Ayako sprinted across the cracked stone of the arena with her katana low and ready against her hip. In her path, the ground trembled and swelled, bursting upward to form a defensive wall of ten towering golems.
The ginormous constructs were knitted together from earth, thick roots of ironwood, and braided veins of green moss that pulsed with Lily Mathers' mana.
The first golem, an unbreakable mass of stone, brought its massive fist down for the kill, but Ayako didn't even shift her stride or give it a second look.
The fist slammed down, but instead of crushing her, the stones passed straight through her body like mist. While dashing onward, her boots barely skimmed the ground as she completely ignored the next several constructs as their arms swung straight through her.
Except for the last three.
Unlike the last seven, these ones caught Ayako's attention.
