Standing atop the training platform, Lieren looked down and opened his hand, closed it again, then gripped it again and repeated the process with both hands. Afterwards, he stretched his entire body and took a deep, toiled breath to calm his nerves.
'Okay, the pain has more or less subsided, and my injuries seem to have mostly healed. I should be fine for tomorrow.'
It had taken him the better part of the two days left that he had to allow his injuries to heal and his body to recover. During that time, Alice had implored him to practice his social manners — which he promptly ignored — and buried himself in his studies. Selen, for some reason, seemed more than eager to help him do so, and provided him with bountiful instruction and knowledge while his body recovered. And despite the constant feeling of fatigue that assaulted him the entire time because of his injuries, he nevertheless absorbed the knowledge imparted to him with zeal and high interest.
And now that he had recovered, it wad time for what is most likely his last spar with his masters. Well, if you can even recognize the giant in front of him as one. He was a dirty, liar, after all.
Narrowing his eyes into slits, he ignited Manavision and studied the tall man with dark skin. He was of a plentiful stature, standing over two meters tall, with dark skin and powerful muscles rolling under them. His gait and cadence was like mist, drifting smoothly from one stance to another. The difference was small, but eerily noticeable, as it was the user's intention.
The man really was a liar, through and through. That fact had not changed. Moreover, it seemed to have improved. His secrets to be unearthed are still plenty and numerous.
Brandishing his brilliant dagger, Lieren gripped the obsidian hilt tightly and sent mana running through with Imbuement, a facet of Detachment. Compared to fully detaching mana from the body, it was significantly easier, as long as the object in question — this time his brilliant dagger — is not separated from the source: the boy himself.
Closing his eyes an taking a deep breath, he sighed…
And immediately lowered his upper body in a crawling position. His face was close enough to touch the cold asphalt. His eyes were wide open.
However, he was not surprised in slightest.
Rather, he had fully expected this.
And thus, baited his opponent into striking him.
A deep and wide shadow flew overhead, swinging where his head had just been. It was very nostalgic. And predictable.
Planting his free hand on the cold asphalt, he pushed mana through and his opposite leg, then stretched his body kicked up, pushing away from the concrete at the same time and launching himself in the air.
At the same time, a dull pain reverberated from his leg. His attack hand connected.
Vesba's scarlet eyes were aglow with mana, heightening his cognitive abilities.
And so was Lieren's.
Sending mana to the striking blade with a dark expression, he swung it towards the tall giant's muscular body. Specifically his chest.
The blade glowed bright, and its edges seemed to become even sharper.
"Gah!"
A pained grunt escaped the giant liar's breath as a shallow laceration drew across his chest in a horizontal cut.
"Tch."
'Well, what did expect. Of course he would react to that.'
Lieren clicked his tongue, felt a cold chill run down his spine, and focused mana to his left side. Specifically Fortification, and curled up to lessen the damage of the incoming blow.
A spilt moment later, dull pain resounded beside him, and he let out a pained groan as he's flung to his right while he's upside down.
The world spun like the reflection of a desecrated wheel. Warped and unrecognizable. Spreading his arms wide, he caught himself on the cold asphalt, felt searing pain as his bare skin drifted on it, and eventually stopped. A dark shadow towered above him like the silhouette of giant monster.
Which, in some ways, was more truth than fiction.
Pushing enhancement mana to his free hand, he pushed on the asphalt, immediately lifting himself up, and then prevented himself from toppling over with a fortified half step backwards.
It was tricky maneuver that he had not practiced beforehand, or even thought before this very moment, and required absolute precision and timing. And he also knew that it was not perfect. Still, however, it had saved his life… somehow.
By the time he realized it, his vision had been mostly blocked by a giant wall.
'Crap!'
Hurriedly bringing the striking blade to his face, he pushed fortified mana into it as well as his entire body. If he was right, he might have already been too late.
And indeed he was.
As he felt the dull pain seep deep into his bones, he desperately pushed mana to his feet and legs and felt then slide back under the crushing pressure of the lying giant's burly fist, which was large enough to encompass his entire face even when closed.
…Oh, and it really hurt. A whole damn lot!
Leaning on one side as the pushing force threatened to fling him away again, he swiftly switched to Enhancement and felt his body become faster, stronger, and more agile.
Of course, it was not an instant change. And the imbalance it created almost crushed his right arm's bones in the process.
'Still, with this…'
Using his nascent agility, Lieren switched his footing and spun counterclockwise, allowing the burly fist to pass by him a hair's breadth away.
At the same time, he saw the menacing scarlet eye of the lying giant pass by him with deep coldness, all humor dowsed by the threat of combat. A dark emotion had completely enveloped him, all unnecessary thought erased, with his attention fully on the battle.
And Lieren tried his best to fully imitate that state. The state of combat flow.
Just then, the lying giant stopped suddenly, and he spun as well. This time, one of legs was raised and aimed at his abdomen.
Flaring his mana in a quick burst, Lieren strained to fully harness the power he had granted himself, and jumped up. This time using legs proper.
A kick that could have broken his ribs should it have connected passed by below him. But he didn't have any time to ruminate on it, as another punch was coming for him, from the giant's left.
'A feint!'
Having realized he had been baited, just like he had done at the start of combat, a cold realization doused his head and he managed to regain a bit of clarity.
'I… can't dodge it. Not while I'm still mid-jump. I can't block it either. That would leave me vulnerable to attacks. It was a miracle that I was able to survive the first, in the first place.'
In that case…
Pouring his enhancement fully into the striking blade of the brilliant dagger, Lieren faced its very point into the incoming blow… and let the blade sink in between the giant's knuckles.
A pained grunt emanated from the deepest recesses of his being as the striking blade, enhanced with Lieren's wild mana, tore through his fortifications and ripped through his skin and muscles, but didn't quite reach bone.
"Grah! What the hell?!"
His blow faltered and weakened as the deep pain overcame the lying giant.
And Lieren capitalized on that opportunity immediately.
Arcing upwards, Lieren fully ripped through Vesba's skin and muscles, drawing deep crimson from the giant, whose face was contorted in anguish and primal suffering.
Landing on his feet finally, he hurriedly leaped back to gain some distance, glared at the lying giant, and muttered his spell:
"Invisible Abjuration: Maxima."