ARTHURPOV
I rushed forward, my sword still wrapped in flames. Aegis remained still for a moment to see what trick I was gonna use next. With just a flick of fingers, he created a huge wall of water. I wasn't ready for this trick. But if I slowed down my speed now, I will just waste my mana.
I quickly cloaked myself with lightning again. My mana was running low, so I had to make sure that I use my spells at the bare minimum now.
I clenched my sword tighter, ignoring the pain in my body. With a deep breath, I barely managed to get past the wall of water and continued to dash forward, aiming my rugged sword towards Aegis.
Aegis patiently watched as I pushed myself, flames and lightning still forming around me. The mere act of using both the elements at once took a huge toll on my body and mana reserves.
"Not bad," Aegis whispered as he closed the gap between us, "But still not enough."
Aegis punched me right through my stomach but this time his eyes widened as he showed his surprise to me.
I finally managed to block his punch with my sword. Although, he was holding back his strength, the fact that I managed to block him was a achievement in itself.
….but despite that, I was still sent flying away. Now, my only weapon had been broken into 2 pieces and my mana reserves were almost over and yet, I wasn't even close to beating him.
"You hesitate a lot for someone who has lots of potential," Aegis again came out of the bushes. It seemed like an endless loop where Aegis would send me flying, I would reach my breaking point and Aegis would appear out of bushes with his lifeless and disappointed eyes.
"Do you want to give up now?" Aegis asked.
I got up with a smirk, my resolve still not broken.
"No, let's keep going. I don't plan on giving up this easily." I answered, my smirk growing even larger.
"...I see"
Aegis was definitely taken aback with my answer.
I ran towards the fishman with all the speed I could gather without lightning cloak.
Believe it or not, I had trained myself in lots of field in my past life. One of them, being martial arts.
As the battle dragged on, I found my body and senses getting sharper and sharper. Seeing my rapid growth, Aegis also started smiling. His lifeless eyes now coming to life.
But I wasn't the one who was dictating the pace of the fight, it was Aegis.
I managed to find a slight opening in Aegis attack patter and took full advantage of it. I gathered a small amount of mana in my fist and gave a punch right in the middle of chest where most of the mana cores are located.
But with my current body, Aegis didn't even budge despite taking the full blunt of my punch with Fire magic.
I widened the gap between us and I found Aegis smiling a little to himself. But he soon snapped out of his happy thoughts and this time, he took the initiative of dashing towards me, his body cloaked with mana.
Just then, I found the world around me getting slowed. Surprisingly, I could see all of Aegis attacks and was able to counter them with my bare hands.
Seeing Aegis surprise reaction, it made me sure that the world getting slow was just from my perspective, while in reality, the world flowed the same.
Aegis attack pattern wasn't that complicated now that I am seeing it in slow motion. It's just that Aegis foundation and flexibility is at an insane level and the speed he uses just makes it look like he is using some high-level technique.
There's hardly any opening in Aegis defence, no wonder he is one of the strongest in whole Essos. I wonder how many people can hold their own against Aegis.
As I countered and dodged Aegis attacks, there was a split moment where Aegis was lost in his thoughts.
While lost in thoughts, Aegis body still moved the same. He gave a roundhouse kick, if it wasn't for this new ability there's no doubt I would've broken my arms atleast. But with the time slowed down, I ducked his roundhouse kick and I finally got an opening.
Seeing how Aegis was distracted, it was the perfect moment for me finish this fight. I had barely any mana left and I didn't know what happens when a human is depleted of mana. This was the first time I was ever driven to a corner.
LightningMagic: SwordofLight
This is my strongest spell in my arsenal right now. This spell can create a sword of pure lightning from thin air and can destroy half of this forest. Since this is one of the original magic I learnt in this world, it requires a very high amount of mana. I can only use this spell once in a battle with my current level but this should be more than enough right now.
I prayed that I emerge as victor after using all my last bit of mana. I could feel my body growing weak and my left arm getting numb which Aegis broke. I was strengthing my arm with mana so it didn't hurt as much during the fight. But now that, am using this spell, the pain I felt was immeasurable.
*Booom!!!!*
A tiny bit of hope emerged from me that I won, but as the smoke cleared out I could see the dark skin fishman standing safe and sound with just a scratch on his cheeks as he holded the sword made of pure lightning.
But something seemed different about him. His face had some weird scales now and his white hair had now turned black and his nails and fins grew even larger as if there were a weapon in itself.
I cursed to myself, as I fainted my body getting weak with each passing second and my chest paining.
"Congratulations, Arthur Varen. You have passed the trials."