From the corners of her eyes Teresa watched how Kotomi started the fight and recognized the doppelgangers for what they were. If they were any good -even for monsters, a certain amount of talent is required- they would be able to copy her ability and magic. Though probably not as well as she herself could, muscle memory and training were quite important after all, against the two of them she would still have a disadvantage if she were to draw her sword. Luckily she did have some experience fighting these creatures and with a bit of luck she could trick them.
She was not even a bit surprised when the other two doppelgangers focused on her and took her form. She had fought the buggers quite a few times in the past and they were not that much of a threat. However she was not in peak condition and the magic or aether in the air had been severely depleted by the glamour spell in the air.
Even if the silver eyed witch extended her senses to the maximum, she could barely find any pockets with a lot of magic and the air was thick with soot. ~air completely drained of magic~ The magic she was intending to use and therefore the magic the doppelganger would use, was the one she had already prepared before.
“Kekkai” She bellowed as she ‘woke’ up and her left hand shot in the air, two fingers pointing at her opponents and drawing a sigil in the air.
Instantly a shield shot from her hands and she pushed it forward, aiming to slam it into the two doppelgangers. The fact that they quickly mimicked her and shot two similar shield into her, was calculated. With a shattering crash the shields collided and exploded into pieces like a giant mirror, before dissolving into thin air.
The force of the splosion was enough to push her backwards, her feet sliding through the debris, into the wall. Teresa let out a small ‘tschk’ sound as her back hit the wooden wall. Placing her right food against it, she pushed up and drew in as much energy as she could, diverted it into both hands and began to weave more sigils, firing a series of smaller shields towards the creatures. She almost hit the second, but it ducked aside just at the last moment, while the first took advantage and fired a shield into her side.
The shield lacked strength though and Teresa was already reading their movements. She could recognize the sigils they were drawing and slowly began to predict how they were moving.
Meanwhile though she noticed Kotomi was beginning to push her foe back and Teresa hated to lose.
“Ryuo” She said as she released two small rectangular shield and began to control them to move the two doppelgangers back together.
“Ok, let’s see if you really have all my strength.” She said a bit out of breath. Clouds of fog were forming in rapid intervals and beads of sweat began to form.
With both of them together though, Teresa extended her right palm and drew all the energy she had into a single massive shield. It was crude, but thick and wide enough to crush both foes if it could connect. As she hoped though the two looked at each other and copied her again, firing two massive shields towards her. Albeit both were smaller then hers, these two melted together half way through and the singular product was quite an impressive shield. Even for Teresa’s standard, the pulsating silver shield looked impressive.
“G-gotcha!” Teresa said with a grin, as she placed her free hand on her right wrist and poured as much of her power into her own shield as she could.
With a loud crash the shields collided and opaque silver sparks were shooting through the air. A vein popped up on Teresa’s arm as she drew in as much energy as she could and poured it into her own shield. Her eyes lit up bright yellow and a yellow aura formed around her as she let out a deep growling noise.
The shields were bashing together with a sound similar to glass when it is vibrating quickly and the floor beneath the two was slowly being torn apart. Just at that moment Teresa’s eyes began to tremble slightly as she felt her control slipping. Despite her best effort her shield was slowly being pushed back, just as her feet were sliding over the floor.
She tried to push her metal boots deeper into the wooden boards, hoping to get a better grip and she extended her second arm fully to support the shield. It was useless though. Her own magic was running out and there was barely a drop left in the air surrounding the tavern.
Teresa let out a small groan as she slid further backwards and her right heel touched the back of the tavern again.
Seriously? This is the second time I am pushed back. Not cool! She thought to herself as slowly her body was pushed back as well until her back and even the back of her head was touching the wooden boards. She could almost touch the two shields with her bare hands and at this rate she would either be pushed through the tavern or killed.
Of course the doppelgangers did not have her experience. The shield push trick was cool and all, but without a solid wall it was useless and as annoying the wood was, she could already her it croaking, ready to break under more pressure. The trick was to form a secondary shield behind your opponent and make a sandwich.
In this case though she had not bothered as thing were going exactly as planned.
Just as the two shields had reached her a crack appeared in their shield and then another.
“Oh nice job, Kotomi.” Teresa said rather out of breath as she gave her shield one final push and suddenly both shields cracked and began to fade away.
“H-eh-eh… I g-guess you are also out of m-magic.” Teresa said with a grin as she watched the two versions of her trying to wave signals, only for nothing to happen. Well a few outlines appeared, but the buzzed out like a dying light bulb.
