Vadh vs Kaala

The sand felt so familiar to Velios as he kept on walking forwards. He thought about how it fell to not have the sand below his feet but that thought alone seemed weird. At this point, it was something his body was so used to. Velios was carrying massive amounts of food in a stuffed backpack while walking. He thought that it seemed boring but he did neither want anyone to see him nor did he want to mess up the food inside. He first wanted to get far away where he could train to his heart content. Velios didn't really have a reason to get food as he would hunt monsters and cook them anyways. Even water was something where he was at the point of manifesting and controlling efficiently. The actual reason why he decided to get food was simply because he didn't know what else to get. He wouldn't know what to get since he would be living out in the wild anyways. The only thought that he remembered while coming up with the deal was something slightly useful that he could get rid of quickly.

At a point seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Velios had tossed his bag to the side while thinking of how he would train. One of the biggest issues he encountered was that the most efficient way for him to learn almost anything was to use it and specifically in battle. With battle, he could go far beyond the things he was capable of by simply learning it on his own. He now had a sort of dummy he could fight and train with all the time with no risk of it dying as he could just summon it back again. "Emerge." Even thinking of what that monster did was unforgivable. The thought of him made him angry and disgusted and made him feel a puking sensation. Vadh had come forth a little magic circle on the ground, just big enough for him. Vadh was instantly confused at the sudden summon and when he looked at Velios he saw a face that seemed far from welcoming. It was a smile, but with no happy intent. Velios couldn't stop smiling, realizing how much he could use the monster in his arsenal to his advantage. Vadh was too scared to move from where he was kneeling down, knowing fully well the consequences. "Did you have a name?" Velios asked. The sudden change of voice shocked Vadh, staring up directly into his eyes. "My name is Vadh." Vadh was too scared to answer any more than that. "Starting from today, you're going to be my training partner and you will have no choice but to follow my orders. You got that, Vadh?" 

The days following were filled to the brim with endless training and fighting sessions. Even with his superior regenerative abilities it was still hard for him to keep up but he had no choice. Velios was advancing faster than ever before, training everything as much as possible at the same time for as long a time as possible. Vadh was asked to fight as seriously as possible and that he would get no punishment if he were to damage Velios. Even after all of the training they had done, Vadh hadn't managed to hit Velios cleanly even once while on the other hand, Velios had killed Vadh many times over. Velios' biggest advantage was his excessive knowledge of how the world works. Different compounds of elements, how chemical reactions work. What the world is created of to atomic levels and his understanding of what possibilities awaited him. In this process of him learning all of this, it was unclear to determine which one of the two grew the most. Vadh had never trained a single time in his life and he was already well past the point where Velios and himself first fought. He had learnt to control and manifest mana and the basics of mana usage. With this training, the two of them would go to even further heights than they ever thought possible. 

A couple of weeks in, they were still going at it. training everyday as hard as they could was now a lifestyle for both of them. For Velios, it was something he enjoyed while Vadh on the other side was persevering. Vadh had thought about something himself for a long time which he wanted to bring up. "Master!" Vadh interrupted him halfway through his training. "What do you want? I'm busy." Velios was in no mood to talk to him but Vadh didn't stop. "Do you remember how you explained your necromancing ability to me? I thought that it was weird at first since you didn't have any magic at the time, so what if the "consume" part is actually something related to actual eating and that's how I became an undead." Vadh had a small hint of excitement in what he said, hoping for a pleasant answer or a compliment back. What he received however, was a bone chilling and cold look given by Velios. He completely stopped what he was doing and stood up, turning his body in the other direction while holding his arm out in front of him. "Emerge!" Velios couldn't help but scream. He didn't know if it was excitement or the thought of it actually working that got him fired up. Vadh just stared at the big magic circle that was created. "M-Master? Wait, when did you kill a monster like that and why did you eat it?! No, better question. How the fuck did you manage to kill something like that?!" 

What slowly rose up from the hole was nothing less than the black scorpion Velios had killed a few weeks ago. "Vadh, I want you to fight that thing." Velios was far too excited currently. If Vadh's theory was completely true then Velios would have a whole army of giant sandworms to his arsenal. "Master, I don't think I can..." Vadh couldn't help but stare in awe as the giant and strong creature moved towards them. "Master..." A low and shaky voice could barely be heard coming from the scorpion. "Your name shall be Kaala. As orders from your master, you and Vadh will fight to the death. I order you both to give it everything you have. I'll go on a run in the meanwhile." With that order being placed on both of them, Velios sprinted away at max speed with all the mana he could use, with some additional skills of course. Vadh just stared at him running away while he was going to have to fight a black scorpion although a weakened one. They are notoriously known as some of the toughest monsters to beat solely on their hard shell yet fast and powerful attacks. Vadh was still much weaker than Velios when he first fought it and although it was weakened, Vadh didn't think it was possible for him to do it. He turned around to face the black scorpion which had already started attacking. 

There was no apparent way for Vadh to win. The only reason Velios won in the first case was because he got an overpowered skill that strengthened and sharpened his body to the point where the shell wasn't a problem. Vadh could only rely on his raw strength and the mana he had. Although Vadh had a few skills of his own, none of them would prove useful for destroying the hard shell of a black scorpion. Attack after attack proved useless as the scorpion would wait for the perfect moment to counter. Vadh continued the fight with a kick making its claw fly back, a punch to the side and another punch at the center of its forehead. It would prove useless to get too close since the black scorpion a short while later grabbed Vadh by the leg. Shit! Was the only word Vadh thought before getting slammed into the ground multiple times over, getting thrown up into the air, getting punched on the way down and finally impaled with its stinger going through his right shoulder, barely holding him up. Even if they were few, the few but quick and powerful attacks proved to be a big challenge as he was left basically unconscious right then and there. Thoughts of Velios came surging back up as if he was trying to say something to Vadh. Go away, master. Let me sleep some more. Vadh couldn't think straight either. It was as if he was drowning in an indescribable emptiness, awaiting death once more. 

I can't lose! Vadh's eyes violently opened as his expression was filled with fury. "Don't you think... That you're better than me... After all this training I have done!" A fire had lit up in Vadh's eyes. He didn't want to give up no matter what anymore. Blood was rushing down the sides of his face and his regeneration was working overtime trying to heal the broken bones in his body. With all his strength, he broke free from the grip of the scorpion. Vadh didn't want to lose so he yet again found himself in a fury of attacks. Even though he was both more injured and more tired than before, something felt strange. It was as if he was getting stronger and stronger. The reason he didn't know what caused it was because of the fact that his eardrums were shattered. 'Unique skill: Berserker, when near death, the abilities of a person possessing this skill get boosted by 200% and are further boosted the closer that person is to death.' Thanks to that skill, Vadh had experienced exponential growth the further and further he was pushed by the black scorpion. This one singular skill evened out the playing field once again and made sure that the winner of the fight would be unpredictable.