I dropped my charred black arm, and looked at the downed Goliath as he got back to his feet slowly. His own arm was charred like mine.
Notice. User has created new activation parameter for passive skill Storm Dragon's Wrath. Now activating Storm Dragon's Wrath. All stats returned to normal.
"I don't care what you do to me," I growled as my eyes lost their camouflage once again, "But they are off limits." I glanced at Ethan, "Go back to the dorm."
"I'm not leaving without you," Ethan's anger as well as exhaustion flooded my mind, "I won't let him touch you."
"Sorry Ethan," I grabbed the back of his shirt, and threw him back up by Savannah, "Savannah! Take him back to the dorm."
"But Wyatt...." Savannah trialed off when she saw the look on my face.
"Knock him out if you have to," I started exchanging mana for health, "Goliath is my problem."
I knew I was running on barely half of my mana, and couldn't do much against Goliath without my full strength, but I knew that it wouldn't matter if I couldn't do something about Goliath. I knew I couldn't force a bond with him. I was already at full capacity when it came to bonds. My knuckles cracked as I clenched my fists as tight as they would go. Goliath was kind enough to let me finish my exchange with my friends, but as soon as I finished speaking with them he started growing in size.
He grew until he was ten feet tall, and then he lashed out with a quick punch. I could feel the disturbance of the wind in the wake of his massive fist, but there was something else about his growth in size that bugged me. Goliath had a longer reach, and more experience fighting then me so I got in close. Aiming to land a full strength blow to his ankle so I could get him back down to my level. My fist struck with full force.
Goliath's foot slid back, and his balance was slightly off, but he followed my hit with a downward strike with his elbow. Followed by a quick decisive knee to the head. That was when I realized what was off about his transformation. He was way to heavy for his size. The proportions of gigantification didn't usually change.
You'd get bigger, and stronger in an even proportional manner, but Goliath had taken his transformation a step further. Allowing him to increase his overall muscle mass instead of growing bigger evenly. The bigger he got. The more of him was pure muscle. I jumped back with the force of the knee to the face.
Allowing me to put some distance between us for a moment. I knew the gap between us was huge, but the control Goliath had over his body, and his ability combined with his combat skill made him an unbelievably strong opponent. I simply didn't have the strength to beat him. Not as I was now. I rushed forward again.
This time I didn't bother trying to knock him off balance. I didn't have enough strength to make it an effective combat strategy so I relied on my superior speed instead. Darting it, and hitting him in all of his weak points one by one. It was useless though. I was barely making him flinch, and that just frustrated me further since I could tell he wasn't even close to using his full ability.
He was still testing me with jabs, and kicks thrown out in quick succession in all the places I'd been the second before. Just when I started to see a way to a vital point that would do damage no matter how tough Goliath made himself, he struck where I was going to be instead of where I was. It felt like I was getting hit by a sledgehammer the size of a gallon paint can. All the breath was driven out of me with that hit, and again when I hit the outer wall of the arena. I was left gasping for air on the ground next to the wall of the arena.
Goliath shrunk back down as he approached me. My ribs were broken. All of them. I couldn't properly draw in breath, and my muscles could feel the lack of oxygen. I started healing my ribs only to get another shot to the ribs.
My broken ribs were forced back into my organs piercing several, and sending a cold shiver down my spin.
Damage Resistance +5. Passive skill Storm Dragon's Wrath deactivated.
Thanks, but not helpful. I shivered as I started to heal myself again. Goliath grabbed me by the throat with his good arm, and lifted me into the air easily.
"What do you want?" Goliath slammed me into the wall letting off enough for me to breath.
"I just want to live," I wheezed.
"Why would an Archaic like you come here in the first place?" Goliath put pressure on my neck again before releasing.
I was too exhausted to stop myself from falling. I'd healed myself about halfway when I ran out of mana. It was easier to breath, but I could still feel all the damage I had taken.
"Where was I supposed to go?" I coughed, "I wasn't born this way. I just found something I shouldn't have, and it changed me." I was slowly bringing my breathing under control, "I couldn't tell anybody. They wouldn't have even questioned it. They would skipped to blowing my fucking brains out, and you know it."
I pushed myself to my feet slowly. I chuckled as I looked at the little timer in the corner of my vision. I had a little over half an hour to get back to my dorm before my transformation ran out. I was absorbing mana fast enough to maintain the transformation, but I needed to give most of that mana to my health for a little while. Goliath was deep in thought.