Chapter 95: I’ma Gonna do Something (Patreon)

“No one can hear us over here, save maybe Ruel or Day… so I’ve got some questions for you. Actually, not so much of a question as it is a statement. I don’t think that you’re really mute.”

I conjured a blade of Primordial Energy and pointed it at Giir. Ruel and the rest watched on with bated breath. Giir was entirely unmoved both by my gesture and by my statement. 

“And why is that? That’s because I know some people that have heard words come from your mouth.”

I paid close attention to any slight cues that might give away Giir’s anxiousness. His body was still, but I saw his big black eyes flit over to Day, almost accusingly. 

As was natural, it was a total bluff. I hadn’t talked to Day with Giir at all, nor was Day aware that I might be framing him for something. But Giir had given me something—he’d looked at Day. He might think that Day was telling lies about him, or he might think Day had genuinely overhead something. That relied on whether or not he was genuinely mute. 

I didn’t plan on approaching Giir at all. If he wished to play defensive, try to figure out my style, then I’d sit here patiently until he did something. And I did just that, minus the sitting part. I dispelled my blade of Primordial Energy so as not to waste anything, and stood there with my arm at my side, just waiting.

“But I do wonder… why play at being mute? Do you have an embarrassing voice? I understand your ailment—sometimes I wish my voice was deeper as well. As it stands, it’s only a demigod’s voice, not a truly divine one.” I grabbed at my throat. 

It would be incomprehensibly rude to do this to someone who was actually mute. But then, the good thing was they wouldn’t be able to tell anyone, now would they? 

Giir, either impatient at my wanton lack of commitment or perhaps enraged by my taunts, ran at me. For such a big guy, he was quite fast. But I’d also seen him fight Vast, so his method of attack was mostly familiar to me. He tried to stomp where I stood, but I rolled to the side. It was quite an awkward thing, rolling with one arm, but Kuregar had made me adjust to it right quick. 

He swung his ridiculously large arm at me. His reach was too long to dodge, unless I was maybe as nimble as Vast was. I both conjured a barrier and strengthened my arm, receiving the blow. Damn… stings. But Kuregar’s glaive stung worse. Giir’s hand could feasibly crush my head if he were to take it in my grasp. I created a blade of Primordial Energy and swung at a spot in-between his knuckles, but the moment it touched his skin, it shattered. 

I put some power into my legs and jumped back, getting some distance. “Skin like steel… no joke. I wonder if you genuinely think people haven’t realized what you’re doing. Dragging on your matches so that Vast can have more information when he fights. He’s really set on being the best fighter here. He’s got lofty goals, but unlike me, he’s got the humility to do underhanded things like this. Maybe I can learn from him.”

The words seemed to enflame Giir. He rushed at me like a bull, but unfortunately, I had no red cape. His rush was not so much an attack as simply a run, but there was enough mass behind his stampede that it’d hurt like hell if I got hit by it. 

So I just stepped to the side. 

Watching Vast fight made me think of something. When dodging, it’s best to do so by the thinnest margin. After all, when you dodge an attack, you need to counter, yes?  And it’s best to be closest to your opponent. He only barely dodged, yet because of it, he was able to deliver stronger counter attacks. It seemed a bit foreign—counterintuitive. You’d think in dodging something you’d like to be a good distance from your opponent, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

As Giir passed me by, I swung a blue blade towards his calf. It bounced off, as though I had swung a switchblade at a moving car. Jesus Christ. What’s this guy’s diet? I started thinking deeper. Hmm… maybe I’m going about this wrong. When you’re trying to penetrate something that’s hard, you need something with a strong point. 

Giir scrabbled on all fours to turn around towards me, like a cat struggling to gain its footing on tile after making a sharp turn. Then, he, too had a blade of Primordial Energy in his hand. His gargantuan thing was too big to be called a sword. Too big, too thick, too heavy. It made what I held in my hand look like a handgun next to an artillery gun. 

The massive sword, coupled with his stupidly long arm and unusually dense Primordial Energy, did not make this feel like a winning situation. Maybe if I cowered on the ground with my arms above my head, he’d only take off my final arm. Not that I had any reason to do any of that. 

You know something interesting about electricity? It doesn’t really care how hard your skin is. It also makes muscles act in very unpredictable manners.

I felt each and every impact of Giir’s feet upon the ground. I examined my surroundings, and adjusted so that my back was facing the pillars. The edge of the building wasn’t especially far away. I would say that it was a coincidence, but… well, let’s say I held the tenet, ‘the bigger they are, the harder they fall’ close to my heart. 

Giir grew close, his sword held behind his head. He had very clearly forgotten Ruel’s rule of ‘no killing.’ I held my hand out, holding a blade of Primordial Energy. It wouldn’t do if he got suspicious of me, after all. Well, perhaps the grin I knew was on his face ought to make him suspicious. Thinking might not be his strong suit. 

When his greatsword began to move, I dispelled my blade of Primordial Energy, and brought the Dhee Raneth Method to the front of my mind. I felt the energy within myself become tumultuous, unstable, and above all… energetic. I willed it into my hand, and with a deafening sound, a crack of thunder and lightning struck Giir’s leg. 

He convulsed wildly and dropped his greatsword , but his great momentum carried him forward towards me. I leapt out of the way. He slid past on his knees, and took air off the side of the building. This is why you make walls, people. Not pillars. Perhaps in Giir’s case, though, he would’ve been so massive that the walls broke. No matter. 

There was a great pressure around me, and before I could blink, Ruel ran past me, stuck his arm off the side, and grabbed Giir before he could plummet to the ground below, perhaps damaging people or buildings. Ruel threw Giir back onto the main floor as easily as he would a small doll. The big behemoth skid against the ground, before coming to a stop. He sat up quickly, eyes focused on me, and I gave him a smile. 

“Casimir wins,” Ruel said, perhaps noticing that one contestant was still eager to continue the match.

Giir slammed the ground, and opened his mouth. “What? No! That fall would not have been the end of me!”

From the words alone, it was clear who the voice belonged to. I made an ‘ok’ with my fingers, and said, “With that voice of yours coming out… Now it’s two wins, mute.”