Tom and Malivor stood facing each other in the open area of the headquarters.
A little earlier, while they were still trading barbs, Laylla and Fox had arrived, and Fox told them to use their swords as well. Tom was slightly surprised to learn that Malivor had one. Tom had never seen him carry or use a blade, neither during the incident in Darcus nor in their day-to-day life with the Moonlight squad.
"Should I go easy on the rookie?" Malivor taunted as he drew his sword.
One edge of the blade was entirely crimson.
Tom didn't answer. He wanted to, but if he lost, it would only give Malivor more ammunition to mock him. So instead, he simply unsheathed his personalized sword, the one engraved with a "T."
"So? Ready?" Laylla spoke, drawing their attention.
"I know you're both excited, two Ascendants fighting. But that's exactly why you need to know your limits. No lethal blows, and don't wreck the place. The light injuries, Akeno will heal afterward."
They both nodded.
Satisfied, Laylla moved to the low wall where Fox, Akeno, and Kenji had gathered to watch.
"Alright. Begin!"
At the captain's command, Malivor was the first to charge, swinging his blade straight at Tom.
Tom reacted quickly, parrying blow after blow, steel clashing against steel.
After taking a heavier strike, he stepped back twice and suddenly had an idea.
"Come on! You're just defending!" Malivor taunted again.
Quickly, Tom snapped his left middle and index fingers together twice, marking a position he could return to. Then he surged forward again, meeting Malivor's blade. Deflecting it to the side, he cut across Malivor's ribs.
You asked for it.
As Malivor moved to retaliate against Tom's exposed flank, Tom snapped his right fingers twice, vanishing and reappeared several steps back, right where he had marked.
"What?" Malivor blurted, followed immediately by a hiss of pain.
It wasn't just him. Everyone watching looked surprised.
Regaining focus, Malivor dashed forward, reappearing mere inches from Tom. Tom barely had time to partially block — the strike scraping his forearm, leaving a cut.
Damn… that hurts.
Tom shoved him back with his foot to gain space. Malivor stumbled a few steps but stayed upright.
Wait… what if I leave three marks?
Without hesitation, Tom rushed forward to test it. He placed one mark where he started, another where their blades clashed, and a third just nearby.
I just need to distract him for a second…
The moment he felt Malivor's pressure falter — likely pulling back for another strike — Tom snapped his fingers. In an instant, he was behind Malivor. He slashed. Malivor turned on instinct, only for Tom to activate the second mark, appearing behind him again and striking once more.
And to finish, Tom triggered the third mark, retreating to a safe distance.
No way… that worked way better than I expected.
"You bastard… that power of yours is annoying as hell."
Blood ran from the cuts on Malivor's body, yet he didn't seem bothered, if anything, he looked thrilled.
Tom took a step back, thinking that since the beginning of the fight, Malivor hadn't yet used his ascendant powers.
"Tom… how about this…" Laylla's voice came from the wall.
He turned.
"If you win, I'll personally teach you magic."
Malivor, Fox, Akeno, and even the quiet Kenji looked with a certain astonishment at the person who made that statement, who was none other than captain Laylla.
She continued, unfazed.
"And Malivor, if you win, I'll buy you that new sword you wanted."
"Now that I like." The tall guy with green eyes and a purple shirt laughed.
"But if you lose to a rookie, you're buying me a night of drinks. Deal?"
His expression faltered but only slightly.
"Deal!"
Tom didn't fully understand everyone's reactions, but for him, this was a golden opportunity to learn magic directly from the captain.
Wait… what?
When he looked forward again, Malivor had dropped his sword. And his green eyes burned into a glowing crimson.
Tom barely had time to react when Malivor extended his hand, and Tom's body was yanked forward violently.
"Shit—!"
His words were cut off as Malivor grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the ground.
Before he could recover, he was lifted into the air with inhuman strength and hurled into the wall.
"Oof…" The spectators winced in near unison.
Damn it… I need more marks… I need to leave more marks, so I can escape his telekinesis when he tries to grab me.
Struggling to his feet, Tom immediately close the middle and index fingers of his left hand twice, placing another mark.
He ran towards Malivor as fast as he could, ready to activate the mark if needed. However, Malivor only extended one hand to the side, leaving his body exposed and open to attack.
Tom lunged, aiming straight for his abdomen—
At the least moment, Malivor's outstretched arm moved to the side, and before Tom knew what was happening, all he felt was a sharp, metallic pain in his back.
"Ha. That's for the cuts." Confidence was written all over his face, along with a hint of revenge.
Tom collapsed, dropping his sword.
Looking up, he understood. Malivor had used telekinesis to guide his blade from behind.
It had worked perfectly.
Tom reached for his fallen sword, but Malivor pulled him again.
"Where are your teleports now? Used them all?"
Tom hovered in the air.
"You probably don't know yet, but using Ascendant powers drains you… especially at the start."
Yeah, I know. Wait… teleport—
Tom was about to close the fingers of his right hand twice when he had an idea based on Malivor's provocation.
He was thrown again. But vanished just before impact.
In an instant, he reappeared by his sword, grabbed it, vanished again—
—disappearing from Malivor's field vision, who had a second or less to realize that Tom had returned above him.
Without wasting any time, Tom struck Malivor on the head with the hilt of his sword, causing him to wince in pain and fall. But stubbornly, he still pointed his arm towards Tom, attempting to catch him with telekinesis.
Tom teleported again, escaping to the wall.
