Throughout the entirety of Hydenfort, loud clanging rang through the air. The sound of metal on metal screeched a hole through the ear of any soldier that got too close. Every inch of snow had evaporated, every tree in a kilometer radius was lifted from their roots. The air had grown thicker, the wind speeds grew rapidly. All of this, because Kiliano and Shyzen clashed swords.
In what seemed like an instant, Kiliano leaned towards Shyzen, and dashed forward, swinging his sword diagonally towards his head. CLANG! Shyzen blocked it effortlessly, pushing Kiliano off and sending him flying backwards almost a dozen meters. He landed on his feet and dashed forwards once more, closing the gap in almost an instant. He bent his knees, getting down low, and swung his sword up. But it was a faint, he pulled his sword back and dashed to Shyzen's backside. In less time than it takes to blink, he swung downwards towards Shyen's back, CLANGG! But it was blocked. Shyzen had pulled his arm above his head and behind him, blocking Kiliano's sword without even looking. Kiliano dashed backwards, raising his hand and opening his palm, "Fireball!" Suddenly, heat began to pour from his hand, and fire started to form at rapid speeds. In just a few seconds, the fiere had grown to the size of a small house, and Kiliano sent it flying towards Shyzen. The God Of Gods turned his head, glancing at the fireball, and smirked. He raised his left arm and chanted, "Behold thine power, release your unworldly force unto my foe… Tempest Catastrophe." Suddenly, the air around them grew much thinner, and for a second, Kiliano couldn't breathe. The fireball hurling towards Shyzen dissipated instantly. And then, Kiliano's sense of sound disappeared. He fell to the ground, gasping for breath and clenching onto his throat. He turned his eyes to look at Shyzen and planted his feet into the ground. Suddenly, Kiliano pushed off his legs and dashed forward. He swung sideways, but Shyzen blocked his sword, redirecting it upwards and leaving Kiliano's torso completely exposed. Shyzen's spell dissipated, and all the air around them came back. But Shyzen had an opening, and he took it. Suddenly, Kiliano was sent flying through the air, crashing through trees and into boulders, until eventually losing momentum and skidding along the ground, stopping just short of a cliff. He moaned in pain, and slowly laid up, "Crappp… I'm gettin tossed around out here! C'mon Kiliano, you can do this!" He jumped back up, and dashed back through the forest.
Shyzen was still standing in the clearing, waiting for Kiliano after sending him flying. He thought to himself, "I sure hope that punch didn't knock him unconscious. I don't want to wait here for hours." Just then, Kiliano emerged from the forest and dashed towards him. CLANG! Their swords clashed together, but it was apparent that Shyzen was dominating. Kiliano jumped backwards about a meter, and dashed back in, swinging his sword downwards. Shyzen blocked it, redirecting the blade into the ground, and kneeing Kiliano in the gut, "Gyah!" Kiliano cried out in pain. Shyzen grabbed Kiliano by the hair, and tossed him flying another dozen meters through the clearing. Kiliano regained his balance, skidding his feet along the ground while stopping his momentum, "Phew! Your defenses aren't half bad! But I'm still holding back!" Shyzen scowled, "Oh please! Don't give me that crap excuse! I'm honestly disappointed at what you've become. Your whole purpose in life was to kill me… but I don't even think you can lay a finger on me!" Kiliano's expression changed. He grew annoyed and a bit angry at those words, "C'mon man… I just told you I'm holding back, didn't I?" He dashed forward swinging his sword sideways, Shyzen was getting ready to block when Kiliano jerked his body to the right, fainting him, and swinging his sword upwards. Shyzen was caught slightly off guard, but managed to block the attack. Kiliano dashed backwards and then forwards once more, keeping his body low, and swinging upwards. It was another faint too. Kiliano stopped short, and jerked his body to the right once more. Now, he was to Shyzen's back, and swung downwards. But just as he did, the sound of sighing was heard coming from Shyzen. SHNGG! Kiliano connected! But his sword slid off Shyzen's black metal armor, doing absolutely no damage to it. Kiliano's eyes widened, and he thought to himself, "I knew it… Excalibur is the only weapon strong enough to kill him." Suddenly, Shyzen sent his elbow flying into Kiliano's right eye. He rolled backwards a few meters, stopping on his back. Kiliano grabbed his eyeball and channeled mana into his hand, "Healing." A green glow emanated from his eye for a few seconds, before disappearing. His eye had healed, and he stood back up.
