The wooden sword wielded by Theo cut through the air. Agent Timon dodged to the right, in the opposite direction of the cut. Anticipating a counterattack, Theo forced a burst of wind between himself and his opponent, pushing them both to opposite sides.

  Timon of Lithopia is one of those responsible for protecting Princess Isabel of Durham, alongside Sir Sigmore. Theo appeared that morning challenging Sigmore to a friendly combat, however, Clifford himself rejected the fight. Theo was only a grade two, with no prediction for when he would be promoted. That's why Timon was recommended, as he is only one grade above.

  Even being grade three, Timon aimed for his future. The eighteen-year-old agent was already trying to learn the aura technique that only higher grades achieve.

  Initially, Theo had no faith in the combat. But when Timon demonstrated that he was training a technique similar to Selina's, a smile spread across his face.

  Even if it was a technique still under development, it was enough for Theo. Enough to adapt and better understand how the vital energy that forms the soul behaves in this situation.

  "He's a conductor. And if he's grade three, it means he already has excellent control over his own energy. It may not compare to Selina's punches, but one of his blows must hurt a lot," Theo pondered, seeing the posture and aura leaking from Timon's physical body.

  Using the wind as momentum, Theo jumped and charged at Timon. The boy from the House of Lawrence tried to land a right kick on the grade three agent's head, but the latter managed to dodge skillfully with a smooth movement. Trying to find an opening to surprise him, Theo swung his right heel back at Timon, who in turn dodged again, taking a step forward.

  Turning to Theo, Timon grabbed the boy's right leg and prepared to deliver a strong punch to his stomach. Directing the vectors downwards, Theo managed to change his own direction and dodge the blow.

  From the stands, Sigmore raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes.

  "The blond boy seems to be more connected with the wind," he commented.

  Pointing his fingers upwards and creating an air current, he launched Timon into the sky. Guiding the wind under his feet, creating a small vortex, Theo jumped upwards. The two exchanged punches and kicks in the air.

  Grabbing Theo's left arm, Timon drove his leg into the former's neck and threw him against the ground, causing a great impact and sinking his opponent's head into the earth.

  "Sorry, but I better ensure victory…" Timon mentally declared, while holding Theo on the ground.

  "1…!" exclaimed Clifford, the narrator. "2!"

  Gesturing with his hand, Theo created another air current, which unfortunately was slow enough for Timon to process and dodge.

  "I can't compete physically," Theo concluded. "But… according to Dad, whoever has more energy in conduction wins. Following the logic of the technique Sir Sigmore explained, if I use energy equal to what's in Timon's aura, we'll be repelled…"

  "Argh…" he groaned as he stood up.

  "Positive charge attracts negative… What if I… involve myself with the neutral charge? When I attack, there will be attraction. When he attacks me, there will be repulsion… I hope I'm right."

  Clenching his fists tightly while slightly bending his elbow, Theo looked at the clouds. Breathing deeply, he elevated his elemental attribute and expanded it beyond his core, creating an immense emerald aura.

  A great gust of wind swept through the entire club environment.

  "Wow…" Heimdr murmured.

  "Finally someone from the new generation who understands the value of techniques…" said Sigmore, snuggling into the stands.

  All the energy overload released by Theo dissipated at once, calming the atmosphere for a moment. A stuffy and icy air touched everyone nearby.

  "Recovery technique…" Timon pondered. "Was he an apprentice of some lieutenant?"

  For a moment, Theo let the wind guide him. Relaxing all his muscles, he entered a state of ecstasy where only energy guided him through the world. His body swayed from side to side, unbalanced and limp. Similar to a blur, Theo disappeared from the lawn and reappeared three seconds later kicking Timon. He only reacted thanks to his aura, because if not for that, he hadn't even noticed where he was attacked from.

  "Our bodies are repelling each other… Damn! He has more aura than me!" Theo realized, after seeing that his leg didn't even touch his opponent's arm.

  In an agile movement, Timon threw Theo away, landing a kick on the boy's forearm, who felt the pain of the blow he took.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Theo's trilune necklace flew up, taking over his left eye's field of vision. The amethyst reflected waves of ether being replaced by the elemental attribute, which gave a momentary green hue to the purple crystal.

  "If I won't win hand-to-hand…" A spiral of wind formed in Theo's hand, like a singularity that sucked everything into itself.

  When he managed to support himself on the ground, Theo spun on his own axis and launched the spiral like a stone against Timon.

  "Spiral: decreasing vortex!"

  The spiral flew towards the target in curves through the air, looking like paper thrown into a storm.

  Even with Theo's conjuration, Agent Timon did not feel threatened at any moment. After all, the more the spiral advanced towards him, the more speed and force the spell lost. Unconcerned, he was surprised when his aura technique failed.

  Normally, Timon's aura would sense the attack and send a message to the agent's subconscious to dodge. However, that was not what happened. Theo's spell tore through his aura and caused a slight scratch on his cheek.

