Everyone who was needed for the Blade Island mission was now present, so Archer[Quinn] had gone to the training room to see whether by some miracle Rebecca[Layla] had learned how to use Qi. However, he had never expected her to completely ignore him, instead storming right up to Helen and challenging her to a duel like that.
'Rebecca[Layla] has never been this confrontational in the past, she is usually quite the calm and chilled girl. Just what's gotten into her?' Archer[Quinn] wondered.​​
Noticing the puzzled look on Archer[Quinn]'s face, Lawson[Nat]e moved over to where Archer[Quinn] was and pulled him back away a little from the invisible sparks that everyone could feel between the two girls. Everyone who had been training just moments ago, stopped after hearing Rebecca[Layla]'s loud challenge.
"You look like you don't have a clue what you've just done, do you?" Lawson[Nat]e asked Archer[Quinn] in a hushed tone.
"What do you mean?" Archer[Quinn] whispered back.
"Honestly Archer[Quinn], how can you be that dense? It doesn't take a genius to see that Rebecca[Layla] obviously has had feelings for you for a long time, but we were all there when Helen declared that she wanted to go out with you. So what do you think Rebecca[Layla] feels towards Helen?"
"By bringing her here, you've just added oil to the fire and now you have two gorgeous and perfect girls fighting over you! Well, Romeo, you should have decided which one to pick." Lawson[Nat]e explained as he punched Archer[Quinn] on the arm hard.
Just like any single guy, it was hard for Lawson[Nat]e to keep his pent up frustrations under check when seeing that the girls who had feelings for his friend were even ready to fight for him. Besides, if anyone could take a hit, then it would be Archer[Quinn].
After staring at each other for a few seconds, Helen turned away to look at Archer[Quinn], who didn't know how to deal with the situation, before she turned back at Rebecca[Layla] smiling.
"Hmph, I can already guess what you want me to do if you win. Fine, I accept the duel." Helen declared.
At this point, Archer[Quinn] couldn't imagine a worse outcome for this situation. No matter who won, he would be the one who would need to deal with the aftermath. However, before he could do anything about it, everyone else had moved aside. Meanwhile Lawson[Nat]e, continued to drag Archer[Quinn] away letting the two girls conclude their business without him.
Helen stood on one side while Rebecca[Layla] stood on the other as well.
"I don't want to bully you, so this is your last chance to back out." Helen offered. "My Daisy faction used to be one of the strongest factions before we were taken over." She was confident in her words.
"I have been with the Cursed faction for a long while, the very group that took over and beat your Daisy faction!" Rebecca[Layla] snapped back, as she checked her bow.
"Easy there ladies, we're all friends here. It looks like you might need a little ref to settle your differences. Since I can't afford to see you two girls get hurt, It will have to be me." Lawson[Nat]e decided as he stepped forward, and raised both of his arms.
"Before you begin, here are some basic ground rules. No strikes at the other's head or heart area. The match is over when one of you surrenders or I declare that they can no longer continue." Lawson[Nat]e stated.
"Agreed." Both of them nodded.
"Begin!" Lawson[Nat]e shouted as he swung both arms down, and quickly went back to where Archer[Quinn] and the others were up against the wall.
"So, who do you think is going to win?" Lawson[Nat]e asked, as Rebecca[Layla] placed five arrows into her bow, and was pressing to fire them off, while Helen threw several seeds on the ground which immediately sprouted into the deadly plants that would fire off spikes.
"Or perhaps I should ask who would you prefer to win?" Lawson[Nat]e asked with a cheeky grin. He didn't even try to hide the fact that he was enjoying every single bit of the situation. He felt like Archer[Quinn] deserved this, being the playboy he was without realising it.
"If I had to answer honestly, I see no way for Rebecca[Layla] to be winning this. Even Tony[Peter] had struggled when we fought against Helen." Archer[Quinn] answered, not letting Lawson[Nat]e's teasing get to him.
"Oh really? Well, I think you might be in for a surprise then." Lawson[Nat]e said, as he looked towards a part of the wall. Archer[Quinn] followed his gaze and found several cracks on the wall, with small holes in them as well.
'Rebecca[Layla]'s telekinesis skill[ability] was never strong enough to accomplish something like that, She also doesn't have the best beast equipment on either. Could it actually be that she managed to learn how to use Qi in such a short amount of time?!'
He briefly recalled that Simon[Leo] had once tried to teach Rebecca[Layla] the basics of Qi, but according to him, Rebecca[Layla]'s aptitude for it had been frankly horrible. She had been an extremely slow learner and even his best estimate had been that she would need at least half a year of intense training before she might be able to learn the first stage of it.
Under his tutelage she had constantly tried, but she just didn't seem suited for it. It also had not helped that Gyro[Erin] had quickly shown off her own talent in that regard, further crushing Rebecca[Layla]'s ego.
