Fallen Fate Online

However, this time not just one silhouette appeared in his mind, but many at once, or rather, they changed from time to time.

The same dark silhouette quickly morphs into different people. First, it was Gael, then Enar and Selania, followed by Karin and even Edvin, whom he hadn\'t seen in battle yet.

They all had something in common, a powerful aura of skill emanated from them, much different from the animal instincts of a wolf. That didn\'t mean that such power was better, no, it was just different, completely.

\'Right... Though I want to, I don\'t need to know what\'s going on to win... Valira is a dangerous opponent, she knows how to fight, and talent and instincts won\'t help me... I need experience, even if it\'s only an imitation...\' Zayne internally muttered, looking up at the bright blue moon.

The silhouette continued to change faster and faster until it was completely dark with stars spinning inside. Each star was a pure manifestation of the kind of battles Zayne had been through, magnifying their benefits of them to the maximum, as if Zayne could memorize every move and action of each of his opponents.

The dark silhouette disappeared as Zayne took it in. At the same moment, his eyes shone brightly, and a pleasant lightness and freshness spread throughout his body. Everything around him seemed clearer, and at the same time slower and more comfortable.

Zayne felt as if he had fought on this lake many times already, even though he had been here less than an hour and only a few minutes of active combat had passed. For another person that wouldn\'t have been enough to get used to the terrain, but now for Zayne, it wasn\'t a barrier.

"Agh...? Why do I feel like something has suddenly changed...?" Valira muttered, puzzled.

Whoooooooosh.

Then, Zayne\'s sword flashed brightly with blue flames, causing the water around it to freeze. He could delay the launch of the sorrow cross for a while, and in this situation, it could help him solve one important problem.

Valira was perfectly capable of fighting on both hard surfaces and water, but not Zayne, moreover the platform was badly damaged in many places. Thus, Zayne needed to prepare the arena if he wanted to win this unequal battle against the Arisen Grade Creature.

Zayne quickly ran along the edges of the lake, gradually approaching the center. With every step he took, a dense layer of ice from the tip of the sword he had plunged into the ground remained behind him. The blue flame was slowly becoming unstable, but Zayne knew exactly how much time he had.

"Why do I feel like something weird is going on here?" Sara muttered with a confused expression.

"Well, it\'s obvious that he just used his inner strength." Marcus said with a calm look, "There\'s nothing surprising about that."

"Hmm? Inner strength...? What kind of strange name is that?" Fosca asked, tilting her head.

Marcus sighed, "There\'s a special term for it, but you\'re not supposed to know about it, and neither is Sara. You have to go through the Awakened Process first. Sara is already close to that, but it will probably take you many more years to become a worthy contender."

Fosca was puzzled, then she looked at Zayne and muttered, "About this secret power... Can I get one too?"

Fosca hadn\'t seen what Zayne was capable of yet, but Valira\'s transformation impressed her. She wanted to become stronger, and it seemed to her that this was one of the best and fastest ways if she could succeed. 

"Sure. Everyone has that power, including you. Don\'t worry, I\'m sure you can awaken it." Marcus said, "However... What happens to Zayne is very rare."

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Fosca turned around abruptly.

Marcus narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Zayne\'s every action, it seemed that even his steps had become a little different, more polished like a true master. 

"Look. You can\'t use this power at will until you reach Arisen Grade, you need at least the lowest limit. However, in some situations, some people manage to summon a weakened version of this power, it happens unknowingly. This is most likely what happened to Zayne just now." Marcus explained.

"I see... So she could use her power at any time and get its full power, and Zayne could only get part of it, and he has no control over it, right?" Fosca muttered with a curious expression, "Hm, that sounds pretty fair and means that Zayne will probably lose, right?"

"Agh... It\'s not that simple..." Marcus sighed heavily, "Everyone has different powers, there are many different types, and it all depends on the situation. Anyway, all we can do is watch, nothing more."

Crackle.

Valira tore forward, not wanting to let Zayne freeze the entire lake since he had already covered over half of the surface.

\'Looks like you managed to use it, whether you were lucky or not, I should have expected that whoever Chaos chose for Trial would be an unusual person. Valira inwardly uttered while approaching Zayne at high speed.

Even if he received the same amplification as her, Valira knew that Zayne was already seriously injured, so she was confident that she would be able to overwhelm her opponent once again.

\'She\'s coming...\' Zayne said to himself, looking at Valira\'s silhouette.

Then, her trident rushed forward, quickly ending up right in front of his face. Zayne tilted his head slightly, dodging the attack with minimal damage. All Valira achieved was a small scratch on his cheek. 

\'What...? What happened? Did he get lucky? Valira was puzzled, but, she didn\'t have time to ponder as Zayne immediately swung his sword.

A blue flame cross, rained down on Valira, quickly covering her body with a thick layer of ice, and causing her serious pain.

Considering that her main attribute was water, ice was probably the worst opponent for her.

"Bastard! It won\'t be able to change to stop it!" Valira exclaimed, smashing the ice with force and immediately counterattacking.

Whoooooooooooooosh.

Zayne repelled her attack with a swing of his sword, then he took a step forward and to everyone\'s surprise thrust his sword upwards.

"What the hell...?" Kota muttered with her eyes wide open, not believing what was happening. She had seen Zayne fight before and it was nothing like what was happening now. Everything was completely different.

Crackle.

Zayne\'s fist came down on Valira\'s face, making her lose her balance for a moment. Then, he pulled her hair, attacking her face with his knee once more.

The blows were so powerful that everyone heard the loud crunch, breaking Valira\'s nose as well as the cracks covering her skull.

However, Zayne was not going to stop there. Keeping his cold stare, with a smooth sweep of his arm he knocked the trident out of Valira\'s hand, and with a sudden movement he knocked her to the ground.

For a moment, Valira came to her senses. She had to do something, or she wouldn\'t be able to withstand the hail of attacks Zayne was unleashing on her. 

Zayne realized this too, and he didn\'t need to think of anything. All of his moves were already determined and calculated ahead of time.

Crackle.

Zayne\'s fist plunged deep into Valira\'s stomach, causing her to vomit a mouthful of blood. Then, the sword fell, ending up right against Zayne\'s hand.

Whooooooooooooosh.

The sword flashed with blue energy as its tip ended up right in front of Valira\'s neck, preventing her from moving.

At that moment, the entire Dark Mist Forest fell silent. No one made a sound, everyone held their breath.

In just a few seconds, while the dark sword was spinning in the air, Zayne had defeated his opponent. Valira couldn\'t do anything, since Zayne\'s every move was almost perfect, he didn\'t make any mistakes.

"Give up. If you don\'t resist I\'ll let you choose how to die." Zayne said coldly, staring intently into Valira\'s eyes, slightly empty but still filled with life. 

Valira remained silent for a while, then a bitter smile on her face.

"Fine... In that case, I want to die during the battle!" Valira said confidently as her watery hand trembled.

Zayne\'s eyes went wide as he abruptly jumped back, covering himself from the powerful water blast. The dense droplets left many scratches on his body, but nothing serious.

Step. Step. Step.

Valira stepped towards her trident, struggling to take each step as the water blast affected her as well. She was bleeding badly, and in a few minutes, her life would be over.

She raised her weapon and pointed it at Zayne, "Go. Last attack..."

"Sure." Zayne nodded as scarlet wings appeared behind him, which were now several times larger than usual for some reason.