[That would cost the host 10 infamy points.]
After the fight with the monsters at the Heroe Bureau, a new system function emerged: a help function. Nyx had already planned to exploit this new function to learn more about the system before the fight.
Although the cost was on the higher side, for Nyx, who still didn't have any use for the infamy points, he didn't hesitate to give them away. A couple of useless Infamy points for his life? Yes, absolutely!
In the near future, Nyx would later regret calling the Infamy points useless.
["To create a martial art skill, the host must use it countless times and grasp profound mastery,"] the system's message was prompt.
'Just as I thought, at first, I was not planning to use too many techniques, but now I'm afraid I have to.'
Because Nightmare was well-known, almost as famous as Jesus and Torrin Blackstar, there were certainly lots of people who knew his fighting style and might have tried to replicate it, so Nyx had decided to remain low-key, not displaying much, because that would draw unnecessary attention to himself.
The last thing he wanted was for the big clans and corporations all over the world to come after him, but now that he felt it was only him and Isaac, he thought it wouldn't mind to display some more, not aware there were existences secretly watching their confrontation play out.
'For me to use this skill, though, I must first make Isaac exhaust all his energy cells.' From what the latter had said earlier about his sword technique and how he was constantly disappearing and appearing, Nyx guessed that Isaac's fighting technique had to consume a lot of energy cells.
All he had to do was make him exhaust those cells, then he would show his martial skill and swiftly end this fight.
All of Nyx's inner monologue had happened in a few seconds. As such, Isaac was upon him again, his form constantly flickering and appearing, the sword slashes descending on Nyx at rapid successions.
'Since you want to play like this, let's play it together.' Nyx sneered in his mind as he quickly allocated all his free attribute points to stamina, bringing it to 22. After that, he used flash step and appeared a bit further from Isaac, dodging the confusing sword slashes.
Isaac sucked his teeth coldly as his form flickered again and appeared beside Nyx, sword descending again, but thanks to the added Stamina buff, Nyx did a beautiful flip and somersaulted mid-air despite his bloody and wound-ridden body. He grit through the pain.
The pain was nothing new after all. In his days as Nightmare, it was a constant companion along with loneliness, so he was pretty used to it by now.
"Stop being a coward and stay still, damn it!" Isaac growled as he disappeared and appeared mid-air beside Nyx, the vicious, angry Sword that seemed to contain all of Isaac's fury descending like a comet from the heavens.
Bang!
Again Nyx disappeared and this time, he was on the ground running in between the towering rocky cliffs of the valley.
The force of the descending sword was too great, so the older man couldn't stop his attack and ended up destroying a portion of the ground. A seismic shockwave was felt through the ground, and even the nearby mountains rumbled in protest.
This did nothing to deter Nyx as he continued running despite the rocky debris falling on him. His idea was simple. By continuously running, he would exert Isaac to continue using his teleportation, thus depleting his energy cells faster. However, there was also another reason. Nyx was trying to make use of the terrain.
'Aghh! Bastard, fucking bastard, at this rate, I wouldn't be able to use Mirage slash. My energy cells are already hitting rock bottom.' Superhumans could look into their energy core, which was located close to their heart. There they could see a pool of swirling blue energy; these were the energy cells.
Possessing a tier 2 energy core, Isaac naturally had a lot of energy reserve, but the constant use of the Mirage slash technique and the constant teleportation had caused his energy cells to decrease significantly.
Now he was doubting if he could even teleport again.
'Thankfully, I brought this D-ranked Super item.' Isaac thought as he stared at the sword in his hand, blaming himself for not bringing a higher tier. 'Who would have thought this boy would be this slippery and clever?' Isaac thought. Now it wasn't because of his honor again. He was sure even the higher-ups watching would understand.
As a strong devoted member of the Bloodline Order, he really needed to kill this kid. If he was this frightening at thirteen, what would happen when he grew older?
Isaac didn't even want to think about this as he started to chase Nyx with a determined glint in his eyes.
Using the flash step, Nyx was distancing himself from Isaac, and the latter was finding it difficult to keep up with the red-haired boy.
'Now I know he has exhausted his energy cells; time for the next course of action.' With Isaac hot on his heels, Nyx spotted a narrow crevice in the rock wall up ahead. Using the flash step a couple more times, he dashed towards it, narrowly squeezing through the gap just as Isaac's fiery sword sliced through the air behind him.
"You can't keep running forever, Nyx," Isaac growled in frustrated time. "Not even that bastard Momo would be able to save you from me!"
Boom!
Isaac directly shattered the rocky wall with a strike of his blazing sword as he slipped through. Up ahead, he could see Nyx heading towards a nearby rock formation, and he was climbing its steep surface. Isaac followed close behind, his blazing sword flashing in the sunlight.
But Nyx was one step ahead. With a quick twist of his body, he launched himself off the edge of the rock, hurtling towards an unsuspecting Isaac with all the force of a charging bull, his balled fist flashing in the sunlight as it sliced through the air towards Isaac's throat.
Isaac's eyes widened in shock as Nyx's fist found its mark, hitting his throat directly. With a strangled cry, Isaac stumbled backward, and his grip on the sword was weakening as he tried to gain his footing.
'He used the same thing he did to Violet in the assessment! How could I have been so foolish!" Isaac berated himself and glanced at Nyx. He could see the red-haired boy standing in a strange stance.
"You survived this long because of your troublesome ability, but now that you've exhausted your energy cells…" Nyx drew one foot back, and he appeared very lethal, like a trained killer. "Let's see how long you'd survive against a real martial master!"