The air between Evolis and Orion vibrated with intensity.
The warm-up was over.
Orion rolled his shoulders, the easy smirk on his face replaced by something sharper. He was finally going to go all out.
"Alright, kid," he exhaled, flexing his fingers. "That was cute. But if you think that was my best—"
BOOM.
Before Evolis could blink, Orion was gone.
He barely caught the shift in Etherion—the ripple in space, the flicker of movement—
And then—
PAIN.
A devastating punch crashed into his gut, folding him like paper. His feet left the ground, as he flew into the air. Evolis barely coughed before—
CRACK.
A knee slammed into his jaw. His head snapped back, vision flashing white.
He flew backwards, the sheer force of the attack causing him to be on the brink of unconsciousness.
'What the fuck! He was holding back this much?!' Evolis was a bit optimistic to think he could go toe to toe with a master rank individual, but to his credit if it was a normal Advanced stage individual they would have been a stain of blood on the forest floor.
The trees blurred past him before—
BOOM.
He crashed into the earth, a crater forming beneath him. His entire ribcage screamed.
He coughed out blood, as his body screamed for him to stop fighting.
'What the hell—?'
He had been keeping up before, why was it so different now?
He tried to move—
But Orion was already there.
The palm of his hand slammed into his back, sending him further into the crater.
The earth shook from the force.
Aeliana's sharp silver eyes narrowed from the sidelines. This was different.
Orion wasn't playing anymore.
He had been testing Evolis before. Seeing how quickly he would adjust, how well he could react.
But now?
Now, he was overwhelming him completely.
Aeliana's grip tightened at her sides.
This was necessary.
She knew that.
Evolis needed this fight to temper himself, to fully grasp the power he had gained.
But still…
Her sharp silver eyes flickered between the two combatants.
Orion's movements were calculated, honed.
Each attack flowed into the next with flawless efficiency. No wasted energy, no unnecessary movement.
It wasn't just speed.
It was technique.
A level of control Evolis simply didn't have yet.
Her gaze shifted to Evolis.
His style was different.
Raw, instinctive, unpredictable.
A battle between experience and adaptation.
And at the moment, experience was winning.
Orion disappeared—then reappeared in front of Evolis, his fist crashing into his ribs again.
Evolis spat blood.
Aeliana exhaled through her nose. Frustration.
She hated seeing him on the backfoot.
But she could see, he was struggling, refusing to break, and trying to break past the limit of what should be possible.
It was infuriating for her because she didn't like seeing him get this hurt. Even she didn't realize how close she'd grown to him.
She bit her lip.
'Why doesn't he just give up?'
Evolis groaned, pushing himself up—
But Orion didn't give him time.
He picked Evolis up from his hair and threw him slightly backward, then launched a brutal kick to the side of his head, causing Evolis' body to spin in the air.
Then before Evolis could begin to recover he felt a kick land on his spine, causing it to snap.
He flew through the air then landed on the ground unable to move.
"ORIO-" Before Aeliana could even stop Orion.
"He needs to learn Aeliana, he can't keep expecting to win fights just because he's talented." Aeliana wasn't able to retort, "At this point he's virtually a brat raised in a greenhouse, he's only gone against people who he was certain he could defeat, he has virtually no fighting experience... but what about someone he has absolutely no chance against... someone who has way more experience than him?"
While they were talking they didn't notice that Evolis wasn't despairing... in fact he even had a smile on his face.
Some may ask if he had masochistic tendencies, but the truth was much different. Evolis hadn't really been in a real difficult battle ever since he awakened, and even before he awakened he fought against students who were weaker than him and Gaius never fought seriously enough to properly injure him. So this... this was the first time Evolis realized he might just be a battle maniac.
His blood thrummed, vibrating with intensity, as he felt a feeling of thrill he'd never felt before.
'So this is what it's like... to be on the losing side'
Evolis wasn't just losing.
He wasn't even getting a chance to fight back.
Orion was like a storm, relentless, raining down blows from every angle, each strike heavier, faster, more refined than the last.
