Brian's attack aimed at Yuno rushed forward at an incredibly high speed, but that was not a problem for a Wind Magic user like Yuno.
"Wind Creation Magic: Swiftwind Boots!"
Yuno's Grimoire flipped through the pages, stopping at a spell he had acquired not long ago.
Immediately, Yuno's feet were equipped with a pair of magical boots. Without hesitation, he kicked off against the air, launching himself far enough to dodge the incoming spear.
Swiftwind Boots, an equipment spell Yuno had obtained while training with Brian. Its effect was to enhance Yuno's movement speed while also allowing him to move through mid-air.
To deal with his best friend's close-combat style, Yuno had found a way to increase his movement speed and his ability to maintain distance, and this spell was the perfect choice for that.
"That's really convenient."
Brian remarked in admiration as he watched Yuno dodge the spear he had thrown. Wind Magic was indeed an extremely powerful magic when fighting in the air; its mobility had made him a bit envious of Yuno more than a few times.
"What's the matter, can't you get up here?"
Floating in mid-air, Yuno spoke as if he could read Brian's thoughts. Equipped with Swiftwind Boots, he looked down arrogantly at Brian from above.
"If you can't get up here, then stay there and be a punching bag."
Yuno's Grimoire flipped quickly again as he continued to use offensive spells to attack Brian from the air. Having the advantage of flexibility in combat style compared to his opponent, there was no way he wouldn't utilize it to the fullest.
"Wind Creation Magic: Wind Blades Shower!"
"Wind Creation Magic: Swift White Hawk!"
Dozens of sharp wind blades appeared around Yuno, identical to the previous attack he used to strike Brian's Earth Shield. In addition to the wind blades, he also created a wind hawk several times larger than his own body.
Not just one, but two offensive spells were cast by Yuno simultaneously. With his innate talent, he was fully capable of doing this with ease.
But... this was not yet enough.
Not stopping at two, Yuno continued to use another type of offensive spell.
A large wind bow with arrows ready to fire appeared right in front of Yuno. He had developed this offensive spell with the purpose of destroying Brian's Earth Shield.
"Wind Creation Magic: Gale White Bow!"
Yuno's face slightly tightened at this moment; clearly, maintaining four different types of spells at once was making it difficult for him to control his mana.
"If you push yourself too hard, you might end up 'retired' permanently."
Seeing Yuno cast several types of offensive spells at once, Brian immediately returned the favor to his best friend.
"Earth Creation Magic: Earth Shield!"
"Earth Magic: Stone Skin!"
Two earth shields were created on his left and right sides; with them, Brian could block Yuno's attacks without any issues.
Not only were two earth shields created, but Brian's skin also changed to a color no different from pebbles in an instant, before returning to its original state.
If one observed closely, they could detect that Brian's skin had become slightly glossier; this was the effect of the reinforcement spell he had just used.
Stone Skin, a reinforcement spell Brian had used frequently since he learned it.
After using this spell, Brian's defensive and offensive capabilities—both physical and magical—would be significantly enhanced thanks to a layer of skin as hard as iron and stone. Not only that, this spell helped the mana he used to wrap around his body become sturdier, boosting both defensive and offensive effectiveness by another level.
This was an extremely suitable spell for close combat.
"Bring it on, Yuno!"
Brian let out a roar, his entire body immediately entering a ready stance to intercept the storm of attacks Yuno aimed at him.
Brian didn't have to wait long, as Yuno from above also began to launch his attack.
First was the Wind Blades Shower; wind blades as sharp as razors were launched by Yuno toward Brian at extreme speed.
Unlike last time, Yuno no longer concentrated his attack on a single point; he expanded the range of the attack large enough to cause damage to the entire surface of Brian's earth shield.
Next, the wind hawk Yuno created acted; it flew straight up to a point higher than where he was standing, then immediately dove down toward Brian in a predatory posture, exactly like a hawk targeting a field mouse.
"Be careful."
Yuno gave a soft warning to Brian before drawing his bow; the oversized wind bow was now equipped with six arrows, ready to fire at any moment if Brian let his guard down.
"No need to remind me."
Brian didn't pay much attention to Yuno's warning; he controlled one of his two earth shields to move forward, blocking the attack from Yuno's wind blades.
Boom!!
