The camp broke into chaos around Austin and Chet. As they continued a relentless back-and-forth of punches, Chester and Andrea moved to attack the scouts in the camp. The pair surrounded their bodies in purple and red Essence that burned like a wildfire. The Essence must have increased their speed because their bodies blurred as they dashed through the camp. Screams echoed as blades cut through scouts. Desperate to avoid the attacks, the scouts flared their Essence and tried to use enhanced speed to avoid blades. Despite their reaction, it was too late.

  ?

  The pair skidded to a stop on the opposite side of the camp. They whipped their blades to the side, cleaning them of blood. Several of the scouts succumbed to their wounds and crashed to the ground. Their assault only took a few seconds, and they were not ready to stop. They quickly turned back around and readied their blades.

  ?

  “Looks like I got more kills than you,” Andrea smirked.

  ?

  “You must have gotten lucky,” Carter snapped back. “I’ll get more when it’s over.”

  ?

  As the two talked, Mike entered the center of the camp and readied his spear. Orange Essence flared to life around him like an inferno. The Essence rose from his body as various streams of light and combined together into four burning orbs. The burning orbs slowly circled around his body.

  ?

  “Ready your spears and Essence! They are coming for another attack!” Mike yelled out an order as he pointed his spear forward.

  ?

  “A prepared weakling is still a weakling,” Carter laughed.

  ?

  As the scouts readied their spears, Carter and Andrea started another assault. Once more, they dashed towards the scouts and swung their weapons wildly. Even with the danger, a smirk grew across Mike’s face. The orbs surrounding Mike froze in the air for a moment before they split and flew towards Carter and Andrea. As the orbs made contact, they erupted into a fiery explosion and sent the pair flying.

  ?

  “This is our chance! Counterattack!” Mike yelled out to the scouts.

  ?

  Carter and Andrea were knocked into nearby trees before they collapsed to the ground. As they pushed themselves off the ground, they were already surrounded by a mob of scouts. Spears thrusted forward from all directions towards the two as the scouts no longer felt any hesitation. In desperation, Carter and Andrea swung their weapons to try to stop the oncoming spears.

  ?

  Despite their attempts to stop the attacks, spears stabbed into Carter and Andrea. The pair did not scream, but instead their eyes grew intense with fury. Through their fury, they ignored the pain of the attacks. Carter pulled at one of the spears and forced the scout holding it closer to him. As the scout approached, Carter stabbed his sword deep into his chest.

  ?

  The scout went limp and fell to the ground as Carter tore his sword out of his chest. Blue Essence lingered on his blade as he pulled it out. Then, like a vacuum, the Essence sucked into his blade. Carter quickly tore out the spear stuck in his body and stabbed another nearby scout with it. Carter quickly followed up with a quick slash through the scout’s neck. The scout’s body and severed head fell to the ground and gave Carter enough room to make a counterattack. In a series of stabs and slashes, the surrounding scouts all fell to the ground.

  ?

  Andrea moved forward despite the spears stuck in her body and slashed at the group of surrounding scouts. Her knife moved in a wild zigzag fashion as it cut through the surrounding scouts. Wound after wound accumulated on the bodies of the scouts until they all dropped to the ground. As the scouts lost their lives, Essence lifted from their chests as streams of light into Andrea’s blade.

  ?

  “Nice try,” Andrea cackled as she ripped spears out of her body. As she ripped the last spear out, black ribbons poured from her blade into her wounds and sealed them.

  ?

  “You do have to applaud the attempt,” Carter smirked as he also started to remove spears from his body. “If it were someone else, it may have even worked.”

  ?

  “Don’t think I’ll let you get away with that,” Mike’s eyes narrowed into a glare as four more burning orbs formed around him.

  ?

  “The old man sends young men to die and then thinks he has the right to be angry. Isn’t that hilarious, Carter?” Andrea mocked Mike.

  ?

  “Honestly, it’s pretty pathetic if you ask me,” Carter laughed.

  ?

  “I won’t let you mock their deaths,” Mike said as he lifted his hand to send the orbs forward, but before he could, a silver blur rushed through the scouts at Carter.

  ?

  Carter was caught off guard as the silver blur approached him. He could not react before claws sank into his chest. The figure did not stop as the claws made contact but continued to push forward. The pair crashed through several trees before the figure finally skidded to a stop and tore his hand out of Carter’s chest. Carter’s eyes went blank as he collapsed to the ground. Standing above Carter was Gavin, his body shining a metallic silver. In disgust, Gavin kicked Carter’s lifeless body as if he were checking if he was still alive. Once he accepted Carter’s death, he turned his gaze towards Andrea.

  ?

  Andrea’s eyes went wide as she took in the sight of Carter’s death. It all happened so quickly that she was not sure what to make of it. But she did know one thing: they made a mistake attacking a whole camp. Before Gavin could pursue her, she immediately started to run into the forest. Mike sent his burning orbs after her in response, but they crashed against trees as she twisted and ran between them.

  ?

