Chương 75: Challenge

"I must admit that this was not what I expected." Kite said softly to his two companions, their bronze-rank hearing allowing them to barely make out his words over the murmur and noise which crowds always seemed to carry with them, even when the gathered people in question tried to keep their conversations low and private. The trio was currently standing on a small plaza located on the grounds of the Relentless family compound, which in and of itself took up most of a city block.

The impressive architecture showed off the owners' wealth, with the tiered buildings and connecting walkways being richly decorated in both color and material. While that in itself had been expected, Kite had not expected the gathered people. The plaza and balconies and walkways around were surprisingly crowded, the people grouped up and often having low conversations.

Many wore the finery with the red and black colors of the relentless family, but there were also many other political players represented, all focus remaining on the three adventurers. He tried not to shift nervously under the attention, using a bit of the meditative techniques he had been taught to calm himself. The two Gellers, on the other hand, seemed largely unaffected as they stood relaxed and waiting.

"While a bit more populous than I thought it would be, I am not surprised." came Phiona's response.

"In politics, putting up a show is important even if many of those present know what lies beneath the mask. They are trying to show us off, me and Rachel in particular, to further tighten the weave of the story that has been spun."

"Well, the two of you do look the part." Kite responded, indicating the immaculate appearance of the two. While the two Gellers would always turn heads, they seemed to have put quite a lot more effort into looking every bit like the world-class adventurers that the Geller family was famous for producing. Some details were purely esthetics, such as the thoroughly styled hair, but the most attention had been given to their gear.

Every piece of armor had been thoroughly checked and polished, and great care had been given to which gear that was put on display. They had also taken mercy on Kite and helped him with his own choices in order to look the part, Rachel even dragging him off to the trade hall for a last minute purchase of an enchanted cape to wear over his armor, the silk enchanted to assist in aura retraction and to dampen sound when mana was channeled through it.

But according to her, it had mostly been to channel that fine line of stylish and practical which were a hallmark for competent adventurers. While Kite had his doubts about the importance of style, he was at least thankful for her assistance as he was now put under more scrutiny than ever before in his life. Rachel was about to say something, but fell silent as a pair of doors were slid open to reveal a small entourage. Household guards took the lead, escorting a pair of men who were obviously related.

The older had the stern look of a noble upholding the pride of his house in public, only enhanced by his silver rank. And the younger…

"Oh my." Rachel breathed, and Kite had to agree with her. The young man they assumed to be their charge was stunning, even to Kite's otherwise heterosexual sensibilities. His features were a mix of fine and angular, the ensemble of traits walking the finest of edges between handsome and beautiful, retaining an impressive balance.

Like his father, young master Relentless had the slightly slanted eyes common to some of the older human noble families of Hua-Xi, a trait often lauded for its beauty and cultural heritage, and Kite noted that his eyes seemed very perceptive as they took in the crowd even while seeming otherwise relaxed. He was clad in black armor decorated with red tassels and a cloak in the same red color was draped over one shoulder.

Overall, he looked every bit the young master of one of the oldest and most venerable families in the city, but the three-headed dog at his side did break the visual convention slightly as one of the heads seemed unable to contain its curiosity, long tongue lolling out in a doggy grin. The procession stopped before the trio, Phiona up front flanked by Kite on her left and Rachel to her right as the master of the Relentless family stepped forward, silencing the crowd with a burst of projected aura.

"I, Relentless Stride of Ambition, am here to formally and in front of witnesses allow my son, the pride of our family and the hope of Bastion, to be in your care. We are honored that members of the venerable Geller family would support him in his growth for a time, and hope that this might leave a lasting tie of friendship between our families. May his path be tempered along yours, ladies Geller."

the head of the Relentless family said, his voice carrying across the yard, finishing with a shallow bow echoed by the young master at his side.

