Mane jumped out of the way to avoid a long water whip that came crushing his way right after the fight had started. The whip looked feeble and delicate, yet when it struck the ground it created a small scar in what was supposed to be a highly reinforced floor. However, the scar healed quickly and in no time there was no evidence of the whip's frightening capabilities.
*Whish*
*Bang*
*Whish*
*Bang*
Mane moved with the gracefulness of a seasoned dancer, avoiding blow after blow. He always managed to avoid the whips by a hair's breath, yet the calmness of his expression showed that he was anything but tensed. His eyes were steely; his gaze unwavering.
*Roar*
Mane quickly jumped to the side when he heard Sasha's roar. And in time too, for a beam of light flashed past him and rammed into the wall.
*Boom*
A fist sized hole appeared in the wall before it was rapidly mended. But Mane couldn't stop his eyebrows from twitching upon seeing the effects of Sasha's attack. It was merely a highly concentrated breath of wind. Yet it had such devastating effects.
"Don't lose your focus," a delicate voice travelled into his ears as two thin water whips came flying towards him from both sides. Mane's expression remained the same even after sensing the approach of the whips. He rapidly span round his axis like a twirling ballerina, gathering the wind elements as he did. And with a furious bellow he blasted out a punch.
"Hah!"
A powerful wind wave blasted the water whips away and pushed Daisy back slightly. Her expression was that of surprise. For she didn't see that coming. As for Sasha, she remained where she was. Her large size made it almost impossible to cause her to barge with only this much.
"Is that…" Sunflower had a stunned expression on her face as well.
"Wind Punch," Rose continued her sister's statement with a slightly complicated look on her face. This move was her move. It was her punch. She had only displayed it a few days ago. And though Mane had modified it by adding a little spin to it, mainly because his control of wind wasn't as fine tuned as hers, there was no way she wouldn't recognise her own technique; especially when even her sisters recognised it.
"What a freak," Sunflower mumbled, but the smile on her face showed that she was nothing short of extremely pleased. It was almost as if she was the one who had performed the skill.
"His talent is indeed extraordinary," Rose assented, before casting her attention back to the duel.
Daisy summoned a few water whips and threaded them towards Mane who avoided some and deflected some by creating water whips of his own.
"Very impressive," Daisy smiled. "You are clearly not threatened by this level of power. So let's take it up a notch, shall we?" she laughed before several globs of water surrounded her to create a huge giant made entirely of water. The giant was faceless, yet its powerful suppression threatened to take Mane's breath away – literally. In its hands were a shield and a sword. And it wore armor that was embedded with tiny ice crystals.
"She has never done this before, has she?" Hildegarde asked. This was really a different level from what Mane was used to. He had fought with her a few times and all those times she resorted to using the only water whips. For her to go to this level meant that she thought he was now worthy of moving up by a stage.
*OOOOOOHHHHH*
Although the Water Giant had no face, it was still able to let out a roar. The roar shook the room and created a crack in Mane's aura shield. And then its sword came crushing down.
"Dodge!" Mane quickly judged that there was no way he would be able to handle the large beast that was falling towards him. The giant was large, almost 20 meters in height. Yet its speed was much superior to his.
*Boom*
The ground Mane formerly stood on developed a new crack when the sword descended upon it. Mane watched with a forehead filled with sweat as several ice crystals lined the new crevice in the room and prevented it from healing.
"She isn't simply a Water Elemental. She is actually an Ice Elemental!" Mane's new understanding of Daisy's power helped him understand how much she had been holding back these past few days. But he wasn't given an awful lot of time to think. For the Water Giant let go of its shield, and the weapon meant to reinforce its defense floated serenely at its side. It spread out its huge hand and summoned the forces of Edict. Several ice bullets as large as Mane himself were conjured over its palm. Then it fired them towards Mane!
"Oh no!" Mane performed a series of strange movements and pulled several balls of water towards himself. In one swift motion he conjured a hand as large as himself. As if that wasn't enough, a fiery hand as large as the water hand was conjured on his opposite side. Both floated next to his arms like secondary arms. His eyes flashed with concentration for he knew that he had to be highly accurate in what he was about to do. The crystals were fired over a wide range, making it impossible for him to think of avoiding them. This was all he could do.
"Now!" Mane screamed internally and advanced. He ducked slightly to avoid the first ice bullet and swiveled to the side to take on the next. Using the fiery hand he diverted the path of one of the bullets into the path of another, causing both to crash into each other and exploded into tiny little ice pearls. Pushing himself slightly off the ground, Mane threw a punch at another ice bullet – with his water hand. The bullet easily penetrated the water hand, yet for some reason when it entered the water hand, Daisy's connection with it was lost and it lost its power.
"Woo" Mane took a deep breath and extended his senses to everything around him. If he could use any of his techniques he would have chosen Fire Phoenix. Its wide attack range would have been the best for nullifying Daisy's attack. But Elementals were a race that relied heavily on techniques as well. Who knew what kind of techniques Daisy would have used if she was allowed to.
