"Tell me, Vortex," Ace began as he smirked. "What race are you?"
Nico raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? What kinda question is that?"
"In the new world, we humans have a closer connection to the gods than we did back on Earth. Here, we share the same abilities, breathe the same air and walk on the same soil. In my honest opinion..." Ace continued, his demeanour switching from a calm tone to a more serious one. "Gods and humans are the only superior races."
"Elves, dryads, dwarves, ghouls, seers... All those races are nothing more than the gods taking a massive fucking shit. We are made in their image, and those other races are nothing more than cheap copycats. Humans and gods are one, the others are none. Do you understand?"
"Guess it's probably a bad time to tell you I'm not human. At least, not in this world," Nico said as he scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "I don't know how all of this is relevant, but could you release that dumbass over there? I'd hate to have to forcefully take her back."
Ace snorted. "Alright. Adrian, since you're the one who brought him in, you can take him out."
"Yes, sir!" Adrian said as he stepped forward. He spun his staff around, the weapon whipping through the wind and leaving a whizzing sound around him. He took a stance, one end of the staff being pointed at Nico, and smirked. "Let's dance."
Nico rolled his eyes and pulled out his steel blade. He took a stance as well and he, along with Adrian, had a standoff. A few tense seconds passed, and Adrian dashed towards Nico, his staff already swinging towards Nico.
Nico blocked the attack with his sword and whipped around, smacking the staff away from him. Adrian held onto it tightly and they began trading blows, each hit fuelled by aggression and the contempt to overpower one's opponent.
"What do you think?! Impressive, right?!" Adrian shouted as he tried sweeping Nico off his feet, only for Nico to jump and evade.
Nico swiftly landed and furrowed his brows. After gripping his blade tightly, he dashed towards Adrian, his weapon whipping and cleaving violently through Adrian's staff. Adrian's face turned grim.
'What?' he questioned internally. 'His movements are more precise... More... suave... This son of a bitch isn't synchronised with his original character!' he exclaimed, realising that Nico had polished his skills without the help of his original character.
Adrian gritted his teeth, swinging his staff around, trying his hardest to hit Nico once. But, none of his hits landed. He quickly became frustrated, even more so because of Nico's calm demeanour.
After one final struggle, Adrian swung his staff, a luminescent and purple colour covering his weapon and himself. His speed and power doubled, bringing him closer to taking down Nico.
But, Nico parried the attack using [Dancing Fire], then broke Adrian's staff. A second later, he switched his blade to the dull side and smacked his opponent on his neck, making him gag and fall unconscious.
{ +1 Value has been added! }
Ace sighed and his men stepped forward. "Stop," he reprimanded them. "I'll do it myself." Ace stepped up and cracked his knuckles, stretching his neck in the process. "I'll make sure that Lindsey realises what happens when she tries to leave Genesis without his approval. She belongs to him. Soon, your corpse will too."
Nico pulled out his Voided Xiphos and attached the chain's end to his steel blade, dual-wielding both weapons before his eyes glowed in red. "If this is what you call a 'superior' race, then I'm disappointed. I will forget you for as long as I live," Nico said, his voice bitter and sarcastic.
In a split second, Ace was standing in front of Nico, his eyes threatening. "Wanna run that by me one more time?" Before Nico could react or respond, Ace threw a punch straight to Nico's solar plexus, sending him flying across the hall. He rolled on the ground and coughed, his chest hurting and his stomach leaving a lingering pain.
{ HP: 350/400 }
'He snagged that much health?!' Nico reached into his inventory for a healing potion, pulled it out and drank it, healing himself. Then, he readied himself for another charge.
Ace's hand curled into a fist. And, just like before, in a split second, he was standing in front of Nico, his fist already plummeting towards his face. Ace punched Nico continuously, each blow landing and leaving a ringing noise in Nico's ears.
{ HP: 200/400 }
Nico spun his weapons around him and conjured up his [Dancing Fire], trying to create a defensive barrier between himself and Ace. But, that didn't work. Ace grabbed the chains, which burnt his palm, and yet, he seemed unbothered by the scorching heat.
Then, he pulled the chains closer to him, thus pulling Nico as well. Once close enough, he kicked Nico on his stomach, making him gag and drop his weapons to the ground as he slid away.
