Blitz. Swoosh. Clank.
Sofiya suddenly found herself looking into Eren's cold and emotionless eyes. A clash between artifacts took place. Sofiya's sword was blocked effortlessly by Eren's axe. He spun around and tried to lodge the other axe behind her back.
Black Wind Storm.
Sofiya created a barrier of black winds that protected her from Eren's subsequent attack. Still, the second axe managed to partially get through the barrier before releasing a flying slash.
"Hmmm!"
Sofiya grunted in discomfort when Eren's attack landed on her back. She had to outmaneuver the Last Spider before creating a safe distance from him.
"Hehe. Where are you going off to? You wanted this."
Eren chuckled before following Sofiya right away using his movement spell. Blue lightning streaks danced around him as he approached Sofiya with the eyes of an excited serial killer.
The light wound on Sofiya's back got healed. She also dealt with the foreign mana invading her mana circuits before turning around to face Eren.
Unlike what Eren had expected, Sofiya was also excited about the spar looking at the smile on her face. It seemed that she was not used to dealing with high agility rankers like Eren. So she took her time to get her bearings before resuming her match with Eren with new vigor.
Blitz Steps.
Blitz Storm.
Blitz Shards.
Igni Shards.
The Last Spider cast his elemental spells one after the other. He also employed elemental fusion between lightning and fire to increase the spells' damage potential. He then used Blitz Storm as a deployment tool– targeting Sofiya from multiple angles at once using his multi-element shards.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
Sofiya generated a storm of black winds around her. She used her swordplay to her fullest to get rid of the elemental shard that managed to break past the storm. In the end, she used her own Black Wind Shards to get rid of the remaining elemental shrapnels.
Boom. boom. Boom.
A bunch of mini explosions took place around Eren and Sofiya as they battled. They changed their positions many times while the explosions were carried out.
The landscape began to be affected by the Awakened rank mana. The lush green trees around the battlefield were uprooted. Eren and Sofiya both found out that their normal vision was getting hampered because of the volume of dust in the air– something they had caused by their attacks.
The lady battlemage had to say that Eren did not seem to know how to hold back. His elemental attainments and weapon comprehension were exceptional. He also had a knack for using multi-elemental attacks– something rarely seen among rankers.
Still, battlemages were known to dabble in all sorts of spells and skills. They were supposed to be "jacks of all trades" so to speak. Thus, it didn't come across as anything too stunning.
Sofiya wondered what kind of progress Eren would make if he reached the same level as her in terms of ranking status. Because technically, he was supposed to be overwhelmed by her attacks because of his inexperience in the Awakened rank.
Eren and Sofiya both exchanged a bunch of moves with each other. It seemed they both were warming up and getting used to each other's battle styles. The real fight was yet to start.
Sofiya and Eren both separated from each other after the first round of exchange was over. She looked at her sparring partner with a hint of exhilaration before commenting.
"This is better than I expected, Eren. I did not know how right my guess about you was going to be. But now I do."
The lady battlemage traced the dull edge of her weapon with the index finger of the other hand. Her eyes fixed on Eren, she continued.
"You… you are a different brand of Hexer altogether. Your Hex spells don't feel like Hex spells at all. It is as if you have been trained to pour the same amount of will into your Hex spells.
This is something difficult to imagine and do since one's will can't really be quantified. After all, Hex spells are known to be unreliable for the same reason.
And yet, here you are– casting Hexes so perfectly that they have the uniformity of normal spells. It's as if you have been trained to become a high-ranking Hexer right from the Awakened rank.
I don't know which kind of Hexers' school provided you with the legacy but it is top-notch, to say the least."
Eren flashed a subtle grin at Sofiya before nodding at her. In his mind, he was glad that Sofiya had associated the way he cast his Hex spells with the Hexer legacy she thought he had received.
After all, Eren was not limited to using Hex spells like other Hexers. He could use normal spells just fine without adding his will and intentions to them. His no-elemental-conflict infinite mana core made it possible for him to do so. However, this was also the part he was afraid to show. He didn't want to attract attention by making himself an unusual Hexer in others' eyes.
Eren's recent breakthrough into the Awakened rank had allowed him to stabilize himself on multiple fronts. His regular mana core and infinite mana core were in greater harmony than before. And he could keep his mana signature stable.
The voice in Eren's head, Alephe had also not bothered him much after breaking into the Awakened rank. He stayed quiet and rarely responded to his queries, prompting Eren to seek his help less and less.
Sofiya's assumptions about Eren put his worries to rest. He realized at this point that he could use his Hex spells without any worries. He was also glad that he had accepted Sofiya's sparring request. She was making him understand quite a lot about Hexers even without explicitly discussing the topic.
Of course, what Eren had shown her was as close to normalcy as possible. There wasn't much of his will or his infinite mana core employed in generating the spells. He had already suffered from his Hex spells going haywire by letting his emotions run unchecked. He needed to attune himself to the Awakened rank before casting his spells without hesitation.
He didn't want to commit the same mistake in front of an eyewitness he was planning to employ, no matter how minuscule the chances of that happening were. The cynic in him was extra cautious about the secrets he had.
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