With Magnus bearing down on him, Lucas didn’t have time to stop and think. He didn’t have the time to set up another illusion and try to get away. He only had time to react.

  Thankfully, the grueling training that Magnus had been putting him through showed some results. As the older man closed in and swung his staff at Lucas, the teen reflexively positioned his blade to catch the strike. He tried his best to divert the attack, angling his xiphos to try and slide it down the length of Magnus’ staff and maybe even clip his hand.

  What Lucas forgot until it was too late was that Magnus’ affinity was Metal. The very staff he’d created was like putty in his hands, easily shaped into whatever form the man needed. Lucas got a perfect demonstration of that as his blade was suddenly caught when a small hook shot out from the side of the staff, catching his blade and stopping the teen’s momentum entirely.

  Magnus could have easily trapped Lucas there, but he didn’t. And as Lucas rushed to pull away, he realized that the man was still playing with him to some extent. If he was going to get beaten up by Magnus, he at least wanted to make the man take him a bit more seriously.

  While the teen tried to get some distance, Magnus had learned his lesson and kept close by. He chased after Lucas, battering the teen with a flurry of quick swings of his staff. The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed through the yard as sparks flew from the blade crashing into the staff. But Magnus was still much stronger and Lucas knew that. It was also something he could take advantage of.

  When Magnus came in with a heavy swing towards his side, Lucas blocked with the flat of his blade, bracing his hand against the back of it. Just as the staff was about to hit, Lucas hopped into the air, allowing the force of Magnus’ attack to launch him away from the man. It was the distance that Lucas had badly needed.

  Even such a short exchange left Lucas gasping for breath. He’d had to focus fully on defense with Magnus up in his face and the man left next to no chances for him to move or attack. He needed to do something to weaken the man or slow him down. He had an idea, but the idea of doing so made him pause and hesitate as the blacksmith approached.

  That hesitation cost Lucas as Magnus slammed a heavy blow into him that sent the teen to the ground coughing and gasping for air. The blow landed just barely underneath his ribs and Lucas could feel the bruising immediately, likely internal and external. He was just lucky that it didn’t feel like anything had broken. Yet.

  “Why are you holding back?” Magnus barked out. “I told you to take this seriously.”

  Lucas knew what he had to do, even if he wasn’t the biggest fan of doing so. If Magnus hadn’t mentioned having potions on hand, he wouldn’t have even done it in the first place. But as he staggered to his feet, Lucas let his mana rage freely, pumping it into the shadows at his feet.

  “Fine,” Lucas spat. “You want serious? Ok then.”

  Magnus had made one major error that Lucas was going to punish him for. He stood in front of one of the lights spread out across the backyard, causing him to cast a long shadow. A long shadow that led right to Lucas’ feet. All it took was a single step forward and a pulse of his mana and Lucas had control of the darkness at his feet.

  With less light in the area and far more shadows and darkness, Lucas was able to use his Darkness affinity with even more ease than before. The drain on his mana was noticeably reduced and controlling the shadows was made even easier for him. So, when he commanded, Magnus’ shadow answered his call as he slashed his hand upward. A large pulse of his mana and Lucas caused an eruption of spikes to shoot forth from the man’s shadow.

  It said a lot about Magnus’ skill that he was even able to react to the spikes. They shot from the ground with shocking speed and next to no warning besides Lucas’ gesture. Immediately, Magnus leapt backwards to get out of the way of the spikes.

  The blood dripping onto the grass below told everyone that he hadn’t been entirely successful, though.

  Magnus had dodged most of the spikes, but a few had still been fast and close enough that he’d been forced to take a few blows. A few of the spikes had sliced into the man’s shins and another had managed to actually pierce into his left thigh. But the more obvious injuries were the pair of quarter sized holes punched clean through Magnus’ left forearm.

  Off to the side, Lucas could hear a loud gasp of shock from both Fay and Lissa. Whether it was from the injuries he’d inflicted on Magnus or the fact that he’d actually been able to hit him at all, Lucas wasn’t sure. But the fact that he’d landed a blow was a source of pride for him.

  That is, until he saw Magnus’ eyes.

  There was always some level of humor or warmth that Lucas could see when he looked at the older man. Even when he was annoyed, there was some noticeable emotion behind those eyes. But as those silvery grey eyes locked onto him, Lucas was met with a gaze that felt cold as steel.

  He’d managed to land a hit like he’d wanted to. He’d also finally managed to make Magnus take him more seriously.

  The man flexed his left hand, and Lucas was glad to note that it seemed like he was having some trouble with it. His hand just didn’t seem to be responding the way he wanted it to. Lucas hoped that would help him even the odds, but that idea went out the window as Magnus’ staff melted and reformed into a gleaming longsword he could wield in his right.

