"Aran thae Onu rumran shalenethn (Those who call the moon to hide the shadow of night)

Aran thae Hawlaeur unhnli lian (Those who call the rain to bloom fields of flowers)

Enethhaw aelanr, Pranuan laeuror (Rise in glory from your tombs, misfortune to bring)

Unhruar Uaedor rumdrer (On bravery which claimed your peace for its own)"

With difficulty, Markus Mayers finished chanting the incantation.

The melodic language of Shalaenor was more than a mnemonic; aligning one's magic with the sound's frequency could replicate the desired pattern, even if one's understanding was insufficient to shape magical energy into a true spell.

Markus wore a triumphant smile as the structure formed out of his magical energy started gathering water vapors and light; it formed a square grid, which turned into a shrinking spherical net around Taliesin. Markus twisted his magical energy, causing the net to contract.

Skullsong was also glaring at Taliesin. His killing intent filled the corpse-riddled courtroom with a stifling air. His clean hard face was cold and his ashen-colored eyebrows were knitted together bellow his graying hair.

Nevertheless, not a trace of martial aura leaked out. As a master, complete control over it was a given.

Johan seized Skullsong and broke in cold sweat. A master was a handful for his level of strength. Even if he had his katana, escaping would be uncertain. And there was still the one surnamed Mayers and the master's female disciple to confront.

As his gaze momentarily shifted towards the female disciple, he noticed that she was staring at him. He could tell, even through the hood and black scarf covering her hair and features. Her large build looked a bit familiar.

However, the moist net of light enveloping Taliesin distracted his thoughts. Johan's intuition could feel the destructive power on each of its entangled lines.

"Ahaha! A fresh master, not even half a century old, a brat who stole secrets from his clan and a measly disciple! Do I look like easy prey?" Taliesin was unperturbed and laughed, half-hysterically half-caustically while net of light and moisture closed towards his skin.

Taliesin emitted the maximum output of his available magical energy, which caused the contracting energy structure to falter as it battered against it.

Although it was only a matter of time before Taliesin's energy run out, he turned to face Skullsong with a jeering expression. "You are not only an idiot, you are even more idiotic than both the two chief idiots combined!"

Skullsong snorted and lurched towards him. From his back, he drew an enormous broadsword, which he stabbed forwards with tremendous force. The broadsword produced a whooshing sound as it split the air in its wake.

Fast!

Johan rushed forward to intercept the attack. He did not have much confidence of stalling Skullsong for even a couple of breaths, but he at least wanted to try. However, his path was blocked by the burly female disciple, who swung her own broadsword at him.

Her strength and speed were incomparable to the disciples Johan had fought earlier. She also efficiently infused her martial aura in the strike, so Johan could only dodge. As he stepped backwards, he helplessly watched Skullsong complete his attack. Surely, no amount of regeneration would help Taliesin if he was pulverized to bits.

BOOOM!

Skullsong used the momentum of his strike to hit the ground, using the force to move him sideways with astonishing maneuverability. A flash of green light -a miniscule amount of magical energy- passed through the place his head had just been. A small crater opened where the sword stuck the ground, rubble from the stone floor scattering in all directions.

The pieces of stone that stuck the net pushing against Taliesin's aura crumbled to ashes.

Skullsong frowned at Taliesin, carefully observing him. His angry expression from before was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, mighty nature, who sees all, knows all,

I call upon the power of my name to command:

cease your violence!"

Taliesin's voice sounded like an ancient menace. His energy pushing against the net of light started corroding the ropes into a healthy green color. Contrary to Markus', his incantation had no tricks; it was a simple way for him to focus as he accurately handled his magic.

Markus felt the power dissipating from the net, but he stubbornly redoubled his efforts to maintain it. It wrapped around Taliesin, but remained there, unable to push into his body. The two remained at a standstill for a couple of breaths.

Why is that idiot Skullsong not attacking? Markus wondered. Taliesin was clearly focusing all his magical energy on the net, which made him vulnerable. However, Skullsong was just standing there, observing Taliesin with a frown.

Meanwhile, Johan was clearly on the defensive. He dodged another attack from the female disciple. However, mid-slash, she had changed the movement to a bashing one and Johan could only thank his intuition, which made him reflexively jump to the side.

I need a proper weapon, he thought.

Johan rolled on the ground for a couple of steps, blood and gore from the dead staining his clothes. He paid it no heed and used his momentum to chain the roll's end into a jump towards the door he remembered the keys being stored.

The female disciple mightily jumped after him, her aura augmenting her leg strength to soar through an inconceivable distance. She brought the tip of her broadsword towards Johan's back, looking to impale him.

At the last moment though, Johan pivoted to the side.

The female disciple clumsily stopped her charge a couple of steps past him and span around. She had carelessly shown a big opening, but without a weapon Johan could not capitalize on it given her skill. At most, her aura would cancel out his and her strength would overpower him.

