Chapter 44 Why?

Chapter 44 Why?
Maerik lifted his hands but Rylan was fast, faster than he'd ever anticipated and although Maerik's shift might have reduced the force of impact, the attack hit with enough intensity to fling his head side, he stumbled backwards, a definite concussion coming along but was able to stable himself when his back met the wooden surface of the cabin. Settled, he turned his attention back to Rylan but he was out of his sight, his heart thumped with a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time ‘Excitement’ as he searched for Rylan. Nothing left, nothing right, He hadn't reached a mastery level of Arkana that he'd be able to sense others without it consuming the entirety of his focus.

“Where the fuck is h—” The thought was interrupted as the ground beneath him shattered and once again he lost his footing, but all he could focus on was the cause. Rylan had thrusted out of the ground, hand stretched and fist clenched.
Rylan understood early that fighting him on even ground would be impossible, Maerik was bigger and definitely stronger but that was the thing, He was a power type, without his footing he was nothing more than a big target. The attacks had been a setup to prepare for this. The first attack failed and the second attack wasn't a complete success but it served a purpose, creating a pattern, conditioning him to think there would be a third straightforward attack which allowed him to hide beneath the crawl space and attack in a way Maerik wouldn't anticipate. The realization was a minute too late though, Rylan's fist connected with his jaw, lifting him and sending him crashing through the wooden door, the sound traveled from the singular into the quiet forest.
The players that had been inside immediately rushed out.

“Maerik!” Dravy exclaimed, his gaze shifting from Maerik to Rylan, without pause, he pulled out his blades, skipped over Maerik and dove straight at Rylan. Evasion wasn't an option. I have to put an end to this now.’ Rylan thought as he readied himself for Dravy's attack but Dravy surprised him. The second his feet touched the ground, he spun the tip of his blade and threw it straight at Rylan's head, with wide eyes Rylan lifted his arms to block and the blade without resistance, sunk into him like his body was made of butter, The bite was unmistakable as blood dripped down his punctured forearm but Rylan gritted his teeth and held his ground. Dravy ran forward and swiped his blade, Rylan weaved backwards dodging the attack but still earning a small cut on his cheek, he took a calculated step backwards and thought about his options. His dominant hand was injured, Dravy was still in perfect condition, it wasn't like he had knocked out Maerik so he couldn't count him out yet, not to forget the other players still inside and Peter. He was outnumbered, there was not a way out of this but he wouldn't roll over and accept defeat. He hadn't expected Maerik to have the same mentality as Jakob but since they did what could he—His thoughts were cut short when he felt Dravy stomp on his foot, holding him in place, He threw an uncoordinated punch that missed as Dravy went down and swept him off his feet, he fell backwards, through the hole he had created but before his body touched the ground, Dravy held unto his shirt and pressed a blade against his neck with consistently increasing pressure, blood fell off the steel and he could feel the warmth of the liquid staining the fabric of his cloth.
Rylan's heart was beating frantically as he thought of a way of this but there was none, he was going to die here, on the porch of some abandoned cabin in the middle of a forest. He threw a desperate punch but all Dravy had to do was tilt his head and Rylan missed, A smile curved Dravy's lips as he began to increase the pressure, with every bit of increase, his smile grew until. Rylan's eyes erratically searched for something that could help, something that would help him win this fight but there was nothing. In a battle of strength, Dravy had the upper hand, even if he could somehow manage to pull off Dravy's arm despite his wound, all Dravy would need to do is be a second faster and he would end up on his knees, suffocating and choking on his own blood.

“Stop.” The order was soft, followed by heavy footsteps. Maerik appeared. “Let him go.” There was no response, just a shared look as Maerik placed a hand on Dravy's shoulder and gently pulled him back. He let out a defeated sigh then removed his blade and pulled Rylan back before wiping off the blood and walking back into the cabin without another word. Rylan fell to his knees, rubbing against his neck and breathing in lungfuls of air.

Maerik crouched down to meet Rylan's gaze. “I'm sorry, I did not think my actions through.” sympathy thick in every word that left his mouth.

Rylan stared for a minute before taking in one more breath and rising to his feet, he dusted himself off and Maerik followed suit. “Why!?” Rylan hissed.

“??”

“Did you just piss me off to get my reaction or was there a point to this?” Rylan said, voice hoarse, anger barely restrained in his tone, a fist clenched at his side and the other gently rubbing against his throat as he stared at Maerik with less than friendly eyes.

Maerik didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by Rylan's glare, and simply acted like all he did was make his grip a little too tight during a handshake. “I was curious and I let my curiosity get the better of my manners. There was probably a better way to get the answers out of you, but I wanted to see.”

“See what?” Rylan asked as his body temperature began to drop and mind began to calm.

“I wanted to see if the reason you haven't grown was because in the end all you were was a talented gamer. But you beat me and managed to hold your own against someone as skilled as Dravy. I see now, You're talented. Period. So I'm going to do what I should have done from the beginning. Ask, why
have you not grown?”