Chapter 6 : Munifex

In the end, it only took Emma a second to make her choice. Whilst the active abilities available were both powerful, each granting a significant new option in battle, she simply didn't feel it necessary at this early stage of her development. After all, she was still learning to fight with just her blade and her wits, and saw no reason to complicate matters instead of continuing to build on what she already knew. [Trait selected! The Wolf: Your strikes are preternaturally sharp, tearing through flesh and steel with equal ease.] Emma felt the difference immediately; a surge of strength filling her frame alongside an undercurrent of ferocity, urging her onward to maim and kill. As Dies closed the distance, Emma dodged to the opposite side she'd chosen in their initial exchange and swung downward once more. The difference in outcome was stark; whereas before, Emma had only managed a thin cut down the lion's flank, her latest blow carved deep through fur, flesh and bone alike. Wasting no time, she followed that first blow with a second and third, hoping to finish the fight before Dies showed any more hidden abilities. Keeping constantly to the lion's flank, out of reach of his jaws, Emma slowly and steadily whittled Dies away, repeated blows landing again and again at the initial injury until he was nearly cut in half. Fortunately for Emma, there was no burning glow this time, Dies unable to make full use of his abilities without his partner being present. In the end, the sole surprise to emerge was a desperate tail swipe attempting to trip her up. Desperate; because whilst it could have reaped dividends had it worked, a tail was an easy target once noticed, and a single slash severed that threat for good. His final effort stymied, Dies collapsed to the floor, bursting into wisps of flame as the arena spontaneously erupted in cheers. "That wasn't so bad." Emma boasted, striking a classic victory pose with her sword held high. [Anima: 83] She'd healed a decent amount from the final, one-sided exchange, and was no longer at risk of keeling over to a light breeze, leaving her altogether feeling quite confident. "What's next?" Emma asked nobody in particular, although her eyes drifted back towards Felix as a matter of course. "Clear the arena for the next contestant." A soft voice whispered, somehow cutting through all the deafening cheering to speak directly into her ear. Before Emma could even blink, she vanished from view, Epitaph lingering just a moment longer before fading away into the shadows, awaiting its next venture into the waking world. — "Say what now?" [You don't think anyone can be selected to manage a System, do you? It's a prestigious position, and like every such position, I have my targets and performance reviews to meet if I want to keep it.] "Huh," Emma blinked. "You're not wrong, but I guess I just wasn't expecting the whole setup to be so... Corporate." [Life's full of disappointments, you'll get used to it.] That got a laugh out of Emma; the quip being far too similar to what her dad would often say after a long day in the office. Finishing off her cup of coffee, Emma was strongly debating asking for a second serving when the cry of horns drew her attention back to the big screen. A massive man wielding a sledgehammer of all things had taken to the stage; his head and chest both bare and sporting only a pair of tattered shorts. As Dies and Nox emerged once more from the Gate of Life, identical to the specimens she'd fought earlier, the man responded with a roar fit for any jungle predator, the veins on his neck pulsing as he hefted his hammer skyward. "Come get some, yer pricks!" [Crackhead - Level 1] "That's awful!" Emma protested, bursting into a fit of giggles at the name tag, despite the level indicating that the man in question was actually strong enough to potentially pose a threat. [Substance abuse is indeed an awful thing. You get a short-term burst of strength and the ability to ignore pain, but it doesn't actually prevent any damage to the body. Crackhead Strength is very much not a superpower, despite what YouTube would have you believe.] "Huh, Lenny actually survived this long?" A man sitting in the back row commented, the first time Emma heard anyone else speak since arriving. "Wonder if he'll make the cut." "You know him?" Emma couldn't resist asking, taking a seat herself on the same row, just a few chairs down. "Does he actually use crack?" "Oho, you can see the signs eh?" Her fellow spectator sighed. "Yeah, yeah he does. It's what got him drummed out of the forces, back in the day. Never recovered from it, and only doubled down on bad habits after that; I'm honestly surprised he's still alive, even discounting everything going on outside right now. Ah, how rude of me; Lance Corporal Peter Brown, British Army reserves, at your service."