Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
As the flat of a sword struck a fist repeatedly, both were drenched in blood. However, the blood only belonged to the fist, while the sword was utterly unharmed. Despite this, the fist kept on striking in hopes of the sword finally halting. The fist did not care about its well-being, but its enemy's defeat.
"You're going break your fist if you continue, Leo…" Ace informed, his face laced with worry and concern. Despite having beaten Leo up two seconds ago, he was now concerned with his well-being due to the lanky-armed individual punishing himself. The number of times Leo's fist had struck Ace's blade was innumerable.
As blood trickled down Leo's fist, it pooled on the soil, dying it red. Leo's breathing was ragged, and his clothes were tattered. His hair was burnt due to Ace's [Self Fire-Affinity] skill, and his right leg was bruised due to [Self Darkness-Affinity]. There were several cuts on his body, and the right side of his torso was pierced.
"I know. That's why I'm doing this. One of us will be on the verge of death by the end of this, and it will mark the end of our 'vacation' here." Leo explained his reasoning, his eyes droopy. He then lunged forward while directing a punch at Ace's torso, only to be tossed aside by Ace's kick.
As Leo coughed up blood, Ace remarked at the sight of his body and the surrounding ground dyed in red. The latter sighed in defeat before approaching his friend/foe to finally finish the battle once and for all. He believed it had gone on for too long, and he couldn't bear to hurt the lanky-armed individual anymore.
"If you could maintain the Black Commandment for any longer, you may have had a chance." Ace commented before pointing his blade at Leo's right arm. "Now, let's do this the old-fashioned way, just like we did during our first year at Academy 07."
Leo chuckled weakly as Ace smiled.
"Now, let's end this." Ace said, his voice getting louder after every word. He raised his sword and prepared to cut vertically. He also wanted to use Vertical Tear so that it would be quick and Leo would faint before he felt the pain. Of course, he would feel some of it, but his natural anesthesia would cancel most.
Whoosh!
Thud!
Ace's eyes widened as he stared at his blade. Instead of slicing Leo's arm off, the sword pierced the soil, creating a narrow hole in the ground. He closed his eyes while trying to sense where the lanky-armed individual had disappeared to.
Whoosh!
Leo's punch, which had come from behind Ace's shoulder, narrowly missed the latter's body. As the former stumbled forward, he was kicked in the back by the latter, who still had his eyes wide open due to surprise.
'That Dante guy… he's strong.' Ace remarked inwardly, making a mental note to never underestimate a person from the great families. It was because of the incarnation of the Primal Animal they receive once they achieve a certain age. Maybe it was only because of the partnership Leo and Dante had because of Ace, but the latter could not take any chances.
'I gotta stay vigilant.'
Leo, on the other hand, was dumbfounded. He didn't expect Ace to avoid the strike so easily, and wondered how he figured out the trajectory and speed despite not seeing it. Dante was not fazed, but he now respected Ace a little more due to his advanced techniques.
'He has trained under our lord.' Dante remarked, nodding with a bright smile on his face. At this point, he cared about the growth of Ace more than Leo, since the former was a messenger of his lord, the Akashic Records.
The Akashic Records might not be the lord of the Primal Demon or any other Primal Animals, but to incarnations or regular races such as demons or dwarves, he was practically god, ruler, or messiah. That was why Dante admired and respected Ace so much despite not being in a partnership with him.
'He truly was chosen by the lord.'
Dante was also impressed by the growth Ace displayed, even if it were minimal. He hadn't witnessed Ace's strength before he trained at the Spirit Realm, but if he had, it would blow his mind by his speed of training.
As Leo and Ace stood before each other, both of their eyes glowed a different color, their mana swirling around them. Leo's mana was black, while Ace's mana was white. Ace's mana also had aether mixed in it, causing it to glow a dim shade of purple, too.
Coating his blade with flames and darkness along with mana, aura, and aether, Ace grinned while pointing it at the lanky-armed individual. "So, you do have something more to offer. I was wondering how you lost so easily despite receiving Dante's power."
Encompassing everything under his neck with darkness, he let out a toothy grin despite his bloody face. It looked horrendous, but it was a perfect explanation of the emotion Leo currently felt–ecstasy or elation.
"Shall we begin for real, then?" Ace asked rhetorically, earning a curt nod from Leo, who, using his wings, levitated in the air. He then flicked his wrist, causing a halo made of darkness to appear above his head.
Ace, perplexed by the sudden development and improvement of Leo's attire, tilted his head before using Vertical Tear to destroy the halo. Since the first move of [Sword Saint] used the least amount of mana compared to the others, he could use it without any severe backlash.
