COMPLETED Remembrance of Self | Fantasy | LGBTQ

Chapter 21 - Part 1

The mid-summer sun scorched the gravel in the training pit with such intensity that whenever Tasgal's bare flesh made contact with the ground it sent a flash of searing pain throughout his body. The sky was clear, no clouds in sight. The heat bore no sign of diminishing.

Ashen cheered from the sidelines as Tasgal jumped to his feet in a fluid motion. He loved showing off, especially to Haiden, but this time, the wielder he cared for was his opponent.

Unlike previous sparring matches, this one was more serious. Tasgal gave Haiden his approval on using the full extent of his powers while Tasgal wielded his Ashen sword that he finally retrieved from once he had stashed safely. He never actually noticed how much he missed it and a spare sword from the armory was never the same. This sword was of a higher quality steel, and stones. Made by master craftsmen, gifted to him by his master the day he departed. It was his prized possession. The blade when sung through the air cried melodically as if it cut through space itself.

Haiden threw another three force blasts to test the waters and Tasgal cut through them with incredible ease, dispelling the spells. Although earlier Haiden managed to pin Tasgal to the ground using water manipulation to hold him down, Tasgal was swift enough to dispel all snares Haiden tried.

"Is that all that you haven, little guy." Tasgal taunted, confident with his newly returned straight.

"That wasn't even drop of what I can do." Haidem smirked, he too was confident. While sparring with limited use of his powers always resulted in his loose, Tasgal could not handle the full front of his powers.

Haiden placed a few full barriers to create some distance between himself and Tasgal but a single sweep of the sword was enough to wipe away any trace of energy. Haiden cursed at the effectiveness of the sword. But, it didn't matter. As soon as Tasgal was ready to destroy the final barrier Haiden raised a hand and the ground before him collapsed slightly, cracking in the shape of a perfect thick rectangle. Tasgal's sword came down easily cutting through the barrier but then meeting hard stone just inches beyond Haiden's face. The sword rang like a tuning fork as it shallowly lodged itself in the stone shield Haiden created.

"Not bad." Tasgal smiled, his hands still feeling the reverberance from the sword as he pulled it out effortlessly.

Haiden let down the stone shield and gave Tasgal an arrogant smirk. "Let's see what else you got, big guy." Haiden took a few careful steps backward to create some distance but Tasgal was already hot on his heels. Haiden didn't let him advance too fast, pulling water from the air and sending frozen bullets from both Tasgal's left and right. He parried the bullets with his sword, the energy around them dispelling as soon as they came in the vicinity of the crystals and reverting back to their original gaseous state. This slowed Tasgal, alright, but he still made good time advancing.

Haiden formed several balls of plasma, surrounding himself and with a twist of his extended hand they rained down lightning bolts, powerful enough the crack and boom throughout the pit with such force that the onlookers had to cover their ears. Haiden had full trust in Tasgal's abilities to withstand his attack, and he was right to do so. Tasgal raised his sword towards the lightning, his hair was fully standing up, he felt the sheer power crackling on his skin. The lightning changed directions to the tip of the sword, the electricity flowing through him straight in the ground. He felt all that power run through him, but it was not painful, just annoying. With a swing to his left, the lightning bolts jumped to the ground dispersing harmlessly.

"Not bad." Haiden mocked Tasgal, resulting in him laughing before taking his fighting stance and rushing towards Haiden. The young wielder quickly used the same trick as with the stone shield but this time the cracks in the ground surrounded Haiden. A pillar of stone pushed him high in the air. He enveloped himself in energy changing the charges to provide a bit of lift, and with a simple force blast he propelled himself on the other side of the pit, creating a big gap between him and Tasgal.