POV: Rai Shinsei
Determined, Aria activated her Aspect and releasing her Aspectual Force towards me as upon activation, a gust of wind was born from it as the wind blew throughout the area while I felt my lips curl slightly.
For the first time since our spar had begun, I felt a faint rush of excitement swell within me as standing before me was none other than a user of the Divine Elemental Aspect, Light Manipulation.
It seems she's serious now.
Within the entirety of my life, I've only had the opportunity to face an Aspector possessing Light Manipulation once, but even then, I can't consider that experience as the fight was completely one-sided.
From what I seen of her during our mission, she has very low mastery over her own Aspect, but that doesn't mean she's weak by all means as Aria is actually quite strong, but in a contest of pure hand-to-hand combat, I can't imagine myself losing to anyone, so I'm glad she's resorted to using her Aspect as our spar was beginning to bore me.
Now…
Let's see what's she's capable of-
Amidst my thought, Aria had vanished from my sight and appeared behind me within a flash of light as she tried to smash her fist into my back, but despite her ridiculous speed, I was barely able to dodge her attack with a swift side step as her astonishing display of speed caused me to perspire for only a moment.
What?
As I regained my footing, Aria stepped towards me and tried to land several strikes towards my head and torso, but my reflexes reigned superior as I was able to weave through every strike with extremely precise timing.
This doesn't make any sense.
I was certain that I had a good grasp of her power during our mission, so how is it that she's stronger than before?
After her spree of striking, she decided to throw a feint as she charged up a beam of light within her hand and tried to blast my chest, but her movement was far too predictable as I parried her arm into the air with my hand, leaving her torso vulnerable as I hovered my hand over her chest, preparing to land a one-inch punch as Aria tensed and in the moment her hesitation disrupted her focus, I used my preparation of a one-inch punch as a feint and landed a sharp uppercut into her abdomen, causing her to buckle over as I then with a nimble maneuver, threw her over my shoulder and onto the ground before spacing myself away in order to gain further insight on the situation unfolding before me.
Was it fear or her lack of confidence that held her back during the mission?
No, I'm certain that both had a factor, but soon, I'll be forced to use my Aspect.
Preferably, I'd rather not use it, so if confidence is something that Aria struggles with…
Then I'll just send her into despair.
POV: Aria Akari
Picking myself up from the ground, I continued to observe Rai as I noticed his once amused and collected composure was beginning to falter, arising a sense of accomplishment within me as slowly, but surely, I was getting closer to achieving my goal.
I can do this!
Despite my mediocre control in Aura Manipulation, I was still able to manipulate it to an extent as my aura began to flow towards my hand, causing Rai to narrow his eyes in apprehension as I then used my aura to empower the lustrous light within my hands.
Within the span of several seconds, I manipulated my light into two solid daggers as I then dashed towards Rai, leaving a golden streak of light trailing behind me as I intended to slash his chest, but in the moment my daggers approached his torso, Rai managed to catch both of my wrist with his hands as we entered a power struggle, the two of us at a standstill until I slowly began to overwhelm his raw strength as I felt a grin creeping onto my face from his alarmed expression.
"Is there something wrong, Rai? You don't look so good over there." I remarked sarcastically, rousing a nervous grin from Rai as he used the momentum I was slowly gaining to his advantage, forcibly crossing my arms as he pulled me towards him, disrupting my balance completely as Rai then swept me from off the ground in a swift motion and with quick-witted thinking, Rai slipped under me as he planted his arm onto the ground to pivot his body upwards and landed a sharp, yet acrobatic kick directly into my abdomen, sending me upwards into the air as I winched in pain while my daggers of light vanished from my grasp.
There's no way!
How was he able to escape from that?!
Not to mention…
I should have the advantage of my Aspect, so why do I feel on edge?!
As I ascended upwards, Rai planted his feet firmly into the ground and sprinted towards a nearby tree as upon his arrival, he scaled the trunk of the tree with such quickness that I was left astounded by his stupendous physical prowess as in the moment he reached the apex, he propelled himself towards me as amidst his absurd actions, I was still vulnerable within the air as I was forced to watch him in utter disbelief.
What in the…
What in the world did I just witness?!
Am I supposed to believe that he's able to move like that without the use of his own Aspect?!
Homing towards me, I raised my guard in front of my torso in a panic as I tried to anticipate his next move, but to my surprise, Rai grabbed the ankle of my right leg and using the momentum from his previous leap, he spun his body and launched me as I crashed into the ground, my breath seizing on impact as the instant Rai landed onto the ground, he sprinted towards me, urging me to quickly pick myself up from the ground as I raised my guard while my mind raced for an answer to stop Rai's unpredictable assault.
"Within three hours, you won't be able to land an effective attack on me."
Was he serious?
Am I really going to fail like this?
Is there really no way for me to land an attack on him within three hours?!