me together." Aoif was standing in front of us, her eyes boring holes into our own as she expectantly looked down on both of us.

I sighed, it was just like Aoif to do this, despite only knowing her for what was only a few days I could tell just how much of a battle maniac she was.

Slowly I sat up, flicking Naomi on the head to break her out of her half asleep state.

"Gabriel, you need somethin?" Naomi sleepily said gathering herself as she started to get up.

I didn't say anything, I just gestured to where Aoif was standing and that was enough.

Pulling myself onto my feet, I manipulated the moisture in the air to create a crude saber. It wasn't the greatest, the balance was slightly off, the edge wasn't aligned properly but it was the best that I could do right now.

It dropped into my hands and once it was there I circulated my aether throughout my body and out of my hands, making sure to reinforce the saber as much as I could. Once the saber was done reinforcing I swung it around a bit to get a feel for it.

With that done I didn't keep Aoif waiting, with a quick nod to Naomi to make my intentions known I dash to Aoif, reinforcing my whole body as I do so.

…

CLANG

CLANG

The sound of the saber that I had created being blocked echoed out into the empty woods.

Every time the saber that I made clashed with the dagger that Aoif held it was broken, forcing me to use up the limited aether that I had left to create another saber.

I could have just retreated and peppered Aoif with ranged attacks but I know that wouldn't work.

With only Naomi to protect me from the raging strikes that Aoif would send back at me I would be helpless.

Speaking of Naomi, she had finally joined the battle. Her sword and shield were up in a stance that I couldn't call neither good or bad.

It was a stance of instinct not one of practice or training.

Either way with Naomi being ready I pounced on Aoif again, this time with more ferocity than the previous ones. I intended to overwhelm Aoif, keeping her attention on me while Naomi would strike from behind.

To the side the kitsune was watching intently, her eyes bore holes into the back of my head as my attacks were continually blocked by Aoif.

"Guh!" A slash of the dagger hit my shoulder, luckily Aoif was using the blunt end otherwise my shoulder would have been cut off completely.

However with that timely bit of pain my attack was delayed allowing Aoif to focus on Naomi who was already behind her, her sword poised to cut into Aoif.

Aoif pivoted her foot and with a spin she deflected the sword and got in an attack all in one move.

BANG

Naomi was able to pull her shield up in time but that was all, the force behind the attack both cracked her shield that Naomi had not reinforced and rocketed her to a nearby tree.

Another saber was swiftly made in my hand as the one that I held cut into Aoif.

CRACK

The saber that I had attacked with cracked but I didn't just let it break, instead I intentionally broke it into thousands of pieces so that it might blind Aoif.

BANG

The other saber that I held in my off hand impacted Aoif's side.

Of course it broke too but I had gotten a hit onto Aoif. A smile appeared on my sweat stained face, I had done it. I had damaged Aoif.

…

I set a beaming smile on my face, I was truly happy, Gabriel and Naomi had progressed enough to actually hit me.

Of course no damage was done to me but they had progressed from totally helpless to me to being able to land a hit on me.

The smile I held was soon turned into a frown as I thought of what they could do. Naomi had been underutilized, from what I had seen she was supposed to get the hit in while I was distracted by Gabriel, a good plan but not the one I wanted them to think of.

This plan relied too heavily on Gabriel. Naomi could have helped much better.

She could have attacked with Gabriel, providing support in her buffs and defense by taking my attacks with good timing.

The coordination between them was not as good as I would like it to be, however I couldn't really help with that as the coordination between me and Darwin was more like a dance, each of our weak points were covered by the others in a fight. That's not something I could teach them though.

Not unless Darwin evolved them together.

"Good job" I praised them as I approached both Gabriel and Naomi.

"Thanks" Naomi and Gabriel both said half heartedly both still recovering from the blows that I had set upon them.

"Tama, can you teleport us back home?"

"Yes," Tama replied, transforming back into her human form and scooping all three of us up in her tails.

I could see the looks of surprise on Gabriel's and Naomi's face as they were scooped up. Both of their faces dusted in a light blush as they were picked up like children. I was used to this, however that didn't mean that it wasn't embarrassing for them.

…

With a flash of golden light we were back in Darwin's territory, the trees littered with houses that blended in with the surroundings like they were almost invisible.

Picking myself up I grab bohh th Gabriel and Naomi while Tama goes off to do her thing.

As both of them were tired from our previous fight I skipped the tour and brought them to h the house.

"A tree?" Naomi questioned quietly.

"Yes" reaching out my hands I grab them and pull them into the house with me.