Infinite Mana In The Oasis

Swoosh. Zoom. Clang.

Eren and Gian started fighting with each other using their weapons. The sounds of metal meeting metal resounded in the surroundings and sparks flew.

The two rankers used their movement spells to clash with each other at various points. Their attacks cracked the ground they stood on. As a result, various flying slashes further damaged the surroundings.

Eren used Igni Chains in conjunction with his mana-based martial arts, expanding his range and versatility. He applied various elemental fusions and aspect fusions to his attacks, enhancing the destructive potential of his attacks.

Eren used support spells like Igni Shards and Blitz Shards to give an edge to his offense and defense at the same time. He also made use of digested memories and Jeet Kun Do to make a smooth transition between the stances of offense and defense.

Still, Gian managed to keep Eren's attacks from harming him simply by using his rank and his experience. He showed the battlemage that some rifts could not be filled with talent and diligent work alone.

Eren was at a disadvantage from the moment the battle started. Gian's movement spell was a rank above him. But that was not all. His skills as a sword user and his elemental attainments exceeded his current ranking status. As a result, the battlemage found it difficult to get the upper hand on Gian even after refining his battle style.

Gian on the other hand wasn't happy with the current situation even though it looked like he was winning. Eren's performance had shocked him beyond measure. At first, he thought Eren wouldn't be able to get rid of his brother's entire team on his own. But now, he was sure that he didn't need Mia's help. He was perfectly capable of killing the entire group of Spiders by himself.

Gian was sure that as talented as he was as a Meta ranker, he was never as strong as the current Eren. The battlemage had redefined the conventional standards set for Meta rankers.

Eren and Gian kept on fighting things out using their martial arts. While the former continued to accumulate injuries on his body, the latter looked like he was just warming up.

The surrounding region had already been in shambles because of the earlier fight between Spiders and demonic rankers. The way Eren and Gian fought made matters worse. The fire lit up at various places because of the conjuring of excessive fire mana. And lightning struck and destroyed the vegetation even more.

Gian and Eren were both lightning element users. As such, they both fought by deploying their own lightning spells.

Gian's attacks focused on the conductive aspect of lightning. They would charge the air around him and affect Eren just by being in the vicinity of him. The battlemage felt like he was being attacked by lightning-element mana from all angles whenever he got close to Gian.

Gian realized Eren was much more talented than his previous and current selves. That's because Eren could perform aspect and elemental fusion. Something he wasn't capable of using even with his supposed higher rank.

In fact, the entire reason Eren could stay strong on the ground against an Awakened ranker was that he could use elemental fusion and aspect fusion. A lot of rankers struggled with a basic understanding of the way of the elements. As such, Eren was like a savant in using his elements his way.

Gian could only tell himself that Eren must have had a huge backer and a lot of resources to make sense of his progress. He was trying to find a reason to explain Eren's growth in his mind while battling with him.

Eren entered a battle trance once again as he kept on getting injured fighting with Gian. In response to Gian's attacks, he started making his counters even more lethal. In short, the battlemage started to solidify the gains he had achieved during these six months of self-improvement.

'This… this bastard's a different animal.'

Gian thought to himself as he watched and experienced Eren fight with him. He was shocked that even after fighting for the last ten minutes, the battlemage refused to back down. Eren kept his limbs and body working despite displaying some serious injuries.

Gian realized that he was being arrogant earlier when he asked Eren to entertain him with his performance. Unlike his younger brother, Gian was at least able to see that Eren was not someone cut from the same cloth as the rest of the normal rankers.

Another thing to worry about for Gian was the fact that Eren could use various elements with exceptional ease. He was a dual-element wielder himself. Thus, he knew how hard it was for a ranker to keep all his elemental attainments in sync. And yet, Eren was wielding his elements like he had been doing this since before he was born.

Although it may sound strange in the context of established norms, the state of epiphany may explain Eren's growth in all his elements. But it wouldn't explain the affinity Eren displayed for wielding various elements.

As minutes passed, Gian started feeling angry with Eren as well as himself. He was starting to feel angry at himself because his subconscious was berating him for not being able to overwhelm a mere Meta ranker.

Gian cracked finally under pressure. He parried Eren's ax attacks and got close to him. He imbued his fist with lightning and water element mana before punching him in the guts. He had broken the unwritten rule of keeping things strictly limited to weapon-based martial arts.

Swoosh. Boom. Bam.

Eren was thrown into the air by Gian's sudden use of a punch. His body was launched into the air at breakneck speeds and came down even harder after the momentum acting on his body slowed down a bit.

Eren bounced off the ground like a rubber ball. His impacts created small craters on the ground. His body was finally slapped against a huge tree trunk that was located at the other end of the battlefield. The wood behind him cracked and the tree was almost uprooted from its base. But it managed to completely kill the vector force acting on Eren's body.

"Aaaaargh!"

Eren was pulled out of his battle trance and came to his senses. He pulled himself out of the body print he had created on the depressing wood trunk and fell to the ground. He gripped his head with one hand and shook it vigorously to clear the blurred vision he was subjected to.

"Hahahahaha!"

Eren started laughing when he saw Gian looking at him stoically. The latter did not try to attack Eren after he was put in a vulnerable position. As if he was kinda sorry for losing his cool and not sticking to the unwritten agreement.

"What are you laughing at?"

Gian asked Eren and narrowed his eyes at him. The latter laughed some more before answering.

"You know exactly why I am laughing, Gian. Don't pretend like you don't know what you did.

What did you say before we started our battle? Oh yeah! "Entertain me well." Hahahaha. I guess you really enjoyed the show I put on for you. The attack you launched on me in the form of a dirty punch is proof of that."

Eren said and started coughing. He cleared his throat as if there was something stuck in it. He then blew his nose and spat. It was his blood mixed with his saliva. It was clear that Gian's punch had damaged Eren's internal organs.

"It's fine though. I'm not complaining. At least I managed to test the limits of my martial arts. They are almost on par with an Awakened ranker even when I have not yet achieved the rank.

This gives me relief. Relief that my diligent work over these six months has finally paid off."

Eren said and spat some more to stop the internal bleeding. He started casting his healing spell on him and stood up on his two feet. He looked Gian in the eyes before declaring.

"My goal of testing martial arts is completed. Now it's time for me to test my special spells."

Eren smiled wickedly back at Gian. After almost isolating himself for six months and experimenting with the gains he had made so far, Eren had decided to compile everything he had learned so far.

Eren summoned his transcendent-grade Hex armor for the first time. The runes on the armor lit up as he started making his move.

Gian wasn't sure what Eren was doing at first. His expression turned grim as he felt the mana fluctuations coming from Eren. The close combat expert felt like Eren was trying to cast Rank 2 spells while still being in the Meta rank.

Eren was trying to cast something unique to himself. He had created a unique way of casting spells using the tools available at his disposal.

One Up + Hex Spells + Deviant Casting