POV: Rai Shinsei
Standing before Arthur, who seemed to be on his last stand, I felt uneasy.
Arthur, whose body was marred with many baleful injuries while his organs were pleading for mercy, rose once again to stand against me as his unyielding determination arose a disconcerting sensation within me.
I know I'm rusty as I haven't used my Aspect properly since two years ago, but I was certain that I would win against Arthur today and yet, the ambition within his eyes reminded me of my own as I felt a venerating grin break through my frown.
I'll admit it, Arthur.
"Alright, Rai. One last dance!" Arthur shouted exuberantly, his bloodstained grin widening as he activated his Aspect upon releasing his Aspectual Force, which spiked to an unprecedented level while his aura surged exponentially as the intensity of his desire began to reverberate within the air itself, arising a sense of shame within me as I had been underestimating Arthur ever since I first met him.
You're strong.
Springing us into action was none other than a debris of rubble as the moment it shattered onto the ground, we appeared before one another as we cross countered, but surprisingly, Arthur was able to match my speed, nonetheless, delay my attack as he initiated an exchange of hand-to-hand combat with a brutal uppercut into my abdomen, causing me to vomit out saliva as his sudden boost of power and speed left me perplexed.
Where is this power coming from?!
Could he be…
As Arthur rushed forward with the intention of following through with his attack, I decided to test my suspicion as I parried his arm away with my own, causing him to stagger backwards as stepped forward amidst the parry and landed multiple lethal jabs across Arthur's torso, but as I expected, my attacks were instantly nullified as my grin widened.
He's risking his life just to win.
Once again, I apologize, Arthur.
Your ambition is far from hollow.
As of now, I'll face you with everything I have.
Amidst my pondering during the final minute of our battle, Arthur used my lack of focus to his advantage and tried to land a decisive punch into my face, but as his fist approached my face, I entered a trance-like state within a split-second as time began to slow, my senses sharpening considerably as my ferocious lightning surged around me before vanishing along with my Aspectual Force, prompting me to clash my fist against Arthur's as the impact created a reverberating echo resembling the sound of a gunshot throughout the facility.
In a momentary standstill, the force of our impact eventually separated us as we both slid backwards across the ravaged flooring of the facility, but in the midst of his motion, Arthur repositioned himself and aimed two fingers towards me before flicking them rapidly as he sent several near-imperceptible slashes of air towards me, although because of my heightened senses, I was able to perceive the slashes with relative ease as I gracefully weaved past every slash, rousing a vexing grin from Arthur as with a focused, deep breath, I intended to end this fight once and for all.
Appearing before him within a blink of an eye, we initiated our final exchange of hand-to-hand combat, but despite Arthur's technique blessing him with the ability to match my own, time wasn't on his side as throughout our exchange, I dominated him as his enervation refused to let him defy his limits any longer, allowing me to end our exchange as I slipped under his extended high kick and landed a sharp left hook into his ribcage, cracking a few of his ribs as he winced in pain while I followed up by grabbing his head and smashing my knee into his face.
Upon Arthur staggering backwards with blood gushing from his nose, I continued my aggression by landing a spree of attacks across his body until I ended my relentless assault with a gut-wrenching uppercut into his abdomen, but Arthur didn't budge as he nullified the impact of my attack, rousing a sense of urgency within me as my fist rested within his abdomen, allowing him to slash through my chest deeply with his hand as I nearly staggered backwards.
No, I have to end this now!
Despite the agonizing pain, I endured, correcting my balance as I gritted my teeth and hovered my hand over his chest, bringing forth a perturbing expression from Arthur as he grinned nervously.
"You've fought well, Arthur. Now fall." I remarked as I smashed my fist into his solar plexus with a one-inch punch, but instead of my impact sending him across the flooding river, Arthur barely budged at all, only staggering a few steps backwards as despite his ruined body, Arthur remained firm as his perseverance was terrifying, yet oddly thrilling as I couldn't help but respect his ambitious desire.
Watching Arthur force himself to stand, I felt a sense of fatigue wash over me as if a weight was placed onto my chest, prompting me to clench my chest as I tried to control my breathing while focusing on Arthur, whose eyes brimmed brilliantly with an undying light.
I was careless earlier.
I'm losing too much blood now and alternating between techniques with my Aspect leaves a heavy strain on my mind and body, but despite my discomfort, this fight should be over as the chances of Arthur winning are slim to none as he's sustained far too many injuries.
If he had used his sword, the outcome of this fight would have been very different, but that's it.
He's able to use his hands as a makeshift replacement for a sword, but the reality is that his hands are nothing like the blade of a sword.
I'm sure he's well aware of this fact as if he continues to solely focus on mastering his swordsmanship instead of the basic fundamentals of combat, his dream will be impossible to achieve.
