Limitless Path

"You can come down now," he said in a deep, gravelly voice, somewhat surprising from such a youthful and handsome man.

The two exchanged a brief glance, not needing words to communicate the question and response passing back and forth, both then shrugging and hopping down into the cavern. They walked over to the young man, Blood eyeing the cooling corpses with a slight frown, likely thinking about the precious materials, including higher-end beast cores, sitting there. She wouldn't do something so uncouth as to even approach someone else's kills without permission, however, and so refocused on the man once they were a few paces away.

Beth was also eyeing the young man, finding him to be rather interesting in several respects. Though she was not, personally, interested in him, he had what would be considered a quite classically handsome face, with a strong jaw, patrician nose, and deep set, sparkling eyes. He wore a set of armor that was all matching, clearly some kind of full set forged from the same materials, some deep red metal with golden inlays, though the metal was not adamantine. His longsword was single-edged and beautifully forge, the silver blade positively glowing in the minimal light that his armor produced.

In the same way, he had been observing them, particularly Beth and her equipment, though she felt as if his gaze could pierce deeper, uncovering all of her secrets. She also noted that his eyes lingered on Blood's gauntlets for a few moments, perhaps recognizing them as soulbound weapons, before he gave the lupine a brief glance. He returned his attention to Beth, the same placid expression on his face that he had worn when absolutely destroying two beasts high above even him in level.

"It's rather rude to spy on others," he rumbled.

"We weren't spying," Beth immediately denied. Though, she went on to say, "Well, we kinda were, but it wasn't intentional. We got a bit lost down here, or rather, we got chased further down by a level three-fifty, something we can't handle at this point."

"Interesting, I'll have to take a look at it then," the man replied calmly. "I seem to recall you being present in the Trial of Celestial Awakening, but I do not recall anything else about you."

"Uh, I'm Beth and this is Blood," Beth said belatedly, holding out her hand to the man. He held up his own hand, making his gauntlet disappear before looking pointedly at hers, which she made disappear with a slightly embarrassed chuckle. The two shook, and Beth accepted his communicator request, watching as Blood also shook his hand before they all returned their gauntlets to their places. It wasn't necessary to remove them, but it was considered a bit more polite, and with their instant equip abilities, there was no reason not to.

"Norveren," he said as they shook, introducing himself. "Most call me Veren."

"Veren, good to meet you," Beth said.

"Indeed," he replied with a nod. "You two might be just what I need."

"Just what you need?" Beth parroted with a raised eyebrow, both her and Blood tensing a bit.

"Yes, indeed, I am on the edge of achieving that next stage of understanding. Perhaps the two of you could push me to it. If you participated in that Trial, you are clearly strong, and I am looking for powerful opponents to push me to the next level," he stated simply. He had never sheathed his blade, and now he transferred it from his left to his right hand in a motion so quick it was hard to follow. He leveled the blade at the two of them, a clear expressions of challenge on his stern features.

"Can't we, like, go back to town and do this the safe way?" Beth asked, hold her hands up in a 'hold on' gesture.

"I would not waste the time, nor squander the opportunity. Besides, real fights are always far more lucrative than those fake stage plays," he responded coldly. "Is that not also why you are here?"

"Look, we had some free time, so we were exploring. We're just trying to make some mon-" Beth started, still with her hands up, but she was interrupted by a slash, clearly done slowly, but one that she had to block. "Alright, fucker, look, if that's how you want it, that's what you'll get."

As soon as she finished speaking, Blood was firing energy claws at Veren, Beth having sent her a telepathic communication to attack with everything. The young man broke the ten waves of energy with a near-contemptuous flick of his wrist, his blade tearing through the air with a quiet but lethal whistle. He returned his blade back across his torso with a lazy sweep, slapping Beth's greatsword away from its quest for his neck with a casual ease that made Beth frown quite deeply. Considering Veren was level two hundred sixty-one right now, he certainly had done at least four rebirths and was well on his way to his fifth or higher. She couldn't rely on attributes to beat him, nor could she rely on her skills being better than his, as he likely had a few skills at gold, considering his level of perspicacity and comprehension.

Blood had circled around behind him in that brief second and fired off a rapid series of energy attacks, going all-out right from start. Veren didn't even turn, slicing his sword behind himself four times to create sixteen sword images that shattered the dozens of blood claws Blood had shot out, all of his sword images breaking multiple claws before dissipating. In almost the same motion he swung his blade back around and blocked the double chop Beth had attempted, a single flick of his wrist enough to defeat the two sword blows. Beth reversed after the double chop and hit him with a horizontal sweep, which he easily deflected, before using the momentum of the deflection to swing a sweeping kick at his waist. He lazily slapped her leg away with the flat of his blade before spinning the hilt around in his hand, the sword nothing but a flickering blur, and thrust it under his right armpit, very nearly taking Blood in the neck.

