Chapter 52: It’s Time
Dale didn’t know the mechanics of the doll nor did he care to. All that mattered was that it was charging at him.
He planted his right foot firmly into the ground and gripped the arm of the doll. Without wasting a breath, he spun around it.
The saber in his left hand flashed with bright orange lightning, unleashing a bolt of thunder as thick as an arm.
The doll churned and a hole opened in its midsection, letting the lightning bolt pass through without any damage to its structure.
It twisted its arm out of Dale’s grip and jumped back.
Dale watched as it crouched with one leg out and spread out with both of its wooden sabers. It was perfectly duplicating his battle stance.
"How troublesome." He groaned as the wooden construct rushed in again.
This time, however, it planted its foot into the ground, twisting around Dale and thrusting both sabers forward.
Dale bent over backwards, aiming his sabers for the blades.
The two clashed in a flurry of sparks. With every move Dale performed, the doll soon countered and imitated it with perfect accuracy.
"Very troublesome." He jumped, swinging down with both sabers, and at the same time, the doll swung its blades up.
There was a loud clatter as the sabers collided, sending both of them sliding back.
Dale turned his attention to his wrists. The joints there were already getting numb.
It would be foolish if he ended up with a horrible rank just because he refused to stop training the day before.
Despite knowing this, he took on his stance once more and proceeded to use the first weapon skill.
He dashed around the room in a blur, lightning coating him. Everything under his gaze slowed to a crawl as he easily weaved around the attacks of the doll.
But much to amazement — and admittedly fright — the speed of the doll seemed to actively increase until it managed to keep up with him.
They continued their dance all around the dojo, flashing around in a kaleidoscope of orange flashes and bright sparks.
’How is it even producing sparks?’ It didn’t make any sense to Dale how the collision of wood and metal produced sparks.
The doll spun about its torso, swinging its sabers like a magical blender and Dale barely managed to flip above the construct.
Without hesitation, he slammed his fist into its face and used [Energy Pulse] twice in quick succession.
He landed, spinning on his heels and immediately putting distance between the two of them.
Dale watched the doll as it remained stationary for a good minute. He at least hoped for the life of him that it wouldn’t imitate his ability.
That would be bad for more than one reason.
Alas, things hardly ever worked out for people like him. The doll creaked as it started to move its joints once more.
Its head snapped to Dale and its body turned section by section and in turn until it completely faced Dale.
The sabers retracted back into its body and a ripple went through it. It closed its hands and opened them slowly.
Its eyes went down to its arms, then to its body then to Dale.
A crack suddenly appeared and ran through its face. It spread, widening until it formed a mouth.
Dale watched in horror as it seemed more lifelike than ever before yet he didn’t move. Somehow, curiosity had wormed its way into his heart.
The doll’s mouth widened as it let out a mighty ear-piercing shriek that sounded like metal grinding against itself. Dale covered his ears but it did little to help.
He watched as its mouth hole started to close despite its continuous shriek. Its face returned to being a blank slate.
Then it paused once more and took on Dale’s stance, losing the air of self-awareness it had just had.
Dale’s mind couldn’t stop racing as he also took his stance. ’Just what was that? Is it because of my ability skill?’
He wondered what would happen if he gave it a few more pulses. Would it fully gain consciousness and more importantly, would it continue to attack him?
’I will make sure I try it out later.’ That was obvious but he would only do so in the company of his friends so that in the possibility that it aimed for him, they would help him destroy it.
Dale nodded and coated himself with lightning, dashing forward. He spun about his left foot, thrusting the sabers to release two large lightning bolts.
He made sure to do this before the construct could react.
The two electrical attacks superimposed and became as thick as a tree trunk.
Just as before, the doll created a hole in its chest but the attack was so much bigger this time and set the inside of the doll ablaze.
If it were a human, they would have been focused on whatever damage they sustained... the doll wasn’t human.
It covered the remaining distance between them. Dale swung his sabers and it sucked, stretching out its arm.
His eyes widened in horror as it gripped his forearm. There was absolutely no way it would.
A wave of energy coursed through the limb but failed to do anything other than stimulate the nerve endings there.
Dale nearly passed out from relief. It seemed as though the wooden doll could only imitate the basics of abilities but not the actual effect.
’It would probably be for the best either way.’ He couldn’t imagine that such a thing could exist. Not only would it be a security nightmare but conflicts would change drastically.
And that wasn’t even considering the feeling of a lack of uniqueness it would cause to all ability users.
Dale put the thought aside and resumed his offence.
***
A loud bang boomed through the hall where they slept. Dale groaned and placed the pillow over his head.
He felt like he hadn’t slept at all... because he hadn’t. It had barely been ten minutes when Dale entered his bed.
’I am not at fault. Who the hell makes such a loud noise at this time?’ He forced himself to raise his head and he paled.
General Malcolm was standing there. "Good morning. It’s time."
