Chapter 55: Frontline Combat 101, pt. 3 (Patreon)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QCQN-L9UEmK2qrfAWuitzdg6UITNmGJjbeMRE8tnwno/edit?usp=sharing

--

Cayden unbuckled the sheaths that covered his claws, tossing them to the sand next to Jeremy before turning to where the instructor and Cassius waited.

“Good luck,” Jeremy said, and Cayden nodded, but he was already focused on his opponent.

He was a snake beastkin, called a slitherkin, and was one of the five students who had brought their own weapons to class. He had two shortswords sheathed in an ‘x’ pattern on his back, and the blades glimmered beautifully in the sun as he pulled them free.

They stared impassively at each other as they walked to the satyr. Wasting no time, Cassius put a hand on each of their shoulders, and then a moment later nodded at Instructor Barry.

Cayden felt no different from having Cassius’ protective skill cast on him, and he felt a moment of doubt. How would he know if the satyr’s skill was truly active and ready to pull him out? He didn’t have any healing potions with him. If he lost his fight and the skill somehow failed, would he die a slow death in the sand as his classmates looked on? The satyr hadn’t failed to pull out and restore the wounds of any of the previous combatants, but Cayden was the first non-noble to compete. How much could he truly trust this stranger with his life?

He shook away his doubts. He had been admitted to the academy, and he had to learn to trust them at least somewhat. And even if the skill hadn’t been cast, what could Cayden do? Refuse to fight?

In the end, it changed nothing, and Cayden pushed away his paranoia. He would treat this as a real battle, one where his life was on the line – something he probably should have always been doing in spars, regardless of the training weapons or other safety nets.

Cayden and his opponent had learned from the actions of the previous combatants, and as they stepped into the ring, they each had their weapons ready and eyes focused. Neither of them immediately moved, and Cayden took the opportunity to further size up his opponent.

He didn’t have the cockiness that Cayden had seen in some of the other noble students, and his focus was entirely on Cayden rather than on showboating to the observers like one of the nobles in the third duel. The way he moved across the sand to his side of the ring displayed a high amount of dexterity, as it was closer to a ‘stalk’ than a ‘walk.’ Each foot was placed carefully and surely, his center of balance always kept low and between the insides of his feet and his tail which dragged in the sand behind him. Dual-wielding his weapons also implied a high amount of dexterity – ambidexterity didn’t require high dexterity, but it certainly helped. And the fact that he was wielding shortswords rather than something larger implied he didn’t have a strength-focused build. Cayden couldn’t remember the primary stats of the slitherkin race, but most beastkin that weren’t bear or other large mammal varieties had agility as one of their primary stats, so Cayden prepared for his opponent to be fast.

Having less [Inertia] would help him change directions quicker, allowing him to better keep up with a faster opponent. Though Cayden had decent agility for someone of his level, close to what someone who had agility as a primary stat would naturally have, he doubted he’d be quick enough to keep up with a dedicated agility build with the skills to back it up. Regardless, Cayden decided to leave his [Inertia] as it was at about three-quarters of his natural amount. His mana pool had thankfully refilled back to full while watching the previous matches, which gave him enough mana for several minor [Inertia] changes, two medium changes, or one extreme change.

As a rule, frontline fighters had less active skills than mages or other backline adventurers. The passive boosts to stats that weapon skills and other skills like [Endurance] granted were simply too good to pass up when they were expected to get close and personal with their enemies. Yet even though this was a class for frontline fighters, the previous four fights were proof enough that every adventurer would have some active skill to try and swing the fight in their favor. Whatever that skill or skills were for the slitherkin, he would need to be ready.

His assessment and planning only took a few seconds, but it was long enough for the slitherkin to begin his approach.

True to his species’ name, he didn’t charge Cayden directly, instead zig-zagging with each step. Cayden didn’t see any skills used in his approach, but he remained vigilant.

With only his claws for weapons, Cayden couldn’t allow the slitherkin to dictate the fight – the swords’ longer reach would allow his opponent to stay out of range of Cayden’s attacks if he let him. So rather than waiting for him to close the rest of the distance between them, Cayden stepped forward in a charge of his own.

The slitherkin didn’t flinch from Cayden’s charge, and in a flash, they met in the middle of the ring.

Blades met claws, and Cayden was surprised when the blades actually managed to slice through the outer layer of the skin on his hands. Nothing he’d previously fought had managed to breach the protection [In Clawed Grasp] offered him, and he wondered if it was a skill or a property of the swords themselves that gave them their cutting power. His opponent looked just as surprised that his weapons did so little, and Cayden rushed to take advantage of his hesitation. Blood oozed from his cuts as he attempted to grab the blades and wrench them from his opponent’s grasp. The edges dug further into the skin on the palms of his hands, but Cayden would accept the tradeoff if it meant disarming his opponent.

Unfortunately, the slitherkin’s surprise lasted no longer than a blink, and he managed to twist his swords away from Cayden’s bloody grasp. Cayden lunged forward after his retreating opponent, hoping to keep the momentum while the slitherkin was off-balance, but as he reached forward, claws extended, two more swords appeared in a flash of silver light, deflecting his hands away and giving the slitherkin the time he needed to reset his guard with his two real swords.

The skill Cayden had been waiting for had made its appearance. But the slitherkin didn’t give Cayden a chance to adjust, resuming his assault immediately.

