"Right here?" Julien echoed in surprise.
He wants to spar now, of all times?
"Yeah," Little Julien responded, a little quietly. "To be honest… I've always wanted to spar with you. You're so strong--for me, almost everyone else is super easy. Even fourth-years and fifth-years aren't that big of a challenge."
He fiddled with the handle of his sword, and it caught in the light. "When the Puppeteer made me attack you, it was a little scary, but I knew you would beat me… and fighting someone who I can't win against will help me lots. Mistakes are the best teacher, right?"
I too dreamed of having a friendly fight with Ian Mooring. Of course, for me, that never came true… would I be changing the timeline if I agreed?
It wasn't like things were going exactly as they did in his last life. Hell, he knew he didn't even want to repeat what had happened. So causing events that had never originally taken place must be a good thing.
Older Julien put on Ian's pleasant smile and shifted into a battle stance. "Alright let's do it. Since you asked nicely!"
I haven't really fought a person since the last fight with Inferno. It's also beneficial for me, since I don't want to get rusty.
The air surrounding the clearing changed a little as the area became an impromptu battleground.
"Don't hold back too much," Little Julien called.
"But we wouldn't want to have you unconscious, would we?" Older Julien said, grinning as he raised a hand.
Remember, no spur of the moment physical attacks or full-on dodging like the Petra. I need to drill mage battle techniques into myself.
Little Julien moved first, lightspeed abilities closing the gap in barely a second. He uses a simple horizontal slash--testing the waters before throwing a real attack.
Julien twisted away, letting the blade swipe past him harmlessly. He flicked his wrist, silently casting a low level spell. Not enough to do real damage, but just enough to look threatening.
A flame thread--a pretty simple spell most fire mages learned early on. He swung it through the air, almost catching Little Julien on the hand. Before that could happen, the boy leapt back.
"Ohhh, you're using magic right away," Little Julien said, eyes bright. "But that was nothing... Hey, I said don't hold yourself back too much!"
Julien summoned more mana this time. "Is this better?"
He felt a burst of heat as a swirling vortex of fire appeared around Little Julien.
"Yeah, wayyy better!" he yelled as he whirled backwards.
Just as quickly as he'd jumped away, he reappeared almost face to face with Julien, feinting left, then darting right. Little Julien brought down his sword with intense force.
Julien's instincts screamed block, almost making him reach for his own nonexistent sword. However, Ian's body guided him differently. Not a spell this time, but a skill he'd used in a fight before.
[Flame Shield Activated]
An almost glass-like wall of red and orange materialized in the air in front of him, catching the shiny sword. Sparks scattered as the sword kept trying to pull down, but the shield didn't shatter.
"It's like diamond!" Little Julien gasped breathlessly. He pulled back, clearly considering his next move. He made up his mind in a millisecond, his weapon now flashing like the sun--and catching the mana haze that still surrounded them.
Julien had to look away and try to see the sword's trajectory from the corner of his eye.
This really is quite the handicap for me. Him being able to see through light while I can't is a massive advantage for him.
Julien watched the barrier dissolve as the skill entered cooldown. He didn't want to appear arrogant, but a part of him was quite impressed at his younger self's sheer power. Little Julien's strikes had more weight than some fully-trained high-tier Marked.
If they had been truly fighting--as in life or death, then it would've been no easy battle for him. But once again, his mind drifted to the enemy he'd spent so many years chasing.
I'd made it to Mythical-tier by the time we had a real, all out battle. Yet, he would have won for sure if it wasn't for [Causality Breaker]. I was experienced and fully attuned to every aspect of battle, and still… Even at his beginning, Inferno must have been extraordinarily strong to have killed Ian.
He almost absentmindedly pushed Little Julien back with skills and magic, slowly gaining ground.
I can see why he targeted him. Julien kept going--it was far from simple, yet he didn't feel threatened or like he would lose at all.
Maybe it was because he already knew all of Little Julien's weaknesses--where he would lean too forward. Shift weight just a little too much on one foot. Be overly reliant on a certain skill.
When you knew your enemy well, overcoming them was a piece of cake.
Little Julien closed in again, with a burst of speed that would've caught most of his opponents so far off guard. But not Julien. He quickly countered with a sidestep--he knew that when Little Julien used speed too fast, barely waiting for the cooldown to end, he would sacrifice just a shred of agility and become unable to whip around if needed.
Took me a while before I learned how much of a weakness that was with certain monsters. Maybe I should teach him before he finds that out at a bad time.
