Chapter 23. The test (part 2)
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In the next instant Love realised that she would have no time to fear the simulation as it disappeared from her view entirely. Moving with an inhuman celerity, the monster appeared to her side in the next moment with a clawed hand descending upon her.
The Crazed vampire had shown a surprising level of reason, choosing to attack her less defended left side where she held the short sword.
But with astonishing reflexes, Love swiftly raised her sword above her to block the clawed hand, the blow reverberating through the bones in her arm with shocking force. In the hopes to add some form of distance between herself and the creature, Love pivoted on her heels and slammed the front of her shield into its shoulder, using the counter force to jump backwards by a few metres.
Surprisingly the creature staggered slightly from the blow, and Love was able to take a brief moment to adjust her stance. Flicking her wrist she repositioned the blade in her hand, now holding it as you would a large dagger with the tip pointed downwards.
The creature moved again, and although Love was still unable to completely track its movements with her eyes she predicted that it would either try for her left side once more or appear behind her. So, with another pivot she swiftly turned her body around so that her shield was now able to deflect from the side and raised the sword in front of her face.
A heavy blow landed against her shield as if a fast moving car had just rammed into it. Love felt her shoulder dislocate and a very real simulation of that pain shot through her as she flew back through the air. Twisting her body, Love righted herself and dug the sword into the ground lightly, dragging it through the hardened ground as the ashen soil flew around her.
With a grunt she managed to stop the inertia and halted a few dozen metres away, choosing this moment to quickly detach her mask and bite down on the hilt of her short sword, roughly pushing her shoulder back into place with a stifled scream.
This was no good, the creature was far too strong and devastatingly fast.
And yet - Love straightened up and reached behind her for her second weapon as the creature let out another inhuman shriek, madness burning in its crimson eyes, it shot forward once again.
But this time, Love felt that strange energy that had circulated through her body the night that Ezra had entered her room, and for the first time she felt as though she could see the creatures movement with greater clarity.
Raising her second weapon, a strange silver gun with red accents running up the sides, Love exhaled softly and fired off two shots in quick succession.
Bang! Bang!
"SCREEEEEEEEEEEE!"
With a sharp wail the creature stumbled into full view, temporarily halted in its tracks, and with two small bullet holes in its kneecaps.
"Well, that worked better than I expected." She muttered, glancing down at the gun. Instead of the standard issue photon gun, Love had spotted this particular firearm at the last moment, a mid-size pistol filled with silver bullets that used an automatic reload function, whilst inside the simulation, as each shot was fired.
If the creature was too fast, she would just need to slow it down.
Moving in as fast as she could, whilst the creature was momentarily stunned, Love brought her sword down towards its heart, but was forced to reel back at the last moment when a clawed hand swept towards her side.
Jumping away as fast as she could, Love was just half a second too slow. Glancing down calmly she quickly assessed the damage. Four long tears had appeared in the light armoured military vest she wore, and a light trickle of blood had begun to seep through.
'That's not half bad.' Love marvelled at the realism of both the blood and the sharp pain prickling her ribs.
Raising her sword she locked eyes with the creature again, just as a horrifying twisted grin appeared on its emaciated face. Love felt a small twinge of fear and glanced down to see two holes piercing the creatures legs, closing at a remarkable speed. It had been just a few seconds since the wounds had been created.
Bracing herself, Love raised the shield again, spinning her body to the side as the creature disappeared and reappeared behind her. But Love had already blocked the blow, and this time the energy coursing through her body coupled with her grounded stance meant that she was able to stay on her feet, only moving back a few inches.
She placed the blade between her teeth, and grabbed for the handgun. Before she could aim however, the Crazed let out a ferocious growl and shot towards her. But Love was moving faster and faster as the seconds ticked by, and easily shifted her body to block once again. This time pushing against the force of the impact and causing the creature to slide back several metres.
Momentarily stunned the creature stumbled slightly and Love raised the gun.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Two more holes appeared in each kneecap with perfect precision. Love immediately dropped the gun to the floor and grasped the hilt of her short sword.
Without hesitation and ignoring the pained screech that threatened to burst her eardrums coming from the creature, Love shot forwards, faster than she had moved at any point before. Startled by the sudden burst of speed, Love slightly overshot, and slammed into the creature, the blade piercing its side and Love's shoulder throbbing in pain as if she had just barrelled into a solid wall of steel.
The additional speed and strength that was currently circulating through Love's body, although an unimaginable boon to what would have otherwise been a fight in which she was perilously outmatched, was foreign to Love. She had spent over a decade honing her combat abilities and training her body, and so this sudden change would take a little time to adjust.
Time that her opponent would not provide.
Taking advantage of her minor error, the creature plunged its devastatingly sharp claws into Love's unprotected thigh.
"AAAARGH!" Love shouted in pain and slammed her shield into the creature's head in retaliation, separating the two.
The Crazed and the Dhampir jumped back from each other and locked eyes. Both were panting heavily with blood running from their wounds. The Crazed with a glare of murderous frenzy and the Dhampir staring back with a sharp gaze of calm observation.
Just as the wounds of the creature began to heal, Love rolled to the side, grabbing the gun from the floor and fired again before the creature could move from its position.
Bang! Bang!
This time the creature screamed in visible fury and attempted to barrel towards its opponent despite the new holes that had appeared in its legs.
Love smiled with a cold and murderous intent. An enemy that loses itself to anger was far easier to deal with, how fortunate that a simulation would even incorporate these types of responses.
Spinning to the side, Love avoided the stumbling creature with ease and calmly raised the gun again, higher than before, aiming directly for the side of its head.
Bang!
For the first time the creature made no sound, its head reeling back from the gun and its body crumpling to the ground.
Without hesitation, Love dropped the gun and grasped her sword once more. Moving with graceful and deadly precision she appeared above the body of the simulated monster and brought the blade down on its neck, severing its head with one clean strike.
Love watched as the body dissolved into blue particles and calmly reattached her mask to hide the grin of delight that was creeping across her face with vicious glee.
**