My head barely ducked under her fist, then to the side evading Brigid's spinning swipe with her short blade. Dark, smokey afterimages followed her every move, as her glowing figure exploded off the mosh with every step, leaping into several strikes before ever touching back down. I leaned forward trying to time her landing back to the floor in hopes I can snag her wrist on the way down, when her foot slid over the ground rather than catch her weight.
*THUNK*
In a blur, Brigid caught herself using her other leg, and spiraled into a stiff kick to the chest that doubled me over. My forearms barely raised in time to mitigate the blow of her leaping knee strike that exploded a millisecond after impact. A ball of purple flames filled my vision as the concussive force launched me back several meters through the air. The ground hummed with every step she took, her skin audibly sizzling louder and louder with each passing second. Stumbling to my feet, I deflected away another pair of punches, only to fall for her third fake. Instead of trying to punch me in the ribs, she locked my opposite wrist in her arm and delivered another explosive knee to my ribcage. The impact threw me skyward yet again, thrusting me out from the swampy muck we fought in.
With my ribs screaming under my warped armor plates, all of my focus poured into Tidal Striding as fast as I could in the opposite direction of Brigid's devilish form. With a single step, an explosion ripped a crater below her foot as she zipped straight past me, her blade barely missing my ducking head. A long clump of dark hair fell at my side, which I only realized was mine after resuming my frantic retreat. Gliding over the boggy soil, I could hear Brigid's explosive steps just before suffering a combination of strikes too quick for my eyes to even trace, let alone block. Before I can retaliate or snatch her burning figure by the shoulders however, she'd disengage in a blink.
Finally, Brigid let loose two consecutive explosive blasts the third time she performed her martial hit and run. I only managed to slide back out of range of the first, watching the explosive flash at the end of her boot. Brigid double handspring'd off the dirt, kicking me in the chest with both feet.
*BANG*
My armor shrieked as I felt it cave in on impact, the shot launching me through the air yet again, only with much more force. I felt myself bounce off much dryer foliage, though I managed to gather my bearings enough to realize I was tumbling down a steep mountain yet again. I clawed and grasped at the ground with every painful bounce off the ground that grew progressively more and more gravely, finding no purchase as I continued tumbling down. Finally, I managed to dig my heels into the many small, smooth rocks along the steep mountain face. Immediately, I summoned a health potion from my Lockets internal storage space and looked up the m-
*thunk*
*BANG*
Brigid's fist smashed into my chestpiece, letting loose another explosive blast that launched me straight down the rest of the mountain. The back of my head sunk into the hundreds of blue and white stones before bouncing once onto my face. My head lurched up after sucking in a nose full of water, not expecting to have tumbled into a running river.
"You need to learn when to die, it'll make this a lot easier on you." Brigid jeered through a devious smile, her double toned voice echoing over the soft rush of water. I didn't need to check to figure I'm probably really low on healthpoints, and that potion undoubtedly shattered somewhere along that last fall. My tongue tickled my back tooth yet again, temptation screaming louder than my arms and legs that shook weakly as I dragged myself back to my feet, pushing off my bo staff I somehow managed to keep clutched. Taking a deep breath, I stumbled one more step, falling significantly deeper into the clear, rushing water than expected. A grin twitched at the edge of my lips as Brigid approached, slowly raising her open hand.
"Hope you can swim." I muttered, kicking the bottom of my staff up and swiping it over the top of the water. Fluidic Rippled dipped in at the edge of my staff, gathering a surprising amount of weight as the wave flew up at Brigid. An explosion sounded almost immediately in response, though I'd already begun Tidal Striding downstream. The water whistled under the mana wave under foot as I felt the cool hum of two interchanging and twisting throughout my legs. Looking back, Brigid was nowhere in sight, as I'd already covered significant ground in a matter of seconds. The violet shadow at the corner of my vision however revealed she was sprinting alongside the river channel, her piercing amber-white eyes trained on me with every step. Dark shadowy flames wafted off the gravel behind her boots, her fiery hair flickering in the wind behind her.
