"..."
A smile unconsciously appeared on my face as I successfully executed my plan to freeze Zion’s arm. Seeing the thick, translucent blue ice wrap around his arm gave me a brief rush of satisfaction.
But even with this rising feeling of excitement inside of me, I wasted no time and already launched another attack—SWISH—!
It was a swift thrust, straight aiming at his left shoulder.
My wrist flicked forward, driving the needle-like tip of [Frost] directly through his open guard while he was still unbalanced.
With his left arm frozen and being unable to move as he wishes with the ice floor—I was pretty sure I would be able to land a hit on Zion.
The slick, frozen terrain limited his options, and having one of his limbs completely encased meant he couldn’t easily counter or shift his center of gravity.
But then—
"Haha..."
I heard a weak laugh come out of his mouth, and although brief—I saw a small smile on his face!
"...!"
Chills ran down my back as I felt something was wrong, but before I could even react—
FWAHHHH—! BOOOOOOM!!!
Zion quickly injected a massive amount of mana in his sword, and slammed it on the ice floor! His mana exploded upon impact!
A blinding burst of raw, golden energy erupted from the blade of [The Excalibur], driving straight down into the frozen ground beneath his feet.
And that explosion—
"Gurgh?!!"
It blasted me away!
The sudden pressure wave hit me square in the chest, violently disrupting my thrust and throwing my body backward through the air. The whole ground crumbled as well, and the whole arena was covered with cloud dusts.
The thick layer of ice I had created shattered into millions of tiny, sharp shards, mixing with the concrete dust to create a heavy fog that obscured everything within the ring.
I landed roughly on my feet, skidding backward several meters before digging the tip of [Frost] into the floor to stabilize myself.
And when it settled, I saw Zion a few paces away, looking at me with a smile on his face.
He was standing right in the center of the crater he had just created, casually resting his golden sword on his shoulder as the dust blew away.
"You’re strong."
He said, then after that—CRACK—BAM!
A surge of mana went through his left arm, and the thick ice covering it crumbled after he flexed it!
Dense golden aura flared around his sleeve, and with a single, powerful flex of his biceps, the solid ice block shattered into fine powder that fell to the floor.
"..."
I was speechless.
I stared at his free arm, my mouth slightly open as I tried to wrap my head around what had just happened.
Zion is a warrior-type character in the game, he have a ridiculous physical power, even at the start of the game. His base strength stat was built to scale absurdly high, giving him the ability to overpower standard elemental magic through sheer physical force alone.
’But I didn’t expect him to break my ice—Vael’s ice with brute strength.’
Vael’s ice wasn’t ordinary frozen water. It was created from high-density mana, making it as hard as tempered steel, yet Zion had flexed right through it like it was brittle glass.
Anyway, with the floor all messed up now; both of us doesn’t have a stable surface to move to. It seems like he realized that he will be at disadvantage with the ice floor, and so—he decided to just break it all together so that we both receive that disadvantage.
"That’s good thinking..."
I mumbled to myself.
I exhaled slowly, watching him adjust his footing among the broken rocks while keeping his eyes locked onto mine.
"But that’s not enough to stop me."
Then I smiled.
I gripped the hilt of [Frost] tighter, letting my mana surge out once more to take control of the altered battlefield.
SWOOOSH~
Ice formed under my feet, giving me a solid footing.
A fresh layer of smooth, flat ice rapidly materialized beneath my boots, filling in the gaps between the broken stones and forming a steady platform for me to stand on.
And seeing this, a small frown appeared in Zion’s face.
"Ugh, that’s so unfair."
He said, still smiling.
He shook his head with a laugh, tightening his grip on [Excalibur] as he accepted that I could simply recreate my advantage whenever I wanted.
I just smiled back at him too, and after crouching down—BAM!
I rushed at him, the ice below my feet giving me a proper lift.
I kicked off the ice platform, using the smooth surface to launch myself forward with incredible speed toward the center of the crater.
I arrived in front of Zion, and as soon as we’re both in range—
TINK! TING—! TWACK!
We started clashing weapons!
The translucent blue blade of [Frost] blurred through the air, meeting the radiant golden edge of [Excalibur] in a rapid series of sparks and metallic rings.
I would’ve been in disadvantage given normal circumstances; but because I can move normally by creating ice footing below my feet—I was able to exchange attacks with Zion!
Every time I took a step, a tiny layer of frost instantly solidified under my soles, allowing me to pivot, dodge, and strike with total stability while he had to carefully balance on the uneven debris.
Though—TIIIIING!
"UGH...!"
He parried my rapier upwards as he got used to the speed of my attacks.
The heavy impact reverberated up my arms, forcing my blade to tilt skyward and leaving my chest temporarily exposed.
