The training grounds of the Hero Faction hummed with quiet tension. Everyone had gathered, lining the raised perimeter above the obsidian sparring ring. The sky above was a silver-gray, clouds shifting just enough to let thin rays of sunlight pierce through.
In the center stood Marcus and Leo Montrose.
Marcus wore his usual combat coat, its left sleeve removed to reveal the glimmering silver armguard of Orenmir, humming with dignified radiance. Across from him, Leo rolled his shoulder, crimson kinetic sparks flickering along the surface of the Crimson Drake Gauntlet, Drakorr.
> "No killing blows. No Mythos Breaker forms unless agreed. First to yield or drop," Marcus said calmly, activating Orenmir's first crest.
> "Got it. Let's see how your holy sword arm handles the Crimson Vortex," Leo replied, grinning as the gemstone in his palm pulsed with life.
A pulse of air blasted outward as both Eidolon Relics awakened.
Marcus took a knight's stance, calm and immovable. His silver arm shimmered faintly, blade extensions coiling like wings before locking into a streamlined saber form — a manifestation of Orenmir's will.
Leo clenched his fist as red kinetic arcs sparked from his gauntlet. The dragon-scale texture glowed as Varkhaz'tor, the sealed spirit, stirred.
The fight began in an instant.
Leo vanished.
> "Burst Step," murmured Sariel from the sideline, eyes sharp. "Crude, but his timing's improved."
Marcus pivoted calmly, his left arm arcing in a sweeping parry. He met Leo's kinetic-charged punch with a blade clash, the impact booming like thunder. Energy crackled between them, wind blasting outward from the point of contact.
Leo danced back, twisting in mid-air and firing a short kinetic burst toward Marcus's face. Marcus sliced through it — his arm's holy edge dispersing the blast like mist.
> "Leo's pushing too much kinetic energy into short bursts. He's gonna overheat if he keeps that up," muttered Kairos, the Faction's speed specialist.
Leo landed and skidded, grinning.
> "Alright, silver arm — let's see if you can follow this!"
He blurred again, dashing three times in jagged angles, the second Burst Step causing him to flicker past Marcus's flank. The third hit from above — an axe punch augmented by a mid-air kinetic detonation.
Marcus stepped into the hit. His arm shone gold, parrying with a flash of radiant force. The shockwave cracked the ground beneath.
> "Orenmir… even in Base Form, its countermeasures are divine-tier," said Lady Estelle, her fan hiding her smile. "Marcus is just toying with him."
> "Tch, I don't think so," replied Haldrin, the heavy weapons master. "Look at his breathing. He's actually reading Leo's rhythm."
Leo gritted his teeth. "Alright, time to turn up the heat."
The Heartscale Core on his palm flared red, and Drakorr surged. Leo's next punch shattered air — a focused kinetic burst that rocketed toward Marcus's chest.
Marcus raised Orenmir and invoked a sigil mid-motion. "Wardblade: Aether Veil."
A translucent wing-like barrier materialized for a split second, absorbing the force and redirecting it upward. The redirected energy punched a hole in the sky, scattering clouds.
Everyone paused.
> "That's new," murmured Jade, the mystic archer. "He bent the kinetic force upward… without nullifying it. Aether Veil must be a refined ward pattern."
Marcus charged, closing the distance in a flash. His blade-arm glowed.
> "Eidolon Armament Mode Two: Celestial Severance."
Orenmir expanded — a radiant curved blade forming like a winged crescent. He swept it in a diagonal arc.
Leo brought his gauntlet up — and the impact launched him across the ring, slamming into a wall with a crater of kinetic sparks.
> "Leo!" one of the Faction members called.
But Leo groaned and pushed himself up, coughing.
> "Damn… alright, Marcus. Let's try something spicy."
He slammed the gauntlet into the ground, kinetic sparks erupting in a whirlwind. Crimson energy coiled up his arm as the draconic runes flared.
> "Release Limit One — Drakorr: Mythos Breaker Form."