Seeing a split in the channel ahead, I leaned toward the furthest option from Brigid's side of the river. Her eyes lit up rage as I veered away, immediately leaping over the rushing water and kicking several explosive blasts. I barely managed to dip under her corkscrewing kick as she whizzed by, rolling on my channel's riverside into a full sprint.
"Almost! Keep it up!" I hollered, flashing her a thumbs up that sent a million pins and needles down every fiber of muscle from my wrist to my shoulder. The impact of falling down that mountain did a number on my shoulder, and I'm not entirely sure I placed it back in its socket properly. Still, Brigid's using a boosting skill like Korbin's, only it looks like she's going all out on mana expenditure to get to me. Brigid snarled, and immediately exploded back out at me like a bullet fired several times along its path. Luckily she attacked my queue, giving me just enough time to change speed and avoid her sporadic swipes and explosive spinning kicks entirely. She barely managed to land on the other side of the river, punching the water as she stumbled in the shallow on her landing.
Good, she's blind with ra-
A wave roughly 3 meters high suddenly arched over Brigid, who kicked a massive hole straight through the crashing body of water. No more than 20 meters upstream stood a man in simple clothes and a bucket hat on Brigid's side, looking better dressed for a fishing trip than a universal free-for-all. Brigid's eyes shifted off of me for the first time since she'd changed forms, now lending her undivided bloodlust toward the free mana recharge trying to throw a little water at her. I focused my mind on gliding over the river surface as fast as possible, only for my focus to be disrupted by waves rising under my path launching me through the air. Locating the water, I kept Tidal Stride active and braced for a stiff landing.
*SPLASH*
The waves constantly oscillating under my feet crashed down under the river, then immediately bounced back onto the top of the water like a buoy. The mist from the landing cleared just enough to watch as Brigid unleashed a flurry of devastating punches to the fisher-mage's stomach and face. Each blow left behind violet and amber double-images behind her arms, making her hair glow brighter and brighter with every blow. Seemingly playing with her food, she leapt up and flipped over the mage's head while stabbing him in the skull with her short sword. Immediately, the world around me was consumed in an orange -violent gradient that even discolored the sun overhead. Sand and fire spiraled overhead for a moment longer before collapsing around Brigid.
Holy shit, that was HERS?!
Realizing it was Brigid's Death Echo pinging, urgency poured through every bead of sweat as I focused on striding as fast as possible.
*bang*
*b-BANG*
Brigid's blurry body snapped across the sky, coming into focus upside down no more than a few inches at my side. Her wrist glided up my bo staff, just barely missing my face.
*BAM*
The force from her explosive strike launched me straight back into the water, smacking like concrete on its surface before bouncing off a rogue rock protruding out of the river. I rolled through the water, feeling my vision tunnel for a brief moment after smacking my head on another rock. Then, finally, the rushing rapid dumped out into the calm of the river mouth as I sunk down below. The water mana surrounding me felt like a warm blanket, hugging over my internal wounds as I let myself relax. Moments later, massive explosions sounded throughout the water as all at once I remembered what the hell was going on. Reactivating Tidal Stride, waves shot me straight up to the surface.
"Why are you still breathing?! Haven't you bled enough to learn that below me is where you belong by now?" She scoffed antagonistically. I chuckled right back, earning a curious raised brow from the monster before me.
"What, are you enjoying this now?" Brigid questioned, dropping the armless hooded figure in her clutches. He fell staring at the blood pouring from his shoulder, stumbling to his knees before collapsing face first.
"Or is that a hint of smugness I'm seeing across that face? Like I'm unaware of some hidden scheme you or your trainer have brewing now?" She questioned, stepping forward and punting me in the ribs as I scrambled to my feet, knocking back into the water.
