He understood.

And so, he closed his right eye, shutting his sight.

His seventh sense had already merged with it, and so it only distracted him more than anything in that situation. There, as he tracked Kiener’s demonic Essence, he realized two truths he’d been blind to.

First, it wasn’t that his attack and retreat were equally fast, but rather, Avaln himself was the one unable to perceive his retreat because of that breath of shock his body experienced after blocking his blow.

The momentum was just that great.

Second, Keiner’s attack and retreat were both done in two steps. Avaln’s seventh sense saw it clearly on the trodden dirt: always two sets of footprints, one where he started, and another one eleven steps away.

Why?

One theory appeared in his mind, and as a fearless smile formed in his features, he chose to go with it.

Under his seventh sense, he perceived Keiner’s circulation around his legs swelling with power, his muscles tensed like the string of a bow, ready to be released…

Avaln focused, adjusting his breathing, accessing his own body circulation…

When Keiner saw him close his eyes, he almost laughed. Yet an instant later, his eyes caught how that brat’s figure took a stance, and instantly figured out what he was attempting to do, and a hint of praise appeared in a corner of his mind.

He was focusing on his seventh sense.

It was, indeed, the right move. When something was too fast to see with the naked eye, using one’s seventh sense could potentially help.

But it wouldn’t be enough.

One of the reasons Keiner made such a distance between them was precisely to get out of the brat’s seventh sense. As someone who just advanced to the Tempered Essence realm, his range, at most, would cover a ten steps radius, and given his unusual means and skill, Keiner didn’t dare underestimate him. And in fact, despite his best efforts, Avaln had still exceeded his expectations.

His skill, Demonic Dash, was meant to kill in one blow. Yet that brat had somehow managed to block him time and time again. Not completely, not safely, but he’d reacted nonetheless, and avoided a fatal injury.

It was a shame.

If only he’d successfully recruited him, his guild would have benefited immensely. Such geniuses were rare, probably only one in ten generations or more. Keiner himself would have obtained great rewards too for his discerning eyes…

But now, he had to cull such talent from the world. It was indeed a shame.

And so, he concentrated on his tensed muscles… and let himself fly as an arrow.

He was already in the air when his instincts flared.

Yet there was nothing he could do, not mid-flight.

Through his gaze, he caught how, as soon as he took action, the brat moved forward a step, stomping the ground. Keiner had seen that move before, and the memories weren’t pleasant.

Could it be? Was the question that popped in his mind when his other leg met the path and attempted to take the second step. As if answering his inner doubt, a brief quake made him lose his balance, chipping at his momentum. To his shock, when he looked at Avaln again…

He was right before him.

And once again, that bell, so, so clearly.

Keiner’s reflexes were sharp, and so he bent to the side, avoiding a fatal wound, yet the spear managed to sink itself into his left shoulder, all the way to the shaft, numbing the senses, loosening the grip on his sword. With a clank it fell, and next all of his momentum crashed against Avaln’s, forcibly pulling out the spear, cutting his left arm all the way to the bone.

How? Was the damn question that repeated inside his mind, as anger flared and made him choose a decisive action.

As his spear finally met flesh, Avaln smiled. It wasn’t a smile of victory, nor did it have any hint of pride. It was simply the smile of a child who tries a trick for the first time, and enjoys the feeling of doing it right.

After finishing Teppei, and his gaze could focus elsewhere, he saw grandma Mira’s fight, and how it developed. It wasn’t long, for she was already on the losing side then, right after dissolving into mist, something he’d never seen her do before. It was a technique so profound it led him to no clues, but he did capture one move from her which he quickly understood.

That stomp on the ground, to produce a quake right in front.

It was actually really simple, even more for him, given his training. The stomp wasn’t that strong, it’s whole purpose was to send one’s Essence against the earth Essence on the ground, causing a ripple that quickly travelled a step and brought forth a small tremor.

It was quite harmless, but in the middle of a fight, it could force an opponent into a desfavorable position by making them lose balance at a critical point. What was really hard was to recognize said point and effectively time it.

But the control involved, to use one’s Essence to influence another… was something Avaln was already quite skilled at thanks to the experiments he conducted on the demon boar bone spear. In order to fully use its demonic Essence, Avaln had to learn how to stir it, how to halt it, how to nurture it, how to make it flare and swell.

It took him a month to get the hang of it.

Mira’s technique was a simplified version of that. And in fact, Avaln’s control exceeded hers, enough to be able to force the ripple to travel further away.

Yet that wasn’t the trick that made him smile like a child.

“You…” Keiner muttered, a knot in his throat, disbelief in his gaze. “How…”

They were three steps apart, and his left arm was swaying softly, at the rhythm of his breathing.

“How did you…” He continued, pain crossing his expression. “When did you…” He shook his head, one, two times, trying to discern if what his mind was telling him was true. “What are you? That… my skill… ”

Avaln had the impulse to shrug, but his shoulders hurt too much.

When he finally could analyse the secret behind Keiner’s attack, he realized all of its strength was actually sent to his legs, hips, and back. And although one of the reasons, he surmised, for him to make so long a distance was to leave his supposed seventh sense’s range, when he thought about it, he saw another reason:

The second step was there to stack momentum, and was the important one.

