Colt’s eyes widened when Paul used a spell for the first time. Ten golden swords appeared and circled Paul’s body. Those swords slashed William’s arrows while Paul used his dual wooden blades to intercept Arthur’s attacks!
Colt could barely believe what he was seeing. However, as the battle drew on, he realised Paul would often pivot in ways so he could see what William was doing. ‘Those swords, Paul is controlling them with his mind even while fighting Arthur!’ He found it hard to imagine the level of concentration someone would need to apply that technique like Paul was.
‘I’ve only just learnt this in the past few days. But it takes everything I have to manipulate four bolts of lightning.’ Colt silently shook his head when he had that thought. However, watching Paul in action sparked his determination. If he could master even the early stages of Paul’s technique, his combat potential would skyrocket.
Arthur narrowly avoided a blow to the head as he ducked under Paul’s blade. At that moment, Arthur revealed a grin as he slashed towards Paul’s exposed hip. However, the latter spun on his left heel away from the blade as his second sword deflected the blow.
Clay gasped as William unleashed twenty arrows for his next assault. His hands waved through the air like an orchestra conductor as his spells reacted to those movements. Clay’s eyes narrowed when he saw that. ‘He isn’t like Paul. He’s using his body to help with his control.’
Mike had his own thoughts about that situation. ‘He can only afford to do that because Arthur is covering for him. It seems like each of them only managed to master one part of Paul’s teachings. So both of them are incomplete when taken separately.’ Mike was studying that battle with the intention of creating tactics they could deploy when the time came to face Camelot themselves.
Cammie noticed that their methods of using their spells had something in common with her Authority. She realised the way she used her spells resembled what the trio were doing. That made her wonder if her spells acted as some kind of training method for that technique.
Paul drove Arthur back before raising an eyebrow when one of his golden swords was destroyed. A quick glance revealed that William had used three arrows to attack the spell directly from different directions. Which allowed him to overcome that troublesome ability.
“It seems you’ve learned something in these years, William,” Paul shouted with a tone full of praise. “But will it be enough?”
Colt nodded on the sidelines as William’s expression turned cold. He knew that William’s DP had to be running out after launching so many spells. ‘Once Arthur goes down, or William is unable to support him, then Paul will win this fight.’ Colt could hardly believe that their instructor was capable of holding off both of them on his own.
That was when something surprising happened. Arthur raised his sword overhead, and a golden orb flew from it to strike William in the chest! The latter revealed a cruel grin when that happened and Mike cursed. Colt glanced at his brother for an explanation.
“William’s health didn’t go down, which means Arthur probably transferred some of his DP to him.” Mike sighed as the others chatted among themselves about what that meant. They tried to figure out if they could do similar things with their own abilities or combine them to support each other.
Although Colt was focused on the fight, he was glad to hear his teammates learning something from it. ‘I’m sure Mike will come up with something.’ Colt thought as he noticed the serious expression on his brother’s face.
Arthur and Paul continued to exchange blows, but every few exchanges saw a chunk of Arthur’s health disappearing. Only two of Paul’s golden swords hung in the air now while William had seven arrows left. At that moment, both swords shattered as the final arrow raced to strike Paul unimpeded.
Colt wanted to scream a warning, but a smile had appeared on Paul’s face. “You guys never learn.”
Paul deflected Arthur’s sword and hooked his own behind Arthur’s neck. A quick tug pulled Arthur off balance and directly into the path of the arrow! William grunted as he managed to make it pull up at the last second, but that moment of distraction was all Paul needed. A loud beep sounded in the training hall, signalling the end of the battle for Arthur!
Paul raced toward his remaining opponent as Arthur walked off the mats covered in sweat. Colt could see that Arthur was breathless as he joined them by the wall. Arthur shook his head at Colt’s gaze before turning to watch how William would handle Paul alone.
