Blade Over Magic

Conclusion

’Aubrey, you’re the one who speaks weapon. What’s happening?’ Falael asked trying to sound nonchalant, but considering it was harder to hide your true feelings telepathically, their confusion came through clearly. The issue was...

’I don’t really get it, either.’ Aubrey admitted, much to the surprise of the other two.

’But Xander said your level of weapon mastery is acceptable?’ Curtis tilted his head while glancing at the fierce battle going on.

’Acceptable. Not pinnacle.’ She replied dryly.

In truth, she had been following the battle well enough. After all, observation was her whole thing, and she still was. However, it soon became clear that she could only understand the surface level when it came to the battle. Especially in regards to Xander.

It wasn’t hard enough to understand what Ragna was doing. But at some point, she just gave up on properly reading Xander. It couldn’t be helped, the way he fought was simply too abnormal!

’He barely exerts himself, yet he’s unleashing that much force? How is that possible? I know he’s augmenting himself with mana, but even that is are the bare-minimum. How is he doing that?’ She wondered. However, she wasn’t discouraged.

Instead, she was soaking up what she saw like a sponge. Because even if she couldn’t understand it now, she was sure she would in the future, and that would greatly help her path.

So she watched.

At that moment, when Xander finally attacked, Ragna didn’t panic despite his shock.

Instead, he stomped his foot down, and he completely disregarded potency as he allowed the force to erupt out haphazardly, destroying the ground and making most of the spectators retreat rapidly as they avoided getting caught in the crossfire.

But despite that...

’This kid...’ Ragna grinned sharply as Xander moved along the trembling and shattered ground like it was perfectly flat.

’... Is something else!’ Suddenly, the tattoos on his body glowed even brighter, and the heat around his body grew so intense that an almost red aura surrounded him. With a roar, he brought his axed together, and the result was a shockwave that swept through the surroundings.

Xander was briefly pushed back, his advance halting, and Ragna threw one of his axes hard.

Xander prepared to deflect it, only for the second axe to come even faster and smash against the first one, changing its path at the last second away from where Xander was getting ready to block.

But rather than changing the path of his sword, he just sidestepped the attack. But Ragna wasn’t done, as he had somehow sped up to grab the second axe out of the air before it reached Xander and raised it.

’He’s even faster now.’ Xander thought as he read through the feint and held his sword in a low guard.

Ragna’s knee smashed into the flat of the blade, but instead of Xander getting blown away, the force seemed to pass through him entirely, erupting at his back while doing no damage to him.

Ragna clicked his tongue and actually swung down this time, only for Xander to do something completely unexpected.

Dropping his guard, he wrapped his arms around Ragna’s leg, and in one swift motion, put him in a leg lock.

’What the-?!’ Ragna growled as he was brought to the ground, and Xander gripped him like a vice, his body displaying far more strength than his smaller frame showed.

Realizing he really couldn’t just force Xander off, he prepared to use his remaining axe to chop Xander’s leg, only for the latter to let go at the last second and roll away.

”Brat.” Ragna spat and stood, only for his left leg to buckle under his weight, to his shock.

’That kid...’ Nash narrowed his eyes as he recalled what just happened.

’He didn’t let go of his sword when he brought Ragna to to ground. So when he back off, he sliced right through his ankle tendon.’ That alone was surprising, but what shocked him even more is the fact that he even managed to break Ragna’s skin in the first place, talk less of severing his tendon.

”Heh... you got me good.” Ragna chuckled, seemingly unperturbed by the way his leg bled profusely.

”Still wanna go?” Xander hummed as as he flicked the blood off his sword, and Ragna’s grin grew.

”Oh kid, I’m just getting started.” He raised his hand, and the other axe which was on the floor flew straight into his grasp.

Then, he let out a shout, and Xander watched as steam emitted from the cut on his ankle which healed in a few moments.

’Bruh.’ Xander thought dryly, but he wasn’t really annoyed. If anything, he was glad.

For a moment, the two of them smiled at each other.

Then Ragna exhaled a torrent of steam and charged. Xander also stopped being so passive as both of them started clashing incessantly.

