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// One if By Land: Part 6 
// Story: Spike of All Trades 
// by Ariamaki 
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The Gamer's Mind made it so the rage he felt was distant, controlled. It didn't cause him to lash out or snap... But it was still there, pure proof that he could experience anger and even hate the same as ever. He stepped forward once and then twice, slow and methodical. His strides took him ahead of Pinkie Pie, and he sent one more Susurration message before dropping into one of the combat stances Lyra had taught him.

The Queen's my target. Ping me back if you need anything.

The Bermite Queen's sheet flickered, the creature's Dexterity rising rapidly. 10 became 20 became 50 became 120 became... well, that's when the sheet disappeared in a puff of ERROR: Too strong for him to judge with his current skills. Spike didn't mind or even care, really. His casual humming and seemingly relaxed posture belied the way he felt inside. His claws rested at his hips and he walked with smooth strides, looking as non-confrontational as possible. Magic roared through his veins and his MP dropped in huge sweeping gulps until he was right in front of the enormous creatures.

[Exceed]

Spike didn't stop walking, he just let his arms whip out from his sides at full speed and maximum extension, roaring in fury as he exploded out to his full height. The creaking of the Dragon's Hoard stretching out his bones couldn't overwhelm the terrible sound of his claws tearing into chitin and flesh with volley after volley of attacks.

Draw out his full power into a perfect Slice, Pierce the skin and Grasp the meat. His Dragon's Claws ripped and tore their way through everything he could, and he only dimly recognized that Pinkie Pie had come in to start supporting him. The Bermite Queen thrashed and screamed, an ugly chittering noise that only served to make him angrier. He didn't let it overwhelm him (not that he even could), instead burning it as fuel for his attacks. Defense an afterthought, the aftermath secondary, he just put everything into striking as many blows as possible.

His target was too fast for him to land every hit, and too enormous for him to do much damage quickly. The speed he couldn't do much about, but when he finally came to his full scale from the Dragon's Hoard? That took care of the size difference. 

Spike at his maxed-out current height was just as large as the Queen, his entire trunk thickening into something more like a classical rendition of a dragon: A burly lashing tail, vicious spines and wicked spikes curling in the light. His maw was a gaping pit of teeth and fire, and he could feel his heart pumping volumes of blood that would outweigh his whole body under normal circumstances.

Even at this mythic size and throwing everything he had into just sheer violence, Spike was still focused. He had spent the majority of every day for weeks now learning and practicing, picking up on the lessons he was being taught by Lyra. His fighting style wasn't just focused as he let the queen's mandibles tear off one of his arms (the bug coming away with nothing for her effort) it was disciplined.

Spike hated this 'queen' for many reasons. It was threatening the Diamond Dogs that he was slowly learning to see as friends and neighbors, it had put himself and Pinkie Pie in danger, it was part of the encroachment that threatened Ponyville itself... it had sacrificed so many eggs just for what? A little bit of temporary power? Unacceptable. He took blows and sent them back, taking advantage of the Gamer's Body to shrug off every blow. 

Leaning on that advantage had downsides: His attacks like Slice and Pierce were unquestionably useful and he wanted to take them even further, but their downsides were becoming clear. With the high chance of being countered, he took more blows than he sent out. With their compromised power, he didn't deal as much damage as he wanted to. The lacking efficiency capped it all off, forcing him to mix in unbuffed attacks and even dial back his other powers from time to time.

Still, Spike was confident that his intelligence would see him through this just as much as brute strength, if not more. The Bermite Queen was much faster than him, but he didn't need speed to outmaneuver it. 

Why bother when he had height?

He couldn't fly (even after years of yearning) but he could leap. Just like a pegasus springing into a takeoff stance he dug his claws in and pumped his legs, lifting off the ground and far into the air. The baffled bug didn't have a single response to that, and in the time it took for him to come back down to the ground he'd already regenerated a sliver of the damage taken. 

Spike fell into a kind of trance as he kept up the pattern: Blow for blow, leap away to recover, jump back in to trade more. That was the method he used to overcome the downsides of his attacks and emphasize the weakness of his enemy. When he was able to spare attention to check on her, it was clear Pinkie Pie had a similar idea: She focused entirely on harassment and abuse, keeping the other combatant out of the battle entirely.

