Stanley’s sword was half covered in frost and the frost was traveling up the sword. If the battle lasted very long, he would no longer be able to continue holding the sword.
Stanley moved back and bit and started circling around to gain some time and gather his thought as well, but his opponent wasn’t letting him.
The man ran for him and swung the rod again. This time, Stanley didn’t let it hit him and dodged it. He was starting to understand that in a direct clash of weapons, he would be on the losing end.
The man turned and swung once more, which Stanley dodged by ducking underneath the swing. He punched the man on his torso as hard as he could, and that sent the man flying backward.
However, Stanley’s knuckles also caught some of the frosts which didn’t seem to disappear at all. He tried to rub off the frost, but even when it flaked away, the frost would return immediately.
‘It’s not spreading, but I can’t get rid of it either. It most likely has to do with his powers,’ Stanley thought. ‘For his powers to permanently work, he must be doing something, but what?’
Stanley looked at the man as he got back up. He could see him breathe, he could see his eyes open. His palms were constantly moving, his feet didn’t seem to be doing anything specific either.
As he had thought, the man’s powers were not activated by something external. ‘What about internal?’ he thought.
“Give up, please,” he spoke.
The man stood up tall and glared at Stanley.
“Do you want me to help you escape?” Stanley asked.
The man’s eyes narrowed in confusion at the sudden change of questions. He hesitated a bit for a moment before dashing back into the fight.
Stanley started dodging left and right. He was faster than the man and had a better reaction speed than his, so he was safe.
He tried to make sure not to touch the man anymore, but things were getting a little annoying. The man was forcing Stanley to fight in a circle, constantly pushing him back to the area where they had started.
Because of the coldness, the ground there had frozen over and was extremely slippery. If Stanley walked through there, he would most definitely slip while dodging, which could be a problem.
“Do you not want me to help?” Stanley asked. “Just ask for help. Or are you that much of a coward to even ask for help?”
The man continued attacking while Stanley gave out offers and curses one after another. Seeing the man not respond, he came to a conclusion.
‘His activation ritual has something to do with his mouth,’ he thought. ‘Either his tongue is doing something like touching the upper side of his mouth, or he simply can’t make any sound from his mouth while using his powers.’
Seeing how the man had made zero noises from the start, he was starting to believe that it was the latter one.
‘Whatever the reason, as long as I can make him make some noise, I should be fine,’ Stanley thought and nodded as he was sure he had understood his powers.
‘I need to make him scream.’
He dodged another swing, which seemed to be the only thing the man could do. He needed to contact to transfer the frost, so as long as Stanley didn’t touch him, he was fine.
Which was why the man expected Stanley to run back this time around as well. However, instead of moving back, he dashed inside after dodging.
Before the man could react, he kicked the man in the chest. The time of contact between his boot and the chest wasn’t enough for much of the frost to transfer over. There was some coldness, but he could handle it.
The man fell on his back and slid down the road, even sliding down the flat slope that was made every few steps in the process. However, he kept his mouth shut even after all that happened.
‘I need more,’ Stanley thought. He ran to the side of the road where there wasn’t any frost and rushed down. He jumped down the stairs in the direction of the man who was getting up.
The man seemed mostly unphased as he quickly reacted to the incoming blow. He lifted his metal rod to block Stanley, but Stanley instead struck it aside and landed next to him.
‘I need to make him scream,’ Stanley thought. ‘I need to go for the head.’
He quickly spun and swung his sword toward the man. The man saw it coming and put up his metal rod to stop the attack. Finally, after a long time, the rod and the sword clashed.
As a result, both of them shattered the moment they hit each other. The coldness had made both of their weapons extremely brittle, and it was only a matter of time before it happened.
However, to happen right now, Stanley could only consider it his bad luck.
The man was surprised as well, but not enough to ruin his concentration. He kicked at Stanley with his right foot, aiming for his head this time around.
Stanley was shocked to see his sword shatter, and at the same time as if a curse, the feeling came back. Before he could even think of dealing with the feeling, he followed it and managed to look down just in time to see the frosted foot coming for his face.
In a panic, he twisted his body to the side and let the leg miss him by a hair’s width.
Seeing himself miss, the man punched the second time around.
Stanley dodged this attack as well by jumping into the air high over the man’s head while spinning from the previous twist.
As he fell, Stanley used the strength from his speed and aimed for the man’s head. The butt of the hilt of the sword that was still in his hand hit the man on his temple.
Stanley heard something crack and saw the man’s head move to the side while his eyes seemed to remain motionless for a moment.
A second later, the man fell sideways and landed on the ground with only the white of his eyes showing. Stanley moved backward and got ready to fight, but it was all over.
The frost around his body remained, but it no longer transferred anywhere. Seeing the glistening ice that was starting to melt all around the place made him realize that he had finally won the fight.
He dropped the hilt of his sword in relief and dropped to the ground to catch his breath.
“I guess… knocking him out works as well.”