Blade Over Magic

A ’Test’

Xander wasn’t sure how long he stayed in his room, but he was confident he was there for a few hours at least.

When he finally calmed down, he rested his chin on his knees and let out a shaky exhale. No doubt, his eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. But despite that, he felt... lighter.

It was hard to explain, but it was as though there had been something thick, like sludge, in his chest that he’d been carrying, and he’d let it all out.

His self-loathing hadn’t disappeared, not quite, but Curtis’s words seem to have had their intended effect.

’Love, huh?’ He exhaled again, but his breath was steadier now.

He stood and stretched.

’Huh, weird.’ He expected himself to feel like shit after crying. But he felt surprisingly okay. But wasn’t crying meant to hurt for a while?

’Then again, when was the last time I cried like this?’ He gave a small, self-deprecating laugh. ’Look at me, bawling like a kid.’ He stood there for a few seconds, then he sighed.

He decided to go find Aubrey and Falael. They were probably still waiting for his response, and while he didn’t know how to navigate his own feelings or theirs just yet, Curtis’s words had certainly given him a lot to think about.

So after stabilizing his mental state, he opened his door and walked down the hallway.

But he didn’t go very far when he got stopped.

His expression turned unreadable as, in front of him, his elder half-sister and the youngest of the pure-blooded Lowells, Theresa, stood on front of him.

Her arms were folded, her head tilted in something that might have been curiosity, and on her shoulder, the ball of light with wings, which was actually a sprite, floated silently.

"... Yes?" Xander spoke after a moment, and Theresa narrowed her eyes slightly, but she smiled sharply.

"You’ve been crying, hm?" Xander facepalmed internally. Of course they would use this as a chance to undermine him.

"What do you want?" He asked flatly, and Theresa rolled her eyes in what Xander could only describe as bratty.

"So impatient. You’re no fun." She shook her head and walked closer, only for Xander to step back further without any hesitation, his eyes trained on her.

"Aw, can’t your big sister come closer?" She pouted in a way that made Xander question if she was actually in her twenties.

"What do you want?" He repeated, not taking his eyes off her for a second.

To an outsider, it looked like he was just keeping his distance, but in truth, he was being wary.

As soon as he saw her, he activated Myriad Paths, and what met him was a dense web of Paths surrounding her like an intricately weaved tapestry. He had no doubt that if he entered among those paths which were her immediate attack range, she’d do a little more than just ’come closer’. Maybe not harm him, but...

"Hm, you’re perceptive, I’ll give you that." She seemed to realize that she’d been seen through, but rather than getting angry, she pressed a finger to her cheek.

"Fine, since you don’t wanna be fun. I want to see what Father sees in you. And you’re a little interesting, but that’s about it." Xander didn’t give her any reaction, he simply asked.

"Don’t you have better things to do than stalk me?" That made her laugh.

"You shouldn’t really be acting like you’re in control when you’ve clearly been sobbing your heart out. Aren’t you a man? What? Did one of those girls reject your or something?" Her words were biting, and Xander exhaled, turned around, and walked away.

Well, he tried to, anyway.

"And who said you could just leave?" His eyes narrowed sharply as his steps halted, because somehow, Theresa had appeared in front of him again, at the exact same distance as before, and she was smiling smugly.

He cursed inwardly.

’I didn’t think she could expand her range like this. This is troublesome.’ He frowned. Her Paths had suddenly extended far beyond, covering him and the surrounding area.

’Judging by how this place is shaped, it’s an alternate space. A domain, perhaps? Moreover...’ His frown deepened slightly.

Her Paths were everywhere. The only place where they didn’t reach were Xander’s immediate range, which did not bode well.

Despite this, though, Xander did not panic. This surprised Theresa.

"Oh, that’s interesting. Do you really think you can get out of this?" She tilted her head further, her smile growing wider.

"Father undoubtedly knows what’s going on here, yet he hasn’t interfered. That must mean he’s leaving you to handle this on your own. Do you really think you could, hm? I’m curious, which is faster? You summoning and swinging a sword? Or me drowning you in attacks?" She shook her head.

"Swordsmanship. I wonder if you genuinely think you can put it to be on par with casting. If you genuinely think your philosophy can compete with Archmage Bellion’s. You may be good against individual opponents who aren’t that strong. But what happens when you face people like me? What can you do? How can you compete? Go on. Show me. In terms of combat ability, I’m probably the weakest among our siblings. If you can’t handle this much, what can you hope to achieve?" Her words were taunting and mocking. She was clearly goading him, daring him to make a move.

But Xander didn’t bite, rather, he continued to analyze the situation, and by reading both her intent and Paths, he came to a conclusion.

