Can't Escape The Darkness

Chapter 23 Awkward Situations

Hilda had of course just been passing by the arena but having seen Fractureverse Lyria make a fool of herself, she was no longer annoyed with the mess Fractureverse Lyria had caused earlier. "As much as I'm honored that you see me as your hero and wish to follow in my footsteps, may I suggest you take it slowly and ask for help when you are struggling." Hilda said. She knew Fractureverse Lyria had been acting like this to try and one up her, however she thought it was best to play the smart game. Fractureverse Lyria simply scowled.

"Since I'm your main inspiration, would you like the honor of having a duel with me? Of course with you in the gear you are most familiar with to give you the best advantage." Suggested Hilda. Fractureverse Lyria was half reluctant but she was desperate to take her anger out on Hilda so she agreed. Fractureverse Lyria was ready after changing out of the armor. She was irritated and frustrated so she didn't wait for Hilda to say that she was ready. Running at Hilda, she brought her sword down at full force. Luckily for Hilda, she reacted quickly and had sidestepped at the last moment.

Having not hit anything, Fractureverse Lyria had no force to stop her forward movement and flew smackdown, face first on the ground. It hurt a ton but to her the embarrassment hurt more. Blinded by anger she got up and went to punch Hilda who calmly caught hold of Fractureverse Lyria's fist. She then pushed Fractureverse Lyria's hand back before pulling it down. Fractureverse Lyria was forced onto her knees by this as it was painful and difficult to free her arm and so she was forced to follow the downward movement. Hilda let go of her hand and waited for her reaction.

Fractureverse Lyria was so angry that she was extremely tempted to use the end crystals. Even if she didn't blast Hilda to pieces, using them to boost her strength may draw some attention to her with people quickly creating their own conclusions. Not wanting that to happen she tensed her fists and got up again. She tried punching Hilda again and again but each time, Hilda would have a trick up her sleeve to prevent herself from being hit. Hilda could see that Fractureverse Lyria was losing control over herself and while Hilda wanted that so that everyone could see Fractureverse Lyria was an imposter, she was concerned about getting seriously injured if she got her timing wrong.

"Why don't we stop? You still need some more training before you can properly fight me. What do you say?" Hilda said softly. Fractureverse Lyria was enraged by this point especially with the fact that Hilda was so calm. She had no intention of stopping. Grabbing her sword off the ground she swung right for Hilda's neck without caution. Hilda only just had time to stop herself from being killed by quickly taking hold of Fractureverse Lyria's arm. Fractureverse Lyria kept pushing her arm against Hilda's hand. Hilda could feel the teen's arm shaking with emotional adrenaline.

"Stop!" She barked forcefully and slowly managed to lower Fractureverse Lyria's sword away from her. Fractureverse Lyria unexpectedly dropped the sword which stupidly fooled Hilda into lowering her guard, when Fractureverse Lyria lifted her leg up and kicked the commander right in the side of her face. The kick had been so powerful it had knocked off Hilda's helmet as well as causing her to stubble backwards. 'Ha!' Thought Fractureverse Lyria feeling victorious but she hadn't taken into account Hilda's excellent reflex reactions.

All of a sudden she felt a forceful pain in her stomach where Hilda had just punched her. Hilda hadn't meant to hit her with her iron gloved hand but she couldn't help but think it would teach Fractureverse Lyria a lesson. The shock and the pain had caused Fractureverse Lyria's anger to evaporate as she dropped to her knees clutching her stomach. "Next time I say stop, we stop before something happens. Your actions have consequences as you have now learnt." Hilda said. "Mhm." Was all Fractureverse Lyria could muster while she knelt on the floor like the defeated, embarrassing failure that she was.

That evening she'd tried to keep her head down during dinner. It wasn't meant to be for Hilda went around telling everyone that she'd underestimated the captain forgetting how powerful she was growing up to be and was no longer the little girl who couldn't even make a dent in her armour. Fractureverse Lyria hated the attention she got. She knew that Hilda had only said this to cover up what had really happened to her face. Fractureverse Siphon to her annoyance was greatly exaggerating the story as he'd been there and so she had no choice but to follow along with this lie.