Thousands of small black spots, slowly growing larger, began to appear in the already-blackened sky. Just looking at them was enough to paint a picture. Whether friend or foe, anyone on this open battlefield would see them filling the sky and falling down.
Without looking up at the incoming barrage, Sylas quickly turned and dashed toward the nearest trench to take cover. But before he could take more than three steps, Tascen charged at him from behind, forcing Sylas to spin around and block the incoming strike. The metal of their blades clashed, sending Sylas skidding backward from the impact.
Damn it, he's trying to keep me from getting to cover.
Sylas and his sister Syrna were fast, even for knights of their level. But compared to people like Tascen or Seraline, their speed was lacking. Tascen was relying on this. He was quick enough to dodge the bombardment without much trouble, but Sylas wasn't so fortunate. Already injured, Sylas knew that any more heavy hits to his aura would only make things worse.
Glancing up at the shells that seemed to multiply as they fell, Sylas frowned and said, "Fine, we'll do this your way."
Instead of trying to run again, Sylas charged straight at Tascen. Tascen looked surprised for a moment, but then a smirk spread across his face.
Good, a direct confrontation is exactly what I wanted.
Not even flinching at the sight of the incoming bombardment, Tascen bent his legs slightly and launched himself at Sylas. To an onlooker, they would appear as nothing more than blurred figures about to collide. But just before they made contact, Sylas raised his crescent blade and hurled it at Tascen. Seeing this, Tascen quickly stopped and raised his short sword, deflecting the crescent blade with a sharp clang as it sailed through the air.
That brief moment of opening was all Sylas needed. He closed the distance between them before Tascen could correct his stance, with Sylas's first punch shooting out in less than a heartbeat, slicing through the air like a blade itself. Despite his quick reflexes, Tascen barely managed to tilt his head to avoid the strike. But before he could fully recover, Sylas had already shifted his weight and launched a backkick.
As Tascen finally regained his footing, he blocked the kick with the blunt of his short sword. The impact sent a bone-jarring vibration through the blade and his body, forcing him back a few feet. A puzzled expression crossed Tascen's face as he was pushed away, prompting Sylas to narrow his eyes.
Looks like I was right; he doesn't know how to handle someone skilled in unarmed combat.
This came down to their different upbringings. Most knights used weapons and, while not unskilled in close-quarters combat, focused mainly on mastering their chosen weapon. Sylas and Syrna, however, had a different form of education. They were trained in almost every aspect of combat, even if Syrna sometimes didn't pay attention. In a way, they embodied the saying: A jack of all trades is a master of none, but often better than a master of one.
After breaking apart, Sylas and Tascen locked eyes for a moment before both sprang into action. Sylas quickly grabbed the crescent blade he had thrown at Tascen earlier, catching it just inches before it hit the ground. Tascen, seeing this, braced himself, expecting Sylas to press his attack. But, instead of charging forward, Sylas's figure seemed to blur into a shadow, focusing his attention on the ground at his feet.
"Grounded Arts: Interluding Flash!" Tascen watched as Sylas briefly vanished from sight. With a powerful strike, Sylas struck at the ground at an angle, sending a tremor through the earth. The force of the impact sent a shower of ash, dirt, and rocks into the air, blocking Tascen's view.
Is he using the debris to sneak up on me? No, wait!
Just as Tascen was about to move, he realized what Sylas was doing. By striking the ground at an angle, Sylas had launched debris into the air like a curtain. Tascen quickly looked up, understanding what this cover was for. In the short time since their skirmish began, the bombardment had arrived. Black spheres rained down from the sky, exploding on impact. Flames mixed with charred earth as explosions erupted all around.
Some bombs hit buried mines, triggering a chain reaction that shook the ground like an earthquake. Waves of explosions spread across the battlefield, creating shockwaves that rolled over the area, now filled with smoke and fire.
Sylas's tactic had worked. The curtain of dirt and rock had caused the bombs to detonate prematurely, keeping them from being a direct threat. Any remaining aftershocks were easily managed by his aura.
"Damn, that was smart," Tascen muttered, navigating through the chaos of explosions. He had intended to force Sylas into the open and use the bombardment against him, but now he was wasting valuable stamina.
