Mages could use their mana to fly as early as Green. The ease by which they did that often depended on their affinity and whatever else they had going for them, but it was generally possible for them to manoeuvre for at least a limited time in the air.

It wasn’t until Blue that this skill became effortless for everyone though – enough to fight for an extended period of time while airborne. This was something Percy had always looked forward to as a child. In his opinion, the sheer freedom that came with soaring through the sky with one own’s power was one of the greatest allures of magic.

Obviously, he was neither a Blue nor a Green just yet, but he’d guessed he had more than enough mana, as well as sufficient control over it, to pull this off. Sure enough, it hadn’t been that difficult for him to use his replicating scythes as footholds, leaping from one crossed pair of shafts to another. His phantoms clung to the burning constructs, like loyal soldiers holding their weapons up for their emperor to tread on.

‘If only these bastards would give me a few minutes to enjoy it…’

Sadly, Percy had his hands full with dodging the relentless onslaught of the two Blues. Violent torrents of water and sharp gales of wind alike tried to shred him to pieces, as he struggled to keep the number of Harvesters steady inside the stacked domains.

Glancing over at Micky, he quickly realized his familiar wasn’t having a great time either. Sure, he didn’t have to go through so many hoops to stay in the fight – he was both faster and more experienced than him at flying. However, he was also less nimble and much larger, offering a better target for their enemies.

And that wasn’t even the only problem they had to deal with.

‘You two doing okay?’ Percy asked his clone, before suppressing the cord again.

Ever since the upgrade to his Secret Art, they had been forced to use the connection sparingly, as they weren’t ready to handle the excess information yet. In theory, they could effortlessly tap into each other’s thoughts and senses, but they currently found that more confusing than helpful. Artificially handicapping themselves was quite pathetic, but they understood that mastering the new spell wouldn’t happen in a month or two.

‘Not really. We got hit a bunch of times already. Nothing serious yet, but we won’t be able to keep this up forever.’ the clone replied.

As for Micky himself… he was probably too busy avoiding the attacks to join the conversation.

Percy gritted his teeth, trying to think of a way out of this mess. Resisting two domains at once was already hard, and that was without considering how skilled the Blues were at covering each other. No matter what, they’d have to split them up. Of course, this was something he had realized even before the start of the battle, but making it happen wasn’t that simple.

The water mage was clearly in charge of defence. He had manifested several azure serpents, some of them coiling around him for protection, while the rest roamed the battlefield. Whenever his teammate was about to get hit, they got in the way of Percy’s attacks. Whenever they were free, they attacked him or Micky instead, putting pressure on them both. Meanwhile, the air mage was almost impossible to grab a hold of. He constantly whizzed around them, shooting smaller but much faster spells from every angle.

‘I don’t see us budging the water mage from his spot anytime soon. Our best bet is to pile on the other guy and force him away. As soon as their domains stop overlapping, it’ll be easier to keep them apart.’ Percy suggested at some point.

It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was the only thing he could come up with.

‘Alright. Let’s focus our spells on him as soon as we get an opening,’ the clone replied after a while, having probably discussed their strategy with Micky.

Over the next few minutes, Percy and Micky stayed on the defensive, the former trying to amass as many scythes as he could for the attack, while the latter did everything he could to minimize the damage he took.

Eventually, an opportunity presented itself.

Percy jumped through the narrow gap between two of the azure serpents, closing the distance to the water mage. Meanwhile, the air mage had overextended a little while pursuing Micky.

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‘Now!’ he said, aiming all of his free Harvesters at the water mage, the burning blades closing in on him from every direction.

Raising an eyebrow, the water mage retracted more of his own constructs, forming a handful of dense rings spinning rapidly around him in an attempt to block the incoming attacks.

Percy’s lips curled up, however, as he diverted the spell at the last second, sending two thirds of his constructs after the air mage instead. Caught by surprise, the latter had to halt his attack on Micky, propelling himself away from the flock of weapons.

Having expected that, Micky opened his wings wide, using the rush of wind to slow himself down. Falling just behind the air mage, he sent a barrage of sharp icicles at him, joining forces with Percy to block the man’s escape path. Left with no other choice, the air mage flew ahead, the burning scythes and the frozen shards rushing after him.

