The Start Of The Practical Assessments (5)

Both sides were each methodically setting up their traps to defeat the other, each one having similar backgrounds and the same level of sheer preparation.

With one hand each fighter displayed a disgusting level of dexterity and focus as their projectiles collided mid air with one another, while with the other they began casting spell after spell.

Once Cyrus had all of his Vita coils in place and did his most tried and true tactic, charging straight in with his sword ready to pierce through everything.

Having seen the same tactic time and time again, however, Caliban was more than prepared and threw out several small bags in front of him.

"Is it a bluff?" thought Cyrus, who decided to play it safe and pivot horizontally with all his might while kicking a rock on the ground onto one of the bags.

When the rock collided with the bag it immediately exploded, having contained several small bottles of fiery might. Instead of setting off the other bags it instead spread them out nicely effectively creating an impassable barrier in front of Caliban.

Caliban's neutral expression broke for a moment, revealing a smirk as he used the bought time to cast a spell similar to Cyrus' own and start to meld into the shadow of a nearby tree.

In response Cyrus threw his own explosive bottle into the air, hitting it with a knife propelled by one of his arm coils to catch up with it, causing a bright explosion midair that temporarily dissipated all the shadows near the two.

Using two simultaneous coil activations, Cyrus jumped up and over all the land mines and quite shockingly threw a sword at Caliban while he was mid air to stop himself from being skewered.

Such a last-ditch attempt was easily dodged by Caliban but the tactic had its effect as Cyrus landed on the ground in front of him.

Deciding to close the distance with a now seemingly defenseless opponent, Caliban sprinted forward whilst pulling out two long daggers from his waist.

"Two?" muttered Caliban when he found his assault interrupted by a thrust from another sword.

Following Caliban's retreat carefully with his thrust Cyrus took the time to taunt his opponent while he activated his vita coil, "Who does not have a spare sword to throw around?"

Not waiting for a response his thrust was turned into a relentless charge as his speed quadrupled and the force he was delivering through the blade increased by several orders of magnitude as well.

Unable to dodge the insane increase in speed of his enemies thrust, Caliban was fated to be pierced by a sword that day.

Running straight through him, expecting to hear the ripping of flesh and puncturing of organs, a surprising sight occurred as the part of Caliban he attacked turned into a shadowy substance allowing his opponent to change his course and even throw a quick group of needles in response.

Dodging all but one of the needles despite his surprise Cyrus quickly analyzed, "His body is shadow? No that's not possible for he is still throwing things…only part of it is fake like an illusion of sorts. I have no idea how the hell he is doing that though but now that I know I simply have to adjust."

While he was thinking such thoughts he let go of his sword and pulled out the needle in his side with one hand and with the other he quickly activated his Mors domain to decay the blood vessels surrounding the quickly spreading poison.

Using the last of his leg coils to launch himself diagonally backwards, avoiding another flurry of projectiles, he scooped out the affected flesh and then healed himself.

Skidding on the ground in his retreat so he could somewhat reliably do this incredibly dangerous and risky mid combat surgery, his arm flashed like a snake towards the spare sword on the ground and his other arm and leg to flip off the ground dodging a small bottle thrown at his face.

The bottle exploded on impact taking away his hearing, obfuscating his sight, as well as burning his face but he responded by using his memory of the battlefield to respond with his own fire while quickly healing his body.

The moment his senses returned he saw Caliban charging through the smoke in front of him with his daggers at the ready, attacking wildly to not give his enemy time to form a proper defense or even make use of the superior reach of his weapon.

Back and forth they went, one side on the attack and the other desperately trying to defend. Not allowing the use of two weapons to hamper his ability to fight in close quarters, Caliban would throw one knife into the air above him and attack with the other while his arm turned into shadows throwing projectiles whose direction was impossible to tell. The clean and consecutive actions he went through looked like a beautiful dance, one that would rapidly take their partner into the jaws of death with grace and elegance.

Cyrus found himself completely on the defensive while also sustaining several wounds and the slow numbing of his body. To try to stop it he was using his Vita domain to burst sections of his body to stop the flow of the nerve toxin throughout his body and then healing the damage done...an impressive feat testament to his advanced control and stone cold mind but a massive waste of will.

"Two similar fighting styles but he has taken the time to supplement it with his magical prowess while mine had been heading into its own direction. How annoying" was all that Cyrus could think of as he was helpless but to witness the wounds slowly pile up.

Using all his remaining arm coils at once he let fly the wrath of his sword, trying his best to get it in the proper stance, and cutting diagonally with a speed faster than wind.

Once more his sword slashed through his dodging opponent but did no major damage, although he did draw blood.

Caliban instantly re-engaged but was knocked back by a quick kick from Cyrus who no longer had use of his arms thanks to his reckless use of the coils.

Time slowed down once more as he raised his perception to the absolute limits, allowing him to see the complete culmination of his opponents plan.

Attached to each end of Caliban's dagger was a thin metallic string that had been worked behind his opponent and was now using the force of his enemy's own kick to slice his head clean off.

"A pity that I saw through his trick too late. But while it was fun to try my hand at my old fighting style…I have a new one now" thought Cyrus as he stood completely still, staring straight at Caliban with confidence radiating in his eyes.

The hyper focus of Cyrus passed as quick as it had come, causing the events to play out as he foresaw them with his head in imminent danger of being sliced clean off.

Yet one word changed everything, a word that Caliban did not recognize but would soon come to understand.

"Ares."

In the single instant, barely enough time to blink an eye, before the wire sliced off the head of its target a white greatsword made of bone appeared out of the shadow of Cyrus.

It cut the deadly wire like it was made of paper before receding into the darkness once more. Surprised at his opponents newfound ability to seemingly conjure something out of nothing, Caliban ceased his assault and tried to retreat as fast as he could.

Alas, it was pointless…oh so pointless, for Cyrus' shadow seemed to bend around him forming a blurry human silhouette, where a white spear was launched out with a crack that tore apart sound itself and impaled Caliban's true body.

The force was so great that he was picked off of his feet and pinned to a tree that was several dozen meters behind him, shocked silly and quickly bleeding out.

Cyrus walked forward with sword in hand, his shadow returning to normal, with a pleased expression.

The walk was difficult for his body was quickly numbing from the nerve toxin, but he cared not.

Approaching his enemy and raising his sword, Caliban struggled to ask, "W…What was that?"

Cyrus paused for a moment, considering if he should screw with him or not, before deciding to say, "Who knows? Perhaps I have a God of War watching my back?"

With such jesting words said, the sword slashed down and beheaded Caliban. The world going dark with the fall of his head, disappearing before it could smash onto the ground below.