Mythahper - Chapter 65 & 66

A/N: The next chapter is a bit longer... I'll probably continue to release in bulk of two or three chapters, unless you guys say otherwise...

Chapter 65: Fabled Class Duel

Getting Mum’s approval, Magus Selene flew off towards the western mountains like a streak of an arrow, unconcerned whether the one she challenged would follow or not.

Father exercised his knuckles and rested his palm over the pommel of his blade. “Looks like I can finally put these rusty bones of mine to some use.”

“Defeat her, and she'll take care of a nuisance like that,” Mum said, gesturing towards the fallen figure of Tribune Alexis. 

Father nodded reassuringly.

“Be careful. Selene could match me in combat before, and she’s likely gotten even better at it since then.”

"Well, I'll do my best." He patted me on the shoulder and chased after the tiny figure of the Magus. Unlike the Magus, he was on his feet, but his pace was not much slower than hers, each stride carrying him dozens of metres. An augmenter of Prestigious or higher class could fly using thier aura, the disadvantage to that was that it burns a lot of aura, which Father would need in the coming battle.  

In his duel against the young Tribune, Father hadn’t used most of his power, but he would have little to no chance of holding back against the Magus of the Fabled class. After all, in a fight between a Shaper and an Augmenter of the same class, the Shaper always had the upper hand. 

In no time, both of their figures disappeared into the barren lands of the western front. Unprepared to miss out on the demonstration between two skilled masters, I too sprang into motion and gave chase in that direction. Many seemed to agree with my sentiment and scurried after them. Unfortunately, my feeble pace could only carry me so far. I feared the duel would be over by the time I reached there.

Blighted Ashes, I should have completed my Levitation boots!

"You want to watch the fight?" Mum asked as her figure flew before me.

I nodded heavily.

Mum deliberated a moment, her gaze darting towards the mountains. Finally, she pointed her palm towards me as a few lazy Essence threads sprang forward and encompassed me whole. She yanked me upwards, and with her, we drove towards the western plateaus. A protective shield surrounded me soon, and her speed multiplied by a fewfold, blurring my sight. In half an hour, we covered several miles and reached the destination before anyone else.

Even with the protection, a nauseating airsickness gripped me. Thankfully, circulating my essence and breathing evenly solved most of it.

The western peaks divided the land between the Empire and Thera. It was more desolate out there, with infertile red soil, perpetually harassed by the ashen storms. There were no lush grass fields or undergrowth anywhere. Other than a few proud elden trees, all I found were a wide range of cactuses and desert scrubs.

Mum stopped before a flattened hill as we finally came across the two figures. Years of ruinous storms had flattened the mountain into a mere plateau. Wild cracks snaked its surface like veins, and the little vegetation left on top of it probably wouldn't survive when they were done with thier duel.

We remained a couple of hundred metres away, still levitating in the air. Father's figure was serene as ever, standing on the scorched ground, while the Magus hovered several metres up in the air, her gaze cast downwards at her target. Even our appearance didn’t alert her.

The two fighters expressed no words, but soon the serenity between them shifted into malevolence. The very air boiled, warping in unrest, as they blasted their coercive aura at each other.

The red and blue auras were almost evenly matched in their collision, shading the world around in their colours.

A split second later, Father sprang into motion, his blade unsheathed and ready, blazing in a cold glint. His figure blurred and lunged towards the Magus hanging in the air.

Unperturbed, Selene wove hundreds of Essence threads to form a barrier obstructing his path. However, the cold blade cleaved through the barrier in one clean strike, the sword aura surging towards her for a crippling blow.

Ultimately, she merely lifted an eyebrow and evaded the sword aura with ease.

Gravity pulled Father down as he swiftly fell into the stance of Whispering Gale. Levitation already gave the Magus a huge advantage. I could only wonder how Father was going to compensate for that. His pace was good, matching that of the Magus so far, though I could tell both of them were holding back.

"Watch closely," Mum said.

The militant woman finally decided to free her black staff from her waist and channelled her Essence into it. Immediately, dozens upon dozens of fire spears lined up in the sky, searing the very air. With a simple downwards gesture from her, they all rained down straight towards him.

Father lurched into motion, taking large strides as a thin reddish glow enveloped his whole body. The fire spell bombarded him from all directions, each fire spear leaving a gnashed hole and an explosion in its wake.

The carefree ease with which he always showed us the moves was nowhere to be seen as his figure blurred across the singed plateau, the explosions of those fire spells ever closing on him. Some of them, he couldn’t evade even with the outrageous pace. Thankfully, his gift Nullification saved him from any injuries.

