MIND GAMES: Guild Tryouts

Chapter 30

—Blaze's eyes go completely haywire, seeing two columns of water being sent to his right and left. He was expecting Jay to move out of the way or die with himself and Sandra, but what ended up happening was surreal.

Sandra also looks on in dismay, seeing Jay's broken sword cutting into the ground as he finished his heavy swing. Geyser—Tide's strongest move he's shown at this point—was hit directly in a weak spot, splitting it into two large torrents of water instead of one.

Jay was bent down, still keeping his eyes closed as the audience and Tide realized what just happened. He opens his eyes slowly and stares at Tide with a feral gaze. He gets up and stands straight, holding his sword in his two hands, almost like he was expecting another volley of Geyser.

"*WHAT*?! *HE CUT THROUGH TIDE'S ASPECT*?!" Stan announces to the players standing in the bleachers.

Tide stood speechless, gripping his axe with a fury no one could see, but a rage that Jay felt just by being physically near him.

'H-he actually cut through my attack?!' Tide contemplates, 'And I'm all out of AP!'

"Y-you—" Blaze says, speechless.

"You s-stayed?" Sandra asks ahead of Blaze.

Without looking back at them, Jay starts to ease up as he smiles.

"Stupid of me, right?" Jay says, "Even I didn't know I could do that."

Up in the V.I.P section of the Decimation, the Guildmasters were having their own concerns over Jay's move. It seemed so thought out to mistake it as an accident.

"Did he just do what I think he just did?" Crash asks the room.

"Sure looked like it," Helmet says, "He just used Preloading."

Helmet looks impatiently at Jay as the columns of water he sliced into rushed right past him and the other Prospects behind him.

'So you finally figured out what that phrase meant?' Helmet thinks, 'Nice job, kid.'

Down in the bleachers, Jay's friends all cheered for him to keep going, utterly shocked at his sudden performance in this fight. Axel was completely gone at this point, throwing his fists into the air like he was shadow boxing someone.

"*THAT'S RIGHT TIDE*!! *HE'S GONNA MESS YOU UP*!!" Axel shouts.

Ivy had also jumped out of her seat, cheering for him with her entire being.

"*You promised to become a Slayer*! *You better keep that promise*!"

Dillan and Kira both clapped him on as they stood out of their seats.

"Yes!" Kira exclaims.

"GO!!!" Dillan yells.

Jay notices them but can't hear them. He knows they must be going crazy and is proud of himself for a small moment.

Then he focused again, remembering that this fight wasn't over.

"You sure are accurate with that sword!" Tide taunts, "And it's even a broken one as well!"

"I guess!" Jay says, "Practice makes perfect as they say!"

Jay and Tide stare down for a moment as they realize neither of them has the ability to use Aspect. Jay simply doesn't have it at his side, and Tide doesn't have AP to use Aspect moves. It would come down to combat, which was Jay's strong suit. Tide lifts his axe over onto his shoulder as he plants a foot down in front of him. Jay also plants a foot in front of him and one behind him, facing to his left.