The two of them stared at each other. Kiliano began walking sideways, circling around Shyzen, while keeping eye contact. And then his eyes widened from realization. Shyzen smirked, "You just realized, didn't you? You've realized that I haven't moved a single step ever since this battle started… That's because I won't need to. Your power is pretty impressive, but it's nothing compared to mine. That's why I'm so disappointed." Kiliano smiled slightly, "I see… Well then I won't keep you waiting. It's pretty obvious you want a good challenge, so I'll give you one." He stopped circling around Shyzen, and turned to face him completely. His aura grew much calmer, and it was emanating only about an inch or two off his body. He clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth. He scrunched his nose, and furrowed his eyebrows. The air around them grew even hotter, and Kiliano yelled out, "Ignition!" Suddenly, his aura burst out around them, emanating violently in a twenty meter radius. Flames began to form around Kiliano's body, circling his arms, legs and torso. Until eventually, completely enveloping him. Shyzen smiled, "Goood! This is a bit better, Kiliano Monfril!"
Shyzen leaned towards Kiliano, and dashed towards him. In what seemed like an instant, the gap between them was completely closed, and Shyzen had his sword pulled to Kiliano's chest, his blade running down it. Kiliano leaned back, trying to escape, but it was too late. Blood shot from his chest after Shyzen swung downwards. "Wow…" Kiliano thought, "...He's really fast!" Shyzen grabbed Kiliano's face, and threw him into the air. Kiliano flew for dozens of meters through the air, and after a few moments, Shyzen jumped up, catching him and tossing him back into the ground. CRSH! Kiliano slammed into the ground, creating a large crater. Shyzen dropped down beside him, staring as he watched Kiliano slowly getting up, "Oof… You're a lot faster than I thought." Shyzen scoffed, "I'm still holding back kid… Don't give up on me now." DOOF! Shyzen kicked Kiliano through the clearing, skidding on the ground and slamming into a boulder. The God Of Gods dashed forward, closing the gap between them instantly. He had his sword raised up, ready to strike. But Kiliano shook off the previous blow, and managed to dashed away just before Shyzen swung his sword down. CRSH! The ground around him crumbled away. Kiliano took a step forward, and the two of them clashed once more. CLANG, TNGG! Their swords slid off each other, but neither one lost their balance. Kiliano struck at Shyzen, but every attack was parried with perfection and countered with even more intensity. Their bodies became a blur as they dashed around the clearing. After each clash, they dashed backwards, opposite from each other, and then quickly rushed back in to attack once more. After a few seconds of back-and-forth, Kiliano fainted Shyzen, catching him off guard and sending his foot into the God Of God's stomach. Shyzen went flying into the air nearly thirty meters above the treetops. Kiliano jumped towards him, but before he could attack again, Shyzen smirked. Suddenly, he did a backflip mid air, stopping himself once he became upright. Mana began to settle around his feet, and all his momentum suddenly stopped. He was floating in the air, waiting for Kiliano to come into range. He knew this, and tried to stop himself from getting closer by using wind magic. But Shyzen dashed forward and grabbed his face, "Nice try Kiliano… but you have no idea what mana can truly do." Kiliano grabbed Shyzen's arm, "How are you floating right now? You aren't using magic." Shyzen smiled, "It's a rather complicated technique…" He let go of his grip on Kiliano's face, letting him drop downwards. Once he landed onto the ground, Kiliano waited for Shyzen to drop down too.
After a few moments, Shyzen landed about ten meters away from him, "Alright… spill it Shyzen. How did you do that?" "I used an advanced mana technique called Unaara. Nobody in The Thirteen Kingdoms knows how to use it, aside from me." Kiliano grew curious, "So… how did you do it?" "Well… I suppose I can give you a quick lesson…" Shyzen loosened up his body and cleared his throat, "...Ahem, Start by channeling mana through your body and into the bottom of your feet…" Kiliano began focusing his flow of mana into his feet. "...Once you do that, visualize your mana, and create a tangible surface using your sixth sense." Shyzen raised his left leg, and placed his foot just above the ground, lifted his body, and stood there, floating no more than half a meter above the ground. Kiliano smiled, "Alright… I've got this." He began to think hard about creating a tangible surface around his feet. He raised his right leg, and placed it just above the ground, leaving it there. After a moment of standing still, Kiliano pushed off his right leg, lifting his body off the ground, and floating, "Yippee, I did it!" Shyzen nodded, "Wow, pretty impressive, Kiliano. It usually takes years for someone to fully understand how to manifest a tangible surface with mana… good job."
