The Manaless Extra (A Progression Fantasy Story)

Volume 03, Chapter 109
Dominic vs Arthur [3]

Dominic hovers high in the sky, shadowy wings outstretched.

Arthur stands below, grounded, calm, his sword steady in hand.

Neither moves.

A moment of silence stretches between them.

Then, Dominic quickly aims both pistols downward.

"Dark Beam!" he shouts.

—BLING!

Twin beams of darkness surge toward Arthur like two screaming pillars of void.

"Flash of Merlin," Arthur mutters under his breath.

—BOOM!

The beams strike the ground, but Arthur is already gone, replaced by a streak of golden light.

A blur rockets upward toward Dominic with terrifying speed.

Dominic narrows his eyes. 'He's trying to get close.'

He raises his right gun and fires again.

"Dark Beam!"

—BLING!

Three more beams of shadow arc downward.

Arthur darts left, then right, weaving between the attacks with unnatural precision.

'He's zigzagging to throw off my aim… and still coming straight at me,' Dominic thinks, tightening his grip. 'I can't let him get close.'

—FWOOSH!

He flaps his wings hard and flies across the arena. His flight is still unstable—wobbling midair—but manageable. Barely.

Arthur frowns, watching him take off again, but gives chase without hesitation.

—BLING!

Dominic glances down.

Arthur is gaining on him fast.

'Flash of Merlin is busted,' Dominic thinks grimly. 'Traveling at light speed… too convenient.'

"Avalon Blast!" Arthur shouts, and three beams of light shoot into the air.

Dominic swerves to the side—just in time.

Then his eyes widen. The beams curve midair, locking back onto his position.

The beams are changing direction?! Dominic thinks. He's maintaining control of the spell!

"Umbra Dome!"

A sphere of swirling darkness encases him just as the beams strike.

—BOOM!

Light collides with shadow in a brilliant flash. Dust and wind erupt in all directions.

When the smoke clears, Dominic floats inside a dark barrier—safe, for now.

'He's not just firing anymore… he's sustaining the beams,' Dominic realizes, a frown tugging at his lips as sweat beads on his brow.

Arthur's eyes lock onto the dome. 'Then I'll just crush him.'

He points his sword at the sphere.

"Avalon Blast!"

Ten beams of light ignite into being, each humming with radiant energy.

Dominic's eyes widen. 'Ten?!'

—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

One by one, the beams strike the dome, erupting in small explosions across its surface.

Dominic grits his teeth, forcing Mana outward to maintain the barrier's shape. Cracks begin forming along its surface, and the air around him trembles with each hit.

Arthur narrows his gaze. 'Still holding…? Fine.'

He raises his free hand. "Avalon Blast!"

Five more beams spawn around the arena—and this time, they do not hit head-on. They arc, curving in different directions—circling the dome like predators closing in.

Then—

—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

They strike from all sides, hammering at every angle.

Inside, Dominic feels the dome shudder violently. Too many angles. I can't track them all! I need to move—

But the moment he tries to search for an opening, another blast strikes, shaking the dome and throwing off his balance.

Dominic's eyes flick toward the System message.

"Tch! I forgot the Chrono Pendant was still running…" he hisses through clenched teeth. "Deactivate!"

—Chime!

The world snaps back into full motion. The artificial slowness vanishes.

But the beams… they are still coming.

Still striking, still threatening to shatter the dome completely.

Dominic grimaces, muscles tensing from the strain. 'This pressure… I can't keep blocking forever.'

Through the haze of light and crackling Mana, he looks down at Arthur, still standing, sword raised, relentless.

'How do I get out of here?' Dominic thinks, eyes darting across the trembling dome.

The shield fractures fast—beams slam into it from all directions, and he knows it won't hold much longer.

He clenches his fists, trying to think. 'There has to be something…'

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And then—he remembers.

André's spell. Shadow's Embrace.

He had seen it before how André would cloak himself in shadows and burst from the house like a phantom, darting across the sky with unnatural speed and strength. The spell hadn't just looked cool—it was powerful. A full-body enchantment. Temporary, but potent.

'A spell that enhances the body with shadow Mana… boosts strength, speed, durability…' Dominic visualizes it now.

