Chương 68: Chapter 65: Fabled Class Duel

Getting Mum's approval, Magus Selene flew off towards the western mountains like a streak of an arrow, unconcerned whether the one she challenged would follow or not. Father exercised his knuckles and rested his palm over the pommel of his blade.

"Looks like I can finally put these rusty bones of mine to some use."

"Defeat her, and she'll take care of a nuisance like that," Mum said, gesturing towards the fallen figure of Tribune Alexis. Father nodded reassuringly.

"Be careful. Selene could match me in combat before, and she's likely gotten even better at it since then."

"Well, I'll do my best." He patted me on the shoulder and chased after the tiny figure of the Magus. Unlike the Magus, he was on his feet, but his pace was not much slower than hers, each stride carrying him dozens of metres. An augmenter of Prestigious or higher class could fly using their aura. Only if it didn't burn most of their aura, which Father would need in the coming battle.

In his duel against the young Tribune, Father hadn't used most of his power, but he would have little to no chance of holding back against the Magus of the Fabled class. After all, in a fight between a Shaper and an Augmenter of the same class, the Shaper always had the upper hand. In no time, both of their figures disappeared into the barren lands of the western front. Unprepared to miss out on the demonstration between two skilled masters, I too sprang into motion and gave chase in that direction.

Many seemed to agree with my sentiment and scurried after them. Unfortunately, my feeble pace could only carry me so far. I feared the duel would be over by the time I reached there. Blighted Ashes, I should have completed my Levitation boots!

"You want to watch the fight?" Mum asked as her figure flew before me. I nodded heavily. Mum deliberated a moment, her gaze darting towards the mountains. Finally, she pointed her palm towards me as a few lazy Essence threads sprang forward and encompassed me whole. She yanked me upwards, and with her, we drove towards the western plateaus. A protective shield surrounded me soon, and her speed multiplied by a fewfold, blurring my sight.

In half an hour, we covered several miles and reached the destination before anyone else. Even with the protection, a nauseating motion sickness gripped me. Thankfully, circulating my essence and breathing evenly solved most of it. The western peaks divided the land between the Empire and Thera. It was more desolate out there, with infertile red soil, perpetually harassed by the ashen storms. There were no lush grass fields or undergrowth anywhere.

Other than a few proud elden trees, all I found were a wide range of cactuses and desert scrubs. Mum stopped before a flattened hill as we finally came across the two figures. Years of ruinous storms had flattened the mountain into a mere plateau. Wild cracks snaked its surface like veins, and the little vegetation left on top of it probably wouldn't survive when they were done with their duel. We remained a couple of hundred metres away, still levitating in the air.

Father's figure was serene as ever, standing on the scorched ground, while the Magus hovered several metres up in the air, her gaze cast downwards at her target. Even our appearance didn't alert her. The two fighters expressed no words, but soon the serenity between them shifted into malevolence. The very air boiled, warping in unrest, as they blasted their coercive aura at each other. The red and blue auras were almost evenly matched in their collision, shading the world around in their colours.

A split second later, Father sprang into motion, his blade unsheathed and ready, blazing in a cold glint. His figure blurred and lunged towards the Magus hanging in the air. Unperturbed, Selene wove hundreds of Essence threads to form a barrier obstructing his path. However, the cold blade cleaved through the barrier in one clean strike, the sword aura surging towards her for a crippling blow. Ultimately, she merely lifted an eyebrow and evaded the sword aura with ease.

Gravity pulled Father down as he swiftly fell into the stance of Whispering Gale. Levitation already gave the Magus a huge advantage. I could only wonder how Father was going to compensate for that. His pace was good, matching that of the Magus so far, though I could tell both of them were holding back.

"Watch closely," Mum said. The militant woman finally decided to free her black staff from her waist and channelled her Essence into it. Immediately, dozens upon dozens of fire spears lined up in the sky, searing the very air. With a simple downwards gesture from her, they all rained down straight towards him. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Father lurched into motion, taking large strides as a thin reddish glow enveloped his whole body.

The fire spell bombarded him from all directions, each fire spear leaving a gnashed hole and an explosion in its wake. The carefree ease with which he always showed us the moves was nowhere to be seen as his figure blurred across the singed plateau, the explosions of those fire spells ever closing on him. Some of them, he couldn't evade even with the outrageous pace. Thankfully, his gift, Nullification, saved him from any injuries. Still, it was excruciatingly worrying to see him struck by those crimson spears.

I didn't know if I should be relieved that it became painstakingly difficult to keep track of the battle in its entirety, even with all my mental faculties and Fractal Sight.

"Father," I muttered.

"Will he lose?" Mum smiled, observing with keen eyes.