Leo, annoyed by the destruction of his cool-looking cosmetic and mana-supplying device, formed another halo. The halo, or more specifically, [Infinity of Darkness], was a technique taught to Leo by Dante.
Having witnessed the memories of countless of his kin, Dante was knowledgeable in the use of mana, and since he had an equal partnership with Leo, he was allowed to share it with him. This meant that most techniques Dante remembered from the others incarnations or the Primal Demon himself could be used by Leo.
[Infinity of Darkness] was a common skill used by higher life forms than humans, such as demons, nymphs, giants, etcetera. It was a technique where one utilized the original form of an element without using mana and forced it into a loop, basically generating infinite energy.
This was because of the product of the original element. When utilized, it would never scatter into the environment, which meant that the amount of energy or property of darkness released into the atmosphere would never disperse.
It would mean that if one released mana, it would never escape the user's control and would never disperse, even if the constant supply of energy was cut.
"What is that? Are you trying to improve your looks using that thing?" Ace asked, unbeknownst to the technique. He received a curt nod, to which he replied with another nod. Despite disbelieving Leo's affirmation to the halo being purely for cosmetics, he thought he would get to experience it during their battle.
"Shall we begin?" Ace asked, annoyed by the number of times he had to say these words.
"" We shall. ""
He received a reply from both Leo and Dante, to which he nodded in response, before disappearing from his previous spot. He used [Blitz Step] to close the distance between them in less than a second before using [Short Distance Teleportation] to appear behind them, only to extend his arm to try to pierce Leo's body.
Whoosh!
Dodging the attack by sidestepping, Leo raised his leg before attempting to kick Ace's head, only to have his foot grabbed by the latter. Ace squeezed Leo's foot, resulting in the latter squirming in pain. Leo quickly jumped before using his other foot to try to kick Ace, in hopes that the latter would release his other foot due to him holding a blade.
Kang!
Leo's alternate foot came into contact with the flat of Ace's sword, causing shockwaves to emerge from the collision. The latter noticed his family in the distance, their faces bleached with worry and concern. However, they did not dare to interfere in the battle due to the fear of being caught in the crossfire. It was a viable reason, considering their interference could easily get them killed in a single move from Ace or Leo.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Extreme amounts of air pressure were directed towards Ace due to Leo's punches, which never seemed to impact the former's body. Despite that, several cuts and gashes were rapidly appearing on Ace's body. Despite his punches missing Ace's body narrowly, the air being pushed into all directions was strong enough to impact a person who was at the B Rank.
'So this is the true power of an incarnation of the Primal Demon when brought into partnership.' Ace commented inwardly, annoyance etched on his expression. He was astonished, but the fact that Leo could pull such cheap tricks still annoyed Ace.
'I wanna end this, but it might result in me accidentally cutting Leo's vitals due to his rapid movement.' Ace remarked, his fists clenched. In reality, he could easily end the fight due to his almost invisible movements when using the moves of [Sword Saint] paired with the levels. However, despite him being adept at using the sword, cutting a specific part while exerting most of his strength was not something he could do yet.
Eventually relenting from punching air, Leo quickly expanded the distance between his foe, trying to plan his next, most destructive move. His plan, instead of continuing the pointless barrage of punches, was to end the tiring battle within one move. It was a move he hadn't ever used and didn't plan to unless he was in a pressing situation.
He believed this was exactly that. The pressing situation that would force him to use his strongest move, which also caused the most backlash due to it being above his range of properties of darkness and mana, which meant it used too much despite his reserves being tiny.
"You have forced me to use this, Ace."
Cringing at Leo's cliche dialogue, Ace ran towards Leo, not minding his decision of using the most powerful move in his entire arsenal.
Stab!
Ace stabbed Leo's body using his blade, but was confused when he felt a sensation different from the piercing of the skin. Instead, it felt like the cushioning of a different sort of energy… one that seemed to synergize with his sword.
'Property of Night…'
Ace thought, his eyes widening. He was astonished due to having located the property of night on Earth, which he had only seen in the Spirit Realm. It was a property that synergized with his own blade, which was made to conduct it.
Technically, his sword was made to adapt to the property of shadow, but since it didn't exist on Earth, it was synergizing with the property of night instead, which was very similar to the former.
However, even seeing the property of night was strange, considering Akash clearly stated that it was scarce, and only existed in the Spirit Realm and other planets containing exotic minerals and properties.