"And we are in turn honored to become his entourage for a time, and will bring the might of our training and heritage to bear on anything that would strive to impede him." Phiona answered, her voice steady as she returned the bow. With that, master Relentless took a step back while his son moved to stand with his new, if temporary, companions.

"Go, son, and grow to claim your destiny as our champion." Nodding to his father, the young master gestured to his familiar, the three-headed dog swiftly growing much larger as its back now reached up to its master's shoulders. He nimbly leapt up onto it, ruffling one set of ears before looking to his companions.

They quickly followed suit, Kite sitting up on Glint's back while the Gellers both rode on Missus, and started following their charge towards the gates of the family compound and onto the streets of Bastion. It was only then that Kite realized that the normally quite crowded streets outside had become even more so, his aura senses just taking in the spiritual wall of gathered people.

It was almost impossible to differentiate anything in the crowd, and Kite resigned himself to keeping his aura close to himself as they came into view of those gathered. The young master's popularity had apparently not been exaggerated, as the cheer that rose from the crowd upon seeing him exit through the gates was loud enough that Kite wanted to shrink back from it.

While those gathered were mostly of the younger generations, people from all walks of life seemed to have gathered to show their support and adoration.

"It seems like our young charge is one of those people that others either want to be or be with." Kite mused, drawing the conclusion from some of the outright hostile jealous glances directed at both the Gellers and himself. He resigned himself to an attempt at a neutral, professional look as they passed through the crowd, some even throwing colorful petals from dried flowers in front of the cerberus.

While it felt like an eternity, they cleared the gathered people rather quickly, increasing their speed and soon leaving the city behind as well, turning south toward the string of contracts that had been claimed for the young master to pursue. And Kite said a prayer to Fortune, hoping that this would all work out in the end. Later that evening, the group had camped for the night, gathered around the heating lamp and eating their meal in silence.

The day had not left much time for conversation as they had kept a fast pace in order to reach their hunting grounds in time, and this left the atmosphere rather awkward. But two of those present remained unaffected by said tension. Glint and the cerberus, apparently named Whimmy, had instantly taken a liking to each other and were currently joyously gallivanting around the camp in some kind of game with rules only known to them.

As they ate, Kite noted that of them all it seemed to be the young master who was most at ease with the silence, sitting lost in thoughts as he looked at the playing familiars. Phiona finished her meal, and after putting away the bowl and utensils, she turned to the young noble.

"Young master Relentless, I believe that it is time to strategize for the upcoming contracts." It took a second before her words seemed to register with the man, but he eventually looked at her.

"Mistress Geller?"

"As I said, we might want to make a strategy for tomorrow. The contracts that are listed-""Oh, you need not worry. I will handle them, as I have done before." the young noble said with an easy nod.

"It's probably best if you just view this as an easy contract. Follow me around for a bit, then collect your reward in the end." From his aura, Kite didn't feel any of the usual bravado that might have accompanied those words, just a casual confidence. And he also realized that the aura wasn't as tightly controlled as he thought it would be on someone as lauded as the young master. While it was vague, it was as if the young man's aura had yet to 'settle'.

"Young master Relentless-" Phiona began, but he held up a hand in response.

"You're supposed to be my entourage, so call me Vista. Some informality between us with proper standing should only be expected if we are to keep up appearances. And my family name makes me sound a bit too much like my father."

"Then, Vista, I would still say that some kind of outline would be proper, in case of the unexpected." Phiona insisted. Vista sighed, giving a resigned shake of his head.

"Then I have a proposal. Let me handle the first contract tomorrow the way I usually do. If something goes wrong or you remain unsure if I can handle myself, we will make plans to your heart's content. Is that agreeable to you?" Phiona regarded the man for a bit, then gave a resigned sigh of her own.

"I am not sure if my opinion even matters to you, but fine. We will do it your way and work something out from there. And you should address us by our given names as well. As you said; for appearances."

