A Hero's Dilemma

Chapter 1

This was her fault.

A punch slammed into her midsection, sending shockwaves that rattled her body. Gritting her teeth and planting her feet, she tried to keep a tight grip on her weapon.

This was all her fault, wasn't it?

Another fist came faster than her beaten, battered, and sleep-deprived body could react to. Stronger than her nearly depleted Aura could defend against.

She deserved this, right?

A right uppercut she saw coming yet still, could barely dodge. This battle was decided weeks before it even began. Yet she still chose to start it, right? When the fist neared, she surprised herself by barely dodging it

No doubt her attacker felt the same as for a brief instant, there was a pause after his uppercut whiffed as if he had expected her to go flying.

For a brief instance, her body was flooded by adrenaline as the pain faded from her mind. With her senses now sharpened, she examined their form for any openings.

She quickly found what she was looking for. Eyeing his right side just under the arm that attacked was an opening, her grip on her weapon tightened. Her body aligned itself with his, and as she slipped into his guard, she pulled her rapier back, ready for a strike.

Her heart gained just an ounce of hope that had been missing for the last few hours. With even the previous few months paling in comparison to this moment.

After this attack landed, she might have just enough time to get some distance—just enough space to formulate a plan to escape. Or at least she would have if not for an Aura enhanced hand reaching out and halting her blade mid thrust.

The hope that had shone through was now drowned out by her gross miscalculation.

A feint

She was too focused on the prospect of escape that she gained tunnel vision forgetting entirely about her opponent's left hand. She made a rookie mistake, and it was one she would pay dearly for as there was now a closed fist barreling for her from above.

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His feet slammed ever faster as the sounds of battle drew closer, bobbing and weaving through abandoned huts that at one point seemed to make up a village, now nothing but decrypt ruins. What was no doubt once a beautiful sprawling village was reduced to old wooden huts that even now were being consumed by the slow crawl of nature. Dodging tall oak trees growing between the dilapidated structures and ripping through all other fauna in his path.

This place... it reminds me of- A thunderous clap rang throughout the entire area, interrupting his thoughts.

"Whoa!" he shouted, almost losing his footing.

He righted himself and, without pausing, changed direction slightly and continued rushing forward. Dreading whatever monster was over there making all this commotion. Because now it felt like the pain, he'd sensed from the outskirts of the village had overwhelmed even the hatred that had drawn him here in the first place.

It told him all he needed to know about how the fight was going. At this rate, he didn't think he'd make it in time to help them from whatever they're fighting.

Then I'll just pick up the pace then.

He concentrated, and for a moment, the world around him bled away as the fatigue he felt was momentarily taken away. His body shined a brilliant white light as his form was enveloped completely. He felt weightless, and with that, he took off a hundred times faster than before.