Maya struggled in her battle against Andrea. While Maya was one of the stronger Leads, Andrea easily had the same level of strength as a Copper. As Maya fought Andrea, she realized how much Austin held back in their sparring matches. Not that she could blame him; if he went all out, then it was very possible that he would have killed her. She was just in shock at how big the gap between Lead and Copper truly was.

  Maya felt she had no control over the fight. Andrea’s movements were swift, and she was pushing Maya around. Maya felt grateful for Clive’s training as she dodged Andrea’s attacks and manipulated her positioning. If it were not for his training, she was sure that Andrea would have already caught Maya with her claws.

  Maya could not even find an opening to use her new weapon. Each time Maya felt like she found an opening, Andrea quickly closed it with another slash of her claws. Maya grew frustrated at the situation. Her technique was specifically designed to give her increased strength and speed, but Andrea was able to be on a similar level just by absorbing Essence. Maya’s anger grew at the situation. It was like Andrea skipped the work and cheated her way to power.

  As Maya dodged the attacks, she knew that she needed to change her approach. She figured that using speed would be the way to beat Andrea, but they were obviously matched in that area. Or even worse, Andrea was even faster than her. With this realization, Maya knew she would have to switch techniques to Healing Body. She was just worried if she would be able to get a powerful attack off. The technique focused solely on healing, which made her speed and strength much less than her Wolf State. The major advantage would be her ability to take Andrea’s attacks without being pushed back.

  Maya began to distance herself from Andrea. She needed a little break to switch between her techniques. The problem was that Andrea was just too quick. Each time Maya tried to jump away from her, Andrea closed the gap and swung her claws. Maya would have to find a way to distract her, or she would not be able to switch her technique.

  The axe in Maya’s hand felt heavy as she grew frustrated with dodging attacks. She did not even really get a chance to test out its effect, but she knew that the weapon could not keep up with Andrea’s speed. It started to feel more like a liability than an asset. Unless, somehow, its ability could change the tide of the battle. In her frustration, Maya figured she should give it a try.

  Maya sent a huge burst of Essence through her arm into the axe. For a moment, the axe shone a brilliant amber as the Essence flowed into it. Then, to Maya’s shock, the Essence all flew back into her in a powerful wave. It actually felt more powerful than the Essence she put into it, almost like it was an overwhelming tidal wave of Essence.

  Maya’s body glowed amber as the Essence was absorbed into her technique. A powerful pressure surrounded her body, like an impenetrable wall, as the Essence absorbed into it. Maya could feel her heart racing, and her entire body started to pulse to the same beat. As her body pulsed, it grew larger, and her fur grew even thicker. The fur started to grow further up her face as her face grew outward. It did not take long for her head to completely change shape and become like a wolf’s. As the surrounding light around Maya’s body faded, her eyes glowed amber. She let out a powerful roar as she revealed her new, larger, and more bestial form. The pressure that surrounded Maya sent out like a wave and pushed Andrea even further.

  Andrea’s eyes widened in shock. She could not believe what she was seeing. She herself had been transformed, but she did not expect to encounter something like Maya. Maya used Andrea’s shock to her advantage and charged at Andrea. Maya’s speed and strength massively increased, and before Andrea could even react, Maya had already rammed the blade of her axe into Andrea’s chest. Even with Maya’s strength, the toughness of Andrea’s skin prevented the axe from going too deep. So, Maya did not stop her charge. She continued to push against Andrea. Andrea tried to resist the charge, and the two were at a standstill as they pushed against each other with all their might.

  As the two resisted each other, Andrea brought her leg up and kicked Maya in the side. The kick sent Maya off balance and gave Andrea the chance to rip the axe out of her chest and throw it to the ground. A large gash was left in Andrea’s chest, but it started to close. Andrea took a moment to catch her breath from their exchange as her wound closed.

  Maya took that chance to continue her assault. She did not worry about grabbing her axe from the ground. Instead, she pounced at Andrea, her body moving like a blur as she did. Andrea tried to dodge, but it was too late. Maya’s claws dug into Andrea’s shoulders and would not release.

  Andrea vigorously shook her body to try to force Maya off, but Maya refused to let go. Maya growled like a wild beast as she held on to Andrea. As Andrea continued to shake her body, one of Maya’s hands came free. Maya’s body reeled back for a moment, but she quickly moved back in. This time, she bit into Andrea’s shoulder. Thanks to Andrea’s tough skin, the bite did not sink too deeply. Even then, Andrea let out a wail in shock and pain at Maya’s attack.

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  “Let go of me, you mutt!” Andrea screamed as she rapidly scratched Maya’s back with her own claws.

