Chapter 125: Chapter 125: Sparring Match (part 2)

A spear of hardened bone shot forward at close range.

Carrion didn’t dodge.

It raised its arm and blocked.

The spear shattered against its armor.

Aiden clicked his tongue.

“Tough.”

Carrion turned, its movement sharp and precise, and swung again.

Aiden stepped back, then forward.

This time, he didn’t retreat.

Necrotic energy gathered around his arm.

“Bone Rend.”

His hand struck forward.

Instead of clashing against armor, the energy slipped through it.

Carrion’s body jerked slightly.

The hit landed deeper than a normal attack.

Aiden felt it.

Direct, but not enough.

Carrion grabbed his arm. Aiden’s eyes widened slightly, the grip tightened like iron. Then Carrion slammed him into the ground.

The impact knocked the air out of Aiden’s lungs.

Before Carrion could follow up, Aiden reacted.

“Bone Armor.”

A layer of bone covered his body just as Carrion’s next strike came down.

The ground cracked again.

Aiden gritted his teeth as the force pushed him deeper into the earth.

This was real strength.

Not something numbers alone could replace.

He raised his hand again.

“Bone Prison.”

Bones erupted from the ground, wrapping around Carrion’s legs and torso, locking it in place.

For a brief moment, it worked.

Then Carrion flexed, and the bones cracked.

A second later, they shattered completely.

Aiden didn’t look surprised. Instead, he smirked.

“Good.”

His body moved again, faster this time.

His movements felt sharper. Cleaner.

He could see Carrion’s attacks more clearly now.

Carrion stepped forward again, throwing another heavy strike.

Aiden didn’t block.

He slipped to the side, barely avoiding it, then stepped in close.

“Bone Rend.”

This time, he aimed for the chest, an the hit landed.

Carrion staggered half a step back, and he didn’t stop.

Aiden pressed forward the moment Carrion staggered, not giving it even a breath to recover. His movements flowed without hesitation now, sharper than before, as if something inside him had finally clicked into place.

Carrion raised its arm again, swinging down with crushing force.

Aiden’s eyes narrowed.

Right before the blow could land, his body flickered.

“Grave Step.”

For a split second, his form blurred, turning faint and half transparent as if he had slipped out of the world itself. The attack passed through where he stood, smashing the ground and sending cracks spreading across the training field.

Aiden reappeared at Carrion’s side.

Close. Too close for a normal fighter.

But that was exactly where he wanted to be.

His hand was already moving.

Bone Rend again. Necrotic energy surged along his arm, dense and violent. He drove it straight into Carrion’s side.

This time, the reaction was different.

Carrion’s body jerked harder, its armored frame letting out a dull, hollow sound as the attack bypassed its outer defense and struck deeper within.

Aiden felt the feedback travel through his arm.

That one went in.

Carrion turned its head toward him, hollow gaze locking onto his position. It didn’t speak, but its intent was clear.

Serious now.

Its movements changed. Faster and, cleaner.

It no longer relied purely on brute force.

Carrion stepped in and struck again, but this time the attack came with precision, aimed directly at Aiden’s center rather than just overwhelming him.

Aiden reacted instantly.

“Bone Shield.”

A curved barrier of hardened bone formed in front of him just as the strike landed.

The impact rang out across the training area.

The shield cracked.

Aiden slid back several steps, boots digging into the ground as he absorbed the force. The moment the shield broke apart into fragments, he was already moving again.

No pause.

No wasted motion.

“Peak body tempering is too damn strong,” Aiden muttered, breathing slightly heavier now.

—

The fight didn’t end in a single exchange.

It dragged on.

Minutes turned into something heavier, something slower, as both of them pushed without holding back. The training ground no longer looked like part of a villa. Cracks spread across the stone floor, some shallow, some deep enough to swallow a foot whole. Fragments of bone were scattered everywhere, broken shields, shattered spears, remnants of prisons that failed to hold.

Thirty minutes.

That was how long it lasted.

By the end of it, Aiden stood a few steps away from Carrion, his chest rising and falling steadily, but heavier than before. Sweat mixed with dust on his skin, his clothes torn in several places. The layer of Bone Armor that had formed and reformed over the course of the fight was long gone, unable to keep up with the constant strain.

Across from him, Carrion remained standing.

Unshaken.

There were marks on its body now. Faint cracks along its armor, small points where Bone Rend had struck through and left damage beneath the surface. But even so, it stood straight, unmoving, like a wall that refused to fall.

Silence settled between them.

Aiden let out a slow breath and lowered his arm.

“…Let’s stop now.”

Carrion obeyed instantly. The tension in its body disappeared as it returned to its usual stillness.

For a moment, Aiden didn’t move.

He just stood there, feeling the aftermath of the fight settle into his body. Every muscle ached. His mana was nearly drained, the familiar hollow feeling spreading through his chest as Necrotic Reservoir ran close to empty.

But his eyes were calm.

Then, slowly, a faint smile appeared on his face.

“…So this is my limit right now.”

He looked at Carrion again, studying it properly this time, not as a commander looking at a subordinate, but as a fighter measuring another.

Carrion was stronger.

There was no doubt about that.

Not just stronger in raw power, but in stability. Every movement it made was solid, efficient, without waste. It didn’t tire. It didn’t hesitate. It didn’t make mistakes unless forced into one.

Even at his best during that thirty minutes, Aiden couldn’t overpower it.

At most, he could push it back.

Force it to react.

And that alone told him everything he needed to know.

Aiden took a few steps forward, stopping just within arm’s reach of Carrion. He lifted his hand slightly, then lowered it again.

“…If you were an enemy,” he muttered, almost to himself, “I’d be dead.”

There was no frustration in his voice.

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