Matthew grabs the handle of his sword and prepares himself for the battle. "Phantom, he's a wereboar, they are extremely resistant to physical attacks. That explains why i never seen him get injured before. You will need magic to hurt him." Matthew closes his eyes and takes one last deep breath wishing he still had the power of water with him. His eyes snapped open and he rushes toward the The Sovereign wereboar. Nolan having fought matthew in the past knew what to expect. He started spinning his hammer in preparation. Just as matthew got within range, Nolan swung horizontally aiming to crush Matthew’s body in one swing. Matthew ducks under the hammer and slashes at the wereboars leg. Nolan smirks as looks down at his unharmed leg. "That won't work. In my true form I'm more resistant than ever, not to mention stronger too." Then Nolan slams starfall down with all his might. Matthew barely rolls out of the way. The ground beneath the two collapsed several feet. Mid fall matthew kicks off one of the bigger rocks and attempts to slice Nolan's throat. Just like before his blade makes full contact but fails to leave a mark. Nolan reaches down and grabs Matthew's leg before he can back away. The wereboar throats Matthew with all his might away from him. Matthew flips mid air and gets himself ready to spring off of a tree from the throw. As Matthew’s feet make contact with the tree he prepares to launch himself back at Nolan. Instead the pressure from the throw was to strong. His ankles snap under the pressure. The wereboar seeing his opportunity whirled the massive meteorite head of Starfall once before releasing it. The hammer flew with the silent, deadly grace of a thrown artillery shell.

  ?Matthew saw it coming, but with both his ankles broke, he couldn't move let alone evade. It slammed into the thick trunk of an oak tree, the hammer crushing his entire torso against the wood with a sickening finality. He slumped, motionless and bloody, half-buried in the shattered bark.

  ?Phantom screamed, a sound ripped from her chest, and rushed to him. She fell to her knees, careless of the danger, sobbing uncontrollably. The sight of Matthew, the Flowing Blade Saint who had given her mastery, reduced to a mangled mess, shattered her reserve. Phantom thinks about what matthew said, she needs magic to actually hurt him. She reaches into her stash and quickly equips her bow glove and quiver. She pulls back the arrow and let's it go. Nolan doesn't even bother moving. The arrows just bounce off him like paper balls. Phantom drops her arms remembering she chose a barrier ability. The arrows won't be useful with that. She drops to her knees next to matthew feeling like she has lost yet again.

  ?Nolan, being fully transformed into the towering, muscle-bound Wereboar, watched, his gold-flecked eyes narrowed in satisfaction. He remained still, enjoying the sight of the weak human woman consumed by sorrow, thinking she would be even easier to kill than Matthew.

  ?A moment passed, punctuated only by Phantom's gasping sobs. Her thoughts a dark spiral of negativity. She was suppose to be the hero. Good people wasnt suppose to die around her. I didn't even get the chance to save him. Then, the sound abruptly stopped.

  ?Phantom went utterly silent. She didn't turn around, but her shoulders squared. "I saw what you tried to do with the hammer," her voice was low, strained, and dangerous. "Since I was properly trained by Matthew, I saw what you were doing wrong."

  ?She stood up without turning, her eyes fixed on Nolan's massive weapon resting on the ground. "It’s all about momentum and going with the flow. Every time you would use your body to slow it down when switching sides instead of keeping it going. You failed to keep the momentum going and increase the speed. You didn't flow with your weapon. Instead you resisted its tug on you to dance."

  Phantom bent down and lifted the colossal Starfall Hammer with one hand. It felt lighter than expected, considering its size. Phantom looked at the weapon, a single thought replayed in her head. I will avenge you no matter what. ?Nolan’s feral jaw dropped, his confidence cracking as he watched Phantom pick up his heavy weapon with one hand.

  ?She heard the rush of wind in her mind, a synthesized voice cutting through her rage: Passive Bow Skill Activated. Desperate Measures Secret Condition Met: Face down an enemy with higher base stats than yourself. Skill bonus activated, stats temporarily doubled.

  ?A violent surge of adrenaline and raw energy erupted from her core, tightening her muscles to impossible rigidity. The She let out a laugh—a sound that was half sob, half battle cry—that was entirely unhinged. Nolan recoiled, seeing the enormous, immediate boost in her power.

  ?"I had issues with the greatsword because of the handle, not the weight," Phantom finished her sentence, giving the massive hammer a twirl around her hand. It spun at impossible speed, creating localized gusts of wind that blew back dirt and made the grass dance. Without stopping the rotation, she switched it behind her back to the other hand and kept the spinning momentum going. "You compared a fallen star to a rock, what an insult to the weapon. In the right hands Starfall will have the power of a shooting star."

