Looking at my next opponent more closely, I can realize something—I can’t hold back like I did with my previous opponents. The pressure is completely different, the tension between us doesn’t stop increasing.
He seems to have understood it as well. His gaze is firmly fixed on my movements—I can feel how his eyes are trying to analyze every gesture or slight movement of my body.
I’m also quite excited. I’m eager for the announcer to finish stating all the rules and for the starting bell to ring.
“No hard feelings.” Saule is the first to break the ice, I can see a slight smile on his lips.
“Let’s put on a good show.” I reply with a wink.
A few seconds later, the bell rings to begin. My trained body overflows with power as all the abilities at my disposal receive mana and Imra to activate. My Laws and Banner enhance each of my abilities—now I’m ready to go all out against Saule.
He hasn’t fallen behind either. I can feel multiple abilities being activated at the same time. As if we had agreed beforehand, our bodies move at the same time toward the center of the arena.
I have to swing my right sword long before he’s within range—a powerful strike from his spear comes from my left. I manage to stop the blow, and immediately I have to swing my other sword to block the next strike aimed at my leg.
Saule takes the advantage over me in the first seconds of the match. His weapon has much more reach, and he knows how to keep me at his preferred distance with fast and lethal movements. I don’t rush to close the gap—this is a good moment to try to read a pattern or discover some habit in his fighting style.
I try to pressure him from different sides and angles, I want to make him nervous or push him into a defensive position. I only see two ways to break through his offense: construct multiple attacks to force him to focus elsewhere, or push my body beyond its limits.
In these almost two minutes, I’ve realized something—he possibly has slightly more talent with the spear than I do with my twin swords. His talent with his weapon might be one step above mine, but there is something where I far surpass him: combat experience.
It’s time to step forward and change the pace—a powerful torrent of gravity falls over him, several snake-like bolts of electricity shoot out in all directions.
His body shines with an intense yellow light—it’s very different from my lightning affinity. The yellow covering Saule’s body is pristine and immaculate. That ability isn’t just decorative—I can feel the gravity on his shoulders lessen slightly and the electricity lose much of its effect trying to break his defenses.
The spear in his hands is being charged with light mana, his strikes are becoming heavier. His speed hasn’t changed much, but the power is becoming difficult to handle. If I’m not careful, he could break my positioning and create an opening in my defense.
I enhance my mental ability to stay firm. I can’t make even the slightest mistake—any sign of weakness could put me on the ropes.
His next movement makes me suspicious—he has never made such a risky or open move. He just raised his spear into the air. A vertical strike with all his strength is coming. I prepare to receive any kind of attack.
Saule propels his body backward, gaining some distance. My eyes widen as I realize his plan. I prepare all my defenses as quickly as possible—I didn’t expect him to do something so risky in the middle of the fight.
The spear falls vertically, generating a blade of light mana. That attack contains enough force to destroy multiple Rank 4 monsters. He has been accumulating mana this whole time—my idea was wrong in thinking he was using it to add weight to his movements. He was preparing a long-distance attack.
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All my arsenal tries to destroy his attack. My mana and Imra do most of the work—I’m trying to slow down and wear down that blade of mana.
My quick reaction allows me to drain a large portion of its power. I’ve bought enough time to charge my teleportation ability—I could use it, but I won’t. I push my body at full speed, my right arm swings my charged sword, and gravity boosts my body beyond its limits.
My sword cuts his attack cleanly, creating a small explosion. The light mana shines so brightly that it blinds me for a moment—not just me, I can feel Saule squinting from the intense light.
I take advantage of that moment to attack from a distance with several Joyeuse. I don’t want to risk attacking him up close with my arm half-broken from the strain of destroying his attack.
Slowly, my arm begins to recover from the damage. At the same time, all my constructions are already ready. I have no problem not being able to see—my Personal World does the work. I send 6 fully charged swords to try to deal some damage—I couldn’t create more due to lack of time.
Saule seems to have some kind of tolerance to light or an ability to sense danger, because his body reacts quickly, dodging two Joyeuse at the last moment. The next two force him into a risky movement and place him in an uncomfortable position.
The last two Joyeuse are close enough—he can’t dodge them anymore. He releases a massive amount of mana and Imra, the pressure weakens my constructions and the light surrounding his body absorbs most of the damage.
That doesn’t mean he came out unharmed—one of them pierced his thigh. It doesn’t seem to be a deep wound, I just see lines of blood falling from the wound to the ground.
I don’t stand still—I must take advantage of the current advantage. I step back a bit, enough to begin a ranged battle. Let’s see what this limit breaker is made of.
Several constructions appear above my head as I retreat smoothly. He seems to have understood my plan, trying to close the distance as fast as possible—but unfortunately for him, he’s not faster than me.
He gives up chasing me and focuses on constructing light spears to defend himself from my attacks. With just one glance I can feel the difference—my constructions are sturdier and I can create more than him in less time.
I launch the first wave to test how resistant they are. It doesn’t go as well as I expected—his constructions seem sharper… no, they’re something different.
What is that difference? Even though his construction is less sturdy, it managed to resist one of my swords for a while, wearing it down to the point where it’s no longer a problem for Saule.
A face comes to my mind a few seconds later—I feel a Law similar to someone I know. Saule doesn’t just have a Sharpness Law, he also has a Piercing Law. He somehow managed to combine both in his light spears to give them much more power. It reminds me of Arisa’s attempts—she must be aiming for this level.
It’s surprising how he can hold his ground against my constructions. He clearly has less at his disposal, and our ways of using Imra and mana are different. Mine is a weave capable of reinforcing both—I’m combining them into one.
Saule uses a more common type. Most people with great control do something similar—they use one as a base, either Imra or mana, and use the other to enhance it, either as a shield or a spear. In his case, he uses it in both ways.
I corner him like a rat—I’m not giving him any breathing room. Saule moves side to side, dodging each of my attacks by the smallest margin. I haven’t been able to land a solid hit yet, I’ve only managed to scrape that light around his body, like an armor.
It’s not easy to aim at a target capable of moving at such speed and with such refined control over his body. It doesn’t matter if I can follow his movements—he’s very fast.
I can’t relax either. Sometimes he manages to slip one of his light spears through. The speed of some of his constructions is monstrous—they even catch me off guard, and if I’m not focused, they’ll hit me hard.
I manage to land another hit on the same leg where I made the first cut. I can see the pain on his face, and I can also notice annoyance in his gaze—it’s troublesome to deal with death mana once it enters the body.
I don’t let the opportunity slip and charge at him. The constructions around me decrease as I switch to close combat. I can’t dedicate the same attention to each construction when I’m using more abilities—I planned to fight using a combination of both anyway.
“Finally, we return to the fun part.” Saule shouts at me with a big smile and fierce eyes. He also reduces his mana spears and comes straight at me.
“You’re weird—you’re the first person who finds losing fun.” I reply with a big smile as well. I want to provoke him as much as possible.
My sword meets his spear. With a quick movement, I try to cut his neck, but the shaft of his spear blocks my blade. Now we are at a distance where I have the advantage. “Let’s keep dancing, yellow boy.” Excitement runs through my entire body.