The silence that followed my remark was broken only by the grinding of the fucker’s teeth. Well that, and admittedly his house slowly falling apart behind him. And maybe a few neighbourly screams, but really that was just part of the atmosphere. No, the real focus was the man who looked and felt more than ready to try and murder me.The only thing that could make the sight better would be a nice long fight to go along with it.At an unseen mark we both took our stances, mine defensive and his… incredibly aggressive. Like he knew he probably wouldn’t have to defend from that position.“I see that words are meaningless here.” Athena spoke up, her hands twisting into her cloak and distorting its image. “Very well then, even if it won’t change anything, at least fight with some measure of dignity.”The dickhead’s eyes dilated at his Goddess’ words, before that same gaze snapped over to me and the anger contained within seemed to double. And yet despite that… those eyes still had some measure of life in them. He was seeing something I wasn’t, some path forward. I just couldn’t tell what it was.Then again, he did just try to kill the source of his own power. You don’t do that unless you’re fucking crazy, so maybe whatever plan he has is equally outside of any realm of logic? But then, why -for all that anger and potential madness- was he not charging immediately?If anything he seemed cautious of me despite the clear gulf in stats between us, biding his time and almost… analysing me like I was him. But if I could literally feel how much stronger he was than me by his intent alone, then he almost certainly could as well. So where was that caution coming from?Did he see me fight in the arena and make some assumptions?Interesting. I probably should feel annoyed about losing the advantage of being underestimated, but honestly? I was kind of a fan of being taken seriously. So likewise, I’d do the same. It would be easy to dismiss him as crazy, or mad with anger and play into that. But everything was telling me he was a lot calmer than he was portraying, and that felt dangerous.All I could really do was give it a try.Tensing, I shifted my guard open a little, just to see if he’d take the bait.He capitalised immediately, closing the distance between us in a heartbeat as his rapier blurred towards my neck with lethal precision. My sword batted the lighter blade away, before arcing towar-His second thrust came before I could blink, the thin blade darting forwards as he casually stepped aside of my counter. Catching his strike on my dagger I grunted, without the weight advantage between our swords his strength was more than enough to press my guard.He was thrusting again before I had time to even breathe, and with my swords out of position I had to almost throw myself out of the way. Yet, the rapier didn’t withdraw this time, the blade tilted in line with my neck and blurred into a lethal slash.Tilting my sword arm, I caught it on my bracer, sparks flying into the night air as a tight sweep of my sword was finally enough to have him hopping back.I grinned. That was more than a little dangerous, enough to get my heart racing.His strength was less than I was expecting, but his speed was so much more. Hell, I don’t think I’ll even be able to touch him without some kind of trick, or grinding this out long enough for stamina to become the deciding factor. Either way, my strategy was clear, Burden wouldn’t be helping me out of this one and I needed a little bit more speed. I just needed an opening to cast.Yet I didn’t get one. He came at me again without warning, and despite time feeling like it was stretching out even further, he was still just too fucking fast.Tightening my guard and abandoning the idea of countering, I fended off his initial blows only for him to blur. And suddenly he was beside me, rapier chambered and ready.I barely managed to pull my head out of the way, as his blade tore through where my eye had once been, pain and blood pouring out of the fresh gash torn across the bridge of my nose. Instinctively I jumped back, the same backflip that had once nailed Glasses in the balls being almost effortlessly sidestepped. And it was only me twisting in midair that spared the back of my knee from being speared through by his retaliation. As it was, I landed on that shaky leg, blood seeping out from yet another close call. A beat passed and my opponent snarled in anger, yet studied me intently as if waiting to see how much weight I could put on that leg. There was no shot he’d have let me drink a potion in that time, but my magic was far less noticeable. Feather cast at low strength lightened the sword in my grip and while he definitely felt it, he reacted too late. His stab was heavier than before, grinding into the mithril edge of my sword with obscene fury, but manageable in spite of my muscles starting to protest. His second blow however, didn’t slip my guard this time, my sword twisting up to meet it. And with effort, I once more drove off.It was just a small difference, yet he backed off wearily anyway, eyes searching. Despite that though, I had the perfect way to force him to come to me, and it’s called reaching for the potions.He came like a good dog in a torrent of thrusts, each one forcing me to give ground just a little more as I pushed myself into a flurry of motion just to fend him off.My grin only widened each time his