The brazen winds birthed from the massive chasm occasionally embraced the onlookers, with two, in particular, being unbothered from their places among the stands.
"Lady Alleiyna, Ren is..." Sol turned to their Class Captain with a gripped expression after watching Ren being wounded.
"He should have been fine…it should have been a victory for him." Another one of her classmates shared Sol's concern.
"But it will be, he's not done yet." Alleiyna let out, never losing sight of the battle through the tasseled strands of her vermilion bangs.
The figure hovering within the chasm quickly flickered away before vanishing and just as sudden, reappearing on the untouched side of the Arena floor. Both kneeling with their heads to the floor and stemming a sizable wound, they would try to steady themselves with each hastened breath.
"Hmph...hmm...ha...ha...ha."
"Hmph...hmm...ha...ha...ha. "
"How are you faring, Shynerai?"
"I've had better days, but I can still stand."
"Very good. I can't give you too much time to recover." Sharing a smile as they both used their SoulArms to prop themselves up.
"I'm going to be honest with you, this has been going on for a lot longer than I wanted it to, who knew my opponent would be this inhumanely persistent."
"I...didn't mean to cause you any trouble."
"Don't start apologizing. You'll make me feel like I'm some kind of bully. So, how about we finish this?" Pulling his hand away from the now shut wound, as his crippling aura returned, sundering the space between them.
Readying his stance, with his bow aimed at Shynerai as he shuffled to his feet.
"It took a lot longer for me to see it. Seems like I was right all along. You're incredible, Ren." Shynerai said with a bright glimmer coming from his emerald eyes.
Immediately arming himself but this time he took no stance. Instead, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
"Don't Blink!'' Not unlike the magic used by Ren, Shynerai's body was immersed in a vivid shimmer that looked like sparks charging excited cloth, the faint sight of lightning jutting out from where he stood.
Giving no sign or guide for his next move, Shynerai suddenly threw his blade at Ren.
Barely a moment was needed before the blade ripped through the space between them, reaching ever closer to Ren who stood firm.
Shynerai's unarmed strike blindsided him when he found him now behind him.
Trying to guard against the sword meant taking the thunderous hit and being knocked back, but the blow was deep enough, with the same moment being used to charge a volley of shots by Ren, but he immediately grabbed his sword mid-flight before cutting them down.
The audience was on the edge of their seats as they watched him push back against the hailing barrage of vanishing arrows, by simply disarming himself and striking from a different position, while Ren was struggling to follow his moves.
"I cannot follow his moves, I need to put some distance between us…" Firing a shot at the ground sent his aura into flux with the effect stretching a greater distance and cratering the ground around him, pinning the blade into the dirt and knocking Shynerai off-balance.
But his fire wouldn't be put out.
Lunging at the buried blade and leaping through the void of his field, Ren held back from firing his next shot to parry away his blade with his bow, forcing them apart before they composed themselves as they returned to their rush.
A display that continued to escape the crowd who seemed to miss every second exchange.
'With no signature for his magical energy and without those emerald flames of his giving his position away or maintaining his focus on healing, he can showcase his full strength. Every battle he enters he places such a huge gamble.'
'Perhaps I shouldn't have bet my uld against him.' Reiss' piercing gaze flickered about, as the scarlet hue traced a path all over the Arena.
"Captain, I don't understand. He seemed so certain before, but somehow that Daumier won't submit, no matter how many times he's struck down, Iit simply makes no sense. Why does he try so hard when he knows he cannot win?" Sol wondered, now watching Alleiyna instead of the field.
"None of that matters, Sol. Not anymore. Ren will fire upon him as many times as he needs to win. He will never stop because giving up isn't in his nature. And it seems that it is not in Astrapordt's either."
"Captain?"
"You see, Ren's skill is far beyond what he's shown even to those in his own class. His magic doesn't just manipulate space, it warps the very fabric of reality around him."
"When he fires his bow, it compresses space into a tear between himself and the target. This creates a void that pulls the two points into each other."
"Transporting the information from one side to the other, faster than the speed of light, doing this with just the air molecules around him, creates faster than light projectiles that cannot be seen. When they emerge, the shockwave they create is enough to rip through any target"
"But that shouldn't be possible."
"But it is, his magic, Spatial Compression Magic, is one of the rarest variations, even among Spatial Magic users. I would hazard a guess that he may be the only one of his kind."
"So when you fire, the warping effect around you diminishes to focus around his gaze. Reducing your visual range and also the power of your aura. The power of your aura that you use to deflect all those attacks. But that's just it, diverting, not stopping, not if I hit you hard enough…" Shynerai commented.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a know-it-all, Shynerai? " Ren mused while dusting himself off.
"I've just had more than my fair share of experiences with Spatial Magics."
'He cannot fire his bow and shield himself at the same time. Which means the opening is at the time when he switches.'
"Hmm, I call it the Last Light Well. Space around me is warped and the extent of the warping yields different results. But I think you're the last person in need of an explanation at this point. You've learned enough through experience, so let's keep this going."
'If he focuses on defense right now, there's no way I can touch...Perhaps it's time for a new approach.' Shynerai thought.
Taking up his SoulArm this time, the green wisps bound themselves to him with a ripple blasting outwards as he launched at him. Bringing up his blade against the phantom arrows, with the vibrant spark of each clash against his blade bringing them to life before they turned ephemeral.
