All three Sylas moved in near-perfect harmony. As they charged at Tascen, they constantly shifted positions, making it hard to keep track of who was who. One would momentarily vanish from sight, only to reappear just in time, causing Tascen to lose all sense of which Sylas was which.
Dammit, three on one!
Tascen raised his short sword, blocking the strike from the Sylas charging straight at him. Meanwhile, the other two Sylas attacked from his left and right in a pincer move. Acting quickly, Tascen dropped lower, letting one attack miss over his head while he countered the other with a kick, deflecting its crescent blade upward.
After fending off those two, Tascen readied himself for a counterattack, but he was too slow. Before he could move, the first Sylas, who had attacked him earlier, was already swinging at his chest again. Seeing this, Tascen clicked his tongue and canceled his counterattack, instead kicking off the ground with his free leg. The force propelled him back, allowing him to narrowly dodge the incoming slash as he twirled through the air.
But the three Sylas kept up their relentless assault, and by the time his feet touched the ground, they were on him again.
"Dammit," Tascen muttered, watching them close in. With his stamina running low, he couldn't afford to play defensively. Deciding to go on the offensive, he charged toward them. He aimed to strike the closest Sylas first, crouching low as he ran and preparing for an upward slash.
Just as he got within range and launched his attack, the Sylas he targeted threw his weapon at one of the duplicates.
What?
Tascen was caught off guard when his opponent suddenly disarmed himself. His strike, intended to counter any move from his opponent, was too short to be effective and gave the Sylas he was attacking the perfect chance to reach out and grab Tascen's sword arm.
"Shit," Tascen cursed as the Sylas yanked him in and kicked him in the stomach. With Tascen's Aura Intensity already lower than Sylas's due to his waning stamina, Sylas's aura did more damage in a direct clash. Tascen gritted his teeth, feeling the pain ripple through his body. The kick sent him into the air, and the Sylas who had grabbed him let go allowing him to rise. The second Sylas, who had been rushing in, leaped after Tascen and went in for a strike, which Tascen could do nothing but attempt to block.
In mid-air, their auras collided. Tascen, struggling to keep up, was overpowered as his short sword met Sylas's crescent blade. The impact sent him crashing to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Still, he managed to recover as he rolled and used the momentum to get onto his knees.
Those three... They're all faster than Sylas was on his own, but something's off...
As Tascen thought this, the third Sylas, dual-wielding crescent blades, jumped into the air and came down on him with a double-handed strike. Tascen, rising to his feet, focused on the clone's arms. All three Sylas looked like the original, including their injuries. Pooling his aura into offensive power instead of defense, Tascen chose to meet the attack head-on and aimed his strike at the clone's injured arm. When their blades clashed, the clone winced as the pain from its already wounded arm flared up.
At the same time, Tascen noticed something odd about the other Sylas's reactions. The two Sylas had froze, grimacing as they looked at their arms.
"Oh? So that's how it is!" Tascen yelled as he completed his swing, forcing the third Sylas clone back. All three clones quickly regrouped, and Tascen watched with a smile plastered on his face.
"I see it now; I understand how that technique of yours works. It doesn't create clones; instead, it gives your aura and, by extension, the rest of your existence, the property to split. Mind, body, and soul are all split into three separate beings yet still interconnected through your aura. That connection means, although separate, you all share things like thoughts, which is useful for coordinating but also a liability for stuff like pain, am I right?" Tascen rested his sword on his shoulder as he analyzed, while the three Sylas clones remained silent, their expressions revealing that Tascen had hit the nail on the head.
"Of course, if your mind, body, and soul are all split, that naturally means your aura is split between the three bodies as well, which should mean all of you would be weaker than the original in all aspects. But that's not exactly right, is it? Because all three of you are actually faster than the original Sylas." He had noticed it when he took all of their strikes earlier.
Their attacks did damage him because his Aura Intensity was lower than theirs, but in terms of raw strength, he felt stronger than all three of them combined, which shouldn't have been the case. Logically, all three clones would have one-third of Sylas's capabilities.
But Sylas didn't go down that route. Although each clone had less aura than the original Sylas, instead of evenly distributing that aura into categories like strength and durability, Sylas focused it on the singular category of speed. That meant that although each clone had less aura than the original, the focus of that aura was more direct, making them faster.
In the end, the strength aspect didn't matter much since Sylas had a higher Aura Intensity than Tascen, who was nearing the red in terms of stamina. This meant each of Sylas's clones were essentially glass cannons. It was a risky play that he could only make because Tascen had a lower Aura Intensity than he did.