Darkness coils around him—not just wrapping him, but infusing into his limbs. Strengthens his muscles. Reinforces his bones. Turns his entire body into a weapon of war.

He gathers Mana from every corner of his core and floods it into his body—legs, arms, chest, wings.

At the same time—

—CRACK!

The dome shatters.

The beams pierce through.

"Shadow's Embrace!" Dominic shouts.

—BOOM!

The beams explode on contact—but instead of his body flying out of the blast, a silhouette emerges from the smoke, cloaked in thick, rippling shadows. The aura pulses and surges around him like armor made from midnight itself.

Dominic hovers—untouched.

His crow-like wings now fuse with the dark aura. He no longer looks like a teenager, but like a figure carved from battle-born myth.

Dominic sees the System update and grins.

Below him, Arthur stares in disbelief. 'He… recreated Uncle André's spell?!'

Arthur's hand trembles around the sword. His jaw tightens.

'It took me years to master the Lyon spells… and yet Dominic is casting advanced spells like it's nothing.'

Every time Arthur gains the upper hand, Dominic flips the board.

'Why… why is it always like this?'

His mind drifts back to the old days. Every club. Every classroom. Every time. Dominic had followed him. Not to compete—but just by being there, he had outshone him.

Teachers had smiled brighter at him. Applauded louder. Peers had gravitated toward him. Arthur had always come second.

Always trying harder. Always coming up short.

"Damn it, Doms, why!" Arthur shouts suddenly, voice cracking. "Why are you always so talented?!"

Dominic blinks, surprised. 'He's… forgetting I'm not Dominic.'

He hovers midair, stunned by the raw emotion in Arthur's voice.

"Why can't you just be ordinary?! Why are you always better?!" Arthur's voice breaks again, his fists trembling.

And in that moment, Dominic understands.

Arthur is no longer fighting Clark. He's fighting the shadow of the boy who had haunted his every effort. The friend he could never catch up to.

'He's… mistaking me for him. He's breaking...' But Dominic's eyes harden. 'This is still a duel—and I need to take advantage of his distraction while I can.'

Dominic shoots forward, shadows trailing behind him like smoke. Both guns are raised, their barrels glowing with umbra energy.

"Dark Beam!"

—BLING!

Twin dark beams streak toward Arthur.

Arthur grits his teeth, rage still boiling. "Just stay still!"

He brings his sword up with both hands—

—SLIIING!

With a sweeping arc, he cleaves the beams apart.

But Dominic doesn't stop firing. He sustains the beam—like a steady stream of dark fire—as he charges in.

Arthur narrows his eyes. "Every time I joined a club… you'd follow me. And outshine me. Every. Damn. Time!"

He redirects the beam mid-swing, parrying with precision.

Dominic's eyes widen. 'He's still sharp even when unhinged.'

Arthur grips the sword tightly, bracing himself. "Flash of Merlin!"

He vanishes.

—FWOOOSH!

In a flash of light, he reappears right in front of Dominic, sword raised.

Dominic has no time to dodge.

He raises both guns, crossing them defensively in front of him.

—CLANK!

Sword meets metal.

—CRACK!

The guns tremble violently—fractures blooming across their frames.

Dominic's eyes widen. 'Divine Construct?!'

But it's too late.

—CRACK!

The guns shatter, detonating in a small explosion that sends both of them flying backward.

Dominic crashes into the ground, skidding across the sand.

Arthur flips midair and lands cleanly, blade in hand.

Dominic groans and pushes himself up—his shoes grinding through the dust.

But before he can fully recover—

"Luminous Gauntlets!"

Arthur's right fist ignites in golden light.

He blitzes forward.

—BAM!

His glowing punch slams into Dominic's guard—Dominic blocks just in time with both arms, but the force launches him backward.

—BAM!

His back slams against the arena wall, cracking the stone in a spiderweb pattern.

"Tch… that hurt." Dominic winces, shaking his arms from the impact.

Dominic looks at the System alert. His heart sinks. 'My first weapons… are gone.'

He lowers his hands, the sting still pulsing in his arms.

Arthur sees the expression on Dominic's face—the pain, the surprise, the hint of guilt.

And it makes him stop. His sword trembles slightly in his grip.

"...Doms…"

He reaches out a hand—half-instinct, half-reflex.

But it freezes in the air. Why? Why is he still reaching?

