Under the "supervision" of the blood cloud, Bane quickly closed on Ran and lifted his axe for a strike!
So simple! Yet so effective. It covered the sunlight in front of Ran as if to intimidate him into submission.
Ran summoned his sword, not being able to take the time to see its changes, and defended against the strike.
Bang!
Unfortunately, Bane was able to overpower Ran, though the sword stopped him from being cut into two pieces.
His body shook violently and some blood trickled from his lips. Some rupturing had occured.
Welp, that didnt work. Onto the next strategy. Yes, taking that hit was, indeed, a strategy; a failed one.
When they struck each other again, this time, Ran decided to steal his momentum. This was, unfortunately, the only thing he could steal. Theres no use trying to convert the axe as his juice is too weak for that. He couldnt even cause a disruption.
When they confronted each other, Bane found himself still for an instant before regaining his movement. Yet, he soon found out that Ran had suddenly grown stronger! Stronger than he was!
However… just this wouldn't be enough. And as it just so happens, he wasnt really giving it his all. Dont get me wrong, he was using one hundred percent of his muscly strength.
But when was one hundred percent the limit? It never was!
Like this, ten minutes passed as Ran found it harder and harder to keep up his superiority in this fight. His muscles were sore and cried out in pain, yet he kept going. He would die otherwise.
And over these ten minutes, Ran was guzzling his energy. If he had used what he gained before fighting Bane, then it was at sixty percent. But, it had doubled due to the most likely cause of his bloodline awakening further, so it should be at one hundred and twenty.
But, you cant forget he healed himself from his broken back! Yes, just that injury and all other subsequent ones had cost him basically everything of what he had at the time.
So, mathematically speaking, he would have zero after healing himself and then his capacity doubled. Therefore, he should be at one hundred after the change.
However, the last ten minutes had expended another fifty percent! Basically, he was at fifty percent. Yep, all that word salad just to get to this point.
I know, nothing comes for free in this world, or any other. All that kinetic energy, while stolen, was also transferred. Yep, just stealing the energy in the first place costs energy. Luckily, it still costs less than transferring soul juice, so that can be considered a positive.
Obviously, the ten minutes weren't for nothing, Bane would definitely have some nasty scars from the slashes across his body. But he liked that way! Oh gawd, hes one of those isnt he!? S**t, I did say he had a lot of bloodlust… he won't stop!
Now, Ran was running out of options. His juice had no effect on Bane and his extra gain in momentum was losing its effectiveness as he was seemingly getting stronger and stronger. Again, it showed his sigils inability of having any firepower whatsoever, especially when dealing with higher ranking fighters.
"Hah, I dont know what trick your playing at, but I want to see how long you can keep it up!"
Bane lifted his axe and slammed it down!
Boom, puff. The sand shook as it was brought to the air around a ten meter radius of the crash.
"Woah." Ran, who had barely skimmed past the edge of the blade, looked at the aftermath. When the sand settled back down, a crater was visible, with Bane at the center.
Ran himself had only made seven meter craters before in this fight. A difference of three meters wasnt much, but when you consider that Ran had the advantage at first (as well as the bloodline further awakening), the resulting winner seems to get clearer and clearer. Now it can be seen why Bane was called tyrannical among his peers.
Well, of course, it wouldn't end with Bane being the winner, that much is certain.
Things just couldnt keep on going this way.
No, we need something. Something more….
"Think, God damn it." Ran took this time to rattle his brain for ideas.
Then, he chanced upon his sword. It had changed much after the shift in Rans nature.
Its previous white-pink blade had now turned into a mixture of pink-blue swirls. Its round-toothed spine was perfect for housing small swirls and the space between it and the edge held the truly big ones. It all pushed and pulled on each other, painting an image of harmony and trust.
Its edge was the only place left for the tiny swirls, of which were small enough to populate it by the hundreds. While its currents were insufficient in affecting the big swirls in any significant way, the big swirls seem to go along with it anyways. The gentleness the tiny swirls brought was gladly accepted by the big swirls, allowing them to reinforce each other in a mutually loving relationship.
The unusually long and oval, black, hilt firmly grasped onto the blade, securing its livelihood so it would shine and dazzle the world. Its guard was still negligible, as if it was hiding or perhaps because of neglect.
Its darkness stood in stark contrast to its partner, so much so that it would seem to willingly give the "limelight" and preferred to be the "silent" helper.
Part of the hilt was, of course, a handle. It was still red and as cushiony as memory foam. It made sure that it provided comfort while still trying it's best to keep Rans hand holding on.
That's why it had incorporated some type of surface material that had extremely fine and small hairs that clung onto Rans palm; it was invisible and had gone unnoticed, yet its dignity and sense of purpose stood as firm as ever. It would never let go, for it was the least it could do. Yet, something is missing….
Reaching the end of the hilt, the lack of a pommel was still present. Of course, it was never perturbed by it. For at the end stood an endless void, a hole. What should have been there has been ripped! Teared apart by the savageness of this world! The cries of sorrow shall never be forgotten….
And through that void came new life! A long forgotten appreciation of life and love… never truly forgotten, always loved within the flaming hearts of its beloved self.
And what came out of that void was an ethereal mist that wandered through the air below, finding its place in its rightful container.
It coalesced within the container and turned into an ethereal blue, a real pale, liquid that sloshed around inside.
The container was invisible, yet the dimly glowing liquid inside took its shape proudly. The container was no longer an arrowhead like before.
No.
It changed, yes, it changed. The moving liquid revealed a flowing tail, fluttering and changing its shape slightly like soft fabric. A fish tail, yes, that's what it was. Its beauty was fresh, new life flowing through it's very beings. It mourned like the rest, fluttering silently and with new found vigor. REVENGE!