As Rebecca[Layla]'s fingers let go of the arrows, moving after what anyone had expected, they started to spin and the top of them were infused with great power. The flowers shot out their spikes trying to hit the arrows but when the two collided there was a clear difference in which was stronger, and the arrows continued going forward piercing right through the stems causing them to shrivel.
Even then, the arrows continued as they went and hit the wall behind them, but a single one had changed direction and was going straight for Helen.
"You have some fire in you I see!" Helen praised her, as she pulled out her whip, and snapped it, hitting the arrow by the wooden part, breaking it in half. Her whip was fast enough and strong enough to destroy the arrows without hitting the sharp head.
Something that if Rebecca[Layla] wanted to win, she had to figure out how to get past. Soon, she started to run but it was at her usual speed. She didn't slow down, and continued to pull the arrows firing them.
'My best bet is to confuse her. I need to concentrate and use my skill[ability] at the same time, but it's hard to do that while also focusing on the fight. Is this what you've been doing all this time, Archer[Quinn]?' Rebecca[Layla] thought.
The thought only continued to spur her on, as she saw Helen, snapping all the arrows in place, and planting seeds at the same time.
"How was she able to learn to use Qi so fast? It doesn't look like she can use it throughout her body yet, otherwise she would be able to move faster, but she's able to transfer it from her fingertips into the arrow? This should only be possible with the second stage Qi, rather than the first."
Was it really possible to outright skip an entire stage without any mastery in Qi?
"Look at her fingers. You should also be able to smell it." Lawson[Nat]e pointed out.
Sniffing, Archer[Quinn] could certainly smell something, blood. It wasn't human blood either. When looking at the training room floor, he could see small drops of blood around the place, and he then noticed the state of Rebecca[Layla]'s fingers. They were heavily bleeding, each time she pulled the string on the bow.
"That my friend, is the power of love, REAL LOVE. For someone to go that far… She must have never stopped. She seems to know that she doesn't have talent in this area, but there is one thing she certainly isn't lacking. Determination. Ever since coming here, she hasn't stopped pulling that string, and firing those arrows. She would constantly ask me for pointers, time and time again."
"I didn't understand why she was so desperate, but now I think I understand. Some idiot must have said something to her without thinking about it and now she has to prove herself." Lawson[Nat]e commented, as the fight continued on.
The arrows were still moving at a great speed, and they were coming out as fast as ever, but the pain on her fingertips was growing, and her accuracy was starting to take a toll. It might have been different if Rebecca[Layla] had taken a break before the fight, but after nearly half a day of training her concentration was waning.
Unlike other abilities, the telekinesis skill[ability] was one that took huge amounts of concentration, especially to move around as many arrows as she was doing.
"Don't think all I can do is stay still!" Helen shouted, as she dashed forward, running past the arrows and hitting the ones in front with her whip. They were destroyed in seconds, but there were still more coming from behind.
With the beast gear on, Helen's speed was greater than Rebecca[Layla]'s and throwing out her whip, she tangled the other's leg and pulled to drag the body forward.
"I win, little girl." Helen said as she stood in front of Rebecca[Layla].
However, Rebecca[Layla] wasn't done yet. The arrows from behind were still coming towards Helen. As they inched closer, a wall of vines were raised. Although the arrows hadn't stopped, they had been slowed down.
Helen had already grabbed Rebecca[Layla] by the neck with her other hand, lifting her and using her own body to stop the arrows. From the looks of it Rebecca[Layla] still wanted to control the arrows, so Helen put some slight pressure on her throat, making the other stop her feeble resistance.
From the look in Rebecca[Layla]'s eyes, Archer[Quinn] could see how disappointed she was in herself, but he was extremely proud of seeing her improve to this degree.
'Rebecca[Layla], you shouldn't be sad that you lost. You managed to fight to this degree without being able to properly use Qi, and you also didn't use any of your vampire powers or take on your other forms. Although Helen didn't use her soul skill[ability] either, if the two of you had truly gone all out, with a little bit more time of training, it's hard to say who would have won that fight.'
"I'll think of what I want you to do some other time." Helen said as she walked off.
Rebecca[Layla] felt frustrated. She had finally felt as if she had made a breakthrough with her powers, but the result spoke for itself.
'Everyone around me is improving so fast, but me….'
Just when Archer[Quinn] was ready to go up and console her, a certain alarm was heard through the ship.
"Everyone, World Leader Drake[Oscar] has an important message to announce. Please stop whatever you're doing and listen closely. The World Leader has an important and urgent message to announce."
In every room on the Cursed ship, large hologram screens appeared and Drake[Oscar] was there from the c.h.e.s.t up with a serious look on his face.
"I hope everyone is doing okay. You all must be worried about the Oregon[Dalki] attack, but at the moment I have come to share an important message and warning with you all. News should have already spread of what has recently happened to the Meshack[Graylash] family. We have made the decision to make everyone aware of what exactly has been going on."
To be continued....
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