I was standing in the fighting arena in the training area , in front of me, Zephyr was standing with a smirk .
He was resting a great red scythe on his shoulder, which was his soul-bound artifact.
A little far away Aria was sitting in a chair with some popcorn, she could use Divine magic well now, so she could save me if Zephyr turned me into half dead.
Yeah, no one thought that I could win. My talent in daggers wasn't as great as my talent in bows. The spar was about how well I could fight against close-range fighters.
Zephyr's smirk widened. " I won't use my scythe abilities, mana or even affinity while fighting you, only pure aura. So, don't disappoint me."
I grinned "I may not win , but I will punch you once at least. It should feel good from how the queen loves punching you ."
"You son o—" his gaze landed on Aria for a moment before correcting himself. " Cough, I mean—we will see. "
"Wait, before you start let me put a barrier on you " Aria suddenly said while summoning her soul-bound rapier.
It had black hilt and a small, purple stone curved in the centre of the grip, its crystallized sharp blade glowed with ethereal purple light, like a solid shard of Divine light .
Veins of purple lightning were spinning around its blade softly without shaking.
She then pointed the rapier at us and a thin layer of purple light surrounded our bodies for a moment before disappearing, that was just an emergency barrier that would appear if our lives were in danger .
Zephyr then asked curiously "Hey, why are you summoning your rapier if you just wanted to cast magic."
Aria sighed. "it may be a rapier, but its effects are related to magic, the current effects are increased mana control and higher spells' power, just consider it a sharp staff for now. "
Zephyr nodded and focused on me "ready?"
"Yes!" Immediately, I turned on the heavy mode and shot 3 lightning arrows rapidly.
Zephyr tried to cut the first arrow but the moment it touched his scythe .
*BOOM!*
His body got surrounded by lightning, but he didn't even flinch, the force of the explosion didn't even make him step back. Then he caught the second arrow with his bare hand despite its speed and heat .
*BOOM!*
Once again, the arrow exploded, but he only got some small burns. He didn't even try to block the third arrow. He just punched the middle of it with an upper punch which still made it explode but he didn't care.
I just watched all that with my mouth wide open .
'Did he just punch the arrow's shaft with that speed !?
he could have tried to dodge or block to reduce the impact, but he didn't, he was just mocking me !
'How isn't he affected!?'
He grinned and said with a shaking voice "I-I-Issss that all yo-u gottttt ?"
'Nevermind, he is affected.'
I kept shooting arrows while he just kept spinning his scythe to block them, not caring for the impact. He was moving forward step by step as if all my efforts were nothing—which wasn't completely true from his voice .
"Path-e-e-itcc— "
"—shut the fuck up." I couldn't take it anymore. I threw my bow and gripped my daggers instead.
Having a perfect aim is useless if he wasn't affected by them.
I enhanced both my body and sword breaker with lightning and enhanced my stiletto with space.
Then I released my gravity pressure and rushed towards him.
Once I was in front of him, he attacked with a vertical strike, but before it landed on me I catched it with my dagger.
"Got you."
Holding the blade near the tip, I redirected it, taking him off guard .
"Wha—! "
Before he could recover I thrusted , aiming for his eye .
'Dimensional thrust! '
But he left his scythe instantly and dodged my thrust by jumping backward, but it still scratched his cheek .
Taking the opportunity, I kick his scythe with all my power, sending it as far as possible.
"__"
Zephyr stared at me for a moment, then he touched his left cheek. Seeing the blood in his hand, he chuckled.
"Hehe."
'oh right, I almost forgot that part of him '
"HAHAHAHA! I didn't expect that! No wonder you were busy learning a technique all the time. I really underestimated you. That was good, but I never said I can't fight without scythe! "
'Yeah, Zephyr was a battle maniac. '
I started sweating after hearing the last part. I kept standing in my place ready to stab him the moment he reached my range .
Suddenly Zephyr dashed toward me with explosive speed, my sword breaker was useless currently so I decided to throw it with all my strength.
*Swish!*
But Zephyr suddenly changed his direction and dodged my dagger, but he was now only one metre away from me .
'Dimensional thrust ! '
I thrusted the space aiming for his heart, but again, he jumped backward dodging my thrust .