Avaln didn’t even plan it.

That stomp had been a bet. Although he knew he’d be able to replicate the technique, he wasn’t sure it would hit at the right moment, yet he also couldn’t wait to see if it worked. And so, trusting in the information he gathered and his own instincts, his body sprung into action, ordering his Essence to expand and enhance his leg muscles, then his hip, then his back, and as he felt that tenseness and vigour, the idea appeared as smoothly as the fall of a feather.

Without it, he doubted he’d been able to cause so grave a wound.

And thanks to the lesson he learnt during his fight against that first demon boar he had encountered, he knew he could use Keiner’s own momentum against him.

“I don’t know how you were planning on taking on Alary…” Avaln said, spinning his spear to adjust his grip. “But I doubt that technique would have cut it.”

Keiner’s eyes grew cold at that, yet he chuckled as pain crossed them. Right now, it could be said his figure and Avaln’s were like a mirror image, with their arms hanging and blood tinting their clothes, yet for some reason, that brat seemed not to feel the pain. Why doesn’t he feel the pain? “What you’ve done… was just a fluke. Don’t think you can talk… just because you did it once.”

Avaln nodded at that. “You may be right.” Then, his weight shifted as he took a stance. “But I’ll get to practice it, and you won’t.”

“I don’t need to practice it… It’s already perfected…”

Avaln smiled, Sgithe’s voice echoing sweetly inside his mind. “Nothing ever reaches perfection. It is an aim, but not a goal you ever meet.”

Keiner opened his eyes at that, surprised, as if struck by a meaning he couldn’t quite grasp… it lasted a breath, then left him with a bittersweet aftertaste, for even if he recognized there was some truth hidden in those words, the opportunity to grasp it simply passed him by.

And then, that pride he thought he’d tamed, burnt its shackles off. “What do you know?! What can you know? Nothing.” He spat. The pride expanded in his chest, and reached all the way to his head. “I won’t waste my words with a corpse.”

Avaln wanted to follow him, but as if trying to teach him a lesson, Keiner backed away using Demonic Dash, fast, too fast, stopping at the forge on the East side of Gale, forty steps away. There, he saw him reach for something inside his uniform, and when he took it out…

It made Avaln’s sweat run cold.

Under his seventh sense, there was only black. Deep, unaltered black, unlike the demonic Essence which would sometimes show traces of moving, dark purple. It was small, barely bigger than a knife, yet with a twist of his wrist, Keiner unfolded it, showing its true form.

“Behold! The Fan of Helen!” Keiner lifted it up in the sky, and under the naked eye it would seem like any ordinary fan, but Avaln’s seventh sense couldn’t lie. The Essence it contained was so pure, he’d never seen anything like it. A part of him understood, instinctively, that he had no way to defend against it. “Delight yourself in the fact that you shall die under the artefact of a legend!”

Essence gathered around the fan in the form of dark wind, conjuring up a storm with it at its centre

Avaln rushed forward, spear at the ready, shortening the distance with his improvised step technique, yet…

Yet he knew he’d be unable to reach Keiner before his arm fell.

Keiner grimaced, knowing using his trump card now meant to give up on his main mission.

But if he could kill that brat, it’d be worth it.

And so, he poured his Essence into the artefact, imagining the destruction it would spread…

But, for some reason, as he was focusing on keeping control, following the instructions he was given to unleash its power, he lost his balance. Dumbfounded, he looked at the figure that appeared by his side, in a cloud of mist, and was struck by realization. “You!?”

“Mira, I trust you” Were Avaln’s words, and she understood them.

They both knew Keiner had some sort of means to kill a Manifested Essence realm adventurer, and she held no doubt that he’d resort to it if backed into a corner, or if his mission seemed now impossible to accomplish. And so, she understood.

She had to wait. She had to bide her time, and trust that the kid would be able to deliver.

A part of her resisted the idea. She thought about grabbing Rei and running away. Despite her injuries, she still could use her technique a few more times… For her common sense was screaming there was no way for Avaln to actually hold his own against someone of Keiner’s strength.

Yet the other…

The other part of herself began to believe.

She remembered the trance she experienced when teaching Avaln about lifeforce and mana, how the young man seemed to have such a deep comprehension…

And suddenly, everything fit together. She didn't know who, nor when, nor how, but she was sure that Avaln had some sort of incredibly profound master guiding his steps, and that, in addition to his inherent talent and strong will, could maybe, just maybe, open a path for a miracle.

Her lady’s judgement was never wrong either.

So she decided to trust him.

And that trust, led her to this moment.

Keiner stared at her with unchained hatred, an incredible contrast against his neutral, even calm demeanour. Yet Mira had nothing else to give. After using her technique for so long, in order not to arouse his suspicions, she was now panting, and barely standing.

To make him lose his balance was all she could do.

Yet still, her trust was there, holding her fast.

Keiner seemed to realize Mira was at the end of her rope, and so thought about regaining his balance and unleashing The Fan of Helen.

Yet the thought was accompanied by a sound.

It was a bell.

And he heard it, so, so clearly.