Still, it was excruciatingly worrying to see him struck by those crimson spears. I didn’t know if I should be relieved that it became painstakingly difficult to keep track of the battle in its entirety, even with all my mental faculties and Fractal Sight.

"Father," I muttered. "Will he lose?"

Mum smiled, observing with keen eyes. "All these years, and Selene has made quite some improvement, it seems.”

Soon, more figures joined us in observing the fight. Some came flying and hovered behind, while the rest were on a plateau to our rear. Among them were Headmaster Larius, Old Man Rowin, and most of the legionaries. Shaper Tullia had brought Instructor Delric, which seemed to have exhausted her completely, but even she was not going to miss out on two Fabled-class masters displaying their powers.

Father didn’t disappoint. As though not interested in only being on the defensive, he strode up into the air in the familiar form of Whispering Gale. The wind curled around his form, sweeping over his aura, as though somehow resonating with it. It kept him hung in the air a bit longer as he prepared his attack.

Magus Selene saw the phenomenon and narrowed her eyes. With a gesture of her black staff, she materialised three layers of barrier, each one empowered with an oscillating resonance.

Father's figure darted forward as his blade swung in continuous releases of aura sword, each twisting in its path, as though greatly endowed by the power of wind. They surged towards the barriers and broke through the first with ease, and struck the second. The weakened sword beam hardly dealt any damage, but the blade moved in Father’s arms in relentless arcs, as twisting aura swords flew out to strike. They shattered the barrier like clear glass and struck towards the Magus, who unfortunately had already triggered her protective amulet and warded off the attack.

Even still, she had to spring through the attacks, which were too swift to be simple aura swords.

Still in the air, Father shifted into the stance of Tidal Wave. His aura rose in a tidal surge, summoning thin strands of mist to swirl about his blade. The misty aura intensified and concentrated on the razor’s edge, condensing into an aura sword lengthened over several metres.

Magus Selene had no room to dawdle. She countered the sword with only one spell. It began with a small fireball as large as a human head, but then she wove a complex weaving of amplification and compression with more than half of her Essence threads. Within a split second, the head-sized fireball expanded by several folds. However, the most alarming part about it was the intensity of the flame. At its very core, the fireball had turned into molten lava. When the Magus cast it, it hurtled as a molten beam of fire, preparing to singe everything in its way.

My heart skipped a beat, almost ready to clutch my mother’s arm and ask her to help Father. However, before I could even make an audible noise from my vocal cords, Father’s blade moved in a beautiful arc. An aquatic force followed in the sword's path. 

A swirl of tidal force surrounded him. Ouroborus still moved in a lazy arc, and soon a sinuous stream of sword light, akin to a torrential flood of water, swept towards the searing flame approaching him.

With the breath caught in my chest, I watched the mystifying scene of two opposing primal forces of nature crashing against each other in a torrential release of hot air and steam, obscuring our sight.

By the time the fog cleared, both of the fighters had been dispossessed of their positions. Father landed back on the plateau, his feet digging into the hard soil, while the Magus stabilised her levitation with a masterful display of kinetic force shaping. They appeared unharmed, evenly matched.

"First Wind, and now water," said Instructor Derek, utterly dumbstruck. He turned towards his Shaper friend. “How was he doing that?”

It wasn't only he who wanted to know the answer. Many of the observers, including myself, were completely dumbfounded at the display. Wasn't it only Shapers who could control the primal elements of nature? Many were wondering if it was the sword he bore which enabled him to conjure the elements. However, I had inspected the relic thoroughly. Although I could hardly make out many of its functions, I was certain it didn’t hold elemental powers. The only aspect it held was of darkness, with an infinite appetite for Essence.

Unable to figure out the answer, I looked towards Mum. Her expression betrayed no surprise; she clearly knew it all beforehand.

"You better wait for your father to explain it to you,” she said, the corner of her lips curved upwards. “For now, watch the battle.”

She didn’t have to tell me twice. My eyes darted towards the Magus. Clasping her staff hard, she muttered something under her breath and held the staff higher. Hundreds upon hundreds of thin strands of Essence threads, knitted into complex weaves and flew up into the high sky. There was not one or two singular castings, but dozens of weaves forming, fusing together in an unparalleled display of Earth and Fire shaping.

Several huge chunks of scorched boulders with deep veins of fire formed high up in the sky. Some were larger than others, but any one of them held the power to cement most people to the ground.

"Um, we should," said Guildmaster Rowin, drawing a frigid breath, "we should withdraw a few paces more."

They didn’t hesitate. They instantly lurched backwards. After all, they knew only ants were trampled when two elephants battled it out.

The meteor spell took a few seconds to come to fruition. Meanwhile, Father did not attack prematurely and waited for the Magus to finish up. Perhaps he could have gained an advantage in doing so, but considering the rank of the woman he was fighting, she likely had more than a few protective amulets to buy herself the necessary time.