He was now close to the courtroom's walls. In hopes of his katana being stored somewhere close, he also performed an aura-augmented jump, crashing through the wooden door of the key room.

There was no furniture, but, as expected, the room's walls were arrayed with many keys. They gleamrd under the light of a flickering torch, hanging from the ceiling. In comparison, the light coming from the broken door was too bright. Johan's eyes took only a moment to adjust to the dimness, as the moist and stale smell of a frequently enclosed space filled his nostrils.

"Where's the trap?" the female disciple stood under the doorframe, the sun behind her back making only her outline distinguishable. She sounded a bit disappointed.

"Is there nothing to show for making both me and master come here? Geez, how useless!"

Her aura burst outwards, seeming to converge on her broadsword for a grand technique.

Danger

Johan's intuition had him move out of the way, as a small dagger flew past his throat. The dagger hit an array of keys and they fell to the stone floor with clinking sounds.

Johan narrowed his eyes in caution. The dagger had been thrown dexterously before the aura had finished gathering. Also, it had not been covered with aura to improve its penetrating abilities, but smelled like poison.

What's this woman's problem? Her fighting style is strange!

The female disciple channeled her aura on the surface of her huge broadsword. It was easy for disciples to raise the destructive power of their weapons by several folds this way.

The female disciple horizontally slashed with the sharp rather than the wide side of her weapon, the blow carrying a tremendous force.

Johan was a bit off-balance due to the dagger but managed to dodge towards the ground.

Crash

There was no changing the momentum of such a move. The broadsword soared over Johan's head, reducing the wall behind him to rubble.

Johan felt a chill. It was dubious if his body would not be cleaved by such an attack, even with a protective layer of martial aura.

All the while, the female disciple's gigantic figure did not stop moving. She used her left leg to kick at Johan who had crouched forwards.

Johan took the kick with a cross-guard. He used martial aura to protect his arms against the female disciple's aura augmentation. However, she still sent him flying through the partially destroyed wall.

"I really need a weapon!" Johan complained as he landed amidst the rabble. His back was scratched by the torn wall, since he had used all his aura on the front guard.

This small room had several storage boxes. But Johan no longer needed to search. For he finally sensed his katana from the wall opposite the one he had crashed through.

The female disciple smashed at him from above with the flat of her broadsword. But Johan rolled away from his position. He took a defensive stance in front of the wall separating them from his katana, hoping she would destroy it too.

"Fight for real, coward!" the female disciple spat at him. She executed another large technique. Luckily, the small rooms limited the breadth of her swings and he could evade them. Otherwise, he would have had trouble coping without the means to block.

Crash

This time he cleanly avoided her strike and the female disciple decimated the wall, exactly as he had hoped. The energy needed to consecutively perform such powerful techniques was immense, but she showed no sign of stopping.

To the contrary, she went into a frenzy, repeatedly stabbing towards Johan with the tip of the heavy broadsword, like poking with a spear.

Johan cleanly dodged the strikes, slowly edging through the newly-broken wall and his katana.

Enraged by his success, the female disciple redoubled her efforts. She big and fast, but he remained faster. Only a couple of strikes grazed him, forming small lines of red on his flesh. But his deployed martial aura canceled out hers and there was no additional damage.

This situation lasted for a dozen breaths or so, until the female disciple faltered to gasp for a breath of air. Maintaining the offensive in any sort of fight was in no way an easy fit. Especially, since her breathing was partially obstructed from the scarf hiding her face. Impressively enough, despite her wide movements, her hood had yet to fall off.

Johan used the chance to dash towards the heap of weapons in the middle of the newly-exposed room, where his katana lay, sheathed in its black scabbard.

As he stapled the scabbard onto his belt, he felt the familiar sense of confidence, stemming from countless hours of practice with the weapon. It was as if a toothless tiger suddenly grew back its teeth.

Johan smiled sinisterly at the female disciple. She scowled as her senses obviously detected the danger in front of her.

"Hey! If it's a fight you want, here it comes. Don't blame me for not showing mercy." Johan slowly said.

Against people of approximately the same level, it was suicidal not to aim for the kill. Even during friendly spars, one needed to overcome death, let alone when someone else had initiated hostilities. This was different from running away without taking chances; he would jump into the border between life and death to seize victory.

Johan's senses pleasantly tingled, as he at last entered full battle mode.

Justice? There was no such thing in the battlefield. Everything was useless if one died from misplaced compassion. Johan's martial aura spread all over his body, stimulating his reflexes. He did not even register his accumulated aches and wounds anymore.

First win, then decide.

Johan grabbed his katana’s hilt with both hands and slowly raised it over his head. His killing intent was sharp and he calmly focused it on the female disciple.

She took half a step back, but stood her ground.

She also took a stance, wielding her gigantic broadsword like a shield and her killing intent battered against his. Hers was savage, like a beast's. Although he could not see her face, Johan could tell that she, too, was smiling.