Tap—
His feet then landed on the ice footing I created and was standing on just moments ago, and using that—SWIIIISH—!
He didn’t hesitate for a single moment, planting his boot firmly on the edge of my ice platform to brace himself.
He launched a fast, vicious diagonally down slash!
The golden blade tore through the dusty air, leaving a arc of light that descended straight toward my upper body.
It was going to cleave in from my shoulder to my waist if I didn’t do anything.
The sheer momentum behind his swing was overwhelming, carrying enough power to end the match in a single hit if it connected directly.
It was fast, but I think I can respond to it.
My reflexes kicked in, tracking the descending line of his sword even as my own rapier was pushed out of position.
Though—I’m not sure if my sword can block his attack.
I’m not confident in my strength.
If I tried to meet his downward strike head-on with a simple block, his sheer physical output would simply crush through my guard and slam me into the ground.
My mind turned fast, and instead of raising my sword—my hand twitch, I poured all of my mana to it, and with a twitch of my finger—
BOOOOOOOOOM—!!!
I summoned a massive ice spike!
A colossal, jagged mountain of solid blue ice burst out from the floor of the ring with a deafening roar.
So massive that it filled all of the entire arena!
The tremendous structure erupted upward and outward, swallowing the broken concrete, extending toward the high ceiling, and completely occupying the space between us.
"...!"
I was surprised.
I stood at the base of the massive frozen pillar, looking up at the sheer scale of the spell I had just produced without thinking.
I didn’t expect that I can summon an ice this big. The raw mana output provided by my bound weapon had amplified Vael’s natural capacity to a level I hadn’t thought possible at my current stage.
It basically an aoe that has no escape in an area this big!
The entire ring was completely submerged in a thick forest of solid, razor-sharp ice that blocked off every single path and sightline.
"KAHAHAHA!!!"
I laughed unconsciously when I realized this.
A sudden wave of thrill hit me, my chest heaving as I looked at the absolute destruction I had brought to the arena with a single movement.
But as I was laughing—
S L A S H—!
I heard a sword slash—BOOM!
A crisp, high-frequency sound echoed from deep within the center of the massive ice pillar, followed immediately by an explosive structural crack.
The whole ice spike was suddenly cut in half!
A brilliant line of golden light sliced cleanly through the middle of the massive ice mountain, bisecting the dense structure before the top half slid off and shattered on the ground.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
And from it, Zion appeared, laughing as well!
He burst through the falling debris, his body surrounded by a swirling aura of warm light as he cleared the wreckage in a single leap.
He was above me; he was pushed up there by my last attack.
He was descending from the air, his eyes shining brightly as he held his sword back over his shoulder for a final, decisive strike.
"..."
Our eyes met, and instinctively, we both smiled widely.
In that fraction of a second, as the shattered ice rained down around us, all lingering thoughts of fatigue, anxiety, and caution completely disappeared from my mind.
FWOOOZH!!!
A solid platform of ice formed below me.
I created a thick, wide launchpad directly under my feet, stabilizing my stance and absorbing the remaining shockwaves from the shattered pillar.
Zion crouched down and prepared to launch himself forward.
As he touched down on a floating chunk of falling ice, his knees bent deeply, concentrating all his kinetic energy into his lower body.
Mana covered both our legs, our eyes locked on each other.
Golden aura surged around his boots while deep blue frost coiled around mine, both of us charging our physical enhancements to their absolute peak.
And unconsciously—BAM!
We both kicked off at the same time and rushed at each other!
The air between us split open as we crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, descending and ascending toward a single point in the center of the arena.
I know I was going to lose if this goes on, and so—FWOOSH~
I covered [Frost] with my mana.
I knew my raw strength couldn’t match his in a prolonged clash, so I put everything I had left into altering my weapon’s form for a single thrust.
And transforming its form—FWOOOSH!
The delicate rapier expanded rapidly, the blue crystal morphing, widening, and extending into a heavy, reinforced war weapon built for pure piercing power.
It became a lance as I thrust it in front of me! A massive, blue lance!
It radiated an intense, freezing cold that frosted the very air around it, pointing straight toward Zion’s chest as I flew forward.
SWAAAASH~!!!
On the other hand, Zion’s sword shone brightly, a golden light that seems to blind everyone!
[Excalibur] erupted with a blinding pillar of sacred aura that swept away all the lingering dust and shadows in the dome, bathing the entire ring in brilliant light.
We both smiled, and planning to end the spar here and then—
TIIIIING!!! BOOOOOOOM!!!
Our weapons collided, and a huge explosion occurred!
The force of our final strike created a deafening shockwave that blew back the surrounding dust, sending a blinding flash of golden light and blue frost cascading violently across the entire training ring.