"Then it is settled. Phiona. Rachel. I wish you both a pleasant night." he finished, rising up and leaving, not having spared Kite as much as a glance the whole time. As the tent flap closed on the young master's lavish pavilion, Rachel sighed and grumbled softly.

"What in the world was that? He didn't even seem to acknowledge Kite's existence."

"I'm not from one of the famous families or powerful enough to be considered important to him, so I think that he just classified me as a hanger on to you. From what my friend Will taught me, it is quite common for people like him to socially categorize their surroundings and act according to that." Kite said, making a placating gesture. While a bit annoying, part of him was glad not to be the center of attention.

"It's still not very nice. And he had such potential…" Rachel grouched, looking over at the tent.

"I mean, did you see him?"

"We all saw, cousin." Phiona sighed.

"And in this, you at least have to give me the honor of saying 'I told you so.'

""Well, teacher, I think that some other parts of the tales of our young master were true as well." Kite noted as a scene of carnage played out before them. Their first contract and the very one which Vista had chosen for his demonstration, had been to find and clear out a pack of grassland lopers. The bronze-ranked simians were squat with powerful builds, loping around on all fours like a gorilla.

But unlike the animal, these had greenish fur and a long tail topped with a scythelike blade which they deftly used to slash at their enemies. They often manifested in packs of at least ten, and were surprisingly coordinated for monsters of their rank. This pack numbered fifteen, another precursor sign to the monster surge, and Kite had wondered why the noble scion had chosen this particular contract as a demonstration.

As he saw Vista moving around in the throng of enemies with Whimmy at his side, understanding had started to dawn on him. The young master fought with conjured blades whose form seemed to flow like mercury, but mostly favoring a pair of falchions. And from the way he wielded them, Kite could see that Vista was one of the most skilled individuals he had so far observed with his chosen weapon.

The words 'one with the blade' had been told in many stories, but this was the first time Kite saw something that was beginning to draw close to the concept. And on top of his proficiency, Vista demonstrated parts of a versatile power set that seemed well suited for the task of wading into throngs of monsters. Most of his strikes released a whirlwind of cutting wind from his targets, shredding them and nearby monsters with light damage.

The attack was consistent and reliable, but most impressive was its synergy with another aspect which Kite could observe through his magical perception. Like his erstwhile companion Dragonfly, the young master seemed to accumulate a boon as he hit an opponent which gave a ever so slight increase to his speed, power and recovery. With the whirlwind special attack and the cluster of monsters who did their best to rush, flank and outmaneuver him, Vista's general attributes were steadily climbing upward.

Three of the lopers, communicating with shrieks and tail-gestures, suddenly broke the rhythm, simultaneously charging in to bodily bring the young master to the ground while three others send their long tails in to jab and swipe in an attempt to bring him off balance. Instead of standing his ground, Vista nimbly leapt backwards and up, his now enhanced power easily letting him land up on Whimmy's back.

Throughout the clash, the familiar had constantly guarded the rear, using his bulk and surprisingly resilient fur along with three snapping heads and gouts of breathed flames to keep the rest of the pack at bay. As soon as Vista touched down on his familiar's back, he threw a blade out to either side, the swords piercing flesh before seemingly starting to move of their own accord as the noble directed them with small motions of his hands.

Both blades circled the pair once, then twice and thrice, speeding up to form a circle of cutting mercurial metal. Not wanting to remain in the hazard, the grassland lopers backed off slightly, and Vista took the opportunity of the now looser formation. Whimmy charged forward, master on his back and blades still circling, as he plowed through two of the monsters to reach the edge of the formation and escape the complete encirclement.

From there, Vista leapt down as the monsters rushed them again and the carnage began anew. One by one, the monsters fell by slashes of blade and wind and eventually, there was but a single straggler left. It howled and fought with an almost berserk frenzy, but its prey had already been too strong even when the monster had been fighting alongside its whole pack. Now, all ramped up with magical enhancement, what might have been a ferocious beast was just a dreg to clean up.