Looking towards the onlookers, Fox and Akeno seemed somewhat surprised by how the fight was unfolding. Laylla, on the other hand, maintained a thoughtful expression, as if analyzing every detail of the combat. Kenji, then, seemed the most neutral, although his large conical samurai hat hid a good part of his face.
Tom panted, exhausted. But exhilarated.
Okay… confirmed. I can escape even after he grabs me.
It almost went wrong, but Tom successfully left a mark on the side of the sword just before being pulled and another high in the air as he was being lifted. Activating them one after the other, he managed to surprise Malivor, who took the blow squarely to the head.
Malivor regained his position and nimbly raised one hand toward Tom, who felt a tug, but on his sword.
He even thought he was trying to disarm him, when Malivor raised his other hand in the same direction, quickly increasing the pull force.
Feeling that he couldn't take it anymore, Tom simply dropped the sword.
"What?" Contrary to Tom's expectations, Malivor kept his hands raised, even after throwing the sword.
Wait… got it.The farther away, the weaker his control.
Tom couldn't look at his own face, but he was surely laughing like a madman inside at that moment of realization.
It didn't last long, though, because Malivor soon moved forward, and Tom had to move too to avoid being caught by the telekinesis.
Doesn't he get tired?!
He was already visibly tired and sweating profusely; he might be able to use two, maybe three more brands at close distances before reaching his limit.
Tom marked his position and ran for his sword. Malivor hurled his own blade at him.
He caught his weapon, deflected the incoming blade—and placed another mark. Then blinked twice.
Why didn't I think of this before?
In an instant, his vision began to show the threads of hods. The threads on his body were thin due to wear and tear from the various teleports during the fight, but when he looked at Malivor, the sight caught his attention. In Malivor, instead of coordinated threads roughly following the lines of the arm bones — as it was in Tom — everything was jumbled, as if the threads were many insects floating around him.
From his hands emerged two floating rods of hods, which Tom quickly associated with what he used to control distance using telekinesis. And as he had already guessed, the area became smaller the further away from his own body.
Preparing for a final hit, Tom dashed foward his opponent.
"Damn it!" Malivor cursed.
Using the threads as guidance, Tom dodged the invisible arms.
His blade came within a centimeter of Malivor's shoulder—
But Malivor grabbed his wrist.
"Close…"
Tom froze at the tone of his voice, immediately activating the second mark he had left. He then teleported to the spot where he had previously defended against the sword Malivor threw at him.
Malivor dashed again, closing in very quickly and grabbing him with his power.
No!!
Looking at his squadmate's face, he was now taking the fight more seriously and no longer gave Tom room to position himself correctly to attack. He had to activate the first mark to escape.
As soon as he reappeared on the low wall, he ran to gain even more distance.
Relentlessly, Malivor performed a third dash, gaining speed in the air and closing in again. Managing to grab him with his power again.
Hell no!
Tom panicked. Malivor was now pulling him closer, and he no longer had any marks to teleport and escape.
On the verge of despair, Tom turned to Malivor and brandished his sword, aiming it at his chest. If it hit, it would certainly be a brutal strike, possibly fatal.
Malivor raised his other hand to stop it with his power.
Sensing the intention to defend against the strike, Tom activated his mark for the third time, right there in front of Malivor, in a last attempt to escape and retaliate.
Combining the adrenaline of the situation with his own will to win, Tom closed his middle and index fingers twice, but on both hands at the same time.
He only had time to blink when he realized he had accidentally activated "slow motion." He himself and everything around him were frozen in mid-air.
I have little time to think…
Even though it was in slow motion, it was still consuming his hods, and he was already tired and would soon have to return to normal.
With great effort he moved his left arm as far away from his torso as he could and closed middle and index fingers twice.
A chill ran down his spine as the floating symbol of an eye with a luminescent pupil appeared in front of his hand.
This is it… My last teleport.
His fingers moved very slowly, and Tom teleported to the mark.
He was still opening and closing the fingers of both hands to deactivate the slow motion when he finally swallowed hard.
Or at least his body initiated that action.
Malivor's incandescent crimson eyes moved toward Tom, even though it was still in slow motion.
Returning the environment to normal, the last teleportation took its toll, and Tom was sure he was going to faint.
Malivor's breathing was quite labored from the great use of power, but he pointed both hands toward Tom and held him again at a distance. He began to be pulled, when the pressure on his body suddenly stopped.
"Enough."
That comment made Tom turn his head with some difficulty. There could only be one person stopping the fight. Laylla.
"You men never know when to stop."
"Akeno."
She nodded.
Malivor's eyes returned to green. He collapsed, exhausted.
"Seriously… you made me use way too much power. Rookie."
Despite the insult, it was praise.
However, Tom barely registered it.
Malivor had seen him in slow motion. That was an almost traumatizing experience for Tom, even though he himself didn't seem to have even noticed what had done.
This scene… stayed with him.
…
Elsewhere.
A cold mist drifted in the air.
A table floated, upon it a large map showing two glowing points very close to each other, one cyan green and the other red and purple.
They projected holographically above the map.
In front of table, a tall man with short, disheveled silver hair intently observed the holographic points, one hand on his chin, his gaze contemplative.
Suddenly both points stopped glowing and took on a more opaque color.
Only then did Veyrael let out a sigh of relief.
"I don't know if you're brave, reckless, or just plain crazy… Tom."
Removing hand from his chin, he passed it in front of the holographic points, causing them to fade.