The embrace didn't last long, and Rachel stepped back from me in a smooth motion. The absence left a bit of a pit in my stomach. Was I that starved for a bit of emotional validation after just a couple days? Before my brain could burrow down that uncomfortable rabbit hole, I shook it off to focus on the situation at hand, looking at the dark-haired woman before me. It occurred to me that I hadn't ever really seen her in good lighting, only the dim faux light of the mine. She really was quite good looking. Her face was all angles and lines, lending such a sharp look to her that she looked surreal. She loomed impossibly large in the sunlight, despite being shorter than me.
"So. You mentioned Caretaker," I started, putting my hands on my hips. "You've met them? Did you come here from the House of Valor?"
"Yes," she responded, picking her shield and sword back up. She stowed the latter, and I saw that somewhere along the way she had procured some way to affix its sheathe to her person, via some sort of belt. Sword belt? Whatever. I definitely wasn't jealous. I took the same time to reacquire my spear.
"I did. I was given the choice of several combats, I completed two, and chose a Challenger for the last one. I reasoned that because groups were difficult for me to combat, I should reduce my final challenge to one opponent."
"Hah," I barked out in response. "I had the exact same reasoning." I brought my spear in close and leaned on it, butt in the dirt below me, making sure to show that I was in no way ready to fight. "You look like you did well with yours."
Jealousy tinged my voice there, unfortunately. I couldn't keep it completely out, looking at her. Her clothes were intact, and there was no indication that she was injured in any way.
"You look like shit," she responded dryly. Damn, girl, you didn't have to just come out and say it. And damn, girl, you didn't have to start inspecting your own clothing and looking for blood after you fucking hugged me.
"Not all of us are defensive experts, and it's not like I ever found any armor," I retorted. "I had to make do against a dozen fucking killer squirrels with nothing but some cloth and skin."
Rachel chuckled. "Do not worry, I did not get away from my fights without injury of my own." She reached down and pulled up a pant leg and showing a lurid bruise halfway between her foot and her knee. "It hurts, but not too much that I cannot move well."
"What the hell smacked you like that?" The bruise was a bit ridiculous, her already dark skin looked purple from here. I was surprised that it wasn't broken or anything with it being that big.
"A pony," she answered with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I do not imagine I would have been able to face a full sized horse, but three ponies were bad enough. One kicked me here as I struck another."
I let out a laugh at that, hanging off of my spear. "Damn. I thought squirrels were bad, but I guess it's tough when they're big and beefy too." She nodded. We stared at each other for a moment, before I cleared my throat. "So, uh. I know we got this thing here, and we've gotta figure out what to do to finish this... portion? Part? Of the labyrinth? But I kinda wanna chat about what comes after."
Her eyes narrowed and her lips went taught as she took in my words. Before she could jump in, I continued. "Honestly, I'd like to link up. I know we're technically supposed to be in competition or whatever, but I think it's super acceptable if we work together to get stronger, at least for a bit. And, you know..." I trailed off.
"Nathan," Rachel spat. I nodded. "I have not seen him since his betrayal, thankfully. I am not sure which one of us would win, one on one, but I would be much more amenable to a proper two versus one with neither of us grievously injured." She frowned. "Would the labyrinth even let us approach it together?"
"We might as well try, right?" I shrugged. "Worst case, we go in separate, but we just have one home base to worry about. Where are you situated?" The look that she gave me then was filled with suspicion, despite our increase in trust. Rachel brought her hand up and drummed her fingers on her shield, looking thoughtful. I was getting worried about her response as the moments ticked by without an actual word being said to me, but eventually, her countenance relented.
"I am unsure where I am in relation to the rest of the temple. Somewhere in the middle, likely. Most of the structure has been collapsed, and only a few real usable rooms are available to me." She looked thoughtful. "I do have some materials and supplies, but not a lot of tools. I have been eating what I suspect is hardtack and water for the entire time."
My face turned to a grimace. "Honestly, some sorta bread alternative wouldn't be bad for me. Potatoes are my trade, though I've secured a decent amount of meat from my previous excursion. I'm on the north end of the temple."
Her face got thoughtful at that. "North end. I have not fully explored, but... would you happen to have a worship chamber? I know you have a lens room. A larder?"
