92: Aidan vs. Miko

It all happened too fast for Van to comprehend. He knew the plan was for Miko to have a fight with Aidan, but it was more than just to prove that Aidan was capable enough to increase his rank upon signing up.

It was clear from the get go that Aidan had received information about the top adventurers within Palestorm, at least the ones inside right now. With Aidan receiving updates from Puck every so often from inside, they learned about specific people that had entered through the city, ones with major influence that Nina should befriend for her own goals.

One of them was Miko and her party, the Wasteland. A top ranking party of adventurers that had taken on various high-level targets that many cities across Ghalea had difficulty against, rising through the ranks in the short few months since it was established within the guild.

Of course, Van had heard of such rumors about that famous party during his idle time in the Forontia adventurer’s guild. But the most he’d heard about was none other than the famous Miko. A powerful warrior that hailed from far away lands that commanded the powerful ability to channel fire as cold as ice. Whether it was part of her talent or a specific magic she had learned from her time in these foreign lands, nobody knew, but one thing was for certain.

She had taken out higher level bosses and dungeons despite being low-level nearly by herself. Sometimes her party helped, but it was clear that their best weapon was none other than Miko herself.

He was nervous when he first saw the woman herself, astounded by her presence and beauty, but more than anything, by the drive that showed in her eyes. He knew in an instant that messing with her would be a death sentence, with all of his experience as an adventurer riding on it.

Yet despite that, Aidan went as far as to goad her into a fight, even bringing in comments stating that she wasn’t strong. For a moment, he thought the grim reaper visited Aidan when Miko suddenly flashed her sword within the building, but Aidan stood resolute. Even after getting knocked out of the building and fighting her for real, he didn’t relent.

That, of course, brought everyone to look outside in awe, seeing that an actual fight finally occurred as Miko wanted. However, there were a few left behind. One of them included Yanu, who clearly knew what was going on as he faced Van.

“Do you mind explaining to me what it is you’re planning here?” Yanu said, his presence becoming intimidating as he adjusted his glasses. Van tried to keep a steady expression, even when he was facing an Elementalist several levels above him.

“Sorry, I’m not paid enough to know more,” Van quickly said, raising his hands in defeat. “But Aidan has no intention of hurting Miko.”

“You say that, yet he’s currently fighting my friend,” Yanu said, thinning his eyes. “Who sent you here?”

“Someone who wishes to be a friend,” Van answered. “Her name is Nina Alcatrox.”

“Nina Alcatrox…” Yanu muttered, recognition in his eyes.

“I’m guessing you know of her,” Van said. “That makes things easy.”

Though Van wished that was all he needed to say. He wasn’t confident in playing word games that would appease Yanu who clearly understood what was happening here.

Nina sent Aidan to check out Miko, and to see how strong she was. Aidan then goaded Miko to fight him, perhaps doing several plans in motion because of it. Van also heard about Miko’s comrade Yanu, who was the leader of the group, and surely he would understand what was being put into motion here.

That’s why Van made it clear that their only intention was to make friends–it just happened to be a bit more unique than just outright conversing with one another like normal people.

Yanu closed his eyes for a moment before letting out a sigh. “To think Nina would eventually find her way to Miko. I certainly hope being friends is the only thing you planned on doing.”

Van chuckled awkwardly. “Like I said–I’m not paid enough to know anything more.”

At the very least, he really hoped Aidan would come back safe and sound, at least to help Van out if he got into trouble.

…..

There were many things to consider before Aidan set his plan into motion. One thing was to scout out the potential power of Miko, the Samurai of the Wasteland party. Another thing was to see whether she would be agreeable to join into any ventures Nina would set up.

One final thing was whether the last two would work well together long enough to consider whether asking her was a good idea. Something that Aidan was feeling very well for himself.

Everything was a white bluish blur as Aidan had to constantly craft fire just to keep himself warmed up enough to keep moving. It was clear that she wasn’t just swinging her sword randomly to try and hit him, to which he kept dodging each one.

She knew how he worked, at least to some extent. He wasn’t sure whether she had her own sensing skill similar to Sense Vibration, but it was possible she knew that he had abilities that would help him, so she decided to coat the entire environment around him to her favor. Flames of sheer cold scattered everywhere around him, forcing him to keep moving and expending mana to try and keep himself warmed up enough to keep moving as expected.

What bothered him more than the constant drain on his resources was keeping away from the deadly samurai as she had complete control over her vicinity. Before anyone would forget, they were currently fighting in the middle of the damn city. Yet the only thing the other civilians saw was a blur that whipped past them before anything of note could happen.