It was a battle-hardened warrior against someone still learning to wield his newfound power.
And Evolis was drowning.
But he felt like he was getting closer to completing something. His Plantae affinity was storing the energy and using it to supercharge his healing. But what if... what if he didn't use it for his healing and instead kept storing it up?
Evolis' spine healed through his body's regeneration, and he slowly stood up, his body swaying from exhaustion.
Even with his insane energy reserves, his Etherion was beginning to run out.
He looked up at Orion.
Orion had expected to see a kid who didn't know when to give up, maybe some unfounded arrogance. But... what he saw in Evolis' eyes wasn't arrogance, or a sense of conceited strength. He saw a raw, cold, calculating look in his eyes, like someone who was analyzing how to break something down, but all he focused on was the fact that Evolis didn't look like he was giving up anytime soon.
Orion launched a spinning kick—
Evolis barely managed to block.
His body was on fire.
Every inch of him burned, bruised, battered—
And yet—
He wasn't panicking.
He was adjusting.
His Gravity Core pulsed. The moment Orion struck him, he instinctively redirected the force, spreading it across his body.
His Spatial Core flickered. His dodges became a fraction of a second faster, his movements more precise.
And his Plantae Core... it seemed like it might be taking the centre stage this fight.
Each impact, each hit— his body absorbed the energy. But this time it didn't convert it.
His wounds didn't heal.
His fractured bones creaked under stress as his body worked hard to keep them together,.
Orion's fist kept up the pressure, exploiting every opening Evolis had.
His fists kept hammering against Evolis' body, but... something was strange.
Evolis' body was like a black hole.
It kept absorbing his blows but something had changed, Evolis' body wasn't healing anymore. Orion could see that the damage he was dealing was staying there, healing at a slower pace than before Orion had broken his spine.
Evolis wasn't even dodging anymore, it seemed as if he had completely foregone defense and had started to attack regardless of what Orion threw at him.
Orion ignored whatever he was trying to do as it would be useless. He was a Master Stage cultivator, there was no way he was going to lose to an Advanced Stage.
He punched Evolis' gut, and immediately he found a fist appearing before his vision, which he barely dodged.
And before he could react Evolis hit him in the side of his ribs, causing him to slightly stumble to the side.
He spat out a bit of blood, before engaging him again.
As usual he used his speed to shift behind Evolis, and threw a punch at the back of his head, hoping to knock him out and end the spar.
But this time Evolis turned, and because of this Orion's punch landed on his face.
'Sorry Evolis, but it looks like you won't be able to kiss Aeliana for a while.' he chuckled as he thought.
Yet... as his punch landed, Evolis didn't take a step back. Orion's mind raced, it felt like he had hit a steel plate.
"Wha-"
Evolis grabbed Orion's fist.
"You didn't actually think I was letting myself get hit for the sake of getting hit did you?" Evolis spat a bit of blood to the side.
"You know my plantae element can absorb energy right? So you must be wondering why my body isn't healing right? Well... if the energy I'm absorbing isn't going to my healing where do you think it's going?"
Orion could feel it now... the sheer unadulterated Etherion roving off in waves coming from Evolis' body. He could literally see Evolis' skin cracking and splintering due to the sheer power it was trying to withhold.
"To be honest I can't maintain this energy for long, but that doesn't matter since you let yourself get so close to me." Orion's eyes widened.
"So since you gave me such a nice present... don't you think I should return one back?"
Before Orion could even process the words, he felt Evolis move. His fist, with billowing waves of Etherion approached, concentric circles of wind generating from the sheer speed it was approaching at. Orion didn't even have time to put up a defense.
He felt an impact on his chest, as his body stayed still for a small moment. But then, as if the world was registering the power of Evolis' blow, Orion's body folded and blasted backwards as he cut through trees. A massive shockwave erupted from the point of impact causing his ear drums to rupture.
He skipped on the forest ground and then his body hit a cliff face, embedding itself in it.
