Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

“If this is all you’re good for it looks like you’ll lose another student.”

Did Vasta have a student before Jake?

Based on the way she reacted during her fight, it was clear the answer was yes and that whatever happened, it hadn’t ended well, something the woman she’d known since arriving on that world had never touched on in their time together but apparently still cut deep enough to leave a psychological blow when it was brought up during her fight, nearly bringing things to an early end that left its impact for the rest of their duel.

It was something Amy couldn’t help but want to ask about, even if she was trying to suppress her feelings. All too soon it would be her turn, she needed her head in the game for what looked certain to be a struggle, with the mage she knew left bleeding and beaten by the end, even if she’d come out on top.

But I have until Thera’s done at least. Just a little more time to prepare.

It was what she told herself as the other girl went out, a part of her curious about how such a clash would turn out for someone who held so much power and getting a non-answer as it ended before it could even start. Amy blinked and the second match was done, Thera’s copy left unseen to her and Thera herself looking almost disappointed as she was ferried back to her cell.

“I feel like I should have been able to defend against that,” Amy heard her mutter, her friend not seeing why it had been so easy when it was an attack that Thera herself thought her replica should have been able to handle but there wasn’t going to be an answer for her and there was nothing for Amy to add to whatever complicated feelings may have been left from such an easy victory after what they’d all first witnessed. Her own time was up so much sooner than expected and with Thera returned, her own cell opened, letting her walk out to face herself.

A part of her couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if she just didn’t step into the glowing patch of the platform but didn’t pursue that curiosity in the end. Even if she held no hope that her own fight would go as smoothly as the last, she wanted to get it over with the best she could, even if it was already going to be harder than it needed to.

After seeing how Vasta did, not getting Ben to break out to turn things into a two-on-one really does feel like such a bad choice but… Well, I can’t let someone else carry me through this entire thing.

She already accidentally dumped her feelings about how little she’d contributed to the tower on Ben once, she couldn’t just immediately try to get someone else’s help again for her trial when it was going to be as much of a place for her to improve as anything else. She’d seen the skill of Vasta’s copy and wanted to know the level her own would hold, so prepared as she could be, she held forth the spear in her hand and waited a beat for her duplicate to arrive, throwing herself into the fight the moment she did.

With her weapon held forth, her aim was for a quick kill but it was obvious from the start that her own battle was going to be more comparable to Vasta’s than Thera’s, with her duplicate’s spear expertly parrying her own while continuing forward in her thrust, one hand taken off her weapon to throw a punch empowered by her augmentation that the real Amy only barely dodged, feeling the force of the blow that just barely missed her face, and combined with what she’d seen in the first fight, it was an easy choice to set up her augmentation to behave defensively.

A power that used mana in a way that could be considered a limited form of magic, it was able to be applied to her weapons and her body to exhibit various effects but as the first holder of the non-affinitied version of the skill, there’d been a steep learning curve for figuring out what she could and couldn’t do with it, an issue she still struggled with as she’d explore her power, even if then and there she decided to keep it simple.

Strengthen her body and weapon, strengthen her defense as well and she’d hoped that would be enough to deal with the brute of the blows, even as one thing became clear.

While it seemed like Vasta’s copy was a little better than the original, the gulph Amy was feeling with her own was all the greater as its kicks and punches were mixed into the regular spear arts she’d learned, with what she’d thought was going to be a jab from the others weapon turning into an elbow strike and getting her in the ribs after she’d dodged, leaving a pain in her incomparable to what it should have been with the precautions she’d taken as an answer came to her.

Was that… Magic nullification?

It certainly felt like her defense had been broken but while she and Vasta were both confident that she should have been able to use her skill in such a way, empowering her strikes to break whatever magic they came across, she’d never had success in getting it to work. Combined with the fact that pulling it off would mean stripping the enchantments from whatever weapon she wielded and it had become a potential aspect she hadn’t tried too hard to perfect either but to have it so naturally used against her came as a shock that forced her to re-evaluate her strategy.

Defense may not have been an option anymore so she instead went all in on offense, keeping her body strengthening up but aiming to enhance everything else about herself she could as well, her reflexes and reactions improving to help her dodge a few more attacks and limit the damage of the ones that landed while getting a few in herself, making sure her duplicate was left bleeding just as much as her while the fight went on.

Her focus fixed solely on her target numbed the sting of each blow she received though, everything she had devoted to her opponent as she watched where the other was better and did her best to overcome it with power, feeling like she had a chance no matter the beating she was taking. No definitive blow had been struck as they each worked to break the balance, the copy finally opening its mouth to do just that.

“If this is all you amount to, it’s no wonder you’re a side character in your own love life. First choice of neither and who could blame them?”

It should have been something she could have brushed off but seeing her own face give voice to some of her insecurities left her to stutter in her attacks, a dumb mistake that her copy was able to capitalize on with a lung, sinking its spear into her arm, tearing through the same bicep she’d already hurt once in the beginning of the trial and leaving the one who’d delivered the blow to smile.

“Nothing cute about insecurity either.”

A punch to the face followed, breaking Amy’s nose as she did her best to focus on the fight in front of her. Whatever worries she had about her relationships, they were only being pointed out to weaken her, letting them succeed any more than that would only spell her defeat when she was already trapped there, the spear piercing her arm holding her in place while the duplicate rained down blows, her punches empowered and beating Amy to a bloody pulp as injuries built up, dramatically shifting the direction of the battle and leaving her to move on instinct by the end in one last futile struggle.

Increasing her speed and the strength in her jaw, Amy lunged forward when her duplicate got just a little too close, feeling the shaft of the spear slide through her muscles but also feeling the duplicate’s throat under her teeth in an attack it hadn’t anticipated as she bit down through it, her enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes making it easy as chucks of blood and sinew filling her mouth until all at once it wasn’t. She’d gotten the kill and with it, everything her copy was disappeared.

She almost collapsed to the ground, only stopping as a pair of arms caught her and with a bit of strength looked up through the blood leaking into her eyes.

“Ben?”

“Ah, sorry, looks like I didn’t have enough faith in you. I broke out to help but you’d already won.”

“Ha, I did win, didn’t I?” She laughed, feeling giddy despite it all. “That really sucked so much.”

“Yeah, it looked like it. Are you able to heal yourself with your augmentation?”

“Ugh, not without my affinitied one so you and Jake better make your fights fast before I bleed out.”

“Or I’ll break down the walls for Vasta and Thera to give you whatever treatment they can.”

“...Yeah, that could be nice too,” She told him before her injuries finally caught up with her. No more adrenaline flooding her veins, she passed out, getting what bits of peace from that fact she could.