Too Stubborn to Die

As Aaron got back to his feet, neither wasted any time, flying forward and clashing at the center of the arena. Mo’han was like an indestructible wrecking ball, destroying everything in its path, and Aaron was an undying menace, looking for opportunities to chip away at the massive asura.

He had to be careful, though. Just about everything Mo’han threw at him could have deadly consequences. Then again, there was no reason to be surprised. The asura had gained at least three Titles since they last fought, thanks to beating three trials. His Stats had been incredible to begin with, and such bonuses were only going to make matters worse.

Aaron was no mathematician, but he knew enough about percentages to know that Mo’han gaining Titles was bad. Bad enough that it countered much of his Fortitude gains.

However, Mo’han was not invincible, and as they clashed, his energy reserves were showing that they did indeed have limits. That said, within a minute of a frantic back and forth, which pitted Aaron’s combo chains against Mo’han’s explosive powers, he had died three more times, and things were starting to get desperate.

Mo’han opened a palm, and explosive energy rippled out, blanketing the walls of the arena as the protective forcefield was erected around it to save the onlookers from the cataclysmic attack.

But Aaron passed straight through it, closing the distance between them with [ Spectral Rush ]. His Skill didn’t save him from all of the damage, but a good portion of explosive power was negated—enough for him to survive, anyway—and Aaron appeared in striking distance, covered in wounds.

A lightning-fast combination peppered the asura and had Mo’han staggering backward, but the well of energy within the asura was gigantic. Unlike most, Mo’han could take a few hits like this. He was something else entirely. He could shake off blows to his energy organs. He could have his energy flow disrupted and still hit back harder than any non-god Aaron had ever fought.

And that was exactly what the indomitable asura did.

Aaron could sense that Mo’han was worse for wear after his combo, but it didn’t stop the asura from leveling yet another devastating strike at him. Stepping forward, Mo’han swung with all three left hands, each pulsing with more energy than most trial takers had in their bodies. Aaron leapt back out of the range of the fists, but the shockwave from the strike still rippled out. He cancelled it with [ Equal and Opposite ], but even just stopping the shockwave ate through a painful amount of his reserves.

He leapt back further, shoving more food in his face to replenish, as Mo’han shot forward as well to keep up the offensive. Aaron managed to use [ Spectral Rush ] to avoid the first and second strikes, and on the third, Mo’han over-committed. Thinking he had Aaron cornered, he lunged forward, using some kind of Skill that accelerated his fists, but Aaron had seen the attack before, and had long seen it coming through the threads of Fate.

An opening! Thought Aaron excitedly.

Just before Mo’han’s hyperspeed attack flew at him, Aaron stepped to the side, simultaneously activating both [ Equal and Opposite ] and [ Soul Shattering Strike ]. Everything went according to plan for a moment as Mohan’s fists flew right past Aaron. Then, the residual energy surrounding his fists hit Aaron’s body. Aaron’s defensive Skill kept him from faltering, but it left his energy reserves dangerously low.

Against another foe, he might have tried to pull back and recover, but he knew it would be no use against Mo’han. Instead, he gathered all the energy he had left into his fist. As Mo’han drew his own fists back from his failed attack, for a brief second, there was an opening. A gap between his arms. Without hesitation, Aaron’s fist shot through it, hitting the massive asura on the chest, right above his Vitality Heart.

The attack punched through Mo’han’s defenses, and the force of the strike sent Mohan flying backward, landing a dozen meters away on one knee. Aaron wanted to press his advantage, but that strike had taken everything he had, so he needed to replenish his reserves first, and in that moment, Mo’han got to his feet after spitting out a mouthful of blood.

“Not bad, friend,” said Mo’han with a bloody grin.

Aaron did not respond, still stuffing his face. His energy was rapidly regenerating, and he was pleased to see that Mo’han’s Vitality Heart was on the verge of failing entirely. Grinning, Aaron wiped his mouth to prepare for the next round, but then the unthinkable happened.

Like an enormous vacuum, Mo’han’s chest suddenly took in a massive amount of aether, and a moment later, there was a loud thump as his Vitality Heart started beating strongly again. Aaron’s jaw dropped, and his shocked expression made Mo’han start laughing loudly.

“A trick I learned from you, my friend,” said Mo’han. “I saw the way you disregarded your own safety to challenge trials beyond your means. I admire that resolve of yours. I tried to emulate it. I ignored the pain, charging back into a particularly difficult trial until I had it done, and I was rewarded for my efforts.”

He pounded his chest with his three left fists.

“My self-healing Skill mutated. Not only can it now heal my soul, but it can also heal my energy organs! The aether cost is tremendous, but I can afford it a few times, especially in a particularly desperate fight. And you, my friend, are the first to force me to use it! Even the tenth stage of the Trial of the Challenger did not push me so far! You are indeed a worthy opponent!”

Aaron’s frown deepened as Mo’han spoke. He finally thought he had an advantage, but the asura was simply too absurd. Against anyone else, that strike would have spelled the end of the fight. Against Mo’han, it only signified the beginning of the second round. A second round where Aaron was low on energy and had just watched his opponent shrug off his most powerful attack.