What he thought would happen was her losing control and her cold flames would scatter everywhere, turning the entire city into a burning deathscape that would freeze everyone around her. Yet there was not a hint of magic going awry despite her going crazy to slice him apart and to keep him frozen.

Perhaps she was holding herself back as well, as the two knew that, despite fighting one another, they were in a contested area and plenty of consequences would be had if they went all out like this.

But Aidan wasn’t always on the receiving end. He would also strike back with his blades, even summoning two more swords to support him and not one more. The reason was simple as having too many swords could end up hitting someone around them. 

If he were to summon more swords, he might have a better advantage. However, he was still in his period of weakness, his stats halved and unable to keep up. But what other choice was there but to keep fighting?

The chances of finding Miko and her party were so slim that Aidan immediately took his chance to goad her into a fight the moment he laid eyes on her. They initially headed into the guild to ask around where they could find the Wasteland party, and planned on staying around for a few weeks just for the chance to talk to them.

But now he had to ensure that he would keep his head by the end of this as the two fought one another in a fight to the death, or at least as close to death as Miko would allow. That got Aidan to make sure he didn’t go too far to hurt her as well.

After all, in the end, it was an actual spar, not a real fight. It just happened to be so dangerous that it might as well be called a fight.

Aidan crafted fire to keep himself warm, but to also combat the sheer cold her own flames were producing. He tried to combat the cold flames directly, but his crafted fires were immediately snuffed out, her flames clearly stronger. Despite that, however, his Arcane Control came in handy to make his flames more resistant to at least keep around.

Sparks flew as blades clashed. Blurs became shimmering lights that blinded those around them. Aidan kept his eyes solely focused on the samurai’s soul as they kept battling each other. Needless to say, he utterly failed in comparison to her swordsmanship.

It was entirely possible that her Sword Proficiency rank was extremely high, her movements with her katana clearly a cut above even Ander’s fighting style. It wasn’t just direct swings, but feints and tricky angles were included as well. Aidan’s more direct approach to swordsmanship proved to work against him, forcing him to add more variety by unleashing his floating swords as backup against her.

But it was like commanding several lackeys to fight against a main character in a story. No matter the number, the samurai never relented as she fought them all head on, keeping Aidan on the back foot.

In his mind, the use of Phase constantly filled his head, but he kept denying it. The reason for that was simple– he would die the moment that sword hit anywhere near his person, regardless of physical matter.

The sword was constantly charged with that white bluish flaming aura that constantly radiated her special magic. Even if the sword phased through him, the mana around the sword would disrupt his own casting, being powerful enough to utterly disrupt the spell and cancel it entirely. And if it was cancelled mid-pierce, it would become real and end up with him having a sword deep in his gut. That’s the last thing he wanted to have right now.

On and on it went, with Aidan having to zero in entirely on two things–keeping himself alive and ensuring their battle didn’t harm anyone else. Because it would look really bad if the Forontia governor’s confidant killed some people in a random fight.

He was also sure that Miko was doing the same, but he honestly couldn’t tell considering that she kept going hard on her strikes. That was when the entire battle shifted.

Oh shi–

Aidan felt his entire world in disarray as Miko suddenly increased her speed, becoming a blur even to his senses. It was as if her soul melded with the cold around her, becoming almost invisible to even his eyes. She flashed from one place to another, her blade constantly aiming for his vitals. Aidan could only hold back by using three swords as a shield to defend himself, but he had to eventually give in to minor injuries.

Injuries such as a lacerated arm, a cut-up leg, a deep wound on his stomach, and many, many cold cuts across his skin that made him feel like he was burning up. He was already constantly healing himself, which Miko also knew and continued going as hard as she could.

When the two clashed together once again, their swords struggling to keep each other off, they had a single moment where their eyes met, a lull in the fight where everything came to a standstill. Everywhere around him, he saw only white as flames scattered only around him, the blade itself glowing in that same ephemeral white bluish aura.

“You’re quite elusive,” Miko commented. “And you haven’t struck back once. Why?”

“I don’t wanna ruin that pretty face of yours.”

He knew he was just digging further and further into a dangerous hole, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted to keep Miko fighting him to see what she was capable of. Technically, he had already received quite a bit of demonstration, but he hadn’t shown her what he was capable of yet.

Miko’s eyes thinned, but not in rising agitation or anger. Instead, a contemplative look showed, her soul rising in curiosity as, soon enough, she backstepped and dashed forward for another strike.

This time Aidan took his chance. He struck back with his sword, letting the katana slide down the blade as his other two swords came to attack. Miko defended herself from one while dodging the other, to which Aidan went for his plan.

In the end, he wasn’t a Warrior, but a Mage. An Arcanist, to be precise. Why was he fighting against a swordsman in close-combat?

