I drew the Sundered Heart in my other hand and sprinted forward before I attacked with a flurry of thrusts and slices. Xilarion’s sword danced as it parried my blows. Every movement the guildmaster made was smooth, tight, and efficient. His face was a mask of serene calm as I backpedalled. I inhaled, centered my mind, and gathered my focus.
In a flash, Xilarion’s body blurred, and he was in front of me. All I could do was jump backward, but his blade came too fast, and it sliced through my robes.
“He’s too fast!” Choshi cried from within the warhammer on my back.
“Quiet, little one,” Nydrath growled. “The Master needs his focus.”
I opened my water and earth channels and poured Vigor out into the sand beneath Xilarion’s feet. He raised an eyebrow as my Mud Entrapment rippled around his sandals. Heat haze radiated from his feet and baked the mud into clay before it could so much as catch onto his toes.
Taking advantage, I struck again with a whirling slash. Xilarion parried it and opened up my defense with a deft flick of his wrist. I instantly called up Fire Immunity, coating myself in a protective layer of ash. Xilarion’s laser-like Untamed Torch glided over me and scorched the ash, but I found my acid pathway and flooded the air around him with an Acidic Cloud. His robes hissed as he stepped clear of the corrosive attack. A tiny orb of flame appeared within the greenish haze, flared into a beachball-sized inferno, and swallowed up the airborne acid instantly.
“You have an impressive array of techniques, Swordslinger,” Xilarion said calmly, “but they lack subtlety. And have a mind for your store of Vigor.”
I crossed my Immense Blades together and called upon Yono and Nydarth to more efficiently channel my Vigor. Untamed Torch and Crashing Wave rushed through the magic weapons and formed a huge pillar of steam.
Xilarion effortlessly activated his Flight technique, blanketing his body in a whirling torrent of flames before he shot upward. Boiling steam blasted a furrow into the sandy floor of the arena, narrowly missed Faryn, and smashed into the barricade at the arena’s edge. The crowd roared at the display, but I didn’t have time to enjoy the attention. Xilarion sheathed his sword in a rapid motion and placed the index fingers of both hands together. A marble-sized fireball appeared between his fingertips.
I couldn’t let him warm up another attack. Not if it was anything like the last one.
The Depthless Dream shone in the sunlight as I slammed it down into the ground. A Mud Geyser exploded upward toward Xilarion but hardened into brittle clay before it could even brush the air below him. The guildmaster’s fire Augmentation was too strong, and I knew I couldn’t take him in close-quarters combat.
I needed to bring something new to the table.
But what the hell was I supposed to do against a guy who could vaporize acid?
And if we didn’t last the whole three minutes, then we wouldn’t become Center Disciples.
Chapter Four
I had fought a guildmaster before; Horix, who had been an elementalist like me. The corrupted leader of Resplendent Tears couldn’t hope to match the Guildmaster of Radiant Dragon. Xilarion far outshone Horix in speed, control, and raw power.
I called upon the power of wood, and a Plank Pillar erupted from the ground under my feet. I fed it Vigor and kept my balance as the makeshift foothold carried me up. I drew level with Xilarion just as he sent another piercing beam of Untamed Torch toward me.
I focused, and a Flame Shield crackled into life around my sword. The sheer intensity of the technique ignited the Plank Pillar below my feet. I jumped, summoned another Plank Pillar, and landed on it. I hurled a Burning Wheel toward Xilarion to keep him busy, took a deep breath, then reached within to find a defense against his attacks.
Frozen Armor encased my robes in smooth plates of thick ice. Sunlight Ichor spilled out of my pores, filled the gaps between the armor, and gave my new protective suit a green-gold hue. My limbs buzzed with the effect of using so much Vigor in so little time, and I knew I would have to be cautious with how I spent it from now until the end of the battle.
Xilarion opened his palms and curled his fingers. The Plank Pillar below me exploded into ashes as 20-foot gouts of flame roared up from the sand. Glass, searing heat, and sand punched into me from underneath and sent me spinning into the air.
“How the hells is he doing this?” Choshi demanded. “He has to run out of Vigor at some point, right? Just like Yo Hin?”
“Xilarion’s understanding of fire’s essence may even transcend my own,” Nydarth admitted. “He should have burned himself into ashes by now, but I see no sign of fatigue.”
The ground rushed up to meet me, but I cobbled three Plank Pillars together into a thick platform of wood and smashed down into it. Cracks spiderwebbed through my hybrid armor, and steam hissed from the pauldrons over my shoulders. I smacked the hilt of the Sundered Heart against my breastplate to dislodge a few shards of glass.
The arena stands were all protected by Augmenters stationed around the perimeter, and they used their own techniques to prevent any of the spectators from being harmed by a wayward fireball. My Burning Wheel I had summoned earlier crashed into a protective layer of Flame Shield a guild member had summoned. The crowd who would have otherwise been engulfed by my technique gasped as the flames dissipated only a few feet from their seats.
I focused on Xilarion again as he soared toward me. He unleashed a vertical slash of flame, and I dove off my platform as it caught fire. I summoned another Plank Pillar and landed awkwardly on it.
I needed