Cayden deflected two more blows from his opponent’s swords with his claws, gaining a few more minor cuts. Unfortunately, his opponent had learned his lesson and didn’t give Cayden the chance to grab onto either of the blades. As expected, the slitherkin had a higher agility than him, his blades moving almost too fast for Cayden to react to. And in the moment after the strikes, when Cayden tried to push forward, two more silvery blades appeared and struck him in the sides, the blades disappearing into nothingness a moment after each of the strikes.

And then the slitherkin’s assault truly began.

It was a constant flurry of swords. Metal and silvery light flashed, blinding Cayden in a dizzying display of skill and coordination. For every blade he deflected, two more found their way past his guard, slicing thin lines through his clothes and into his skin. The conjured silvery blades never existed for more than a second, but they moved independently from the two blades held in his opponent’s hands. They only attacked from Cayden’s front, though, and he managed to avoid the worst of the damage by covering his most vulnerable areas that were facing his opponent. His only other consolation was that the conjured blades weren’t able to pierce Cayden’s skin very effectively, whatever property the two real swords possessed that allowed them to so easily bypass his defenses not carrying over to the shining replicas.

But it didn’t mean much when he was able to block less than half of the slitherkin’s strikes, each one as swift as a scorpion’s stinger. The swords danced as Cayden’s wounds piled up. [Resistance] included a resistance to pain, but even through the skill, Cayden could feel the lines of fire scorching his skin each time a blade made it past his defenses. By themselves, none of the attacks would constitute anything more than a minor inconvenience. But together, as the seconds dragged on and Cayden was unable to do more than futilely grab out at a passing blade or his opponent?

Cayden was literally facing a death by a thousand cuts.

And it wasn’t just the matchup of skills that was the issue. If he had been facing a simple adventurer wielding two swords with two conjured blades, Cayden could have bided his time and endured the assault, waiting for the inevitable over-extension of the swordsman. No, it was the skill of the slitherkin that was overwhelming him.

The conjured blades moved independently of any of his opponent’s movements. Unless the skill was much more powerful than he expected, Cayden believed the slitherkin was controlling each of the four swords. Cayden knew dual-wielding was hard enough. Wielding what was effectively four swords in perfect harmony? Never overextending against an opponent who was close to invulnerable against all but the heaviest strikes?

It was intimidating. It was terrifying.

It was glorious.

Despite his continued delving of new dungeons over the months, it was rare for Cayden to feel truly challenged. He never delved a dungeon without Elise first researching and ensuring his opponents would be well within his capabilities. The terravias had been an exception to that, of course, but that was a difference of stats. Regardless of how he may have trained, Cayden couldn’t see a world where he would be able to take down a terravia by himself at only level thirteen.

This, though, was different. The slitherkin’s conjured sword skill was impressive, but nothing beyond what Cayden had imagined he might face from a sword-wielding adventurer. He was fast, but not so much faster than Cayden as to be completely out of his league. His other physical stats, aside from vitality, seemed to be mostly on par with Cayden’s own.

No, what separated them was skill. Cayden had spent so much time training on his own, looking down on the poorer work ethics of the Avernon adventurers that he had come to the academy expecting the same from the attending nobles. He would work longer and harder than anyone else, and would naturally be the best as a result.

Yet this slitherkin noble proved those assumptions wrong.

He was leagues ahead of Cayden, not in stats or levels or skills that could be displayed on a status page, but in honest combat skills gained through sweat, patience, and repetition.

The fire in Cayden’s heart – lit initially when he had first learned of the system in this world and reignited in his first solo dungeon delve – burned even brighter. And Cayden belatedly realized that, despite the pain and the quickly approaching end of the match, he was laughing maniacally.

Mindful of the watching class, he clamped down on the cackles that were bursting from his throat, but he couldn’t stop the smile that stretched across his face. There was unlikely to be anything that he could do to salvage this match; he was too hopelessly outmatched to have a chance against his slitherkin opponent. But that would not always be the case. Cayden was determined that the next time he faced this opponent – and he promised himself that there would be a next time – he would be better prepared.

But just because his current situation was hopeless didn’t mean Cayden would give up. The slitherkin was too fast and skilled with his swords for Cayden to catch him or his blades, but that just meant Cayden would need to be faster. It would cost him any leverage he might have once he grabbed his opponent, but that only mattered if he could grab him.

With a thought, Cayden lowered his [Inertia] to a quarter of his default amount. And then, before his opponent could notice his lowered [Inertia] from the way he reacted to the sword strikes, he bull-rushed forward as he activated [Tuant].

As he had whenever Cayden attempted to close the distance before, the slitherkin danced back out of range of Cayden’s reach. But this time, his increased acceleration, coupled with just the tiniest hesitation in the slitherkin’s backstep from [Taunt], gave Cayden the edge he needed to close the distance. Accepting the sword stabbed into his shoulder,  Cayden reached out and latched his claws around his opponent’s scaly wrist.

Cayden knew he wouldn’t get another chance, and though he didn’t have a proper grip around the wrist, he held on with everything he had. He immediately tried to increase his [Inertia] back to its previous amount with his half-empty mana pool, but the slitherkin’s instinctual response was faster.

[Inertia] didn’t technically change Cayden’s mass, but functionally it provided the same results. So when the slitherkin recoiled away from Cayden’s grip, Cayden was pulled along behind him. Then, as he was yanked behind the retreating slitherkin, his claws lost their grip with a spurt of blood. Cayden sailed through the air and landed on his back just beyond the outer edge of the ring.

He had lost.

Previous Chapter -- Next Chapter