Vierenna V. Eirenios [4]

Deon felt that his stance was somewhat off, yet he was controlling it—faster than he had previously anticipated. He had a heightened awareness of his body and movements. With each brief exchange, he refined his mistakes little by little.

It was clear that this physical sense stemmed from his Body Line skill—Sword Sense. It wasn't as surprising to him as Mana Sense, since he had the time alone to explore his skills.

Even though he hadn't discovered more about Mana Sense beyond what he already knew, he wasn't in a rush. The skill was already assisting him now, he wouldn't deviate from his training to explore it further when he had more important things to focus on.

As for Sword Sense? Deon had used the twin swords mounted on his room's fireplace to explore it.

Unlike his elusive grasp of mana sense, sword sense came naturally. At first, it gave the impression of simply enhancing his other senses—and Deon believed that for a while. But as his training with the cube progressed, his relationship with his senses deepened, making it clear that Sword Sense had a depth of its own.

Whenever Deon held a sword in his hand or faced an opponent wielding one, his skill came to life. It granted him an instinctive understanding of space, direction, the faintest ripples of an opponent's intent, and self adaptation—though its focus divided between himself, his environment, and his opponents.

It also granted him flashes of vision—though he didn't yet fully grasp this one. Yet, he could say that it gave him a vision of his opponent's movements and how to respond to them effectively.

'Vierenna isn't making this easy at all!'

As for Deon's other skill within the Body Line—Sword Attraction! This one was an entire mystery. He had tried to understand it before, but its definition was the most obscure, and it didn't come to him easily either.

However, in the brief exchange against Vierenna, faint, thin threads flickered at the edge of his vision from time to time. Sometimes, the threads connected to him; at other times, they attached to Vierenna, Ana-Accia, and Felice. The points of connection varied across the body—which was strange.

Deon even focused on elder Jan and Ana-Lena at crucial moments during the fight, but they were devoid of any threads. Thus, he linked the ghostly threads to his skill—Sword Attraction.

During the short verbal exchange with Vierenna, the threads vanished, further solidifying his hypothesis.

But Deon had almost lost any thought of trying to explore the skill further. Vierenna was upon him, and all his senses screamed for him to flee, yet at the same time, they told him that if he tried to, it would be the end for him.

Deon sensed Ana-Accia and Felice closing in, but they were far too late. She had struck by surprise, they wouldn't arrive in time.

His mind raced, and so did his heart. The sword felt heavy in his hand, yet he could do nothing but hold it in a defensive manner. His stance was wrong, but he had no time to correct it.

The space between them shrank. Deon stood defensively, but that was bound to change soon. Vierenna raised her sword, preparing to strike in a curved motion.

He lowered his sword, hoping to block, and stepped in with his shoulder toward Vierenna, who was rushing at him with lethal speed. He was trying to apply her previous move against Felice to her now.

Her momentum was too great to stop, but she wasn't trying to. Their swords clashed at a low point. Her blade slid along his toward his chest. His own forward momentum did not help his ability to evade.

In a moment of panic, Deon twisted the sword to block with the guard. Somehow, he managed to halt her movement, even if just for a second, with the cost of unbalancing himself. Their eyes met, and she gleamed at him.

Deon's heart sank.

'She about to do something my senses aren't picking up?!'

A thin thread materialized in his vision. It extended from one of her hands on her sword.

For a brief moment, Deon thought she might punch him with that hand, so he prepared to dodge if he could.

But her palm stayed fixed.

Suddenly, Vierenna relinquished her pushing force against Deon. The loss of balance made him stumble toward her. In that instant, she reapplied a higher force at their point of contact and shifted the balance downward as she pleased.

She let Deon fall forward, but the moment he tried to regain his balance—as she had anticipated—she spun around with the grace of a dancer and drove her knee into his jaw. The force of the strike was controlled—just enough to knock him out for a few minutes.

Deon crumpled backward, stunned. His vision blurred and doubled. The metallic tang of blood filled his mouth. Through his hazy eyes, he caught sight of Vierenna moving with lethal precision toward the twins. And so, he knew that he had failed.

This was the problem with the threads! They didn't do anything. They only appeared and disappeared. All they did was distract his focus. The same thing had happened when he attacked her from behind earlier. He could have landed a hit and gained some advantage and momentum. But his curiosity led him to make the wrong decision.

Yet Deon's problem wasn't the skill itself or even the decision.

His true failure lay deeper within himself.

He needed training—a lot of it. He had reached this point solely by relying on his skills, and he would rely on them to improve further.

The last thing Deon saw was the delicate threads emerging from Vierenna's form as she danced gracefully between the twins, delivering precise strikes.

To Deon's dazed vision, her sword flickered like a beautiful painter's brush. The threads from her form were countless, luminous, all pointing upward.

Deon, curious and slightly dazed, lifted his head, following the threads direction.

The sight that greeted him left him in awe. And for a brief second, clarity pierced the haze. But soon after, his consciousness faded away with a single thought.

'Beautiful…'

His head fell back with a thud.

It wasn't long before Vierenna was the only one standing in the arena—As graceful as ever.