She wouldn't fall into the trap many players made in the early stages. Arrogance was different than confidence. While the latter would give you the strength to face the difficult things in life, the former would cause your downfall in an instant. There was a reason the saying “Pride goeth before the fall” had endured throughout the millennia.
A lull allowed Kira to catch a glimpse of Graydon. Where she relied on speed, her movements almost elegant, he was a battering ram, destroying the obstacles one after the other.
There was a savage smile on his face as he leapt forward, a sweep of his blade destroying four beams in a move Kira couldn't help but admire.
His eyes met hers for an instant. The same yearning that echoed in her was apparent in his gaze, leaving her feeling like she was balanced on the edge of a blade.
The moment broke as the soft ping of the mini drones fired.
Almost as if they'd planned it, they whirled to meet the next barrage, their movements mirroring each other’s.
Faster and faster until sweat beaded on Kira's temple and her chest heaved with the force of her breaths. Her movements were fluid, no hesitation as her blade sliced through the air.
More and more beams joined the rest. Soon, Kira had no choice but to eliminate some. Otherwise, she would have had no room to move within her box.
The near-constantbzztof destroyed beams kept her company as the difficulty level increased. Now, the beams didn't come from only directly in front of her, but the sides and back as well.
Knowing they could come from any direction, Kira flung her senses wide, cognizant of any changes in the environment around her.
Five beams closed in on her at once. Kira pushed off her toes, spinning horizontally in the air. Her light sword whipped out, destroying the two under her, before she completed the rotation, using her momentum to eliminate the two beams above her in the same motion.
The water walls of the cube rippled, mimicking waves. Beam after beam left their depths in a kaleidoscope of color.
The furor in the crowd beyond fell on deaf ears as Kira immersed herself in the game, the only thing that mattered was the next sequence of movements.
Kira swung her arm, destroying a beam that had already rebounded six times. She knew her limits. Once it had touched the walls seven times, she wouldn't be able to keep up. Not with how far into the game she was.
Seeing the light beams converging on her once again, she turned and dashed to the wall, planting a foot and kicking off the wall as she flipped backward over the beams.
When they rebounded toward her chest, she snapped her blade up, cutting through their middles in an efficient, clean strike.
The crowd roared as Graydon flipped over his own set of beams, his big body surprisingly lithe.
He bared his teeth as his blade nearly blurred with his quickness.
Sensing danger, Kira darted forward, her knees hitting the ground as her back bowed. The sleek arrow-like beam passed an inch above her. Completing her slide, Kira gained her footing, knocking two beams away from her.
There was no reprieve, a dozen beams rebounding toward her from several directions. Kira danced away from the first four, her blade cleaving through three of them.
Her back hit a wall.
A warning sparked in her mind. Pink bloomed above her shoulder.
There was nowhere to go with the beams heading for her in an inevitable collision.
Kira spun, her blade breaking two of the beams. If nothing else, she'd try to get as many points as she could.
The pink coalesced, the beam shooting out an instant before the rest would have reached Kira's blade.
There was a high hum as the beams and the stage dissolved around her.
