'A kick... he kicked me!' Shiro exclaimed as she drilled into the ground face-first. She sounded like a beast, as she was straightforward and saw weapons in their primitive forms.
A bow and an arrow were meant to be used together.
An archer was to only release arrows.
She'd come to terms with fantasy skills, such as releasing many arrows simultaneously. But more than that, particularly what Jake had revealed to the world so far, was utterly unacceptable to her.
Jake's kick, therefore, turned Shiro furious.
'He's not letting me adapt to him! He studied me much better than I did him,' Shiro thought as she detached herself from the ground.
She used her katana to pull herself up before entering her guard form immediately.
Contorting her face at the abundance of arrows around her, Shiro noticed that Jake didn't waste any second. When she was immobilized, he created a new stage for himself.
'A full moon slash would eliminate all those arrows, but the price is too much!' Shiro's Full Moon Slash could erase everything around her and significantly damage enemies surrounding her. It was particularly satisfying to use that skill against many monsters!
In one versus one, the price was more expensive than the effects. Shiro would have leaned more toward this if it was possible to hit Archer with that skill as well.
Alas, he was keeping his distance from her.
"And you call yourself an archer?!" Shiro screamed as an arrow hurled her way. She cut it in half by increasing her katana's damage with a support skill.
Jake didn't fall into her verbal trap. He once again repeated The Ribbon Of Freedom, weaving himself around Shiro. It was a concept he had used against Shaw. This time, however, Jake had much easier means to pull himself above his opponents.
The Feather Step allowed him to pinpoint where he would get drawn.
He didn't need to click on an icon, either.
Jake's Joker Style was much stronger and annoying.
'She has an adaptation skill. Whatever it is, my goal is not to let her adapt fast enough to me. I'll keep increasing and lowering my arrows' speed and strength. I'll occasionally thrust my bow at her and even enter a melee combat with punches and kicks. Her chances must be significantly lowered!' Jake thought.
Though his plan sounded smart and perfect against Shiro, there was something Jake couldn't really 'lower' or 'increase' as he went at her.
That was The Perception.
Once Jake touched the ground with a light step, he suddenly felt a looming threat on him. It was like he was being pushed down by a cold hand.
Pulling himself higher through The Feather Step, Jake avoided Shiro's slash at hair-breadth. He looked down at her, seeing her straightening herself after the failed assail.
A crescent slash remained in the air, telling Jake that he would have sustained many health points had he gotten hit by her. She wouldn't have let him go, either.
Jake narrowed his eyes. 'She's the core of her team, alright. This must have been The Perception. She adapted to it and could follow me to the next location right away. This limits my angles. If this keeps up, she will be right at my tail... or before me!'
Jake could no longer be as reckless around Shiro as he wanted. He was severely limited on the ground, while the skies were now his best allies.
Pointing his palm at a tree, Jake used The Feather Step to enter the forest's canopy.
Sneering, Shiro stared at him fleeing. "I didn't even hit you, yet you're taking such precautions?! You're worse than I thought, Archer!"
She ran after him.
"Shiro!" A ninja man shouted at her through the voice chat, "You don't have to follow him in there!"
"Shut up!" Shiro replied. "I'll kill him in his environment! I can see what he's planning even from here!"
It was her typical behavior.
He knew what it meant to be obsessed over something.
He understood her so well... that he hated her.
Jake took a step forward, plummeting to the forest floor.
Upon a soft landing, he released the arrow.
It was fast, heavy, and decisive. It flew in such a straight course that it seemed only a speed was a problem. Shiro was confident in taking it onto her blade and defeating it.
But when the arrow was close, it suddenly curved down, avoiding her slash and drilling into her right eye!
"Ahhhhhh!" Shiro cried. 'His arrow changed the trajectory! He didn't do that before!'
Death's Lock evolution and its new passive skill—Hunger—allowed Jake to change that trajectory near the finish line.
The prerequisites were different for each target.
In Shiro's case, however, Jake saw so many available trajectories on her. It was because he understood her so damn well that he could do that without fighting her for too long.
Jake increased the damage to his arrow with The Feather Step as well.
He stared at her. "You repulse me. Your obsession... I will devour it and evolve."
Shiro gazed back at him.
She didn't utter a word.
For the first time in her career, someone had made her silent.
Jake's words were the cause of that change.
It hit something within Shiro. She couldn't tell what it was but swore not to lose against this guy.
Even if her eye was gone, she could still fight.
"Disappointing," Shiro whispered.
Jake sneered. "You've been disappointing so far. Try harder."
Shiro suddenly disappeared.
Like a ghost, she appeared in front of him.
She thrust her katana into Jake's stomach and pinned him to the tree.
[You have lost 610 HP!]
[A severe bleeding has been applied!]
[-100 HP!]
"There's no going back, Joker," Shiro said, "You can't devour my obsession nor get rid of yours. Our brains are so nuts that there's no hope for us. I'll completely overwhelm you so that you understand what I mean. I'll destroy your archery, so you will have no choice but to be more obsessed about it! No one will enter your eyes. All you do soon will be only for archery!
And then we will meet in the future, where I will destroy your stronger archery again."
"Someone... refuses to change... huh..." Jake whispered as a streak of blood dripped off his lips.
"Someone believes he can change," Shiro whispered.