Yuno's attack hit Brian's earth shield, but it didn't cause much damage. This spell was originally intended to attack multiple targets quickly and neatly, so it was perfectly normal that it couldn't destroy Brian's defensive spell.
Seeing the attack had no effect, Yuno didn't seem disappointed; he gently moved a finger holding the bowstring, and immediately, an arrow shot straight at Brian's earth shield.
Boom!!
The wind arrow hit Brian's earth shield. Unlike the wind blades that couldn't cause significant damage, Yuno's arrow this time punched a hole right in the center of Brian's solid shield.
"I see..."
Brian muttered as he looked at the hole the wind arrow had just caused in his earth shield.
If Brian's judgment wasn't wrong, Yuno had probably found a way to counter the defensive adjustment capability of his Earth Shield spell.
"As long as the attack is fast enough to surpass the moment your Earth Shield begins to adjust its defensive power, I can destroy that spell of yours."
As if confirming Brian's thoughts, Yuno spoke with a look of undisguised satisfaction, "Am I right, Brian?"
Glancing briefly at Yuno, Brian let out a laugh; he made no effort to hide the fact that his spell's weakness had been exposed.
"Then you should celebrate. Because after this, there's no way you'll easily break my defense again."
In reality, the fact that Brian's Earth Shield was pierced wasn't entirely because Yuno's arrow was faster than the shield's ability to adjust its defense. That reason was only half true.
Before being hit by Yuno's wind arrow, Brian's earth shield had endured a series of attacks from Yuno's wind blades launched earlier. Its defensive capacity had decreased significantly because of that, which was why Yuno's wind arrow could pierce through Brian's special defensive spell.
Regardless, Yuno's offensive spell was not weak; the fact that Brian's defensive spell withstood Yuno's attack with less effort than his opponent was already an incredibly respectable feat.
"Defending forever isn't a good idea either... In that case... I'm attacking!"
With those words, Brian no longer stood still for Yuno to aim his wind arrows at him. He slammed his foot hard onto the ground below, jumping straight toward Yuno, who was floating in the air.
Brian's ground slam caused a small tremor in the earth, causing a large boulder nearby to launch straight into the sky.
Brian's damaged earth shield was quickly repurposed by him; the arm he used to touch the shield was immediately covered in a thick layer of earth, and shortly after, an earth gauntlet that looked like it was taken from a knight's armor appeared on his arm.
"Earth Creation Magic: Stone Gauntlet!"
With his arm equipped by the spell, Brian immediately gathered his strength, looking as if he was preparing to throw a powerful punch forward.
Seeing Brian approaching him, Yuno reacted instantly; he held the wind bow in his hand, exerted force with his legs, and treated the air like normal ground as he leaped away, distancing himself from Brian's attack range.
By dropping one offensive spell he had been controlling earlier, Yuno was now free enough to attack Brian while maintaining a safe distance.
But...
Under Yuno's careful yet somewhat surprised gaze, Brian did not attack him as he had imagined.
Brian acted very unexpectedly; he switched targets mid-air.
When the boulder Brian had launched into the sky earlier came near him, he borrowed it as a launchpad, jumping directly from that boulder to lunge at the wind hawk diving toward him.
Brian wasn't worried that Yuno would attack him as he lunged at the wind hawk. His Earth Shield spell could not only provide strong defense, it could also be carried like a conventional shield to block strikes manually.
And of course, if Brian continuously channeled his earth-element mana into the earth shield he was holding to enhance its defensive power, Yuno would never be able to hit him.
The inherent powerful defensive capability of Earth Shield, combined with the mana being further reinforced by the effect of Stone Skin—Yuno had no way to bypass such a solid layer of defense.
"Tch... You scheming guy."
Yuno clicked his tongue as he realized what Brian was doing. Although he didn't want to let Brian gain the upper hand, he didn't want to hold the wind bow in his hand any longer since it couldn't strike Brian.
Reluctantly, Yuno had to fire all the arrows currently drawn on his wind bow toward Brian.
Boom!!
Every wind arrow Yuno fired hit Brian's earth shield. Although he knew this attack would have no effect, he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when he saw the shield remained intact.
"What's the matter, don't you have any move strong enough?"
Brian laughed happily as he felt like something had just scratched an itch. He directed his fist toward the wind hawk in front of him, delivering a powerful thrust.
The moment Yuno's wind hawk collided with Brian's fist, it was ruthlessly torn apart, vanishing completely in mid-air.