"How did you… property of night…" He couldn't speak due to his astonishment, and the words were stuck inside a lump in his throat. "Did Dante do this?"
Ace questioned the barrier separating him from Leo, which was created using the property of night. Despite being able to slice through it easily Ace chose to leave it be, instead deciding to question the lanky-armed individual.
"Yes, I did. Messenger of the lord, I'm sure you know about this, and that it is very similar to the property your sword is designed to conduct. By the memory of another incarnation, it looks like the handiwork of Arlo, from the Spirit Realm."
Dante said through Leo's mouth, causing Ace to raise an eyebrow in surprise.
'An incarnation of the Primal Demon in the Spirit Realm? And he knows about Arlo?' Ace had now confirmed that the Primal Animals did not only exist on Earth but on different planets in the Inner Cosmos.
Leo, however, was utterly confused by what Dante and Ace were discussing. His only goal was to defeat Ace, but his plans had been interrupted by Dante, who wished to have a discussion with Ace.
"What's the spirit realm? The property of night?" Leo asked, fed up with the indecipherable words used by Dante and Ace. It was confusing, and that irritated him.
"You will find out soon, Leo." Dante said, refusing to tell him anything more as if he had something planned. Ace, suspicious of the refusal, could only shrug before attempting to walk away from the fight. He was a battle addict sometimes, but they had fought too many times and the particular fight had gone on for way too long. If this continued, it would result in either Ace or Leo's death, which neither could afford.
"You can't leave!" Leo shouted, sprinting towards the figure of Ace who seemed to be disappearing into the mist.
Ace was heading towards the back of the waterfall, where he could meditate in peace without a lanky-armed individual disturbing his seclusion. It was his grace period, the time where he could ponder about things.
Dante understood this and did not want his partner to disturb Ace in his seclusion. That's why he suppressed Leo's body, preventing him from walking towards the boy anymore.
"Hey! Dante! Stop! Ace, wait!" He screamed, but no one replied to or took action due to his words, much to his bewilderment. The fight he had yearned for had ended in a… draw? No, it couldn't be!
"Let him be, Leo." Dante assured, forcing Leo down using the property of darkness. It was to the point where he had to suppress and corrupt his muscles temporarily just to restrain him, proving his tremendous growth in such a short amount of time. Ace, as he walked towards the waterfall, wondered how much Leo would grow.
'At least he'll be on my side this time.'
Due to not having the motivation to grow, Leo had not unlocked his full potential in Ace's previous life. However, neither had he been disowned, which was purely due to Ace's influence in this timeline. Since it had affected his growth so much, Leo could become a respected warrior and maybe a high-ranker in due time, which would assist Ace in his final goal.
"At least you'll grow to be a better man than me despite this being your first try."
*
*
*
"You've grown…" A voice echoed throughout the tiny cave in which sat Ace, meditating away. As soon as he heard the voice and recognized who it was, his eyes immediately widened. His gaze shook as his expression brightened. Despite being an adult in his 20s, he couldn't help but run up to the person that stood in front of him, hugging him tightly.
However, since the man had the appearance of an eight-year-old child, it wasn't very helpful to hug him. Ace was over six feet in height, and the man could only reach his chest at most.
"Larry… where's Akash?" Ace asked. He had instantly recognized the voice, who seemed to be Larry, the current Celestial of Enlightenment. Ace carried his legacy, and they had gotten pretty close in the time they spent in the Spirit Realm. Their bond was like brothers, except the elder brother looked younger.
"Well, since Akash is allied with his planet unbeknownst to most humans on it, he can tinker with the senses of the other deities. He allowed me to enter the planet without being sensed by the other deities who support humans." Larry explained, much to Ace's understanding. He had expected something crazy, and there it was. Ace remarked on how Akash and Larry never ceased to amaze him with their divine powers.
"How much time do you have?" Ace asked. It was pretty obvious that there was a time limit, considering Akash was considered weaker than the other deities, such as the Deity of Swords and the Deity of Magic. There was also the Deity of Bows, but only his stigma existed on the planet.
"Ten minutes, and that's enough to help you with the… wow, you have a lot of things you still need to fix." Larry chuckled, spotting imperfections within Ace's body and his techniques. It was very easy for him as a Celestials to locate these imperfections and also assist in removing or correcting them.
"Indeed, I do." Ace was not unbeknownst to the countless imperfections he had regarding his body, energy, and techniques. They had been refined as best as they could during the trip to the Spirit Realm, but having achieved the next minor rank, he was in dire need of tutoring.
However, they only had ten minutes.
"We can finish quickly if we start now."
"All right… let's begin."