How long had it been since her and Kon had fought? How long had it been since that day that they had given a valiant effort to fight against one another and the archer had come out ontop? It felt like it was just a few weeks but at the same time something else felt completely different. Lucretia felt like a whole different woman, from the many quests she had done to all those that she had fought. To all the efforts she had put forward. She felt powerful but she wasn’t about to let it go to her head. She felt like she could win but she also knew that Kon was a dangerous combatant all his own.

She had to be careful around him and her invitation to the baska rock likely would not go unnoticed. The woman was sitting in the middle of it since the late evening. Long into the night she would wait knowing that the both of them would need time to prepare. Silence was paramount here and the silence continued for a long time.

She’d close her eyes and exhale slowly; knowing that tonight was the night that she would let loose with her all. Every fiber of her being until there was nothing left. But deep within there was something else stirring. A beast without compare that made even the lion of the spear balk and step back. A beast of such intense ferocity that it threatened to overwhelm her very core.

But it was her beast, a beast that she had called upon time and time again. With the moon high in the sky she felt it bubbling, roiling and frothing. Desiring to fight this other individual on new heights that Lucretia wasn’t sure how to feel about. She’d hush it with a small grip of her fingers around a gauntleted hand.

She was the one in control not it and the fact that was an ironclad truth resonated through her entire being. Today she had come bearing everything that she owned, from spear to pyaar earrings. Even her companion who had remained absent during much of this was here for once. No longer busy on the various tasks that Lucretia kept him on.

”Yah sure about this one Luc? Kon is a tough cookie, you said last time you barely touched him. What’s so different about today?”

”I can’t put my finger on it Brondrache. But I felt it was right of me to do.”

Maybe because Lucretia had also been harboring doubts of her own strength; maybe it was because she felt like the both of them needed some form of interaction or perhaps… The blood started to roil again and she’d grit her teeth. Her canines already enlogating as the moon was no at the perfect height in the sky.

”It’s been more and more that I’ve wanted to fight recently. But get back for now and get ready to watch.”

”Okay… Good thing I brought popcorn…”

The little Mindrache spread his wings and would fly off to the side. Far away from the wolfenstein and take a seat in the air. Using his wings to lazily keep him aloft while of course bringing out a little bag of popcorn. Where he kept it? Lucretia hadn’t the faintest idea.

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The long silence that Lucretia sat in was disturbed by when she eventually noticed that there was a scent that wasn’t there before. It wasn’t her own or the smell of the city around her; it wasn’t her companion’s scent either. No it was one that she had interacted with before. The woman slowly brought herself from her seated position and stood tall with her spear in hand; icy blue eyes swept along the arena of sorts noting the figure that was crossing the bridge. She’d cock her head to one side and noted that… well. She was able to tell that they were approaching a hell of a lot further than she was used to before.

It took a few long moments but Lucretia was eventually able to see the approaching form of Kon. One that had a far different outline than what she was expecting. The helmet was new and with that she already knew that this fight would be different for the both of them. She’d exhale through her mouth with a heated breath; she could already feel the beast scrambling in her throat and she could find that the person in front of her was really suited to be the focus of her beastial fevor.

Hearing the other speak Lucretia couldn’t help but give a smile; her distended canines making themselves known as she held back the desire to fight right away to at least remain civil. Something really wanted to bite, something really wanted to bend and break. She wanted this beyond belief and it was hard to explain. The long exhlation eventually ended and she’d draw in once again. Getting used to her friends scent before speaking.

”It certainly has been, the both of us have been busy it seems.”

Lucretia’s grip on her spear tightened and she’d let the weapon slide along the ground before easing into a relaxed pose. Everything about her screamed danger; any natural senses would realize she was a coiled beast ready to spring at a moment’s notice and she’d glance around. Taking in the empty arena for a few moments before chuckling softly.

”Last time was so enjoyable the idea of fighting you again could definitely be said to cross my mind a few times.”

Never had lucretia felt herself be so soundly beaten, never before had she found herself wanting to fight over and over again. Never had she wanted something so bad. Even if she couldn’t down the fierce fighter across from her the woman would definitely find solace in the idea of breaking that armor being considered a milestone at the very least.

She harbored a mild doubt she’d be able to get that far given the last time her only blow had been with her throwing the spear at her fellow. But they would be aware of what she could do with that. She felt the rumbling of the beast within her and her chuckle turned into a throaty but amused growl.

”Should we get to it right away? Or is there anything you wanna say before we get started?”

Lucretia had time to talk, time a plenty. No plans. No desires for the after effect. Tonight she’d go home after the fight regardless of the outcome and drink a plenty. Reveling in a battle well fought. But she knew that some people liked to talk and well… they hadn’t really gotten to do that much now had they?

