Dragon X Duel

But I didn't have time to worry about what the new symbol over my head meant.

Stumbling backward, Dain had snatched up his axe in an instant. I saw his eyes glance upward to his HP bar, then back to me.

“How the hell–!?”

Judging by the damage I dealt and his surprise just now, it seemed like my min-maxed stats as a Dragonkin were a match for his own more generalist Human build – so I must have been at least close to his level.

...Didn't mean I could take a hit from that axe in return, though. Without armor, my high VIT score wouldn't mean anything against a weapon that heavy... probably. Either way, I wasn't about to find out. Ducking a frantic counter swing, I stepped forward even as he tried to back up and get distance, dragging my blade back across his torso.

This time, though, I didn't see any red. Rather, my blade scraped harmlessly over the surface of his heavy armor. I knew normal attacks were weaker than the special moves provided by skills, and I was still using a sword meant for Level 1 players... but I'd been hoping I could at least scratch him without relying on my Special Attacks. This was worse than I had thought...

...And it only got worse from there when he trapped my deflected sword under the head of his axe, twisted it to the side, then shoved me back with the butt of his weapon.

“Don't get cocky just because you got a few levels! I'll crush you like a bug! [Fatal Crescent]!”

Well, I wasn't about to let that happen. Weaving to one side, I avoided his next wide diagonal swing, but that only bought me a fraction of a second to recover my balance, raise my sword, and block his third strike head-on – and even then, the sheer weight of the swing was enough to knock me off my feet. I only barely managed to keep them under me as I landed again, skidding backward. As I thought, taking an actual hit from that would be –!

“[Helmsplitter]!”

...At least I wasn't going to have a hard time guessing what direction his next attack was coming from, with a name like that. I weaved to the side, dodging a vertical cleave with enough force behind it to once again bury his axe in the pavement, kicking up shards of rock and dust. He tried to pull it back, but before he could, I was already sliding past him, planting my foot, and then...

“Hold still, you fuck! [Fatal Crescent]!”

“[Disengage Slash]!”

I dealt a quick parting cut to his side, kicking up another shower of red particles – I guess even a Special Attack meant for evasion was still stronger than a normal swing. Then, in one fluid motion, I kicked off the ground and leaped backwards. The system took it from there, suspending unnecessary things like “friction” or “gravity” and sending me skidding just barely clear of his wide slash...

And leaving me standing right next to Rozas.

Without me harrying him, Dain was free to attack the Exile now. But if he did that – well, there was nothing stopping me from doing the same to his own partner!

Following through with my sword as I turned, I batted Rozas' staff aside, then lowered my sword to run him through before Dain could intervene. Unlike Dain's armor, his robes offered barely any resistance as I skewered him straight through the gut – but in the same moment, the glowing palm of the mage's gloved hand suddenly blocked my vision entirely as he raised it right in front of my face, and frantically chanted a skill of his own.

“[Fireball]!”

...Then everything went red. Fire raged around me, and somewhere amidst the blinding blur of crimson, I could see Rozas himself skidding backward, his own HP bar dropping even further from the backblast of his overwhelming attack. But as for me...

“Hey, not bad – I almost felt that!” I taunted, striding out of the inferno with an even cheekier grin than before – and with my HP bar barely even dented. “Dragonkin magic resistance is a hell of a thing, huh? Looks like these scales aren't just for show!”

“Do you ever shut up!?” The bellow from behind me reminded me that I had turned my back on a very angry man with a very big axe. Spinning around, I deflected another furious stroke, then began to circle out of his reach once more, giving Dain the opportunity he wanted to put himself between me and Rozas, and Rozas the opportunity to disengage from a losing battle.

Fine by me. The Exile said she could still cast magic, whereas, according to Gray, I had no counter to it other than taking it on my chin – so in a fight like this where I'd be hard-pressed to pin him down, the best option was to leave him up to her.

Besides, attacking him had already yielded better results than I had expected anyway, forcing him to self-damage just to get away from me, and putting Dain on the defensive – meaning he couldn't capitalize on the Exile's paralysis at all.

Although, now that I thought about it, how had she gotten paralyzed in the first place? Wasn't it a poisoned –?

“[Flechette]!”