Two blades shot forward, cutting into the monster's knees, halting its charge and left it tumbling to the ground. Vista leapt over it, casually holding out a hand and activating what Kite supposed was a personal storage power. Where there had been but empty air now suddenly held a sculpted statue, base pointed down.

It looked to be floating for just a split second before the pull of the earth took its inevitable hold, the last of the grassland lopers becoming but a messy foundation for a lone statue on an otherwise nondescript grass plain. Dismissing his blades, Vista leaned against the statue while giving Phiona a meaningful look.

"Did… did he just strike a pose?" Kite asked his two companions.

"He had to have planned that." Rachel responded. Phiona just sighed, then gave the young noble a nod before turning to her companions.

"I believe that we might just have to prepare ourselves for a bit of observing in the days to come. We can use the time to practice aura training and observation skills. I do have one further topic to broach with our young master, but now is not the right time." Kite thought that he may have imagined it, but his teacher might have glanced at him during her final statement. He did not know what it meant, but found himself wishing that Braid and Wander's investigations would be done sooner rather than later.

"So, my dear talents, what have you got for me? Did the Relentless family's little departure stunt bring anything interesting?" Branch director Carmella Dobrazza asked the three bronze-rankers arrayed in front of her.

"It did, director. Almost too much, in fact." Braid said, managing a folder of documents.

"This is all raw information yet to be processed, but it seems like a lot was set into motion when Kite and the others had that little ceremony. The problem is that most of it is probably completely unrelated to our main line of inquiry, being just your ordinary politicking and trying to seize opportunities. Just the screening will have us working for weeks."

"Sooo many naked people… ~" Wander whined where she sat slumped in her chair.

"Director, we've sent out all the investigative resources we have and should make headway." Azure added, scratching idly at the twin scars over his bald head.

"But I agree with them; this will take time and legwork." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I see." the director said, leaning back in her chair.

"Fortunately, the plot in question should be an ongoing one, as I believe that those we seek may have played a long game already. I will divert what resources I can and request support from other branches if possible, but this will have to be in a trickle so as to not alert them too much of our activities. You have done well indeed, my pretty little bronze-rankers. Report back to me with any other significant progress, but otherwise continue according to your judgment."

"Yes, director." Azure said, nodding to the other two bronze-rankers.

"We'd best get to it."

"And I'll start entreating the church of Knowledge for what aid I can. As usual, they won't just give us answers but sometimes even their vague hints may be worth more than dozens of interrogations." director Dobrazza finished, looking out over the city.

"We'll see if we can't find that which is moving beneath the surface." At the same time, elsewhere in the city, a lavish parlor held another gathering, protected behind magical arrays and no formal invitation ever having gone out. Those present all knew each other as well as the unspoken hierarchy among them, which was ever twisting and rearranging through the maneuvering of the outside world. A long table had delicacies laid out for consumption as well as documents and notes neatly kept.

"- the third point of order; recent developments in regards to project Mar." a human man read from a document, sitting close to the end of the table next to a woman who was obviously presiding over the current gathering.

"If I may?" a leonid man asked, and started reading from a document at a nod from the chairwoman.

"Initial assessments of the recent shift in personnel around our person of interest has been deemed little cause for concern, at least to the initial stages which are to be employed over the coming weeks. Should the project succeed, the presence of prestigious witnesses might even aid our cause."

"You have objections?" the chairwoman asked another at the table, and the elven woman in question spoke.

"I still propose that we employ more decisive measures now that the target has less people around him."

"Make note of the objection and that it is denied." the chairwoman told the man at her side, who made notes in a book whose cover showed a plethora of locks and magical symbols.

"As to why, the original reason remains. If this project is to succeed, we need to show the heavens that our climb is built on strength, not through overcompensation. Need I remind you that the results will be measured in the perceived failure, not in actual harm to the target?" The elven woman did not look pleased, but remained silent. However, the chairwoman predicted that she would be seated at least one step further away from the end of the table during their next gathering.