"Maybe you believe one of your friends will come along and finish me off now, or that you've gained some intel on me that could remotely serve as valuable to taking me down when we're out of here. Wouldn't that be fun, huh?" She continued, sparking a flicker of curiosity behind the sharp pains jabbing my body. Taking a deep breath, I leaned my head up to face her, only to feel the world twist and spin as her knuckle blasted into my cheek.
"You probably think I've alienated myself to the others already, that all you'd need now is enough allies on earth to unify in order to take me down. As if one bear has ever cared for the sniveling chips of its many prey. As if it didn't show mercy only in moments of contentment, not mercy." She growled, rubbing the top of her boot on my head harshly, shoving my face back into the gravely shallow water.
The best our world had to offer has already tried their chances with me, and died a humiliating death because of it one by one. I was already content when I arrived, and I've made a note to ensure Aerin's little crew serves as a prime example of what happens when the one who hunts the bear is hungry." Brigid said with a snarl, her void-like eyes burning with rage.
"I think y-…you're insane." I muttered, still trying to gather myself enough to wiggle this fucking thing free.
"No. No you know better than that. But you do think I'm a fool, don't you Cassi? You know, I wonder what Lonni would think if he saw you like this? I bet he'd be far less disciplined in avoiding my hands." Brigid said with a devious grin. I nearly bit my tongue off at hearing her rattle off both Lonni's name, and implying she knows things about him.
"What if I were to tell you that I knew exactly how Elysium's going to fall-" She continued, pulling my head up by my hair and cocking her fist back. Taking a deep breath, I finally flicked the Vitality Shard I buried in my cavity after purchasing one for each of us at the Quarterly Marketplace and swallowed.
"-and I'll never have to lift a finger." She continued, posturing her hips to smash my face in with another punch. Feeling my strength finally surge back into my arms, I dug my staff into the gravel while Brigid's explosive punch popped by my ear, causing it to whine a high pitched ring before going totally deaf. Fluidic Ripple danced down the length of my body as I kicked out with both legs, landing a quick head kick with one foot while locking the other behind her fiery skull. The kick hardly moved her jaw, which only made it easier to lock both ankles around her neck as I crunched on my way down, flipping her over my head and onto her backside. She immediately bounced up out of the water, leaping back on the offensive like a starving animal. Fluidic Ripple spun around my body in a blink as I landed on one leg, twisting smoothly into a spinning back elbow directly into her open palm.
*Pffft*
A gaseous squelch sputtered from behind my elbow, accompanied by a massive relief throughout my incredibly sore arm. Brigid's eyelid twitched once before she resumed her barrage of strikes, stepping deeper and deeper into the water. I backpedaled, deflecting each strike, noting her hair previously like a jet of violet flames had died down to a mere ember. Finally, after getting waist deep in the water, I noticed the rage in her eyes suddenly dissipate, replaced with urgency or even panic. I finally let my smile break as Tidal Stride activated, launching me up out of the water. Fluidic Ripple surged down my leg as I smashed Brigid's jaw with my knee, immediately wrapping my hands and other leg behind her head with a strong yank. Both of us sank into the water, where I slithered my limbs around her neck.
*BANG*
*B-BANG*
Bright flashes lit up around us as Brigid desperately tried to land a strike on me, failing each time given how easy it was to deflect away her strikes in this close. She slipped through one wild haymaker that barely missed my jaw, causing her to spin out and give me her back. With all my strength, I latched my forearm under her neck and locked it around my other, while cinching her hips with my legs the same way. Her elbows bashed into both of my ribs over and over, ripping small explosions that dented my armor tighter and tighter against my body. I focused on arching back as far as I could to spread her muscles as thin as possible, while ignoring her hairs violet embers somehow managing to burn hot enough to constantly singe my face. Brigid thrashing halted all at once, giving me a hint of hope she was fading.
*BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG*
Explosions ripped out from below us nonstop, the sheer volume causing my brain to rattle in my skull. Still I refused to release, knowing full and well all her thrashing only made the crushing of her windpipe all the worse. Suddenly, I felt the bright orange sun beaming down on my face as we surfaced, Brigid's feet still blasting us further and further up into the sky. One stray blast with her fist trying to punch me over her shoulder sent us spiraling, her feet blasting more and more only accelerating our rapid spin. My eyes barely made out the top of the water between our spins to release Brigid, kicking off her body entirely.
*SLAP*
Her body smacked down on the face of the water as I activated Tidal Stride to catch my footing. The wave buoyed off the water, though my momentum almost flipped me head over heels back into the water. The Vitality Shard might've given me an extra 100 health and mana points, but those elbows to the ribs underwater did a number on me as sharp pain jabbed across my midsection. I glided to the shallow and dropped down to a knee, summoning my final Health Potion from my necklace.
*SPLASH*
Before I could turn around, Brigid's shadowy figure launched out of the deep, landing another jab to my ribs. I managed to deflect the following two, and noticed her movement was considerably slower. Still, the pain running through my bones was making it increasingly difficult to move effectively myself. Just as I saw an opening to land my own punch however, Brigid's back leg ripped forward at her typical super speed. The impact smashed into my skull, knocking me off my feet entirely. My head plunged in the water, as I felt the familiar feeling of consciousness beginning to fade. A hand snatched me by my shoulder and yanked me from the water's warm embrace. I jolted up to my feet, smacking Brigid's hand away. To my surprise, she had reverted to her normal human form, clutching onto her back, her soaked hair covering half her face.
"You…I would've just left you to die out here with the rest of these pests squabbling for the same shit piles, you know that?" Brigid sneered through heavy breaths, raising her nose to me revealing the purple and yellow bruising all around her neck. I smiled at my handy work, staggering to reach for my staff. Humoring myself, I quickly pulled open my resources as my hand clutched wood floating on top of the water. As my mind wavered from consciousness and I nearly fell forward, I felt my weight shift as I caught myself. Looking down, the water surface rippled in response, replicating my exact movement.
"Go ahead, grab your stick. We're almost done here. You know, you're just good enough to be worth the exercise this time around, I'll give you that. Now-" Brigid hissed, walking up and grabbing me by my hair.
"Bleed." Her hand pressed up against my throat, when Fluidic Ripple spiraled around my torso and slipped under her palm clutching my neck.
*P-fft*
I felt an immense pressure against my throat that immediately died down, replaced by yet another random surge of relief. Brigid's hand recoiled wildly from my neck, causing her to take a few paces back in surprise, nearly tripping over the sandbar. I rubbed my neck for any wounds, trying to piece together why that last ditch attempt worked so well.
What the f…
"H-…how?! You're weak, a fucking pet to a disciple of a second rate HACK?!" Brigid barked, shaking out her hand and scanning me up and down in a mix of shock and disgust.
…OH, I see.
Smiling, I twirled my Bo Staff around my body, feeling out how spry I truly was. She took this as an invitation, and immediately dashed forward into melee with me. Seeing my new advantage, I went completely on the defensive and let Brigid unleash as many strikes as she pleased. None of them came at the speed she'd been throwing in her demonic form, and being hip-deep in water seems to slow her lateral quickness. It took a few swings before she finally let loose an explosive strike, using the same heel kick she always had from this range. Fluidic Ripple glided across my back and along my forearms as I elbowed her knee.
*CRACK*
The pop jolted through my arm as Brigid's face contorted in pain. Still, she immediately fired back with another hook toward my ribs. Fluidic Ripple was already spiraling down my knee as it smashed into her knuckle.
*CRUNCH*
Her fist folded against my armored knee as it met her punch in kind, twisting her body out like she'd just tried to physically catch a moving train. Meanwhile, both deflections seemed to have nurtured my body, to the point I feel not only better, but like I can see things slower. No, like Brigid is moving predictably, making her seem slow.
