The Daughter of Cursed Steel Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Blood and Earth

Read chapter 37 of The Daughter of Cursed Steel by Ashfell on NovelPedia.

Chapter 37: Blood and Earth After the clash, Rachel pulled back as she took a second to catch her breath. Well, it looks like he's done messing around and is taking me seriously now. I just better be more cautious. Then Rachel noticed something. Why does my sword feel heavier? She turned to look at her blade and saw that, right where Garek had grasped it, a chunk of stone was attached to the sword. Rachel swung her blade quickly, trying to get the stone to come off, but it was latched on tightly. Before Rachel could try anything else, Garek was already charging at her once more, his palm stretched outward. Oh, forget it, Rachel thought. I can't deal with this right now. Ignoring the extra weight on her blade, Rachel swung at Garek's incoming palm strike, his earth-covered hand and her massive sword colliding once more. The moment they connected, Garek gripped the blade again as hard as he could, holding it in place and stopping Rachel's momentum as he slowly slid backward. As he gripped her sword tightly, his other hand pulled back, preparing to strike. But before he attacked, he called out the name of the spell. "Earth Blade." A giant blade of earth burst forward, forming an earthen blade attached directly to his wrist. As he thrust his cocked-back arm forward, aiming to take Rachel's head, she tried to pull away, but his grip on her sword was far too tight. Rachel quickly called out, "Blood Barrier!" She knew she would not be able to escape in time after already trying to pull away. A barrier of blood formed around her face. The earthen blade slammed into it, but unlike before, the barrier was beginning to crack under the force of the attack. Rachel pulled hard, and her sword finally came free. She didn't escape unscathed, however. The earthen blade may have missed her head, but as she backed away, Garek managed to angle it enough to catch her left shoulder. The blade sliced straight through the armor, cutting all the way down her arm to the back of her wrist. The entire left arm section of her armor collapsed to the ground, leaving her arm bloodied. As she backed away, blood poured from the wound, but the cursed armor immediately took care of it. Blood filled the inside of her arm, stopping the wound from bleeding any further as it plugged the injury. Rachel went to lift her sword, readying herself for another strike, when she realized it felt even heavier now. She looked down. Where Garek had gripped the blade, an even larger chunk of earth was attached to it. This time, Rachel didn't want to look away. That moment of distraction had caught her off guard before, and Garek was already continuing his assault. So she simply endured the weight and held her sword ready. As Garek prepared his next attack and a second earth blade started to form on his other gauntlet, he stared at her and allowed himself a slight smirk. Good. Hopefully this stupid brat continues to ignore the extra weight. All I have to do is sit back and wait for her to waste all her stamina. From the way she was breathing during our exchanges, I don't think she'll last much longer. Not while she's swinging around that sword with all that extra weight. But little did he know, all the training Rachel went through to increase her endurance and stamina over the past years, constantly pushing her body to its limits and beyond. Garek then charged forward with an earthen blade on each of his gauntlets as he started swinging them in a flurry at Rachel, working to tire her out as quickly as possible. Rachel dodged and blocked every attack she could while dealing with the extra weight on her blade as the flurry of attacks continued. During this back-and-forth, Garek cast a spell. "Rock." Rachel glanced around, but she did not see what he cast. Still, she stayed cautious. Then Garek went all out, using his massive strength and the weight of his armor to force her back until it happened. Rachel went to take a step back, but her heel caught a rock on the ground behind her.