At that thought, his frown vanished, turning into a maniacal grin.

It wouldn’t be any fun if it were easy.

“Enough talking,” he said, beckoning Mo’han with a single finger. “Come at me.”

Laughing, Mo’han charged forward, and the two began the next stage of the fight. This time, Aaron adjusted his style. Or at least, he tried to. His usual tactics of abusing his regeneration were clearly not working. Mo’han was simply too powerful. Even glancing blows were a tremendous drain on Aaron’s reserves.

He thought back to how Yendal fought. Despite being a god, when she fought Aaron, she hardly used any energy at all. She completely demolished him with almost no effort expended. Aaron had trained under her and had even imitated her style, but with his energy reserves, he had never had a need to go quite so far into efficiency. Until now.

Now, the difference in energy was insurmountable. He didn’t have a choice. One hit meant death, so he couldn’t even take one hit. A hit of his own did nothing unless powerful and perfectly placed, so he couldn’t afford to waste his energy on glancing blows in a battle of attrition.

The fight went on, and slowly, Aaron’s skill grew. He internalized the lessons that Yendal had taught him. He figured out how far he needed to dodge to avoid Mo’han’s attacks entirely, and made micro-adjustments to his positioning to negate the shockwaves as much as possible. In the following two minutes, under the pressure of such a tremendous foe, he grew more in skill than he had in many a trial.

But it still wasn’t enough.

Aaron wasn’t the only one improving. Mo’han wasn’t just a brute with enormous amounts of energy. He was a prodigy of battle. A king of war. As Aaron grew, he grew too. He got used to Aaron’s abilities, learned to gauge Aaron’s range better, scaled down his energy use to conserve it, and not run out. Aaron was getting better, but it still wasn’t enough to win.

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Soon, he was on the verge of running out of energy and attempted to disengage to recharge. He leapt backward, using everything he had left on a [ Spectral Rush ] as he reached into his scabbard. However, Mo’han had predicted this, and before Aaron could get his hand to his mouth, Mo’han’s unstoppable fists were flying at his face.

Staring his fourth death in the face, Aaron instinctively threw the thing in his hand at Mo’han. The miniaturized chunk of trolorblin was no better than a piece of paper in front of the asura, but as soon as Mo’han saw it, his eyes widened, and he had a moment of hesitation. The moment of hesitation was not enough for Aaron to survive, but Aaron definitely saw it.

When he reconstituted himself, he found Mo’han a few meters back, frantically wiping the trolorblin juice off his face and trying not to retch.

Hold on a second, thought Aaron.

He did not waste the brief respite and started shoveling food into his face, but while he ate, a new plan formulated in his mind.

***Mo’han***

“Don’t you touch that scabbard, you fiend!” Mo’han roared as he spotted Aaron’s hand reaching down, and his eyes widened as he plucked another insidious dish from his spatial container.

This was not an honorable strategy; that said, he held immense respect for his friend. If there was one thing he understood about the human, it was that his unwavering determination and will to win were what had driven him this far.

If he had lacked even an ounce of his determination and stubbornness, Mo’han knew that Aaron wouldn’t have been able to succeed under the circumstances he had been placed within, and he could respect that. He was a warrior, after all, and warriors oft had to rise above impossible circumstances.

This was what made him special, and Mo’han couldn’t shame him for that. His attacks might have been unconventional, but they were what allowed him to stand toe to toe with him in such a way that he doubted any others could within the entire sector. And while he did not care for the cheap tactics Aaron currently employed, he did respect the dogged nature of the human before him. This was a man who would face any challenge and keep going until he found a way to break through it.

But he wasn’t just another trial to be overcome. He was Mo’han Khan, the strongest in the sector, and maybe their entire universe. And he certainly wasn’t going to lose this fight, even if he did call Aaron a friend. For friends held each other up. There would be no greater shame than going easy on a friend, and out of respect for that very friendship, he would show Aaron everything he was capable of.

You fought well, my friend, but this ends now!

Energy rushed out of Mo’han as he flooded himself with tremendous power, increasing his speed and pummeling toward Aaron with a stupid number of attacks that seemed to fracture and create tiny ripples through space.

The power on display was mindblowing and absolutely impossible to follow for most spectators. Explosions and fists were flying all over the place, and the ghostly form of Aaron appeared here and there as the human tried to escape the endless attack, appearing with more wounds every time he materialized.

The human even disappeared a few times, seeming to hide in the shadows somehow. That was a side of Aaron Mo’han hadn’t seen before, but as long as he could sense his energy, he could just blow the entire area up, forcing the human to reveal himself and flee the attack.

He had to admit, though, Aaron was even more persistent than he had realized. And he started to understand why his patron god had asked him to defeat him. The series of attacks he had sent the humans’ way had made short work of several avatars, even at relatively high stages within the Trial of the Challenger, and yet Aaron was still standing.

Incredible resilience. Like a magnificent cockroach, he survives everything!

