The blades clashed violently, a strange feeling of empowerment, of endless heat rising up within the depths of Cades, something he felt before, something he felt as if he already knew what if meant, something he was not yet able to risk, at least not able to risk until he had to risk it, however dangerous it might turn out to be to use it prematurely during such a fight, because if he was right, the warping active, his favourite one right now, was empowered in this place, the total opposite from the flying top hats that he had been at before.
Yet, the chance to try his theory, however much he disliked having to take that chance up on it, was soon to come seeing as he was in quite the bad situation right now, his opponent capable of controlling the very terrain he was standing on, perhaps the greatest ability to have in any fight, aside from the ability to fly in many situations, unless one counted the air as the territory as well, but what could one truly change in the air, aside from the weather and the composition of gases within it.
And as such the opponent leveraged that significant advantage as much as they could, sending the stone pillars, this time small and sharp, to attack Cades feet and lower half so that he was lowered and the opponent would knee him or something of that nature, just as he had done not too long ago to that woman, or perhaps the man, he didn't really care to remember that insignificant detail right now, but he did care to remember that it was painful for him and very bloody for the opponent back then, both things he didn't wish to experience, and as such he stood tall, enduring the pain, enduring the pressure form the blade that his opponent didn't move, using his slightly superior standing, being elevated by the stone, about a single inch, to put pressure onto him and hopefully press him down even further.
This resulted in a standstill, to the other man's discomfort, something that might've hinted to a potential weakness as Cades was quickly able to discern, something he was really keen on noticing right now seeing as he was fighting this man and a weakness was as important to a fight as knowing how to fight, perhaps the only thing the other him was as good as as he was himself, if that was the correct grammar for such a theoretical situation, a situation that would perhaps require a completely new set of grammatical rules that he could not even imagine right now.
The other man, however, was not thinking about that, instead he was acting quickly, realizing that his current tactic was good, but perhaps not the best due to what seemed to be wasted energy and mana as well as stamina, perhaps even weaker muscles and bodily physique, and as such they decided to attack with a more broad attack, deciding to bust out a big pillar, about a foot in diameter, pushing right under Cades and forcing him upwards if he didn't want his legs that were still using the steadfastness to be attacked by the other man using his created blades and his already dissolving sword that could reappear just as soon as it had appeared, that, Cades was certain of.
He was barely able to dissolve the energy of the active before he was pushed upwards, saving his legs but compromising his situation as he was pushed a good hundred feet into the air and the opponent was already readying himself to wave his hand once more, intent on shooting Cades using the translucent black knifes that had once before almost hit him and ended his story, but he was able to easily see the ground from this high up, and he was able to see behind the man that had now turned around for some reason, both things that would ease his use of the warping active he was so fond of, and as such, surprising the man wearing the mask, he warped right onto the ground, about twelve feet away from the opponent and very much realizing that his theory was correct as he could already feel whatever was missing to be regenerating at a much greater rate, so much so that he had already recovered the ability to warp after about twelve seconds while he would've normally had to have waited at least five times that amount.
Yet, the man covered in the grimacing mask of black stone stood still, looking right at Cades who was now regretting that he hadn't warped right next to him, or even behind as he felt an eerie sense of premonition that he was soon to realize to be founded in what was happening right now, as he looked up and saw the huge boulder that the being had created out of translucent black matter, just like the blades, hollow on the inside from what he could tell, perhaps to save energy, nevertheless powerful enough to seriously hurt him.
But Cades just smiled, intent on testing out his new toy, his new empowered warp, something he was already aware of not being able to keep, or at least he assumed that it was special during this test or after it, nevertheless, he was definitely excited as he warped right in front of the man and was already about to strike him using his blade, the man still unmoving but visibly shocked and unnerved at the power his opponent just showed, barely managing to raise up a wall of the cold stone to block his blade.
The wall rose up but was quickly cut apart by Cades who realized just how big the difference between the past him and the current him truly was, seeing as the stone was undoubtably more powerful than normal stone and he had still cut it apart like butter, just that the stone didn't stick to his blade, seeing the man that he was fighting jumping back, pushed by the stone beneath as soon as he looked through the fresh opening, quickly starting to pursue him.