Three rounds, almost

As soon as Fárbuati mentioned that it was time to fight, my eyes gleamed in determination. The fights with Fárbuati were always beneficial for me, whether it was in battle experience or in techniques. Now, though, he taught me (not really teaching but I'll consider it like that) how to absorb the natural energy when all the laws are in chaos.

I stood up and took out my wand, which transformed into the Pangu sword. Holding firmly onto it, I strolled towards his location and he did the same.

Holding the frost axe in his right hand, he shouted and the axe was immediately covered in ice.

"Your test today will be different from other ones," he said calmly. "The fight will be of three rounds. After each round ends, I will demonstrate one runic attack. Whether or not you gain enlightenment is completely up to your level of understanding."

"And what if I don't succeed in defeating you in one attempt? Do I have another chance?" I asked.

"If you don't defeat me, then you will die. There are no other chances, only one. And... Considering that you are my junior brother, I will make an exception and tell you this. The secret is the movement."

"The movement?" I said, raising an eyebrow, but it seems that Fárbuati was in no mood to explain.

"Round one. Preserve under my attacks for ten minutes, and you pass this round."

I nodded and turned my sword back to wand form. In defense, it is best to use magic than a weapon.

I waved my wand in a certain pattern and chanted, "Protego!"

Immediately, a translucent barrier formed around me. In addition, I cast other defensive spells that Richard and Merlin have taught me before leaving. Those two felt that I wasn't ready enough to defend my self on my own.

In the first minute, Fárbuati's attacked brutally and some power of the blast even got past my barriers. Although it was like a soft wind blowing against me, it was shocking that it even got through my defense. If the first minute was like that, I couldn't imagine how the other nine minutes will pass.

Just as I imagined, the remaining 9 minutes passed like I have been through hell. The barriers didn't shatter, and I soon came to the realization that they were useless. Fárbuati's attacks were, in fact, weak in the first minute, and they kept rising in power by the passage of every minute.

My clothes were in tatters, my hair was in disarray and multiple wounds could be seen on my face and body. My body felt as if it would explode at any moment.

However, all of this didn't come without fortune. I noticed from the very beginning the way that he attacked with, and understood what he meant by the secret is in the movement. The first attack started with zero power, and kept building the momentum until the last attack which contained the sum of power of all attacks and that was the one that mostly mattered.

Finally, this round of hell finished and I was still in one piece. "Rest for one day, and claim your reward," said Fárbuati and closed his eyes.

After one day, Fárbuati opened his eyes and informed that he was going to demonstrate the first technique.

I watched very carefully as he waved the axe behind his back, from right to left, and reappeared in front of him. He grabbed it and smashed it to the ground. The ground turned into ice and the wind was frozen.

"This technique's name is Ivaldi's Anvil," he said after he put the axe on his back.

I nodded and recalled the scenes. It took me a couple of minutes to understand how it works.

I copied the moves, with a sword, and smashed the sword to the ground. A layer of ice appeared on the ground, and although it wasn't as big as Fárbuati's, it was still remarkable.

He nodded and said, "Round two. The exact opposite of round one. You have ten minutes to break this defensive barrier of mine. Begin."

I used all of my power to try and break the barrier, even used the momentum technique and Ivaldi's anvil, all to no avail.

However, something unexpected happened on the fifth minute; something that neither Fárbuati nor me knew that would happen.

I felt a surge of power in my right hand, and a ten meter long flame snaked out of my hand and slammed into the barrier, reducing it into nothingness!