As Isaac stared down at the man across from him, both of them had reverted to the same stances as the beginning of the fight.
Isaac threw a glance at his back, which had many welts that formed due to the fire that burned him. Unlike in the fight against the bodyguard, he would not be able to heal himself, as his opponent could do the same, or even take advantage and deal a vital blow.
As the mana churned around them, the man's voice sounded around the forest.
"In my hand, I have your biggest fear."
As he spoke, a woman started to form out of a mana like substance. At first Isaac was caught off guard, but as more of the woman started to form, he saw that the woman took the form of Tiy.
Clearly this was due to the month long nightmares he had lived with, but as more of her formed, the man noticed as well and quickly stopped forming Tiy, who would definitely help Isaac out instead of himself.
Isaac took advantage of this lapse of judgement and ran towards the man and threw his knife towards his already injured shoulder.
As the dagger barrelled through the air, the man quickly moved to the side to avoid the knife, but only as he did that did he see Isaac running straight into his open side. In Isaac's hands sat a second knife, which rapidly pierced his side.
The man tried to push Isaac away, but quickly tumbled over chunks of the walls that broke due to his fireball. As he tumbled, Isaac reached out with his true world and grabbed the knife that was flying away, and then brought it back inside himself.
Isaac changed his grip and pushed the knife up the man's side, causing a long laceration to open. The man stumbled and tried to push Isaac again, but pools of blood caused him to slip. Isaac began to fall with him, but pushed off from his knife and rolled over the man, and landed on his feet.
Isaac quickly turned and reached out his true world to bring his knife back to his hand, but as soon as it reached the man, a sharp wave pushed back on his true world, like magnets repelling each other.
Isaac didn't have much time to think on this matter, and began to draw out his other knife and cast a spell similar to his plant growth spell, albeit with this it was to restrain the man.
As seeds buried deep in the ground ignite with vitality that would not normally be given to them, all of them began to bloom into trees with roots that could shape the ground, but instead they wrapped around the man, pinning him to the ground.
Isaac, taking this reprieve, quickly drank some more of his potion and healed his back as much as he could before he went back to the man, who was now sealed in tree roots.
As Isaac walked up to the man, he reached down and ripped out his knife, which was still dangling out of his side. Isaac threw it into his true world and reached out for the man's glove.
"You know this glove seems to be something beyond the understanding of my home. I'm sure it wasn't easy to get, so let's just talk, and if I like your answer, then maybe your dead body could keep its fancy glove."
Isaac was completely lying, he wanted that glove just as much as he wanted the leather armour that Tiy's dad wore, but he wasn't just going to say that. The man could clearly tell Isaac was lying, as his gaze had not let it once this whole time, like a beast hunting prey. Even if the beast was a weasel.
Isaac interlaced a finger into the cuff of the glove and spoke again.
"Why is it that my true world bounced off when I tried to use it on you?"
The man tried to push his hand away from him so as to get Isaac's hand off his glove, but this just further irritated his open side. Isaac saw this struggle and began to wonder about the morality of letting a guy bleed out to learn even a morsel more about true worlds.
Isaac threw those thoughts out the window and got a tighter grip on the glove, which began to glow and repelled Isaac back a few feet, the blast felt exactly like when his true world was shocked by the wave when touching the man.
Inwardly, Isaac's mood soured even more, as it looked like one of the things he wanted was out of reach. As soon as Isaac was blasted away, the man quickly began chanting with a fever, and slowly his cut began to close, but this would only stop the bleeding, and all the blood that was lost would still cloud his judgement.
Isaac began to charge towards the man and brought out his knife that was still covered in blood. The man, seeing this, turned over his gloved hand, and a fireball just as big as before bloomed and burned the trees down into ash.
Isaac slid to a stop as he watched the tree collapse under themselves, but quickly took a few steps back and centred himself, and began to take everything one step at a time. It was only then that he realised how odd he was being in this fight.
Ever since the glove was shown, all Isaac could think about was it, like something deep inside him wanted to covet it, to the point where it was just as important as the fight. Isaac looked at the glove and then himself, as he felt the pull grow stronger, like an insatiable greed.
A thirst for knowledge that not even the deepest of wells could sate. The man, seeing this lapse in judgement, ran out of the burning trees and began to swing his arms in circular motions over himself.
Rapid winds began to pick up the ash and spiralled towards Isaac, causing a mound of ash to collapse on top of him.