The cliff face ruptured and cracked, causing massive boulder-like rocks to break off of it.
Silence.
Evolis stood unsteady, his breath ragged, his body swaying. He looked at Orion, whose eyes had rolled back as he slumped against the cracked cliffside, completely unconscious.
He had won. He should feel victorious.
Instead, his body was failing him.
His legs trembled violently, refusing to hold his weight. His arms felt foreign, too heavy, like leaden weights dragging him down. Every inch of his skin burned, cracked from the sheer Etherion he had just unleashed. His vision pulsed, dark spots creeping in from the edges.
He tried to take a step forward—but his knees buckled.
A sharp breath left his lips as he barely caught himself. His body screamed in protest, every muscle locking up, refusing to obey.
'I can't… move.'
His breathing turned shallow. It felt like the world was tilting beneath him, his equilibrium shattered. His cores, which had been burning so brightly just moments ago, now flickered like dying embers.
The overwhelming power he had stored was gone. Used. Expended.
He clenched his jaw, forcing his body to remain upright, to push past the exhaustion.
But his body refused.
His fingertips tingled with numbness, his head pounding like war drums inside his skull. He tried to focus, to pull himself together—but the world blurred.
He blinked.
His knees buckled again.
This time, there was no stopping it.
His vision darkened at the edges, his body tilting forward.
"Aeliana," he rasped weakly, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I-If you don't catch me, no massage for you." He could barely talk, but he couldn't give up such a perfect chance to tease Aeliana.
Aeliana, whose mouth had dropped at what she had just seen, quickly snapped out of her reverie and appeared before him in an instant.
His consciousness slipped.
His body fell into her arms as he passed out, as this had been the first time he'd been pushed so far past his limits, and his body which had struggled to keep up finally couldn't take it anymore.
She caught him just before he hit the ground.
"Idiot," she muttered, her arm tightening around his battered form, as she brushed his hair from his face. "Why would you push yourself so hard for a stupid spar?"
But he was already unconscious, his face pale, his breath faint.
Her silver eyes softened, but her grip on him only tightened.
He wasn't getting out of a lecture after this.
---
Evolis slowly woke up, he felt something soft under his head but he wasn't sure what it was.
He looked up as he saw two blurry, large objects. His head still hurt from the spar and he was still groggy, but something about those two objects felt like a calling to him, as if he might find a long lost treasure there. Like a valiant hero in a dragon's nest, he prepared himself to steal the dragon's eggs.
It seemed like the dragon hadn't noticed he'd woken up yet so this was the perfect chance to accomplish his mission.
His arms made their way forward, careful to not alert the dragon, and as quick as he could, he tried grabbing the eggs.
"Ngnhhh." He froze as heard a soft moan. 'This isn't what a dragon is supposed to sound like.'
"Do you want to die so soon after your spar?" He heard a deathly cold voice.
His body shivered as if a cold bucket had been plunged on him.
Evolis' brain finally started to function properly, the fog in his mind clearing. His vision sharpened, and he finally realized—
His head was resting on something warm. Something soft.
His instincts screamed at him to remain absolutely still, but his curiosity—and his sheer stupidity—forced him to move.
The moment he tilted his head up, his golden eyes locked onto silver ones.
Aeliana's face.
Flushed.
Deep red.
Her lips were pressed together, her silver hair cascading around her shoulders as she glared down at him like she was seconds away from snapping his neck.
Evolis swallowed.
Then, like a fool, he opened his mouth.
"…I'm not dead, right?"
Her fingers twitched.
"I can change that," she muttered darkly.
Evolis barely had time to blink before a sharp pinch could be felt on his side.
"Ow!" He winced, rubbing the spot. "What was that for?"
"For being a pervert the moment you woke up." Her eyes narrowed. "Do you think I didn't feel exactly what you were doing before you woke up fully?"
Evolis coughed. "I—uh, I was just making sure I wasn't hallucinating."
Aeliana gave him a look.
