Boy Meets Ai

Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Now

Hendricks saw stars as he lay flat on his back on the cool tile of the arena. That gut check had seriously stunned him, and he wasn't particularly in a rush to get back up. The monk must have been a good 50 feet away, but he'd been able to close the distance in an instant. Hendricks finally tried to push himself up, but it was a struggle just to get to a sitting position. His ultimate had fired off apparently, leaving his body drained of energy. Marquis was nowhere to be found. He'd probably been KO'd, Hendricks imagined. His opponents were approaching, eager to end the fight. Before he could think of defending himself, the monk zoomed over, pushing down on the bard's chest with his foot.

"Don't move." Aramais' words had real venom in them as he ground his heel into Hendricks stomach.

He was half obliged to listen. There was really no way out of the situation. He wasn't like Shinobu who could take on multiple attackers at a time. His mind raced for a way out. Anything he could do to maybe turn the tide. It was hard to think with the Ai's cold eyes fixed on him. As Thomas approached as well, Hendricks realized this was it. Out in the first round. He chuckled lightly to himself as both of his enemies prepared strikes that would finish the duel. It was stupid of him to think he'd make it any further than this. A bard simply wasn't built for this type of combat. Not only that, this healer and his companion were seemingly over-prepared for pvp. Hendricks felt the cold steel crash against his ribs as the healer swung his mace down. He could see his HP bleeding away. The monk, with a look of disdain, rose his foot straight up into the air to deliver a devastating kick.

[BING]

Hendricks' HUD chimed as a message appeared. He barely had time to read it.

Skill prerequisites met.

Activating Encore.

Before the killing blow could be delivered, a thundering pillar of light engulfed Hendricks. The healer and monk barely had time to dodge back out of the way as it came crashing down. Audience members stood up in awe, some of them seemed to know what was happening. After just a brief moment, the pillar dissolved to reveal a completely uncanny sight. Hendricks stood now, his wounds closing. A rainbow of prismatic light swirled around him! His hair had changed to a vibrant shimmering hue of fiery white. Seiko was awe struck as he saw the new guitar begin to materialize in Hendricks' hands that looked more like a Stratocaster. It was translucent, made of pure energy. The strings glowed intensely, like multicolored neon!

"Encore. A rare sight."

Seiko looked up at Gabriel who stood beside the group of players. Encore? He racked his brain, trying to recall if he had ever heard of the skill.

"Excuse me. What does Encore do?" Seiko asked.

Gabriel explained as everyone gathered in to listen. "It is a special bard skill in the Secret Arts category. SA skills are secret abilities we created to make the Ether even more unpredictable. They are unleashed at random and only when a player's hp is dropped to exactly 1%. Your friend seems to be extremely lucky. He may just win this fight after all."

Now that he thought back, Seiko remembered he had heard stories of Secret Arts before. As Gabriel mentioned, they were extremely rare as each subclass had randomized conditions. Seiko himself had never had the chance to use his before but he'd seen stream highlights where it had happened. Still, seeing it in person now was an entirely different experience. The ability looked incredibly powerful and all, but could it turn the tides so drastically? Hendricks was still up against two opponents with full health. However, looking at his friend now, Seiko could perceive a level of certainty that hadn't been there before.