Mirelle began to close the distance
She glided across the arena toward Soren with fluid grace, her water magic propelling her forward. Soren noticed that his blood railgun couldn't hit her at this pace, so he diminished the spell and brandished his sword to match hers
Mirelle burst forward, accompanied by her speed. Soren read her intent of a sword slash that started from her hip, then sliced through the air toward his head. It was like a faint thread that connected from her sword to his head. Barely even reacting in time, he used his sword to barely collide with hers, causing a clash of swords that rang through the arena
But Mirelle was quick to react
As soon as her sword collided with his, she began unleashing a flurry of sword strikes. Vertical slashes. Stabs. Large sword strokes. Each one came faster than the last. Soren, relying mainly on reading her intent, barely dodged them or deflected them. But he was never on the offensive. He was barely surviving
Mirelle, whilst attacking, began to say excitedly, "It seems you don't have that sword for show. Not just anyone can survive against a Kingsblade in a battle of swordsmanship"
Soren now thought: I can't keep up with her in a battle like this. I need to create space
Thinking this, he bit down on his tongue just hard enough to draw out blood. It hurt badly, but he forced himself to forget the pain
Then, using the blood drawn from his mouth during the clashes of sword strikes between Mirelle and Soren, he spat out some blood. It began to explode as it reached Mirelle at this close distance. Using this small explosion, Soren quickly used his rank 1 spell blood barrier to harden his skin and body, and took some steps back to create distance
But as the explosion cleared, all Soren heard was, "Nice try. A very smart fighter indeed"
Mirelle brandished a defensive sword stance which formed a wall of water that protected her from the explosion. Soren saw the threads of intent rise from her sword and converge toward him. Mirelle hunched over, sheathing her sword before unsheathing it rapidly, causing sharp sword strikes that sent large projectiles of water hurtling at Soren at high speed
Mirelle thought to herself: This person, although clearly a novice in swordsmanship, seems to have quite the talent for reading battle. I would have ended this by now if his battle sense wasn't so good
He seems to read my every move like he's predicting it
She smiled slightly as she continued her assault
Dangerous. I need to end this quickly before he eventually gains the advantage. I have the momentum now, but he has the inescapable power difference of being a rank higher than me. I can't compete in terms of power
Soren saw the oncoming water projectiles coming toward him
Instead of dodging, he prepared his blood railgun again and shot it out. The blood once again exploded from his fingertips, and his mind already subconsciously braced itself for the recurring pain. The railgun shot out and cut through the blades of water cast by Mirelle. The power difference between a rank 1 and rank 2 was on full display. Mirelle's water projectiles, no matter how well-formed, couldn't withstand the raw power of a rank 2 spell
However, Mirelle was already moving closer toward Soren
Seeing this, Soren cut his palm with his sword, allowing blood to pool out. Mirelle, seeing this, decided to back off instead of charging right in, forcing Soren to go on the offensive
Seeing this, Soren decided to press forward. He had the power advantage, and he wanted to end this quickly. So why wouldn't he? His mana reserves were deeper than his opponent's, and he was a rank 2, meaning he possessed two mana cores
Everyone in this world possessed similar amounts of mana. For one to possess more mana, they would have to increase their ranks. The weight and strain of a spell would determine the amount of mana consumed, which was stored in the mana core. Over time this mana would recover, however it would be at a much slower rate than it was consumed. This meant one had to be careful with their spell usage if they didn't want to be powerless and without mana
Soren began to coat his sword with blood and began to press forward toward Mirelle. He knew that she was definitely more skilled than himself, however skill could only do so much against brutal brute force. So he planned on using sheer power to break through her defences
As Soren began pressing forward, the crowd started cheering. The announcer Cassian started hyping the fight up, his voice amplified across the arena
Mirelle pretended to slash a sword at Soren's head, and Soren read the intent and began subconsciously looking at the predetermined area where Mirelle would strike. However, Mirelle instead didn't attack. She smiled again
I was right, she thought. He can predict my moves. Maybe some sort of spell or artifact of his
Then she thrust her sword into the ground, making it produce copious amounts of mist which obscured the vision of the entire battlefield
Cassian, the announcer who stood on top of thin air, said, "Don't worry everyone. What kind of showman would I be if you couldn't see the show?"
He waved his cane across, allowing from the crowd's perspective for the mist to slightly disappear, allowing the fight to be seen. However, from Soren and Mirelle's perspective, it was like nothing had changed. The mist still obscured everything
Soren now took a couple of steps back and he thought: What game is she playing at? She was very aggressive before. So I thought she would have accepted my invitation to an exchange of sword strokes. But now she is being passive
Soren felt something was up. He didn't let down his guard. He didn't press forward, fearing he would walk into a trap. Instead, he backed up further
Mirelle's voice came out from the fog. She sounded almost nostalgic. It was not the tone of someone in the middle of a fight
"Since I was a little girl, I wanted to prove that I could be the strongest in my clan," she said, her voice carrying the weight of old dreams. "I wanted to stand above the rest and make my father and mother proud. That now led me to get kicked out and somehow find myself here in the pursuit of strength. That is my story"
She paused, letting the silence settle
"Someone like you, who fights so desperately, so aggressively, I wonder what story you have. I really do wish to know. You seem like an interesting person. However, you let this fight drag on much too long"
A faint yellow light began to form throughout the fog. Mirelle began saying, "If I didn't have this sword, my artifact given to me by my clan, I definitely would have lost"
She stepped forward through the mist, her katana gleaming with copious amounts of mana concentrated around the blade
"It really is too hard to escape the power difference of rank. Just one spell of yours was able to deflect four or five of mine. However, now your story comes to an end"
Soren's intent magic began flaring up
He saw the invisible threads which normally would have been a couple converging toward him. Now there were thousands of threads filling his vision, coming from every angle one could think of. Soren's head physically hurt from the strain of seeing all of this. He could feel the mana being drained from his mana core with each passing second
What is going on? His mind raced. My intent magic has never reacted like this. Shit I wont be able to dodge this
It must be this mist. I need to escape the mist!
Soren looked up, however the mist stretched far too high. He could use his blood magic to create explosions that could propel him upward through the air, however the mist covered everywhere he saw. He didn't have enough confidence in blocking whatever Mirelle had prepared, seeing how his intent magic was warning him like this
He also thought back to the blood resonance spell he miraculously used against Draven in the dying moments of that fight. However, that also required too much time to prepare
So Soren was at a loss of what to do
He was now sweating, and he felt not scared, but angry. How dare you try to kill me like this
His eyes looked with hatred toward the faint yellow light in the distance
Mirelle began to explain to herself the nature of what she wielded. Her sword was a rank 2 magic artifact with various functions. It would improve her flow of magic and also slightly power up her attacks. But it was made using the core of a thunderdrake, allowing it to dispel and direct lightning
However, this ability would have a massive cooldown. Using it too much would destabilize the sword and therefore cause it to collapse and break. A thunderdrake was a rank 2 lightning type beast, a powerful creature that demanded respect
This sword was purposely chosen by her as it would synergize well with her water magic. Water and lightning were natural partners in combat. This attack right now was one she had relentlessly practiced and thought up over countless hours in this prison
The yellow light intensified, filling the mist with an ethereal glow. Lightning began to crackle through the fog, creating jagged patterns that lit up the arena for those watching from above. The power was building, culminating toward a single devastating strike
Mirelle's voice came again from within the mist, colder now, more focused
"This ends now"