All in all, nothing about his plan was certain. The pendant that Gelath wore around his neck was most likely the target that Cypher had been searching for. It had caught his attention when Gelath had first stepped forward before the second wave of fighting had begun. Naturally, at that time Cypher couldn’t have possibly known that it held an ability as dangerous as invisibility.
Seeing as how Gelath was a bandit, such a power made a lot of sense for someone like him. It would grant him the ability to slip in and out of any location without notice and was a hell of a tactic during combat. That said, when fighting, it was more difficult to use. One would unconsciously exhale or inhale while unleashing powerful attacks.
There was simply no getting around that, which gave Cypher a fighting chance. Gelath finished his tirade and scowled at the young boy standing with his sword at the ready. The air between them grew heavy as they both prepared to strike. A plan had solidified in his mind, but he wondered if he’d be able to pull it off.
It would take a lot of effort and his timing would have to be perfect. A lot of factors played into what would happen next and he hoped that he had read his opponent properly. A miscalculation would cost him and only serve to set him back, perhaps even lose him this battle. Gelath’s hand moved ever so slightly, and Cypher narrowed his eyes in response. Flourishing his blade he gritted his teeth and resolved himself before lunging forward towards Gelath.
The bandit leader sucked in a deep breath and tapped into the magick that allowed him to vanish from sight. He quickly followed up by dodging Cypher’s stab and sliding to the right. Cypher didn’t stop there though, he brought his blade around in a half crescent and swung hard at Gelath’s midriff.
The latter blocked it with his claymore and readjusted to return an attack. However, Cypher was pressing his assault hard. He refused to even give his foe a moment to collect himself. Keeping Gelath off balance was key to his success. The man could hardly compose himself while both fighting off Cypher and holding his breath.
His visage flickered every few instants as a gasp of air escaped his lips during his frantic blocks. It was clear by the expression on his face when he would become visible that he had never been pushed into a corner like this before. Cypher took full advantage of this and pressed his attack harder. Despite being half Gelath’s height, he was forcing the man to fall back little by little.
Gelath may have had years of hit-and-run tactics on his side, but Cypher had the grueling training of Jelroy to bolster him. There was a clear gap in the level of skill between them. Of course, that wasn’t to say that Gelath wasn’t a good swordsman by any means. The bandit leader had years of experience in battle behind him. He had fought more opponents than Cypher could imagine, but all of those battles paled in comparison to the sheer determination and drive that Cypher was thrusting upon him now.
Cypher had been trained relentlessly for a singular purpose: To push Eiden hard enough to be accepted into the most illustrious academy for magick in all of Dellorim. Eiden was set to be a Conductor one day and to reach that level would require more grit and willpower than most would muster in their entire lives. In pursuit of that goal, Cypher had unexpectedly surpassed the young heir and grown into a monster in his own right.
Truly, if not for his lowly station in life Cypher himself could qualify to enter that academy himself. Gelath couldn’t know any of this, but what he did know was that somehow this child was matching him blow for blow and even gaining the upper hand in their battle. Gelath had no time to think or even attack.
He was completely on the defensive as Cypher unleashed his prowess in combat. With ease and without much thought, Cypher was seamlessly switching between all three of the basic forms of combat that Jelroy had taught him. He performed wide, sweeping attacks with Brodd. While Gelath did indeed stand a meter taller than Cypher, this form of combat was overwhelming the self-taught bandit leader and he had little to no recourse during this fast and heavy barrage of confident attacks.
Although Gelath was invisible, Cypher’s mind was trained on keeping track of where Gelath’s sword should be and his accuracy was terribly efficient. Of course, this was due to the fact that Gelath was panicking. Never before had this happened to him. In truth, he was never one for head-on combat against a single foe. He had always won through trickery and the use of his magickal item.
Facing down someone who not only knew what was going on but also had sufficient skill enough to counter him was far beyond what he was used to. Rage, confusion, frustration, all of these emotions ran through Gelath and threw him off his game even more. This resulted in him quickly switching between gasping for air and holding his breath.
Anyone who could have seen the battle between them would have seen Gelath blinking in and out of existence before their very eyes. They would no doubt believe that each attack from the young boy was one that created a man and banished him from the world all at the same time. Despite this, Gelath was still able to put up a small resistance against his young foe.
However, even when he did manage to break through the unrelenting assault, Cypher easily countered him with Fenn, forcing Gelath once again to fall back on the defensive. Whenever Cypher would parry a desperate attack from Gelath, it left the man wide open for a jab from the tip of Cypher’s blade. While Gelath was able to barely recover from these sudden openings in his guard, he still took damage. Had Cypher meant to kill him there would have been nothing he could do.
As it was, Cypher was merely leaving slight incisions in his torso, arms, and legs. Each one was shallow, piercing just deep enough to breach Gelath’s leather armor and inflict stinging surface wounds. Their only purpose was to inflict pain and slow Gelath even more, while also keeping the man panicked and on edge. Although given enough time blood loss would soon be what overcame Gelath, and he knew it.