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Lucretia felt her hands tighten around her spear even though her stance was relaxed there was a certain feeling that they would shortly be fighting one another. Hearing him state that he was glad that they could clash again the woman chuckled softly. Has she gotten stronger since the last time they fought? Maybe mentally and maybe something else had changed. There were a host of things different about her now even if she didn’t realize it.

”Can’t say for certain but we’ll find out won’t we?”

Ever since the battle with the guild eternal nightmare the woman had felt like something changed inside of her. Whether it was from the fact she had for the first time used both transformations together or that something just clicked somewhere in her head. It was hard to put into words and seeing this man in front of her that had been able to so soundly beat her before she could feel that beast clawing at the back of her head again. He wanted to have this battle with her before they could say what they wanted to say.

”You wouldn’t be wrong…”

The woman found herself seeing Kon’s sudden change of size and Lucretia decided that this would be a prompt time to take her form once again. But something was different about this time too. Her growth was the same, putting her at three meters in size but there were key changes to her body that was putting it far beyond what she had been capable of before. Was her hide tougher? Was she stronger? Faster? All of these things were true and more as her form twisted and her eyes flashed with such a fierce intensity that it rolled off of her in waves.

She was already used to that eye locking onto her so it didn’t even break her stride. Though it was hard to say if she knew about the ability or not. Just that it seemed odd that before she could never dodge the arrows. Not that she put too much effort into that. She wasn’t one to run from conflict and that had been part of the reason she had fought with the dark guild in the first place.

By the time Kon finished his own transformation Lucretia had finished hers; their distinct difference in size was obvious and their strengths were just as obvious as well. She wasn’t sure what his opening volley would be this time around she somehow doubted that he’d open with that meteor. That before had felt like he was showing off to his guildmate. Showing what he could do for their first battle.

She noted that the ranger had opted to aim for her chest even though her head was wide open. Something that the woman wanted to fix in the long term was the lack of a helmet so that people could feel less bad during their spars about aiming for it. It wasn’t like it was a choice given that the very last fight had seen her helm reduced to cinders. While they were still 15 meters apart the woman saw this distance as trivial. Kon hadn’t even started to move yet.

The arrows closed the distance rapidly but Lucretia wasn’t about to sit around and just let the ranger do as he pleased. There was a brief instant where it looked like she wouldn’t do anything. Her leg muscles strained and like a rocket the woman shot forward like in the fight against Eternal Nightmare. Easily covering the 15 meters given that she could on her own lunge a distance of 17.5 meters.

Except for one key difference that she wasn’t even using both transformations. This single instance was just as powerful as the combined might that she had displayed before. She had grown in leaps and bounds; forever wanting to move forward in her effort to fight against the darkness… and all of those that dwelled inside of it. The first arrow collided with her chestplate, quickly followed by the second but her spear was drawn back at this point and without even a moment’s hesitation she’d thrust forward towards Kon.

His size likely lent to some form of agility or that he was capable of avoiding most blows. For a melee opponent like Lucretia it was a smart move but she couldn’t recall if he could do this before their initial bout or if it was something he had gained during the course of time between that fight and against the dark guild.

She felt her armor start to crumble already; knowing that Kon wasn’t the sort to hold back she wasn’t about to do the same; that frankly would be disrespectful to the both of them but it wasn’t like she’d go further beyond what she was capable before right? She wasn’t about to try the lofty height of the hybrid transformation?

It was barely even a trickle of thoughts before she could feel the roaring in her ears; the wolf wanted this on it’s own. It really didn’t even feel like it needed the Lion here. The voice of that particular beast was absent in these sparse few moments.

WC: 866

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Were lucretia able to see the reaction that Kon had at her transformation she likely would have chuckled or maybe even outright laughed. This form was just as powerful as her combined efforts back at Eternal nightmare but honestly there was no real way for her to properly make that comparison at the moment. Her blow felt like hitting a sheet metal wall; a little bit gave but there wasn’t much about it that was really going to make her do anything other than wonder just how sturdy the armor she was slamming her spear into.

There was flatly no way for her to avoid that flick of a finger so point blank and with her being launched away all the woman could do was skid along the ground and try to slow herself down. Though that didn’t work and she’d eventually come to a halt a good ways away from where she and kon was. That was quite an ability that she’d have to deal with; the sort that she wasn’t expecting for him to just have in his back pocket. She wouldn’t have had to deal with it before considering that she barely made a dent in him last time.

She could feel the lion try to speak up but the howling in the back of her mind was making it hard for it to really make any headway. The woman slowly came back up to her full height after being sent away. Noting the dogs in front of her she blinked owlishly. Kon was capable of summoning too? Just how much of a swiss army knife was the man she had agreed to battle again? But rather than be discouraged she’d grin ear to ear.

