A loud clang of metals resounded as Bernault felt a jarring shock travel through his arms and body, nearly knocking the sword out of his hands.
Too powerful!
Marsuu's ability had a strange yet distinct ability to make the receiver disorientated, it was as if it would stun them for a brief moment.
Bernault could also tell that the solid blade of the sword, which was also reinforced by his ether, sustained damage just from the impact with the ethereal chain.
His eyes narrowed. He would have to pick his next move quickly, two more chained axes were already hurling towards him.
Blight considered how he would have reacted in such a situation. Marsuu had the advantage for as long as they were at a distance.
It wasn't that he was not good at fighting in close combat, but that his abilities were better suited to ranged fighting.
Bernault, on the other hand, was not as good as Marsuu in close combat, but his powerful abilities made up the difference.
Just like Blight predicted, Bernault tried to make up as much distance between the two of them before meeting one of the incoming strikes head-on.
He was pushed back a little, losing his footing and almost falling backward, however, he continued forward.
Bernault was now within the distance that he could use his own lineage ability.
He raised his sword into a high guard and slashed downward. The air around his blade seemed to warp and distort.
Blight's hairs stood on end when he heard a disturbing screeching sound, and then a large horizontal arc shimmering of silver shot out from his blade toward Marsuu.
Marsuu immediately responded with two of his own chained axes and prepared to meet the attack head-on.
When Blight looked towards Marsuu, he could feel a sense of excitement radiating off of him, he was looking towards the attack so expectantly. He could tell that he wanted to test the limits of his strength.
When the two flying axes impacted the sword arc, they were immediately destroyed, dispersing into ambient ether, however, they were able to disperse some of its power.
When it reached Marsuu, he attempted to parry it with his sword however, its force was so powerful that it sent him tumbling to the ground behind.
Bernault seized the opportunity, immediately charging in and preparing to strike Marsuu, who was floored.
When Marsuu saw the incoming Bernault, he had no choice but to fire another flying axe toward him, this time carefully aiming at his sword.
Since there was very little distance between them, it immediately reached Bernault and sent him staggering backward.
Marsuu leaped up and launched a counterattack, however, Bernault reacted and parried, deflecting the blade.
Now that they were within arms reach and actively exchanging moves, neither of them chose to use their powerful combat abilities out of restraint, not wanting to seriously injure the other.
Instead, they fought simply with their weapons, exchanging dozens of moves in a matter of seconds.
Bernault's boon gifted him with a hardened body that resists pain, fatigue, and knockback, but it also had an active juggernaut ability that could be used to gain an even larger increase in power for a short amount of time.
Despite this, Marsuu had the upper hand so far.
The area they were fighting in was littered with Marsuu's traps, and every so often, he would place another, and it would become invisible, adding to the increasing number that threatened Bernault.
Bernault was also very careful to memorise their placements and do his best to avoid them, but he also could not avoid the center of the arena for fear he would be pushed outside of the boundary.
Eventually, despite his best efforts, he was pushed back, and he unknowingly stepped on one of them.
A booming sound was heard, and purple smoke shot into the air. At the same time, entangling green vines manifested and travelled across Bernault's body.
When the vines had reached halfway up his body, he was completely rooted in place.
Bernault activated his juggernaut ability, sending a wave of ethereal mist shooting out from his body, however, he still could not break free in time.
There was one final parry before Marsuu ducked, reaching behind his arm with his left and disarmiming the sword from his hands with a nudge of his shoulder.
While watching their entire fight, Blight focused his attention on the vision from [Gaze into the Abyss].
It was never wrong, even by a little bit, and the future never changed, completely unlike when he was acting.
He was pretty sure that this at least meant that there was nobody else who could influence or change the future among them, or at least nobody did this time.
How rare were such time and reality manipulating abilities? He'd read many books. However, in none of them was there a record of anything similar.
How could he gain such an ability, then? It used so little ether that it was barely noticeable, and it allowed him to change the future!
What was the true origin and meaning of this lineage he had obtained?
His group and many of the other spectators clapped. They all looked very impressed, and even Blight was so.
"Great fight, guys!"
Marsuu approached Bernault, and they tapped their blades against one another in acknowledgement.
Marsuu wiped the sweat from his face.
"You know, when I watched you use that ability in training, I knew it would be strong, but that was something else. Even two of my throwing axes can't match it."
Bernault sighed, "In the end, I still lost. You're much better than I am. But I'm glad. There is nobody else whom I would rather lose to."
Even when only compared to their swordsmanship, Blight was far behind. He could not compete with either of them in a simple bout without having to rely on his future sight ability.
He considered how he could win this competition. If the others were this good at fighting, it would not be enough to only use the spider silk spell and his lineage ability.
There would be some situations where he would be so overpowered by his foe that he would not be able to make use of them. Even if he knew what to do, he would not have the ability to do so.
He doubted that he would be able to beat Marsuu even with his [Gaze of the Abyss].
While he was working hard and growing every day, so was everybody else, and who said that they couldn't be working harder than he was?
While he thought that he was definitely one of the hardest working people in the regiment, almost never slacking off, compared to Marsuu, who you could find at the training grounds, no matter how early or late it was, he was taking it too easy.
"That was really impressive, guys." He approached them.
"Right? Right? Their fighting style is just insane. Bernault is like a scene of carnage, full of endurance and momentum, and Marsuu is precise and chilling, striking with finality every time." Avil chimed.
Blight rolled his eyes. This guy was too straightforward!
Even if you thought they were so amazing, shouldn't you feel embarrassed to talk like that?
Before they dispersed, Blight saw that Eldrich and Ray approached Marsuu and Bernault, exchanging words with them, however, he did not know what was said.
The night went on like any other. They had dinner in the hall as a regiment, and he returned to his room and studied sorcery.
However, for the first time since he arrived in this Barracks, he could not sleep for the entire night.
There were so many things to consider that he didn't know where to begin.