Nightmare Realm Summoner-Chapter 210 - 208: Challenge accepted

"That is so cheap!" Claire leapt into the air to dodge another one of the Rotmound's massive arms as it swept below her. She alighted on the monster's shoulder, turning her body as she brought her sword whistling through the air to slam into the monster's back like a woodcutter striking a tree with her axe.

The blade bit deep into the monster's earthen flesh. Claire gave the blade a sharp twist so it was pointed to the ground. Then she dropped, dragging it down through the monster's body and leaving a long furrow in its wake.

She hit the ground in a roll, bounding away from the Rotmound even as it swung a hand to crush the ground where she'd been a moment before with a meaty thunk.

"And who's to blame for that?" Alex asked from the sidelines with a grin. "You're the one who's been teaching me. I'm pretty sure you made it clear that victory is the only thing that matters in a swordfight."

"This is not a swordfight," Claire said. She risked taking her eyes off the large Riftwarped monster for a moment to glance back at him. The Dhampir batted her eyes. "You're missing out on a lot of energy by standing aside, you know. It's such a shame. And don't you think leaving me to do this is just a bit too rude?"

Alex might have been swayed if he knew Claire any less. Unfortunately for her, he was more than aware just how easily she could change expressions on a dime. Puppy eyes really weren't going to do much to him when she was in functionally no real danger.

"There's just as much value in having someone as strong as me as there is in taking everything for myself," Alex said with a shrug. "But if you appreciate it that much, I'll take note that you owe me a favor."

Claire's eyes narrowed instantly. "I taught you too much. You're starting to act like a fledgling Dhampir. You might actually last a few minutes in Court."

"A few minutes?" Alex asked, pressing a hand to his chest as hurt flashed across his features. "That's just cold. I feel like I'd do better than that, right?"

The Rotmound lunged at Claire. It brought both of its hands crashing down at Claire. She vaulted out of the way, clearing the attack and launching herself off one hand before landing just a few feet away from Alex.

Huge fingers dug through the ground as the Rotmound continued its charge, barreling toward Claire — and Alex — like an enfuried bull.

Claire jumped back, sliding past Alex like a dancer. She let one of her hands brush gently across his shoulder. Then her other one clamped down on his other shoulder as she pressed herself to his back, uncaring of the monster bearing down on them.

"No," Claire's breath brushed across his ear and she held him firmly in place, her hands like steel bands around him. "I think you'd probably get killed pretty quickly. But you might make a good showing."

Alex drew on his magic. He let Riftwarped Qi mix with his magic as he thrust his hand forward to activate Funhouse, releasing all the power and throwing it out as far as he could.

Reality shattered before him. Large cracks split through the air, warping all the light that passed through it as arcs of crackling purple and pink twisted out like writhing snakes. The warped patch expanded to fill a small room.

The Rotmound plunged into the magical field. Its body warped and twisted, rapidly elongating and then squashing down to half its size. Reflections of the monster danced through the air as if it had split into four. Then it snapped back together into its proper size, spat out charging in roughly the same direction it had initially been heading.

It tripped over itself and fell to the ground with a resounding crash. Pieces of dirt and stone pelted Alex's face as the monster slid a foot, coming to a stop just a dozen feet away from them.

A small flicker of satisfaction passed through Alex. He could influence the direction of a small object that entered Funhouse's domain by making it hit at the right angle and location. That was impossible for something as big as the Rotmound — but even just passing through Funhouse was enough to throw a charging creature off balance.

"You sure?" Alex asked.

"Yes," Claire replied, biting down on his neck. She pulled back an instant later, sliding past Alex and giving him just enough time to see the grin on her features before her back was to him. "Your back was to the wrong enemy."

A single black wing snapped out from her back, unfurling over her right shoulder with a crack like a whip. She lowered her stance, bracing a hand against the back of her sword.

The Rotmound drove a fist down into the ground and pushed itself upright. It threw itself toward them once more — and Claire exploded into motion.

Her wings snapped down and she launched herself forward in a blur, veins turning jet black as power burned within her. She blurred straight past the Rotmound.

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Claire's wings sent another crack through the air and she abruptly changed directions, shooting back like a bouncing ping pong ball to carve past the Rotmound's other side. She slammed to a halt just a foot away from Alex in a spray of dirt.

Two loud thumps from behind her marked the monster's arms as they crashed to the ground, severed at the shoulders. The huge creature thrashed and squirmed. Dirt tried to repair the damage it had sustained, but it seemed that there were limits to what it could heal — and regrowing severed limbs was one of them.

"Are we enemies?" Alex asked, tilting his head to the side.

