GD8 Jaune Skill Vs Cinder

The two of us stared at one another for a moment, each sizing the other up. The Blacksmith and the Elementalist stood apart, a Prestige Hero against a Tier-Two NPC. A moment later, the tableau was shattered. Cinder leapt back and thrust a hand out, sending a wave of searing fire towards me.

My hands tightened. Heat poured from them, bringing my armour to a new high – burning bright red as I lunged forward, one molten arm in front of my face, shielding it from the flames. Once again, the fire rolled over and around me. With my head free, I could feel it more and some of my hair singed, but I was able to keep moving and the pain was momentary. There was a hazy shape indistinct through it and I brought Crocea Mors up with my other hand.

The inferno halted as the figure dodged, spinning to the side. Cinder's spell ended, and she dashed a small distance away, eyes locked onto mine as she brought both hands before her, crossed before her breast. A short sword appeared in each, formed entirely from fire. One foot struck down and she changed direction in a second, hurtling towards me. Her first sword struck mine, clanging against it, and despite that there was no metal in her blade, ours locked and made a sound upon contact. Her other came up and under, sliding through my guard as it lunged towards my ribs. I shifted my body just a little, allowing it to graze the side of me. It didn't splash and fizzle out as expected. Instead, the short sword cut through my molten armour, almost as if it were not made of fire but metal. It drew a cut along my flank. I ignored it and pushed her back, swinging for her head and forcing Cinder to step away.

So, despite being made of fire, her swords acted like regular ones. That was interesting. There wasn't much logic behind it, but that was magic for you. It wouldn't have made much sense for her to use them otherwise, since fire swords wouldn't cut or stab and she might as well have just been a glorified Mage trapped with one element.

As such, I allowed my armour to cool and become more solid. On the next exchange, Cinder managed to circle her weapon over and into my wrist, seeking to disarm me. Unlike the first time, the weapon this time bounced off my hardened armour.

Which was when Cinder grinned and dropped both – cupping her hands and bathing me in fire once more.

"Shit!"

Gods, it hurt. There was only a second or two to feel it before my instincts kicked in and my armour became molten once more, immune – or as immune as I was going to get – to the flames. I still had to shield my face so it wouldn't be burned, but the pain dissipated. I rolled away, fighting for distance as I considered my options. Cinder had lured me into dropping the heat on my armour and then switched back to fire spells to cook me. A clever move. I had the perfect counter to either her swords or her spells, but only one at a time.

It was still better than anyone else might have had. If it were Ruby here, she'd have been doubly in trouble. I was uniquely equipped to counter half of Cinder's abilities, and I had the pick on which half I wanted. It must have been galling for her, knowing that I could do that and that I was `just` an NPC.

In the end, I chose to keep my armour molten. I couldn't hope to hurt her at range, so forcing her to close in was my best chance. It took more concentration on my part, but it also made my armour fluid and gave me a better range of movement. When I closed in on her again, pushing through her flames, Cinder caught on and stopped wasting energy, instead summoning her twin swords once more.

[...]

 I growled and brought Crocea Mors up in time to block her sudden attack. I found myself even more pissed off by the look on her face – the sheer sorrow that pervaded her being. She didn't want this, I could tell, and yet she kept coming, attack after attack until the point that some got past my guard no matter what I did. One struck my arm and scored a line through my armour. Another nicked my upper thigh, dangerously close to an artery. A third came in for my stomach, but this time I reacted, rapidly cooling my armour there – localised in one spot. The metal became solid and turned her blow aside, deflecting it so that I earned a scratch and not a gaping wound.

Cinder's eyes widened, but I melted the armour once more before she could take advantage and launch a fireball up into my stomach. In the moment of hesitation, I drove forward and rammed my shoulder into her. Shocked, Cinder didn't try to block it.

She screamed in agony a second later. Cinder fell back quickly, throwing a huge ball of fire at me more to prevent any pursuit than cause any harm. With a free hand, she patted down her chest, revealing burned fabric that stuck painfully to skin burned pink. Even if I'd only touched her for a second, I'd burned her.

Who was the fire elemental now, huh?

I charged forward while she was off-balance. Crocea Mors cut wide arcs that forced her to hop back. Her weapons weren't long enough to reach me, and by keeping her on the back foot, she never had a chance to close the distance. Cinder let one go and tried to throw fire in my face, but this time I ignored it, closing my eyes and fighting through the pain to continue my onslaught.

Cinder didn't expect it, that much was clear. Crocea Mors cut through and caught her shoulder, drawing blood and a startled yelp. She flinched back, losing control over her fire. I lunged again, this time for her stomach, and though she managed avoid the attack by a hair's bready, she was unable to escape my other fist, which caught her in the forearm. It would have hit her face, but she brought her arm up in time. Even so, she staggered back with a grunt, wincing in pain as her left arm shivered, her fingers twitching unconsciously. I might have caused real damage with the burns, but I had to keep it up. If I let her regain control for even an instant, she'd be on top of me.

She fell back as I continued – giving ground in a desperate attempt to put some space between us and regain control of the fight. Every sword she brought forth, I smacked away with my longer reach. Every fireball or explosion she cast, I waded through with staunch determination and molten armour that forced the flames to part around me. She might have kicked, tripped or grappled with me, but to do so would be to kill herself.

My Blacksmithing had neutralised her. Cinder's flames could not burn hot enough, her weapons could not cut deep enough, and for all her Levels, her Skills and Stats could not save her if she could not touch me. From her wide eyes, she knew it. She gave ground, searching for something she could use.

She found it in the King of Vale.

I hadn't noticed, too focused on trying to push her back, but Cinder managed to retreat towards the wounded monarch. She leapt back behind him, grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him towards me. The King's eyes widened but he was too weak to fight back.

Panicked, I dropped the heat from my armour – but even that wouldn't be fast enough to stop my own King burning to death on me. Instead, I quenched my armour immediately causing it to crack and fracture. The King struck my weakened breastplate and bounced back. I tried to catch him, but he fell with a groan, lying flat on the ground.

When he fell, Cinder was behind him, crouched down with something new in her hands. I had a second to gasp before she thrust up, and the sword we'd found in Vacuo – Watts' sword – pierced through my armour, my chest, my ribcage and then then my skin again. It erupted from my back with a sickening squelch.

Cinder's cheek pressed against my chest. I coughed once, twice, and on the second, blood splattered out across her hair.

"I'm sorry, Jaune," she whispered, letting go of the hilt, using one hand to grip my shoulder even as the other gently took Crocea Mors from my nerveless fingers. The sword fell to the floor. Hers, the one she'd run me through with, remained lodged in my body despite her not holding it.