*Clank!* *Boom!* *Ching*
Somewhere along the line, Lucian and I had end up in the sky. We clashed several times; given his speed, I wasn't about to let him create distance.
Everytime he tried to back up, I would change the direction of the wind and pressure him using fire magic.
Lucian speed blitzed me and started descending toward the mountain again.
I can't be as versatile on the ground, so that's his plan.
I charged a fire ball in my right hand, compressed it, and shot it at the mountain.
It pierce through its foundation, shorty exploding it from the inside out.
(Onlookers Perspective)
"Remind me again why we're in the desert biome."
"I told you before, we need to find three lion ants."
"Oh right, I guess that makes sense."
"Hey, does that rock look like it's getting closer?"
"Hmm? Rock? I don't see a-"
"Oh shit! Run!"
(Back To Milo and Lucian)
"You crazy bastard! You didn't have to blow up that damn mountain!"
"You're the one who said I didn't have to be afraid to go all out!"
It was slightly amusing that we were yelling at each other while fighting, but I fully intended on winning this duel.
Lucian and I were jumping off the debris, climbing higher into the sky.
I used a sub-skill of ESP, and activated telekinesis to throw boulders at Lucian.
He weaved in between many of them, and sliced the few he couldn't dodge in half.
"I could keep this up all day!" Lucian taunted.
"Oh, is that a fact!?"
Lucian kept dancing around me, flaunting his speeds. Unfortunately for him, he didn't see the trap that I had set in place.
My webs were camoflauged, interconnecting all of the rocks that were falling.
"Man, your aim is shit!" Lucian yelled at me.
He seems like an entirely different person now.
I pointed down as a large barrage of boulders were flung back upward.
He looked down in bewilderment as a few of them hit him at supersonic speeds.
He rolled off a few, trying to avoid as many as he could. While he was dodging, I was charging a fiery nova sphere.
Using wind magic, I fanned the flames, forcing them to grow hotter and brighter.
"Sorry if this is going overboard," I said as I teleported above the mass of heat and slamming my fist down on it.
It hurled toward Lucian, and seemingly exploded on contact, leaving a cloud of flames and ash in its wake.
Strangely enough his mana signature vanished. Mana doesn't just vanish like that.
"Not bad, here's one for you!"
I turned my attention to the sky above me only to be met with a bolt of electricity hitting me in the chest.
It felt like I had been stabbed through my very soul, but my physical body didn't show any signs of damage.
The bolt hit me with enough force to lauch me into the ground below.
The moment I hit the ground, I sprung back up, flying straight at Lucian.
"That's the way! Finally some excitement!"
Lucian was met with a swift body shot to the stomach as I rammed into him.
"You know, I have this sneaking suspicion, you're not actually a B-rank!"
I attached a web to his body, and began spinning him around. I use wind magic to create a funnel of wind and threw him through the sky.
He seemingly recoiled off the air itself and charged at me with his sword outwardly extend.
Coupled with the fact that he was using that weird lighting, and me thinking he wouldn't come back so fast, I could only react by blocking.
I was dragged along the sky for miles.
"Well aren't you perceptive? Truth be told, I'm a retired A-rank! I just tell people I'm B-rank so they're not intimidated!"
So that's how it is, I'm fighting someone far above my own rank.
"Hardly seems fair for mw though!"
Lucian laughed at this. "Tell you what, if you beat me, I raise you to A-rank! Deal!?"
A chance to rise two whole ranks, who would pass that up? "Deal!"
I leaned back, rolling under Lucian as I clad my right leg in fire.
I fired my leg off at his stomach and triggered an explosion on contact to create some distance.
I then blasted Lucian with a beam of fire from my hands without any startup yelling something weird. "Dragon's Breath!"
Huh? Why'd I just yell that? Nevermind that for now.
Lucian let out a surprising war cry as he shielded himself from the heat. I crept pushing further until, I used up a good portion of my mana.
As the flames cleared, Lucian's heavily damaged figure was revealed.
He was panting heavily and still holding up one hand.
"You should call it quits, Lucian."
Lucian smirked, chuckled, then paused. "Heal."
In an instant, all but his equipment had been repaired.
He could use heal? Damn, why didn't I think to check his skills?
Appraisal.
Before I could check his skills, Lucian manuevered behind me.
"Tsk, tsk, trying to analyze my skills so late in the game? That won't do."
Damn, if he happens to have max-charge and heal, this could go on forever. I don't have the destructive capability to take him out in one shot.
"There is a 83.7 percent chance he has max charge. Scaling his abilities to prior combatants, you'd need to output at least 24,000 damage in two tenths of a second." Erythro informed me.
24,000 damage...absorbing him is off the table, and going berserk might kill him...
"I have an idea. Try influencing the space around you, slow the motion of the world while accelerating your own. You should be able to do this with spatial magic." Erythro added.
"I hope you're done with your little game plan, because time's up!" Lucian announced as he shot a barrage of shockwaves from his sword at me.
I manuevered in between all of them, until I was in front of him.
Lucian grinned. "Now I've got you!"
Well, I guess it's now or never.
"Stasis!" There I go yelling weird stuff again.
The moment I said this, the color to the world dulled and everything became quiet.
The air wasn't moving, dust particles weren't moving, and most notably, Lucian wasn't moving.
He was stuck midway through swinging his sword at me.
"Attack now. Deal as much damage as you can. Emitter spells won't exactly work well, so focus on physical attacks." Erythro instructed.
"Sorry if this seems a little cheap, but I plan on winning."
With that I unleashed a uncountable barrage of consecutive punches.
I used the elastic tension in my arms to keep the momentum going.
After maybe 1 minute in my percievable time, my mana ran out completely.
I began falling, but Lucian's body began spasming violently before being launched forward at neck breaking speeds.
"Shiiiiiii-" Lucian yelled as he flew away.
Damn, did I go too far? I need to recharge for now, Max-Charge.