  Maya seemed to barely notice the scratches as she kept a firm grip on Andrea. Instead, she forced more of her weight against Andrea and toppled her to the ground. Andrea became more desperate as she wildly kicked and clawed Maya, but Maya did not stop. Instead, Maya brought her head back once more and snapped her jaws on Andrea’s shoulder again. Andrea’s skin had weakened from the earlier bite, and Maya’s fangs sank even deeper.

  Andrea grew more and more frustrated as Maya’s weight pressured her. She let out a shrill scream as Maya’s fangs dug deeper and deeper into her. Andrea could barely even think because of the severity of the situation. As she dug her claws into Maya’s back, she had a moment of realization. She had been fighting with her claws the entire time and kept her knife at her side.

  Andrea tried to squirm to loosen the knife on her belt. Maya’s weight made it hard for Andrea to do anything, and she needed to somehow get a grip on her knife. As Andrea squirmed, Maya struggled to hold on. Andrea felt a sense of relief at the fact that Maya may finally be getting tired of their struggle. She was able to take advantage of Maya’s moment of weakness and slip her hand to her belt and grab her knife.

  “Die! Die! Die!” Andrea screamed as she stabbed the knife into Maya’s side. Each time the blade sank in, she ripped it out and stabbed Maya more. She felt intense rage as she tried to force Maya off of her.

  As each stab plunged into Maya, she could feel her strength weakening. Pain radiated from her side as wounds accumulated. Her teeth and claws let go of Andrea as she let out a yelp. To avoid any further stabbing, Maya forced herself off of Andrea. Her body staggered and stumbled as she did. Maya could feel her Essence and technique weaken, and with it, she seemed to snap back into her senses. The intense combination of the ability of her axe and her technique had made her lose her senses and become more bestial. Now that the technique faded, she felt more aware of the situation. Maya tried to force herself to continue to fight, but she felt her strength give out. Her fur and claws started to shrink as her face turned human once more.

  “Looks like that is all you had,” Andrea smirked maliciously as she stood up from the ground. She even seemed to struggle as bite and claw marks littered her body. Her hair was an unruly mess and draped over her face. She took slow steps towards Maya as she raised her knife into the sky. Her purple eyes were wide in crazed rage. “Now die!”

  A white light erupted between the two, originating from Andrea. Maya tried to shield her eyes from the explosion of light, but could still feel her eyes sear. It was not especially painful, but more like the pain from staring at the sun. Andrea’s knife dropped from her hand as she stumbled backward. The force of the attack and bright light had completely thrown her off.

  As Maya’s eyes readjusted, she saw a man standing between her and Andrea. He had quickly moved into position as he slashed his sword across Andrea’s chest. Like most of Maya’s attacks, the wound was not deep, but a wound was still a wound.

  “Time for my hero spotlight,” the man, whom Maya identified as James, looked back at her with a confident smile. “If you have any Essence left, you should try to heal those wounds.”

  James’s suggestion reminded Maya that she could heal herself. The intensity of the situation had made her forget in her adrenaline. She tried to activate her Healing Body, but she did not seem to have the Essence for the full technique. Instead, she allowed the majority of her Essence to flow into her stab wounds. They were the major problem, and she knew that she needed to focus on those above her random claw marks.

  Maya felt helpless as she sat on the ground. Especially because she watched James turn around to continue the fight with Andrea. As he turned around, Maya was shocked to see red and purple trails of light surrounding his body. She knew that Andrea and Chet used the corrupted Essence, but she did not expect the same from James.

  James’s movement was swift as he moved to attack Andrea. His sword moved almost faster than Maya could see. It was like she could see the beginning and end of his slash but not the movement itself. As James’s blade ended its arc, a diagonal slash appeared across Andrea’s body.

  “I thought you guys were too good for the Essence of the forest,” Andrea sneered.

  “Yeah, I’m not like them,” James shrugged. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  “Just like us then! You’re obsessed with power, too!” Andrea laughed.

  Andrea sent a burst of overwhelming Essence through her body. A powerful wind shot out from her body as red and purple streams ran around her. The streams flooded into her wounds. At first, the wounds seemed to close shut, but then something unnatural started to grow out of the wounds. They started to swell into something that looked like a boil. The boil kept growing larger and larger until finally it exploded. Purple pus sprayed from the area as tendrils grew out of Andrea’s body. It became difficult to identify her behind the many tendrils that covered her body.

  “You see! This is power! While you worry about taking your time to improve yourself, Chet and I grew more and more powerful!” Andrea laughed.

  “Ew, I guess I need to watch how I use this thing,” James grimaced as he looked down at the black sword. “I could not stand my good looks being ruined like that.”