blade snuck into a gap in my guard and armour, tearing fresh wounds in half a dozen places. And for every move he showed me, I got just a little better at predicting him and his style, a little better at reading him. Endless possibilities being whittled down until- My sword held undaunted in the path of his next thrust. I saw the moment it registered with him, the minute widening of his eyes before his anger consumed his shock. He adjusted, his thrust bearing down on me just as quickly as before, but it was no longer unmanageable. A minute tilt of my blade caught it, his rapier scraping off and in the light of the resulting sparks, his eyes looked almost feral as he stared down at our locked blades.That fury built and then burst out in a flurry of blows, and for every one of them that stopped short of killing me, he got just a little more mad.He was abandoning skill in favour of just abusing his stats outright, focusing everything he had on the speed of his sword. An endless barrage of attacks that fell like rain in a rhythm that went beyond sound, as he tried to drown me with the weight of his stats.And yet, that only made him more predictable. Until finally he couldn’t take it anymore.The bloodlust pouring out of him spiked as he suddenly disengaged, almost blurring half a field away from me. Yet it didn’t feel like a retreat, it felt like…An attack.And as I realised what this was, I found myself slipping into a bastardised mirror of his movements. My boots digging into the earth as I skipped chambering entirely, forcing myself into the shortest thrust I could manage just to match the sheer speed of his movement. His sword had an almost physical presence to it as it bore forwards, as if it was warning anyone who saw it that no matter how far away you are, this blade will reach you.Burden fired at the perfect moment, turning my sloppy half thrust into something that could match this fucker’s, and I pushed my sword into that particular feeling.The feeling of cutting air.And then it exploded.The courtyard, even the very air between us, it all erupted as our thrusts collided and the sheer force slammed into us both, sending me skidding backwards. I laughed joyously.Slamming my sword into the ground to kill my momentum, I took the chance to fix up my wounds with a cheeky potion, the debris thrown up in our clash hiding the action. And then I heard a sound I didn’t expect.“Hah… Hahaha!” The dickhead was also laughing, though he just sounded more insane than anything.“How ridiculous.” And just as suddenly as he started, he stopped, instead speaking cold fury in his tone. “That style… was copied from the most talented swordsman in Altena. It took months of practice for me to make his forms my own, and you see through it in not even a minute?”“You copied someone else’s style and just thought it would work?” I almost laughed again at the idea, it was just so fucking stupid that I assumed I’d misunderstood. But as his face contorted, I suddenly realised why he felt so stiff while fighting. So rigidly predictable. “…No wonder you can’t adjust.”Fighting styles are unique to people because every single person is unique; even people who’ve clearly come out of the same training institutions will apply their teachings differently. They’ll favour the different forms and motions that feel best to them, think about each fight differently and apply their own unique solutions to challenges.Copying someone else wholesale was like trying to be someone else. At that point you’re just miring your own reactions in a layer of, ‘what would they do?’“Hah… just when I thought I couldn’t hate geniuses any more.” He snarled. “No wonder you’re her newest toy.” The ‘her’ in this case was a no-brainer, but I couldn’t look away to see Athena’s reactions to his words without leaving myself open. Still though… jealousy, a lust for accomplishments and an obsession with a single target. I was starting to get an idea of what this was all about, and despite thinking I couldn’t hate him more, he was actually managing to prove me wrong.“I can’t believe this needs to be said, but no one cares about your Goddess issues. You murdered children.”“Ah that’s right, you got involved in all of this because of Phaust’s operations didn’t you?” The man feigned realisation, a wide smirk twisting his already ugly face. “Perhaps after this I should pay a visit to the ones who got away.”An empty threat given that Ais would kill him even if he could overcome me. Yet…Calmly. Very calmly, my stance widened and my arm rechambered fully, bringing the tip of my sword unerringly in line with his throat. His eyes widened as he recognised his own stance perfectly mirrored back to him, and then realisation hit.He ran, darting to my right and I thrust vaguely at where I felt he would go. Without Burden, the effects were smaller but strangely more concentrated, a column of pure stabbing force lancing through the remains of his home, and only just missing.Strangely he didn’t attack while I was extended, his figure disappearing into the ruins as if… as if he was retrieving something. Explosives and poison were the two obvious candidates, so I mentally readied a poison cure all in my inventory and got ready to get the hell out of dodge.Instead the mad fucker did something I truly didn’t expect; he set fire to remains of his own home and laughed in the quickly spreading flames. And as the smoke started to spread, I had a feeling as to where this was going. Yet despite knowing it was probably a good idea to retreat out of range, that felt too much like giving up the fight for my taste. So instead I pulled the piece of cloth I’d worn around my neck since the seventh floor over the lower half of my face. