Heaven's Sword Online- Book One of the Alta Luna Saga

Episode 7: Shadows and Light

Tae-young steps forward while Rin lifts his sword toward the now clear blue sky.

"Ready?" her opponent asks with the same grin that he had plastered during my fight with him.

She nods and awaits for Lua's signal to begin their duel. As soon as Lua snaps her fingers the two vanish from view- Rin moving like a ninja and Tae-young vanishing into a plumb of black and purple shadows.

"Where did they go?" I ask, scanning the arena for signs of where they might be. Suddenly from the corner of my eye I detect something move within the shadows of the far-left pillar- Tae-young. She emerges from her hiding spot and unleashes a wave of long, thin, purple and black arrows. Rin stops, becoming visible once more, and jumps into the air. The arrows turn upward, unrelenting in their pursuit.

With a wave of his katana, Rin cuts down the arrows but another round comes from under the first. He glances behind him just as Tae-young emerges from a shadowy portal. "I knew it," Rin scoffs. Raising his katana at her, he releases a beam of light which obliterates the arrows completely. "You can't fool me."

Tae-young smiles, retreating into the portal behind her.

Where did she get all this confidence from? Is she one of those people who is quiet and kind of shy when out of battle but turns into a blood knight in the midst of a duel? Or is it all an act to begin with?

"Tae-young is a rather interesting one, huh?" Lua whispers into my ear. I jump forward, heart beating rapidly.

"Stop that!" I snap, glancing at the ground. I straighten my back out and look directly into her beautiful eyes. I flinch and look avert her gaze once more. "So, you think that she's hiding something?"

"She seems to be," Alla says.

Adriana performs several signs, most of which are too fast and new for me to understand.

"She said, 'She is merciless in battle. Have you noticed how he has yet to use the same attacks that she used against Rin?'" Lua translates.

I twist around and see shadowy tendrils emerging from the shadows cast by the pillars. Their long vine-like appendages extend toward Rin like rapidly growing plants pointing toward the sun. They twist and turn as they ascend into the heavens.

Raising his blade out in front of him, Rin kicks against the closest pillar and slices through the dark plant-like attack.

How can they be this strong? Aren't they only a few levels higher than I am?

"They're strong because of their past experiences," Lua responds. "Rin and Alla both have skills from their World's Gate days, while Tae-young seems to be adept with the sword. Not sure as to why she's so good with shadows, though."

Adriana moves her hands around into various letters.

Lua rubs her chin and reclines her head against the bark of the cherry blossom tree. "Seems that the game gave you some incredible powers. Sadly your high magic stat came with the prince of low defense. You'll need the protection of others at times, especially those times in which you will be able unable to react quickly."

So Adriana and I both got our skills from the game world. Though why couldn't I get something as strong as Adriana? Wait, don't I have a limit break too?

The sound of Rin's screams snaps my attention back to the battle at hand, a tendril had struck both his arms. He collapses to his knees with a loud thump and drops his katana.

"No way," Alla says, eyes wide and mouth agape. Adriana, Lua, and I stand there, equally as shocked.

Tae-young gives Rin a self-assured grin as she lifts his head so that their eyes meet. "I. Win."

Rin curls his hands into fists but doing so causes him to wince in pain as the tendrils remain stuck to his arms. He shakes his head and gives her the exact same smile. "Have you now?" His eyes dart toward his blade, causing it to levitate a few inches from the ground and fly into Tae-young's left foot. Tae-young steps back but not before stabbing Rin in the side of the neck, barely missing his jugular.

Quickly, Tae-young pulls out the sword and grips it tightly as it threatens to fly away though doing so causes her to fly off with it. Rin's eyes are directing the sword as they continue to dart around in an erratic but at the same time, organized fashion. He shifts his eyes downward, sending Tae-young falling to the hard, cold ground.

I feel my chest tighten seeing Tae-young spread across the floor like a rag doll with blood slowly dripping out of the fresh wound on her forehead. Her opponent pulls out the tendrils from his arms and picks up the handle of his blade, only to pull Tae-young's hand along with it. Rin drops his sword and leaps back as Tae-young arches her head toward him, wearing a frightening smirk.

"You did well. Seems that both of us underestimated the other." Black and purple swirls of energy dance around her as the clouds blot out the sun once more. She throws the blade back at him and dusts herself off. "I should really stop underestimating my foes."

Tae-young sure can be scary. To think that it could've been me fighting her right at this moment. I chuckle as Rin shivers. But the fright in his eyes is soon united with what appears to be excitement as he activates his katana once more.

"Relying on your limit break again?" the boy asks, putting a hand on his hips while using the other to twirl his katana as if it were a small knife.

The cloud over head stop in their tracks as the shadows around Tae-young die down. "Is that a challenge I detect?" she asks, shooting Rin a death glare with her peach eyes. More black tendrils flare up from the shadows of the pillars, this time from all four.