Instead, Father mounted the third form: Walking Mountain. His aura surged once more, but instead of intensifying on the blade like the prior two moves, it condensed on him, as though he were the blade itself. 

The Primus Pillus cast her staff downwards, and all the meteors hurtled down.

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Chapter 66: Soulward

Father didn't try to dodge. There simply was no space to.

His grip on the sword tightened. Even though there wasn’t any outward change, his figure seemed to grow taller as he finally took a step forward. A tremor ran through the land he was stepping on, as cracks began to appear on the scorched plateau. Small and Large chunks of stone sprang up with his step, defying gravity. 

I knew Walking Mountain to be a defensive form, but there was very little that was defensive about how Father displayed the moves next.

He lurched on his heel and shot towards the hurtling meteors. The chunks of stone he split in his wake shot upwards to neutralise a few of the meteor strikes, however, the bigger problems still remained unsolved. As crashing devastation escalated all around him, Father met the blazing meteors head-on, swinging his blade with such force as though it were a warhammer instead of a single-edged blade he was wielding.

The crushing strike didn’t simply cleave through the rounded meteor. No, the destructive force splintered the scorched stone into thousands of shards. Some of it even turned into fine powder and swept through the air. The rest of the meteors met the same fate, as his figure sprang from one to the next, the mountain-crushing strike cleaving through them in an unmatched display of strength.

The debris flew in all directions. Some of the meteor shards were large enough to render even a prestigious-class Awakened lifeless. Larius and Rowin, who had escaped early with the rest of the onlookers, exchanged a glance and swiftly erected a barrier together, securing them from the collateral damage.

Some of the searing stones hurtled towards us as well. Mum only raised her palm and swatted them away with a masterful control of kinetic force.

After the breathtaking wreckage, Magus Selene fell back to trying her luck with smaller spells. Perhaps she was merely catching her breath and calculating how much more Father had left in him.

A large array of fire spears and fireballs seared down at him. Father met them all without flinching. A darkened reddish misty aura swept over his form. Whenever the fire spells came closer to the aura, it rendered them all powerless; the weaves were deconstructed simply on contact with the Aura of Nullification.

The Magus was not that surprised by it. Compared to the elemental control Father had shown, utilising one’s gift through their aura was not unheard of.

The spectators were far more stupefied, unsure of what was happening. After all, Father’s gift, Nullification, was probably one of the rarest gifts out there. It wasn't completely unique like Fractal Soul, but the number of Awakened who had awakened the gift throughout history could only be counted on one hand.

Once again, he released his aura and sprang upwards, his stances getting more complex, employing the Sword Unity. Sometime during the battle, his blade had elongated and approached the imperious Magus, who evaded the strike using both her levitation and force shields.

At this time, I could not help but think about the levitation boots I was making. It would have been of great help to Father. With them, he wouldn't have to worry so much about his aura expenditure to keep himself up in the air.

Magus Selene was not to be outdone by an Augmenter, no matter how skilled the Augmenter was. She prepared more spells and alternated between a rain of either fire spears or inferior meteor spells.

In the midst, Father’s forms evolved into something that I did not even recognise. Wind curled around him, empowering his movement, and his aura sword mercilessly cleaved through the spells, trying to get the upper hand on the Shaper.

None of them had yet managed to land a blow on the other, though their display so far had been something I had only read about in books.

"You are not bad," said the Primus Pillus, "but I knew that already, or I wouldn't have challenged you."

Fatigue gripped their forms, and yet neither of the two slowed down. Uncertain who would fall into exhaustion first, the Magus finally decided on a final offence to claim victory.

"It has been some time since I had to draw out this much of my power," Father said nonchalantly, his figure hovering in the air. "I truly am rusty. Without my thick skin, I would have already fallen to your spells."

"Perhaps," said Selene, inhaling deeply. "Draw your soulward, or you may not survive the next attack."

As soon as she said that, a cerulean plume exploded out of her, swirling around her form to soon materialise an azure ring of fire behind her.

Its intensity easily overwhelmed Fractal Sight that I had to concentrate my focus on it. I couldn't even make out the number of threads woven into its form; if there were even any Essence threads in use, the azure fire seemed something far more real than any essence flame and primal.

"That’s not simple weaving, is it?" I asked, eyes glued to the fire, even though Fractal Sight failed to make anything out of it.

Under the Shaper’s control, the azure ring of fire sprang up in the sky and swirled fastidiously as wind rose above the scorched land.

"That is," Mum said, her eyes narrowed, "the very testament of Fabled class. Once one ascended to the Class, they manifest a Soulward. For Selene, it is that ring of fire, and for your father... Well, you'll see soon enough."