Try as he might, he always found himself returning to defensive blocks against the speedy young boy before him in an effort just to stay in the battle. All this was impressive but what truly turned the tide in Cypher’s favor was that he refused to let up for even an instant. Giving Gelath the Ghostly time to gather his thoughts or step away would have halted the barrage in an instant since the man would have had a chance to remain invisible for more than an instant or two.
Things were going well for Cypher. But after several moments of continuous attacks, his stamina began to waver and his attacks started to slow down. As skilled as he was Cypher was still only a child. His arms burned, his hand was numb from the constant vibrations caused by their blades clashing, and his heart pounded in his chest as he fought on without end.
Gelath took notice of this and thought that his time to retaliate had come. He tried to take command of this battle at that moment, but it was then that Cypher switched to the offensive and defensive forms of Eine. With Gelath struggling to land blows of his own against Cypher in this lull in the assault, it gave the boy the perfect chance to catch his breath and regain some of his lost stamina.
Eine relied on the opponent striking in order for it to be most effective. Given that it was a fine balance between the styles of Brodd and Fenn, almost nothing about the battle changed save for the fact that its tempo was being controlled entirely by Cypher. In Gelath’s desperation to retaliate, he failed to notice that with each opening he thought he saw, he was being played by his young opponent.
The battle between them was wholly different from the one that had initially started. Instead of Gelath being the one leaving intentional openings in his defense it was now Cypher who employed that technique.
It was a shining achievement for the young boy, but a pitiful disgrace for one such as Gelath. It was humiliating, humbling, and baffling all at the same time in Gelath’s eyes. He was left so bewildered that instead of retreating and making use of his invisibility, he instead tried to regain his hold over the battle. Ironically this was only leading to his inevitable defeat.
As Cypher’s gaze remained locked with his own and his wounds began increasing, he quickly realized that his old tricks wouldn’t work anymore. There was only one thing that Gelath could even do at this point.
Upon blocking one of the young boy’s stronger attacks, Gelath managed to kick Cypher in the chest and sent him sprawling back a few steps. In that instant, he exhaled becoming visible once more. He then took a deep breath and closed his eyes. If the boy was tracking his position through eye contact, then Gelath would eliminate that problem altogether.
As Gelath became invisible once more, he retreated a few steps to gain some distance between himself and his young foe, a tactic he should have employed several moments ago. Gelath was no idiot. He knew now that the boy was keeping tabs on him by keeping his gaze on where his eyes were. As impossible a feat as that was, if the brat couldn’t see his eyes, then he’d also be unable to track Gelath any longer and that might open a chance for him to turn the tides in his favor.
However, the moment Gelath closed his eyes, he was completely blind. Even if he had opened them he wouldn’t have been able to see anything other than complete darkness. He had drawn the power of his invisibility completely out, and not even the keenest of eyes would be able to spot him now but that also meant that he too would be unable to see anything.
However, as Gelath retreated his foot unexpectedly got tangled up in one of the chair legs around the dining table, and he tripped backward. His heart skipped a beat in panic and his eyes shot open but saw nothing as he began to fall on his backside. He cursed his rotten luck. He had known that doing something like that was risky but what choice had he been left with?
Of course, this is what Cypher had been waiting for. Having pressed the man to the brink of frustration, he had expected him to try and weasel his way out of this sticky situation and attempt to retreat. To that end, Cypher had braced himself and allowed the kick to connect with his torso. He hadn’t known how Gelath would attack exactly, but given the situation, there was only a limited number of ways he could pull it off.
Cypher’s gamble had paid off but the pain was intense, and the wind was knocked out of his already exhausted lungs. Each breath was heavy, haggard, and burned at his windpipe. He knew that he needed to catch his breath, especially after a kick to his chest, but he didn’t let it slow him down one bit. He feigned falling off balance and at the moment that Gelath tried to retreat Cypher’s thoughts went into overdrive.
Gelath gasped as he fell back, revealing his flailing form to the world again. At that moment time seemed to slow to a crawl. Flushed with adrenaline Cypher knew that his moment had come. With a fearsome battle cry, Cypher drove his blade forward and then up as hard as he could. His blade soared through the empty air for only a moment until the very tip of his sword caught the silvery chain around Gelath’s neck. As the upward slash continued, it tore the necklace free and the spell of invisibility was ended.
The pendant soared through the air and clattered across the wooden dining table as Gelath fell on his ass. As he opened his eyes again, he was greeted with the tip of Cypher’s blade pressed firmly against his throat. Cypher was all but gasping for air after several minutes of non-stop attacks, but the battle was finally over.
With a look of disbelief, and against everything he had come to know, Gelath the Ghostly had lost.
