.
The cell carried a lingering smell of sardine, obscured by the salt of Vi's sweat.
Before we started throwing punches I quickly checked my UI to make some changes; switches off healing runes and others that might interfere with the fight.
Vi was in stance, fist in front of her face. Her red hair and 'vi' tattoo highlighted in dim ambience. She wore a gray tank top, brown pants and boots.
My chest was bare, only dark pants and a pair of jackboots.
Once my arms were up, we looked at each other and nodded.
Thud!
She plants her feet wide and launches four straight whack-whack-whack-whack punches through my guard directly into my face. Too fast.
I tough it up those heavy impacts. Her shoulders twitched. I duck forward—swoosh—dodging a lightning hook. Stomping the ground hard I pull my waist back—woosh—dodging another.
I stepped back.
She kept her rhythm, bouncing back and forward in little hops.
Damage came and my vision blurred.
She noticed it. Snap—she lunged forward, throwing two more hiss-hiss straights. I bounced back and she missed. I locked at her jaw, whack!—my hook landed. She hopped back, raising her guard.
I did it too.
Vi smirked, "You're better than I thought." A confident gaze. "Ready for the real deal?"
With my knuckles, I touched my nose. Blood. "Shit. I'm fucked."
She's way better than me.
Suddenly, she dashed into the air, launching a flying knee straight at me.
I dodged to the side, but my back hit the wall. The corner of the room.
Vi grinned, "Now just take it like a good boy."
Then, a storm of fists.
Whack-Whack-Whack-
Even though I shielded my chin with both arms, her fists pierced it with ease in a savage blur, slamming into my ribs, arms, nose, jaw. Every impact rattled through my skull.
Whack-Whack-Whack-
At some point,
Everything slowed down.
As my blood spilled out of me, clarity started to sink in.
Time.
Logic.
Why would results care about those things?
All they have ever cared about is now. What you have. What you do.
Whack!
'It's not that I don't have time,' I realize. 'My greatest gift, the thing that shortened my learning curve entirely, was gaining that.'
The picture of my duel with Qiyana flashed in my mind. Her crown, her gold, her ruthlessness.
The first slot brought me more than just her passive. It gave me the fundamental talent to make it possible.
'The skill didn't come from the duel or a change in her character. It came from the dynamic between us, her attitude towards me, and my feelings for her.'
"I need to care, and they need to care," I murmured through the pain. "That's it!"
Whack! Another punch lends. I let out a bloody smile.
Vi hopped back, hesitating, panting.
"Buh," Out of me, a wet loud laugh slipped out, "BuwAHaHhaHa! Of course!"
I felt not pain.
Only insight.
'...once I copy that girl's genius, it should be feasible. I just need to make her care.'
I spat a mouthful of red on the ground.
'If the me now is not enough to come up with a solution, then I simply need to fix that.'
I looked at Vi, her guard was up.
"The skill. Let's test that theory."
I stepped in and threw two weak shots to her face. She leaned back to dodge at a hair's length.
Just as I expected.
I dropped low, diving inside her guard and behind her frontal foot. I jammed my thigh against hers, buried my shoulder into her armpit.
I broke her stance.
My arm locked around her waist. Glued to her.
I pushed my thigh upward into hers, throwing her off balance as I forced my arms around her to sweep her to the floor. THUD! We hit the ground hard. She immediately threw sharp elbows at me, trying to break my grip, but I already had her trapped.
Smirking, I deliberately loosened my hold.
The instant she tried to scramble up onto all fours, I went back in, locking an arm tightly around her neck. "Ack!" Vi let out as I pressed her back down by extending my legs, pinning her weight against the floor.
"Gah!" She surged upward with explosive strength, but I snaked my arm deep under her armpit and locked it tight.
Pressing my weight down, I executed a vicious crocodile roll, twisting my entire body. Violet spun with me, ending up belly-up with her back arched off the ground. "Ah-ah-ck—" She was suffocating, trapped by the leverage of her own arm pinned against her neck.
I kept the pressure heavy, waiting out her final struggle. "Ngghh... hhh..." Within seconds, the tension in her muscles loosened.
Her body went slack as she black into unconsciousness.
She never tapped.
I let go.
While laying down beside Vi, I took deep breaths and felt the etching of my bruises increase,
In silence,
While observing the dark ceiling.
I archived this pain.
'...grappling saved me again.'
A few breaths later when Violet was regaining consciousness, I equipped my runes again and dropped my hand back at her without looking.
[Heal] The effects instantly taking effect.
My eyes glowed, watching the UI screen.
★ SKILLS …[=O]
Vi's Vault Breaker skill.
My lips stretched out a very long and thin smile.
'...So in the end the answer was... Taking them as a person?'
That explains why even though Nidalee valued me, I didn't copy hers. I only see her as a character. My main in the game.
Shit. I'm a terrible person.
"...I can't believe I lost to such a terrible boxer." Violet commented. With the back of my hand I felt her chest rising as she spoke, she had woken up.
"Hey, I wasn't that bad. I lend you one to the jaw, didn't I?"
My hand swallowed by her warmth,
"Lucky punches don't count."
Soft, rising, a heartbeat,
"It counts if I win."
Dense and wavy at the forearm. Soft and round at my fingers.
"That wasn't even—whatever… you already know my name, so what's yours?"
"It's Axion."
"Hey Axion, can you take your hand out of my breasts now?
"..."
.