Soulward. I ran the word in my mind, first time hearing it. My gaze alternated between my father and the twisting flame, wondering how he was going to deal with it.

The ring of fire swirled faster, hotter; the searing flame expanded, encompassing several metres in its diameter. The mesmerising blue spark then erupted in crimson devastation, swirling in a firestorm. The searing maelstrom was raised to several hundred metres high and coursed through the barren land, drowning Father within it, flame blazing with such intensity that it could scorch anything in its path.

The temperature in the surrounding area rose so far as to render me in sweat, even though I was several hundred metres away from the action. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that I would have made some progress in arcane resistance if I kept being in that space for a bit longer. That was how intense the fire tempest was.

Magus Selene still stood on the higher ground, the black staff in her hand, though it didn’t look like she needed to implement her Essence threads to control the firestorm she had created.

Once again, the bystanders had to run for their lives, fearing to be overtaken by the audacious maelstrom. While it lacked the wide area coverage of the Ashen Storm, the spell could ravage the land far worse if left unattended for long. Thankfully, there were only a few trees in the surroundings.

"Is Father going to be alright?" I asked hesitantly, fear gripping my heart.

"He will be fine," Mother said after a thought. Although she said it, I noted she was using her penetrative influence to examine Father’s whereabouts within the maelstrom.

I would have liked to follow her example, unfortunately, my pitifully small influence couldn’t even cover a tenth of the distance between us, even after I stretched it to the limit. Not to mention, my influence lacked any of the penetrative perception that a Fabled-class Shaper wielded.

As I kept my eyes fixed on the flaming maelstrom, heart filled with worry, suddenly, a dark aura sword, as large as half of the vortex, cleaved through the swirling fire wall, and out came a figure. A figure draped in a pure black robe, with a blade in hand, burning with dark smoke. The robe extended into dozens of strips of dark tendrils, billowing behind him. With the dark blade Ouroborus in hand, he looked nothing short of a soul reaper.

Despite the blade cleaving through the blazing maelstrom, the spell was in no way ceasing. Even after freeing himself from the spell, Father had no time to rest as the firestorm hurtled at him, warping the space and air, trying to drown him in its fiery misery once more.

He stood in the air with ease, the dark strips of his Soulward dancing around him. The black robe negated the fire, no matter its intensity. It dispersed the flame, akin to how taro leaves oppose the contact of water.

Finally, the blade rose several metres high in its aura, teneborus plume dancing in swirls, hiding its sharp edge. Father merely held onto the maelstrom. A relic befitting its name, Ouroborus showed its magic, its swirling aura seized the blazing vortex whole.

“What kind of damnable thing is that blade?” swore the Magus.

She made various hand gestures, employed her Essence threads, yet no matter what she tried, she couldn’t stop the shadowy aura from devouring her fire. In no time, the maelstrom deflated to half its length, the devouring still growing strong.

Nullifying the spell, Father met her gaze, and his lips couldn’t help but curl up slightly. In a split second, he broke through the space between them and swung his blade, his dingy soul cloak billowing in his wake.

An ashen expression spread on Selene’s face. She quickly wove the remainder of her power. Midway, she had to alter her weave into kinetic shaping and lurched backwards, thrusting the force at him.

Father’s Soulward negated the force with ease and chased after her, his pace akin to short-range teleportation.

She managed to evade the first blow, but immediately, the next one fell out of nowhere and only stopped, making slight contact on her shoulder. It was only then that her protective amulet flared up and tried to form a forcefield around her.

Unfortunately for her, it was a moment or two too late.

“Yeahhhh!” Unbeknownst to me, a cheer escaped my lips.

The kinetic forcefield swedged between them, unable to materialise fully with Father’s nullifying aura obstructing it.

“Magekiller,” cursed the woman, her eyes aghast, nose scrunched up in disgust.

“Still not satisfied?” Father arched an eyebrow.

A sigh finally escaped her lips, and she withdrew all her power and protective amulet, crestfallen. Father too withdrew his blade, the soulward retracting into his body. He came down onto the decimated plateau, filled with debris and singed stones. On the path of the maelstrom, a several metres deep swirling channel was carved, its heat barely settling down.

“Not too bad, eh?” Father said to me as Mum brought us over.

I had so many questions I wanted to ask Father—about his swordsmanship, aura, and his Soulward—but as I was too excited with his victory, all the words jumbled, and all that came out of my lips was a weird noise.

Father chuckled, tousling my hair.

Soon, the spectators came and surrounded us. Many hadn’t yet completely absorbed what they had witnessed, but that didn’t stop them from praising his swordsmanship and aura mastery.