Miko’s eyes widened in realization as she jumped aside, dodging an incoming earth spike from below. She kept moving across the wide street around them, choosing a rather desolate area where there was nobody around. She moved because air bullets were constantly shot at her, making the ground explode in multiple small gouts of earth.

Aidan kept going forward, unleashing all three of his swords by extending the blades, reaching to her side in an instant. Miko combated the extended blades, but soon one shortened entirely into the size of a dagger, flying straight to her. Miko practically flew across the ground and sky, her feet dancing lightly on every tile on the floor and wall while dodging the shortened dagger. Meanwhile, another floating sword came forward, changing shape to a large broadsword.

There was something that needed to be explained with how Aidan formed his weapons. He was trying to take advantage of his Sword Proficiency skill by ensuring that all of his weapons were based on swords rather than merely all types of weapons. While he recognized that there would be advantages to having spears or axes by his side, having a skill somehow increased their versatility and damage, making them more dangerous to handle.

Due to that, the almost dagger-like sword wasn’t really a dagger, but just a really short sword, and the broadsword together would make them entirely discombobulating to handle. At least, that’s what he hoped to do as he kept fighting Miko in close combat.

Because there was just something so dangerous about facing a mage who should be fighting from the distance up close and personal. That was the message he wanted to give.

For once, Miko was on the receiving end of his new onslaught, three blades coming at her in different sizes and handling. This was all thanks to his Split Mind skill, keeping his Sword Proficiency in check as he handled three different variants of his sword. The white bluish flames tried to take over, but he snuffed them out using a well-coordinated flaming earth combo, shooting balls of compressed mud covered in flames to hit the spots drenched in her cold flames.

While it didn’t overpower the massive cold, it was enough to keep the environment from being altered any further and stop her advantage from increasing. One thing he noticed so far was that the longer she fought, the stronger she got as she continually coated the battlefield in her flames. Something that she was inhibited greatly due to their current location filled with the populace.

He couldn’t even imagine how powerful she would be if they were in a location where environmental damage was a non-concern. Still, he kept going, Infusing himself with more mana than before to keep her down.

Right when he believed that he was finally getting the upper hand, Miko retreated a fair distance away and suddenly sheathed her sword. Aidan wanted to rush in to take this advantage, but his instincts immediately shouted at him to reconsider.

The air around her stilled, and her soul suddenly calmed to the point of non-existence. She entered into that sort of serene meditation so quickly that it disturbed him a little, and he knew for a fact that there was now a small domain around her, completely made up in her mind.

And if he stepped into that domain, he wouldn’t come out unscathed.

The worst part was, her soul was slowly rising further and further, the sounds of her soul’s music increasing in tempo as if a great big finisher was approaching. She wasn’t going to just stand and react if he got close.

So now there was a choice. He would wait out on her, eventually facing what was about to appear, or face the instant reaction during her meditative state. It was like a choice between two options that would decide how he liked to get cut.

So, he picked what was probably the riskier option. He charged in.

He Infused most of his mana into his swords and himself, crafting the air at the back to give himself a further boost to his speed and momentum. All three swords came flying at her, ready to strike her down.

That was when her eyes opened, the red color dispersing to reveal a bluish white glow.

One swing. One slash. Everything became white.

Cold flames scattered and drenched everything around them. They bellowed and roared, a silent scream that encompassed the battlefield. Aidan only just looked up at the bright sky above as blood flowed out, mixing both the red liquid with the bluish white color around him.

His swords were split apart, scattered everywhere as he fell, eventually landing onto the ground with his body sprawled out.

That slash took everything out of him. But he was still alive. His heart hammered against his chest as he recognized what happened, even if it was just a single second.

He saw her soul glow bright with power, and knew in an instant that he had ruined whatever move she was planning on pulling off. But she used the excess energy she had gathered to make a powerful strike that should have, by all counts, decapitated him. So with an infused, boosted, and focused Craft spell, he pushed himself down with an air blast fast enough to avoid the incoming iai slash, only getting away with a minor graze across his forehead.

That forehead was completely burning like crazy, but considering that only his skin was suffering, he would gladly take that any day. But one thing was certain though.

He couldn’t fight back. He put all of his mana into that final pushback just to get away. And at that moment, he was out of mana. This would be the time when he would pull out his Soul-Mending water.

Unfortunately that was impossible to do as Miko had her sword aimed directly at his face, ready to kill him should he move even an inch.

“...My victory,” Miko said, plain and simple.

Aidan, for a short while, was left silenced. His heart hammered against his chest as he saw the blade that should’ve killed him if he had been slow even by a second. Raising both hands up from the ground, he relented.

“Yep. It’s my loss.”