"I propose that we move on with our current plans, and reconvene in two weeks time for another progress report.

"The chairwoman continued." Any objections?" As no voice rose in protest, she nodded.

"Then this meeting is adjourned. May our foundation be built over the relics of the past."

"May our foundation be built over the relics of the past." those gathered intoned as one.

"We draw near to the city gates. I trust that this little outing has convinced you of my words, Phiona?" Vista asked from where he sat atop Whimmy. The last few days had indeed been quite relaxing if not outright boring for the trio accompanying the young master, as they had followed him around and watched him shred different types of monsters from the contracts. A heavily armored mountain lurker had posed the most challenge, the stone-clad troll manifesting alone without weaker monsters around.

As such, it had been more of an uphill battle for Vista to get going, but his skill with the blade and special attacks had eventually seen him through in good health.

"I do not doubt your monster-slaying prowess, Vista. What I doubt is the wisdom in relying on it alone." Phiona answered, and not for the first time during their trip when the two had gone through a similar argument.

"Then would you please finally enlighten me with the point you have been hinting at these past few days?" Vista asked. His tone had remained polite through all of their exchanges, but this last day he had begun to show at least a little hint of frustration. It was still a lot less than Kite had expected, but perhaps the young masters and mistresses around Gilded were a poor measuring stick.

"Now that we are here, I do believe I will." Phiona said, looking at the city.

"I have studied your style, your path as you like to call it, and I do believe that I have one more thing I would like to see disproven. If you can prove me wrong, I will drop the matter during the rest of our stay together."

"Finally." Vista said, a bit of a gleam in his eyes.

"What challenge would you pose to me?" During most of the contracts, the young master had seemed almost bored in his state of neutral focus, with a few exceptions like the mountain lurker when he had been forced to push himself. Kite thought that he saw the same spark now, and couldn't help but wonder if Vista had wanted to provoke Phiona a bit further to elicit just such a response.

"The challenge is simple. I believe that Kite can defeat you in one duel in the practice arena of the society campus. Prove me wrong." Phiona said.

"What?" Kite said, turning to her a bit alarmed.

"Is that it?" Vista asked, the spark fading.

"Not to cast aspersions on your skill as a trainer, Phiona, but I have seen you spar in the mornings. Your student is skilled, there is no doubt, but we both know the result of such a spar."

"Then prove me wrong." Phiona repeated, turning to Kite.

"As long as Kite is willing to humor his teacher, of course." From the gleam in her eyes as he met them, Kite realized that Phiona truly had a purpose with this. He could refuse and he knew she wouldn't push. But his curiosity had been piqued.

"If the young master is willing, I would gladly receive pointers from him." Kite answered, keeping to the courtly manners Will had taught him and noted that Phiona seemed pleased with the response. Vista regarded them both for a while, then shrugged.

"If that is it, then I will acquiesce. But we shall requisition one of the private training halls. It would not do well for me to be seen participating in such a spar." he finished, turning back to the city in the distance. Sitting next to her cousin on Missus' back, Rachel leaned in to whisper to Phiona.

"Cousin, are you sure about this? You've seen his skills."

"I have seen them, and I am." Phiona replied, giving a nod of thanks to Kite who looked at them curiously.

"More sure than I've been of most things as of late." Vista regarded the young man in front of him. He had, of course, noted his appearance before during their outing together, but as he was the student of Phiona Geller and not there of his own merit, Vista had mostly put him out of his mind. From what little he had gathered, the student was regarded as competent, especially as he hailed from the Autumn lands up north without any special familial ties or backing.

And having seen him do some light sparring in the field with Phiona and Rachel, Vista did agree that this Kite was indeed good. Probably better than most adventurers of his rank and experience in the city. But he also knew that Kite was definitely not his equal. This was more of a statement of facts to Vista rather than born out of pride. It was simply the way it was, and he held no grudge against the man for not having the same backgrounds or advantages that Vista had known.

