I focused fully on Leo, blocking out all other distractions. Not that there were any.
He stood there with a wide, creepy smile. But that's it…
He just… stood there.
At least he can't subdue me with his Aura.
It was a stressful wait. No one wanted to make the first move. My stance was best at defending blows, while Leo's was best at counterattacking them.
So, we stood there. Watching each other. Leo grew more relaxed as time went on, while I… grew colder.
My confidence wavered, my heart beat faster, my ears popped from the tension, and the ground beneath me began to freeze from my building frost.
Will usage may be allowed, but so far, there's nothing I can do with it. I just have to wait for Leo to--!
He's right in front of me!
Using the long wait, and my nerves, he waited for the chance to spring up on me while I thought of what to do.
In that one, small moment of thought, he struck.
Exploding in a straight dash towards me, he completely ignored the primary goal of Grimshaw. Running straight at the opponent.
When about two meters away, he sent a wave of vibrations towards me, causing my whole body to stumble and buckle. Disturbing the sensation of my nerves and the contraction of my muscles, my body moved slower. Shaking in resistance to Leo's cap.
In swift succession, as Leo was bearing down on me, he went for a jab to my stomach.
Too late, and too slow, to dodge it, I was forced to perform a block. Not even in a position to redirect it, I block its full force.
As Leo's fist is about to land against my forearm, he opens his palm and slows his punch. Using the opportunity to grab my arm and pull.
The momentum of his hand lands as a slap against my arm, pushing me back slightly, but in quick reaction, he grabs and swings me around.
I barrel forward, facing away from him. Without even seeing it coming, a powerful kick radiates from my back, sending me tumbling towards the ground. A few painful cracks audibly spread from the point of contact.
Hitting the floor hard, Sir Chiron's voice comes over the speaker, "Point to Leo. Score, Rin zero – Leo one. Reset."
We take a small rest, allowing my back to stop aching.
As per sparring rules, I'm allowed no recovery caps of any kind, or potions.
Once again, standing across from each other, Leo and I ready into our stances.
Last round, I was not prepared for Leo's trick. The sensation of having my body vibrate at a rapid speed, enough to disrupt movements, was not something I expected.
It doesn't help that I can't fight at range either. I don't have access to Release. The only positive is that Leo's Will doesn't do much damage at a distance either. At least, not that I know of.
The problem is that there's nothing I can do when he gets close. I'm not trained in using my Will in quick reactions. The only time was during the fight with the Tasvayne Python.
My head ached momentarily when thinking about that day.
To break off its tail, all I did was accumulate a large amount of essence, ready to Disperse. Like with the ice bridge before. But after using that much essence in a short amount of time, and the following tail whip, I was out of commission for the rest of the engagement.
Doing that with Leo would probably leave us both encased in a layer of blistering frost, but what about Condense?
My only real proficiency with Condense is creating a thin layer of ice around my skin… like armor.
If I create a layer thick enough that Leo can't grab, or one that hurts to hit, it could slow down his assault. All I have to do is create ice strong enough and quick enough to keep up with him. Unfortunately, I'll only be able to react to his attacks, not anticipate.
Readying my stance, back in the defensive position, I signal to Sir Chiron that I'm ready.
His voice comes over the speaker, "Ready. Begin!"
Leo wastes no time this round. Advancing towards me at full speed. His swift form an imposing force to look at as he approached.
I tighten my arms, ready to block if needed. But after the last round, I stayed light on my feet. I'd rather dodge.
Keeping my legs loose, I stumble a bit. As soon as Leo began his approach, he sent waves of sound towards me. Unintelligible wails and cries of random voices echo from all around me. Causing me to lose focus.
Some were high-pitched, others low. Some sounded as if they were a hundred meters away, others, whispering in my ear. They came from all directions, even feeling like they were voices coming from within my body. Like my essence was screaming at me. Yet, one aspect was the same throughout all of them. They were almost coherent. A puzzle almost solved, if only I were a little closer and the voices a little clearer, I could understand what they were saying.
The noise drove me crazy!
Distracted by the voices, I lost focus on Leo for a moment. By the time I locked back on him, he was almost upon me.
Readying myself to dodge out of the way, I bent my knees and widened my stance, no longer debilitated by his vibrations or distracted by his sound wraiths.
When he was one meter away, I dodged without thought. Jumping back before he could even attack.
