"Haa… Haa…"
Taking deep heavy breaths, Brandon knelt down on the ground, supporting himself with a chipped ice sword.
Cuts and grazes appeared all over his body, bleeding profusely. But under the surge of adrenaline, the pain was mitigated temporarily.
Looking in front of him, the vast darkness of the reality domain continued to engulf the entire area.
It gave him the impression that the man that conjured the domain had vast amounts of mana.
The fight persisted for what he thinks might have been 20 minutes already.
Yet the only one to have suffered any damage was Brandon.
Not once had he ever landed a single hit on the man.
Whenever he used [Mana Disruption], another magic would be sent his way, as if the man wasn't fazed at all that his mana was disrupted.
But most of the ti, Brandon couldn't ti [Mana Disruption] perfectly.
Brandon was unsure if the man knew how to counter [Mana Disruption], or he was just that skilled.
But he felt like it was the latter.
In other words, Brandon was outmatched.
Along with the fight against the real Leon–or–rather–Alpha, this was the second ti Brandon had ever felt this way.
To be so defeated.
To the point where he was helpless.
To be backed in a corner, unable to defend himself.
Biting his lip and clenching his fist, Brandon lifted his head and looked at the man in front of him.
The man walked around the reality domain. His figure had yet to suffer any injuries.
The black blazer that he adorned, free from any cuts or creases.
The man then scanned his black crystal sword with the tip of his finger.
He turned his head to et Brandon's gaze.
Staring deep into the man's ink black eyes made Brandon shudder in fear.
The man could kill him with a lift of his finger, and yet he didn't.
After all, he wanted sothing from Brandon.
But the re fact that if that weren't the case…
'...I wouldn't be alive right now.'
As Brandon was lost deep within his thoughts, the man's mouth opened.
"I'm quite disappointed. I thought you would give it your all."
Brandon clenched his teeth.
He knew he'd given it his all..
He had used everything within his arsenal, [Fire] [Water] [Wind] [Ice] [Lightning].
Yet the man wouldn't acknowledge his efforts.
No, there was one more skill.
His trump card. The one skill that should be out of cooldown.
And to his surprise, it was finally available for use.
But before he could gather his thoughts, the man spoke up once again.
"I've changed my mind. If you can't land a single hit…"
The man paused.
The suspense bore down on Brandon, as he swallowed his saliva.
The man locked eyes with him as he uttered, narrowing his eyes at Brandon.
"I'll kill you instead."
Adrenaline once again surged within Brandon.
Now that the man was about to kill him, there was no need to hesitate.
[Accelerated Cognition]
The world started to go dull.
His thoughts focused on the man that stood before him.
Everything seed to move in slow motion.
Yet for so reason…
BOOM—!
He was still losing.
Brandon skidded back several ters. And before he knew it…
Tszzz—-
The man had already appeared before him.
Brandon could co up with several counters after each muscle, each joint, each move the man would make.
Before the man could swing down his sword at him, another ice sword materialized in Brandon's left hand.
Gripping it, he parried the man's sword.
Clang—!
With another sword in his right hand, he swung down.
Wooosh—!
Yet he slashed at nothing but air.
"You're finally taking this seriously."
The voice ca from behind him.
Tszzz—
Brandon distanced himself away from the man.
But as soon as he inched away…
Spurt!
A black crystal sword unknowingly erged from a portal and impaled him from the back.
"Ukhh!"
Despite being under the effects of [Accelerated Cognition], it was a move that he hadn't calculated.
He had never fought a mage with the [Space] affinity before. It was out of his volition.
Redirecting his attention in front of him, the man seed to have opened a portal and stuck his sword inside it.
"Ukehh!"
Brandon spat out blood.
As the man pulled the sword away from the portal, Brandon felt the blade from behind him loosen up as well.
Drip… Drip…
Blood continued to drip down from his back.
"Is that all?"
"...Fuck."
"One last chance."
The mont those words left the man's mouth, Brandon blinked back to distance himself, leaving trails of blue sparks.
But the mont he did, the man blinked to chase him, leaving his own trail of black sparks.
'Skill Weaver!'
Clang– Clang—!
They continued to exchange blows. Each parry chipping away Brandon's ice sword.
'Kill!'
[Error! You do not et the level requirents for this skill.]
Clang– Clang—!
'Kill him!'
[Error! You do not et the level requirents for this skill.]
Clang– Clang—!
Under the effects of [Accelerated Cognition], Brandon's thoughts would rapidly shift.
From calculating each counter to the man's moves, to thinking about what skill to create.
He could feel the ntal fatigue, as his body had started to overheat.
Clang– Clang—!
"Fuck!"
[Error! Not a skill.]
"Fucking useless!"
[Error! Not a skill.]
"Win! Anything. Just fucking win!"
—---------------------------
[Are you sure?]
"Yes!"
[Initializing Skill Weaver.]
[Downloading data.]
[ETA: 1 Minute.]
—---------------------------
"Who are you even talking to?"
"Shut up!"
Brandon knew that if he hadn't used [Accelerated Cognition], then he wouldn't be able to keep up.
Foooo–!
Clang– Clang—!
The two continued to exchange blows, while Brandon waited for the skill to create.
Cuts and grazes appeared in his body once more, continuing to bleed.
Brandon knew that if he hadn't used [Accelerated Cognition], then he wouldn't be able to keep up.
Foooo–!
With wind conjured in his palms, he pushed himself away, distancing away from the man.
But…
Tszzzz—
Once again, the man chased him down and instantly appeared right in front of him, leaving trails of black sparks.
Clank—!
As their swords clashed. Both of Brandon's ice swords completely shattered.
And as soon as the black crystal sword was about to reach him…
—---------------------------
[Skill Tab]
[Mana Burst]
∟ Enables the user to unleash a concentrated surge of mana, temporarily enhancing their speed and power to unprecedented levels.
∟ By channeling their mana reserves to their utmost limit, the user can achieve remarkable bursts of agility and strength, surpassing their normal capabilities for a brief mont.
—---------------------------
"This…"
Though, it wasn't a skill he had co up with, and if he could, he would've liked a better one.
It was a waste of skill capacity.
But it was now out of his hands.
'It will do.'
At that mont, his entire being started to surge with mana.
Adrenaline pumped within his blood.
The profuse bleeding had temporarily stopped, though the wound was still there.
Despite everything, the pain that engulfed him had been sowhat alleviated.
Swoosh—!
In a split second, before the sword could reach him, Brandon instantly seized the edge of the crystal sword with his hand.
The sword slit his palm, but Brandon tightened his grip on the sword.
Cr... Crack!
The crystal sword cracked.
And with his other hand, he thrusted his fist with a wind empowered punch.
Thud!
Yet despite the surprise attack, which should've happened in a single second, the man was able to block it with his fist.
Drip… Drip…
His other hand started bleeding.
But regardless, it wasn't all in vain.
Brandon took deep heavy breaths. Then pursed his lips to say,
"Haa... I hit you."
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