I was able to get a bit of sleep before my match. Not as much as usual, but enough that I wasn't really tired or jumpy. Despite that, I was at least a little nervous. The chances of me fighting a team member again, even with the smaller pool to draw from, were low. For the eleventh round I'd probably be up against a stranger, but that didn't help as much as I'd have thought.

Whoever this was, they had made it almost to the end of the solo rounds, which meant they were terrifyingly strong. Whether it was someone I knew or not, I could almost guarantee that my next match would be a tough one. When I arrived at the arena, Rime headed for the stands while I made my way down to the waiting area to get ready, and I couldn't help but fidget a bit with worry.

When they finally called the match to start, I strode out onto the sand on my own. Hardly my first solo fight, but the closer I got to the end the more intimidating this became. When I saw my next opponent though, I calmed down a bit.

He wasn't intimidating. Just a scruffy looking teenager with brown hair and brown eyes. He had a green shirt and red baggy pants and a relaxed, peaceful smile. "Like, hey man. It's nice to meetcha." He waved lazily. "Pretty far out we managed to get almost to the end right? My best pal got bounced out last round but I think it's pretty legit that I get the chance to keep tryin'."

His voice was a lazy, happy drawl, and it made me chuckle a bit in response, my shoulders relaxing. I didn't let my guard down, mind you, but I felt less worried. Hard to fear for your life against someone that mellow. "Yeah, it is neat. My girlfriend was in the solo rounds until last fight, when we went up against each other. Carrying on for her is pretty cool. I'm Solomon by the way. If it matters. From the Starchaser Pavilion."

The shrug he gave was nonchalant. "Matters to you, man. That's like...good enough right? I'm Norman from the Enigma Corporation." I cocked my head at him, not seeing anything corporate about him, and he gave a low laugh. "It's like, an ironic name man. We're just pals who like to travel around helping people out with weird stuff. We get that reaction a lot though, don't worry."

I laughed at his wry tone. Norman was a pretty interesting guy. "Alright." I said as my laugh ended. "Well, may the best man win, but I'm not holding back." He gave me a laconic nod, and then I triggered Moonlit Night. The whole arena filled with fog only I could see through, and I activated State of Grace and Ripple running alongside it. Kneeling down, I coated my arms in magma, triggering touch of tears after that, then stood up and started to circle.

Norman did...nothing. Like at all. He just stood there, though I could vaguely see a silver glow coalesce around him, not that it was easy to spot in the glowing backdrop of the fog. I waited, but he didn't engage at all, just waiting completely at ease, and I realized I'd run out the clock on my skills if I didn't attack first. Pushing off the ground, I bounced up into the air, then planted my foot on nothing with ripple running and shot toward his back.

I spun in a tight rotation midair as I came in, bringing my hand down at the back of his head in a spinning backfist even as I flew straight at him. Norman leaned ever so slightly forward, and my fist passed within inches of his skull as he stepped aside casually to avoid the rest of my body impacting him. I hit the sand at a skid and slid for a few feet, before turning to stare at him in confusion.

He didn't look flustered, or even aware of my presence. I triggered my overlay, checking to see how I should attack next, and got...red. All the arrows were red. That made no sense. Triggering Eye of Revelation next I tried my best to observe anything, but nothing happened. He just stood there, glowing slightly silver at the edges and staring blandly ahead. I closed in slow, keeping Eye of Revelation active, and then used Steam Arrow, spitting an arrow of boiling water at him.

Adjusting himself so slightly it was barely perceptible, he leaned back diagonally, letting the arrow pass within a hair of his skin yet again. Fuck. I tweaked the Moonlit Night skill, allowing my voice to pass through. "You have some kind of prediction ability." I said flatly. Nothing I could see to try would hit him, at least not according to my overlay. The Eye was more reactive, but it didn't spot any weaknesses in his form or anything.

Shrugging again, he smiled. "Like, I don't know man. I just move before stuff hits me. It's all instinct." His voice was placid and cheerful as ever, and unlike before, it kind of annoyed me. Being taken so lightly was bound to irritate anyone, even if I was pretty sure it was nothing personal.

I narrowed my eyes at him, then triggered Sucking Mud and used up a shadow attack to create the Dark Swamp. The sand beneath him started to darken, but before it could happen he hopped casually back. Unfortunately for him, Dark Swamp wasn't just a quicksand trap, it could respond. He tried to shift in midair to avoid the tentacles of earth, but since the attack had been launched while he was midair, and by something that didn't actually think, he hadn't seen it coming.

With no leverage his legs were dragged back into the dark sand, and he started to sink. I charged in, attacking again with a flurry of punches and kicks to see how his defense was holding up.