But when one door closes, another opens. He's been using the environment to his advantage from the start. Maybe I can do the same?
Seconds after Tascen had that thought, the bombardment ceased, just as what was left of Sylas's curtain fell to the ground around him. Peering through the dust and smoke of the dying flames—there was nothing left to burn on the already charred battlefield—Sylas searched for Tascen. But, to his surprise, his opponent was nowhere to be seen.
Where did he go? Did he dive into one of the trenches while I couldn't see him? No... even if he's faster than me, he stalled for so long that neither of us could have reached the nearest trench in time to avoid the bombardment.
This only made the question of his whereabouts more pressing. There were hardly any places to hide on such a crater-ridden field. As Sylas's eyes darted around, he suddenly heard a sharp whistling noise from directly above him. It was the same sound he heard when the bombs were soaring through the sky.
"Huh? All the bombs should have dropped by now," Sylas muttered, his gaze shooting upward. That's when he saw Tascen—nearly a hundred feet in the air, falling fast and heading straight for Sylas. But what was even more striking were the dozens of bombs rotating around him, caught in an invisible yet powerful air current.
Tempest Blade! He's using a modified version!
Sylas quickly realized what was happening as he took a step back. Tempest Blade was typically an Aerial Art that used aura to create a vortex and manipulate wind for pressurized attacks. However, Tascen had adapted it to catch some of the bombs from the bombardment out of the air. It might have seemed simple, but reducing the air pressure just enough to avoid rupturing the bombs while still creating a strong enough airflow to keep them moving around him showed just how precise Tascen was. And now, Sylas was on the receiving end.
"Gotcha!" Tascen yelled as he slashed his short blade at Sylas. Even though he was still high in the air, too far for his blade to reach, the wind reacted, sending the bombs caught in the powerful air current hurtling down towards Sylas.
There was hardly any time for Sylas to react, let alone evade, as the bombs struck the ground nearly simultaneously, resulting in one massive, violent explosion. Watching from outside the Alternate Space, Syrna—who had been closely following her brother's match—tightened her fist, her face showing clear worry.
Seeing her reaction from the corner of his eye, Magnus said, "He's fine. But it looks like things are about to get serious."
Sylas glanced away from the screen for a moment as if she wanted to ask how he knew. But the noise of the crowd quickly drew her attention back to the screen, which showed a figure emerging from the dust of the explosion. Tascen, still falling towards the ground, looked surprised. His aim had been spot on, yet Sylas seemed completely unharmed by the explosion, no worse than before.
"Tch!" Tascen clicked his teeth and raised his short sword. He didn't know how Sylas had escaped unscathed, but he was determined to end this before the next bombardment arrived. As he descended rapidly, Sylas looked up at him. Tascen, sword raised, seemed ready to strike him down in an instant.
But before he got within ten feet, two more figures suddenly emerged from the smoke. Tascen's eyes widened as he saw both figures, each wielding crescent blades, move in front of Sylas. They blocked his strike with a clear metallic ring that echoed across the battlefield.
"What the hell!" Tascen shouted, stunned by the two figures that had stopped his attack. He wasn't alone in his surprise; the students watching the match were equally confused.
"What in the world?" One student muttered, baffled.
"Wait, is that even allowed? How did they get into the Alternate Space?" Another student nearby asked, struggling to understand what was happening.
"Are those... clones?" Magnus said quietly. Indeed, the two figures who had appeared from the dust and blocked Tascen's strike looked exactly like Sylas, complete with injuries and weapons. Syrna also looked shocked, but her reaction seemed to be for a different reason than the others.
"Sylas... are you really using it now? I guess you're confident then," she muttered to herself, catching Magnus's attention.
"You know what that is?" he asked, as Syrna turned to him and slowly nodded.
"Yes. It's one of the techniques in our family's aura style," Syrna explained. Hearing that, Magnus's mind briefly flashed back to when he first fought the twins. Back then, he remembered Sylas had used an aura style that wasn't grounded or aerial, but he didn't know much about aura styles in general at the time, so he hadn't made the connection.
So one of the Astral Art's techniques can create duplicates? I didn't even know knights could do that; it almost seems like a mage's spell instead. But more interestingly...
Magnus turned to Syrna and asked, "I'm guessing you can use it too, right?"