  As Magnus prepared to charge him again, Lucas crafted a quick illusion to help him turn the tides. He did as he’d done once before, bringing his hands together and pulling them apart to reveal two swords rather than one. Magnus clearly knew the trick, but he didn’t know which hand held the real blade and which was just an illusion.

  When he charged again, Magnus moved notably slower as his injured left leg hindered some of that speed. He was still fast enough to close the gap in seconds, though, and Lucas took the chance to meet him blade for blade. He watched as those silvery eyes flicked between both of his blades and Lucas tried his trick once more.

  Once Magnus had gotten close enough, Lucas lunged in, swinging the xiphos in his right hand in a sweeping cut at Magnus’s chest. With the blade in his left hand, though, he stabbed forward, aiming to stab the man in the gut.

  As Magnus went to block the blade in his right hand, Lucas grinned as his plan worked. His xiphos clashed with Magnus’ longsword while the second blade stabbed into Magnus’ stomach.

  Or, it would have if it hadn’t suddenly been stopped completely.

  For a moment, everything froze. Lucas’ eyes widened as he looked down towards his second blade, a thin veil of illusions covering the shadow blade that he’d created in his left hand to match the real thing in his right. But while the shadowy weapon should have stabbed Magnus, Lucas was stunned to see the blade refusing to pierce beyond the fabric of his clothes.

  “How?” He gasped.

  “You almost had me,” He admitted. “But that illusion doesn’t hide the smoke wafting off of your weapon.”

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  Lucas wanted to facepalm. It was such a small little detail, but one that he’d still forgotten to hide. It gave away the presence of the shadow blade that he’d hidden away and ruined what was likely his only real chance.

  Magnus’ free hand came around and shoved into Lucas’ chest, sending the teen stumbling backwards and giving the man some room. When he looked back towards the Stella family patriarch he noticed how, other than his shirt being ripped from the stab, Magnus’ midsection looked to be entirely unharmed.

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” He mumbled as he tried to figure out what the man had done.

  “It was a nice trick. But your skills are still dull and unpolished. Mine have been sharpened for years.”

  Sharpened.

  The word stuck in Lucas’ head. Magnus was right on multiple levels. His skills weren’t anywhere near the level of the far more experienced man, but his weapon also hadn’t been sharp enough to do any real damage.

  Sharp…

  Lucas was sure that he’d made his shadow blade just as sharp as the real thing was. He'd found that he could control the shape of his shadowy constructs with ease, so making it sharp or blunt wasn’t very hard. Even with that, though, it clearly hadn't been sharp enough to pierce whatever defense Magnus had.

  But what if he could make his blade even sharper? He'd made the blade just as sharp as the real thing, but he didn't know if it would be possible to manipulate the shadowy darkness that made up the blade and push it even further. There was one way to find out, though.

  It wasn't like Lucas didn't have anything to work with. An idea came to mind easily, the sharpest blade to ever exist, something that was so sharp that it could cut at the molecular level.

  A monomolecular blade. The concept was something more commonly seen in the realms of science and science fiction, but Lucas wondered if his magic could bridge the gap. The entire reason why monomolecular blades didn't work realistically was because the very air itself would dull such a blade. If Lucas used his magic, though, he could try and force the blade to maintain that edge. And if he could actually manage to achieve that level of sharpness, maybe he'd even be able to win!

  But doing something like that was going to take a lot of concentration, focus, and time. And Magnus wasn't going to give Lucas the time that he so desperately needed. So, he would have to find a way to get the time he needed.

  There was one trick that he hadn't shown off yet that Lucas hoped would work. He hadn't even tested it on Fay since she was far too fast, but it was his best hope to stop Magnus for long enough to put his plan into motion. If he wanted to spring the trap, though, he was going to have to bait Magnus into the snare.

  “This is going to hurt,” Lucas mumbled to himself as he tightened his grip on his xiphos and let the shadowy blade in his left hand fade away.

  “Oh it's going to hurt,” Magnus agreed. “It's about to hurt a lot.”

  The man charged and Lucas went fully on the defensive. It took all he could muster to try and block the rapid swings and slashes that the older man threw at him. For a few seconds, Lucas was even managing to keep up. That just made Magnus try harder.

  The man's weapon shifted suddenly as he prepared for another swing. What had once been a longsword changed into a curved scimitar and Lucas hissed in pain as the blade slipped past his guard and left a shallow cut along his shoulder. Those weapons weren't blunt anymore.

  Very quickly Lucas began to learn why Magnus had gotten the name ‘The Armory’. It was like facing an entire Armory when fighting him, as the man changed his weapon from one shape to the next between each swing. His control over his magic was so good that it didn't even take a second for the metal in his hands to twist and shape itself into whatever form he needed. And the man knew how to use each and every weapon he handled.

