Unsheathing her blade, she held it facing upwards, right in front of her face, the Sword Intent swallowing it as it expanded out.
From below, he saw a barrier form, encircling them, only for the inside to shift into a entire planet, at least right below them, Tellus’s blade still covered in sword Intent, moved down and stayed at her side, both of them dropping onto this mirror world’s ground, being almost ten times larger than Earth despite not turning into a gas giant.
"...Why did I expect it to abide by reality?" Caelus, for a moment, felt really dumb.
"Shall we get started?" Sheathing her blade, her hands moving into a stance, almost like martial arts, though no known pose, her left leg moved back, and Mana coated her hands.
"Martial Auxiliary? Well. Then this’ll be fun." Forcing his body to smile, his teeth showed, his finger moving forward. "Rend."
Yet instead of slashes flying out, space cracked, while he spoke the technique, it wasn’t what he wanted to actually use, and the amplification was based on Intent; it simply worked because speaking the attack he wanted to use was usually what he intended to, originating at Tellus’s body, sending her flying back at maximum speed. Crashing into a replica of the Empire in this domain.
"That’ll only work once, so I won’t repeat that." Caelus rushed ahead, travelling across the path in a near instant as he changed his body’s position. "Wait, I’m not restricted to Arcane and Literature, my Core allows more!"
"Draconic Overdrive!"
His legs coated in Mana as he spoke. The air in front of him turned to plasma, a blue-white streak of it, since he didn’t suppress the damage that moving this fast would cause. The ground beneath him exploded out, leaving craters as he flew through the air, his legs positioned forward.
Tellus moved quickly, expecting a ranged attack while the dust was clearing, only for his legs to make contact with the barrier and spread out his attack evenly across it, yet still at full power, breaking right through it and crashing into her chest.
The ground beneath them liquified almost instantly, the rock beneath them acting like it was water, and a crater half the size of his Draconic Aura. Molten rock and vaporized soil flying out at speeds almost rivaling his own.
The Windows shattering, and a wave of pressure flying out, reaching the length of his Aura. A moment as she was pushed slightly back, only to be launched, almost delayed, so she couldn’t ready herself.
The surrounding area exploded, along with the ground behind him, as the sound finally registered, a sonic boom flying towards them.
"CAELUS YOU- I THOUGHT YOU PICKED THE LITERATURE PATH!"
Tellus has now been launched again as the entire area around them has completely flattened, the buildings turning to dust.
"I did, it’s just because of my Dragon Core."
"What-What even is a Dragon Core-"
"NO QUESTIONS, This is a fight!" He knew the irony; he loved asking questions, but just said no questions. To which Tellus grumbled.
Tellus quickly stood up, remembering that she didn’t need to restrain or suppress her movements too much; she was unconsciously restricting herself, since destroying the Empire while trying to protect it or to train wasn’t ideal.
In a moment, Tellus moved forward, her hand swinging ahead, ready to punch him right in the face with her full force, though limited to the fifth stage of Virtuoso.
Moving his hand, Caelus went to block it and mitigate the damage, yet right as it connected, Tellus’s hand phased right through his hand, slamming into his face. The shockwave flew out, only to be pulled back and used as more force, and Caelus crashed into a mountain. Again, but this time, the sheer force used caused the Mountain to take the rest of the impact.
Collapsing in on itself, it was reduced to nothing but rubble. Though Caelus got up, he couldn’t deny it was painful. Readying himself, Caelus noticed Tellus ready to launch herself towards him. Because of that, he waited, and even the slightest bit of change in where she was made him launch himself forward as well.
Right in front of each other, their punches connected. Caelus, on the other hand, moved it and grasped her leg, with his tail going around from under him and wrapping around her waist. Pulling, he caused her to lose her balance with his tail, throwing her into the air.
"PARADOX MOVEMENT!"
Right as he spoke, Tellus was suspended in the air. Caelus, launching up in an instant, now next to her, put his hand on her back, activating Erosion. Caelus punched her right after, her body taking constant damage due to his technique, which stays active as long as he has Mana.
[Literature Path has reached Awakening VIII - Would you like for Tribulation to come all at once?]
"Sure!"
From above, the Tribulation pierced right through Tellus’s Domain, slamming into him with the force of a High-level Foundation Cultivator, strong, but not enough to do lasting damage.
[Looks like you’ve reached Foundation Establishment for your Auxiliary Path... Finally, it took you long enough >:3]
"Okay, I was busy, Aphro- FUCK-"
Since he wasn’t focused on the fight right now, Tellus jumped up, her leg swung from the side and hit his neck, multiple shockwaves followed as Caelus crashed into the water, and he noticed his scales acted almost like gills. Allowing him to swim underwater for what was effectively forever.
But he had to focus now, using Mana to launch himself out. Caelus shook his head, noticing his clothing was wet, and so was his hair. He used Mana to dry it even in the middle of a spar.
"Okay, Tellus, I think we can end it here-"
[You have reached Virtuoso VI! You’re Half-Step to Soul Formation.]
