Xavier rushed in by using the barriers as a platform. He had understood that trying to defend against this behemoth of a man was a foolish decision, so he had to stay fast and hit hard. It was easy to say, but against a grandmaster, it was a suicidal task.
They clashed again and again, but Xavier never committed to a single strike. He tried to get a hit in and chip away some damage, and then backed off immediately. After that, when it was time to strike, he would perform extreme footwork with his barrier platforms to confuse his opponent and get a decent hit in.
During that whole time, Xavier kept occasionally casting mana bullets and attempted to distract Arkham. It somewhat worked, because true to his words, Arkham had kept his power at the expert level. He had to stay alert because Xavier varied the strength of the spell each time, keeping him on his toes.
