Lance Swordplay 5

With a mental nod, I burst forward, using a condensed blast of wind to aid my acceleration. I was doubtful whether we could pull off the sort of coordination we would need to follow through with Sylvie’s plan, but I followed through with her intention.

Cylrit was obviously wary of the gleaming sparks of light surrounding him but his attention remained focused on me as I was the more immediate threat.

I conjured a single blade of ice as I approached the retainer. The spark of light beneath my right foot turned into a panel for me to push off of, allowing me to sharply change my direction. Another spark turned into a platform, and another, until I was dancing around Cylrit fast enough for him to lose track of me briefly.

‘Now! ’ Sylvie expressed.

I pushed off one of the many platforms of mana my bond had conjured directly behind the retainer.

Even without his powerful vacuum ability, however, Cylrit’s reflexes were on par or even above mine. He whirled around, bringing his large sword around at a speed that made me believe his weapon was a hollow toy.

I saw the mana composition changing within his weapon before feeling my blade of ice being sucked in towards the black sword.

As I resisted the force pulling at my conjured weapon, Sylvie triggered one of the sparks of mana hovering nearby.

A blinding beam of pure mana shot out towards Cylrit just as my blade clashed with his. The retainer, unable to alter his weapon’s ability in time, was forced to dodge out of the way.

Sylvie’s attack still managed to glance off his black armor, leaving its mark alongside the small wound I had inflicted on his torso.

We didn’t stop there. I abandoned the ice sword for the countless time and concentrated mana into my fist before swinging hard at my opponent’s face while sending a blast of lightning with my other hand.

Cylrit opted to absorb the blast of lightning while using his own arm to block my fist. While he was pushed back from the force, I conjured a new—even larger—blade than the last one and striked.

Unable to change his ability fast enough, he took the full force of Ice Sword at Mach Twenty-something. The mana around his body negated the brunt of the attack, but by the blood leaking from the corner of Cylrit’s lips, I knew we had landed our first successful attack.

We continued to stay on the offensive, mixing spells with conjured swordplay or attacking with my own hands and feet.