Blood barely stopped the thrust with both of her claw weapons, knocking it aside and trying to slash his back. Veren merely flicked his wrist again, the blade slashing at Blood's torso while still in the strange reverse grip, scoring a very shallow cut across the scales over her right breast and forcing her to back off. He continued the same motion, the blade swinging forward and around from his right to slide against Beth's greatsword, pushing it down and to the side, meaning he didn't even have to take a step to avoid the overhead chop. He let go of the hilt, which he still had in a reverse grip, and grabbed it with his left hand, slashing at Beth's neck while twisting in place with a bit of deft footwork, hitting Blood's next swipe with first his elbow, then grabbing her right elbow with his hand. He continued the twist, spinning his feet and swaying his hips slightly, lifting Blood off her feet and spinning her around his body before throwing her into Beth. He didn't forget to give Blood a parting slash, cutting through her back armor and slicing the muscle on the right side of her back open.

Blood was starting to get a bit pissed, but also a bit scared, as she had relatively good armor on, but it was practically cheesecloth in front of Veren's blade. That kind of weapon was way above anything they had encountered so far, and meant that they would have to avoid the blade as much as they could, something she mentally informed Beth. They had straightened themselves out in a second and both attacked Veren, who hadn't forcefully pressed his advantage. Blood slashed and Beth swung, each taking a side and launching their attacks in perfect synchronization. Again, Veren flicked his wrist, creating four sword images with two swings, repelling both of Blood's claws and Beth's swing while also slashing for Beth's neck. She was forced to punch his blow away, barely forcing the sword light to skip past her by a hair, returning fire with an overhead slash before lashing out with a kick. Blood, at the same time, lashed out with two energy attacks before pushing her power to the limit, her lupine ears disappearing and many of her wolf-like features diminishing, darting forward to slash at Veren at the same instant the energy attacks arrived.

Beth attacked from the other side, burning all her buffs at maximum while her crown appeared atop her head, swinging a full power Monstrous Blow from low on her left, slashing upward at Veren's waist. Veren, in response, did something truly insane, flicking his blade down and to his right, catching the flat of Beth's greatsword and lifting it while pushing it outward from his body, somehow fully redirecting her slash to shatter Blood's energy attack. He finished the movement by slashing across Blood's forearms, not capable of fully cutting apart her soulbound weapons, but easily deflecting her swiping attack. He reversed his deflection with a lazy motion, causing eight sword images to attack Beth at once, something she was entirely incapable of blocking, though she did parry or dodge five of them. That left three slashes to cut into her heavier scales, one of them deflecting at a bit of a bad angle, while two sliced open long cuts on her arms.

Beth and Blood didn't give up, slashing and cutting and punching and kicking, but nothing they did had any effect. It wasn't even that Veren was so much stronger than them, though obviously his stats and skill levels would be higher, it was entirely down to his sword skill. In fact, he hadn't used any skills at all other than his weaponskill, totally outclassing them just with his mastery of the sword. Of course, it was highly likely his stats were far superior to theirs, but even so, the gap between them wouldn't have been so massive even had he an Expert weaponskill. If nothing else, the fight was a truly educational experience in terms of just how valuable a high weaponskill was, especially in the hands of a someone with high comprehension. She had sparred against Baelvyr and Jaq before, both of whom possessed Grandmaster, or higher, weaponskills, but such training had been vastly different from the genuine battle they were swept up in right now.

Veren continued toying with them, or really, using only his weaponskill and nothing else, dealing them wounding blows, but nothing fatal. Though he did attack their vital points, it was never with an attack so overwhelming that they couldn't avoid it. He did, however, often force them to decide between a fatal hit and a more minor strike, his mastery of the blade allowing him to send out attacks that threatened to hit a dozen areas at once, with only two or three of them being fatal strikes. It was more a form of training, pushing Beth and Blood to commit to the hilt to bring the most out of them, allowing him to face a genuine threat.

The harder he pressed them, the harder they fought back, proving that it wasn't just under the slow, grinding pressure of Beast Tides that they excelled. Blood was entirely powerless at first, even with her humanization unconsciously pushed to the maximum, her every effort blocked or deflected with ease. She suffered wound after wound without being able to respond, but she never gave up, pushing ever harder. She fired off her energy skill two or three times at first, but by five minutes into the terrible battle, she was launching energy attacks so rapidly that they formed long, coruscating waves of crimson energy, a bloody tide that pounded against Veren's defenses incessantly.

Beth, likewise, had excelled, her crown providing her a boost that put her on a much more even footing in terms of stats. She was also developing her style further, intermixing a constant series of sweeps, chops, overhead slashes, punches, kicks, elbows, and knees in a flurry of strikes that came as an endless storm of attacks. Veren could no longer be quite as casual, the combined assault forcing him to wield his blade with both hands, dodging more frequently, while occasionally throwing in his own kicks intermixed with pommel strikes and other non-standard moves. Any highly skilled swordsman, or user of any weapon, for that matter, would combine a multitude of attacks, not just with their preferred weapon, but also utilizing their own body as they could. This wasn't enough for them to develop the Unarmed skill, but it was always best to keep in mind that a warrior always utilized more than just their blade.

