Fathers and Sons

The cracked and opened ground from Gina and Nikolai's spar had been fixed by Magnus' [Earth Manipulation], and the next round was about to start.

After Magnus' slightly awkward cue, the fight opened up with both men firing out two skills that resembled each other, only possessing different elements.

[Searing Slash]!

[Squally Slash]!

Owen was the first one to cast his spell in the form of a blade of fire about thirty centimeters in length, followed closely by Markus shooting out a blade of wind as a counter. Magnus had been inspired by fire and wind element users he'd met in the past, so he slowly explained how the forms and effects of the skills looked to both men.

The way they worked was actually very similar to [Riptide]. In fact, the fire and wind blades seemed almost identical to the water crescent, except for the fact they formed a straight diagonal line instead of a crescent. Which made sense, since water was probably the least destructive out of all five basic elements. It needed to take a shape that gave it less resistance to drag force and less physical resistance from the target in order to do its job. Whereas fire was just naturally destructive, and the wind blade employed a high-speed rotation like the chain on a chainsaw.

The fire and wind blades clashed in the air. However, the two men didn't stop there. Owen kept firing out fire blade after fire blade, while Markus easily countered each of them with his wind blades. The constant clashing of fire and wind produced hot air that blew the audience's hair away.

Markus didn't want to remain on the defense. He then activated [Subtle] while moving away from Owen's line of sight.

Owen had always known his opponent possessed an annoying stealth skill, so instead of being surprised that Markus suddenly disappeared from view, he just clicked his tongue in annoyance. Still, he had already expected the skill to be used at some point, and he had a prediction of where Markus would appear next.

Of course, the doctor would try to attack him from behind.

Markus cancelled [Subtle] as soon as he arrived less than a meter behind Owen, and was ready to cast another spell.

Owen, having already suspected Markus' movement, whipped around and immediately threw out [Line of Fire], creating a wall of fire that separated the two men.

Markus hadn't expected his opponent to be able to read him, but he didn't stay startled for long. He instantly casted [Toxic Fume]. It was an area of effect skill, but Markus had found out that he could still roughly direct its trajectory if he applied stronger propulsion behind the wind element mana.

The poisonous gas was shot out through the wall of fire and toward Owen's exposed face.

The dark-haired man was forced to retreat by a few steps, accidentally inhaling the gas on the way. His lungs started to burn and he couldn't help but cough a few times. That didn't mean he lowered his guard. Even in the middle of his coughing fit, he took the chance to shoot out [Flamethrower], mostly just to force Markus to defend himself and therefore buying Owen a little time until he recovered.

Owen was only exposed to the toxic gas for just a few seconds, so he would be fine soon.

Seeing the fire ball hurtling toward him, Markus couldn't help but think, 'A defense skill would be useful right about now. I'll tell Magnus to teach me that white barrier spell of his.'

Out of reflex, Markus was about to use [Gale] to counter the fire ball. However, he stopped himself and hesitated. He wasn't sure because the wind might have the opposite effect than intended. Instead of putting it out, the wind might make the fire bigger.

So Markus dove to the side to evade the fire ball and used [Gale] on his own body to launch himself toward Owen. Midair, he raised his dagger, holding it in a reverse grip.

As Markus zoomed in closer from the side, Owen didn't have time to cast another [Line of Fire] in order to protect himself within a cage of flames. He could only turn and lift his hand.

Markus arrived right in Owen's face and grabbed the man's collar. He was about to stab Owen's throat, with the intent to halt the blade an inch away from its target. However, he suddenly screamed when Owen grabbed his wrist.

The dark-haired man had used [Decay], sending intense pain on Markus' wrist as the dark element started to corrode his skin in a matter of seconds. Overwhelmed by a mix of shock and pain, Markus didn't even realize he had dropped the dagger.

However, he soon pulled himself together and gritted his teeth. Unable to come up with a spell to use at this short distance, he decided to go for the classic.

He headbutted Owen.

"Agh!"

With his head being bonked by his opponent's own head, Owen let go of Markus' wrist and staggered backward while rubbing his forehead. Just to prevent Markus from making another move, he casted [Line of Fire] again.

Markus had to retreat. He rushed to the side while ignoring the pain and traces of dark element still ravaging his wrist, and shot out [Squally Slash].

Owen countered it with his [Searing Slash].