"Worship chamber, definitely. Larder, like a freezer? Yeah. It's in a hallway that ends in a big collapsed section."
A cautious grin hit Rachel's visage. "I have a section of collapsed hallway beyond which the directions tell me is a 'larder' and a 'north worship chamber.' If we are fortunate, we might be able to connect by clearing the rubble."
Damn, that close? I mean, the temple could only be so big, but, but whatever. We take those wins. "Well, alright, then. After we get out of here, we clear that rubble, and link up. She nodded, and that awkward silence fell over us again. It was nice to have a goal, but both of us knew it didn't solve the problem in front of us. We were challengers, and our goal here was to fight and win, with winning three challenges giving us a prize. "So."
"So."
"I mean, I guess it's only fair for us to go all out, I think. We shouldn't die, but maybe, uh..." I trailed off.
"Perhaps it will allow for a surrender," Rachel said.
"That'd certainly be ideal. I guess... we go 'til one of us can't fight anymore?" She nodded at that, turned, and trudged away from me. I shrugged and backed off. We had plenty of time to discuss things later, I guess. Better to get this over with so we can do it over a good meal.
I stepped back some, increasing the distance between us, and lowered into my fighting stance as she drew her blade. We took a moment to stare at each other, looking for vulnerabilities, or whatever. It didn't matter. No bell or call to attack came, just the roar of the crowd behind us.
Nothing to do but do it.
I picked up at a sprint, approaching her low down and not wasting any time trying to mess her up. I brought my hand up for a Mana Bolt, but cursed right after it left my hand when her shield came up to take the hit before it'd even gone halfway. She wasn't moving nearly as fast as me, of course, but she kept up with my repositioning. Not even a mark was left behind by my attack on her shield, and she hadn't even rocked slightly when it did. She'd be a monster to take down, but she wouldn't be the first one I'd have to bring low.
Finally within range, my spear came forward in a blinding jab. The momentum from my charge unfortunately meant it wasn't aimed the best, and she was able to deflect it with her sword. Even more unfortunately, that put my spear out of position and her sword right where it could do the most damage. With a snarl I Dashed backwards away from the resulting stab. Rachel's face was the picture of concentration, not even changing expression as I moved outside her range. Rather than let me reposition at will, she lunged at me, business end pointed at my center of mass.
Not like I was going to let that happen without a struggle. I set the butt of my spear against the ground briefly, intending to catch her like a boar charging a spear. She was no slouch, though. Upon seeing this, she shifted herself to the side, but that's what I was waiting for. I leveraged my spear against the ground to springboard myself forward, kicking at her shield to get it out of the way without risking my leg to her blade. Her eyes widened when my boot slammed into the hunk of wood and made it go to the side, like she was about to lose it.
Except, no, I was also being pulled off to the side with a sharp pain in my leg. What?
I was slung, my foot held fast to the bulwark, and my body whipped around and dragged across the dirt. Definitely lost my spear somewhere in there. My damn boot was stuck to the shield! Rachel's expression finished shifting into what I'd thought was going to be surprise but was instead a grin. That piece of shit had a new trick! The arc of my movement finished and I was flung off of the shield, rolling through the dirt. I took a moment to get my bearings before getting to where I could see Rachel.
The woman didn't dawdle at all, rushing at me and slashing her sword down at my prone form. "Shit!" I yelled as I Dashed again, putting more distance between us. I immediately regretted it, feeling the dirt abrade against any skin that was showing. "Fuck, worse than a baseball slide." But I had my room, and I shoved myself to my feet while frantically looking for my weapon. It didn't take long - there wasn't a ton of stuff in the arena to block my view - but it was on the opposite side of my charging opponent. That wouldn't do. I brought my left arm up and fired off a silent Mana Bolt, which was enough to force a surprised Rachel to whip away. I could cast it faster than before, but it still wasn't instant. Instead of losing her momentum completely, she hunched behind her shield, obviously attempting to ram my off my feet.
