Keito stood perfectly still, every sense sharpened to its limit. He could barely feel Raito's presence; the air itself had gone still since he activated Shadow Phase. Even the temperature had dropped.
He closed his eyes, trying to detect the faintest movement, the smallest change in the wind. A sword materialized in his left hand, its silver edge humming faintly with mana.
Then he moved.
Keito sprinted forward, cutting through the silence, relying only on instinct and the shift of air around him. He swung at nothing and then felt it. A disturbance, a sudden breeze brushing past his face.
There.
Raito's dagger flashed toward his ear. Keito bent low, twisting his head just in time as the blade sliced through empty air. In the same motion, he countered, swinging the sword in his left hand across the space where Raito should be.
Steel clashed. Sparks scattered.
