[Cast: Glow of Boreas]
A crown of ice formed in his hair. His skin grew increasingly pale—so pale that it resembled snow. His eyes grew wide and took on an almost insane look.
But Oscar kept his sanity.
I feel so… aware.
"A child? Anore really has no shame."
Tap. Tap.
Light on his feet, Oscar began moving forward, holding his odachi out.
Antoine painted a defensive position, awaiting his arrival. He stuck his sword out, the tip facing upward.
Clang!
They clashed. Oscar dashed backward.
The two of them had just recently grasped their own respective newfound powers.
[Cast: Glacier Spear]
A large lance made out of deep blue ice manifested inside his palm. It was the size of a tree nearby.
I didn't even mean to make it that big.
Oscar chucked it at Antoine.
With a single cut, Antoine sliced through the spear, vertically.
The shards exploded behind him, sending arcs of ice into the surrounding trees.
Woah. I'm not sure if I meant to do that or not.
Oscar grinned. This new power was a bit intoxicating. Then, an idea suddenly popped into his head.
"You shouldn't lose your focus."
Before Oscar knew it, Antoine was behind him, a full swing prepared in motion. His wrist stretched outward along with his arm, increasing the wind back to its maximum potential.
Oscar's eyes grew limpid and wide.
[Cast: Verglas Rising Pillar]
[Spirit Cast: Concentrated Wind Claw]
The grass froze over, and a single pillar of ice shot up into the sky to separate the two and act desperately as a shield.
Antoine's longsword glowed white. A strong gale wrapped around the sword, like a miniature tornado. In a single, quick motion, he swung down.
Crack!
The thick ice pillar shattered into a million pieces, soaring into the sky.
"!"
Antoine's longsword approached Oscar's forearm.
[Cast: Freeze]
A layer of ice encased his forearm, acting as a second shield that would at the very least turn the incoming sword into a blunt object.
As expected, the force of the strike sent him into the trees behind him. It took around 15 trees to actually slow him down.
"Uwaaaa!-"
The pain was definitely something. A sore, aching feeling at his back, was caused by the several splinters that dug into his back during his flight. Then, there was another pain in his forearm.
It's... definitely broken.
He stared at the reddening of his pale forearm. It was swollen, appearing as if it was about to burst. The surface of the skin was warm, a bit purple in color.
He stabilized his breathing.
But it's not gone.
[Cast: Freeze]
He placed his hand on his forearm, freezing it to create some sort of stability.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I definitely saw his movement through. Why didn't I move out of the way? Oscar thought for a moment, slowly picking himself up from the ground. He saw Antoine from a distance, sprinting toward him.
My eyes must be quicker than my body. Or, they aren't tuned properly yet. It is my first time testing this, after all. Oscar came to such a conclusion.
[Cast: Ice Zone]
The entire forest that they resided in grew cold. Before, his reach would've never gotten that far.
[Cast: Rapid Glacier Recurve]
The refined bow of ice appeared in his hand. He put his odachi into its sheath. And with a single thought, 12 arrows manifested around him.
"Just by holding the bow... this happens. Does that mean...?"
24 more arrows circled him, floating.
At this point, Oscar realized that his power really increased a lot. Antoine was about 3 meters away from him.
He fired all 36 arrows at Antoine.
With how it was positioned in a circle Antoine, there were not many spots left for him to avoid the strike.
[Spirit Cast: Wind Shield]
The winds increased, rotating around Antoine in a semi-sphere shape. With this, the arrows were all deflected, landing on the ground.
With the 36 arrows now surrounding Antoine, forming a circle, Oscar stared intently.
I have to play it safe. How can I…?
[Cast: Thorned Chains of Frost]
Cyan magic circles resembling snowflakes manifested around Antoine, ejecting spiky chains of ice toward Antoine.
Along with that, the 36 arrows lifted off the ground, charging at him as well.
The art of overwhelming the opponent. Oscar smirked, satisfied.
With all the projectiles crashing into Antoine, a cloud of smoke rose into the air.
As the smoke cleared out, an irritating sight presented itself to Oscar. He groaned.
Antoine held the chains with one single hand, holding his long sword that deflected all the arrows with the other.
Controlling the chains with mana, they wrapped around his forearm.
[Cast: Frostfire]
Blue, cold flames lit the chains. They tightened around his forearm until it popped off.
"Score!"
[Spirit Cast: Revitalization]
Are you serious right now?
[Spirit Cast: Gale Cascade]
The winds picked up.