And just like that, the two men entered another bout of elemental blades exchanges, this time with Markus being the attacker.

They went on like this for another minute or two before Owen prepared [Death Flame] and Markus used [Subtle] to sneak up on his opponent again. Even though they were both sweating bullets and panting hard, adrenaline was keeping them focused.

Owen was ready to launch the black flame to wherever Markus would pop up next. Markus himself had secretly picked up his dagger from the ground and was about to use [Gale] on the weapon to shoot it at Owen's abdomen.

However, an ice wall suddenly rose up between the two.

"Alright! It's a draw!" Magnus announced before signaling for Summer to heal his father's wrist. Owen also needed healing for the poisoned lungs, but it could wait. Markus' wound needed more immediate aid.

Summer's eyes lit up as she received a notification saying her [Lesser Heal] had leveled up. This was the reason why she wanted to always be the one to heal the injured instead of relying on Magnus.

It was about a minute after Magnus announced the result of the fight that both men realized how close they were from depleting their mana. As the adrenaline wore off, they both slumped and almost fell to the ground if not for their dignity telling them they couldn't appear weak.

Markus observed as Summer healed the ugly wound on his wrist. It took about three minutes before his skin was fully back to normal. "Thank you, Summer," he said, giving her his signature smile, which looked almost identical to that of Magnus'.

"You're welcome, sir." Summer then moved to heal Owen. "Excuse me, Mr. Haysmith," she said, hovering her hand before the man's chest.

Owen glanced down once at her before saying, "Go ahead." His eyes then searched for his wife while Summer began sending light element mana into his lungs.

In the distance, Victoria and Fiona could be seen giggling with each other before they noticed their husbands looking at them expectantly. They flashed the men a thumbs up but internally were shaking their heads.

Magnus approached his father and tapped on his shoulder. "Great job, dad. I probably will have to teach you a defense skill next time. The one I taught Mr. Williams might be a good choice."

Markus smiled at him. "Thanks, son. And thank you for stopping the fight before we both ran out of mana. How did you know, by the way?"

"I know how a person looks like when they've almost used up their mana. Also, I may have the responsibility not to be biased, but I was secretly cheering you on the whole time, you know.

"However, here's how I think you could've done better. For starters, you could've relied on [Subtle] a bit more, since it was the one skill that could make Mr. Haysmith feel vulnerable. And then, you could've used some sort of decoy before going in for the sneak attack. Or, you could've imprisoned Mr. Haysmith in place by surrounding him with more [Toxic Fume], at the same time slowly decaying his lungs.

"Speaking of decay, you haven't learned the skill called [Decay], have you? You could've used that to counter Mr. Haysmith's own [Decay] instead of simply headbutting him. Better yet, you could've used [Toxic Fume]! Imagine how much damage the gas would do to him if you were able to hold him still, at such a close distance, for a stretch of time. It would've dealt him significant damage! In a fight against an opponent of the same or lower level, you might wanna focus more on how to deal damage and less on surviving. That way, the fight will conclude sooner and you can save your mana. Oh, and then…"

Magnus went on and on without pause while placing his hand on his father's shoulder, casting [Rejuvenate] on the weary man.

Markus listened intently on his son's evaluation. Magnus hadn't bothered giving such a comprehensive explanation to either Owen or the previous spar participants. As much as Markus was concerned that the others would disapprove of his son's blatant bias, he couldn't help but be pleased seeing the care and enthusiasm in Magnus' eyes.

A distance away, Summer saw her boyfriend acting like a child in front of his father. It was an adorable sight.

Meanwhile, Victoria was giving her husband a soft kiss when TJ approached them and sat down nearby. He didn't say anything, but the couple knew their son had something to say. He wouldn't open his mouth unless one of them talked first, though.

Victoria smiled and finally asked, "So Tyler, how do you think your father did?"

TJ shrugged. "It was alright."

Owen scoffed in response. "Make sure to show me a better performance then, son."

"I'm going up against Lisa. The fight will be anything but fair. It'll be over before you know it. I don't even know why Magnus set me up as one of the participants."

Hearing that, Victoria stole a glance at the girl in question. She was sitting next to her mother, a resolute look worn on her face. "Well, I think you'll help her out, nonetheless."

TJ frowned, not understanding her mother's cryptic words. But then he realized he had forgotten what he had wanted to say in the first place. The boy looked away before saying, almost in a whisper, "By the way, good job, dad."