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do the job well enough.Feather lightened my sword as I turned towards where I could feel him in the rapidly spreading smoke, and I tracked him as he began to circle me. His plan was obvious in hindsight; if I was predicting him based on sight, then he just had to obscure my sight. To that end he’d aim for my back and at most hazard my peripheral vision. And because he was a typical rapier user, I could narrow down his potential targets down to the gaps in my armour and my head. And because I was turning with his circling motion, when he’d approach was also obvious. So the moment he sped up I was already turning around and- I only just managed to stop the slash that would have taken my head clean off, a fresh cut opening on my neck as the bastard all but leapt over me in a movement I never would have predicted from him. “Do you like it?” He mocked from the smoke, and I had to strain to grasp his frankly bizarre movements, his presence shifting around like a fucking pinball. “I copied this too; you’d never guess who I took it from.” He bounded out of the smoke like a bat out of hell on my left. And this time -with his entire body weight behind him- his stab tore into my guard, pushing back my dagger until his blade was tearing against my armour. And then he was gone again, bouncing around the smoke as I tried to keep pace.“It’s a small world after all!” He laughed annoyingly, though that alone was enough to give me the answer. Ais was renowned for her… acrobatic flair in combat after all.Where the fuck he’d gotten the time to study and copy Ais’ combat techniques, I had no idea, but at the very least I could admit that it wasn’t the worst choice for these strange hit and run attacks. I was getting pressed, attacks I normally wouldn’t let through my guard scoring more than glancing blows. Hell, had this fucker had the foresight- no, it was probably a matter of something stupid like pride. But had he poisoned his weapon, this fight would have long since been over.Then again, I was fighting in this shit because of my own stupid pride.I grit my teeth as another attack tore through my guard, ripping off one of the buckles of my chest plate, and focused harder on his presence. He was bouncing around so much that it made it hard to track, but I needed to know where he was coming from if I was even going to begin countering this.Where most people were like flickering candles that struggled to even be felt above the sea of fire that was will, the fucker was more akin to a bonfire, whipping erratically about as he moved. It made it hard to grasp where the centre of the fire was- where he was. And that was what I needed here.So as he continued to tear bloody lines past my guard, my mind was elsewhere, staring into the flames. Reaching for them. My dagger almost fell from limp fingers as a glancing blow tore open the ligaments of my wrist, yet my mind wasn’t there. I almost collapsed to my knee as he tore through my ankle, and again my mind wasn’t there. No. Instead I was standing in a sea of flames, holding this one flame amongst many, feeling every inch of his presence. All of his vile intentions, all the emotions flaring beneath his surface level rage. And this fucker, he was focusing so hard I could almost… see the substance of his intent, feel it as if it were real. See what he intended to do.My sword moved as if it were a thousand miles away, and yet, it found itself in the path of his next strike. I staggered violently from the blow but managed to pull through, and in that moment I could feel his confusion, even the very moment he dismissed it as coincidence. And then I was back, blinking in my own body. And despite the sudden and very real pain I found myself in, I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at something else entirely. I’ve had the idea that there was something more to intent for a long time, and played with it plenty of times before as well. Yet the one time I succeed is in a life or death fight with someone who’s presence genuinely disgusts me.Yet… I can use this.Pulling out a potion, I was greeted with him rocketing out of the smoke once more, but this time I was already rolling out of the way as I all but forced the liquid down my throat. The pain hardly mattered, but some of the injuries were preventing me from leveraging my body properly, and I can’t have that.He came again at a much shorter interval this time, clearly still intent on stopping me from drinking despite being far too late. While it was still hazy, I could at least pinpoint his location now, my… understanding of his presence making it far easier. Which is why I was already swinging when he appeared and we clashed sloppily, with me skidding back yet unharmed.A fact that got quite the reaction out of him, more confusion and a sliver of doubt. And the more I felt, the more I understood. Understood him.It started slowly, clumsy blocks that he still sometimes wormed his way through, turned into something much more solid. His strikes stopped getting through and soon my sword was