Brigid let out a rageful battle cry before charging me yet again, leaping up out of the water and blasting behind her to speed up her strike. The end of my staff clipped her boot, Fluidic Ripple instantly nullifying the explosive kick she trained at my head and spinning her through the air. In one fluid motion, I let loose a ferocious head kick reinforced with Fluidic Ripples full momentum. My eyes locked on Brigid, noticing her leg just barely twitched. Twisting my hips, I yanked my boot down directly onto her ducking head. Her head plunged completely under water before bouncing off the ground and lurching back up, placing her skull directly into my swinging bo staff's path.
*THUNK*
Her head recoiled to the side, Brigid's feet stumbling to steady standing as she dazingly rubbed her temple. I snatched her wrist from her face and bent back her elbow around my bo staff as I stepped behind her, chaining the snap with a punch of my own. My arm snatched around her throat again as she began to fall to the water, her feet kicking frantically in response. A few blasts fired from her heels kicked up water into the air, though the way she fell limp for a moment after the last implied she may finally be low on mana. Feeling my own strength beginning to wane however, I pulled Brigid down under the surface of the water. Immediately, she felt a million times lighter as we dipped under the surface. Even still, my grip was slowly slipping as she still thrashed wildly in my arms, even with my legs pinning her hips in place.
With sparingly few tricks left for me to try, I summoned Fluidic Ripple into the pit of my elbow, pressing against Brigid's throat. The water summon danced back and forth up and down my arm, refusing to sit in one place to help lock in my grip on her neck. After a few seconds of desperately clinging to her with all my remaining strength, the Ripple suddenly sank its total volume between my elbow and her throat and rapidly expanded.
*CRACK*
Brigid's chin snapped under my forearm, shattering and stabbing a fragment of bone into my wrist. Brigid crumbled to her knees in the shallow, blood pouring from her mouth using her hand to shakily stay up on all fours. Kicking my bo staff up into my hand, I reared back as she flopped her mess of a face back upright.
"I have no patron to give me power like you, and I just kicked your ass…who's the pet?" I asked through heavy breaths, looking down on the most feared woman on earth. There were no words, the Placement Tournaments champions eyes were glued down to the calm waters we sat in. I hesitated, realizing this wasn't exactly permanent nor all that personal for me in the first place.
"And…you fought well, damn well. Maybe after all of this, you might reconsider my prior offer of a more affable relationshi-" Brigid spat her blood out at my face, interrupting my offer. Though she wore no hatred in her eyes as she finally looked back into mine again, only her own resolve staring back at me.
"Fair enough." I said, before thrusting down my bo staff, shattering her skull with a final smash. A surge of relief and energy filled me to my core as the blue cylinder of my Death Echo beamed up into the sky and dissipated. I looked down in the water where I left her, running through our battle one more time.
So…that's who Korbin lost to, huh? How the fuck does she know Lo-
Before striding along the large body of water at my back for a beam of light that flashed in the distance and pondering Brigid's uncomfortable amount of information on Lonni, I spotted another swirling glimmer atop the water from the corner of my eye. Leaning down, it took a fool two seconds to realize I was staring at a thin, wide-faced, translucent ring. Lifting it up, the swirling band immediately came to life revealing an amber material base. It was warm to touch, even though I'd just plucked it from the cold, calm water. There's a small engraving around the ring, "Carried, Not Claimed." Identify didn't give any specs for the ring either, other than a name.
[The Undertide Horizon]
No rarity listed, no description attached, and yet a rather powerful title. Finding myself staring at its finely crafted designs, I realized I couldn't help but feel drawn to the ring, so much so I subconsciously placed it on my index finger while pondering its swirling patterns.
*ding*
*Congratulations!*
The Undertide Horizon (M€¥£*-
…
~ERROR~
(Unlawful Interaction detected.)
Rarity: [REDACTED]
Origin: [REDACTED]
…oh, shit.
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