<h4>Chapter 294: Arrow of Fate</h4>


    Kat didn''t waste any time at all. Taking everything she learned from the bandit encounter, Kat waited for the moment the first disciple stepped in to attack her and took that as her signal to start returning the favour. Kat''s mind flew into overdrive, and she stepped in past the oing sword, before coating the disciple in energy and smashing him away. Kat then got to work on the rest.


    As she wove in between figures, Kat could see them all starting to glow. They were trying their best to catch her, but really, they were just swinging wildly. Their eyes could only spot Kat''s movements, not keep up with them in any meaningful way. They were just barelypetent enough to avoid striking anywhere near each other, so Kat didn''t bother with anythingplicated and just struck them in turn.


    Halfway through, her rampage, she had a trick she wanted to try. Kat touched the t edge of the sword de belonging to the closest attacker and tried to make the energy film cover the entire disciple. Kat smiled when she saw that it worked and started striking the swords instead. *Nice. I mean… it makes sense because I was just covering their clothes before, but I hadn''t really thought that would work after the fence coating failed to cover the ground. I wonder what makes it different.*


    Kat didn''t dwell on that thought for long though, and simply finished taking out the disciples surrounding her. When time returned to a normal state, Kat let out a breath and watched the disciples all fly away. To her surprise though, all of the disciples that had been struck on their sword, had their weapons shatter as they flew backwards.


    *Um… what? How does that work? I have to assume that it''s because the energy from the strike isn''t perfectly distributed… which actually makes more sense than it magically spreading things out perfectly… I suppose I just kind of assumed because it was magic it would work in the way I was thinking.*


    Kat''s further musings would be cut short though, as eight of her attackers started to stand back up. There were also one or two more she could tell were awake, but both were missing swords and seemed very afraid, so she chose to put them out of her mind. "Oh? Seems you''re a bit stronger than we gave you c-credit for" said the same disciple who spoke to her before trying to sound anything other thanpletely terrified.


    *Well shit. How hard am I meant to hit these guys?* Kat looked around, and of the people still standing, five had swords, and three did not. It didn''t seem like the different striking areas actually made a difference. *I mean sure, five have swords and three don''t but those two groaning in the corner are missing swords and probably could fight me if they didn''t look quite so scared.*


    "Can''t you just stay down? It would be easier for all of us" said Kat


    The discipleughed, perhaps trying to sound confident, but the slight cracking of his voice as he did so, betrayed him. "You can''t do that often I''m sure. It would be an extremely high level technique to both use without amand and without bacsh"


    Kat quirked an eyebrow and checked her energy levels. *Nope, I''m pretty good actually. Taking the whole lot of them out only cost me… well I''m down about one sixth maybe a bit less than that, but I did have to sprint here at full speed first so, honestly I''ll count that as quite good.* Kat suppressed a wince. *Though that does mean I was ridiculously bad at managing my energy for the bandit fight, like truly horrible.*


    The leading disciple smirked, and Kat had a moment of confusion as he took that chance to signal the charge. What Kat didn''t realise, is that she didn''t quite manage to suppress her wincepletely, and they had interpreted that as an admission of weakness on her part, signalling that the disciple had been correct in his guesses.


    Of course, they werepletely wrong. Despite the slightly better-timed attacks, intended to limit Kat''s options of attacking… they were so close together that it was simple for her to strike them all once again, focusing on their swords if possible, before moving on to the three that had charged her with their fists.


    Just as Kat went in to strike the final person, Kat caught a glimmer of light in the corner of her eye. Jumping back, Kat jumped back not a moment too soon, as in the ce she was standing was a shining arrow that exploded when it hit the ground. Of course, the disciple she was next to ended up going flying… but now she had bigger problems.


    *Must be the guy from the roof.* And, as if summoned, said guy jumped down "Hmm, it appears you are a bit more trouble than those younglings can handle, you shall now face me, Li Hong"


    Said Li Hong stood tall. His white robes decorated with silver mes around the edges, and a bow and arrow embroidered on either shoulder. He looked older than the others, but not by that much. His bow was more impressive. It waspletely silver, and looked to be made of some sort of metallic bone. Despite this… there was only one thing on Kat''s mind.


    *Why the hell does a BOWMAN get CLOSER to the enemy and then state their name? I mean… what? Who does that?*


    "Ah… ok?" said Kat confused


    "Are you not going to state your name?" asked Li Hong


    "Um… I''m Kat? And I''m trying to figure out what you are doing?" replied Kat sounding as confused as she felt.


    "What do you mean? I have found you a worthy opponent, and as such I am giving you the honour of knowing my name, and I yours before we engage inbat" said Li Hong.


    *Right… but wouldn''t it be better to… oh I dunno… keep attacking me from a distance? Someone please exin… I… do I just ask him? Bugger it, why not.*


    "I''m trying to work out why you jumped down closer to me when you use a bow?" asked Kat


    "Well, it is only right that I introduce myself to a worthy opponent. Do you have no concept of honour?" asked Li Hong taken aback.


    *Well, I mean, that''s a hard question. I''m not sure? I never really thought I needed honour… and if having honour turns me into an idiot like you I don''t think I want it… but…* "I don''t see how honour dictates that a bowman should get closer to a fist fighter?" said in a questioning tone.


    Li Hong''s mouth fell open looking stunned, as if the idea had never even urred to him. Perhaps it hadn''t, but instead of answering him, he shot another arrow at Kat. It wasn''t as fast as the first one, and a lot less glowing, so she just bent backwards and let it sail over her head. *Dunno if I should… but I think it''s funnier if I do.* "If you like honour so much why did you attack me during a conversation?" asked Kat


    Well, Li Hong didn''t seem to like that at all. His face scrunched up, and he pulled back on his bow despite not having an arrow knocked. "Piercing arrow of me''s fate" shouted the archer.


    All of a sudden, a glowingnce of light appeared on his bow. Drawing it back, even further Li Hong released the projectile, and as soon as it left the bow. The entire thing started to glow with golden mes. The issue was. It was still really slow, even slower than the previous arrow. Kat very purposefully took arge step to the side, and watched it sail past.


    Kat watched the arrow with some amusement as it went through the area that she was just standing in… until the arrow turned around and came back, now angled slightly differently so that it would pass through where Kat was now standing. *Oh shit, is that a homing arrow.* Kat danced to the side once again, not using any energy to see if she could eek out a little more regeneration before fighting this guy just in case.


    However, it seemed she was a little cocky, as after stepping out the way, right as the arrow past the space Kat once upied, it exploded, showering her in golden mes that seemed to cling to her clothes and tried to burn her skin. Shit. Kat couldn''t feel any heat from the mes, but she did feel them eating into her skin as her regeneration worked to counter them.


    ring her own fire up, Kat was bathed in purple mes, for a brief moment to chase away the gold, before sucking the energy back in. *Dammit. That was a bit of a waste. Now I actually am down a bit of energy. Should have just run away more, or led it straight back at the archer dammit.*