Joseph's bloodline failure had boosted his strength to Spirit rank 1, Fae was only around the strength of a Human rank 7. The difference between a Human rank 9 which was the peak of Human rank, was noticeably weaker than a Spirit rank 1, but Fae who wasn't even peak Human rank definitely didn't stand a chance.
Fae was trying to come up with a good way out of this but he couldn't. He was at 1 HP and one good hit from the previous Joseph would've been enough to end Fae, but now with Joseph's current strength Fae knew that Joseph could simply flick him and it'd be over.
When Fae fought the Forest Giant earlier he was lucky that Giants were exceptionally slow, focusing more on overwhelming strength, being one of the most physically powerful creatures in the first realm, but Joseph wasn't a giant, and he may be weaker than one physically but he had all the speed that came with being a human sized Mythic.
Fae was trying his best to remember everything he could about bloodline failure but was coming up blank. Bloodline failure was somewhat of a taboo and information wasn't allowed to be spread about it, in fear someone may experiment and weaponize it.
"I'm not weak!" A loud scream left Joseph's mouth but it didn't sound like him, instead it was deep and shaky. Sharp slices of fire began to fly from Joseph's body like waves as they charged at Fae, ready to consume him completely.
Fae began to dodge, duck, and weave around the cuts as they flew past him. Fae was afraid to let the fire even get NEAR him, he knew that could be the difference between life and death. 'How can I get out of this?' Fae thought to himself as he ducked under another attack. He knew he needed to find a way out before Joseph decided to bring it to close combat. Suddenly the system decided to bless him.
{New Skill Granted: Dash}
{Dash: Through consistent repetition of high speed movements you've gained the ability to move beyond your limits.}
{Skill Description: Increases users speed by 25% for 20 seconds}
{Cost: 5 MP}
{Cooldown: 3 seconds}
As Fae read this a smirk appeared on his face as he came up with an idea.
***
"Mother I've done it, I've broken through to Spirit rank 2!" Tessa screamed as she ran into her mother's room. She noticed her mother trying to hide something away before Tessa could see it and wondered what it was.
"Congratulations Tessa, later we can head out and celebrate." Ms. Phantom said as she waved Tessa off telling her to leave the room. "Wait can't I get a hug at least?" Tessa asked with a sad expression as she walked towards her mother. "Of course you can Tessa." Ms. Phantom said opening her arms for Tessa. "See, all you needed to do was get rid of that distraction, Fae." Ms. Phantom said as he hugged Tessa tightly.
"You're right mom." Tessa said as her eyes rested on the slightly raised pillow her mother had hidden something under when she came in. "Shadow Walk" Tessa whispered as she became shadows, flowing past her mom and grabbing under the pillow. Her mother would've been able to stop her under normal circumstances but she was caught off guard by her daughters sudden movements.
Tessa stared at the orb she had just picked up from under her mother's pillow, gasping as she saw what was on display. She saw Fae, riddled with cuts and bruises, barely hanging on to life as he jumped around trying to dodge a barrage of flame attacks.
"Is this the Levings Academy entrance exam?" Tessa asked angrily, her mother usually watched it with her every year as a way to see different bloodlines and people fighting, in hopes she'd get a better feel for combat. This year her mother had banned her from watching and she realized why.
"We're going, NOW!" Tessa said demandingly as she began to call all the shadows towards her to use Shadow Transport.
***
{Dash} Fae had just activated the skill as he suddenly dashed at Joseph max speed slamming a shield against Joseph's face. As the shield hit and Fae rolled back Joseph began to scream. "GET AWAY FROM ME!!! DIE! DIE! EVERYTHING DIE!" Flames began to circle around Joseph creating a whirlwind as he screamed. 'Oh that's bad' Fae thought as he realized if Joseph continued with this it would engulf the entire arena.
Fae may have been scared, but he also felt bad for Joseph. Joseph had so much expectation for this fight and in the end he lost to his bloodline, and would soon be consumed by his own flame. Crimson was watching this all with a conflicted expression, after looking around to make sure no eyes were peeping he did what he thought would be the best choice, he sent Fae a bunch of Joseph's memories.
Suddenly Fae was remembering an assortment of events that occurred throughout Joseph's life, the moments flashing by as insults, lashings, and the feeling of weakness was flashing through his mind.
"You're nothing but a broken devil." "You're worthless." "What good are you if you aren't being used to kill someone?" "Why was I cursed with a son as worthless as you." "You're bringing shame to the Limpervil name." "TOO SLOW!" "TOO WEAK!" "YOU'RE AN EMBARASSMENT!" Tears began to fall down Fae's eyes as he experienced moments of Joseph's life.
Joseph was nothing but a pawn to his family, disposable trash that they treated as such. There wasn't a moment in his life that wasn't filled with ridicule, pain, and anger. Crimson's mental attack had caused Joseph to succumb to his pain and left him in the state he was in now.