Steam could practically be seen radiating from her head, but whether it was from embarrassment or frustration, Evolis wasn't sure.
"…You can get up now," she muttered.
Evolis, who was far too comfortable, grinned. "Or I could stay."
Aeliana grabbed his collar.
"Or," she said sweetly, "I can help you get up."
He didn't like the glint in her eye.
"…I'll get up."
Wise choice.
Just as he sat up properly, rolling his sore shoulders, another groan of discomfort sounded from nearby.
"I hate everything," Orion grumbled, shifting uncomfortably from his pile of rocks.
Evolis turned, raising a brow at the man's completely disheveled state. Orion looked like he had been thrown onto the uneven terrain, his arms and legs sprawled at odd angles.
"Man, what the hell," Orion grumbled, wincing as he propped himself up on an elbow. "I wake up in this, and meanwhile you wake up on a soft pair of thighs?" His glare sharpened. "Tell me, Evolis, what kind of special treatment bullshit is this?"
Evolis, in response, stretched with an exaggerated sigh. "Mmm. I dunno. Maybe because I'm just that charming?"
Aeliana let out a sharp scoff, shoving his head away from her lap as she stood up. "Keep talking and I'll let Orion knock you unconscious again."
Orion smirked. "Oh, I like that idea."
Orion then turned to look at Evolis, "By the way what was that?"
"Hm? What are you talking about?"
"That last move you did during the spar, I can still feel my energy in a disarray after being hit by that punch."
"Oh, all I did was store the energy from all your attacks and instead of using it to heal, I just unleashed that energy against you with a punch."
Orion just stared at him, "You do realize that requires you to split your focus, so that not only can you accurately guide the energy and store it instead of healing, but so that your body also just doesn't explode from the sheer amount of energy it's containing right?"
"Well yeah? I mean it wasn't that difficult." Orion couldn't believe how nonchalant he was being about this and just shook his head.
"It's a pretty cool final move though, if i'm ever in a situation where I'm facing someone way stronger than me and I can't escape, then it's the perfect way to beat them. The only downside is I might be out of commission for a few hours afterwords." Evolis was pretty excited about how the move could help him.
'I still need to figure out a name for it though. Hmm... what about revenge counter? No, no, too edgy. Guess I'll figure something out later.'
"Why didn't you use your future sight?" Aeliana had been wondering about this from the start, as he could've at least avoided most of the attacks if he used it.
Evolis stayed quiet, and then let out a small sigh, "I can't keep relying on it completely, if there ever comes an opponent, who could negate it, it would cause me to just be a sitting duck waiting to be killed. So I need to gain experience without fighting with it. Don't get me wrong I'll still use it in the future, I just don't like surprises."
Aeliana looked at him silently, and sighed, shaking her head, but her expression turned serious. "Right. We need to decide our next move."
Orion finally got to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, since someone just broke half my ribs, I'd like to know where we're heading next."
Evolis stretched once more, his golden eyes glinting. "Actually… I finally have a lead on where we need to go."
Aeliana and Orion both turned to him.
"When I broke through, my senses got elevated by a lot." Evolis crossed his arms. "And, by looking at the flow of energy of the realm, I was able to narrow down the general location of the Secret Realm's center. It's… different from what I expected. There's something there. Something that feels off."
Orion cracked his knuckles. "Off, how?"
Evolis frowned slightly, trying to find the words. "Like… the Etherion there is different. Distorted, somehow. Like something powerful is either sealing it or hiding it. Either way, we won't know until we check it out."
Aeliana's eyes sharpened. "And how far is it?"
Evolis smirked. "Not far. But getting there? That's a different problem."
Orion's grin was sharp. "Good. I was getting bored."
Evolis sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just hope we don't have to fight the damn Secret Realm itself."
Aeliana crossed her arms, giving him a knowing look. "With you involved? We probably will."
Evolis laughed, stretching his arms. "Then let's get moving."
With that, the trio gathered their things and set their sights on the unknown—the heart of the Secret Realm waiting just beyond their reach.