"...I thought half step was like right before reaching the next Major realm?"
[Well, not here, it’s different, remember words don’t always mean what they’re supposed to here, Caely- Okay, no, that’s a bad nickname... Uhhh]
While Aphro was thinking of a nickname, Caelus flew down, landing right where Tellus stood, her Sword Domain disappearing. "I guess your Domain helps with exerting full strength instead of limiting ourselves... But that can be a double-edged sword, you know."
"...Indeed, but I doubt anyone I fight would know that if they got trapped inside the Domain, unless it’s Nyx."
"...Tellus."
"What?"
"Did you really have to bring her into this?"
"Okay, sorry, it’s just a habit, honestly." She sighed.
"Anyways, first make sure to restrict our movement so we don’t... Destroy everything nearby." Caelus’s tail swung around, also being excited alongside him, though his face showed no emotions. At all.
"Next, you want to go to the beach or just go walking instead, I don’t mind either."
"We can go walking, and then stay at the beach at the end before we go back to the Empire."
As soon as they touched the ground, Caelus remembered his Aura was always active, meaning he was fighting what was essentially Tellus, but a bit stronger and more confident. Especially since it considered her an ally.
"Which direction should we go, and what should we even talk about?" A faint hum from Caelus as he thought on what to talk about. They didn’t really get to know each other too much in the few months that passed.
"Well, I would like to know what connection you have with Nyx because people keep saying they see you around her, being very close, almost like friends."
"Ah, it was because I had something which could get her to the next realm. I still have it, but it’s not usable right now, especially because of the pill it upgraded."
"Wait, upgraded?" While walking, though to nowhere in particular, on the same path, Caelus first met Tellus. "...Hmm, so that would mean he has a Creation Artifact. Possibly the Vase of Zurvan... But that name is from a Demonic Entity." She looked up, puzzled by why he’d have it.
"Why do you even have it?"
"Shiny."
"Of course it is." She sighed. "I was overthinking it, ugh."
"Alright, but now Tellus, what exactly were you talking to Elysia about? I know it’s something involving the Undead Invasion earlier, right?"
"Indeed, she found out it was forcibly opened by a cultivator, though they didn’t know it was a Heavenly Realization Rank Rift, though it’s closed now after one of the Holy Mothers closed it... Her name was Theresia, I’m pretty sure."
"There’s more I specifically talked about with her, but it’s more about her cultivation, so I won’t explain."
"...I could just tell that I trained her, or I could play along. Either one is fun, hm." A smile grew on his face, and he quickly returned to the calm so it would work. "I’ll reveal it anyway." He turned over, looking at her. "The Princess Cultivating? Last time I heard anything about it, she was unable to cultivate due to something involving the bloodline."
"Indeed, but the Church stated they used this newly discovered Germ Theory to fix the thing causing the problem, being something involving the Meridians. They said it can’t be removed with Mana, so that’s why it wasn’t fixed."
"I mean, yeah, you need to see extremely well and also be able to control Mana precisely enough to move... A single hair on your head. That’s how precise, except it needs to be for something not as long as a hair, so it’s a bit harder too."
"So only someone at the Heavenly Realization Realm or higher would be able to, since they’ve had enough time using Mana to do that."
"Also, Caelus, I haven’t seen you eat anything yet. It’s been a month at least. Did you forget to eat or something?"
"...How do I explain photosynthesis to her- Wait, I doubt they’d hide the fact plants get energy from the sun, so I might as well."
"Do you know what Photosynthesis is?"
"Indeed, it’s how plants get their energy, especially from the sun."
"Yeah, so I copied that and used it for my scales, so I don’t need to eat much, especially when I make my own absorption of it five times better than plants."
"..."
A silence that stretched just long enough to make Caelus feel uncomfortable, until Tellus finally spoke.
"I- Apologies, I was just taking time to understand what you just said."
Feeling relieved, Caelus noticed the beach ahead, along with a few seals and also crabs... Of course, Crabs. "Well, at least I won’t be hurt by a crab this time, at least."
Walking over with her, she seemed to understand what he meant. Sitting down in a more empty area, without animals nearby, so they didn’t disturb the date.
Tellus, on the other hand, formed what was a blanket of Mana to make sure she didn’t touch the sand-
Only for Caelus to look at it, look annoyed, and pull it right as she sat down. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR-"
"You can clean it out with Mana, so much for Mana being used for fighting." Caelus sighed.
"Come on, you know what, sure, but you have to let me touch your tail without it attacking me."
Caelus shrugged, his tail moving to her legs, which were stretched out. Caelus, on the other hand, spread his Mana across the sand evenly, making it just warm enough for the seals here. He would make it go away once they left, but he didn’t want them disturbing him, making it high enough that they liked it and low enough that it didn’t burn.
Both of them stayed quiet as they stared into the ocean and the horizon. Tellus’s hand moved as it touched the tail, which lightly flinched, only for it to calm itself down as she felt the scales. She noticed it was mostly hollow, except for the flesh and scales, with very thin bands that seemed to carry something like signals.