He could heal and dodge, the queen couldn't do either. Pinkie Pie wasn't able to damage the king's rocky armor, but her ability to keep it distracted was second-to-none: Being immune to stuns didn't make it immune to being annoyed. Their specialties melded under even the most threadbare tactical plan, and the scales of the fight started to tip in their favor. Spike had brought together everything he had learned about fighting in this moment, and it showed.


You have created an original skill through consolidation in live fire combat.

What would you like to name it?

"Lyra's Lessons."

[Lyra's Lessons] (Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
Some great works come from passionate duende, uncontrolled and inspired. Some great works come from scientific perfection, measured and uninterrupted skill. Others come from discipline: The creation of a framework and the manipulation of its guidelines in order to achieve your goals. Discipline as a philosophy is just as viable in music and life as it is in battle.

You were taught how to study, comprehend, and recontextualize the nature of battle-born skills.
Through the principles you were taught and have created, you can finalize a unique Discipline.
Due to your unique potential as The Gamer, you can have one Discipline cover any number of fields.

This skill represents multifarious versatility: You can use combat skills for non-combat purposes.
This skill represents disciplined combat: You can access a Lexicon, and easily seek new Words.
This skill represents passionate obsession: Repetitive training grows more effective over time.

Your skills held in abeyance due to lacking an appropriate [Combat Discipline] seek fulfillment.
You have assembled all skill requirements needed to develop a personal [Combat Discipline].


He'd been waiting to see that for a long while now, but ironically it would have to wait further still. Spike just couldn't take the time for it: Things were looking favorable but he didn't want to drag this out. If he let Pinkie get hurt just so he could try something out on a whim-

Ah-ah! I just got a twitch-a-twitch in my tail, buster! The kinda twitch that tells me somepony, or maybe somedragon, is about to skip out on doing something neat just because they think I'm holding them back!

...Sorry, Pinkie. Feel comfortable buying me a little time?

I dunno, time's pretty expensive these days! You might owe me a lot of cuddles. And a nice dinner. Plus interest!

You've always got my interest, Pinkie. Thank you.

Dork. <3

Spike didn't even bother asking how she managed to vocalize the shape of a heart: Pinkie Pie was always going to be Pinkie Pie, and he shouldn't have even briefly considered that to be a bad thing. His marefriend pulled out one of her larger party cannon prototypes and unleashed a huge volley on the queen, suddenly pulling the aggro of both Bermites. The two regolithic royals turned their weird beady eyes onto her... And she just pulled a perfect smile in response.

"Hey big bugs! Why is bug big!?"

She punctuated her total non-question with another salvo of fireworks and loose shrapnel, while Spike fell back and shrank down to a more comfortable form to take a moment on the sidelines. Pinkie could handle herself, and once he had this done? Ideally it would be easy to clean up the rest of the mess.

"Skill Synthesis."

Everything went dark around him as he focused his mind into meditation. Instead of his usual pace of breathing he focused on bringing everything together: Consolidation and comprehension. It went in, in, out through the mouth, breathing exercises he had yet to figure out. Spike heaved a sigh on the exhale and continued to speak aloud, unheard by anyone else under the din of battle.

"Parent skills: Spike's Studies, Twilight's Teachings, Pinkie's Potential, Lyra's Lessons."

He heard the sound of an error message cascading through his system, and felt the burn of his veins as magic went awry... But the process was a success. 

Just not the success he expected.


[An Unnamed Nascent Discipline] Passive, Incomplete, ???
A dragon torn between accepting his nature and denying his heritage decided, one day, to get into a fight. One fight became two became ten became twenty, there are hundreds more ahead of him, and still he seeks to do it right and do right by it. This is the culmination of his own fighting style. Or rather, it will be once he finally makes up his mind. Until then it is a start. And that is enough.

You can become one with the spirit of battle at any time. 
This causes a perceptible change in bearing and aura which even the untrained may recognize.

Increases physical damage by 25%, magic damage by 15%, and consumable item power by 5%
Improves damage resistance and defensive skills proportionally the lower your Health becomes.
Your kinetic recognition of motion is heavily improved, as are Detect Bloodthirst and Sense Danger.

This skill has no cost or resource consumption.

This Discipline is broad-based and may grow to cover any number of subjects as well as Combat.

This skill should have an active form.
But...
You have yet to create the thesis.

Parent skills: Spike's Studies, Twilight's Teachings, Pinkie's Potential, Lyra's Lessons