章 8: Chapter 8: Infinite Dodge
Author: Nan Sha Ai
Updated: 9/25/2017 11:48:20
Word Count: 2449
The sun hung high in the sky, and the shadows of trees on the ground grew shorter. As noon approached, Kiana followed the map to locate a lone red dot, and this time, she wanted to challenge a slightly stronger opponent. After all, her last opponent couldn't even survive her first combo, and if she wanted to grind for achievement points, she'd need something a bit tougher.
"This one looks sturdy enough," Kiana muttered.
Hiding behind a tree, she observed her target—an odd creature with a body covered in reddish-brown fur, two large tusks sticking out, and a ferocious expression. Standing about three meters tall, it made Kiana's eyes widen in surprise. The creature was feasting on another deer-like animal that Kiana had defeated earlier, blood pooling on the ground around it. The faint smell of blood made Kiana wrinkle her nose.
This creature seemed to be the most ferocious one around, as even the other red dots on the map kept their distance despite the scent of blood. It looked like she had chosen wisely, though she wasn't quite sure how powerful it would be, judging solely by the color of a dot on a map.
"No matter—this is the one," she decided, tightening her grip on her Pulse Katana as she prepared to attack. "If I can't even handle this small challenge, how am I supposed to become a man again?"
Kiana spoke to herself, launching forward with her katana. But as if it had eyes on its back, the beast leapt into the air and spun around mid-jump, landing heavily and leaving a small crater in the ground.
"Caught me, huh? Animals sure do have sharp senses."
Kiana kept charging, unbothered by being discovered. She was mentally prepared to go head-to-head if necessary. Her eyes narrowed as she focused intently, ready to dodge at any moment.
The beast let out a deafening roar, furious that an unfamiliar creature had dared to invade its territory and provoke it. It lunged at Kiana, jaws open wide, foul-smelling bits of flesh still stuck between its massive teeth. If Kiana wasn't as mentally tough, she might have gagged.
"Now!" she thought, activating her dodge skill. In an instant, she tilted forward and almost seemed to teleport to the beast's side, her katana slicing a deep cut on its left flank. As she dodged, the entire world seemed to freeze—she had entered a time-fracture state.
"Mei's armor sure has a quick dodge," she marveled.
Kiana's suspicions were confirmed. In the original game, dodging was restricted to a set animation where Valkyries couldn't attack until the dodge ended. But here in reality, the restrictions didn't apply. She could attack mid-dodge.
With this new advantage, a smile spread across her face. It looked like she had found a near cheat-code level of fighting strategy: "infinite dodge." By using Mei's high-speed dodge ability, she could constantly dodge while delivering powerful strikes to her opponent. The game's dodge had an invincibility frame, letting her evade nearly any damage if timed right, and successful dodges triggered the powerful time-fracture ability, buying her even more time.
Though time-fracture had a short cooldown of just a few seconds, leveling up her dodge skill in the future would shorten it even further.
While Kiana was busy being pleased with herself, the time-fracture effect faded. The creature, previously frozen in mid-action, resumed movement, its initial trajectory now causing it to slam into a large tree. With a loud crack, the tree snapped in half, and the massive creature shook itself off, roaring and flipping the fallen trunk away as it turned to face Kiana.
"So tough… it's hardly even scratched," Kiana noted, seeing that her initial attack had barely drawn any blood. But at least she had found a worthy opponent.
"Now to put my theory to the test. If infinite dodge really works, my abilities will jump to a whole new level," she mused, disappearing in a flash and leaving only a series of afterimages.
In the original game, dodge animations couldn't be canceled, creating a lag between dodges. But here, Kiana could cancel the cooldown by dodging again mid-move, giving her near-constant invulnerability. Thanks to Mei's armor's superior dodge range and speed, she could create an endless dodge loop that left her nearly untouchable—a form of animation-canceling that allowed her to continually evade and strike.
Kiana's ghost-like figure weaved around the creature, delivering rapid, shallow cuts. The beast, confused and agitated, kept spinning around to find her, but she was always out of reach. Within a second, she could appear in eight different locations around the creature, her lightning-fast movements gradually wearing it down. Even the thick-skinned beast could sense her deadly intent and grew nervous, realizing it might actually be in trouble. But it had no way of escaping Kiana's relentless attacks.
Finally, after Kiana had landed numerous blows, she paused, her SP gauge full and ready.
"At last, I've got enough SP," she grinned, taking her Pulse Katana and positioning it behind her in a drawn-sword stance. Energy gathered around the blade, a faint blue light enveloping it, creating a breathtaking sight.
"Haven't had a chance to use a big move since coming to this world," she said, her excitement clear. "Let's see what this baby can do."
(PS: For those who haven't played the game, the dodge skill itself has no cooldown, only the time-fracture effect has a cooldown.)
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