Chapter 787 (2/2)

With a gradual relaxation, Randidly felt all the worries and mental strain melting away. Randidly ignored the starting announcements, such was his enjoyment of the sensation.

Finally, the match began. Only then did Randidly’s eyes snap open.

Skarch stood tall, her powerful spear humming with energy. In spite of himself, Randidly grinned. Truly, his modification of that spear had been well done. Ugly, perhaps, but effective.

Opposite her, Helen stood slender and defiant. Already, Randidly could sense the growing rage and frustration in Helen’s expression. Good, it would be better if she started out hot.

The Tides of Blood Domain spread its red haze and draped it over the entire arena. Skarch snorted. Hers was a spear of pride, prepared to rely on the inherent power of the spear in any situation. In her mind, the spear was the pinnacle. And she had put in the hours of hard work to back it up. With only a simple thrust, without even moving from the starting position 10 meters away, Skarch destroyed the Tides of Blood Domain.

Randidly’s eyebrows rose. Even he couldn’t do that so simply.

“Don’t bother,” Skarch announced. “Your Domain will not cage me. Come, let’s-”

Without a change of expression, Helen summoned the Tides of Blood Domain once more. Skarch’s mouth twisted and her spear slashed sideways. The Domain fell apart. But this time, before even Skarch could open her mouth, the Domain returned like a bolt from a clear sky.

Also, most everyone else wouldn’t have noticed the small changes. But they hadn’t spent as much time with the Domain as Randidly had. There was a small increase in the current complexity that wasn’t there before, Randidly noticed. Although it was called “Tides” of Blood, it was largely just a shift in the air that gave Helen increased Strength and Agility. But now…

Skarch cut. Helen summoned. Skarch thrust, Helen summoned. Skarch’s face turned furious and she simply stepped forward. The ground quaked. The Domain fell to pieces. Helen took a seat in a meditative posture and summoned the Domain once more.

“You truly wish to waste your Stamina on this?” Skarch said with a disgusted voice. “I had assumed you were the headstrong type, but you insist on this foolishness? Fine. I will bleed you dry.”

Skarch was correct that it couldn’t be going very well for Helen’s Stamina. But there were a few tricks that Randidly had been sure to beat into Helen’s body these last few days. One of them was an old Skill that had been subsumed into his Yggdrasil Skills, Second Wind. And Randidly had been sure to keep Helen well below half Stamina during their training sessions. Undoubtedly, her mastery of the Skill had soared.

It was somewhat surprising, Randidly reflected, that Skarch would forget his own tireless fighting style. Well, she would learn the hard way that trying to outlast Helen was a fool’s decision.

Helen sat in a meditative stance with her eyes closed. Continually, she reformed her Domain after Skarch scattered it to the four winds. Every time, Randidly’s eyes traced the small but growing currents that ran through the Domain. Sometimes they were stronger than others between iterations, but Randidly could understand that; what Helen was trying to do was strengthen the Domain by creating a constant flow. But with no real knowledge of ocean currents, she could basically just use her images of rivers to create mini slipstreams through the Domain.

It was trial and error and the progress was halting at best.

After about two minutes of the standoff and having scattered the Domain fifty times, Skarch finally seemed to realize that this wasn’t having the effect that she expected. The whole while, Helen stayed seated, which undoubtedly added to the humiliation. Honestly, Randidly was surprised that Helen’s rage allowed her to be still. But he supposed it was stubbornness that urged her forward, now.

“That’s my girl,” Randidly laughed aloud. A few nearby spectators paused in their cheers and boos to give him a weird look.

“Fine!” Skarch bellowed. She stepped forward once again and destroyed the Domain. But this time, the Tides of Blood spun and trembled before collapsing underneath the weight of Skarch’s simple moves. “If you refuse to come to me, then don’t blame me for taking the initiative!”

Helen smiled, her eyes were still closed. The Tides of Blood Domain descended and swirled around them. With a fluid grace only possible within her own Domain, Helen did a strange pirouette to stand.

Snorting, Skarch rushed forward. The speed of her passage parted the Tides of Blood, but still the currents swirled. The parted Domain trembled, then slowly inched back together behind Skarch.

Just before Skarch arrived, Helen’s eyes opened. Although the area directly around Skarch and behind her was not covered by the Domain, the place where Helen was standing remained thick with the color of blood. Helen raised her spear defiantly.