*Boom*
"That's the last of them," Mane murmured as he smashed his fiery hand into the last ice bullet. His energy was rapidly falling. But he knew that he had to stay on for as long as he could.
"Are you just going to keep watching?" Daisy turned and said to Sasha who had been quiet this entire time.
*Roar*
Sasha roared as though annoyed by Daisy's provocation. She flapped her wings rapidly, and a furious storm gathered round her. But that wasn't enough. She opened her mouth widely and summoned the fire elements, and they heeded her call.
"That's a fire breath! And she's planning to use wind to augment it!" Mane's eyes went wide in horror when he sensed was Sasha was up to.
"I have to stop her," Mane reached a decision quickly and made his move. But Sasha wasn't the only one he was facing.
"Oh no you don't," Daisy smirked as she reminded Mane that she was also present. She hadn't left and wasn't going to be leaving for quite a while.
"What a nuisance," Mane mumbled annoyingly as he clashed with several water whips and avoided the few ice bullets that came his way. He inched closer and closer to Sasha and was finally within effective range when a furious bellow reached his ears.
*OOOOOOOHHHHHHH*
This bellow came from the giant Daisy had conjured. Mane had been ignoring it because he had figured out its effective range and since Daisy couldn't necessarily move, he was out of danger. All he had to watch out for were the ice bullets. But those weren't difficult to avoid once you figured out its trajectory. However the Giant was intent of giving Mane a few surprises. The Water Giant retrieved its shield and to Mane's astonishment, threw it!
*VOOOOO*
The shield flew towards Mane with a frightening noise, and Mane's expression quickly turned pale. The shield was large. And avoiding it meant that Mane had to give up all the ground he had just covered. But it was either that or be pummeled into the ground.
*Bang*
*Bang*
*Bang*
The shield crushed into different sides of the room and kept rebounding off the walls to return to chasing after Mane. By now Mane had forgotten all about Sasha's attack. He was trying his hardest to not be crushed. The shield was like a constant menace, and no matter what Mane did, it kept coming back towards him. It was as if it was a lock-on missile that had him as its target. However, unlike regular lock-on missiles, this one didn't explode upon contact with the walls or other obstacles. It just bounced off them and kept coming back.
"Gotcha," Daisy laughed. Her melodious laughter sounded like the call of the devil to Mane's ears. For he realised that in his bid to escape her he had moved back into her effective range.
"Well this is just great," Mane smiled bitterly as a huge sword descended upon him rapidly. He was caught between a rock, a hard place and something extra. For the boomerang shield was before him, the sword above him, and Sasha behind him.
"For a descendant of the greatest titan to have ever lived, you really underestimate yourself." Mane was about to concede when a powerful voice rushed into his head.
"Cronos," Mane frowned upon realizing the identity of the one speaking to him.
"Titans are born with a great deal of strength. My son suppressed that strength and started the path of energy wielding. You however, are a body wielder. And have the right to tap into that strength."
"I hereby release your bindings. Receive the Titan's Might!"
*Ding*
*New Skill Awakened*
*Skill's Name: Titan's Might*
*Skill Description: You have received the Blessing of the Selfish Titan King who rules over the confines of time. Titan's Might allows you to unleash the Primordial Power of the Titans of Old – raw, outer energy. Skill is now at the Beginner Proficiency Level*
*Boom*
Mane felt an explosion go off in his head after Cronos's proclamation. A strange sort of power filled his body as he felt his strength elevate to new heights. His energy level remained the same, yet his raw power vastly increased and every drop of outer energy was used. None of it was wasted. He suddenly felt like he could stop the sword on his own.
"Why hasn't he conceded?" Rose frowned. She wasn't the only one wondering about Mane's decision. He had always conceded before today, so it was not an issue of pride. Daisy was about to command her giant to stop when Mane leapt up and crashed into her sword.
"What is he doing?!" Rose screamed in worry. That boy was their Mistress's greatest hope. Nothing must happen to him. As she prepared to make a move, a hand appeared right before her and stopped her.
"Sunflower! What are you doing? Do you want something to happen to your boyfriend?" she screamed furiously. Surprisingly, the one who stopped her was the one whom she would never have expected to. In fact, she should have been the one to rush there first in Rose's opinion.
"First and foremost, we are still just friends. Whether that would change or not remains to be seen," Sunflower coolly started, and Rose almost lost her temper.
"Secondly, I may have known him for only two weeks but he never does something he isn't confident in," Sunflower added.
"Confidence and having the ability to…" Rose's speech was cut short by a deafening explosion. She quickly cast her eyes to the source of it and was stunned. For the large sword of the water giant conjured had been broken! And there was a figure air walking towards the giant's head with a serene expression on his face.
"You were saying?" Sunflower smiled gleefully. Rose only shook her head and took a step back. As long as the boy was fine, nothing mattered. Not even her own pride.
"Gather and shatter," Mane mumbled as his small fist smashed into the head of the giant.
"Titan's Fist!"
*Boom*