Syrna looked a bit surprised by the question but nodded.
"Yeah, almost every knight in our family can use Astral Arts, so we're all capable of it," She said, making Magnus frown behind his mask.
"If your family's aura style lets you do things like this, did you use it in your match against Zilen?" He asked. Syrna shook her head, a slightly disappointed look on her face.
"No..." Her answer only confused Magnus more. Sensing his confusion, Syrna offered an explanation.
"I know it sounds strange, but our family's aura style isn't like others. It doesn't give us a huge edge in battle. Instead, it's useful when we're almost even with our opponents and just need a little extra push. That's why Sylas and I decided not to use it unless we were really close to winning." As Magnus listened to her explanation, he started to understand what Syrna meant.
If a knight's battle potential were like a cup half-filled with water, aura styles, and their techniques could fill it to the top or even make it overflow to the next level. But for the Moring Family, their aura style worked differently. Instead of causing a sudden surge in ability, it provided a more gradual boost. It didn't let them overpower someone they couldn't beat before, but in close battles, it could give them the edge.
While this made them somewhat less formidable compared to other knights, it fit with how Sylas and Syrna were trained in the Moring Family—to be balanced in various aspects rather than focusing on just one. Their aura style aimed to make them more versatile and adaptable in different situations, not necessarily stronger.
"I see. That's why you didn't use it against Zilen," Magnus said, and Syrna nodded in response. She hadn't been able to land a hit on Zilen during their match, so using her aura style wouldn't have changed the outcome, so she simply lost without using it. As Magnus turned his attention back to the fight, still deep in thought, Syrna asked a question.
"Hey, I was curious—how did you know my brother would be fine when he got hit by those bombs?" Unlike the academy staff who had direct access to the sensory spell engraved into the Alternate Space, students could only watch the matches visually. That meant that besides improving their perception, any extraordinary senses they might use were useless.
Despite this, Syrna noticed that Magnus seemed to know Sylas was okay, even though he didn't know about her family's aura style and couldn't use any sensory magic to check. Magnus hesitated for a moment, realizing he'd put himself in a tricky spot with his earlier comment. The answer related to the music playing during Sylas and Tascen's match.
He had been listening to it the whole time and had practically memorized its rhythm and meaning, just like he had with Reimun. So, he knew their fight wasn't ending anytime soon because the music hadn't started to fade. However, he couldn't tell Syrna that, so he decided to stick with his 'mysterious student' persona.
"I have my secrets. I'm sure you and your brother had other reasons for not using your aura style besides your agreement, right?" Syrna immediately looked caught, letting out a nervous laugh.
"Oh, you noticed? Well, I suppose there's no point in hiding it now. Yes, Sylas and I originally hoped to keep our aura styles hidden until we could have a rematch against you. But those plans are out the window now." Magnus couldn't help but look utterly surprised.
What the hell? I was just guessing, but they were actually planning to tag-team me again, this time using their family's aura style? Jeez, I guess Tascen spared me any surprises for the next time I fight them.
Shaking his head internally, Magnus turned his attention back to the match. Tascen had withdrawn after facing three Sylases, trying to figure out which one was real. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn't tell the difference between them. They all looked the same, and he could sense that each had the presence of aura.
As if understanding what Tascen was doing, the Sylas on the far right spoke up.
"There's no point in trying to figure out which one of us is real. This isn't a trick or illusion; all three of us are just as real as the others. We're cut from the same cloth." Hearing that, Tascen frowned before smirking.
"I see. So this is the Moring Family's aura style? You and your sister hadn't used it until now, so I thought perhaps you two simply didn't know it. Who would have guessed it could do something like this?" Tascen's smirk faded slightly as he continued.
"Still, no aura style could let you create duplicates without some kind of drawback. Every technique has a weakness." As he spoke, all three Sylases took their stances, gripping their crescent blades tightly. Despite their many clashes, each blade remained in near-perfect condition with their reflections not dulling even slightly, each one perfectly reflecting the battlefield around them.
"I suppose you'll just have to see for yourself."
"I suppose you'll just have to see for yourself."
"I suppose you'll just have to see for yourself."
All three Sylases spoke in unison, their voices overlapping.