Beast Will 10

I siphoned more mana out of my core, manifesting a gauntlet of ice around my right hand as I struck the black projectile. If I dodged it, the attack would’ve hit Sylvie, but I managed to redirect his surprise attack. Rather, I thought I did.

He pointed a finger down as if he was warning me of something. I couldn’t see Uto’s expression from behind his shadow mask, but I swore I could see him smirking.

Less than a second later, I felt the sharp prick of something against my skin coming up from below me.

With the internal lightning-attribute mana art enhancing my reactions, tapping into the mysterious aether around me, I activated the first phase of my dragon’s will.

Aevum, the control over time. With little mastery and insight over this powerful ability, I was able to briefly stop time around me. Lady Myre had said aether could not be manipulated but rather influenced, but in my case, it felt like I was merely tapping into the influence that Sylvia once had over aevum.

Colors flipped while the purple particles of aether around me violently trembled. Uto, Sylvie and even the black spike almost lodged into my back all stopped abruptly. With Uto’s last attack no longer in motion, I was able to whirl my body to avoid the full brunt of the impact.

Releasing Distortion—what I chose to call phase one—was much like letting out my breath after being underwater until the brink of drowning. I was barely able to gather my wits as the black spike flew up, leaving a large gash on my back rather than a gaping hole.