already moving to meet his each and every time despite the smoke rendering me virtually blind.And every time he revealed just a bit more of himself -vile being that he was- I understood his intentions just that bit more. Until I didn’t need Feather to keep up, until I wasn’t reacting to his sword, but instead the very moment he was deciding when and where to strike.And that’s when I decided to really drive it home.Twirling my sword over my shoulder, I caught his blow without even turning this time, bracing the blade against my back as Burden turned me into an immovable object.He disappeared just as quickly as ever, but I understood him now; the fucker was shaken, furious, confused and perhaps a little scared. He didn’t understand what was happening.The next strike came from my left and again I stood my ground, the thrust intended for my neck instead sparked impotently against my braced blade before withdrawing once again.And in his lack of understanding, he was lashing out.His rapier tried every opening he thought he could see in my guard as sparks flew around us, and every time he was met with an impenetrable defense. Fear. To further that fear, I didn’t give an inch, I didn’t move a step. I planted myself in the ground and refused to budge as he tried desperately to make me move. To make me falter.To make this make sense.So I stood there, undaunted, unmoving; my sword weaving graceful arcs around me at what probably looked like shadows, only to come alight with sparks again and again as it met crushing, yet ultimately futile blows. His frustration and feelings of inadequacy building to a fever pitch as he tried everything, every trick he’d stolen from people far more talented than him, only for it all to fail.And then he tried to reclaim some of that crushed pride.He switched to close-in combat, suddenly closing the gap between us, but I could feel what he intended. There was no surprise. My sword was already there twisting into his mercilessly, forcing his blade to the side as the longer, heavier sword closed in on him.And in a spark of genius; he leapt up, abandoning his rapier and abusing his speed to hop onto the flat of my sword almost exactly where I’d predicted, his face twisting into a smug, condescending smile as he darted towards me.Or he tried to. Unexpected agony wiped the smile from his face as cutting flames boiled over my blade, my first magic both gently lapping at and simultaneously tearing through his foot. He screamed, yet the pain didn’t fully blind him. He was still aware enough to twist away from my sword, desperate to keep it from finishing the job, even as half his foot fell off and his screams turned raw.It did, however, almost blind him to the dagger I threw, his eyes tearing open as he spotted it at the last moment. He managed to move just enough that instead of piercing his heart, it tore a bloody hole through his lung. And with that, the fight was over.“Any last words?” I asked, planting the tip of my blade on his temple.“I… I did everything for her…” He spluttered, surprisingly honest in his final breaths. “And it was never enough… you, you’ll be the same. Just another…” He bit down his pain, grunting. “-Another genius for her to throw away.” “Right. Unfortunately, I don’t really give a shit what she thinks of me. Probably should’ve just saved your breath” My piece said, I ended things with a swift stab, his presence vanishing like so much smoke.I could have passed him off to Athena, but fuck it. That would have meant keeping him around and honestly? The intent fuckery I’d pulled off here was a double edged sword. It was like delving into that person’s will, submerging yourself in it and almost forcing yourself to frolic around in a primitive version of their mindset. Were I not such a stubborn bastard, it honestly felt like it could have even affected me.Obviously the results spoke for themselves, but I would rather not pull that out against anyone and everyone.Grabbing the corpse by the ankle I dragged him towards where I’d left our observers, the smoke thinning as I got closer. “Elric!” Judith called. “You…” Her words trailed off as she started at the body I was dragging behind me, a queer expression crossing her face, as someone I didn’t recognise stepped forward.“Obrite Varkna, of the Ganesha Familia.” The Chientrope man announced tensely, though his eyes did dart to the body. “I’ve already received the testimony of your party, but even with the fire contained I’ll need your written statement for this incident!” “Joy.” I sighed, and took one look at the ankle I was still holding before throwing the body over to where I could feel Athena hiding. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t respond. “Do what you think is best.” “Pardon?” The Ganesha lackey blinked.“Not you.” I glanced past him to where Athena’s eyes would be. Only looking away when the Chientrope shifted uncomfortably, though he was probably about to get a fair bit more uncomfortable as Ais silently approached. “…You got stronger.” She stated, yet titled her head like it was a question. “Tell me about it?” “Sure, if you don’t mind waiting for him to be done.” I nodded my head at the suddenly rather pale dog boy, Ais’ stare almost mechanically swiveling to glare daggers into the side of his head. Or were Chienthropes wolves?-Early chapter, might edit this a bit more later, nail down the intent shenanigans more.