"You're not a failure Joseph." Fae whispered. He saw the way Joseph had given his all to win this fight, even revealing his bloodline. Fae had enjoyed the fight in a sense, the feeling of growing and adjusting to defeat a seemingly unbeatable opponent. Joseph wasn't weak by any means, and Fae realized something in that moment.
No matter how strong you are, there will always be stronger. The strong will always bully those weaker, but Fae couldn't stand for that, he wouldn't stand for that. He refused to let a boy succumb to the pain and darkness right in front of his eyes, the pain and darkness that Fae had almost succumbed to himself.
'I'll save you Joseph.' Fae thought as he clenched his fists.
"What was all that you were saying before?" Fae screamed at Joseph causing him to face him with a dark and sinister look. "You were talking all big and strong, saying you would show me pain. Now look at you, a mindless shell!" Fae continued taunting Joseph. "SHUT UP!" Joseph said as he dashed towards Fae, this was the part of the fight Fae was dreading the most, close combat, but Fae had a plan. Fae was still slower than Joseph even with Dash activated, but it still helped him bridge the gap a bit. He jumped back narrowly dodging Joseph's hand as he summoned an ice blade and threw it towards Fae's stomach, the blade automatically melting against the black flame that surrounded Fae's body. Fae dashed forward again feinting a slash to Joseph's stomach but actually jumping behind him and slamming his shield into Joseph's back.
This angered Joseph as he screamed again. "I'M NOT WEAK!" He yelled like a battle cry as he dashed towards Fae, unfortunately it was at this same moment Fae got a system notification. {Dash deactivated} Fae knew there was a three second cool down and he wouldn't be able to use it again in time so he decided to throw caution to the wind and try to block Joseph with his shield.
Joseph's hand slammed against the shield sending Fae flying backwards, but it didn't directly damage him. "Is that all you got?" Fae said with a laugh. "I guess I'll end things than!" Fae said as he decided to put his final plan into action.
"Ice Blade Storm." Fae called as he reused the move he used earlier. A bunch of ice blades began to float in the air raining down on Joseph as Fae attacked him, except there was something different now. Every two seconds Fae would place one stat point into his agility. This wasn't the biggest increase in the world at first, but the constant changing of speed made it insanely difficult for a mindless Joseph to dodge and read all the attacks. Once twenty seconds passed Fae knew it was time for his plan to come to an end. {Dash} Fae activated dash again, with his agility raised by ten points the 25% increase was even more prevalent now as Fae summoned an ice blade into his hand and slashed it diagonally across Joseph's chest. The constant barrage of Fae's previous attacks had weakened Joseph just enough for Joseph's blade to finally slice through.
As a giant gash opened on Joseph's chest he unleashed another blood curdling scream as his flame grew even darker. "I WONT LOSE, I'M NOT WEAK!" A whirlwind once again appeared around Joseph but this one wasn't stopping as it had full intentions to burn Fae to death, but Fae was ready this time.
Joseph saw a figure suddenly walk through the vortex of flame surrounding him. Fae walked through the fire his entire body covered in flame, it was clear to everyone by Fae's facial expression he was in an immense amount of pain. Fae slowly walked towards Joseph who was holding his head and screaming loudly continuing to battle his self. "I'M NOT WEAK!" "I'LL KILL YOU" "DIE!" Joseph kept screaming out. As Fae reached Joseph he reached his hand out to Joseph's forehead, the flames around Joseph's body attacking him and causing him to burn even more.
{Devourer's Pressure} Fae used this skill with more intent and purpose than he ever had before, and it showed as Joseph's knees buckled and brought him down to the ground. Fae began to lower his body towards Joseph's, everyone thought Fae was going in for the kill, when the most unexpected thing happened.
Fae hugged Joseph, he squeezed him tightly, the flames on Joseph's body burning intensely against Fae.
"It's ok Joseph, you've fought enough." Fae said in a calm voice attempting to comfort Joseph. "You're not a monster Joseph, you're not a devil, you may be a Limpervil but you don't need to carry the pain that has come with the name." As Fae was saying all of this Joseph's screams of anger had slowly turned into tears of pain. The flames on Joseph's body retreating from his as they all crept onto Fae's skin. "You don't need to fight just to impress them. You don't need to kill for them." It was clear to everyone at this point that Fae was burning alive, his skin could be seen burning up even from under the cover of the black flame. "Don't give in to the darkness, don't give in to your pain Joseph. You're better than that." Joseph began to unleash loud sobs as he was slowly regaining control of his body. "If you ever feel like you can't beat your darkness, than call on me Joseph, we'll kick its ass together." Fae said with a smile as he fell to the ground, the flames leaving his body only to reveal burnt and charred remains.
Joseph had come back to his senses and stared at Fae's charred body, moving to Fae he placed his fingers over Fae's eyelids and closed them. "Thank you for saving me." Joseph said in a sad whisper. "I'll make sure your burial is legendary." Joseph said as he sat beside Fae's corpse.
"YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!" Joseph suddenly heard as dark shadows began to surround him.