Thankfully, I had invested in my abilities enough to run away effectively. Using the momentary lapse in her maneuverability, I Dashed once again to the side and set off at a dead sprint at my spear. I had to Dash again to reach it quickly, but rearming myself was the biggest priority I could see in front of me. I whirled around just in time to see Rachel charging with her shield again, but this time with better footing so she'd be able to track me better when I moved away. My arm found itself surging forward with my spear, aiming at her center of mass. Rather than deflecting, Rachel took the attack on her shield and kept moving at me. Damn, she was strong. Or, at least, stronger than me. I managed to not lose my grasp on my spear but had to finagle my way past her, again falling prey to her sticky shield thing when I couldn't withdraw my spearhead. Grunting, I shoved upward with all my might and attempted to shove a Mana Bolt at her stomach, but had to back off as her sword came down right at my hand when I brought it in. I abandoned aiming with the Mana Bolt to instead Parry her by slapping against her arm.
At that point, whatever effect it was that made her shield sticky released my weapon, so I Dashed backwards again. We took a moment to stare at each other, breathing hard.
"That sticky shield thing is annoying as hell, Rachel," I let out, trying to catch my breath.
She stared at me with tightened eyes, clearly filled with adrenaline and endorphins from the fight. "I have to be able to lock down my opponents somehow," she said. "Your fighting seems a little more coordinated."
"Skill went up," I responded, lowering into my ready position again, my wounds flaring with bits of pain as the exertion interfered with their healing.
Rachel snorted. "A little." Without any more warning, she rushed at me again and it was all I could do to try to keep her back. Her blade was a whir, and I just barely managed to keep her from striking me. I couldn't get off my back foot, not with the things the way they were, so I was forced to Dash away for distance again. "Going to actually strike me yet? Or keep running?" She taunted.
I panted as I ran around her to attempt to get into a better vantage point, charging and firing a silent Mana Bolt at her while I responded. My arm was making it obvious, though, and she barely had to adjust to block the thing with her shield. "I'm quick and dangerous. Not exactly the best fit against big and tanky."
A grin broke through her normally pretty subdued expression. "Big? Tanky?"
Hoping the banter would keep her a little more off guard, I chose that moment to switch my momentum and Dash directly at her. She couldn't react in time and my spear struck her right in the stomach. "Tanky," I growled, as I realized I'd failed to pierce through her chain shirt, but not without any effect at all. It clearly still hit her, and she let out a slight 'oof' and stepped back.
Her sword came down and knocked the spear away from her and into the ground, head shoved into the dirt so it stayed upright. Rachel brought her shield into strike my head, but a Parry from my left hand had it pass directly in front of my face. Well, if I couldn't get past the metal on her body, I'd just go through it. I brought my hand forward and placed it flat against her stomach, abandoning my spear for a moment. Her eyes widened but her sword's response was cut short when I let a Spark out through her body. For a moment, even through the chain shirt, I could feel her muscles freak out and she was forced to take another step backward. With that space, I brought my left leg up and slammed it into her. Maybe my upper body wasn't great, but legs are way more powerful, and I was surprised to see her momentarily leave the ground before slamming backwards.
The sword had left her hand, which was great. Yanking the spear out of the ground, I Dashed again to get the perfect angle, and lunched at her shoulder with the weapon. No dice, though. She was hurt, but not incapacitated like many of my other opponents had been. Was it a size thing? No, the mimic was way bigger than this little lady. Regardless, the shield, which was strapped to her arm and not lost after a fit of muscle spasms, rammed right into my side before the blade could bite. The air went out of my lungs and I lost my own footing.
I hit the ground hard as Rachel scrambled to stand. I was about to Dash when her shield came down again, crunching into my abdomen and probably would have made me lose my lunch had I not already. Delirious, I couldn't stop her from slamming my spear down right next to my neck where I could feel the blade slice a bit of skin as it passed. Both of our breathing was ragged, but she stood over me, looking down at me. I didn't hold it against her as some of the sweat from her hair dropped on me, because though I still had resources, still had things within me, if she'd wanted to, that spearhead would have gone straight through my trachea.
My hands fell away from where they'd been clutching my stomach and I let all my tense muscles deflate. The fight had barely lasted even like a minute or two, but I felt exhausted. I'd lost. Fuck. Damnit. How was I going to defend myself when I lose every fight against someone with a modicum of brains? I could beat a giant monster, but put a smooth monkey in front of me and I'm useless. "Damnit. I yield."