Kiliano's gaze shifted back over to Shyzen. His eyes were filled with an intense glare. It was obvious he was raring to fight. Shyzen smiled maliciously, and leaned towards Kiliano.
Much farther down the clearing, Solomon and Sarik were watching these events unfold. Sarik leaned his head towards Solomon, "Master…how are the two of them floating like that?" "It's an ancient technique that can only be learned by mages with extremely skilled control over their sixth sense. It seems Kiliano is a natural at anything involving mana." Sarik made a nervous look, "I'm not so sure he's ready for this battle. Kiliano has so much potential in the future, if he ends up dead after this fight it would be a waste." Solomon shook his head, "Don't underestimate that boy… Kiliano was chosen by Excalibur. And I can tell… he has the potential to far surpass anything we thought possible. Just wait, Shyzen won't come out of this battle unscathed, I promise you that." Sarik remained with a slight sense of unease, "Okay master… If you say so, then I'll trust you." Just then, rustling came from the forest behind them. Sarik jerked his body back, but Solomon remained calm. "Aww, jeez! I think we're totally late!" It was Lura's voice. She and Nyleah had just emerged from the forest right beside Solomon and Sarik. The two of them had been rushing through the region, trying to get to Kiliano. "Hold on Lura, master Solomon and general Sarik are here too." The two girls looked over. Lura made an annoyed look, "What!? Why aren't either of you helping him!?" Solomon sighed, "Well… Kiliano tends to have a pretty big sense of morality. Knowing that… I doubt he'd be too thrilled if you two intervened. We'll let him fight alone for now… but if things go bad, then us four will step in, got it?" Lura wanted to say something back, but she hesitated, and decided not to say anything. Nyleah looked over to where Kiliano was standing. She was looking over at him with a nervous look in her eyes. Solomon noticed this. His face smiled slightly, "Do not worry, Nyleah. Kiliano's gotten stronger. You can tell, can't you?" She nodded, "Yeah… Kil's become quite the force. To be honest, if I went in alone, I'd just be a burden for him." "Don't say that. Your powers are nothing to scoff at." Nyleah looked to the ground in shame, "That may be true, but I'm still not strong enough." Solomon's smile faded, and he turned his attention back towards Kiliano and Shyzen.
T-t-t-t-t-TNGG! Their swords clashed together dozens of times in a single moment. Each swing strong enough to blow away anyone standing too close. Kiliano pressed on. He pushed Shyzen back with his sword and dashed in, hoping to get lucky. But Shyzen had predicted him, and blocked Kiliano's attack, countering with a jab. His sword plunged into Kiliano's left pectoral, but it was shallow. He managed to jerk backwards, creating a distance of about five meters between them. Shyzen immediately dashed forward, swinging downwards. Kiliano blocked the attack, but the force of Shyzen's blow knocked his sword to the ground. The God Of Gods leaned his right shoulder in, and sent it into Kiliano's throat, "Gyaa!" Kiliano cried out in pain, stumbling backwards. He grabbed his throat, trying to heal it, but Shyzen was too quick. SHNGG! A spurt of blood poured out of Kiliano's chest. Shyzen had plunged his sword into Kiliano's chest and out the back of it.
The four spectators all grew wide-eyed. Nyleah's face was filled with a hateful expression as she dashed forward, "NOO!" Lura hesitated for a moment, but followed behind Nyleah. Solomon remained calm, "Sarik, get Kiliano out of there, we'll hold off Shyzen!" Sarik nodded, and the two of them ran forward.
Shyzen smiled, "You let your guard down pal. Don't worry, I make the same mistake too…" He chuckled, and quickly pulled his sword out of Kiliano's chest. Kiliano fell to his knees. His eyes were wide and his face was opened slightly with blood pouring out from it. CLANG! Lura clashed with Shyzen. Nyleah sent an arrow towards him, but it bounced off Shyzen's armor. Sarik grabbed Kiliano and disappeared, heading out of the clearing. Solomon channeled mana through his body and into his throat and mouth. He took a deep breath in, and yelled out, "Paarl… We need you over here… NOW!"
His voice rang through the entire region so loud it could've been heard from Thyndhime. Farther down the region, Paarl was locked into combat with some southern soldiers. Once he heard Solomon's scream, he quickly cut down each enemy with swift strikes to their throats. He turned towards the north, leaned forward, and disappeared.