Claire let out a snort. "Everything is a fight for Dhampirs, Alex. Court and life are the same thing. And you can't complain. You treat everything as a challenge. Why should this be any different?"

"Are you saying I'm not increasing the difficulty enough? I'm sure I could find a way to do that."

Claire's eyes narrowed. She turned back to the Rotmound as it started toward them once more. Even without its hands, the monster was determined to see at least one of them dead. It still had more than enough weight to crush them beneath itself.

A crack cut through the air as Claire's wings snapped down and she launched into motion once more, blurring across the ground as black veins stretched over both of her arms. She leapt into the air, swinging her sword in a streak of metal.

It sliced deep into the Rotmound's side and passed clean through. Claire hit the ground beside the monster and spun, launching herself at it again. She brought her blade through the monster again, then landed and repeated the attack twice more.

The Rotmound's body split. Strands of earth and clumped grass crumbled as its upper half pitched forward, tumbling to crash to the ground. It finally went still.

A thin stream of energy entered Alex. It wasn't much, but he'd still participated enough in the fight to get at least some of the reward. He was even more pleased to see a brown Soul Flame flicker to life above the collapsed monster.

High Grade Initiate (Riftwarped Shambling Rotmound)

His eyes drifted back to Claire as she flicked the dirt from the blade and turned back to him. The black running through her veins receded as she walked back over to stand before him, breathing slightly heavier than normal as she fought to catch her breath. She might have made the fight look trivial, but it definitely hadn't been.

"Well, damn," Alex said. "Smooth finisher, though. Maybe I really should have dragged another monster into this. It's a good thing we've got a whole bunch of other monsters to draw from. I want my answer. Maybe next time I can find a City-Eater Centipede."

Claire tried to glare at him, but a laugh slipped out from her mouth before she could stop it. She shook her head as she walked up to him. "Anyone else probably would have gutted you by now."

"I don't think most other people would have bitten me mid-fight either," Alex replied, rubbing at his neck.

"You made me do the fight alone. That means you get to fuel it as well," Claire replied with a smirk. "That only seems fair."

"You know what else would be fair?" fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

Claire pinched the bridge of her nose, but a hint of suppressed amusement flickered behind her eyes. "You know, sometimes you act enough like a Dhampir that I can almost confuse you for one. Then the next moment you make it abundantly clear you couldn't be farther from one. I'm used to a lot more… discretion."

"Hey, you started this!"

"I am more than aware of that," Claire said. She let out a huff. "But this is normally done in a much more… drawn-out manner. That's what I was expecting."

"I'm not following."

Claire's cheeks reddened. "Come on. Making me explain this is just plain mean. I was thinking you would flirt back. For a while."

"So you were flirting! You wanted me to flirt back but don't want to answer when I just to clarify things directly?"

"That's how it normally goes!" Claire exclaimed. "The Broodmothers teach us to fence for a few months to try things out. It's important to make sure you're not actually going to stab each other in the back the moment you get into bed. I don't exactly have experience with this. I'm just going with the natural strategy."

"I think my way is more effective," Alex said.

"It's certainly blunter," Claire muttered. She ran a hand through her hair. "This is not what I expected."

"Did you really think I was just going to dance around the subject for a few weeks? We could literally both be dead tomorrow. I'm not exactly experienced either, but I think we already know we aren't going to stab each other. Probably."

Claire blew out a breath. "Yeah. I suppose that's true."

"So?" Alex cleared his throat. "I don't have an answer yet. A clear one, that is. Just that this isn't what you expected."

Claire's gaze bore into him for a second. Then the corner of her lip twitched in amusement. "Fine. I'll play your way. But if you want a blunt answer, then you'll have to wait. I was hedging because I didn't want to fully court someone before I could be completely honest with them. You want a blunt answer? Then you'll get it after I finish my Trial. When I don't have to hide anything anymore."

Isn't that basically an answer in itself?

Alex coughed into his fist. "I think I can accept that. Your Trial will be done soon, right?"

"One way or another," Claire said, her eyes darkening for a moment. "Once I reach Adept, I'm going to go for it. I plan to do it before we reach the Cracked Steps."

"Then I suppose we'll have to move fast. We only have four days to get there, do it, and come back. I'm not the most patient person, but I think I can wait for this," Alex said. "How about we race?"

"To the Cracked Steps?"

"To the Adept Stage. Should be a pretty good motivator for training along the way, no?"

"Is everything a challenge with you?"

Alex grinned. "Yes."

"Should have known you'd say that," Claire said. She grinned back at him. "Well, I still want to see what else that Partial Soul Manifestation of yours is capable of and there aren't many places better to train than the Mirrorlands. It should be good inspiration for me to draw from as I get ready to make my own. You're on."