Still, the fact that Phiona had issued this challenge, her student politely agreeing still gnawed at him. Because from the little Vista had seen of her, mostly through their verbal sparring and her bearing, she was good. Very good. Enough so that Vista ached to face her in this enclosed training arena rather than her student. He smelled a challenge there, one that he would hope to pursue in the future.

"Does the young master have any preferences in regards to the conditions of this bout?" his opponent suddenly asked, snapping Vista out of his reverie.

"Should we measure ourselves properly, I would propose that we fight with familiars either subsumed or at the sidelines, but no holds barred other than that, with the usual care taken to lethal strikes." Vista said, gesturing to Whimmy who loped off to join Phiona and Rachel at the sidelines, two heads looking reproachfully at their master while the third just looked elated as it saw Kite release Glint to join them.

"Then this bout will proceed. Kite, I recommend that you use everything at your disposal." Phiona said.

"Everything, teacher?" he asked, searching her eyes.

"Everything. I trust your judgment." she responded, her student nodding and turning back to vista.

"I am Kite flown in on Winds of Fortune, and thank you for the assistance in tempering my path." he said, bowing formally to Vista.

"And I, Relentless Storms hiding Beautiful Vistas, echo the sentiment." Vista said, returning the same bow.

"I will at least try and make it a learning experience. As Phiona agreed to train him, he must have potential, and I am curious as to what abilities and powers he possesses to catch the eye of such an illustrious name." Vista thought, conjuring his pair of blades and readying himself. His opponent did the same, taking up a relaxed combat stance, his aura solid like that of a redoubt.

"Begin." Phiona said, and Vista shot forward, blades closing in from either side as he went for the initiative. Even as he moved, a pair of vortices appeared in the air above his foe, and Vista felt them greedily starting to absorb his mana. A nuisance now, but with the rate they worked it would definitely become a problem for most foes.

But with Vista's powers, he just had to keep landing hits to start replenishing or consume a boon which continuously stacked up while out of combat in order to regain part of his reserves, so it should be manageable. In response to the dual attack, his opponent produced a staff of some odd-looking metal with two chiming rings at its top, interposing the weapon to catch one of the blades while a small barrier the size of a dinner plate appeared after a murmured word to catch the other.

Vista's excellent visual processing speed allowed him to note the development, redirecting focus from his left blade to his right which was about to hit the barrier, letting his off-hand be deflected by the staff as he instead channeled his echoing special attack into his right, two ethereal echoes with disruptive force damage following the initial strike. The barrier held up better than he would have expected, absorbing two of the hits and cracking with the third.

But in the split second of time between his blade contacting the other man's staff until this moment, something had gone wrong. Even as his blade bit through the barrier, it dissolved, forcibly dispelled as even more mana was ripped from Vista's reserves. And unfortunately for him, both of Vista's blades were in essence one and the same, manifested by the same power from his sword essence which had been awakened by an awakening stone of mercury.

Compensating for the lost balance was no issue, as he quickly shifted his balance to take a step back, but more troublesome was that he could not immediately conjure a new set of blades, the power unavailable to him for about a dozen heartbeats. He had sets of spare blades in his storage space, but would need a bit of distance to retrieve them.

Vista's current predicament was even more immediate however, as the end of the staff was already snapping up towards him in a counterattack, one that his magical perception saw had even more mana-draining effects.

"How troublesome." was the thought that crossed his mind as he put some additional force into the backstep for it to carry him out of reach of the blow. But even as the strike hit only air, his instincts still warned of danger, and Vista had just enough time to shift his body when a ripple in the air carried the impact across the distance, only his quick reflexes changing its target from his chin to his shoulder.

