Chapter 385: An Opening Earned

Chapter 385: An Opening Earned

On Friday evening, the ram stood in the third recess from the south, its horns catching the grey light from the roof fissure.

Jin checked Glitch before sending him forward. Thursday’s glancing blow had left a mark on the avatar’s hindquarters, but he walked evenly, turned without favouring the leg, and braced when asked. Jin watched a second turn before accepting the result.

The broad stump stood slightly west of the court’s centre. Along its eastern side lay a clear charging lane. Glitch waited at the lane’s southern end, beside the stump’s southeast curve, fully visible from the north.

If he moved west, he could follow that curve around to the sheltered side. Jin traced the route, checking clearance for his hindquarters and tail. No rubble. No wall waiting behind him.

Flicker passed the recesses overhead. The ram stayed beneath its cover, watching her. When an Ember Shot struck the lip of the overhang, it merely stepped farther back.

Jin brought Glitch toward the recess, then had him withdraw across the open floor. The ram followed, lowered its head, and rushed him.

Glitch stepped clear. The ram stopped with its flank exposed and its head down, almost exactly as it had on Tuesday.

Jin’s thumb moved toward the attack command.

He stopped it.

Glitch waited. The ram swung round, horns sweeping through the space he would have entered, then snorted and backed toward shelter.

Jin let out the breath he’d been holding.

The next approach took longer. The ram stayed deep beneath the overhang until Glitch moved close enough to threaten it. Jin triggered a brief Draconic Dread, ready to retreat the moment it moved.

The ram flinched, scraping a horn against the roof. Then it came out stiff-legged and furious. At the edge of the recess, it hesitated with its left foreleg forward.

"Flicker. Left leg."

She swept across its front and fired at the exposed joint. Flame scattered through the thinner wool, making it jerk the leg back. A horn rose after her; she climbed away before the ram could rear beneath her.

Glitch had already withdrawn. Jin brought both avatars back toward the middle, keeping their routes apart.

He was beginning to feel pleased when he sent Glitch after the ram too soon.

It lashed out with both hind legs. The hooves struck his chest plating hard enough to rock him backward.

[Avatar Condition — Glitch: 76%]

Jin pulled him clear, jaw clenched. He’d been watching the injured leg so closely that he’d forgotten what the other two could do.

He waited until Glitch had room to approach from the side.

On the next rush, the ram passed him at an angle. Glitch’s claws raked the outside of its left foreleg before Jin withdrew him from the turning horns. The ram stumbled, recovered, and came after him again.

It was still faster than Jin liked. Glitch barely reached open ground before its head swept round.

Flicker crossed above them, drawing its attention long enough for him to retreat. She landed on the broad stump while Jin checked their positions. He gave her a short rest, watching the ram lick at the scorched wool around its leg.

They had hurt it. They had also given up plenty to do it.

Jin looked from the passage mouth to Glitch. If he had to withdraw, he wanted the drake moving before the ram blocked that route. He adjusted Flicker’s resting position to the southern edge of the stump, where she could leave without crossing another charge. She shuffled along the stone and settled, giving him a moment to loosen his cramped fingers.

The next few exchanges were awkward. Twice, the ram refused to leave cover. Once, Flicker abandoned a pass when it raised its head sooner than expected. Jin let the opportunity go rather than send her back through the horns.

Glitch caught the foreleg again as the ram turned toward her. This time his claws opened the skin. Flicker added another Ember Shot when it planted the same foot to pursue him.

The ram answered with a horn across Glitch’s shoulder and a shove that sent him skidding over the dusty floor.

[Avatar Condition — Glitch: 58%]

Jin wiped his thumb against his trousers.

The ram’s left foreleg was bleeding. It still charged, but its recovery had changed: it favoured the right leg when turning, taking an extra step before it could face them.

Glitch returned to the southeast curve of the stump. Jin checked his retreat again. He couldn’t afford another correction halfway through an attack.

Flicker flew toward the northern recesses and passed across their mouths. The ram followed beneath the overhang. She made another pass, then moved west into the open northern end, drawing it several strides from shelter before climbing.

It stopped following her and looked down the court.

Glitch stood plainly visible beside the stump, south of it and offset to the east. Between them stretched the clear lane. The ram began to walk toward him.

Jin watched its head lower. Its stride lengthened, the injured leg striking less firmly than the other but still carrying it forward.

There.

He waited until the charge had gathered speed, then sent Glitch around the stump’s southern curve. The drake moved west, his tail clearing the lane as the ram reached him.

It tried to follow. Its hooves scraped sideways, but the turn was too tight at that speed. It passed the stump’s eastern edge and began braking on the open floor beyond.

Glitch was now southwest of the stone, outside the ram’s path. Jin selected Gravity Press through his controls and placed the small patch where its forefeet were coming down.

The injured left leg took the extra load during the braking step. It buckled.

The ram dropped onto that knee and slewed sideways, exposing its right flank toward Glitch. Jin released the pressure before sending him forward.

"Flicker. Across its face."

She approached from the east, crossing beyond the horns. The ram lifted its head toward her, trying to follow, while Glitch closed from the other side.

Rending Dragon Claw struck behind its right shoulder.

The ram cried out and struggled upright. Its damaged foreleg folded again, leaving it half-turned as Glitch drove into its exposed side. He struck for the neck before it could bring the horns around.

A forehoof caught him across the jaw. His head snapped back, and Jin almost ordered a retreat. Then he saw the ram gathering its sound legs beneath it.

He kept Glitch at its shoulder, away from the horns, and called Flicker through another distracting pass. Glitch struck again. The ram heaved, dragged itself a little way across the stone, and finally went still.

[Ironhorn Ram — defeated]

[Avatar Condition — Glitch: 41%]

Jin leaned against the stable wall. Glitch lay breathing hard beside the carcass. Flicker landed on the stump, wings slightly spread, and looked down at him.

Both alive. Jin checked her too; tired, but none of the close passes had caught her.

[Pillar Court — Ironhorn Ram: complete]

[Reward: 70,000 Coins]

[Materials: Ironhorn Segment ×1, Ironhorn Hide (usable) ×2]

He gave Glitch time to rise, then brought them down the south passage at his pace. Only when they reached the familiar corridor did Jin look properly at the reward.

The horn and hides went into storage beside the eight scutes and four Seepstone Clusters from the Weeping Gallery. Appraisal and manifestation costs could wait until he had a use for them.

First came the purchase he’d wanted to make since Tuesday.

[Purchase: Life ×1 — 10,000 Coins]

[Life: 4 → 5]

He relaxed a little at the restored number. That left sixty thousand from tonight’s reward. He put half toward the family goal and kept the other half available for Engine expenses, entering both amounts in his notes.

Family: 40,000 / 10,000,000 Coins.

Engine expenses: +30,000 from the ram.

Forty thousand was still a very small part of ten million. But it was more than he’d had on Tuesday, and he’d replaced what the failed attempt cost him.

Behind him, the real Glitch shifted in the straw. Flicker woke on her perch when Jin stood, following his hand toward the feed cupboard.

"A small one," he told her.

She was on his wrist before he’d finished opening it.