The training hall inside Villa 1 smelled of heated steel and ozone.
Vane stood in the center of the reinforced dueling ring. He held his spear in a low and loose grip. His breathing was shallow. He cycled the mana through his legs and prepared the Argent Horizon.
Across from him stood Ashe Razar.
She was smiling.
It was not a friendly smile. It was the baring of teeth. Her obsidian horns hummed with a deep crimson light. The red markings on her skin pulsed in time with her heartbeat. She held a weighted training odachi. The blade was long and heavy. It was a weapon designed for war and she held it like it was a part of her arm.
"Rank 4," Ashe said. Her voice vibrated with excitement. "It feels different Vane. The mana is thicker. It feels like water instead of air."
"Do not drown," Vane warned.
"I am the shark," Ashe replied.
She moved.
There was no buildup. One millisecond she was standing still and the next she was a blur of white and red.
[Flash Arts: Phantom Step]