The impact jolted him as more mana was drawn for him and afflictions further reducing his mana recovery and damage resistance was left in place, then repeated as the blow seemed to echo again albeit with less physical force. Rolling with the blow as best he could, Vista continued backing off, now wise to one of his opponent's tricks as more projected attacks came from Kite alternating between his staff and a sword.

Dodging a vicious slash from the drawn blade, Vista finally found his opportunity to disengage, making a powerful leap backwards, reconjuring his blades as he had one more tactic he wanted to employ before falling back on his backup swords. While he was in the air he noticed that his foe had leapt as well, although not nearly as far as Vista's own slow fall power allowed him to glide.

His foot had barely touched the ground before he was turning, elemental energy covering his blades before he launched them toward Kite as flaming arcs, quickly followed by a torrent of similar projectiles. But as he landed, he also noticed that something was different, quickly realizing the source. While they both had been airborne, Vista's foe seemed to have employed another spell which caused horizontal panes of force to cover almost the entirety of the training arena's floor.

Even though his footing was solid, he could feel yet another source of mana drain from the contact, and even more worryingly this one increased its ravenous pace the longer Vista remained in contact. Consuming one of his saved charges of mana restoration, the fight suddenly intensified for the young master as he now had to split his attention between attacking his foe, trying to break through the barrier on the floor and dodging projected attacks as Kite seemed content in keeping the slight distance.

After a few seconds of frantic multitasking, Vista realized that he would have to give up one of his objectives as the barriers on the floor seemed to be continuously reinforced by his opponent, the trickle of mana visible to his enhanced perception.

"At this rate, he will win the war of attrition. I will simply have to leave the confines of the earth behind." Vista thought, his jaw slightly clenched in focus even though he could also feel a slight grin tug at the corner of his lips. His attributes had been able to ramp up somewhat through their exchanges, and with two more charges of his pent up reserves left he felt that a more aggressive stance was needed.

"But first, a sacrifice for this maneuver to work." With a quick sidestep, Vista covered both weapons in crackling lightning before he sent them both flying at his foe in a staggered salvo, two blades arcing towards Kite. Even as his foe deflected one with that dispelling power of his, both blades disappeared once more along with the designated sacrifice of mana. But Vista had already sprung into action, running toward Kite and leaping again.

"Descending Kingfisher stance" Vista dove at his foe, solid blades now in hand as the conjured ones would just become a liability in the close combat which followed. He struck twice, this time twisting around the intercepting staff to score a grazing hit at his opponent's side, the other blade caught by a barrier.

While this in turn cost him a little more mana, Vista did not pause, leaping again and using his slow fall power and the slight gliding ability it provided to initiate a furious assault where he dove at his opponent time and time again, barely touching the ground before stepping off.

While he had to admit that Kite put up a decent defense, Vista had now begun to properly pressure his opponent and regain a bit of the rhythm he was used to, even though many blocks and deflections from his opponent cost him a bit more mana. And as Kite had started accumulating several shallow wounds, Vista was only growing just a little bit stronger and faster for every hit scored.

Seeming to realize this as well, Kite also changed tactics slightly, suddenly accepting a strike at his vambrace instead of deflecting, an activated damage reduction mitigating some of the bite from the strike as he made a two handed counter swing with his staff.

Vista managed to get one blade up in time, but as he was currently mid-leap, the strike sent him flying off, skipping once on the floor before springing up to brace against the wall and readying himself to restore some more mana and leap back into the fray. He had just sprung off as he heard the chant.

"Dissolve the patterns of power." The rippling wave was too wide to dodge, and as it flowed over Vista he inwardly winced as his ramping boon and remaining boon of reserves winked out, as well as his slow fall power which forced him back to the ground. Fortunately, the latter could immediately reignite and Vista leapt back towards Kite even though he mourned the accumulated gains and reserves of mana. Vista was a very efficient fighter, but the accumulated mana drain had truly begun taking its toll on his reserves.

