"Surprise indeed." Another voice came, but this time from behind Cylix.
"Step one, deflection." Standing afar, Novius had a clear view of the battlefield. Moreover, as the third person, he understood Gabriel's trick very clearly.
The first part of his plan rested on throwing Cylix in disarray by making him attack first, instead of taking the offer of attacking first. That way, he made Cylix curious as to what he was actually planning.
Next, he intentionally cast the strengthening spell to create some false smoke while his real goal was creating an illusion at that time, and he even succeeded.
While Cylix attacked the illusion, Gabriel was actually right behind him. On one end, Cylix attacked the illusion. On the other, Gabriel attacked him.
Unfortunately, a barrier of Light appeared between the two, blocking Gabriel's attack.
"Interesting indeed. Then again, just getting a jump isn't enough. You need to consider other important factors as well like the reaction time of the enemy." Cylix turned around, giving some teaching to Gabriel even in the middle of the battle. "Without that, this trick is a wasted opportunity."
Cylix once again punched, this time the real Gabriel. His fist passed through the barrier, managing to hit Gabriel, who couldn't avoid it in time.
Gabriel's body shot back like a bullet, landing on the ground twenty meters away from Cylix.
Gabriel kept his hand on his aching chest, standing up. Cylix still hadn't used the strength boost, and still, his attack was powerful enough to seriously hurt Gabriel. That was the difference between an advanced-tier mage and a mid-tier mage.
A mid-tier mage depended mostly on their spells, but an advanced Tier Mage had a much stronger body as well, helping him fight back even without spells.
Gabriel touched his bleeding lips, which had received a minor cut from his fall. He knew Cylix was right. He should've considered the reaction time of Cylix. He had wasted an opportunity.
Any ordinary Mage would've been stunned right there, unable to think at the moment on how to protect himself, but Cylix was experienced. His mind was very calm and composed, and he didn't take a single second before he cast a barrier as soon as he sensed danger.
"High Heal!" After casting a healing spell, Gabriel was once again ready for the battle.
The distance between the two was once again twenty meters, but this time Gabriel didn't wait for Cylix to come to him.
He cast a Flight Spell and flew to Cylix this time.
***
Two hours... The battle lasted two hours, and even now, Gabriel hadn't succeeded in defeating Cylix. No matter what, defeating Cylix using his own spells was proving to be a task much harder than imagined.
It wasn't that he knew his enemy's every move. Instead, it was also that his enemy knew all his spells that he was allowed to use, which made it impossible for Gabriel to defeat Cylix.
"As expected, it's not easy for him to defeat Cylix. Then again, it would've been strange if he could defeat us using our own spells. No matter what a prodigy he might be, in the end, we are still a tier above in this Element which he is new to."
After all this time, even Novius realized that Gabriel wasn't going to win this battle. By preventing him from using his core element and his Numens, they had basically given him a handicap.
Then again, they already expected something like this. The challenge about using them with their own Element wasn't a serious challenge at all. It was just a trick to get Gabriel to learn their spells which he could master and improve even more with time. Their trick had served its essential purpose
Gabriel's clothes were covered in blood. His face was slightly pale, and his soul was exhausted, but he still hadn't given up.
He was still standing on his feet, which in itself was shocking for Cylix. He knew that if his younger self was in Gabriel's place and he had taken that much damage, even he might have fallen by now.
Gabriel was bleeding, but his resolve wasn't. He wanted to win! He wanted to win at any cost! He couldn't afford to lose!
But how could he win? That was the question. He had already tried the High Tier Spell of Light, and it hadn't helped him much against Cylix other than exhausting his soul even more.
He swallowed a Soul Healing pill, which was his third in the last two hours of battle, before casting another Healing Spell. He had already stopped caring about his clothes, which were covered in his blood now.
"I think that's enough." Seeing Gabriel in this condition, even Cylix shook his head. He also realized that this was a futile effort. Gabriel couldn't defeat him like this. He couldn't defeat him without using his original Element of Necromancy, which was still the core of Gabriel's strength!
"You can't defeat me like this!" Cylix declared.
"Try me!" Gabriel responded, wiping the blood off his lips before he flew again, once again attacking.
Boom~
As Gabriel flew to Cylix to attack again, he failed once more. Even now, Cylix had managed to best him. No matter what, Gabriel wasn't as good as Cylix when it came to controlling the Light, partially thanks to his Mid Tier Magical strength.
The battle hadn't been on equal footing ever since the beginning since even though they were both using the same element, Cylix was superior in everything from battle experience with the Element of Light to Magical Strength.
Gabriel was faster than Cylix when it came to learning the spells, but in battles, that didn't play much of a role.
Gabriel's body flew back once again, being hit by an Explosion of Light.
He fell in the distance, scratching his knees, which also started bleeding now, similar to his arms.
"Gabriel, this is enough! I know you can't win this battle without using your main element, and even you should know that much. You are just getting hurt for no reason now. You lost this battle already! This is where we'll be ending it."
Cylix had already had enough. He didn't want to go through it more since it just looked like he was bullying Gabriel at this point by making him fight with this handicap. He had decided to fight him again, but next time without placing any restriction on him related to his main Element. But before that, he wanted Gabriel to rest.
In this long battle, Gabriel had exhausted his Soul a lot. He needed proper rest.
"Novius, that will be the end!" he called out to Novius in the back.
"I told you I haven't lost!" Gabriel roared, still not giving up. Even now, he forced his body too, not taking this defeat!
"I will defeat you today, following your rules!" he exclaimed, wiping his blood from his lips again.
According to the rules he was given, he couldn't use any pure spells of darkness or his Original Element. He had to only use the spells of Element of Light and the spells that were related to it. At the same time, he couldn't use Numens or the Infernal Emperor, and he had decided to follow the rules.
No matter what, he had to win this battle today! He didn't know what it was, but there was just a strange feeling inside his heart that was telling him that he couldn't lose! He had to win! For some reason, he was scared of defeat today, and that fear was also stimulating his inner strength even more.
As he challenged Cylix, something about him was different this time, and it wasn't just his undying determination.
There were two marks on his left hand, and both were shining at the moment at the same time! His Element of Darkness and Element of Light were both shining as bright as they could for some reason...
"This... Is he...?" Novius' lips opened wide as he saw the change in the battlefield.
