Re: Timeless Apocalypse-Chapter 57: Spar

But for different reasons.

Uriel was shocked because the details of Ayah’s Spark eerily reminded him of an idea he’d almost forgotten, an idea he’d had before meeting Persephone... one related to Spark Hunters.

On the other hand, Enoch was simply floored by the sheer potential he could already see.

Just what were the limits of her contracting ability? Did their power also passively extend to her, meaning she’d become a one-woman army? Did her spark create a space where she could nurture her contracts and store them?

Was this where her summons were coming from? Where did her summons come from? What were the limits of what she could summon? How could—

The questions were endless.

Ayah almost frowned as she felt both of their hungry gazes fall on her. She sneered, then continued.

"My status also says I have dormant sparks, of other types, and since I couldn’t find anything about their details, I don’t know what they do."

Enoch nodded, not surprised in the least.

"That’s fine. Don’t bother with them for now. Focus on your natal spark."

"My Spark, as you know, can help me tell lies from truths, and when someone lies to me, I can turn their lies into small creatures known as Lie Eaters."

"I can do whatever I want with them. Amongst other things."

His abode mark flashed, and a longsword appeared in his grasp, simple and unassuming.

Ayah’s mark flashed as well. A pair of thick gauntlets fitted onto her slender hands, heavy and metallic, followed by a huge greatsword, half a head longer than she was, forged of dark, rusty steel.

She wielded it as if it were a feather.

"We’ll spar lightly, with intensity, but let’s avoid serious injuries for now," Enoch said. "The goal is to understand each other’s abilities and how we can synergise."

"I’ll also come up with a way for you to rapidly maximise your talents, and maybe help you develop a few techniques."

"Alright?"

She nodded.

WHOOSH!

They didn’t immediately move or attack one another, simply staring each other down.

Enoch was impossibly calm, almost casual, his grip on his sword loose and his stance entirely neutral, his core and aether left unprimed.

He was the epitome of loose simplicity.

Ayah, on the other hand, seemed far more tense, her senses picking up on the way the atmospheric aether coiled and moved around Enoch, ready to bend to his whims at any moment.

She wasn’t anywhere near Uriel in terms of aether sensitivity, but compared to most, she was leagues beyond.

Her grip tightened around her greatsword, and her aether cycled through her veins at such speeds that each droplet of rain falling onto her body turned to steam, her internal temperature reaching an all-time high.

"..."

Enoch took a step forward.

CLANK!

Ayah’s eyes widened. Before she could react, her guard was shattered, her chest exposed. She was even slower to respond as a knee tore into her stomach and sent her flying.

She rapidly rolled onto her feet, just in time to cross her massive sword over herself, blocking a falling cleave from Enoch that sent sparks flying through the air.

He struck down, then pushed, and she felt her arms shake and buckle under the weight.

She was a bit taller than Enoch and had nearly as much muscle as him—she was heavier, too—yet in that moment, she felt as though he might as well have been a mountain of flesh.

KAH!

With a low roar, she pushed and parried his sword aside, instantly stepping back and furiously creating distance.

But Enoch was simply too fast.

She hadn’t even taken more than a dozen steps before he was already there, appearing at the edge of her vision like a surging shadow, his blade rising from soil to sky, aiming to cut her chest open.

At that moment, as she noticed the fading sparks of lightning at his feet, she understood.

’His class lets him move like lightning...’

BANG!

She jerked back, barely missing the life-ending upward slice he launched, and yet the sheer compression of air from his strike alone was enough to send her flying.

’...and he has the explosive power of fire.’

She slid across the garden, leaving trench marks gouged deep into the soil. Out of breath, she was finally given a moment of respite as Enoch didn’t pursue.

She straightened and exhaled.

He smiled. "Excellent senses, I’ll say. But if you don’t use your Spark, you’ll lose."

He suddenly swung at empty air.

She flinched, then relaxed, before her eyes widened as she noticed the rushing wave of folded aether hurtling toward her.

An arc of condensed aether.

It began as a small, curled, wavering crescent, then grew and grew until all she could see was a rapidly approaching wall of white, a soul-shuddering sea of aether.

All from a simple swing.

Her spark reacted on instinct.

Behind her, a massive gate of steel manifested, flung open as a large emerald eagle soared forth.

Its cry pierced the air.

Instantly, a temporary contract formed between them, and the eagle fused into her body.

SHA!

Long, feathered, dark-emerald wings tore from her back, proudly unfurling to fill the skies. Her eyes turned yellow, her hands and feet sharpening into talons.

Around her, thick, powerful gusts of emerald wind gathered and swam, forming a cyclone that surged forward to meet the incoming wave head-on.

BANG!

White and green collided, cancelling each other out. Within the rising dust, the clangor of steel rang as Ayah and Enoch met and clashed once more.

This time, aided by her wings, able to move through space like a fish through water, and with talons that could seemingly grip and launch off flowing waves of aether, she matched his speed. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Her enhanced physique allowed her to move and swing her blade with an agility and dexterity that defied sense, her aether flowing from cell to cell with a fluidity and speed no human could fathom.

Enoch matched her easily.

He was fast, but more than that, he was skilled in a way that made raw physical power a mere afterthought.

He swung not with the strength of his flesh, but by drawing upon flowing streams of aether in the air, striking with the echoing might of the world itself.

He gracefully parried Ayah’s violent, heavy cleaves, repeatedly shattering her balance and smoothly flowing into counters that left more blunt bruises across her body than he cared to count.

Second by second, Ayah summoned more and more contracts, pushed to her limits by Enoch’s curiosity and overwhelming might.

They blurred across the garden, aether exploding and steel clashing.