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Phantom charged in not giving Nolan time to process the threat. Nolan temporarly stunned by the sight in front of him, gets caught off gaurd. Nolan only has time to bring up his arms to brace for the incoming attack. Starfall crashes into his forearms with the power of a meteor. The attack launches him miles through the woods, breaking trees in his path as he is sent flying. As his momentum is slowed by the breaking of trees. Phantom catches up and delivers another powerful blow launching him through the woods again. The wereboar being a victim to the force applied upon him. Had no choice but to take hit after hit, as he made trails of broken trees. His rage built and built as he was unable to do anything to his opponent that was much faster than him. Then he realized something. This speed and power she is using. She can't keep it up forever. These attacks are annoying but they dont really hurt. Without any magic she can't kill me. Finally the assault stops as his body slams into a cliff side, leaving his full body impression. Nolan groans with annoyance before pulling himself out of the stone. Just as he gets to his feet a blur of motion stops a few feet in front of him. A gale force wind is blown to the side as Phantom holding Starfall can be seen. Nolan laughs. "I must admit your better than I thought. What was your name again? Ghost or something silly? It doesn't really matter, you can't even hurt me. You'll be dead soon."

  ?

  ?Rage now a physical weapon, mixed with her Bow Glove's ability. She had a chance to win. Her mind raced trying to think of a solution. The only magic she had was the Barrier Magic she chose for the simulation, and though useless for offense before, her mind finally thought of something. Golden energy surged from her hand, coursing down the Elvenwood handle and coating the meteorite head of Starfall. The magic formed a tightly woven, spiked lattice around the hammer's head.

  ?Nolan’s face lost all color. The magical coating meant the weapon could finally hurt him.

  ?Phantom began a taunt of her own, the hammer spinning around her like a deadly dance partner. "Hate to break it to you, but I've known what it takes to hurt you from Matthew. I just couldn't think of a way to use mine against you. After you killed matthew, I can't just let you die so quickly. That's why i had to knock you around a bit first."

  ?Nolan wasn't going to sit there and listen to her. He rushed in toward the maelstrom of hammer swings. Just then, Phantom, using a maneuver Matthew had taught her, she switched Starfall from one hand to the other behind her back. Nolan, thinking this was an opening, lunged for a powerful jab with his oversized fist. Before it could connect, Starfall came flying back around like a shooting star and ripped his arm off at the shoulder like it was nothing.

  ?Phantom didn't slow down. She cycled the hammer back down and around, slamming into Nolan's knee, crippling him on the spot.

  ?Nolan collapsed, clutching his shoulder screaming . "You weak human! How dare you use my weapon against me! I'll kill you for this."

  ?"You was wrong about so much in your life. Your life was full of imitation and arrogance. Remember the one who kills you. I am Phantom," she corrected, her voice now calm, lethal, and final. "And you will be the one to die today."

  ?She began a final, wide swing, moving so fast the enchanted Elvenwood handle bent to its maximum resilience, delivering a devastating blow. In one second, a Wereboar Sovereign knelt, howling in agony. The next second, all that remained was a pair of legs attached to a waist, centered in a huge, gruesome stain on the ground.

  ?

  ?The world grew instantly quiet. The doubled power faded, leaving Phantom shivering and exhausted. Ignoring the remains of Nolan, she returned to the scene of Matthew’s sacrifice.

  ?She retrieved her shortsword, then made her way back to the small log base. Tears returned, silent and heavy, as she performed her final act. Her memories of the last year with Matthew amplified her emotions. She emptied Matthew's wooden supply chest, knelt, and carved her name into the rough wood. With a shake of her head, she lightly brushed her bloodied glove against the inscription, blooding the chest. The wood flashed once, a soft blue light indicating the crate had been successfully stored in her Stash.

  ?She pulled the growing pile of cured boar tusks from her stash and placed them inside the now claimed chest.

  ?With the final act of closure complete, she walked out of the cabin. Phantom stood outside the base mourning the loss of a saint. He had taught her so much in such a short time. A bitter smile spreads across her face, she can carry on his memory with the sword style he taught her. Matthew wouldn't be forgotten by her. Phantom takes one last look around wishing things would have ended better. Wishing Matthew would be heading home now that the boar problem was solved. Instead he died by a traitorous captain. She crushed the Recall Crystal in her hand, the forest and log base fades away.

  Dawn opens her eyes, she's back in her bed. Tears well up in her eyes as she puts her face into her pillow letting out the last bit of sorrow. Eventually the sorrow gives way to fatigue as Dawn passes out safe and sound in her bed.

  The next morning she wakes up feeling like a new person. She decides to check her stats to see how much the boar tusks boosted her. After a moment of navigating the interface she sees it. Nearly a thirty point increase to both her speed and defense. A sense of accomplishment filled Dawn. Then she switched to her Stash page. Confirming her new Starfall weapon was safely kept. Seeing her newly earned prize Dawn ran out to the livingroom to tell Xander about her year away. Her arms drop as she looks around failing to find Xander. She looks at his bedroom door as she remembers their last conversation. He must still be completing his task. I can't imagine what he must be doing. She slumps her shoulders and goes back to her room. She still had her plans for training, she can talk to Xander another time.