Burning Embers Part I: Origins [Arc 1-5]

Arc 2 Chapter 4

Alright, everything good so far. 

It had probably been only a handful of minutes since the fight began, but it felt a lot longer to Sean. So far though, Lediga was holding his own; his impeccable defence against Kuri's all-out offence. However, Sean knew it wouldn't last for long. Twice now Kuri had already breached his defence, but had landed only glancing blows that Lediga didn't seem to mind. For the plan to work, Kuri had to get tired and start using her special moves, which she referred to as 'secret swords.'

She was clearly not even using her full strength now. Her blows were rather lacklustre, other than a burst or two of speed that managed to land grazing blows on Lediga. What Sean was sure of however, was that without any magical enhancements, her swords couldn't pierce the high-grade armour that had been lent to Lediga. In fact, even now, her swords constantly breached his defence, but bounced harmlessly off the armour.

"Tch. You're tougher than I thought," Kuri remarked. Lediga did not respond, instead trying to ram his shield into her, a move nimbly dodged by Kuri. Her counterattack however, once again simply bounced off of Lediga's back. "Dammit. You force my hand."

Finally! 

Kuri leaped back once, twice, telegraphing her move to Sean.

"Lediga, shield up!" I really hope he listens.

He did, for once; immediately crouching behind his shield. 

"First Sword - Tsien!"

It was one of the moves she had showcased against the giant bear. Two parallel shockwaves travelling along the ground in a straight line from her swords. A move that was nigh-impossible to dodge, it was blockable all the same. Lediga's armour and shield was made of Serpentium; an extremely tough and flexible metal, acquired of course, by Vector, and the shield he had been granted was extremely high-grade and reinforced. As Sean had expected, the shockwaves hit the shield but couldn't get through, albeit left dents.

Of course, nothing was ever as simple as it seemed. The metal wasn't vibration-proof, and Lediga was still knocked back, stunned. 

"Now!" Sean signalled to Andrea and Luuk to make their move. 

"Blinding fog!" White fog escaped from Sean's palms, covering the arena. He had accumulated a lot more mana points, so the move no longer tired him.

"Soundless step!" Andrea immediately disguised the sound of her footsteps, locating Lediga and dragging him away from his current spot. As Sean had anticipated, Kuri quickly reached Lediga's former location, but only slashed at empty air. Even moving him a little bit was enough; as the stun effect would wear off really soon.

"Oi, wake up you brute." Andrea shook Lediga, to good effect, as he weakly stumbled back up to his feet. 

His recovery time is abnormal. Huh, so he does have his uses. By the time the fog dispersed, Lediga was back up on his feet, sword and shield ready, looking like nothing had happened at all. So far so good...

"Tch. You really are a handful, you know that?" It was clear that Kuri's frustration was mounting by the moment. 

She had certainly expected this to be far easier. It was now only a matter of time until it got the better of her and she made that crucial mistake. Right now though, she wore a dead serious look as strange blue energy swirled around her. Sean already knew what this was, and of course, he had prepared for it accordingly.

"Second Sword—" Kuri rushed forward, her movements a blur, but Sean had already made his move.

"Andrea, go for it!"