  "How?!" Timon thought. "Did he find an opening?"

  The agent's eyes widened the instant his sixth sense went off.

  The reason the spiral lost speed and force was simply because Theo accumulated energy during the trajectory only in the core of the attack. Resulting in a gain of mass and energy. All this to test a risky move over which he has no control: an out-of-range explosion.

  Upon touching Timon's face, the spiral recoiled to the side before self-destructing in an immense and thunderous explosion of energy.

  "Whoa…" Sigmore whispered. "That hurt me."

  "An explosion of neutral energy overriding a layer of positive energy… It should be enough to deactivate his aura for a while…" Theo thought, a very rash thought.

  "Sir Sigmore was right. You think too much while battling," Timon commented, his voice coming from behind Theo.

  The moment the spiral spell exploded, Timon took advantage of being thrown away and advanced behind Theo, concealing his presence and aura, passing unnoticed by the boy's senses.

  The milliseconds froze. Time slowed down as Theo analyzed Timon's fist coming towards him, charged with an immense aura of mana. During that instant, he foresaw about five hundred possibilities of dodging, but none resulted in his victory.

  Not only the fist, but Timon's very presence. There was a wave sinking Theo into an ocean of energy, suffocating him and forcing him to react. But he couldn't. Theo's essence seemed like just a drop of polluted water in the middle of a lagoon.

  "I give up!" Theo declared, opening his arms and closing his eyes.

  Even after giving up, he thought he would receive the punch anyway. But Timon managed to deactivate everything at the last instant, accepting the victory and respecting the opponent's decision.

  "He was smart," Dimon commented. "That punch would surely throw him very far…"

  "I don't know about that, but it would certainly knock him out for a few weeks," Heimdr argued.

  As they deactivated their abilities, Theo and Timon stared at each other momentarily, a little tense and panting. However, the tension was broken with a sigh from both, who then threw themselves onto the ground.

  Timon sat cross-legged, trying to return to his normal breathing while Theo just lay there, watching the clouds pass through the blue sky.

  "Thanks," Timon said, still panting. "You helped me notice a flaw in my aura."

  "Which one?" Theo inquired.

  "It only detects physical attacks, but when it's a pure energy attack… It's like scissors tearing paper."

  "Hmm… Could her aura have that weakness too?"

  "Her?"

  Theo shook his head quickly.

  "Sorry, I was thinking out loud."

  "Are you alright?" Clifford inquired, running towards the boys.

  "Yes," they replied.

  "Great. When you feel well, please leave the field," Clifford pleaded, turning around afterwards. "After five minutes of arduous combat between agents of almost the same grade, Timon of Lithopia won the fight!"

  Sigmore's applause drew closer and closer to the boys, as the fifth-grade agent was heading towards them.

  "Good, that was a good fight. You just have to correct your posture, Timon. And Theo has to know how to balance. You still can't attack physically while casting a spell without it leaving you vulnerable for a moment," said Sigmore, extending his hand to Theo.

  "Thanks for the tips," Theo replied, accepting the help.

  "How's the scar?"

  "A little better. I can move more freely, but it still burns…"

  "Your friend is dangerous," the agent commented. "Now, unless you want to get caught in the crossfire, get off the field."

  With a sore body, Theo walked with Timon and Sigmore back to the stands, making room for the next fighters to enter the scene. Taking off the cloak and vest given by Clifford, Theo said goodbye to Sigmore and company. It was already nine in the morning, so he should try to return to the main library of Fulmenbour.

  As he walked along the sidewalks, Theo began to reflect on ways to further refine and condense his own energy. Ways to transform the small lake of energy he possesses into a huge ocean. However, at the same time, he thought of another alternative: returning to what he was practicing when he entered Wispells. Trying to reduce the energy expenditure during each movement.

  However, the act of refining energy makes it pure and more powerful. Mixing it with the act of condensing, which makes energy immensely malleable, are more considerable options compared to just reducing expenditure. Mixing the three techniques would make everything complicated, as Theo took ten years to begin to understand how these three methods work and put them into practice.

  Taking the necklace in the palm of his hand, Theo murmured:

  "I can't leave this all to you. I can't get comfortable."

  A gallop of horses assaulted Theo's ears, at the same time that he simply ignored the sound. After all, as he was in the upper region of Fulmenbour, it was common to have carriages on all the streets. But that specific carriage made a louder noise.

  The carriage stopped a few meters ahead of Theo, its doors opened slowly. A man took a long step onto the sidewalk and stopped there, aligned with Theo. Distracted by the shine of the amethyst crystal, he at least noticed the man standing and unintentionally bumped into him.

  "Excuse me… Huh?" Theo looked confused at the man's eyes, trying to apologize properly. An exchange of glances happened and surprised the boy. "Amiah?"

  "Remember to report where you're going next time. Come on, we need to talk," said Amiah. The general walked to the carriage and opened the door for Theo, gesturing for him to enter.