  As the orbs erupted into an explosion, trees crashed to the ground. Gavin entered a running stance as he prepared to pursue Andrea, but just as he kicked off the ground to run, his legs crashed to the ground. The metallic silver of his skin started to shrink away until it was completely gone.

  ?

  “Damn, damn, damn!” Gavin yelled as he tried to push himself up. “We can’t let her get away!”

  ?

  As Gavin punched the ground in frustration, Mike walked towards him. He placed a calming hand on Gavin’s shoulder before he said, “It’s okay. Let’s worry about the people here now.”’

  ?

  “But I could have finished her off,” Gavin’s voice cracked. “If only I were stronger.”

  ?

  Mike wrapped an arm around Gavin’s side and pulled him upward. “You did good. You forced her to retreat and saved lives.”

  ?

  ***

  Austin and Chet continued their battle. A vicious ferocity drove both of them. Chet still held anger from their former encounter. He saw Austin’s escape as his loss, and he could not accept it. Austin’s anger was due to Chet’s blatant disregard for life. Not only did Chet not care about the lives of others, but he was willing to attack defenseless people if it meant he grew stronger. This attitude was completely unacceptable to Austin.

  ?

  Their rage towards each other turned their fight into a simple affair. The two barely cared about blocking or dodging each other’s attacks. Instead, they relentlessly punched each other. While each punch was backed by Essence, their reinforced bodies allowed them to take the force without faltering.

  ?

  As their fighting continued, Austin knew that he needed to do something to get the advantage. His stubbornness would just not allow him to. He cared less about winning and more about inflicting damage on his enemy. Despite his training, he was blind to all the techniques he created.

  ?

  Chet was the first to break the back and forth. As Austin threw a punch towards him, Chet stepped backward. Instead of immediately going for a counterattack, Chet ran towards his axe. As Chet reached for his axe, Austin was already next to him. Chet realized this and swung his axe upward as Austin approached. The quick swing did not give Austin the chance to move out of the way, and he was forced to block with his shield. Jagged lines of silver and red Essence erupted as the shield and axe made contact. Neither of the two tried to force their attack through. Instead, they each took a step back from each other and entered ready stances.

  ?

  Austin realized as he took a step back that his shield barely absorbed Essence from Chet. He assumed that it had something to do with Chet’s axe. In some way, it was protecting Chet from the Essence absorption of his shield. It was probably also the reason that Essence erupted from their weapons as they made contact. It was like two opposing forces, each trying to dominate the other.

  ?

  Austin knew that he could not dwell on that fact. Instead, he needed to figure out how he was going to beat Chet. The brief moment of Chet pursuing his axe allowed Austin to clear his head and think through his attacks. He was not going to win through a slugfest.

  ?

  Now that Chet had his axe, he did not give Austin much more time to think and strategize. With his axe in hand, his Essence raged and surrounded his body. Then he went on the attack, he closed the small gap between the two and swung his axe downward. Austin quickly dodged to the side of the axe, but Chet did not stop. Chet caught the momentum of his falling axe and immediately swung it upward at Austin, forcing Austin to take a step back to dodge the attack.

  ?

  Chet continued his assault and swung his axe wildly. Each slash of his axe came faster than the previous one. Austin was forced to continue to dodge the attacks as he tried desperately to search for an opening. Austin could not find an opening through the slashes of Chet’s axe. He felt like the constant swinging came from every direction, and it took everything he could to just avoid the attacks.

  ?

  Austin would not give up even if he could not find an opening. Instead, he came up with a plan as he dodged the swings. If he could not absorb Essence from Chet, then he would just funnel his Essence into his shield as he dodged. Then, when an opening presented itself, he would just need to hit with one powerful blow.

  ?

  As Austin channeled Essence into his shield, he had to give up some of the Essence that enhanced his speed and reflexes. This caused a drastic change to the situation as each swing of the axe grew closer to hitting Austin. A satisfied grin started to form across Chet’s lips as he realized Austin was slowing. Chet was confident that it was just a matter of time before he succeeded in hitting Austin.

  ?

  Austin could feel his body rapidly grow tired as he scrambled out of the way of the attacks. He started to lose his ability to dodge the attacks with ease as his mind strained to keep up with the speed of the attacks. He was forced to use more energy to move out of the way of the attacks. His ability to predict the next slash was lost, and he made larger steps to compensate for his loss of observation.

  ?

  This continued until Chet finally got the advantage. His axe came down on Austin’s shoulder and forced

  Austin’s knees into the ground. The pressure of the strike was just too much for Austin to bear as he took the full force. Chet moved to pull his axe out of Austin, but Austin stopped him. Austin grabbed the handle of the axe firmly as Chet tried to pull.

  ?

  Chet continued to try to pull, but Austin would not let Chet move away from him. As Austin held the axe’s handle, he sent a surge of Essence into his shield. Then he quickly punched Chet in the gut as he released the stored Essence. As the shield made contact, an explosion of silver light enveloped the two and sent them both flying backward. Austin crashed backward into a tree, and he smiled with satisfaction when he saw the damage Chet took. Chet had smashed through a tree, and his chest was covered in a large purple and yellow bruise.