Augustus stood watching the blade of the ori-tandemon arm at his neck.
He quickly bent backwards as the sword passed over him but couldn't avoid a cut to his forehead.
In reflex, he performed a backflip during a bend, delivering an upward kick to the demon's jaw, sending it skidding backwards.
The demon recovered quickly and dashed forward unleashing a fury of slashes upon Augustus who was forced into moving more to evade them.
"This isn't nearly enough." The demon raged, continuing with its barrage.
Augustus groaned as he received another cut to each side of his cheeks. "Damn! He's gotten faster."
He saw an opening an jumped away.
"You're not going anywhere." The demon raged as multiple orange bolts extended from the top of its blade into lightning whips.
Augustus widened his eyes, watching the demon whirl the whips over his head as he landed. "That move. Don't tell me..."
He quickly dashed. "I won't let you."
—Too late—
The demon swept the whip across the field.
[Lightning Lash]
With no other choice, Augustus jumped as the whips brushed across the ground.
"That would have been ugly." He thought, looking down at the charred ground.
"You're wide open, brat!"
"Ugh! Shit!" The demon was already swinging its blade at Augustus who blocked with his wind drill arms.
Orange streaks of lightning surged around the demon's weapon, the wind drill around Augustus's arms split and the blade got his arm.
The scene slowed down as Augustus felt the blade touch his arm.
"Not good!" He gritted his teeth as air blew from his feet, pushing him back, but still received a cut to both arms.
Both opponents landed a few meters from each other, the demon grinning menacingly while Augustus stood, breathing heavily, blood trailing down his arms.
"Damnit! Things aren't going anywhere like this." Augustus watched the demon twirl its sword—sparks of lightning emitting from its body and blade.
"What's the matter, brat?" The demon asked in a teasing tone.
Augustus closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I guess I have no choice."
FLASHBACK
"Grandpa. When will you teach me the Wind Sword Style?" A young dark skinned boy asked an old man as they both sat under a tree.
[Augustus at age 10]
Then old man chuckled and turned to him. "No kid. I haven't a sword style to teach you."
He leaned back against the tree. "My wind comrades and I preferred fists. To us, wind never suited a blade."
Augustus frowned. "So there's no wind sword style for me to learn?"
The old man looked at him with a smile. "That's not what I said. I only meant there's nothing like that for me to teach you."
He stood up and got ready to leave.
Augustus just stared after him. "Then... there's no need for me to use a sword."
The old man paused, turning to him again. "Don't say that Augustus—"
"No Grandpa." Augustus's expression turned serious. "I bet it's like that for all wind users. I've noticed it too. I tried using a sword with wind and it felt weird."
The old man smiled and looked back ahead. "Listen Augustus. Power grows with every new generation. You'll never evolve if you keep clinging on to teachings only. You gotta be inventive, boy."
He then walked away, leaving Augustus to wander in thoughts.
Augustus sighed and lied on the floor. "Even if I learn it, I doubt I'll ever use it. His teachings are like my pride and using a sword would only go against it."
END OF FLASHBACK
Augustus was snapped from his thoughts as the demon bolted towards him.
Multiple slashes were rained upon Augustus who started moving back while evading the attacks.
At one point, he jumped back, landing against a tree bark. The demon got to him before he move and thrusted its blade at him.
He quickly jumped off, avoiding lethal damage as the tree got blown apart by the attack. "Huh? It's that powerful."
The moment Augustus landed, the demon was already in front of him, with another incoming slash.
Air current came to wreathe around Augustus's arms as blocked again but just like the first one, the air current split.
He managed to jump back, avoiding his arms from receiving another cut.
He landed hard, going down on one knee as he took deep, heavy breaths. "Damnit. Looks like I have no other choice."
"Just this once." Augustus brushed the memory aside as a katana materialized in his hand.
He took a stance. "I can't think about pride at a time like this. If I don't use I'll die."
Wind surged, wrapping around his limbs again and extending over his sword to the tip.
The demon smirked. "Oh. Finally, getting serious."
Augustus grinned. "I won't evolve like this, huh?" Then he chuckled. "Guess I'll have to take your advice Grandpa. I'll cast aside that made up pride of mine..."
He began air skating towards the demon. "... and evolve."
The demon watched with growing excitement. "Think you can cut me with that?"
Augustus just moved past the demon and immediately, blood started leaking down its chest from a cut.
The demon's smile vanished, eyes widening.
"I'm not just getting serious." Augustus glanced behind at the demon. "I'm going to kill you."
— —
Rexford crossed swords with his opponent—the ori-tandemon which touched him— both throwing furious slashes and thrusts at each other.
Rexford had his teeth clenched hard during the exchange. "Damn. He's fast. And his attacks land heavy. At this rate I—"
He found an opening and jumped back as the demon's blade struck the water where he stood, making it splitter.
Rexford submerged into the water the moment he stepped on it and emerged a few meters back, landing with a skid.
He straightened up, his clothes soaked to the core. "You're a tough one, ain't ya?"
The demon laughed. "And you're actually stronger than you look."
"Oh, really?" Rexford grinned. "Well, thanks for the compliment."
A deep azure aura began flowing from Rexford. "But that's not all I have to offer."
The demon's grin only widened at Rexford's words. "Then show me." Another azure aura began oozing from the demon as well. "Let me see what you've trained for."
The flowing river beneath them started rippling as if shivering from the energy the two were giving off.
Water torrents rose up and started coiling around Rexford's blade as well as the demon.
"Let's go." Both shouted...