Of course, the water mage didn’t just sit back as Percy and Micky ganged up on his teammate. Sending some of his serpents after Percy again, he put some pressure on him to weaken his assault on the air mage. Sure enough, Percy withdrew some of his weapons, his flock growing clumsier, slower and less accurate as his attention got peeled away from the pursuit.

Micky wasn’t about to let their efforts go to waste, however. Picking up the slack, he unleashed a lot of his spare mana, shooting more icicles to prevent the air mage from circling back. Draining his reserves would obviously make the subsequent fight much harder, but he probably understood that the removal of the second domain would help even more.

Clearly unwilling to concede his advantage so easily, the air mage also went all out, crushing some of the shards as he evaded others. At the same time, he desperately searched for an opening to return to his companion. He might have succeeded too, if he hadn’t already travelled far enough.

Percy soon noticed that the second domain was already a lot weaker. It wasn’t entirely gone just yet, but he found it easier to dodge the azure serpents, and he guessed his familiar should have experienced some changes too.

Tossing a fleeting glance at the other end of the battlefield, he confirmed that the crow was flying and attacking a little faster than before. He was glued behind the air mage, chasing him farther and farther with each powerful flap of his wings, and each brutal barrage of icicles he unleashed. Before long, the domains fully separated, allowing Percy to exhale in relief.

“Finally!” he spat, shifting the rest of his attention to his own opponent.

Splitting them up hadn’t come without a cost. Micky had used up much of his mana, and Percy had been forced to sacrifice more than half of his accumulated constructs. Still, he was confident they could both build their strength back up again if they fought cautiously for a few minutes. Everything considered, he felt good about their chances.

That only lasted until his opponent grinned, however.

“That was a lot of effort you’ve put into splitting us up… Did you think this would give you an advantage?”

Percy didn’t even get a chance to reply, when the water mage released a lot more mana from his core, causing his constructs to enlarge, and to accelerate. A series of giant rivers snaked all over the place, covering the battlefield in countless chaotic arcs. Ferocious serpents descended upon Percy one after another, causing him to dodge by the skin of his teeth.

Whenever he was about to avoid a blow, the domain around him intensified for a moment, slowing his body down, and messing with his control over his mana. His steps grew sluggish, many of his scythes even failing to repair themselves as each of his opponent’s attacks came closer to injuring him than the last.

Knowing he couldn’t just keep defending, Percy sent many of his spare scythes after the water mage, trying to lift some pressure off himself. The weapons spun toward their target, about to sink their curved edges through the gaps between the azure rings.

That never happened, however.

Suddenly, the rings sped up in two directions. The water flowing through them did so much faster, and the rings also revolved around the mage rapidly, blocking all of Percy’s attacks without fail. The Harvesters made crisp tings as they collided against the compressed water, their edges shattering into a million pieces.

Percy frowned at the sight.

‘This feels more like trying to stab through stone with a toothpick, than slashing through water with a blade…’

The only silver lining was that the pressure around him had lessened momentarily, allowing him to move a little faster for a few seconds. That didn’t last long, however, the force returning as soon as the rings were done diffusing his offensive.

‘He’s so much better at manipulating his domain than Acton!’ Percy realized grimly.

This person didn’t even have an earth or a mud affinity – just water – yet his defences were even harder to breach than the deceased Green-born’s. Even worse, he was able to move his domain around seamlessly, alternating between enveloping the entire battlefield to slow Percy down, or using it to empower his spells.

“Don’t feel so bad,” the old man consoled. “Separating us was a smart move. Unfortunately for you, our enemies have been using it against our House for centuries. I’m afraid we’ve long learned to fight separately as well as we can together.”

Percy had no retort, knowing the man was right. What the two veterans had lost in coordination or their stacked domains, they’d clearly made up for in other ways. He didn’t know about the other guy, but the water mage was able to use both his domain and his mana a lot more aggressively now that he didn’t have to worry about getting in his companion’s way.

So focused had he and Micky been on splitting the old monsters up, that they’d played right into their hands…