"That won't work tw— "
But then he saw my dagger covered in lightning only centimetres away from his chest. He punched my dagger immediately, sending it away. It only distracted him for one second.
But that was enough for me .
I changed my aura from lightning to space.
'Blink ! '
I appeared behind him, he didn't regain his balance yet because of the dagger .
I increased my weight as much as possible and punched his nose !
*Crack!*
My fist connected with his face breaking his nose instantly, but despite everything, he didn't even shake from his place .
"Haa...haa...haa."
I was mentally exhausted, my body couldn't move anymore, I had no more weapons, I was barely standing and I couldn't blink to run from Zephyr .
But I didn't care, because I was satisfied with what I did until now. Also, I did what I said .
"Told you…I will punch your… face. "
Suddenly, Zephyr grabbed me from my neck. He raised me up with one hand despite my increased weight, then smashed me down.
*BAAM!*
Then smashed me again.
*BAAM!*
and again.
*BAAM!*
"I'm sorr—"
*BAAM!*
" You weren't that bad to be honest. " He stopped for a moment to touch his nose then smirked " But that doesn't mean I would let that punch slide. "
I smiled and said with a shaky voice "w-wouldn't sorry be enough? "
"Heh, nice one bro. "
The last thing I saw was Zephyr's hand getting closer to my face before the world turned into darkness .
* * * * *
" Do you feel pain in any other place ? "
"No, thank you/, your healing improved too much !"
"I-I'm not that good, a cheap healing potion would have been better. "
"Don't underestimate yourself, healing potions don't decrease exhaustion like your affinity. "
Suddenly heard Zephyr's voice under me " S-Sis , isn't that enough, my back started hurting me, i also would be grateful if you healed me t— "
"—shut up ! I told you to be easy on him but instead you crushed his face ! "
"I'm sorry! I was furious a little and forgot to control my power. "
"Then wait half an hour then I will think about leaving you. "
We were in our room, but instead of sitting on the bed, I was sitting with Aria on Zephyr's back .
Aria got too angry from the last punch, so she decided to punish him .
But Zephyr couldn't blame her. He couldn't recognize me himself after that punch, you can imagine how Aria felt when she saw me .
So he accepted his punishment without complaining.
Then I recalled our fight and asked Zephyr curiously,
"Hey, how were you able to dodge my thrusts, also how the fuck did you punch and catch my arrows while they were flying with that speed ! "
"Pfft" Zephyr chuckled and said, "your eyes you fool! I just had to see where you were looking before thrusting to predict it , and about the arrows. They were moving the same speed as the first one so it was easy to catch the second and break the third, you were good but needed more experience. "
'Wait, am I supposed to fight with closed eyes now?'a
Aria suddenly asked, "What about the explosions and lighting? How did they barely affect you ? And why didn't you dodge them ? "
"Why would I dodge them? I didn't tell you before but my trait allows me to absorb the force that hits me to strengthen my body temporarily, I can also store some for emergencies."
his lips curled into a smirk.
"You should have noticed, but that also means I'm immune to knockback! Hahahaha! "
I smirked. " That also means if you got a healing artifact, you would turn into a masochist fighter. "
"You fucki— "
"Wait, is that a physique trait? " Aria suddenly asked.
"Oh, about that... " he hesitated for a moment then said, "hey Alfred, am I allowed to tell them? "
Suddenly, we heard a whisper that sent a chill down my spine .
"You can, young master."
'Fuck! I always forget that his guard is always watching.'
"Ok, so it's about my affinity, I have a unique Eclipse affinity, imagine it as a higher form of darkness that can Devour magic."
"You have what!! " Aria and I said in unison with a shocked voice. Though I was acting.
I knew this from the start, but I didn't know about his trait, unfortunately .
He thought for a moment. "To make it simple, my trait allows me to absorb the force that hits me to strengthen my body, gives me a stronger mind and will and a body stronger than normal Exalted, how is it ? Jealous? "
" Tch, I don't know my trait yet. Additionally, my space is better. "
"But mine can devour magic."
"Can you devour an attack without seeing it ?"
"Oh..."
We continued speaking a little until Zephyr's punishment ended and finally left.
I trained with Aria for a few hours, then I made dinner and went to sleep .
And the months kept passing .