"Now I understand why you didn't use this technique right away. As strong as it looks on the surface, it has just as many downsides, if not more. Against the wrong opponent, it could be the singular reason for your loss, and even in a situation where you're outnumbered, it could potentially backfire altogether," Tascen concluded his analysis. The three Sylas clones narrowed their gazes on Tascen before the one in the center spoke up.
"Hmm, I'm surprised you figured that out so quickly. I thought you weren't that clever outside of combat intelligence, but it seems I was wrong." Tascen's expression stiffened before he exaggeratedly frowned.
"Hey, are you saying you thought I was stupid or something?" Tascen challenged, but the centermost Sylas ignored him and continued.
"Still, knowing how the technique works doesn't mean you can beat it. Weak or not, you're still in a three-versus-one against opponents faster and more coordinated than you." Tascen nodded slowly as he listened.
"True... That would be the case if you were normal clones. But I just have to focus on one of you, now don't I?" Tascen's eyes reflected a dangerous glint as his aura began to manifest, coating his entire body in its liquid-like texture. Almost immediately, all three Sylas clones went on guard as Tascen's voice lowered.
"Ethereal Arts: Meld..." His voice began to fade, sinking into the world around him like a stone sinking into the ocean's depths. His body and the liquid-like aura surrounding him faded, blending seamlessly with the background.
And then, without another word or sound, Tascen disappeared.
"Crap!"
"Crap!"
"Crap!"
All three Sylas clones cursed as they grouped together, backs to one another, scanning their surroundings closely. The moment they fell silent, so did the battlefield around them. With no explosions or roaring fires, the only sound was the wind. Despite this, none of the Sylas clones could locate Tascen.
No footprints were made, nor were footsteps heard. It was completely silent. That was, until a voice echoed from the space in front of one of the clones.
"You know, grouping together like that doesn't help when your enemy is invisible." The Sylas clone immediately tried to attack, with the other two turning to do the same, but they were too slow. Before they could strike, the Sylas clone who had heard the voice was hit in the stomach.
The clone's eyes bulged as a fist plunged into their stomach, lifting them off the ground slightly. Their aura, though less in quantity, managed to nullify the physical damage due to its higher intensity compared to Tascen's aura. Still, the pain got through, and before the other two clones could react, the pain reached them too, causing them to collapse.
The moment Tascen delivered his punch, the liquid-like veil that blended with space lifted, revealing him standing over the three crouching Sylas clones.
"You know, normally, that technique is pretty pointless. My presence is revealed after I launch an attack while using it, and against people tough enough to tank or predict my surprise strike, I'm left completely open. But... when it comes to finishing off people who are on their last legs or those who can't handle a single full-powered strike, it's pretty useful," Tascen explained.
The three clones clenched their teeth as Tascen spoke, trying to think clearly through the pain while clutching their stomachs with their free hands. Being split into three in all aspects meant not only that they were less durable, but their resilience to pain had been split three ways as well, making anything that hit them nearly twice as painful as normal.
"Dammit..." one of the clones muttered, attempting to get up and attack Tascen, but they were too slow. Raising his leg, Tascen kicked them in the chest, sending them flying back and crashing to the ground before they could even rise to their feet. Another bolt of pain coursed through all three of their bodies.
Seeing all three clones essentially down, Tascen stared at them for a moment before sheathing his short sword. He then grabbed the clone in front of him by the hair and lifted them to eye level.
"Do you surrender?" he inquired plainly, though he could tell right away it was pointless to ask. Despite the pain, he saw Sylas's willpower in his eyes, far from admitting defeat.
"Got it," Tascen acknowledged as he let go of the clone's hair, allowing them to fall briefly before punching them square in the face. The impact echoed across the battlefield as the clone Tascen struck flew through the air, skidding across the ground a couple of dozen feet away.
After taking that hit, the clone seemed to stop moving briefly, while the other clone Tascen had kicked earlier began to fade. It was almost as if it were made of countless beads of starlight, each one slowly flowing into the Sylas that Tascen had punched directly in the face.
"Oh? Are you undoing your technique? I guess that makes you the original then," Tascen observed as he began to walk over to Sylas, who was slowly getting off the ground. With the clone Tascen had kicked fading away, one-third of Sylas's being was returning to him. Still, he had taken a lot of damage before then, and now it was all piling onto his actual body.
In the end, all Sylas seemed able to do was crawl away as Tascen approached. Seeing that from outside the Alternate Space, some of the students couldn't help but shake their heads.
