The sun hung high in the clear sky. The earlier clash had scarred the land with wide fractures and deep trenches even with the formations in place. Yet the two figures showed no signs of slowing down. For several hours, they had been locked in a duel that would have annihilated multiple islands if fought anywhere else.

BOOOOM!

The island shook again, and a plume of dust rose from the far side of the rocky terrain as Arthur shot backward like a fired projectile, crashing through a stone ridge and leaving a crater shaped almost exactly like his body. He lay there for a second, not because he was hurt, but because he needed a moment to gather his thoughts.

Or, well… he needed a moment to cope with the fact that he had just been folded like a lawn chair for the hundredth time in the last three hours.

Arthur wiped a smear of blood from the corner of his lip. In truth, he was sure if any of the blows he’d taken were received by any Transcended rank expert they would have been easily killed, his regeneration was working overtime just to keep up with Steve’s overwhelming physical superiority.

The longer the spar dragged on, the more one simple fact became painfully clear. He couldn’t land a proper hit on Steve, not even once. But he was not disappointed because his strength was continuously growing as the fight dragged on.

Arthur didn’t lack strength; on the contrary, he could shatter mountains with a punch. But Steve wasn’t meeting him head-on. The older man had mastered two overpowered abilities, Dimensional Magic and Temporal Manipulation, that allowed him to dismantle Arthur’s offense with casual ease, almost mockingly so.

If Arthur tried to punch him, the force was sent into an entirely different dimension, making it harmless. If Arthur tried to restrain him, time itself bent around Steve, making Arthur’s speed meaningless.

Still, he refused to quit. He groaned and peeled himself off the rock. “I’m starting to think you’re enjoying this more than you should.”

Steve, who was floating in the air with his hands behind his back like this was a casual stroll, shrugged. “Well, you challenged this old man to a spar, you shouldn’t complain when I teach you a lesson.”

Arthur dusted his clothes. “Yeah, yeah.”

But even as he said it, a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. This pressure was exactly what made him grow.

And Steve knew it, which was why the old monster wasn’t holding back.

…

Arthur shook out his arms as the air crackled around him, the ground started trembling underneath him due to the pressure created by Aether. “Again,” he said in a firm voice.

Across from him, Steve straightened slightly, amusement flickering across his face. “You’re going to fall over if I tap you again, lad.”

Arthur rolled his shoulders. “Do you think I am that fragile? I agree that I wasn’t able to injure you.” He then spread his arms wide as if to show his body and continued with a grin, “See, I don’t have a single injury on me either.”

Steve laughed loudly, the sound echoing across the barren island. “Well, I can agree with that, you are one tenacious son of a gun.” Then he gestured for Arthur to come at him. “Go on. Show me what you’ve got left.”

Arthur didn’t need further invitation.

With a surge of power, he launched himself forward, his aura surging like a storm. Rocks shattered under the pressure waves, the air warping around him as he closed in, preparing a punch strong enough to pulverize a mountain range.

But Steve simply raised his hand.

Arthur’s fist met his palm, and all the force behind it vanished, siphoned into another dimension. Arthur exhaled sharply and landed on the balls of his feet, skidding across the ground as he struggled to maintain balance from the sudden shift.

He had tried attacking Steve from different angles, with Aether reinforcement, Chi amplification, telekinesis, even with his Density Manipulation ability, but the result was always the same. Every force-based attack simply dispersed.

Arthur stepped back, while furrowing his brows. He needed something else to overcome this ability.

For the hundredth time, he tried to analyze Steve’s abilities. Dimensional redirection required incredible precision and timing; Steve wasn’t simply absorbing force, he was displacing it into another plane. Arthur had no idea how many such dimensional pockets Steve could maintain at once, but he suspected the man could juggle dozens without breaking a sweat.

‘Then there’s the Temporal Domain…’

Arthur clenched his jaw at the memory. That had been the worst part of the fight, the moment Steve had activated it, the world around Arthur slowed to a crawl. His punches felt like they were moving through cement, his body failing to react even as he watched Steve move freely within the slowed field.

Arthur had been using warp to get out of the Temporal Domain, but he was not always successful as Steve had already seen his trick. But it was the only way he was able to defend himself.

Selene and Eveline watched from a distance above the battlefield, a protective dome standing between them and the absolute mayhem unfolding on the island below. Each time Arthur and Steve clashed, the dome rippled like water struck by a stone. Selene’s eyes were narrowed with a mix of awe and concern.

“He’s been hit so many times…” she whispered, though she knew Arthur wasn’t truly injured.

Eveline folded her arms and tilted her head. “Your grandfather is going easy on him. If he wasn’t, Arthur would be buried under this island by now.” Then she sighed, shaking her head lightly. “Men… completely incapable of doing anything quietly or with moderation.”

Selene huffed in agreement but kept watching intently.

Back on the ground, Arthur inhaled deeply and spread his awareness again. Each time he clashed with Steve, he learned something new. In the last three hours he had been sharpening his mastery over Spatial Manipulation and finally it leveled up, and he was waiting for the right moment to use them.

If only his Spatial Manipulation was of higher level then he could have created a pocket dimension (a separate space-time) and isolate Steve or protect himself from temporal effects thus allowing him to attack Steve. But these applications needed a much higher level of mastery over Spatial Manipulation. 

He raised his hand and unleashed a concentrated spatial slash, a blade of sharpened, folded space, sharp enough to cut through almost anything. It flickered like a translucent crescent, curving toward Steve with lethal intent.

