"No...." Burnad faltered, looking from Lucius back to Eli. "No."
Eli let out an exaggerated sigh, scratching the back of his head in annoyance.
"Don't make me beg..."
"...What do you hope to achieve by doing this?" Burnad folded his arms.
Eli was silent for a moment, thinking of the best response.
"S'just a spar..." he replied.
He looked at Burnad.
"I just wanna see what the kid can do."
Burnad paused, grumbling.
He looked toward Lucius, who simply yawned behind his blindfold.
Then his gaze shifted to Ezekiel, who was lounging on the grass with his hands behind his head.
"You okay with a substitute?"
"Doesn't matter to me." Ezekiel snorted, eyes closed. He pulled himself upright and looked at Elijah. "...But didn't you call me an idiot?"
The corner of Eli's mouth twitched.
"Get off the field...go on."
He immediately began kicking him until Ezekiel finally got up, protesting the entire time.
Kris was the first to receive him, supporting him as he limped towards the others while cheers sounded from the crowd.
Saphy was the first to throw her arms around him.
"You were so cool!" she beamed.
"I'm always cool." Ezekiel replied with a pained grin.
Se'raf watched them.
"...You said he was going to die."
Saphy shot them a look as if to protest and Ester couldn't help but smile.
"Wait...so you weren't nervous?" Arthur asked.
Ezekiel's expression soured the moment he looked at Arthur's handsome face.
"Of course I was nervous." He let out a long sigh. "Just...for a different reason."
"You were definitely stronger than when you were in the Marketplace." Kris noted.
Ester and Saphy nodded in agreement.
"You think so...?" Ezekiel looked down at his hands. "I have been feeling kind of different ever since..."
He pursed his lips.
"...Ever since..?" Vanessa leaned in.
It was only then that Ezekiel became aware of the beautiful girl staring directly at him.
"N-Nothing..." He quickly looked away, his cheeks flushing.
The moment he noticed Arthur's arm brushing against hers, his scowl returned.
"Hm..." Vanessa crossed her legs.
"The spar between Ezekiel Barak and Lucius of Leria has ended with the forfeit of Ezekiel."
Burnad's voice cut across the field.
"He fought admirably, defying all expectations as a Starless."
Applause broke out amongst the crowd and some tried to ruffle his hair.
He just raised a hand in embarrassment.
"However, the bout isn't over."
Burnad turned toward Eli, who was cracking his neck.
"The third-year student, Elijah, will take his place."
A mixture of cheers, gasps, and excited murmurs erupted throughout the field.
"Is he strong?" Arthur asked, glancing at the sky.
"He alluded that he was." Kris replied, popping a candied stick in his mouth.
Vanessa let out a playful smirk.
Ester frowned thoughtfully. She remembered how easily Eli had moved in the Marketplace. She remembered Kilisk. She remembered his confidence when he was compared to Lin Hua.
She turned toward Vanessa.
"Is he stronger than you?"
At first her expression didn't change. Then she just smiled.
"Alright...BEGIN!"
As soon as Burnad's hand fell, Elijah closed the gap between them, a fist already reaching Lucius's face.
Lucius raised his forearm and blocked the strike. Ester couldn't tell whether he had reinforced himself with Flo or used another barrier. It happened too quickly to see.
"You're...trying to injure me..?" Lucius cocked his head, a smile forming on his face.
"I'm just not holding back."
He followed up with a powerful front kick, one that Lucius slipped around easily, letting it pass through empty space.
Then he raised a hand, a gust of wind erupted outward, tearing across the ground and pushing Elijah back.
It didn't last long.
Eli planted his feet and forced his way through it, leaning forward as the pressure broke against him. He rushed again, unyielding.
Lucius intercepted him with a barrier that shimmered with a faint prismatic glow. Eli took it as a challenge. He punched, kicked, elbowed the barrier, each strike echoing throughout the field. Every blow landing faster and heavier than the last. The barrier trembled under the relentless assault.
With a furious roar, Eli drove another punch into it and it began to crack.
A grin flashed across his face.
He launched himself forward, driving a kick through the fractured barrier, shattering it as he did so.
Lucius simply drifted aside before taking to the sky.
"Oh no you don't." Eli grinned. "KILISK!"
A shadow swept across the field, drawing heads upwards. With a deafening screech, the Iron Dragon dived from the sky, claws stretched towards Lucius.
Without a moment to spare, Lucius erected another barrier between himself and the dragon.
The impact sent him hurtling back towards the ground.
Elijah didn't give him a second to recover. The moment Lucius hit the ground, Elijah was already there, pressing forward.
Lucius retreated in quick bursts, zigzagging through the air as Elijah pursued, trying to match his movement step for step without losing pressure.
Kilisk screeched overhead again before dropping down a few metres away from Lucius, landing hard enough to shake the field. Lucius looked between them both, Kilisk turning sharply, tail cutting through the air toward him, and Elijah charging in, one hand drawn back over a closed fist. He looked different now, faint scales that appeared along the side of his face and his eyes an unblinking shade of green. He was focused, like a predator locked onto his prey.
Ester felt her heart jump seeing this. Was this because of his connection to the dragon?
Before they could connect, Lucius raised his hands, halting them mid-motion. They were both visibly struggling, but it was as if they couldn't move.
"What's he going to do now?" Vanessa hummed.