When he wasn't swinging against the air itself, his footwork had taken a drastic turn. Less of his typical fluid steps were being seen with more and more sharp jukes at sharper angles. The only time he would bring up his blade would be if he was airborne to defend against the assault of arrows.
Despite the discovery of his technique, Ren stood firm, firing as fast as he could before changing his stance with the firing marked with piercing whistles overtaken by thunderous booms.
From his strengthened stance, heavier bolts stuck against Shynerai.
Knocking him into the dirt, but subsequent shots found themselves struggling to tag him with less and less of him being harder to keep up with his pace on the field.
Aiming for the dust cloud that Shynerai kicked up earlier, something came flying out only for it to shoot past him, glancing at the object that breached his perimeter.
By the time he realised what it was, it was too late for him to react with Shynerai stepping into his range, as the emerald wisps vanished and the streaming of golden lightning rippled up his arm before burying his first into his chest knocking him into the air.
'Dodging means the warping field is going to shrink so he can fire but it'll be too weak to shield him. Seems like he knows it too. It's going to be a game of dodging or defending. That means more chances in a shorter time…looks like he's also adapting.'
Shynerai thought as he watched him flying through the air, realizing how his attack felt weaker the moment he made contact. Though the force of the blow struck true and rocked the base of the stands.
A blast that outpaced the shockwave booming and shattering the audience's firm gaze of the vigorous exchange.
But Ren would refuse to surrender his fate just yet. Vanishing from his flight only to appear behind Shynerai in a blur before returning with an overhead kick that was strengthened by his initial flight, he dove into him with a colossal crash.
But through the pockets of open-air exposing their clash through the rustling dust clouds, one could see Shynerai guarding against the innumerable flurry of arrows, with his feet buried deeper into the dirt, he firmly held onto his blade and shook Ren off, before starting his chase.
Amassing a shimmering outline before vanishing into thin air, he stepped out of his previous line of sight before appearing in front of him, beyond Ren's threshold only for him to appear behind Shynerai with an arrow already nocked.
Shynerai swung the sword behind him, knocking away the shot before spinning with a rapid kick into him.
The attack knocked him down for several yards only for him to reappear above him, Shynerai drove his blade into the ground, using the force to vault into the air, as he summoned the golden arcs for a momentary strike into him, slamming him against the Arena walls, but he cushioned the impacted with his magic just as he turned back to him to notice him slamming into him.
Tearing down the walls, as their visceral exchange carved through the Arena's perimeter, blow for blow, sent chunks of the set piece raining into a stony shower, topped by a dusty mushroom cloud sprouting near the mouth of the chasm, marking Shynerai's crash into the dirt.
As he tried to quickly get to his feet, he found himself barely able to stand above his needs. While Ren remained above, he let go of his bow with it hovering in front of him.
He outstretched his arms following a piercing shriek and from the angelic display, a ring of light shone from out of his hands.
Following a path along the edge of the Arena, a shrieking tone overlapped with a buzzing sound that began to emanate from the ring of light as it started to rotate faster and faster.
Spinning with greater velocity, and pinning Shynerai deeper into their dirt, his emerald flames could only meekly sputter from him. Looking up at the surrounding gathering of storm-like winds.
Watching the ring grow louder and more fierce with the screaming winds completely engulfing Shynerai.
Ren took a hold of his bow before suddenly appearing above the eye of the spatial storm, he pulled back on the string...a draw intense enough to send a fissure through the arms of the bow.
'The winds will only get stronger the longer I stay but if I push too hard, I'll just break down...I.'
'Just...be careful, okay. I can't stop you from acting rash, but I can at least ask you to show some caution.' The sudden touch of a fond and faint memory shook him free from his fear as he tightened his grip around his SoulArm.
"I'm sorry, but I might need to break my promise this time."
"Words of Power: Beowulf!"
White flames bound themselves to the silvery steel akin to tuffs of leonine fur as the arcs of golden lightning tore at the field around him.
"I don't have much Will Force left, so I won't have anything left after this..." Taking his final stance by wrestling himself to his feet against the force of the glowing ring, he planted himself firmly, with the lion-like maw of his helmet lit with golden light gazing into the center of the winds.
The silvery steel of the armor broke away from his torso before reattaching to his arms and legs, further bolstering him. The helmet covered only half of his face while the golden light remained dauntless in his eyes.
"Vanishing Blade..."
"You were a great opponent, Perhaps in another life, we could have been friends." Letting out a deep breath after closing his eyes, at the moment of his first sight, he let loose the arrow,
"Soul Art: Vanishing Horizon!"
The arrow fell into the storm as the ring of light collapsed on itself, blasting away the storm within as it imploded from the arrow's shockwave but no explosion or flames or even blinding light was seen once the ring collapsed. Instead, a menacing vortex erupted from the core.
"Variant Style: No Edge Slash!"
The maelstrom of darkness pulled everything into it. No sound or earth or light escaped its bounds or had a moment to prepare as it consumed everything amidst the apex of their clash.
"This is truly quite the sight, don't you think, Artie, the truest moonlight." Reiss said as his friend looked above at the now night fallen sky holding up a stream of light piercing the heavens.