Halting his advance upon seeing my reaction, he skidded to a stop. Confused by my anticipated evasion, he looked at me, head tilted in bewilderment.
"Are you scared?" he says with a chuckle.
Before I could respond, however, he waved his arms, sending out another wave of vibrations.
My essence hummed as I rapidly spread it throughout my body. Vibrating at a rapid pace, much like Leo's attack.
His cap targeted my arms. I managed to unleash a thin, barely conceivable layer of frost. They slowed for a second before shaking off the effects. The ice crumbled from the pressure.
Leo's assault left a lingering strain. My essence moved throughout my arms slower than before.
If I continue like this, I'll lose the round again before I can even retaliate. I need to be more precise.
Shifting the focus of his vibrations over my legs, I reacted mutually. Unleashing the bulk of my essence in my legs instead of my whole body. My leg muscles contracted sharply, squeezing my bones, in reaction to the controlled amount of essence.
Only without the chance to both focus my essence and Condense it.
With an increased volume of essence in one part of my body, it negated Leo's debilitating effect even more.
But not as much as Condense.
As Leo's cap slowly overpowered me, my essence rose. Ascending from the subtlety of within, to a more prominent counter. Constantly pumping my body of essence was much more wasteful. Instead, a hardened layer of ice over my legs was enough to negate the vibrations entirely. The ice was crumbling from the strain, but held form enough to render Leo's cap useless.
However… I seem to have miscalculated… I literally froze my legs solid.
In reaction to my predicament, Leo moved towards me again, aiming a jab at my face.
The bretch is only trying to injure me!
Losing balance, I stumbled backwards while trying to protect my head. Coating my arms in a layer of frost as well.
Before falling to the ground, my awkward reaction must have caught Leo off guard. Throwing a devastating punch right at my essence and ice-reinforced arms.
The blow shattered the ice as I rotated to catch myself on the ground. Landing on my stomach.
My arms had only slight scratches from the ice..
Leo reels in pain from the punch, having not properly reinforced his hand for the attack. His sound wraiths also stopped.
Taking a deep breath, I clap my hands on the ground to rise, leaving me in confusion.
I couldn't hear my breath, nor the clap. Come to think of it, I didn't hear the ice shatter either.
I can't hear anything.
He's toying with me.
I jump back to my feet, worried Leo would attack while I'm disoriented from the silence.
Quickly looking around for the silent, violent assassin, I prepare to defend against any coming blow.
Only, there is no blow, or assassin.
Leo… is gone.
I quickly turned around, assuming he was hiding in my blind spot. But after several quick turns, he was still nowhere to be seen.
And after half a dozen seconds of no sign of him, or sound, a creepy, distorted, soft voice rings out from my left. My weaker side. "Over Heeere!"
Quickly turning in the direction of the voice, I shift to see… no one.
A wave of dread engulfs me as I turn again. This time to my right. And sure enough, I'm met with a powerful, essence-enhanced, punch to the face.
I fell for the damn trickster's trap.
In a snap of my neck, my head rolls to the side. Falling to my knees. Nearly losing consciousness.
Another voice rang out, but it was directionless. It didn't have the same spatial disorientation as Leo's sound wraiths. Nor did it have the same inflection.
Instead, it was a high-pitched, reverberating growl.
"Kill him!" It snarled.
"No one toys with me!" It barked.
"I'll kill him! Let m—"
A sharp kick to my stomach jolted me out of my half-conscious stupor. Sliding across the floor, the round was over.
My cold blood rushed to my ears. Muffling all noise. I could feel trace amounts of my essence spreading to my neck and stomach, working to reduce the pain.
I lay there, cold, and angry. I lost, true. I was angry because I lost another round, sure. I was angry because I was in pain, of course.
But deeper than that, there was an anger that I didn't understand. An anger so feral, it made me feel like a Beast.
I wanted to rip Leo apart. Nothing would make me happier than hearing him scream as I tore him to pieces, limb from limb. I wanted him dead, and I wanted him to suffer while it happened.
But, even deeper than the anger, was a sense of profound confusion that left me more staggered than the pain. A question that felt like it was consuming my essence. Slowing my recovery.
Who did that voice belong to?
Sir Chiron's muffled voice came over the speaker, "Point to Leo. Score, Rin zero – Leo two. Reset."