William lashed out with his wooden staff before twisting his body to avoid the sword aimed at his chest. Paul’s eyes went wide as three more arrows suddenly appeared and struck him before he had a chance to react! Colt gasped as it was the first time he had seen Paul take any damage!
William used that chance to strike Paul with his staff. However, his joyous expression turned to ash when he noticed ten more swords surrounding Paul. Arthur shook his head when he saw that.
“William should have realised he was holding something back.” Arthur sighed as the ten blades launched attacks from all directions.
When William only had a slight bit of health left, Paul called off the swords before rushing William with an onslaught of slashes and lunges. Colt grimaced as he watched that display. It was clear to him that Paul wanted William to suffer physically, hence the reason for calling off his spells.
The beeping noise sounded again as Paul finished William off with a double overhead slash that struck at each of his shoulders. William immediately dropped the staff and screamed. Everyone’s expressions turned pale at that sound as Arthur rushed to William’s side. As he inspected him he turned to Paul with an angry expression on his face.
“What have you done?” Arthur asked with some panic in his voice.
“Believe it or not, I’ve helped him,” Paul said as he shrugged his shoulders. “He won’t be able to move those arms for a while. Don’t forget what you promised. I don’t want to see the name Lancelot being used again.”
Arthur wore an ugly expression as he helped William toward the doors. However, before the duo could leave, Paul had one last thing to say.
“Oh, and you really shouldn’t have held back.”
Colt saw the grim expression on Arthur’s face before they disappeared into the hallway. His mind was still reeling from seeing Paul defeat the pair of them together. However, Paul’s parting words triggered a realisation. ‘Arthur was holding back so we wouldn’t lose Paul. He wanted this result!’
Colt sighed when he had that thought as everyone rushed to congratulate Paul on his victory. However, Paul could not seem to manage a smile as he thanked those around him. Colt was lost in his own thoughts as he replayed the battle in his mind. He had been shown a glimpse of the next level of combat and he did not want to forget a second of it.
“Colt,” Paul said when he noticed his expression. “Don’t get lost in your thoughts. Trying to imitate us won’t lead to your own style. You’ll have to discover that for yourself.”
“I thought your technique was the complete version though?” Colt replied as a confused expression appeared on his face.
“No,” Paul sighed as a sad smile appeared on his face. “I can only control that many spells because they were close to me. I always lose control when they get too far away.”
‘So William is actually better at controlling them than Paul is. But he can’t fight and use them at the same time unless it’s for a sudden attack that doesn’t require his concentration.’ Colt sighed when he realised that. ‘Arthur, on the other hand, learned his close combat from Paul. He only showed his mental control when he sent his spell to William to replenish his DP.’
Colt silently wondered how good Arthur’s control was since he had not really shown it during the battle. ‘They’re going to be tougher to face than I thought. I never knew how strong they really were.’
Colt silently made plans to train with Paul as much as possible before the game started up again. He felt like it would be the key to succeeding against Nar’Kozz. ‘I’ll need to push myself to reach Tier 2 as well. I want to know what secrets it holds.’ Colt’s expression turned grim when he realised he missed his chance to ask Arthur about it.
However, neither Arthur nor Colt were aware that someone else had beaten them to the punch. In a different training hall belonging to another team, twenty people were busy sparring with the same methods Paul, Arthur and William had displayed.
However, nineteen of them were facing off against one! The training hall was full of spells as golden claws ripped through the air to tear them apart! The woman responsible for fending off the nineteen attackers wore a calm expression on her face as she used twin fans to redirect the next nine spells that came her way. Each of them flew off to strike someone else and several beeps announced that they had run out of health.
The area around the woman seemed to be a safe zone, as every spell that came within reach soon found itself flying away from the beauty at the centre. ‘This is so boring.’ The woman thought as she stared at her father analysing her battle. ‘Maybe he’ll back off if I defeat Arthur and Merlin.’
An absent-minded expression appeared on her face as she effortlessly danced around the physical attacks launched at her. ‘Then again, Exile wouldn’t be so bad either…’