Life of Trials

He glances around but finds no targets for Blink Strike, and is forced to kick off of the wall of the nearby building in an attempt to gain enough momentum to begin a roll. The force of his kick cracks the wall slightly but it's barely enough.

*Thud!-Crack!*

He hits the ground hard, landing on his shoulder as he tries to roll with his momentum, but only succeeds in breaking or maybe dislocating his right shoulder and arm. He quickly gets to his feet as memories of Riki's previous training sessions flash through his mind.

His arm continued to hang limply as he drew the wooden dagger in his offhand, the fact that his Shadow Dance passive wasn't working made it obvious that he was being watched. And since there was only one other occupant of this ghost town...

*Thwip!*

His shadow lurches as Riki lunges from it, slashing at his neck with the intent to kill. Michael shifts his weight to the side and barely dodges it, the attack cutting through his ear lope and leaving a long red trail on his face.

He stabs his dagger at Riki in response, but the assassin was already gone, disappearing down an alleyway as his form fades into the darkness. He's about to pursue him but his first step stumbles, causing him to drop onto his knee...

Michael's eyes widen as he touches his cheek with the side of his hand and immediately spots the green interspersed with the red of his blood. "Poison, how is this even fair!?" he exclaims, wondering what this lesson was even supposed to convey.

"Life isn't fair, get used to it and you might live longer than I did." Riki's voice states from behind him.

Michael shakes his head, "Oh yeah? Let me show you some B.S then." he mutters, using his dagger to widen the wound on his face as he activates Dark Pact.

After a second's delay, black, inky smoke explodes from Michael's form, instantly removing all poison from his system while also pushing his arm back into position. It was still weak from the injury, but he could use it now at least. Of course, the pain from having all of his skin dissolved and healed causes him to pause for a moment.

Allowing Riki to easily dash over and cut his face again, poisoning him yet again...

Michael growls, "Are you fucking serious!?"

Riki laughs, "Ahahahaha! Nice ability you've got there, why not do it again?" he mockingly asks, but despite the sarcasm in Riki's tone, Michael does indeed cast it again.

*Thwip!*

Michael tries to dodge Riki's attack this time, but again, get poisoned... Not only that, but two casts of Dark Pact without any healing had left him in a pathetic state. His knees trembled as they struggled to hold his weight, the grip on his dagger was weak enough that a grandma could pluck it from his grasp, and his mind was fuzzy from the effects of the poison in his system.

Riki, seeing that his student didn't dare use that ability again nod with a grin, "Now, what have we learned?"

...

"Don't ever trust you?" Michael asks, dropping to a knee as his body slowly begins to shut down, his heart basically liquefying in his chest from the poison. Riki grants him mercy by closing his eyes and letting Shadow Dance heal him for a bit.

"No, that was our first lesson. What did you learn today?" Riki asks, casually spinning his dagger with a bored expression on his face.

"Oh, jeez, I don't know. Don't rely on my abilities, especially if they are self-destructive?... Where did you even get the poison?"

Riki shakes his head again, "That was our third lesson. No, this lesson was to teach you to analyse the situation before rushing in... I asked you to follow me, out the window of a building with a Smoke Bomb stopping most of your abilities, to a street that you knew wouldn't have any targets to use Blink Strike..." He walks over to Michael and stands over him, "Tell me, what part of your plan was smart, or even approaching rational?"

...

"That's what I thought. Remember this lesson, my student won't be killed by some loser with an ill-planned ambush. Now get up, we'll begin where were left off yesterday, hopefully now you'll be able to keep hold of your weapon."

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Michael lets out a sigh as he pops into existence on the beach within Slark's world. He was on guard immediately, watching his surroundings like a dragon would its treasure. It was honestly quite a shame that Slark decided to be a piece of shit. Otherwise he'd spend far more time simply relaxing on the beach instead of fighting fish-Hayabusa.

"Come out your big-eyed bastard! I'm gonna fuck you up for what you did to me last time" he shouts, readying his magic after realising his distinct lack of any weapons.

Michael waits as he listens, hearing the waves crashing into the sand, the ocean breeze... And the squelch that Slark's disgusting feet give as they step onto the surface. He turns his head towards it and spots the fish already holding his curved dagger and rapidly approaching.

"I've got you this time! Hex!" he exclaims, turning Slark into a chicken and preparing an Ether Shock... But is interrupted as Slark's form reverts back to normal as Dark Pact activates.

"Hah! You ain't the first cocky mage I've run into! Die!" he laughs, striking down at Michael in a similar fashion to what he'd done the first time he'd killed him. But Michael barely escapes this time, using Blink Strike to appear behind Slark, "Shoc-*Squish!*" he starts but is stopped as one of Slark's gross feet smack him in the cheek with a surprising amount of force.

Michael is thrown through the air, spinning as if he were a Bayblade ready for battle... He quickly regains his focus and summons a Smoke Bomb into his hand and throws it down, trying to get some distance. But all is for nought as Slark's shadowed form barrels into him, his knife piercing Michael's heart as he does so.

Michael falls onto his back with Slark standing on him, the fish was trying to say something, but the Smoke Bomb stopped it. Allowing him to die and leave the world without having to hear the bastard's taunts.