Ragna was truly a force to be reckoned with. Every blow of his carried unbelievable power, and his swings only got faster and faster, many of the onlookers having to shield their eyes from the sheer wind pressure from his strikes which would have shredded a normal person.

But despite the wildness, everything was calculated. He didn’t just use his axes two. Every part of him was a weapon. He’d throw punches, kicks, use the environment to his advantage, and more.

But even through all of this...

Xander did not let a single hit even graze him.

Rather, Ragna found himself on the receiving end of his almost insidious style of combat.

Every time their weapons collided, he would feel painful and unnatural vibrations travel up his arms and into his body.

The only reason why they didn’t reach his internal organs was because his augmentation particularly strengthened that general area. But even then, his arms had ruptured in several spots, soaking them in his own blood.

Ragna was a force to be reckoned with, but Xander was something else, and everyone watching stopped trying to pretend otherwise.

He wasn’t some talented greenhorn, no, not at all.

He was dangerous.

’It’s like repeatedly striking an iron wall.’ Xander mused as he ended off the latest series of attacks from Ragna, ensuring to passively keep the frequency of his sword a direct opposite to his opponent. That way, the painful vibrations never ceased.

But even then, Xander marveled at Ragna’s sheer durability.

He intentionally avoided directly bypassing this by aligning their frequencies, which was how he cut his leg in the first place, and after a while, he concluded that his transmission of frequencies still wasn’t perfect.

’Such a durable opponent is the perfect practice target.’ At that moment, Xander’s look changed. And Ragna noticed.

’This kid...’ A vein throbbed on his forehead.

’He’s treating me like a practice dummy.’ At that point, he threw away his inhibitions.

Suddenly, his dark skin started to glow red, and the aura around him intensified, so much so that Xander, even with his physique that had been built from mana breathing, felt uncomfortable.

’He’s comi–’ An axe head was mere inches away from his face.

Then it struck...

And phased right through, like Xander wasn’t even there.

Ragna’s pupils constricted as he felt a presence behind him. Without hesitation, the red tattoos on his arm writhed and shifted to his axe, making the aura around it spike to a terrifying level as he chanted internally.

’Manic Cleave.’

Meanwhile, the frequency around Xander’s sword changed, causing it to emit a crisp ringing noise as he swung down and thought softly.

’Crescent Moon.’

Just then...

BANG!!

A thick wall of ice appeared in the path of Xander’s swing, while two of Ragna’s teammates, Sparrow and Bodhi, stepped in the path of his weapon, blocking it with theirs.

Xander’s sword went halfway through the wall of ice before its momentum finally halted, while Ragna’s axe was just barely halted. As a result, both weapons were stopped just inches before their respective targets.

Sparrow immediately yelled at Ragna in her native language, no doubt berating him sternly, and the latter didn’t respond, but the red aura faded, and his skin returned to normal.

’Xander, chill, it’s just a spar.’ Curtis stood beside him and waved his hands placatingly, and Xander exhaled.

’Yeah, I’m fine, I just reacted when he showed killing intent.’ He replied and pulled his sword from the half-cut wall before sheathing it, and Curtis nearly broke out in a sweat.

’My wall didn’t do anything. His sword only stopped because he stopped the swing.’ He thought to himself and gulped.

At that moment, Ragna—who had just been chewed out by Sparrow—scratched his head and spoke directly to Xander.

”You got me good, kid. Your sword would have reached me first.” He admitted, much to the shock of everyone watching. But Xander just shrugged.

”You were holding back the entire time. Nothing to be proud of.” That made Ragna scoff.

”Like you weren’t doing the same.” Both of them stared at each other, then broke into grins. That made Sparrow groan.

”Boys.” She mumbled.

To the side, Falael and Aubrey both let out relieved sighs, while the members of Sparrow’s squad looked on with unmistakable interest. Bodhi in particular was staring at Xander with almost shining eyes, like he was barely stopping himself from approaching him.

Curtis just scrubbed a hand across his face.

’Can we please be normal for ten seconds?’ He lamented in his heart.