She wouldn’t be able to leap forward and avoid everything coming at her. It was kind of frustrating that Kon was able to play keep away with her in this sense of things. A single blow was all that she was able to land before and she was determined to do more than she was capable of before. But the man in front of her seemed to be taking her a bit more seriously.

So she’d do what she could, leaping forward with her spear in hand. The pressure would normally crack or leave some kind of crater from the sheer strength that was being utilized. She felt the Sting against her torso, gritting her teeth as it was quickly obvious that the longer that Kon remained at range the quicker she’d be put under. During her leap she had no doubt that the mastiffs would do something to try to stop her but exactly what was to be determined.

WC: 448
WCT: 1314/2500

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To most this could be considered overwhelming. Giant mastiffs that were cleary born for one thing and one thing only. A rain of arrows that were tearing into your chest. A sizeable distance between the two of them after an ability that you hadn’t the faintest about. But none of these things added up to a loss in Lucretia’s head. No none of them even made her pause. Together these two had looked at the abyss; seeing just how far one could fall and rather than blink or even hesitate they instead pushed onward in different ways. Lucretia couldn’t tell that Kon was annoyed or irritated; all she could really do is note the positioning of the diminutive Ranger.

Close combat was her one saving grace and Kon was capable of keeping the distance between the two of them. Well the list of things that she could do would normally be impressive if you weren’t comparing it to the lofty heights of others above her. But that wasn’t even going to be on her mind; no what was on her mind was the rapid fire responses to Kon’s actions and those of the Mastiffs.

They were fast, powerful and she could already tell from a single glance that they were going to be more of a distraction than anything else. But that also meant that Kon had more to play with. Her primary hand, that of her left hand gripped the shaka zulu assegai. That limb was grasped by one of the dogs and the other two that gripped her legs managed to slow her down a considerable amount. But her offhand?

No that one wouldn’t be caught so easily. Shifting without much in the way of hesitation she’d shift her body positioning and instead would punch forward as the arrow came close to her. It was normally stupid to punch spells like this but she was aware of the danger that came from it if Kon was capable of making it hard for her to breathe. Being unable to run or lunge would be a huge problem for her. Though the various grips of the mastiffs would also be a problem.

So her second moment would be drawing her arm back with the mastiff still clinging to it and launching the shaka zulu’s entirety at where she saw kon. She wasn’t expecting him to stay put and her movement with the large dog was hindering her speed a bit but that hardly mattered when you were that beefy.

The spear would return back to her hand regardless of whether or not it hit kon. She’d grit her teeth; there was a mix of pain and frustration at the moment but that was something she’d have to learn to live with. None of the frustration was directed towards kon but more towards herself. She had grown physically, matured in a sense. But she also felt like she was missing something integral. Something that she should have had this entire time.

WC: 500
WCT: 1,814/2500

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The dogs were a problem, the constant barrage from Kon was also an issue. She could feel the grating emotions within her and the furious howling of the wolf that claimed its spot on the top of the pyramid. No hesitation in her actions, no pondering, no deliberate motions, just what needed to be done. She felt the pain of each of the dogs acutely and it wasn’t really something that she was unfamiliar with. The many beasts that she had dealt with had certainly made her a tough cookie. She felt her lifeblood draining a bit with how the mastifs buried their muzzles into her skin.

Where was the form that she had called upon in eternal nightmare’s battle; well it rested far below this one. It certainly would be truly a sight to behold but the fact of the matter that other than that resistance? This form carried itself exactly as that hybrid did. Exactly as it could have been; it was just as fast, just as strong. Just as tough as that hybrid. Which was a feat that… honestly would have been impressive if lucretia sat down and thought about it.

She wasn’t exactly sure what she was seeing with kon launching the arrows downwards, with the arrows curving she had to figure that he was aiming low. Which… would be a problem given the mastifs. She’d grunt as she felt those arrows land home, pain flaring through her body and she’d stagger after a moment. There was so much launched in her direction that it was hard to really deal with the pain. Frustrating really but not something that she couldn’t power through.

She could tell that she wouldn’t really be able to keep up with the archer now; but that wasn’t a problem. Growling again she’d draw her arm back; lining up the shot with Kon and heaving again. It bit deep into her mana pool to do this more than once but what choice did she have. She could either throw the spear willy nilly or be forced to fight the hounds which would let the archer pluck at her. Growling in irritation, in the moments that the spear was gone from her hand she’d take that moment to punch at the hound that was on her other arm with a thunderous strike. She was looking to knock it off her arm with a single blow given the strength she had.

2,221

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