’She isn’t acting by herself. Most likely, the other pure-bloods are watching to see how this pans out. Xavier must have told them to observe me, or something similar. I guess this is their way of doing that. How extreme.’ He exhaled as he looked at the Paths surrounding him.

’I suppose it’s about time I test that.’ With that thought in mind, he focused on his paths as well as hers.

He directed his, and then...

’Huh?’ Theresa blinked as right in front of her eyes, Xander... disappeared. However, she didn’t stand there in a stupor.

Without hesitation, a mirror like barrier appeared around her while above, thousands of tiny mirror shards appeared in the air and rained down.

One thing taught to mages was that if they ever lose sight of their opponent, their first objective was to ensure their protection, like creating a shield around themselves, then ensuring their target could not freely approach them, typically by using an attack with a wide range.

Theresa was no exception as she followed this rule to the T.

And yet...

The tip of a sword somehow appeared in her barrier, followed by Xander’s figure as he stabbed towards her neck.

’How did he...?’ The sword embedded deep into her neck, yet her ’body’ fractured like glass as the mirror substitute took the damage for her, and she appeared in another part of the domain.

As soon as she did, the sprite on her shoulder spread its wings, and suddenly, countless lasers of immolating heat fired out, each one bouncing between a bunch of mirrors that appeared all over the place before shooting towards Xander at different angles.

Xander’s hand blurred, and he slashed around himself at absurd speeds, a net of slashes surrounding him and deflecting these beams.

Bladed Net.

However, rather than the beams simply flying off into the distance, mirrors appeared in their paths, and when they struck them, the surface of the mirrors... ate them, their surfaces rippling as below Xander, more mirrors appeared and shot out these beams.

But at that moment, his body seemed to vibrate weirdly, and these beams phased through him harmlessly.

Just then, three magic circles that resembled mirrors appeared in front of him, and from them came odd humanoid creatures that looked like they were made of glass.

All three of them then rippled and transformed into Xander, each of them holding the exact same sword he held and they charged at him. Each one making use of a move he’d used at some point whole training in the training field.

One shot forward with Flowing Tide, another shot out a Solar-Edge Thrust, and the third used Vibration Traversal to appear in front of him in an instant.

On top of that, behind him, several mirrors had caught one of the beams of heat and were bouncing it constantly, its power increasing more and more until it began to become obscene, and finally, these beam was unleashed.

Faced by three mirror clones from the front, the big beam from the back, and another rain of beams from above, Xander opened his eyes wide as...

’Got it.’ He took a step, then he used Vibration Traversal.

But that wasn’t all.

In his like of sight, his secondary Paths converged around his sword, but they didn’t cut any of Theresa’s. Rather, they guided him.

Like a phantom, he passed by the first mirror clone, a slash appearing diagonally across its chest, the second one was beheaded, and the third was sliced in half. All three exploded into glass.

He then fused Vibration Traversal with Flowing tide on the spot, his teleportation like movements becoming fluid as he evaded all the beams, and in a moment, he appeared in front of Theresa again.

But she had already finished preparing her spell.

"Mirror Magic: Chaotic Refraction." The surroundings instantly become unbelievably distorted.

Xander saw countless reflections of himself, and they were all of various sizes. They filled his vision, making it impossible for him to ascertain his surroundings with his eyes.

So he didn’t use his eyes.

Instead, he swung.

Fake Moon

There was a hiss of pain, then relying solely on the surrounding vibrations and Paths, Xander swung behind him as he felt Mana converging behind his head.

"That’s enough." A calm voice rang out, and Xander’s vision suddenly returned to normal while all the Paths surrounding him began to recede.

In the path of his Sword, the closed eyed Nathan caught the blade between his fingers, while Theresa’s wrist was being gripped by Mary.

Had they not interfered, it was hard to tell if Theresa would have landed her spell first, or Xander’s sword would have buried into her neck.

"Theresa, I believe we saw what we wanted." Nathan said, his voice still calm. And Theresa gritted her teeth before pulling her hand free of Mary’s, clicking her tongue.

Xander ended the sword projection, and he looked up at Nathan who faced him, but said nothing.

Instead, he just guided a fuming Theresa away.

"Are you alright, Milord?" Mary asked, her tone firm.

"... I’m fine." Xander exhaled and looked at his hand.

’Phew, I actually managed to pull it off.’ He thought.

The biggest issue in the beginning was actually making a move, as like Theresa said, could he do so before she drowned him in attacks?

So he did something he’d been theorizing about after his epiphany the day before.

Rather than cutting her oaths to prevent her from perceiving him, he directed his own into a blindspot, essentially disappearing to her senses.

Then the rest of the fight played out.

"That’s good to hear." Mary let out a faint sigh.

"Come on, the others are waiting for you." She started walking, and Xander lingered for only a second before he followed her.