– knife! Shit. I was so caught up worrying about magic – not even to mention about the axe that was once again making its way rapidly towards my throat – that it completely slipped my mind to be on the lookout for physical projectiles – particularly ones concealed within the flowing sleeves of a wizard's robe. But just before the dagger connected...

“[Eruption]! [Airburst]!”

Now that I was clear of both of them, the Exile had seen her opportunity, and joined the fray. The ground shook beneath my feet, and several cobblestones dislodged themselves from the ground in front of me, flying into the air alongside a shower of dirt and stones, and creating a makeshift curtain of debris that sent Dain stumbling backwards, and the knife spiraling off to who-knows-where.

Then, without missing a beat, a blast of wind struck the same spot, launching the suspended shower of rocks and dust into the both of them. Dain crossed his arms and tanked the barrage of shrapnel head on – Rozas wasn't so lucky. A rather large brick happened to strike him squarely in the face, sending him tumbling down the hill.

“Idiot!” Dain bellowed over his shoulder. “I'll handle the newbie! Deal with the Elf before the poison –”

“[Stinger]!” The moment he took his eyes off me, I lunged right back at him, shearing off another portion of his health bar as my blade grazed across his hip and only narrowly missed impaling him completely.

“Damn it! [Fatal Crescent]!”

Another wild diagonal swing. This must have been one of his strongest attacks, given his tendency to fall back on it every chance he got. But unlike some mindless NPC mob, I wasn't going to just fall for an attack I'd already seen twice before. Rather than distancing myself this time, I closed in, catching the haft of his axe with my off-hand before he could fully commit to the swing and forcing it wide – wide enough for me to step past him and...

“[Disengage Slash]!”

Another swift stroke, another quick hop out of range – another moment to breathe and assess the situation. From the bottom of the hill, I could hear Rozas' voice calling out fire spells one after another – but strangely enough, no explosion ever seemed to follow. Only a sudden cross-wind, as the Exile stood her ground, incanting [Airburst] again and again...

...And causing the flames to fizzle out right before they reached her. But how? It wasn't like such a small breeze could push such a large attack out of the way... Wait, was she smothering the flames by moving the air away from them? Could magic in this game really manipulate physics to that fine a degree?

Rozas didn't seem to get it, though, since he just kept flinging larger and larger fireballs her way – which she just kept dispersing harmlessly a few inches before they reached her. I guess my earlier mockery must have done a number on his pride – and the Exile's seemingly effortless defense was only infuriating him further. But funny as it was to watch him losing his cool and wasting his entire MP bar, I didn't exactly have time to enjoy the spectacle, as Dain gave another roar and plowed straight towards me.

He must have realized I was reading his Special Attacks, since he stopped calling any of them out. Instead, he just began to swing wildly back and forth, forcing me to guess at what move was coming next.

But I'd been fighting in VR games for a good year now – I'd gotten pretty good at guessing.

He was leaning back as he swung, dragging his axe's head over the pavement behind him – but he had raised his elbows too much for a low cut, not to mention that all this time, he only ever seemed to be aiming for the head. He'd start low, then carry through into an upward chop. By the time the blow reached me, I had already ducked beneath it – and as I rose, I was more than prepared to bat his downward follow-up just far enough aside to slip past it. Then, once I was once again inside his guard...!

“[Disengage Slash]!”

I carved across his chest again, then jumped back to avoid reprisal. His HP had now dropped clear into the red, and, to an outside observer, it must have looked like I was winning handily, just by doing the same thing over and over.

But see, that was precisely the problem. I had been trying to hide it up until now, and had been doing pretty well despite my limitations – but just like how I had figured out his tricks... even an idiot surely must have realized by this point that I'd already shown my entire hand.

If he was far away, I could rush to him and deliver a piercing strike. And if he was close, I could rapidly distance myself, and cut him as I did so. But with only a few meager levels in [Swordsman] thanks to my own unbalanced approach to leveling, those two Special Attacks were the only things I had that could actually hurt him through his armor – and both of them shared exactly the same limitation.

They could only move in a straight line.

And, as I was just now realizing... [Swordsman] must not have been the only skill that had a linear charge as a special attack.

“Your head is mine! [Iron Tide]!”