Carmine is quite fast + gamer's body healing

“Ambitious,” He sounded amused. “I like that. Don’t be too hard on the poor boy, love.”

“I’ll be gentle,” Carmine whispered, human hand letting go off her transformed arm as she strode forward. I braced myself, watching her closely as I edged forward in turn—

My senses cried out in warning and I was in the air as her long arm flashed out with speed that even I had a hard time tracking. Even jumping the moment I saw her move, it still caught me, passing through my right knee and left ankle with no more difficulty then it had the air on either side of them. I landed on the ground a few feet away, stumbling slightly at the searing pain and momentary absence I felt, before glancing down with one set of eyes to confirm I was still in one piece. I relaxed slightly.

Yes, as I’d thought, I was the only one of us with a chance of getting near Carmine.

“Jack said you could take a hit,” Carmine said, arm retracting from its elongated form into a strange looking, segmented arm. As she did, her other hand drew her sword, twirling it deftly. It was hard to tell with solid red eyes, but I suspected she’d seen her blade hit me and was looking at the lack of wounds.

“That’s me,” I confirmed, healing myself before rising as if nothing had happened. “I take a licking and I keep on ticking.”

“That’s good,” She mused. “Because he also said I could chop you to pieces as many times as I wanted, so long as I was careful to leave you alive.”

“Good luck with that,” I snorted. “I have it on good authority that cutting me up stops being fun really fast.”