The boy stumbled past him, and Julien immediately took the opportunity. He swept his foot, pushing Little Julien's unbalanced left leg forward. He stumbled, barely catching himself in time.
"That was dirty," he muttered, but his grin betrayed his thrill.
"All's fair in a real battle," Julien said, shrugging. He continued to summon spells, not aggressively, but to give Little Julien some of the experience he had been looking for.
Little Julien tried to counter them with a sudden onslaught of skills, but older Julien tactfully deflected them all.
I hope he doesn't go too far. He was fine before, but he might actually tire himself out at this rate.
Julien decided to end it quickly. They had been going at it for a few minutes, and that was probably enough for now. After all, the others were likely waiting for them to come back.
The moment Little Julien slowed his attacks, he acted quickly. He activated [Lava Bind], but a less powerful, non-burning version of the skill.
The conjured ropes glowed gently this time, but tightly wound around the boy's arms, legs and chest. He struggled, but not as hard as he'd done against them when the Puppeteer had controlled him. Little Julien already seemed to know he was beaten.
Julien gently tapped his opponent on the heart, making the point clear, then releasing him from his bindings.
"I win."
Little Julien looked up at him with awe. "That was amazing! I knew I had no chance to actually win, but wow! You saw every mistake I made, and instantly used it against me. You're even better than my instructors."
Julien smiled. "It was fun. You're not bad at all."
His younger self practically glowed from the praise. It was pretty clear he'd enjoyed himself a lot--he was glancing around the clearing like he wanted to do it all again.
To be fair, he probably does.
"We should head back," Julien said. "We've been out here a while, everyone's probably wondering where we are."
Little Julien nodded, and they walked back together. The soft crunch of leaves filled the empty night air, and the mana haze effortlessly lit the way for them.
"That wasn't even half your power, was it?" he asked.
Julien smirked, just a little. "Half? Oh, you're giving me too much credit."
The boy laughed, kicking a pebble along their way. "Pfft, you're too humble. But I guess I'll have to train harder. Then maybe one day I'll get to see you use it all."
They kept walking on, and Julien found himself feeling strangely… light. When he had first seen his younger self in the ring the day he'd transmigrated, he'd been oddly worried.
What if he had realized they were the same? What if he recognized his fighting style? Or something he didn't want to consciously think about… what if he couldn't be the role model Julien admired Ian as?
But less than half an hour with him made him realise--Little Julien wasn't probing for perfection. What older Julien had forgotten was that though they were the same person, they had dramatically different experiences. They weren't identical mentally.
Julien had based these worries on what he would have done. He'd long since learned to hunt for flaws to expose and exploit. But Little Julien was just a kid who'd never begin to consider other possibilities.
Hopeful and naive. Just as I was.
They arrived back at the gate portal camp quickly, since the clearing hadn't been too far away. Someone had started a fire. First-years were huddled together in tight-knit groups like they were afraid of losing each other. The instructors and fifth-years stood together at the fringes, staring into the darkness with tired eyes.
Little Julien's expression turned from bright to somber in less than a second as he remembered the dire situation they were really in. As they walked through the sea of people, whispers followed.
"We have two S-tiers on our side. I'm sure we'll be fine."
"What if they're not enough?"
"Surely not…"
Julien listened to them all, but said nothing. Eventually, they made it back to the instructors and fifth-years.
"Where the hell have you two been?" Wells demanded. Ray, Haley and Amara drew closer too, looking concerned. "Mooring, you just took off out of nowhere. And Kirios, why did you disappear too?"
Let's not tell them I have a new skill. I don't want anyone to find out just yet. We can omit the part about sparring too…
Julien stepped up to face him. "Sorry, Instructor. I just had a new spell I wanted to test out. And Julien followed me to see if I was alright."
Jules crossed her arms. "Mm-hm. Well then, show us the spell."
Julien offered his best apologetic expression. "You probably don't want me to use it here. It'll get reflected off the mana haze and blind anything near me."
Little Julien was quick to agree with him. "I saw it. If I wasn't immune to light, it would've really hurt my eyes."
A few eyebrows rose. "Yeah, save it for later, then," Ray muttered.
All three instructors eyed him for a long moment, trying to figure out if he really had anything to hide.
Wells sighed. "Fine. But it better be as good as I expect from you. And next time, don't wander off."
"Yes, sir."
The man turned towards the rest of the students, projecting his voice across the camp. "Everyone, get some rest. Tomorrow, we attack."