  Lucas was forced to give ground, stumbling back as he tried to keep up his defenses as best as he could. But with the flexibility Magnus was showing with his weapons, the teen's body was soon littered with dozens of small gashes and cuts and he could feel the bruises forming all over his body.

  He wiped at his forehead, clearing away the blood leaking from a small cut across his forehead. Lucas’ arms were screaming at him in protest each time he blocked one of Magnus’ heavy blows, but he didn't have a choice. It was either block the blows or take them, the man wasn't giving him the space to dodge or get away anymore.

  Magnus’ cold gaze remained locked onto Lucas the entire time. The frighteningly serious look in his eyes sent a shiver down the teen's spine each time he looked into those silvery orbs.

  As the wounds accumulated, Lucas’ movements slowed and he took more and more hits. His shirt was torn and ripped with small gashes carved into his chest. He was bleeding quite a bit and in a great deal of pain, but the wounds were all shallow. He knew they could have been far deeper and Magnus could have killed him dozens of times over if the man had been serious.

  But with all that skill and experience, Lucas was hoping that Magnus would get a bit overconfident and slip up. And once he finally did, Lucas knew he had his opportunity.

  The teen staggered back from another blow and Magnus stepped in to continue his offense. But as the man's foot hit the ground, Lucas’ head snapped up with a savage grin. His free hand clenched and the shadows around Magnus erupted. Rather than the spikes that he'd used before, though, Lucas made the shadows wrap around Magnus and grab him.

  Lucas had played smart, risking injury to bait Magnus into just the right spot. To Magnus, Lucas looked like he wasn't able to do anything other than defend against his onslaught. And because of that, he didn't pay enough attention to his surroundings. So he didn't notice when Lucas gave ground and led him straight towards the darkest part of the yard. The moment he stepped within range, Lucas was finally able to spring his trap.

  Lucas couldn't keep the grin off his face as he saw a small flash of genuine shock in Magnus’ grey eyes. It didn't last long, though, and the man was soon struggling against the shadows wrapped around his limbs in an attempt to break free.

  The teen grit his teeth, his arm shaking as he felt his mana drain as he struggled to keep the man confined. Magnus was very strong, and that strength was being used to try and break free. If trapping him was Lucas’ only plan, it would have failed soon enough.

  But he only needed Magnus to stay still for a few seconds.

  Lucas took a deep breath and let the shadows around him coat his blade. The silvery metal of the xiphos was covered in darkness and Lucas put almost all his focus into sharpening the edge, grinding away at it atom by atom to make it as sharp as possible.

  He groaned in pain, a headache rapidly building as he tried to exert such a fine level of control while still trying to keep Magnus trapped. He could feel his mana draining rapidly, the darkness of the blade hungrily drinking from the source. He could feel the throbbing pain behind his eyes build and barely managed to hold onto his control. All of his focus was poured into maintaining his magic, everything else was forgotten.

  It was only five seconds, but those five seconds felt like an eternity for Lucas as he stripped away the edge of his shadowy blade until it hit a point that he couldn't push any further. The pain was incredible, his vision blurring at the edges while his head felt like it would explode.

  But he'd done it! Lucas had created the very blade he needed to finish the fight. And just in time, too, as Lucas’ control slipped just enough for Magnus to rip his arms free of the shadows trapping him. He was too late to stop Lucas, though.

  The teen mustered every last bit of strength his tired body had left and he swung. His blade descended in a cleaving blow. Magnus brought his own sword up to try and block, but metal wasn't enough to stop Lucas’ efforts. Both Lucas and Magnus watched as Lucas’ shadow-cloaked blade cut through the metal like it wasn't even there.

  Magnus’ eyes widened with genuine panic for the first time. His entire body flexed and Lucas’ control of the shadows binding the man was destroyed. Lucas watched in shock as Magnus’ body was engulfed in liquid metal that formed over his body like a second skin. Even as fast as it was, the metal was only just fast enough to cover Magnus’ chest as Lucas’ blade reached the man.

  And the metal lost once more as Lucas’ monomolecular blade cleaved through it and bit into the man's flesh. Magnus wasn't a novice, though, and he was able to throw himself back in time to turn what would have been a dangerous wound into a long, shallow cut from his upper chest town to his stomach.

  Lucas immediately let go of his control, the shadows fading from his blade as the headache became too much to endure. Even then, he refused to just give up. His arms quaked as he gripped his sword and he was forced to shut his left eye as blood leaked from the cut on his forehead once more, but he didn't back down as blood leaked from Magnus’ chest.

  His head was still pounding, even after he stopped channeling his mana and Lucas knew he'd pushed himself a bit too far. He went to take a step forward, still, to try and finish the fight on his feet.

  But as his foot left the ground, Lucas' world went dark and he felt the strange sensation of falling. The last thing he was aware of was the feeling of a familiar pair of arms wrapping around him.

  Then, Lucas knew no more as the darkness took him.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~