After everything—after every time he was outshone, outpaced, outdone—why does he still reach for him?

His hand slowly lowers. His gaze falls to the ground.

"Why…" he murmurs, barely audible.

Dominic blinks. "Arthur…?"

Arthur looks up, eyes shadowed by confusion and buried hurt. "Why am I still… best friends with you?" he asks, his voice hoarse.

He isn't expecting an answer. He doesn't even know if he wants one.

"My father…" Arthur begins, voice trembling. "He always compares me to you. All the time. All the time." His hands ball into fists at his sides. "'Why can't you be more like Dominic?' 'Dominic's top of his class.' 'Dominic solved the puzzle in ten seconds, and you didn't.'"

His voice cracks.

"I hated it. But I never hated you." He shakes his head, angry at himself. "Even when you were Manaless, you outshone me in every subject. You didn't even have Mana, and you still made me feel like I was standing in your shadow."

Dominic remains silent, unsure of what to say.

Arthur's eyes glaze over with something deeper than resentment.

"I wanted to become a Magitist. I loved Magi-tech. Invention. Creation. I joined the Magi-tech club and poured my heart into building something unique. Then…" He closes his eyes. "Then you joined. One week later, you stole the show at the Magi-tech fair. Everyone was in awe of your project. You built something that made mine look like a child's toy."

Arthur laughs bitterly. "I quit the club the next day."

Dominic's heart twists. He hadn't known.

Arthur looks at him, not with hatred, but with something far worse: hurt.

"I tried again. I joined the chess club. I thought maybe… just maybe, I could find something for myself." Arthur continues, "But then you joined."

Dominic's throat tightens.

"You won the tournament. Got the medal. And I came second. Again." Arthur mutters, "So I quit. Again. And like always… you followed."

Arthur's footsteps echo as he slowly walks toward him, both hands gripping the hilt of his sword like an anchor.

"It kept happening. Club after club. Activity after activity. I kept moving, thinking maybe I'd find something that was just mine… but you kept showing up—and you kept being better."

Dominic's breath catches. 'So that's the story between them. I—no—Dominic kept following. Chasing nothing but curiosity. Never realizing… he was stepping on someone else's dreams.' He thought.

'But why academic clubs?' he thinks. 'Why not sports? Or dueling?'

And then Arthur answers it for him.

"One day, I decided to become a Stargate Raider. Not because I wanted to. Not because I was strong. Hell—I was a nerd, not a fighter." His voice cracks. "But it was the one place I thought I'd be safe from you."

Dominic's eyes widen. He feels his throat tighten.

Arthur stops a few paces away.

"I trained day and night. My body wasn't built for combat, but I forced myself. Every bone, every tendon screamed, but I didn't stop. Because for the first time, you weren't there." He looks up. "I had something that you didn't. Something that was finally mine."

He takes another step forward.

"But then, you suddenly wanted to become a Stargate Raider." His voice breaks. "Just out of nowhere."

Dominic's stomach drops. 'That was when I transmigrated… and tried to become a Stargate Raider. I didn't even know… I trampled into his only safe space.'

Arthur's body flares with light as Mana surges through him, and before Dominic can blink—

—BOOM!

Arthur appears in front of him.

Dominic barely sidesteps the overhead slash, his instincts flaring like fire.

A horizontal strike follows—Dominic leaps back, wings flapping hard, sand kicking up beneath his shoes.

They circle each other again.

"When you beat Lumi in that duel…" Arthur's voice rings out—broken and loud.

Dominic's breath hitches.

"That's when I realized you were catching up to me again." Arthur's voice cracks at the end, and his grip on the sword tightens. "I trained for years… and in just a few days, you caught up. And I—"

He looks away, pain etched across his face. "I felt it. That ache in my chest. That… ache that comes when someone you love keeps outgrowing you."

Dominic freezes. His fingers tremble at his side.

"I don't hate you, Doms. I never did. I just… I don't know how to love you without losing myself."

Arthur is still speaking—but the words aren't angry anymore. They're desperate.

Dominic's lips part, but the words don't come.

He doesn't know what to say.

But he finally understands, and it hurts.

Because he isn't the real Dominic.

He is just a replacement… who has unknowingly reignited all of Arthur's deepest scars.