Still, with the way things had been going, he knew that he was on the right track. Still in the Kingfisher's stance, the young master redoubled his efforts and even started accepting some minor blows in order to deal worse back as his mana levels were a lot more concerning than his physical health at the moment. Already having deduced that singular powerful attacks only risked being a liability, Vista went with speed and aggression. And it continued paying dividends, until something else changed.

The pair of bracers on his foes' wrists had begun to accumulate mana, and not a little from the looks of it. Mentally preparing to react, Vista kept up his assault. And just a few heartbeat's later, the bracers having stopped accumulating mana, his foe chanted again.

"Wall." Even as the barriers on the floor disappeared, the young master realized that they had reappeared. Around him, like a box. With the only opening out toward his foe. As he was still airborne, Vista could only prepare his defenses as his opponent's bracers touched, a look of focused determination on the commoner's face. Then a deep gong echoed, followed by the silent thwomp of discharged force. Vista vaguely felt an impact and then two more as the world became a vague and distant place.

For a moment after discharging the Twofold Toll of the Bells, Kite had a twinge of panic. It had required a lot of focus to make sure that he did not channel the power straight into Vista's torso or head, instead clipping his right leg and hip.

The twin bursts had still sent the young master crashing through the back force wall of the box-like cage Kite had formed in the last second, before carrying him further down the arena for a single violent bounce off the floor before landing in a heap at the edge of the room. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw Vista move weakly, stunned but very much alive although the way the impacted leg was sprawled indicated that it was a blast from which he would not just walk away under most circumstances.

The bracelet which came with the practice arena was already unleashing the potent stored healing magic, but Rachel still felt that it was only proper to assist in this as well as she chanted a spell.

"One head severed, twice regrown." Greenish vapor suddenly flowed from within Vista, his leg quickly righting himself and his eyes flew open as all present could feel his unstable aura regain its former strength in just a few seconds. Kite knew that spell, being one from Rachel's hydra confluence, and knew it to be potent indeed. It acted much in the same way as his immortality power, slightly weaker but able to be used on others.

Sharing the 24 hour gap between uses made it one of the red-haired Geller's restorative trump cards, restoring huge amounts of health, stamina and mana, and since bronze rank it also increased the target's power and speed for a while afterwards. As such, Vista was very much awake as the others reached him, Whimmy poking at him with two heads while the last gave Kite a wary look.

"I believe that I was proven right." Phiona stated, but without malice or scorn.

"I…" Vista began, shaking his head a bit to clear away the last of the daze, before looking first at her then at Kite.

"Had we fought again, I would win."

"Yes." Kite agreed, and meant it. Had Vista been prepared and known of Kite's abilities in advance, things would probably have gone very differently.

"Yes. Probably." Phiona agreed.

"Probably?" Vista asked.

"Yes. Probably." Phiona stated again, unaffected.

"But my point with this challenge was not to prove who of you is the most skilled warrior. It was to remind you that sometimes you only need to fail once, make one misstep or one faulty assessment, and it might have been over. No one here doubts your skills, Vista. They are most impressive, and people are right to laud your self-sufficiency. But not every battle is about who can go on the longest or reach the highest peak of the moment. The one who wins isn't necessarily even the greater or most skilled fighter.

Skills will take you far, make no mistake, but these situations are the ones where you at least should have someone truly watching your back and helping you pull through or pull out."

"Had he not used that item-""But he did, because I asked him to. Because as I said, sometimes there only needs to be one factor like that. An item. A power. Even a person just willing to go farther than you thought. And I would ask you to ponder this as we go forward. In the end, you will decide how we do things. But I wanted you to at least experience where my argument stems from." Phiona finished. Vista looked at her for a long moment, then rose.

"I believe that we are done here for the day. Whimmy and I must return home. We will meet you on the next scheduled outing." He spoke politely but neutrally, then walked off and exited the training hall.

"Thank you for assisting in tempering my path." Kite murmured in the silence that followed.