"How sad..." one of them commented. It was up to Sylas if he wanted to surrender or not, but if he didn't, then Tascen only had two options: either beat him until he gave up or wait until the timer ran out and win by dealing the most damage. Everyone knew this, including Syrna, who clenched her fists so tightly while watching her brother crawl that her aura was the only thing stopping her hands from bleeding.
Still, she held it all in and didn't make a sound, continuing to watch the match in silence.
"You should just surrender and save yourself the pain. You've done well to make it this far in the Live Examination; there's no reason to drag this out of pride," Tascen advised, walking faster toward Sylas, who was crawling away. Instead of answering, Sylas grabbed a rock and hurled it at Tascen with full force.
Tascen frowned, catching the rock easily. He glanced at the rock in his hand and sighed.
"Fine then. I hope your faction remembers that I tried to be nice," he muttered, crushing the rock and drawing his short sword. Just as he did, Sylas dug through the dirt again, grabbing a handful and flinging it at Tascen.
"Enough, this is embarrassing," Tascen snapped, cutting through the flying dirt without a second thought. But as his sword made contact, he felt resistance—something hard, much harder than a rock. As the dirt fell to the ground, Tascen saw light seeping through the gaps.
Instantly, all annoyance vanished from Tascen's face as he realized what lay beneath the dirt.
A mine!
The moment Tascen recognized it, he tried to escape, but Sylas, who had seemed unable to move suddenly lunged at him, grabbing him and preventing him from running.
"What the hell are you doing!? Let go! You'll get caught in the blast too!" Tascen shouted, but it was too late. His eyes widened as the mine's runes glowed brighter, hidden beneath the dirt until they finally went off. In an instant, both Tascen and Sylas were engulfed in light as an explosion erupted, and a loud noise roared through the sky like rolling thunder.
Seeing the scene on the screen, Magnus's eyes widened in shock, mirroring the reactions of many other students watching the match. Even Syrna's initial anger had turned into a look of worry.
He blew himself up along with Tascen? But he was already weakened; there's no way he could- Wait a second...
Magnus narrowed his eyes as the dust and ash from the explosion began to settle, revealing two figures. On the ground lay Tascen, covered in char marks, trembling from the shock and pain, letting out pained groans.
Just a few feet away was Sylas. He had taken the brunt of the explosion, leaving his entire back charred and his body unmoving, lying face down in the dirt. The two of them lay there for a minute before Tascen slowly raised his head.
"You... crazy... willful... bastard. You actually... threw a mine at me and... held me there..." Tascen muttered. In his eyes, what Sylas had done went far beyond mere determination. He must have known he would take the brunt of the explosion, yet he still did it. Tascen could only guess that Sylas had hoped his Aura Intensity was low enough for the mine to knock them both out.
Still, even if that was his plan... it doesn't matter. I'm still conscious, and he's not, meaning I win-
But before Tascen could finish his thought, his eyes suddenly widened with shock. Outside the Alternate Space, Magnus couldn't help but laugh.
"You know, Syrna... I thought out of the two of you, you were the craziest. But Tascen is right... Your brother must be insane." Syrna didn't respond to Magnus's words, but a smile slowly spread across her face as she watched the screen.
Sylas's body, lying just a few feet away from Tascen, began to fade into beads of starlight, flowing somewhere behind him. Seeing this, Tascen's mind paused before starting up again.
"B-But... That was the main body. I sensed your clone's aura returning to that one... It had to have been the main body..." Tascen stuttered, confusion evident in his voice. This time, he received an answer as he heard footsteps coming from behind him.
"You were right when you broke down the specifics of my ability. It does split my being into three parts, but you didn't think it through properly." Tascen lay back as he saw Sylas's shadow come over him, followed by Sylas himself. His eyes were bloodshot red, and his body trembled with every step he took.
"I told you, didn't I? All three versions of me are just as real as the others. There was no main body; I simply directed the aura from the clone that had faded into one of the remaining two bodies. That was enough for you to form your own conclusion." In the end, Tascen had come to his own false conclusion and accepted it as truth.
The moment he thought the Sylas in front of him was the main one, he stopped paying attention to the last remaining clone entirely. That blinded him to the real truth, which wasn't even hidden.
"You still would have had to withstand the brunt of that explosion... and all the pain that came with it for your plan to work. Just to immobilize me, you put yourself through all that?" Tascen asked, staring up at Sylas before letting out a laugh.
"Huh... I guess that's why they say you don't fight crazies."