Despite his immobile legs being secured from the shin down, he swayed and moved out of the way with lazy graceful ease. But this time, he also attacked back. His fist shot out at a weakness in my guard I hadn't even known was there, and I tried to get my arms in the way of the blow, barely managing thanks to the speed boosts.

There was a loud crack as the blow landed on my encased arms, crossed in front of me, and even through my armor and the magma I felt the bones rattle as I was blown backwards. I skidded over the sand, my arms barely working after the impact of that one punch.

Of course the instinctual fighter who could dodge without thinking was a Might focus. Because that would be where the fucking speed to dodge came from. I'd have guessed Perception before he explained it, but if he had no actual input, then he wouldn't be perceiving, his power would. There was probably some of that because of his reputation, but since he was so physical he probably just came across as a bruiser.

"Like, careful man." Said the relaxed monster in front of me. "I punch pretty hard. Don't want you to get hurt too bad." I grimaced, triggering a heal burst to patch my arms up as I circled. Blunt force was a bad match for my armor, but anything helped. I felt the surge of energy flood me, slowly relieving the pain in my limbs as I circled.

Norman was still sinking into the sand, but not fast. He seemed unbothered by the trap, sitting eerily still and ignoring it, which of course made it slower. The Dark Swamp was reactionary at heart. Even with the shadow attack, once it captured you it didn't keep dragging unless you tried to escape.

I needed some angle. Coming at him directly wouldn't work. Without a Perception focus, his reactions to my attacks were either ignoring the stealth completely or he was reacting at the last possible instant. Either option wasn't good for me. I was wracking my brain for what to do, when it finally dawned on me.

Triggering Mercy Kill, I used a gravity attack. The ability, boosted by Moonlit Night and Mercy Kill, landed heavily on Norman. Then I did it again, and again, and again. I stopped at four, since I only had eight of those, and then blitzed forward again to attack. State of Grace allowed me to bypass the field around him easily, and when I attacked this time, I got much closer to hitting him.

I still missed, because he was FAST, even under the pressure, but he dodged by a much narrowed margin. His placid expression finally cracked, his brow furrowing a bit. When my next attack came in at him he dodged and tried to counter, but I used Afterburner to increase my next ten attacks.

With the existing boost of speed from State of Grace added to the attacks, my fist was a blur as it raced in at his face. He dodged the first, but the second he had to divert his counter to deflect. I grunted in pain as my arm creaked under the pressure, but I ignored it. Redoubling my attacking efforts.

Norman seemed to get serious this time, his hands flying up to deflect my blows. I grimaced, because I was running out of attacks on Afterburner. I tried Steam Arrow, and the explosion of steam was much more powerful because of Afterburner. He tried to avoid it, but because of the slowing effect of the gravity and the increased power of the arrow it scored him across the face, leaving a thin burn on his cheek.

He was so stunned by the injury he froze up, and I used my tranq blows on the three punches I managed to get in on him before he had a chance to react. I tried one more, but didn't manage to land it, and my Afterburned ran out, forcing me to retreat to avoid being hit.

I panted in exhaustion as I stared at him, having gone all out even with all the stacked debuffs to keep up with this absolute beast. I was damn lucky his only trick seemed to be close combat. If he had a ranged attack he might be able to keep up with Abel. I circled slowly, waiting to see what he would do, but he just waited, unmoving, patient to the end as he let his power prepare.

And I did nothing. I sat there, waiting, and let him prepare. I was weakened because of Afterburner, and exhausted from the fight, and there was no need for me to attack. Norman's weakness was his strength. The ability to sit still and remain unconcerned while he trusted his power to predict any attacks.

A minute passed, then two, he kept sinking, but only got to mid thigh. I just waited. I'd won this already, and it was only proven when I heard the first faint snore. I grinned. Those tranq blows were supercharged by a bunch of buffs as well as stacked, and I'd known they would do the job.

I raised a hand to signal the end of the match, and when he didn't move or respond for a minute they called it. I groaned, debating healing him but realizing I'd only managed a few glancing blows anyway so it wasn't needed. As he stirred awake I held out a hand and let Dark Swamp fade, pulling him up out of the sand. He grinned it me. "Like, wow man, that was a pretty cool nap. Shame I lost, but nice moves."

Laughing I returned the sentiment and we traded numbers, Norman saying he could use the occasional knock out to get some rest since the nap had been so peaceful. I was happy to make a connection with such a badass. Turning to leave though, I felt a pang of fear knowing the next fight would be even worse. I'd need to bring my A game to win that. I had two more days, it was time to finally rank up my DS Mastery.