Steve simply stepped to the side.

Arthur’s attack dissected a mountain behind him.

“Really?” Steve asked with a deadpan expression. “You think I can’t see that coming?”

Arthur didn’t reply, he was too busy chaining three more space blades, each slicing from a blind spot. But they were all avoided by Steve, not a single one of them landed on him.

Arthur narrowed his eyes, seeing Steve not allowing the space blades to land on him. Something clicked on his mind, since Steve transfers attacks to a separate dimension, it might be vulnerable to spatial attacks.

He believed Steve was not maintaining that Dimensional Magic all the time, as these kinds of power consumes huge amounts of energy, so he wanted to take him by surprise using the new move.

Teleportation.

He’d been trying to force it earlier with brute force, but he hadn’t truly grasped it. But now that his Spatial Manipulation has leveled up he was going to use it.

Teleportation wasn’t a linear movement, which makes it unpredictable to most. It was taking advantage of the natural folds and layers of reality and repositioning oneself.

“Alright,” Arthur murmured, steadying himself. “Let’s try something new.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Planning something?”

Arthur didn’t answer. His aura expanded like a rolling wave, the air distorted as he bent space around himself. The threads of reality tugged against his consciousness, slippery, unstable, and painfully complex.

He pushed harder and the world around him blurred.

Steve blinked in surprise. “Oh…”

Arthur vanished and appeared beside Steve, with a kick aimed at his jaw.

Steve blocked it, but barely. His palm met Arthur’s heel, and though he redirected some of the force by activating Dimensional Magic at the last moment, he still slid backward across the ground.

Arthur dropped to the ground and vanished again and reappeared behind Steve.

He teleported again, this time sideways, then diagonally downward, then in a spiraling pattern that created overlapping afterimages across the battlefield. Dust and wind scattered violently, distorting the air as he bounced across multiple points in space.

Selene gasped from far away. “He’s getting faster!”

Eveline nodded, impressed. “He’s starting to stitch the movements together properly. Good, the boy learns quickly.”

Below them, Arthur kept teleporting, forcing Steve to adjust repeatedly. Each teleport was smoother, taking less time to initiate than the last. Soon, after a dozen relocations, his movements looked almost natural. 

“That’s more like it!” Steve laughed, excitement seeping into his voice. “But you still aren’t fast enough.”

He snapped his fingers, and time slowed around him.

Arthur gritted his teeth and teleported out of the Temporal Domain. 

Steve asked in surprise. “…You broke out?”

Arthur smirked. “Seems like it.”

Steve narrowed his eyes, clearly impressed. “Alright, lad. Let’s see how far you can take this.”

Arthur didn’t hesitate, he lunged at Steve.

The fight exploded again but this time, Arthur wasn’t being tossed around helplessly. He teleported around Steve, dodged punches, and stepped out of the Temporal Domain when Steve activated it.

Steve grinned widely. “This is more like it!”

Arthur teleported mid-punch, reappearing behind Steve. He aimed a space blade at the back of Steve’s ribs, but Steve twisted and avoided it.

Steve tried to grab his arm, but he teleported again escaping the grip before Steve could crush his wrist.

They clashed mid-air, teleporting between blows. Shockwaves cracked across the sky, the fight was no longer one-sided.

Steve stepped back just as Arthur reappeared a few meters away, panting lightly. “Good progress,” he commented. “You’re starting to get the hang of it.”

Arthur wiped dust from his cheek. “Still not landing a hit though.”

Steve shrugged. “You need more than that to beat me, but you have progressed a lot.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “You sound like some wise old hermit.”

Steve grinned. “I am a wise old hermit. I just happen to be extremely handsome.”

Arthur snorted after hearing him.

Then Steve clapped his hands once, and the air stiffened. “Ready for the final phase?”

Arthur braced himself instinctively. “What?”

Steve said cheerfully. “Now I teach you how to escape temporal collapse without relying on Aether alone.”

Before Arthur could respond, time around him seized.

Everything froze except for Steve. The sound, the wind, the falling dust, everything stopped moving. Arthur found himself trapped again within the slowed domain, but this time the pressure was extremely heavier, he tried to teleport out of the domain, but to his surprise he found he couldn’t.

Steve walked up to him, his steps echoing unnaturally loud in the distorted space.“Listen carefully. You need to learn to slip through temporal seams… not break them.”

Arthur felt the temporal pressure tighten like a vice. The slowed field began compressing, trying to lock him completely. His mind racing to find a way out.

‘Slip through the seam… not break it…’

He forced himself to feel the field of temporal distortion, not fight it. The slowed time felt like thick layers of fabric draped over reality. If he could find a thin part… a weak part…

Just then he sensed some part of the domain was not as strong, they were extremely few and small but was enough. He focused on it, ignoring the strain on his consciousness, and pulled the space around him toward them.

Reality folded and Arthur teleported out of the domain.

He reappeared behind Steve, who smiled without looking back. “Good, again.”

And so it continued for a few more hours.

Finally, the sun had dipped beneath the sea and the island was littered with kilometers of shattered terrain.

High above the battlefield, Selene let out a relieved sigh and Eveline crossed her arms with amazement.

She watched as Arthur stood up again, determination still burning in his eyes despite the hours of defeat. “He’ll surpass Steve soon,” she murmured and together with Selene landed on the island.

***

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