"S**t! It's not enough." Ran sloshed the liquid inside the fish tail, pondering his single and only option.
He had to fill it himself.
"Hey, where ya going, buddy? The fun has only just begun." Bane smiled and pointed at the retreating Ran with his axe.
Immediately, he disappeared and reappeared in front of Ran, slashing down with his axe.
Boom! Another crater was created and the sand was violently thrown into the air.
"Damn. It seems there's no time like the present." Ran nodded to himself before he took out an object.
An artifact, the scums artifact! Who would've thought that it would've come in handy so soon!?
You did? Oh, well…
Anyways, as the sand was beginning to settle, Ran ran up to Bane's face.
Bane had noticed his movement and said, "oh, trying to sneak up on me, are you?" He lifted his axe in preparation as excitement ran through his veins. He wanted to see how Ran would sneak attack him!
Yet, the sand settling revealed a different picture.
Bane looked at the bead in front of his face and laughed, "what is-" before he could finish, a flash of light immediately illuminated the area and temporarily blinded him.
"Argh!" He winced as his eyes pulsated in pain; he began wildly swinging his huge axe everywhere, hoping to catch the bug that tricked it. He hadn't expected a move like this. Why couldn't he just be a normal person and just stab him!?
Ran, however, had already retreated.
He retreated some more just in case before gripping the blade of his sword. Instantly, it latched onto him, beginning the process.
Then… it sucked. It sucked some more. It kept sucking. Oh gawd, how much is it going to suck!? It's gonna leave him dry!
Aah… finally, it finished.
After absorbing Rans juice, the fish tail filled to the brim with the ethereal liquid and fluttered with grace. It began glowing brightly as the whole sword shook relentlessly.
The sword was like a beast as it vibrated with a certain rhythm, the weight and heft it gained made it seem-made it all seem-like he was holding onto a living creature.
Welp, it was activated.. well, not fully.
Ran just stood there, waiting. And waited. He waited some more. How long was it going to take!?
Ran was confused and looked back to the first time it truly activated. At that time, he wanted it to cut the scums arm off… and that's what it did.
Did that mean it "listened" to his thoughts? Would it change with the change in thoughts?
Ran looked at the ferocious beast in front of him.
What did he want? He wanted to kill Bane. He wanted to live, and for that, Bane had to die. And that's it.
With that, it was all it ever needed; it changed.
Rans face suddenly paled as his vision blurred. His vision regained some clarity and he looked at his sword, stunned, flabbergasted.
Um… since when was over three meters long!?
That's right, folks, his sword grew! well, most of it came from the blade. It seemed to stretch and it appeared like a hallucination, warping if one looked at it from different angles and the swirls just added onto that. It glowed an ethereal light as the rhythm of its vibrations grew heavier and heavier.
Ran felt really tired, he just wanted to sit and rest, but the vibrating kept chugging him along, right until he stepped right in front of Bane.
And at that exact moment, Bane's vision cleared up. From the time he got blinded to now, it had only been about twenty seconds!
Sigh. Ran sighed seeing Bane recover so quickly. While the artifact was stuck at rank-7, Bane was at rank-6. While one rank might not seem to be much of a difference, just that alone caused its effectiveness to halve.
Combined with Rans horrible compatibility, it was only a fraction of its former self; though it probably wouldn't make much difference if that scum was the one using it.
"You rascal, wait till I get my hands on you, you little-" before he could finish, his recovering eyes saw another flash of light, but it was different this time.
His vision adjusted a bit and he saw an enormous, glowing, blade heading right smack dab in the middle of his face!
And for the first time in his life, he panicked! He almost lost control of his bowels.
What kind of sword was that!? Anger rose up in his heart as it poured itself into his arm, veins beginning to pop out.
That very same arm carried the axe; it bulged violently as it swung full force at the sword!
Bang! A loud clang reverberated for tens of meters as the two behemoths of weaponry collided. The sand was blown out the area, forced to move. It looked back with frustration as it left everything, it once knew, behind.
Sparks of various colors flew out and burned the sand into scorched earth.
Suddenly! A loud snap was heard as a huge axe collapsed onto the sand, in two pieces. It dissipated into the world as its owner watched in horror-his own body split in two. A long trail laid behind his body as it extended over twenty meters out, killing another wolf who had accidentally been in the area.
Phew. Ran stumbled over as his butt hit the sand. His vision blurred before regaining clarity and he felt very drained. That attack alone had sapped a great deal of juice!
The ability activation had cost him most of his energy! The blinding light wasn't free either. And as of right now, Ran felt he had about five percent left! No wonder he felt really tired, he's basically running on fumes.
Once he adjusts, one or two more (normal and easy, especially easy) fights would be enough to make him call it quits; if he even could before the wolves ripped him to shreds. At that time, which is about now, he would need to find cover behind some friendlies until he recovered.
Luckily the elixir is still in effect and it ensured that Ran had a chance of surviving and recovering.
He thought about what just happened as he looked at his sword again, It had already returned to normal. He held back his excitement of his overpowered move and decided to give it a name.
Since it took his thoughts and changed its form accordingly, he thought to name it "Thought Exchange!"
That's right, Thought Exchange! After coming with a name, he looked around and saw a couple of wolves eyeing him suspiciously.
He quickly tried his best to get up and look as threatening as before, before he wanted to wander the battlefield in the hopes of not catching any attention.
Before any of that happened, however, a roar shook the whole battle field.
"BASTARD! YOU ACTUALLY DARE TO MURDER MY BROTHER IN FRONT OF ME!!!"
The next moment, Ran felt an immense pressure bore down on him like a meteor had struck where he stood. And the moment after that, Rans vision darkened.