But that wasn’t all of it. The attacks that Aaroun countered with when he found an opportunity were truly quite scary. A few times, Mo’han had even felt himself waver a little after being in it. An unusual and unwelcome fear was bubbling within him, and it made him deadly curious about what exactly Aaron was doing with his strikes.

He believed most others would falter, even if they could survive the attacks outright. Because Mo’han had spent an entire life as an apex warrior, and those ingrained memories were invaluable for fighting back against such a connivingly fear-inducing attack.

All Mo’han had to do was remind himself of every challenge he had blasted his way through. How he had beaten so many with so little effort. How he was the strongest. The one standing up atop the hill. The one everyone else wanted to beat. And when he drew on such memories, he suddenly felt confident, and the fear fled from him. But what kind of effect would the human’s punches have against someone who didn’t have such experiences to lean on? Against someone who had failed and felt real fear?

Moh’han shuddered to imagine. It truly was a powerful attack, and it made clear that Aaron wasn’t one to underestimate. Not only that, but he wondered how this fight would go if they were at an equal level. Could he win?

Mo’han certainly wasn’t about to count himself out. Even if Aaron was at an equal level with himself, he had a mountain of advantages to fall back upon, but he couldn’t deny that the fight would be close. Too close.

A truly worthy dueling partner you are, but I will make you suffer for putting that foul food anywhere near my mouth!

***Aaron***

Unfortunately, despite his many attempts, Aaron was never quite able to replicate the trolorblin incident. He managed to throw a few more dishes at Mo’han, but without the element of surprise, the asura saw it coming and avoided it.

Aaron frantically tried everything he could, from feints to counters, and even to just running away and trying to replenish, but no matter what he did, Mo’han had an answer. His fifth death came swiftly, and as he retreated after reviving, he knew the end was near. He would not be able to resurrect again.

Suddenly, he had an idea. A way he might be able to defeat Mo’han. It was risky, perhaps more so than anything he had already tried, but at this point, what did he have to lose?

The plan revolved around his Profession Skills. Given that they were Profession Skills, he had generally not used them for combat much, but there was nothing stopping him from doing it. There was no reason he couldn’t use those Skills in a fight. It was not what they were designed for, but using Skills in unintended ways was exactly how he caused Skill Mutations, so he saw no issue with it.

He and Mo’han stopped across the arena. Mo’han was a bit battered, but otherwise still very much unharmed. He was simply too powerful for the current Aaron. Perhaps if he had fifty more levels, or fifty more years to train with Yendal, but as he was, there was no hope of winning in a straight fight. All he could try was this one last desperate tactic, hoping to pull off a miracle.

He made eye contact with Mo’han, and simultaneously, the two of them nodded. Exactly one second later, both of them lunged forward for a final clash. Aaron grinned, despite knowing that he would likely die as he prepared to enact his strategy.

Then, he woke up in the trial hallway. Mo’han was not beside him. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, then sighed. He had lost. He didn’t even get a chance to try his tactic. He had underestimated Mo’han, and overestimated himself, and waited too long to start.

“Here, you are!” Talia shouted as they ran over.

“What are you doing on the ground?” Elmira said.

“Hey, A-ran! What an incredible fight that was! Even my patron god was impressed! He sent me a missive to congratulate me alongside my reward. And he also mentioned you! Also, something about Yendal, which was odd… Anyway, you are truly something else! I am proud to have dueled you, my friend!”

“Am I?” Aaron raised. “I still lost.”

“Really?” Elmira tilted her head. “Stop moping. Even if Talia and I tag-teamed you, you’d be able to finish us a dozen times before we could finish you once! Be proud of what you achieved!”

“Eerr–ahh, anyway,” Talia coughed. “What about your quest? Is there a failure penalty?”

“Failure penalty?” Aaron blinked and then remembered the conditions, quickly bringing them up.

His eyes lit up as he realized it wasn’t gone. And why would it have disappeared? Its condition was to be completed before the trials ended, and they hadn’t ended yet.

But did he even stand a chance against Mo’han? The answer was no. Not if he fought him fairly… but when did he ever fight fair?

He doubted his devilish plan would be enough to win on its own, but if he pulled it off just right, then maybe, just maybe, it would be enough to create the openings he needed.

“ANNOUNCEMENT, TRIAL TAKERS!!!” A loud booming voice sounded over the Shadow Trials, echoing throughout every room. “YOU ALL HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES UNTIL THE TRIALS ARE OVER. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING! IF YOU HAVE ANY UNFINISHED BUSINESS, BEST GET MOVING!!!”

Aaron blinked. His back and forth with Mo’han had lasted quite a while, far longer than fifteen minutes. Both of them were so damn hard to kill that no fight was simple and easily won. But he couldn’t just give up. Not when he had a sliver of hope.

“You ready for round two, big fella?”

“You want to fight again? With just fifteen minutes remaining, A-ran?”

“It’s me, Mo’han. Of course I fucking do. You know I’ll keep fighting until I win, dammit!”

An eager smile creased the asura’s mouth, which almost made Aaron feel bad for what he planned to do.