With a deep breath, I continued to watch Arthur, who looked as if he could fall any second and yet, I felt a spine-chilling sensation as Arthur grinned at me weakly, urging me to position myself into a proper fighting stance for the first time since our fight began as my instincts screamed at me to run away.
Something is off.
Amidst heightening my sense to its utmost extreme, Arthur pointed a finger towards me and in that moment, he had vanished from my sight as I was forced to solely rely on my instincts to evade Arthur, who flashed past me at a speed that even my lightning amplified eyes were unable to perceive.
Enveloped within cold sweat, I panted heavily from exhaustion as I turned around to find Arthur, who used every ounce of his remaining strength left to remain standing as our eyes locked with one another.
"It's your win, Rai." Arthur stated with a faint grin, but before his Aspect naturally deactivated, he began to suffer from the rebound of his own Aspect, forced to experience the excruciating pain of every attack he had previously delayed within an instance as he soon lost consciousness amidst spewing out an absurd amount of blood, falling face-first into the spill of his own blood as I fell onto my bottom in order to recuperate.
In the final moment of our fight, he delayed his entire body from receiving any damage, meaning that not only was he in a state of invulnerability, but his physical prowess and senses were heightened to their utmost limit.
Although it's a more rash version of my technique, his grants him a near-invincible state that allows him to utilize the full potential of his body without any immediate repercussions, but despite the blessing it offers, the technique is far too risky to the point that I believe it's not even worth using unless the situation is dire as the rebound could potentially lead to death.
Upon pondering on our fight, I realized that Arthur was on the verge of death as I prepared myself to carry him to the infirmary, but coincidentally, Ryan and Jennifer suddenly arrived within the facility as they were bickering with one another until Jennifer let out a sigh of defeat and approached me.
"You can place Arthur down. I'm going to heal both of you." Jennifer advised as I nodded, placing Arthur onto a driest patch of ground that I could find.
It seems Ryan must have been watching in case something like this happened.
"I expected the two of you to fight, but who would have thought that two teenagers alone would devastate nearly an entire facility?" Ryan asked rhetorically as he approached me.
"How long have you been watching?" I asked curiously as Jennifer activated her Aspect, concealing her Aspectual Force in the midst as he crouched down and began healing Arthur, who remained fast asleep as her aura enveloped his body and rapidly healed his once severe injuries within the span of a few seconds.
"Almost the whole time. I was preoccupied with a lovely matter, so I unfortunately missed the beginning of your fight." Ryan replied as Jennifer shot Ryan a menacing glare, prompting a dry swallow from Ryan as he averted his eyes away from her.
"If that's the case, then I need you to be honest with me. Have I grown?" I asked solemnly, his eyes widening in surprise as he pondered on my question before answering it.
"Naturally, of course you would be stronger than before as it's been nearly five years since we last trained together, but that's not the answer you want to hear, is it?" Ryan asked as he combed his hand through his parted bangs.
"From when we last trained, you lacked experience and in terms of raw strength, you were on the weaker side as you made up the difference through the genius manipulation of your own Aspect, but as time passed, you underwent a drastic change as instead of relying on your Aspect, you were more comfortable in hand-to-hand combat as you gained a tremendous amount of experience as well as a physique that is capable of producing enough raw power to rival my own, which is surprising as I'm a grown adult of nobility." Ryan answered as Jennifer approached me and began healing my injuries personally.
"What about my Aspect?" I asked as within seconds, I was relieved of any injury as I awaited Ryan's answer.
"I'm sure you also realized, but the overall power of your Aspect has deteriorated over time. Neglecting your Aspect for nearly two years is bound to reduce its power and after watching your fight today, I can say this with certainty."
"In terms of Aspectual Power, you're significantly weaker than you were two years ago." Ryan stated as I sighed, disappointed as I expected myself to be out of touch with my Aspect, but not to this degree.
"Rai, will you be alright with watching over Arthur? After I leave here, I'm clocking in for the night, so if anything else happens, you have to report to the nurses working on the night shift." Jennifer asked as her tone was much softer than when I first met her, leaving me somewhat uncomfortable from the change in her attitude.
Am I imagining things?
"I should be fine. Thank you for healing us." I replied with gratitude as Jennifer nodded before heading towards the exit of the facility along with Ryan, who waved his goodbyes as the two of them began conversing with one another, leaving Arthur and I along with a curious spectator alone within the facility as I glanced at Arthur, who slept peacefully on the damp grass as I suddenly recalled his final attack, which would have made him victorious if it had landed.
Arousing my curiosity, I turned to face the wall of the facility behind him as there was a massive slash marked within it, stretching across the vertical sidewall of the facility as he severed nearly half of the forest amidst his land stand, inspiring a nervous chuckle from me as trying to comprehend Arthur's potential was nerve-wracking.
If that's the destruction he can create with only one hand…
I don't even want to imagine what he can do with a sword.