Ashur burst forward.
Stone shattered beneath his step as he closed the distance instantly, his body twisting as his arm came around in a brutal left hook aimed directly at Zephyr’s jaw.
Zephyr’s body blurred.
It was not a full flashstep, no.
A semi-flashstep, his body didn’t transmute, it simply accelerated beyond normal motion.
The hook missed.
Zephyr’s fist drove into Ashur’s side in the same instant.
A clean liver shot.
The impact cracked one of Ashur’s ribs.
For a moment, Zephyr thought he landed something decisive but he was soon proven wrong.
Instead, of Ashur wincing in pain, a grin spread across his face.
“Haah..! Nice reaction!”, he laughed under his breath.
His eyes sharpened.
“Let’s get even faster now.”
Before Zephyr could even react—
Ashur vanished.
Leaving only a slight “whoosh” sound.
Zephyr’s perception lagged, his eyes rapidly scanned his surroundings in an attempt to locate Ashur but it was too late.
A fist crashed into his ribs.
But The impact didn’t feel like a punch.
It felt like being carved open.
Pain ripped through Zephyr’s side as dozens of tiny cuts opened across his skin.
“—ghk!”
He stumbled back, clutching his side.
“What the—?! What did you just do?!”
Ashur flexed his fingers casually.
“Core imbuement.”
Zephyr launched forward immediately.
His fists blurred as he launched a rapid barrage.
“Core imbuement? What are you talking about?”
Ashur blocked every strike almost effortlessly.
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Palm.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Each movement almost flawless.
“Simple concept,” Ashur said calmly as he parried another punch.
“You focus your innate core ability into a specific part of your body, and then you apply Essenz to it 0.0001 seconds after you land the strike.”
Zephyr threw another punch.
Blocked.
“The timing window is microscopic and requires intense focus.”
Ashur’s fist snapped forward.
Zephyr crossed his arms to block—
The moment the punch connected—
Slashes erupted across Zephyr’s forearms.
Blood sprayed, each slash cutting deep.
Zephyr gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain.
“That’s a neat trick.”
He telegraphed a simple punch.
“So like this?”
He flew forward.
He threw a simple right into Ashur’s guard.
Lightning detonated on impact.
Ashur’s eyes widened.
His guard loosened slightly.
He copied it?
That fast?
Damn.
I didn’t expect him to learn it on the fly.
Before he could recover—Zephyr’s leg whipped upward.
His kick crashed into Ashur’s torso.
Lightning exploded upward.
Ashur was launched through the air.
Mid flight—
Ashur swung his arm.
A razor thin cleave tore through the air toward zephyr.
Zephyr twisted aside at the last possible second.
The slash grazed his shoulder, slicing his skin.
Ashur landed smoothly on the ground and glanced up.
Huh?
His eyes narrowed.
Did he see it coming? How did he do—
Zephyr was suddenly infront of him again.
Ashur reacted instantly.
He parried the incoming strike and seized Zephyrs arm.
With a violent motion, he hurled Zephyr straight up to the sky.
While zephyr was still rising—
Ashur flicked his fingers repeatedly.
Slashes tore through the air toward him.
Crap.
Zephyrs mind raced as he spun helplessly mid air.
This is bad!
He slapped his face, forcing himself to focus.
Okay, calm down.
Just like before.
Feel the faint Essenz presence off the attacks.
Feel the distortion of the space.
The air shifted.
Just barely.
Tiny distortions.
Zephyr felt it.
The faint presence of Essenz moving through space.
His body twisted.
One slash passed inches from his throat.
Another sliced past his leg.
A third tore through empty air behind him.
Zephyr dodged all of them.
While still falling—
He raises his hand and formed a finger gun.
Lightning gathered instantly.
A bolt fired towards Ashur.
Ashur sidestepped.
Another slash flew towards Zephyr.
He twisted again mid air.
Dodged.
Moments later, zephyr landed back on the arena floor.
Ashur stared at him curiously.
“How did you dodge them?”
Zephyr wiped blood from his lip.
“Dodge what?”
“My slashes,” Ashur said.
“They’re Invisible to the naked eye, so how?”
“No one’s avoided them before.”
Zephyr shrugged slightly.
“Oh yeah, they’re definitely hard to dodge.”
“But it’s not impossible.”
Ashur tilted his head.
“They’re carrying a faint Essenz presence.”
Zephyr gestured toward the air.
“That distorts the space around them a little.”
“If you focus hard enough, you can feel them slicing through space.”
Ashur stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“…Interesting.”
“I suppose that makes sense.”
He glancd At Zephyr.
“I feel something similar with your lightning bolts.”
Zephyr smirked.
“Then try to keep up.”
Three lightning bolts fired instantly from his hand like bullets.
Ashur moved in between them fluidly.
At the same time—
He unleashed a barrage of slashes.
Zephyr hesitated.
Would this work?
He fired a lightning bolt directly at one of the invisible slashes.
The slash cut right through the bolt, splitting it.
Bad idea..
The slashes were almost about to hit him.
Zephyr flash stepped sideways at the last second.
Although, several still managed to graze him.
Thin red lines opened across his legs and arms.
Ashur snorted.
“That was a stupid thing to try.”
“You almost got yourself killed.”
Zephyr wiped some blood that was sweeping from his face.
“…Yeah,”
He grinned slightly.
“I know.”