“That’s what you get for copying me… you also get my flaws.” She said with a grin as she jumped straight towards the two versions of her.
For a moment the two only watched her, waiting for what would happen. What they did not seem to comprehend was that Teresa was a far more skilled with the sword then with magic. In a flash she had drawn her claymore and swung it single handedly. Two handed was stronger, but also slower to execute and she hoped to catch the two off guard.
A moment later the first version of herself split vertically in two in a delightful rain of red, before turning back into the death like figure it was before.
“Tskk, seems I was too slow…” She said slightly annoyed as she looked at the second her, who was now missing her left arm but otherwise fine. Otherwise being of course a relative term, as the doppelganger was probably not considering itself to be fine. For a being that however was supposed to have been cut into 4 pieces, missing an arm was relatively fine. At least in Teresa’s eyes. Ofcourse now the other Teresa drew her sword as well.
“I got this one.” She said a bit out of breath as she looked straight at the doppelganger. She had one final trick up her sleeve.
“You made the assumption that I was a good mage and therefor copied my abilities.” She said as she was trying to distract the doppelganger, hoping to buy a bit of time.
“Sadly for you I have extremely little magic of my own. I supplement it by drawing magic out of the air and mixing it. Your ability allowed you to do the same. Mixing the bit of own magic with the magic from the air. Like sand and water make cement, this way you can create pretty powerful magic.” She said as she was draining every bit of magic she had stored away and could scrape up at the edge of her abilities. The edges of her sword were slowly beginning to turn black and glisten dangerously.
“However what happens if all the magic in the air is used up and all that is left is soot? Well then you get what just happened… you run out of magic and you are left to defend against a two handed claymore with only a single arm.” She said as she gritted her teeth and pushed out the absolute final remains of her power. A small yellow aura flickered around her and her eyes turned yellowish.
“Ryuo Busoshoku!” She said with a firm, albeit panting voice, as she drew her claymore over her head, holding it with two hands. Upon speaking the words the black lines spread like ink over the entire sword. Without wasting any time she simply swung the sword down with all the strength she had. Instinctively the doppelganger tried to block it with an overhead stance, dropping down to one knee to provide extra support. Even without the black shield around Teresa’s claymore it was an uneven match. People tended to underestimate how much more powerful a two handed slash was compared to a single handed one.
With it though, the black claymore cut through the mimics sword as if it was butter and spliced the creature clean in half a moment later. The black shield was a most basic technique, enhancing the cutting power of the blade, while making it a lot more sturdy. However it still required magic she barely had left.
“U-gh I need to practice more.” Teresa said suddenly dead tired as she watched the creature fall in two pieces onto the ground. To prevent her from falling forward, she stabbed the sword into the wooden floor and rested on it.
She was an old lady after all and nobody should begrudge her the use of a cane.
“By the way, you are pretty awesome Kotomi!” She said as she tried to catch her breath and drops of sweat were gathering in her brow.
“Could you give a few moments to catch my breath and then we can finish this?” She asked as she plucked a cigarette from her pocket, her fingers shaking as she lit the black cigarette.
————————
A few hours later everything was wrapped up. After they had made sure that on the top level there were no monsters left, they had completed their sweep of the dungeon. Aside from the tavern owner and several heaps of dead bodies, they had found nothing. They had then informed the police who had made the contract and soon they had arrived in force.
By the time they were done with their statements and had received their rewards, the police had identified most of the thirty six bodies and people were already clearing up the mess. Apparently the owner of the tavern was a business man above all else and told the police that a new barkeeper and staff would arrive by the end of the week. It was after all a valuable resting place for weary travelers and the only one in a day’s march, so the police was busy expediting everything as well.
“Well Kotomi, thank you for your help. I could not have done it without you.” Teresa said friendly as she extended her hand to the girl. Deep down she wished that was not merely a formality, but it was the truth.
“Anyway I have entered my contact data in your iLac. If you ever need help with a job or need to contact me for another reason, now you can.” Teresa said with a friendly smile.
With that she turned around and walked away, raising her hand and waving till she was making the right turn that would lead her home.
Kotomi… heh what an interesting little girl. She thought to herself as she reached for her flask and took a huge sip of the strong spirit that was in it.
She deservedit after today!
WC: 2,034
TWC: 7,096/5000
@Kotomi Kadenkouji
