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Congratulations! You have gained skill: [Sunder]!
Getting the skill, Theodore stood up, and Freya got up as well, looking at him expectantly. "Try it out then," she said. "Let's see what it does. Maybe we'll spar a little."
Theodore nodded, and focused on activating the skill, feeling the familiar sensation of the skill wrapping around him in an aura and spreading around a certain radius. It was gaseous in nature, somewhat. Though the feel was more akin to a liquid, albeit lower in density than water.
It had no color or actual physicality, but Theodore could see—or more specifically sense—it perfectly.
And so, taking a deep breath, he concentrated. The aura contracted, and from there, thin tendrils emerged.
His control of the skill, which he'd honed to an insane degree, was the only reason the skill was working as intended right now, rather than going haywire or not doing what he wanted it to.
The tendrils were rather weak, and he was having some trouble controlling them. But he wasn't expecting much from level 1 of the skill anyway. Though, he could already tell the skill was incredibly mana intensive in some ways.
Freya observed the process patiently, not interrupting, and only spoke up when he'd been getting the hang of it for quite some time.
"Want to test it out against me?" She conjured a fireball without even moving a muscle. "You can try it out on my spells, see if you can make them fizzle out or something—"
The fireball dissipated.
"Interesting." Theodore hummed to himself. "Can you make like ten of them?"
She did as he asked, and ten fireballs floated there in front of him.
A flurry of thin, razor-sharp threads of the severing energy shot forward like whips, cutting through the fireballs and making them dissipate. The air around the point of impact shimmered and wavered with heat for half a second after, but eventually settled.
Freya observed this silently and then began to fire off a continuous stream of fireballs.
Theodore was having fun, slicing through them with ease, though his mana expenditure was a bit higher than he'd expected.
Even then it would barely put a dent on his reserves.
The threads were quite fast, cutting through the air with ease, and he was able to control them to an extreme degree, though it did take up a lot of his concentration and focus. Still, he felt he could get used to it.
Especially after [Mind Division] came to play.
His brain splintered in two, and he designated one of them to handle [Sunder] and nothing else. And sure enough, Freya scowled.
"Fucking cheat bastard."
He grinned, and the threads moved faster, slicing through the fireballs the moment she conjured them. She was barely able to keep up, and he could tell that she'd gotten serious, but he didn't care much for that.
For a few moments, he let his instincts take over and focused on the threads, and found they were able to move even faster, though at the expense of a higher mana cost.
Eventually, however, Freya ran out of steam and was forced to give up. "Fine, you win," she said, and then turned to Theodore. "How's the skill? Good?"
"Very," he confirmed. "I can already see how useful it will be."
She snorted. "Sure. Want to try it out on something more complex than a trash fireball?"
"Sure," he agreed.
And thus, they had a spar.
***
Theodore materialized in the waiting area, eyes instantly meeting Julius's who was already sitting there. A thin layer of mana was in front of him, and he moved his hands about controlling it with probably nigh a thought in his brain.
"We have similar timepass habits." Theodore said as he sat down on the sofa across from the one Julius occupied.
Julius smiled. "Yes. You noticed."
"Hard not to."
"Indeed. Well, are you ready to lose?"
Theodore's lips quirked into a small smile. "No. Are you?"
Julius chuckled. "You are a funny man, Theodore."
"Thank you."
For a few moments it was silent.
"So," Theodore said, looking around the room. "This is it."
"Indeed," Julius agreed. "The final match."
"Do you have any last words?" Theodore asked, looking at the other man. "I have been observing your fighting style for some time now."
"Is that so?" Julius tilted his head. "Do tell me your observations then."
"Nah. I have no reason to."
Julius sighed. "Well, I suppose it is fair. Do you wish to talk about the weather instead? Or perhaps the state of the Empire? It is quite dreary."
Theodore snorted.
Silence stretched between them, and Theodore made no moves to break it. He just sat there, patiently waiting for the match to start, and Julius soon joined him in that regard. It was quiet for a while longer, until finally, they were teleported into the arena.
His new skill was going to be quite handy in this fight, Theodore was sure of that. And so, the moment they got into the arena, Theodore activated his skill and started spreading his aura throughout the arena. After all, it would be far easier to fill up any that got destroyed or used instead of filling up the whole arena once the match started.
"So, what do you think of the capital so far?" Julius asked as the countdown started, his voice echoing in the arena as he stood on his platform on the other side of the arena.
"It is nice," Theodore said. "A bit too loud for my tastes but it is a nice place. The city is very beautiful. I have enjoyed my time here."
"I see," Julius said.
The counter neared zero and the tension in the air grew thicker, and just when it was about to hit, Julius spoke up again. "I am sorry. I really do not wish to do this, but I cannot fail."
Before the countdown hit zero, Theodore saw Julius's eyes flash blue, and a familiar ability was used against him.
"Let's see how you deal with your own skills."
The match started, and neither of them moved. They were just staring at each other. Theodore had a small smile playing on his lips, and Julius seemed to have a small frown.
Suddenly, Theodore vanished and Julius's expression changed to one of mild interest. Theodore [Blinked] behind him and swung his arm, sending an arc of kinetic energy towards Julius, sucking away his kinetic energy as he did so.
Julius, stuck in his spot, didn't even move a single muscle and Theodore's attack slammed into him with no effect. Julius turned around slowly and raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to fight seriously?" He asked. "Or am I just wasting my time?"
Theodore's smile grew wider and he took a step back, raising his hand and sending a wave of kinetic energy that slammed into Julius and threw him across the arena, though he didn't seem to be damaged, and he simply stood up from the crater he had created.
But it seemed Theodore's advantage of starting early didn't last that long, as Julius finally took action, and he could only watch as the guy vanished from his sight, and reappeared behind him.
[Blink], was it?
A small smile played on Julius's lips, and he struck his elbow out, aiming right at Theodore's spine. Theodore reacted immediately. He felt the threads of his aura all over the arena, and he sent them right at the man's limbs, trying to find his weak points.
Julius had copied one of his skills already, and if his hypothesis was correct, Julius first had to see a skill in action, as well as be aware of its existence, before he could mirror it. After all, Theodore had his [Mind Division] in action since well before the start of the match, yet Julius hadn't copied it.
Nor had he copied [Sunder].
Curious.
So very curious.
Confirming his hypothesis once more, Julius hurtled a kinetic blast his way and sucked away his kinetic energy to stop him from moving. Theodore found himself flinging backward as the blast hit him in the face, but the threads of his aura lashed out and sliced through the attack before it could do much damage.
Julius blinked, clearly not expecting that, and Theodore's lips twitched into a smile.
He was going to have some fun today, he was sure of it. After all, this battle had only begun.