Veren still didn't deploy any other skills or, more worryingly for Beth, who was paying close attention, his Presence, but his blade-work became more refined. He welcomed the attacks of the two girls, often stepping into them and dancing between the two of them as they assaulted him, all three of them putting everything on the line, though Veren let his sword alone speak for him. Beth and Blood were absolutely going to lose, though it would be a death of a thousand cuts, when it all went sideways. Blood had become too aggressive, her power growing as her humanization ratcheted up another notch, the fur disappearing from her arms and legs, leaving her mane, tail, and some of the fur on her torso, though it wasn't visible under her armor. She was lost in the flow of battle, attack faster and harder, when she overextended, trying to follow up several series of Blood Queen's Claws with close-in assault when Veren caught her in the chest. His blade pierced straight through her body and he was not kind on the follow through, slashing up and out, creating a huge wound in her torso that saw blood fountain and the lupine woman reel back, falling to the floor.

"BLOOD! Fuck!" Beth roared, leaping back. Veren raised an eyebrow at her, not pursuing immediately, and Beth snarled, "You'll fucking pay."

Suddenly, a metal cube appeared in Beth's hand, Veren's eyes darting to it right away. He didn't even have long enough to analyze it, however, as Beth pumped her mana into the device and slammed it into her chest. It entirely ignored her battered chest armor, sliding right through it and sinking into her sternum, a feeling like a fire coated in ice gripping her whole body. A prompt appeared in the same split second in her vision and she didn't even read it, almost intuitively selecting Beastly Body. She felt a massive wave of horrendous pain, enough that bile rose into her throat and she was forced to puke some of it out to avoid choking, but then the power hit. She lifted her right leg and slammed it into the recalcitrant rock, something that had resisted her hammering blows before when she was mining, but now shattered as easily as fine china. She flexed and twisted, all the thick, heavy muscles of her body rippling, the crisp sounds of all her joints expanding and popping echoing out before she roared, a sphere of sound expanding around her and blowing away the nearby dust and debris.

Beth launched herself forward then, the ground under her feet shattering, an explosive wave of force blasting dozen of feet behind her in a cone, shattering stalagmites and making the air crackle and groan. Her Presence was still running full tilt, and her newfound power propelled her at such a speed that an afterimage was left behind at her starting point while her passage was so fast it would appear to most as if she had teleported, even though she was certainly not using Spatial Step. She brought her sword down on Veren in a massive overhand chop, using just her right arm to swing the blade, though the strike still generated a howl as it rent the air asunder. Veren, finally, had a serious look on his face, but instead of bursting out with power, he responded with skill. His arm barely moved, his blade passing through the air entirely silently despite its unimaginable speed, a stark contrast to Beth's strike. It was power versus finesse and finesse won, though Beth could see from Veren's widened eyes that it wasn't by nearly as much as he had hoped.

The next moment, however, a grin split the man's face and he took a step forward, launching his own attack. Beth parried, noting the grin only grow wider as she slammed his sword away, returning with her own slash before punching at Veren's face, the air roaring as it split around her arm. As soon as he blocked, she kicked, then swept her blade up at his torso before bringing it down in a diagonal cut and twisting fully around, spinning into a roundhouse kick that release a *BOOM* when Veren stopped it cold with the flat of his blade, the extremely tough rock of the floor of the cavern shattering under him for a distance of more than eight feet from the force transferred through his body.

Her advantage was short-lived, however, for as soon as he had blocked her mighty kick, he slashed out with a rapid cut that caused two dozen sword lights to bloom, like an orchid of death stretching out for Beth's neck. She didn't back down or dodge, gripping her own blade with two hands and swinging it rapidly, making a series of sword lights bloom herself, breaking or deflecting twenty of the slashes aimed at her, allowing the remaining four to score her armor and lightly cut her. As soon as the attack was finished, Veren struck again, this time with a massive grin, a rapid slash of his creating a full thirty sword images for Beth to contend with, each a very real slash that could reap her life if she let it through. Beth replied with a more forceful swing, creating four sword lights of her own, all containing a brutal power, each shattering multiple of Veren's attacks. It wasn't enough to fully defend herself, Beth taking multiple serious cuts, but she ignored them as she launched her own counterattack.

They traded blows for a minute, Beth unable to do more than brush his red armor, but Veren unable to deal anything approaching a finishing blow. The situation persisted for a minute until a flaw opened up, Beth slowing down a bit as her body suddenly felt heavy. Veren timed his blow well, waiting for the next attack from Beth before slicing at her, his sword creating several afterimages, Beth only realizing from the pain that it had thoroughly defeated her guard and even her perceptions, slicing deep into her torso. She staggered back, coughing a mouthful of blood, watching Veren flick his sword clean as she collapsed to one knee.