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Chapter 498 - Aspen And Jaka

Surprisingly, Armin was not upset. After coming to accept that he stood no chance to win if Eldrian fought for real, he also finally managed to accept and realize why Eldrian was a hero.

Of course, Eldrian had his 'Hero' title active along with 'Modifier' and 'Master of the basics'. Titles weren't things that were easy to come by, making each one something truly amazing. Yet, knowing that something was amazing and knowing why aren't the same. Armin was now learning why.

Having already gotten a feel for Armin's fighting style, Eldrian switched over to magic from here on. Keeping the centaur at least 2 meters from him at all times. If Armin managed to get closer Eldrian could either strike with his spear or cast another spell while letting his control on one of those he controlled slip a little.

Everyone watched the fight in awe, Armin was clearly experienced. He didn't fall for a trick twice, though, often he couldn't prevent them from working simply due to his lacking strength.

Forelegs giving in, Armin yielded. Battered and bruised, and curious if using his own sword would have made a difference.

There was of course a limitation in training weapons in that formation skills (skills that summon elements similar to spells) couldn't be used. Training weapons simply can't stand any mana flow entering them.

Armin mentioned this to Eldrian, piquing his interest. "I didn't consider something like that, since I don't know any formation skills."

Casting a heal and rejuvenation on the bruised centaur, Eldrian asked if he wanted another go with his sword.

Armin was shocked that Eldrian would offer him another match, and especially allow him to use his own weapon. However, he didn't take the offer. He had already learned that it would not be enough to close the distance.

"Thank you, but, I don't think it will give me a much better chance."

Nodding, Eldrian turned to the others and asked who would be next. Something which shocked them as they were certain he would want to rest after such a long fight.

Certainly, the fight had been long and quite draining, Eldrian had used just under 300 mana in all. His regen however had already regenerated over half of that, not using any Tier 4 spells, not even knowing any, meant that the cost of his spells weren't high at all in comparison to his mana pool.

Taking a deep breath, Aspen stepped forward. His beast attributes were hidden at first, but as he readied himself for a beating his pure-white fur quickly covered nearly his entire body. Of course, only the parts not covered by his clothing were visible to others. So they had no idea how far the fur went.

"Are you ready?" Eldrian asked.

"Yes," Aspen nodded and rushed forward, ignoring training weapons and aiming his claws for Eldrian's exposed skin. Even attempting to grapple Eldrian's spear from him or injure his hands.

Eldrian could have just beaten Aspen's hands away or run circles around him, however, that would defeat the purpose of the spar. Quickly, Eldrian learned how hard it was to actually limit his speed and strength.

Especially when he had to limit it to more than half of what his actual abilities were at.

The fight dragged on for a few minutes, during which Eldrian slowly learned better how to limit himself while being under pressure. Aspen's fighting style was certainly unique, and extremely unpredictable.

Throwing his head to the right, Eldrian could feel the wolfkin's claws scraping his cheek. Even drawing a little blood.

"Impressive," Eldrian said with a smile, Aspen reacting immediately. Dodging the ball of ice as soon as Eldrian had started forming it.

'Truly impressive, the ice hadn't even finished forming into a ball. It doesn't even take half a second for that to finish. How fast are his reactions?'

Searching for the answer to this question, Eldrain started pushing back. With Eldrian using magic, Aspen had no chance. His technique of coming in close and person was impossible when a spell could suddenly form basically against his chest. Eldrian continued this pressure for a few minutes before deciding to end it.

Sweeping the wolfkin's feet, Eldrian landed the dull blade of his spear on his neck. Aspen's once pure-white fur was now a dirty brown, and he even sported quite a number of bruises and scrapes. Some of his fur even showed the red of blood.

"Well fought," Eldrian said with a smile, offering his hand and casting a heal and rejuvenating on the wolfkin.

"Truly impressive," Aspen said as he clasped Eldrian's offered hand. "How can you manage to keep control of your spells while fighting?"

"That is indeed a good question. How do you do it?" One of the other Tier 5 centaurs, Jaka, a mage, asked.

"Training and experience, pushing myself to my limit repeatedly," Eldrian replied, thinking back to his training under Zamia and shivering. Indeed, that hadn't just allowed him to gain deeper insight into magic, it had also allowed him to master control.

The answer was an expected one, normally, this would be disappointing. However, to those here, it certainly wasn't. They all believed Eldrian must have a specific method of training, and he must certainly have pushed himself to reach his current level.

The mage pondered Eldrian's reply, thinking back to his answer to how Eldrian could control a simple Tier 1 spell like it had no form. Like he was playing with dirt, but without needing to actually touch the dirt to play with it.

"Can I go next, but, could we have a magic duel?" Jaka, the mage, asked.

Eldrian nodded but asked, "What are the rules for a magic duel?"

"Each person is given time to prepare their spells, once the fight starts, the first to land a hit on the other wins."

"Doesn't that mean I will win?" Eldrian asked, with his cast speed and control that should be the obvious choice.

Jaka looked at Eldrian, searching if he was joking. When he saw that Eldrian wasn't joking he was quite shocked. "Do you not know of magical barriers?"

"That exists?" Eldrian exclaimed in shock.

"You didn't know? Right, that makes sense. It is a Tier 5 spell at the minimum and it only blocks spells. Other attacks, be they physical, or magical-skill-based would pass through the barrier without trouble. This makes it very limiting, especially considering the drain to keep it up."

"I see, so you want a magic duel since if I charge you then you would be unable to defend against that?"

"Indeed," Jaka had no shame in admitting his limitations. As a mage, his focus had never been on fights against a single person. Rather, it had been on controlling the battlefield and most importantly stopping an enemy mage from doing the same.

"Alright, but since I can't have a barrier isn't my defeat then clearly spelled out?"

"Naturally you can dodge, you just can't use physical attacks in a magic duel."

'Why do I feel like this magic barrier has very big limitations?' Eldrian asked himself as he indicated for Jaka to ready himself.

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