Chapter 313 - 313. Brains For Brawn

" Awe, that's cute. You have jokes now. But those won't help you win. You already know what my other tails do, but now, I have another." nine tails was still arrogant. However, she had marked Jane as her shifter rival in the school. The simple fact was that Jane and nine tails were some of the only shifters that were pursuing hero work. 

"Oh, I heard. I have kept an ear out for gossip and annoyances. It makes sense that you would unlock some dinosaur tail. It fits your personality." Nine tails wasn't sure if this was really insulting or not. It did feel like she had just been slapped though. 

"Whatever, I saw your match and I know your super power. I won't be beaten at all this time. Nothing can stop me." Nine tails was already starting to shift. "I am going all out and I don't even care if it gets me a bad grade." 

The shift that was taking over and nine tails was losing her feminine charm. The ancient looking lizard like skin was not just plain colored like any lizard in a zoo. It was bright orange with green and brown striations along it. There were sharp looking scaled that protruded from her back and she had lost the founders she had before. They had been replaced by heavy looking elephant legs. 

However, Nine tails still stood. The tails she had came together in to one longer lizard tail. The same scaled spikes protruding from it until it reached the end. The end had a heavy bone and scale like hammer shape on it that Jane knew could crush stone in one slam. The only other thing to note were the fact that nine tails had gained large yellow eyes that looked ideal for taking in large areas. 

There was a problem though, like some lizards there were two sets of eye lids on the large yellow eyes. One set that fully closed and another clear set. These clear eyelids were enough to block some light and make things blurry. They were nothing in place to keep eyes out for predators and also keep the eye balls hydrated. Jane knew immediately from basic biology classes that this was bad news for her super power. She couldn't stop nine tails in place like other opponents. 

Jane knew that she wouldn't be able to handle this but she also knew that if she shifted now she would be at a severe disadvantage the rest of the tournament. Especially when she had to face someone from her group. 

The growl that came from nine tails was the prelude to her charge. Jane was barely able to dodge her and the swipe of a tail that followed. The thud of the tail hitting the ground was enough t shake the floor and attract looks from nearby students. Their matches may have been important but they couldn't help but watch the shifters battle it out. 

Jane was sure that the hard lizard skin would not be easy to damage and that the best method to beat Nine tails was to wear her down. She appeared to have lost intelligence when she shifted in to this form in exchange for raw power and defense. "You gave up your voice just to get uglier? Ha!" Jane was taunting her on purpose and received the response she wanted. 

Nine tails lashed out over and over causing the ground to shake even more. This had to be burning a lot of energy besides the fact that it was causing many people to stumble and fall during their own matches. The only reason Jane was able to endure it without faulting was the fact that she often slipped and tripped during training. She knew it was a hazard of being around Asher but accepted it with grace. She would never abandon someone for such a petty reason. 

"Keep it coming! If you weren't so slow I might actually feel you trying to hit me!" Jane was taunting Nine tails so much that she was constantly running side to side along the ring. Nine tails was occasionally slamming in to the barrier which pushed her back and drained even more energy. 

Jane rand and slid on her knees to avoid the larger slings because they would aim for her head every single time. It was a cruel attack but one that was easy to see coming. She had not realized that Nine tails held such cruel intentions towards her after the camp sparring match incident where Jane almost lost herself completely during her shift. This was the opposite instance. 

As they battled against each other more, Jane was able to keep her speed up while Nine tails was slowing down. It was an obvious sign of the massive amount of energy being burned to maintain such a powerful physical shift. 

Seeing the proper opportunity, Jane began to land palm hits on Nine tails as she dodged. These weren't enough to do a lot of damage but if Jane were to punch she would risk hurting her hand too much. Therefore, her goal was to use the palm strikes to cause discomfort and bruising. This would hasten the bringing of energy and leave her as the victor. 

To this end, Jane moved in and increased her taunting. She dodged at the last moment letting Nine tails slam in to the barrier one last time. This was the hardest hit yet and it caused Nine tails to stumble back. "So, five tails. Think you can still go?" Jane knew all too well that the answer was no. Nine tails was shrinking back in to her normal five tailed form. She was completely knocked out and panting heavily.

"Please send over a nurse. My opponent is exhausted." Jane felt unsteady as she said this but knew that she needed to slow her own breathing and stretch her aching legs. Se felt as if she had just run a marathon. As she looked at the clock she realized that she had been dodging and running side to side for twenty minutes. She was the only one left still in a match and a great number of students had come over to watch. One being Asher who had been nearby yet again. 

When the nurse came and the barrier came down Asher moved quickly to Janes' side. "I can't help you but I can let you lean on my shoulder." He smirked a little as Jane obliged and leaned on him to scratch, He had been impressed with the strategy Jane had used and would tell her later. Dor now, he was just going to be there when he was needed. 

"There was no announcement, do you think I did alright?" Jane was a little worried that there had not been an announcement of her victory. She looked at Asher for support which he readily gave. 

"I don't think they do when it is so obvious. You were strategically wearing her down until she was unconscious. It was the only strategy and you even added to it by taunting and baiting her against the barrier. Not many people have been smart enough to use the barrier like that, I have had an eye out." Asher was sure that this had gotten Jane a huge amount of bonus points. He would have given them to her as soon as she had successfully used the barrier as her strategy. 

"Good. I wouldn't know what to do if I went through all that effort not to use my shifted form only to lose right there." Jane was wiping sweat from her brow now that she was relaxed enough to realize just how much she had worked herself. 

"Guys...Sammy might kill me after the test." Jackson was pale and looked mortified. Asher and Jane could only wonder what had happened. 

"She was put against me and I was afraid to attack her. So she attacked first and she used her wind against me but it was too weak to move me. So I just powered through and used the leg sweep you showed me after blocking a punch. Then I pinned her using the head lock Art showed me. Amnd then she told me she would crush me next match at training…" Jackson knew that he had won because he had been practicing the basics religiously while studying his flash cards. However, that did not mean he was any less afraid of Sammy. 

"Dude, you're totally dead." Asher pretended to mourn Jacksons' future loss. 

Jane couldn't help but play along and tease Jackson as well. "Oh no, the last time she said something like that...well. You wouldn't know about the member of the group that didn't make it…" Jane looked away pretending to let a tear fall down her face. She was taking perfect use of the sweat falling from her face. 

"What? No wait, I don't want to leave the group. Don't let her throw me away in a tornado! Please!" Jackson took what they said hook line and sinker making the two burst in to laughter and nearly fall to the floor.. They couldn't resist the look of disbelief on Jackson's face after and laughed even harder.