"All these years, and Selene has made quite some improvement, it seems." Soon, more figures joined us in observing the fight. Some came flying and hovered behind, while the rest were on a plateau to our rear. Among them were Headmaster Larius, Old Man Rowin, and most of the legionaries. Shaper Tullia had brought Instructor Delric, which seemed to have exhausted her completely, but even she was not going to miss out on two Fabled-class masters displaying their powers. Father didn't disappoint.

As though not interested in only being on the defensive, he strode up into the air in the familiar form of Whispering Gale. The wind curled around his form, sweeping over his aura, as though somehow resonating with it. It kept him hanging in the air a bit longer as he prepared his attack. Magus Selene saw the phenomenon and narrowed her eyes. With a gesture of her black staff, she materialised three layers of barrier, each one empowered with an oscillating resonance.

Father's figure darted forward as his blade swung in continuous releases of aura sword, each twisting in its path, as though greatly endowed by the power of wind. They surged towards the barriers and broke through the first with ease, and struck the second. The weakened sword beam hardly dealt any damage, but the blade moved in Father's arms in relentless arcs, as twisting aura swords flew out to strike.

They shattered the barrier like clear glass and struck towards the Magus, who unfortunately had already triggered her protective amulet and warded off the attack. Even still, she had to spring through the attacks, which were too swift to be simple aura swords. Still in the air, Father shifted into the stance of Tidal Wave. His aura rose in a tidal surge, summoning thin strands of mist to swirl about his blade.

The misty aura intensified and concentrated on the razor's edge, condensing into an aura sword lengthened over several metres. Magus Selene had no room to dawdle. She countered the sword with only one spell. It began with a small fireball as large as a human head, but then she wove a complex weaving of amplification and compression with more than half of her Essence threads. Within a split second, the head-sized fireball expanded by several folds.

However, the most alarming part about it was the intensity of the flame. At its very core, the fireball had turned into molten lava. When the Magus cast it, it hurtled as a molten beam of fire, preparing to singe everything in its way. My heart skipped a beat, almost ready to clutch my mother's arm and ask her to help Father. However, before I could even make an audible noise from my vocal cords, Father's blade moved in a beautiful arc. An aquatic force followed in the sword's path.

A swirl of tidal force surrounded him. Ouroborus still moved in a lazy arc, and soon a sinuous stream of sword light, akin to a torrential flood of water, swept towards the searing flame approaching him. With the breath caught in my chest, I watched the mystifying scene of two opposing primal forces of nature crashing against each other in a torrential release of hot air and steam, obscuring our sight. By the time the fog cleared, both of the fighters had been dispossessed of their positions.

Father landed back on the plateau, his feet digging into the hard soil, while the Magus stabilised her levitation with a masterful display of kinetic force shaping. They appeared unharmed, evenly matched.

"First Wind, and now water," said Instructor Derek, utterly dumbstruck. He turned towards his Shaper friend.

"How was he doing that?" It wasn't only he who wanted to know the answer. Many of the observers, including myself, were completely dumbfounded at the display. Wasn't it only Shapers who could control the primal elements of nature? Many were wondering if it was the sword he bore which enabled him to conjure the elements. However, I had inspected the relic thoroughly. Although I could hardly make out many of its functions, I was certain it didn't hold elemental powers.

The only aspect it held was of darkness, with an infinite appetite for Essence. Unable to figure out the answer, I looked towards Mum. Her expression betrayed no surprise; she knew it all beforehand.

"You better wait for your father to explain it to you," she said, the corner of her lips curved upwards.

"For now, watch the battle." She didn't have to tell me twice. My eyes darted towards the Magus. Clasping her staff hard, she muttered something under her breath and held the staff higher. Hundreds upon hundreds of thin strands of Essence threads, knitted into complex weaves and flew up into the high sky. There was not one or two singular castings, but dozens of weaves forming, fusing in an unparalleled display of Earth and Fire shaping.

Several huge chunks of scorched boulders with deep veins of fire formed high up in the sky. Some were larger than others, but any one of them held the power to cement most people to the ground.

"Um, we should," said Guildmaster Rowin, drawing a frigid breath, "we should withdraw a few paces more." They didn't hesitate. They instantly lurched backwards. After all, they knew only ants were trampled when two elephants battled it out. The meteor spell took a few seconds to come to fruition. Meanwhile, Father did not attack prematurely and waited for the Magus to finish up.

Perhaps he could have gained an advantage in doing so, but considering the rank of the woman he was fighting, she likely had more than a few protective amulets to buy herself the necessary time. Instead, Father mounted the third form: Walking Mountain. His aura surged once more, but instead of intensifying on the blade like the prior two moves, it condensed on him, as though he were the blade itself. The Primus Pillus cast her staff downwards, and all the meteors hurtled down.