{ HP: 130/400 }
'Bruh, how?!' Nico exclaimed. He reached into his inventory and tried pulling out another healing potion, only for Ace to step onto his hand with his size 7 boots. Nico groaned and slowly raised his head to look at Ace, who crouched in front of him with a deathly expression.
"You talk all that bullshit, and yet you couldn't even land a single hit on me. You're pathetic..."
Nico felt his heart beat faster. One of Ace's men approached him and handed him a small knife with a blue gleam. Ace spun the knife around and stuck it on Nico's hand, drawing blood and making him scream.
{ HP: 120/400 }
{ HP: 110/400 }
{ HP: 100/400 }
"What... What's happening?" Nico asked worriedly.
"That's a jagged life snatcher knife, an A+ rank weapon. The longer the blade stays connected to a body, the quicker one's health is taken away from them. What was it that you said? Ah. I will forget you for as long as I live."
Nico gritted his teeth, his red eyes glowing even brighter than before. Suddenly, his body was covered in veins, the jagged life snatcher knife slowly prying off Nico's hand and falling off. Ace raised an eyebrow in confusion and backed away.
{ HP: 40/400 }
{ MP: 400/524 }
Nico's body began glowing in amber, heat waves and smoke beginning to emit from him. He slowly got up, his hair flowing with the heat waves and his entire body quite literally on fire.
With an angry expression on his face, Nico dashed for Ace just as quickly as him, surprising everyone in the room. His hand curled into a fist and he landed a direct hit to his cheek that sent shockwaves around the room and cracked the room.
Ace slid on the ground while he stood, and then he spit out blood. He looked at his left arm and looked at his health bar. A cynical smile formed as he looked at the orange bar.
{ HP: 1,700/1,900 }
'8 more of those and I'm done for...' he said to himself as his green eyes began glowing. "Now we have ourselves a fight! Come at me, Vortex!"
As if on cue, Nico sprinted for Ace and Ace did the same. They exchanged blows, causing the walls to crack and the windows to do the same because of the shock. Everyone watched in awe as they witnessed their brawl, neither one of them letting up.
"I've never seen Ace go this hard before..." one of the men in the ponchos said.
"It's impressive... This Vortex is something else," another added.
Suddenly, Nico landed a hit on Ace, taking away 100 Health Points. Ace coughed and smiled, only for Nico to deliver a spin kick and send him crashing onto the stage. Ace quickly got up and dashed for Nico, trying to throw multiple hits, only for Nico to dodge with zero effort.
He grabbed Ace's arm, used him as a step ladder and landed 4 consistent kicks from his torso to his face.
{ HP: 200/1,900 }
'Wait, this wasn't how it was supposed to go... Humans... are better...!' Ace said to himself as he staggered back, his body battered and bruised. "How...? Humans are better! Gods and humans are better!" he exclaimed in frustration, his eyes narrowed.
"What's a human or a god to a heathen?" Nico asked coldly, his red eyes piercing through Ace's soul. Without a second thought, he dashed for Ace and kicked him twice, sending him crashing through the walls of the auditorium.
{ +1 Value has been added!
Aestrol Coins: æ34,518 }
"In the end, you were nothing but a zebra to a lion, garbage human," he added, the fire surrounding him settling down and returning his skin to normal. He glared at the remaining members of the Poncho Faction, who quickly scattered in different directions, one of them lifting Adrian before leaving.
He looked at Lindsey, who had a look of relief on her face. He approached her and released her. In response, she jumped into his arms and cried loudly.
"I was so scared! Thank goodness you came!" she exclaimed dramatically.
Nico pulled her back and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. We should get out of here before more of Genesis's people show up."
Lindsey wiped her tears and nodded. As they walked out of the school, she grabbed Nico's hoodie and stopped him from walking. He looked at her in confusion and raised a single eyebrow.
"What?"
With a flustered face, Lindsey sighed and puckered up her lips before closing in on Nico's face, only for him to place his palm on her face and push her back.
"You're mean!" Lindsey exclaimed.
"Take me out to dinner first. Then, I'll kiss you," he responded sarcastically before walking away.
"You mean it?!" Lindsey asked with a bright smile.
"What?! Of course not, idiot!"