Joint Training 2

"I hope you can keep up with me." said Nox while grinning. He stood in front of Aiken and Jason. They were deep in the woods. Somewhere close to the abandoned church. The other side of the forest was still in a bad shape after the fire. The places they are using is far away from the paths other humans use.

After agreeing to the training Oscar and Lydia separated from the rest of the group. Oscar excused him saying that he was low on his mana and Lydia said that she had things to discuss with him. Jason and Aiken had teasing smiles on their faces while watching the two walk away. Owain was still somewhat confused with everything but he had a teasing smile on his face too. But before any of them could tease the couple they run away.

After the couple disappeared from their vision, everyone get serious. Aiken and Jason decided to fight together. Nox was half spirit and half-human making him more dangerous than the rest. He can generate mana in his body which enables him to go all out without the danger of dying due to mana depletion.

Jason activated his eyes. His irises burned with red flames and covered the rest of his sclera. He fired several fireballs at Nox and rushed him with a fireball in his hand. Nox easily dodged the fireballs and step back from the next attack on Jason. He tried to fight in close combat while he had a fireball. Seeing that Nox step back and get out of his range, Jason shot the fireball he held.

Nox easily evaded the incoming fireball. But when the fireball gets past him, suddenly it explodes with great power. Aiken used one of its spells to provide oxygen and hydrogen to the fireball. Suddenly receiving too much flammable gas, fireball explodes with great power.

"Nice trick you got there."

Nox was genuinely surprised by their attack. He never imagined that wind element could be used this way. In the Spirit Realm, it is believed that the wind element could only extinguish the fire not feed it. This made him more eager to fight.

Nox released his mana. It looked like a cloud of black smoke. The cloud took the shape of a humanoid figure and a few seconds later it turned into the exact copy of Nox. This was one of the new spells he worked on. It was clone magic he referenced the magic he once saw in the Prison of the Forgotten. This magic allowed him to create a clone that is able to use most of his spells. The only downside is the great mana requirement. But he believed that he can fix it with more practice.

"Now we shall see who is better."

"Now we shall see who is better."

Aiken and Jason were shocked. It was the first time they see Clone Magic. And they couldn't even tell the difference. Jason's eye caught to spell and he could see a complex formation of magic circles. Nox used the spell without magic circles because he created it and knows all the necessary things. But while creating it he first studied it with magic circles. And Jason with being able to see the magic circles he actually learned the spell. But even though he learned it he couldn't perform it without understanding magic circles which is the base of this magic. Still, even he couldn't tell the difference between the clone and the real one.

Clone Nox used fireballs against Jason. Jason thought that he could counterattack them easily but when he tried he was surprised. Nox's fireballs were stronger than his. They were at the same speed as his fireballs but they packed a lot more power inside. The moment he was distracted Clone Nox appeared behind him. He had a sword made of darkness in his hand. It was blunt but still looked deadly. Clone slashed at Jason but with an incredible speed, he dodged.

Just before dodging he ignited one of the previous fireballs of Nox and fired it at him. When he dodged clones full attention was on him. He didn't see the fireball until it exploded right on his face. With the explosion of the fireball clone dissolved into the cloud of black smoke. It was strong but its endurance wasn't that good. Just at the moment, Jason relaxed his guard, from within the cloud of black smoke shot several spikes made of darkness. Spikes pierced his shoulder and his legs making him unable to continue for the time being.

At the same time, real Nox was fighting against Aiken. They were using close combat against one other. Aiken covered his fist with rotating wind and continuously punched towards Nox. It was the same technique he used against Kulligar. Upon contact, the wind around his fist is released and it created a vacuum at the point of contact.

Nox on the other hand was using his hands like swords. He covered them with mana and shaped them similar to swords. This spell gave him a wider range compared to Aiken. Thanks to this he wasn't having a hard time. It was a fierce battle for both sides. Despite his advantages over Aiken, Nox couldn't plan an attack on him. Aiken was fighting by purely relying on his instincts.

"You are good. It is clear that you haven't fought much but you have great instincts to cover that."

"Thank you. They have helped me all of my life. With them, I'm going to defeat you."

"Wow! So ambitious. Let me see your power then."

Nox quickly slashed at Aiken. It was more powerful than previous attacks. Aiken took a stance and rushed to Nox. He used the wind to accelerate himself. Seeing this Nox was greatly surprised. He expected him to dodge not to rush towards him. Aiken used one of the spells he was working on.

"[Furious Gale]"

From his body came out raging winds and they attacked Nox. It was at ten folds stronger than his normal attacks. Nox couldn't stand the raging winds and blown away. Nox crushed at the ground. At the same time, Jason appeared before him. On his shoulder was Fiebon. His spirit partner. They both shot fire breath at him.

'These guys are pulling out so many unexpected moves. They are good. But I am better!'

Nox released his domain and created twenty big scorpions. They were bigger than before almost reaching Nox's waist. He commands them to attack Aiken and Jason. Meanwhile, both of them were greatly surprised by the appearance of the scorpions. They tried to fight back but Nox created more scorpions and overwhelmed them. In the end, it was Nox's victory because the other side run out of mana.

"You guys are good. But your mana pool is limiting you." (Nox)

"Yeah. Oscar tried to find a way to solve it but we haven't made any progress." (Aiken)

"He is right. He was trying to find a way to generate mana for us." (Jason)

"Well. It is best for him to find it fast." (Nox)

"Hm, yeah right." (Aiken)

Meanwhile, the Convict and Owain were watching everything from the sidelines. Both of them felt like they were being ignored for a while. Owain could only smile bitterly. He wanted to fight like them but Oscar said to him wait. He kept dreaming about the adventures he could have. On the other hand, The Convict watches everything with interest. Especially the spirit cat Fiebon.

'Is it one of them? But they should have been extinct a long time ago...'