Azrael stared intently at Sirris.

His eyes were fixed on the bow in her hand.

"In this fight, you are allowed to use any means," Aiden said suddenly.

The students paused, turning toward his position at the center of the room.

He was encased in a separate bubble of reality alongside Zephyr.

There was Nyx facing Malaric in another bubble.

Zuriel against Valdren in the last.

A clock appeared above, clear enough for all of them to see.

Ding.

It hit zero, signalling the start of the spar.

Neither Nyx nor Malaric moved.

Their gazes were locked, but neither budged.

Nyx tightened her grip around her dagger’s hilt.

Malaric raised his hammer slightly.

Boom.

As if moving in tandem, they burst forward.

Essence surged through their bodies as they closed the distance.

Sparks flew as their weapons clashed.

Cracks spread outward from the point of impact.

They broke from the lock.

Nyx skidded backward but caught herself quickly.

She lunged again, shadow coiling around her frame like a second layer of skin.

Malaric did not linger. He raised his hammer and rushed in to meet her.

Flames erupted along the hammer’s frame as he closed the distance. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Boom.

Malaric swung, his hammer driving into the earth beneath like a meteor.

He raised an eyebrow.

Nyx stepped out of the shadow behind him, her dagger flashing a cold blue line toward his neck.

Malaric bent forward, the dagger slicing through the air above him.

Without pause he rose, swinging his hammer backward.

Flames roared through the air, following the hammer’s arc as it neared Nyx’s head.

Her body dissolved into shadow that slid backward and reformed behind Malaric.

Her dagger was already in motion toward his ribcage.

Boom.

An arm erupted from Malaric’s torso, gripping a sword that caught the dagger.

A loud chime rang through the air as Malaric twisted.

Another arm formed from his chest, clutching a dagger and driving it toward Nyx’s chest.

Nyx ducked beneath the attack, narrowly avoiding it.

She rolled backward, creating distance between them.

They locked eyes.

Malaric’s aura had shifted drastically from the start of the fight.

He now had five limbs, each one gripping a different weapon. Two attached to his torso holding a sword and a shield, one from his chest holding a dagger, and his original two.

Nyx sighed.

Her core brightened with a diamond light beneath her chest.

Then a figure began to form behind her.

First the head, then the neck, then it split into both arms, then the full body, and finally the legs.

It was a giant, ten times her height, gripping an enormous sword in one hand as it fixed its gaze on Malaric.

Nyx reversed her grip on her daggers as she focused on Malaric.

Malaric responded in kind, all limbs tightening around their weapons.

Cracks rippled outward as both sides moved in tandem.

Nyx closed in, her daggers driving toward Malaric’s neck.

The giant came from above, its sword descending and casting a wide shadow over Malaric.

Dark flames roared along the blade as it fell.

Malaric looked at both attackers, then responded.

His leg shot forward, smashing into Nyx’s chest and sending her flying.

His extra limbs moved simultaneously, all of them slashing upward to catch the descending sword.

A tremor swept through the area, the floor beneath Malaric caving in from the weight of the collision.

His knees buckled, but he held strong.

Swoosh.

Nyx flashed through the air over the giant, severing a limb that had appeared above it.

She landed behind Malaric and lunged before she had fully found her footing.

Her shadows spread outward, forming two humanoid knights that advanced alongside her, each one armed with a sword.

Malaric sensed the danger.

He pushed the giant backward with everything he had, then backflipped, launching himself upward with limbs that appeared beneath him.

Boom.

The floor exploded as he landed.

The knights had already given chase, their swords raised high as they closed in.

A sharp whistle tore through the air as two flame lances pierced through the knights’ heads.

They dissolved into dark mist that drifted away with the air.

Malaric furrowed his brows as he peered through the haze.

On instinct, he tilted his head.

The giant’s sword pierced through the space his head had occupied a moment ago.

Without pause it transitioned from a thrust to a slash, swinging horizontally toward Malaric’s neck.

Malaric ducked, then drove his hammer upward, knocking the sword off course and destabilizing the giant momentarily.

He capitalized on the gap, driving his sword into the giant’s chest.

Before it could pierce through, his dagger followed, slashing cleanly through the neck.

Blood splattered through the air, dyeing the floor red.

Then with a final swing of his hammer from above, he crushed the giant into a mass of blood and gore.

Flames erupted from that point, burning the flesh to cinders.

He was not willing to risk it. There was always a chance the giant could regenerate.

Malaric pulled his weapons back quickly, swinging backward to catch Nyx’s dagger once again.

Nyx backflipped before their weapons could meet, then lunged.

Flames roared outward wildly, spreading without control.

The earth scorched. The air itself ignited.

Nyx pushed through the golden flames, unaffected by the spike in temperature, and swung toward Malaric’s neck.

Malaric caught the attack, then smiled.

But Nyx had no expression.

Even though she had been caught.

"A shadow clone," Malaric said.

His eyes widened in realization, but it was already too late.

Nyx dissolved into pure shadow that wrapped around his arms, binding him tightly.

"Got you," Nyx said, appearing beside Malaric with her dagger pressed against his neck.

Malaric sighed.

"You have improved again."

The shadow binding him dissolved into the air.

Malaric wasted no time, dispelling the extra limbs.

"You too. At least you managed to use your spectral arms without an anchor this time."

"You flatter me," Malaric replied. "I thought your skill only summoned wolves. Why was it a giant this time?"

"It summons randomly. Even I cannot predict it," she replied.

Malaric nodded and turned away.

The other students were already wrapping up too.