An influx of pain and fatigue accompanied Ryan's awakening, followed by a discontented groan, a routine he had become all too familiar with. Muttered curses tumbled from his lips as he laboriously attempted to get up after losing consciousness.
'Was that final spar really necessary?' he questioned while recalling taking on both Fluffy and Elora for the first time...
-
"This will be the last spar we have, at least for now. And to spice things up, you will be taking us both on. You've fought against myself and against Fluffy; how do you think you will fare against the both of us?" Elora stated hours before Ryan had regained consciousness.
"Well, I can't take either of you down individually, so what's the point of this? Can't we just chill and..." Ryan couldn't even finish, halted abruptly as Fluffy surged toward him with breathtaking speed.
As the beast's size had slightly decreased upon evolving, his newfound swiftness was truly astonishing. It was challenging to even keep track of his movements, but before Fluffy could close in on him, Ryan vanished and reappeared behind Elora.
"You have a bad habit of being predictable with your Spatial Warping," Elora remarked as she swung her elbow backwards, aiming to strike Ryan as he appeared. However, he had vanished once again, leaving her empty-handed.
"You have a bad habit of falling for basic traps," Ryan retorted, outwitting Elora's expectations. Using Spatial Warping a second time, he emerged beside Fluffy, preparing to strike before it could react.
However, Elora had learnt the hard way not to underestimate Ryan, who always seemed to have something up his sleeve, as she withdrew her bow and fired a barrage of arrows where he reappeared.
Ryan, eager to limit his use of Spatial Warping, didn't bother using it to avoid her arrows. He raised his arm and formed a Mana Shield, using one of the most fundamental applications of mana, Mana Materialisation. The shield emitted a green hue, a reflection of the mana he channelled into it, enough to block the incoming arrows.
But while Ryan defended against the bullet-like arrows using his Mana Shield, the force of Fluffy's paw struck him like a speeding car. An ordinary human would have succumbed to such a blow, their bones shattered on impact. Yet Ryan absorbed it head-on, reinforcing his body with Mana and anchoring himself to the ground.
Strangely, the earth seemed to embrace him, allowing him to sink slightly, while vines coiled around his feet to help him maintain his balance.
"Not bad," Elora remarked, impressed and proud as the one who had imparted her knowledge of Nature Manipulation to him.
'Using vines that are typically for entrapment to maintain his balance is quite creative,' she mused inwardly as she released another series of arrows toward him.
Both Elora and Fluffy were in peak form. Elora, whose skills had grown rusty after spending so long alone in Akegria Forest, had benefited greatly from training with Ryan. Meanwhile, Fluffy's increase in abilities was even greater after the evolution it had undergone.
Although against Ryan they weren't fighting for their lives, they were more formidable than when they confronted the Warlock. Coincidentally, Ryan emulated the dark mage's style with astonishing precision, while adding his own unique flair.
A sense of déjà vu washed over Elora, with Ryan's piercing green eyes and combat style reminiscent of the Warlock. However, where the Warlock's eyes were ominous and unreadable, filled with distress, Ryan's eyes were bright, determined, and brimming with ambition.
But she swiftly snapped back to the present, realising that she couldn't afford to lose focus during this spar, even with Fluffy on her side.
Minimising his use of Spatial Warping, Ryan opted for a more physical approach. He lunged at Fluffy, fists pounding on the beast, before slamming his palms onto the ground. With a surge of mana, a colossal tree erupted from the earth, striking Fluffy from below with tremendous force and velocity, launching the creature into the air.
Seizing this window of opportunity, he darted towards Elora, targeting the opponent with ranged capabilities while his other opponent was incapacitated momentarily.
Though Ryan lacked a Mana Core, using more mana meant greater strain on his body. Like all mages, he had his limits. His was significantly higher, considering how long he had been training, due to his Mystical Constitution.
But he was still far from being on the level of the Warlock.
If he overused Spatial Warping as the dark mage had, he would quickly exhaust himself and possibly even damage himself internally. The ability required a clear line of sight to the destination, and more distant warps consumed greater amounts of mana. Furthermore, it demanded intense concentration, as it didn't occur instantaneously and required delicate control.
Bearing that all in mind, Ryan deployed it in his initial attack, but intended to use it more sparingly.
And after two weeks of intensive training, he had added a few more tricks to his arsenal, which he couldn't wait to use...