... A Fight?
Xander slowly entered a stance as he debated what to do.
'Realistically... what CAN I do?' He stared intently at Mia. Compared to him whose body was tense, she seemed entirely relaxed, if a bit curious. She made no move to do anything, which showed that she was giving him the first move.
'Do I attack or focus on defending? Can I even get close enough to think about attacking? Can I defend properly if she chooses to strike first.' His thoughts spiraled, and he gritted his teeth.
'Screw it. It doesn't matter what I do. So I'll just do what I can.' He stopped dwelling on it. Instead, without hesitation, he used mana breathing at maximum capacity.
He hadn't missed a day of training, and his rate of improvement was quite monstrous. So the level at which he could use Mana Breathing had grown exponentially as well. As such, the power he could exert through it alone was staggering.
Preparing to charge, he took a step...
And his leg fell off.
'Huh?' He blinked, then cold sweat covered his back as he swiftly retreated several steps, nearly frantic in his retreat.
"What just happened, he looked like he was about to charge." Curtis noticed with a frown, and Falael shared his sentiment. Then both of them glanced at Aubrey who was watching the whole thing, her face pale. This made the two immediately become worried.
What was she seeing that they weren't?
".... Aubrey?" Curtis ventured carefully, but she just raised a shaky finger, opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water, unable to make a sound.
'I was sure my leg got sliced just now. What...?' He grimaced and looked at Mia who still hadn't moved an inch, then he resolved himself.
'Fine, how about.' He began to raise his arms in the motion to perform a Solar-Edge Thrust, yet as soon as he did, he felt his arms get sliced off. The pain of dimemberment very real in his mind.
But when he looked at his arms, they were completely fine. Just drenched in his own sweat.
He tried again, wanting to charge, and once again, he felt his legs getting sliced off. And once again, there wasn't anything wrong with them.
And that's when he understood.
What he was experiencing... was his body reacting to wounds that COULD arrive, but had yet to.
As someone trained in combat, he naturally anticipates injuries or wounds when he engages in a fight. If not with his eyes, then the rest of his senses. And more often than not, when one was certain of experiencing hurt or pain in a certain area, they would indeed feel that pain, even though the damage never occurred.
Also known as the Nocebo Effect. The expectation of a negative outcome causing one to experience the results of that outcome... without it actually happening.
Knowing this should have eased his mind. But it didn't. If anything, it made his terror worse, because his dormant senses, the ones that had been detecting these incoming attacks, were fully awake now.
And they were screaming.
'This distance... no. This entire field... No! Even beyond that...' His heart pounded, and Aubrey who was to the side, finally found her voice.
"... It's all within her attack range."
From the moment the fight began, Mia was entirely capable of ending it. It did not matter how close or how far Xander. If she truly wanted to, she could end him or deal a debilitating wound.
She hadn't even attacked, but Xander instinctively knew.
'This fight is absolutely unwinnable.' There was no trick he could play, no weakness he could exploit, no last-ditch power he could draw out that would help him.
He was undeniably screwed.
But despite all of that.
Despite the terror coursing through his veins, or how every sense he possessed told him to flee despite the futility of such an action.
'I... could use this.' His hands, which had been shaking, suddenly stilled, and he took a deep breath.
Then he stepped forward.
Once more, the sensation of his leg getting severed struck him. It hurt, it felt awful. It made his skin clammy. He wanted to puke.
Yet he did none of those things.
'It... has a trajectory.' Instead, he smiled.
Even through the pain, he focused clearly on what he was feeling.
He took another step, and the sensation came through again.
Tears actually fell from his eyes, but he didn't blink. Instead, he affirmed again.
'It has a trajectory. These sensations... they don't just appear. The possible attacks... there's a path they could follow if she chooses to attack.' He raised his sword, the act alone made him feel like his arms were getting sliced off, but if there was one thing Xander was absolutely confident in, it was that he would never lose grip of his sword.
Then he swung.
He hit nothing, there was no target, so it seemed like he simply swung at the air. And yet, he grinned with bloodshot eyes.
'It's possible.' He swung again to the side randomly, and he was still struck by pain. And yet...
'When I raised my arms... the first time, the sensation of dimemberment came in four times. Twice at both wrists, and twice at both elbows. But now...' He did it again, his grin widening.
'It was reduced to three!' From then on, a bizarre scene began to play out.
On one side, a small girl who could easily be mistaken for a child stood still, and on another side, a young lad could be seen swinging his sword through the air, gradually getting faster. He looked disheveled and in pain, yet he had an almost manic smile on his face.
Most people would see this scene and find it very strange, but only three truly understood what was going on.
'Incredible.' Aubrey, who had previously been pale and trembling, now looked on in awe and wonder.
While she was nowhere near as good when it came to combat and wielding weapons, she knew enough to understand what was happening, and coupled with her perception which let her grasp the full situation, she knew.
'He's adapting to the trajectories.' On the spot, Xander was understanding and adapting to the omnidirectional attacks that wracked his body.
At the start, it... wasn't pretty. Many still "hit" him. But as time passed...
'He's improving, in real time.'
Off to the side, Alya, who had initially just been observing the scene, became interested as soon as Xander began his movements.
'... Huh. I won't lie, that's quite impressive.' While Aubrey focused on Xander's speed of improvement, she focused on something else.
'His willpower is... certainly something.' The most common reaction to losing a limb was to drop on the floor screaming and crying. Heck, such a reaction was normal. Expected.
And it was obvious Xander was feeling the pain. His tears and snot covered face a perfect example of this. But despite this...
'It's like he separated the pain from his decision making. So he's absolutely feeling the pain, he didn't just ignore it, but he's still able to function. That's... astounding, actually. His focus on his weapon is also absurd. Almost... no, definitely in the realm of insane. That complete, single-minded on nothing but his sword, which aids in resisting the pain. Just how attached is he to his swordplay?' She rubbed her chin and mused.
'Perhaps... is that why he can fight the way he does? The way he uses the sword is unlike anything I've ever seen. Maybe, if he did discover it himself, perhaps this level of madness is what allowed him to achieve it.' After all, one needed a certain level of madness to make breakthroughs in a pathway most considered useless or dead.
'... There it is.' Then there was Mia, the source of all of this. She'd been watching Xander for a long time now, so she had some understanding of how he operated.
'... He's someone who improves under pressure. While he's certainly been improving rapidly, he hasn't faced complete suppression. In fact, one could say that he never saw anyone superior to him, st least in the realm of combat.' She tilted her head ever so slightly.
'There are two types of people when faced with a hopeless situation. The ones who bow out immediately, and the ones who strive to overcome it,' Words similar to what Xavier had told Xander. 'To him, this gap isn't insurmountable. To him, it's simply a matter of time before he reaches this level. And right now... I'm seeing that improvement in real time.' Slowly, her eyes glittered.
She didn't smile. In fact, her expression did not change at all. But her eyes, they lit up. Like she was seeing something truly interesting for the first time in a long time.
And she wanted to see just how far that drive would go, as she watched Xander adapt to her trajectories with a wide smile on his face.