"Heh…" Elijah gritted his teeth. "S'not..enough to stop...US!" Iron spikes erupted from beneath ground, surging toward Lucius as they twisted upward. Lucius threw up another barrier around himself, the spikes cracking and splintering against it as they pushed forward. Elijah and Kilisk moved again almost instantly, but Lucius was already elsewhere.
"Woah…" Ezekiel muttered.
"I've never seen Lucius like this…" Arthur's voice had gone slightly quiet. "Is he getting pushed back?"
Ester shook her head slowly.
"He hasn't thrown a single attack..." She glanced at them. "Why?"
"Lucius is just surprised," Se'raf commented. "At Elijah's tenacity."
Se'raf's voice lowered slightly. "...But that's just it."
He tapped the ground lightly as the distance between them reset again. Kilisk crashed down behind Elijah as both sides sized each other up once more. Elijah shifted into stance, ready to push again, but then stopped.
As soon as Lucius lifted a hand, Elijah darted back almost immediately.
For a moment nothing happened.
"...Hmm...Like this…?" Lucius tilted his head slightly. "No… more like this…"
A few metres in front of him, the space itself began to distort, warping. Glowing faintly before shaping itself into something standing upright. The air around it bent unnaturally.
"What is that?" Saphy whispered.
Ester glanced at Vanessa, who was now watching, closer than ever. Studying what she was witnessing.
The glow faded, revealing an exact copy of Lucius standing in front of him.
No one spoke. The copy carried the same oppressive presence as the original. As if something terrible would happen if they dared to move wrong.
The original Lucius tilted his head slightly as he studied it.
"Flo construct?" Arthur whispered.
Se'raf just nodded.
"How terrifying…" Vanessa smiled faintly.
"Now…" he said, raising both hands as the environment began to shift again, light folding in on itself until three more figures began to emerge from the same distortion.
Four total now. All in his image.
Surrounding the original, they stood motionless for a brief moment, all facing Elijah and Kilisk.
"Reckon you can beat them all?" Lucius called out.
He flicked his hand upward, and they all moved at once.
One shot into the sky, arm raised, while the other three spread out into formation around Elijah and Kilisk, each taking position with unnerving precision. Elijah barely had time to brace before the first one came in.
He met it head on, blocking and countering in the same motion, but the force behind the construct's strike sent shocks through his arm anyway. Even though Eli was physically superior, the construct made up for it by reinforcing itself with Flo.
Another clone slammed its hand into the ground, sending tremors through the field. The terrain itself buckled and twisted, spikes of force rising unpredictably, forcing constant movement just to avoid being caught.
"KILISK!" Elijah shouted as he jumped back.
The dragon roared overhead, catching him mid air before the pressure could overwhelm him. The copy that had been fighting Eli tried to take advantage, launching itself upward toward Kilisk, a faint prismatic glow across its body.
Kilisk reacted instantly, opening its maw and unleashing a torrent of blackened force that tore through the air, raining iron spikes down toward the incoming clone. The attack forced it back toward the ground, but Kilisk didn't let up, following through with relentless pressure, spikes pouring outward every clone, hammering the one that had stayed in the air.
The iron shattered before it could reach.
The fourth clone stood below, hands raised.
The floating clone's attack finally became visible. A growing, swirling sphere of fire, expanding slowly but steadily, gathering force with every passing second.
"Time's running out!" Lucius called out.
"Are we safe here?" Arthur said, his voice an octave higher.
Elijah's jaw tightened.
"Don't forget…" Lucius added, "You are the challenger here."
The field went tense, every movement held in suspension for a heartbeat too long.
"...Awfully confident, aren't ya?" Elijah muttered.
Lucius just titled his head again, that faint smile returning as he flicked his wrist. The two guarding clones raised their hands, wind currents streaking toward Kilisk from different directions.
Kilisk roared, banking sharply to avoid them.
Eli clicked his tongue before launching himself from Kilisk's back, landing hard enough to crack the ground beneath him.
The clones split. One veered toward Kilisk while the other rushed Eli, who met it head on. As strong as Eli was, the construct was relentless.
The clone against Kilisk couldn't close distance. Between the dragon in the air and the constant iron pressure from above, it was forced to keep shifting defensively.
Ester saw Elijah's expression shift, then something clicking behind his eyes as his focus sharpened again. As if his mind was now made up.
He broke distance just as the clone rushed him, catching its arm mid strike. In one motion, he twisted, pivoted and launched it with enough force that it tore across the field, crashing into treeline away from them all.
He looked up instantly.
The airborne clone's fireball had grown large enough now that it was impossible to ignore.
He turned back toward the remaining clone still engaging Kilisk, then moved in a blur, side kicking it clean through its stance with a sickening CRACK and sending it skidding away.
Kilisk dropped down with a heavy thud as Elijah placed a hand on its snout, It cooed softly.
Then he turned back toward Lucius, lowered his stance, and pressed a hand to the ground.
Iron Spikes erupted upward around them in an instant, enclosing the space, sealing it off completely.
For a few seconds, nothing moved.
Then the clone that had been thrown into the trees came hurtling back towards the iron shell. Before it could collide with the spikes, the entire structure exploded outward, launching it back the way it came.
When the dust cleared, Ester saw Eli standing alone, now wearing what seemed to be Kilisk.