The Lone Wanderer

A wave of annoyance seeped through the connection, but the clone didn't say anything, tacitly agreeing to let him do his thing.

Not wasting a moment, Percy focused on his developing technique once more, fully aware that he was operating on a strict timer. None of this would be worth it if his familiar was seriously injured by the time he was done. Regardless, he understood this was their best shot.

The good news was that he no longer had to worry about his opponent landing a hit, as his speed had already eclipsed the water mage's spells. New issues had emerged, however. Percy's whole body hurt – even the parts not directly involved in his high-speed movements. The pain in his hands wasn't as bad as that in his legs and torso, but he had kept the Carnival active for quite a while now, and it was beginning to take its toll on him.

His surroundings had turned blurry in his vision, as even his mutated eyes struggled to keep up with the influx of information. It didn't help that he had to keep his gaze locked on his opponent's frame. He couldn't afford to stop predicting the man's spells, or he could easily run into them by accident.

'It'll have to do…' he nodded internally after a while.

There was still room for improvement, probably, but he was already experiencing diminishing returns. Practicing any longer would hurt both himself and Micky with very little to show for it.

'We're swapping,' he sent through the cord. 'I'm gonna need you to hold the other one busy for a while. I know it'll be tough, but I'll try to make it quick.'

Percy didn't even wait for an answer, sending all his scythes toward Micky's general direction, leaping from shaft to shaft at a ridiculous pace. In an instant, the water mage was dozens of metres behind him, though he was already on his tail. At his current speed, he wasn't going to catch up anytime soon, but they both understood he didn't have to. He only needed his domain to reach that of his teammate to make Percy's life a lot harder.

Gritting his teeth, Percy ran as fast as he could manage. This was his first time fighting in the sky, but he'd never travelled like this on land either. Before long, he vaguely caught sight of a large shape brushing just under him. He didn't get a good look at Micky, but from what little he did see, Percy could tell the crow's injuries were even worse than he'd imagined.

'Hang in there, buddy.'

Right behind the bird was the air mage, also doing his best to meet up with his companion. By the time Percy reached him, the two domains had actually touched again, but the stacked effect was weak enough to mostly ignore for now. That said, it was still in Percy's best interest to push him away. Or kill him – whichever came first.

Naturally, the man didn't just wait passively for his execution. The moment Percy approached, he shot countless crescents of wind at him, trying to slice him to pieces. Caught up in his momentum, and having trouble scanning his surroundings, Percy nearly got hit.

He barely managed to leap out of the way at the last second, the green blades carving through the scythes he had just stepped on as if they were butter. Clearly, his opponent had infused his domain into the spells.

Percy responded by hurling some of his spare constructs at him, forcing him to dodge. The man unleashed controlled bursts of wind from every part of his body, whizzing around like the world's most annoying mosquito. Then again, Percy shouldn't be complaining, since he was no less difficult to grab a hold of himself.

'Doesn't matter. I'll have to figure this out… Micky won't last much longer…'

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Sadly, his opponent made things harder for him, by expelling a lot of his stored mana to form a colossal hurricane dozens of metres wide. Layering his domain on top of the cataclysmic spell, he forced the raging gusts of wind to fly even faster, like thousands of tiny blades making grating sounds as they collided against one another.

The individual attacks weren't strong enough to injure Percy too badly. Even if he phased his armour through them, they would barely nick his skin. However, the pressure slowed down his movements, accelerating those of the air mage.

Percy bounced around the hurricane, fighting against the wind. With each leap, he closed the gap to his slippery opponent by a few metres. Two scythes were gripped tightly in his hands, their curved edges gleaming with impatience as they hungered for the man's flesh.

Of course, the veteran mage wouldn't go down without a fight. The more Percy struggled to approach, the more he fought to keep his distance, continuing to unleash more spells at him to block his path. He wasn't even trying to hit him – everyone knew the battle would end the moment Micky died, so the Blue was more than happy to waste Percy's time.

Percy evaded the green constructs one after another, until he figured he was close enough to his target to bridge the remaining gap with one last jump. Stomping hard on a pair of scythes, he twisted his torso to avoid an incoming spell, shooting at his opponent like a grey comet.

Just when he was about to land the final blow, he faintly caught a savage grin on the man's face, however. The air user's soul flickered at the last second, betraying his intention to attack.

Caught off guard, Percy crossed his weapons in front of him to block the blow. Not a drop of mana left the man's core, making Percy second-guess whether his opponent had merely feinted to get him to halt his offensive.

His confusion didn't last long though, an invisible blow slamming into his Harvesters the very next moment. Both their shafts shattered, the blast continuing right to his chest. Percy barely managed to twist his torso again to deflect some of the force, but he was still sent flying back. The attack had shaved two layers off the left side of his breastplate and even cracked the third.

The mage didn't wait for him to catch himself either, shooting more spells at him to turn him into minced meat. Percy managed to kick against a stray scythe spinning in his path, evading the attacks at the last second.

"Ughh… fuck…" he groaned, sputtering a mouthful of blood as the pain registered.

It took him several seconds to resume his rhythm, each leap sending a jolt of agony through his body. He wouldn't be surprised if that last attack had broken a rib or two. Not to mention that he hadn't been in the best condition to begin with, having struggled to endure the strain of his own movements.

'It's the same thing Acton did right at the end of our fight.'

A concentrated blast of willpower. It clearly wasn't easy to pull off, as the move had caused the domain around them to weaken. Even now, several seconds after the man's attack, it hadn't fully recovered. But it made for a very quick and deadly trump card. One that involved no mana, thus making it several times harder for Percy to predict.

Percy sighed, emptying a couple vials of healing potions into his stomach. Unfortunately, he hadn't replaced his tattoos since the fight with the Green-born, though he didn't regret it. He'd spent most of his time training with Micky instead, which was probably the only reason his familiar was still alive.

Over the next couple of seconds, he evaded his opponent's spells as he waited for the potions to relieve some of his pain and fatigue. At the same time, he reflected over his mistakes.

He couldn't stop his opponent from sneak attacking him with his domain, but getting hit by it had partly been his fault. Losing his patience, he had foolishly charged at the man in a straight line. His movements might have been fast, but they had also been way too predictable.

'Not good enough. I need to vary my steps more. And I'll only get one more chance at this…'

He couldn't afford to get hit again. Even if the next blow didn't kill him directly, he doubted he'd be in any condition to fight after another mistake like that.

Gathering his scythes around him again, Percy leapt from foothold to foothold, his gaze sinking into his opponent's frame once more. The two mages flew against the violent gales, the booming shocks of Percy's steps breaking through the cacophony of the grating winds and the shrill cries of the burning wisps.

Percy rapidly closed the distance to the Blue, though he wasn't in a rush to go for the finisher this time, knowing this was exactly what the man was waiting for. Instead, he focused on his movements again, searching for another way to improve his technique.

'I don't think I can move any faster than this, but I can probably do it in a smarter way…'