40 minutes had passed. About that, at least.
[19:32 minutes left...]
Aldr had been killed about 30 times during the past 40 minutes, and had gained nothing. The only pain he could feel after he died was the song of fire slowly eating away at his body.
'Wonderful.'
He pulled himself onto his feet and whistled through the air as he willed the song of fire into existence.
Staring at the plume of vermilion flame now resting in his hand, he sat for a moment and began to strategize before he was noticed again.
'I almost missed this.'
As his environment visualized itself in his head he started to expand what he had in mind, the middle section of the road was where the boy started every loop. The space he currently had awareness over was completely in his hands. So, he had to get crafty.
The hill behind the section was too far of a run to get to, and the other sections on the sides of the city had already crumbled, being absorbed by the black abyss of illusion.
'By Creation do I even have a single option here?'
He bit on his fingernail and stared towards the long section of the street shrouded in dusk.
'Hmph, did he really...?'
A small amount of vermilion sparks crackled from the clouds above that section of Elsire.
'Ha...I'll be damned.'
He grit his teeth and stared up at the clouds.
'I was able to do that back then?'
He silently panicked, the situation seemed to only get worse and worse. So he'd have to innovate.
'I have to kill him.'
The plume of fire twisted into a spear as he dashed down the streets, kicking up dirt behind his feet.
'Left.'
He guided his will to his legs and side stepped, small vermilion sparks bursting from his feet as a black tachi flew through the air.
"Hmph, don't need your will anymore? Damn bastard..."
He continued moving. By now Aldr had already given up on wittling down, or straight up confronting his younger self. And now that he silently acknowledged the nature of his environment, he instead charged straight for the center of the section.
'Come on...where is it.'
His gaze scanned over the scenery as he searched for a secret contained in the dark streets.
But then his eyes finally landed on the fountain in the center of the wide street, a frozen bolt of vermilion red lightning connecting it and the sky.
'There.'
Willpower can be projected in many ways, to reinforce, to create, and to destroy. Yet the ways they could do so was vast, so vast that many can't even understand it. And yet the pinnacle of enhancement through intent is known as Expansion.
Expansion requires an anchor, this anchor could very well be anything. Expansion projects the will of a person outward in a space, this space can do many things depending on its intent, but an anchor is known to be rather fragile, putting it in the open is extremely rash, allowing Aldr to cleave through the frozen lightning with relative ease, causing crystal shards of lightning to fall to the ground.
'Easy...'
He turned back towards his younger self as the dark clouds began to clear.
"Lets finish this up quickly, shall we?"
He shoved the flaming spear into the base of the fountain and released all his will, expanding it across the entirety of Elsire as it engulfed in flames.
"Neat trick, right?"
His younger self gave no response, a blank stare remaining in his cold eyes.
"Bastard..."
The flames in his palm started to shift and take the shape of a longsword as he chuckled and dashed towards his younger self, who eagerly clashed with his blade.
Sparks flew across the flaming streets as Aldr felt a great burst of power, the flames of his expansion giving him great strength.
Vermilion sparks met bright roaring flames, dancing across the city as swords sparked against each other. They danced and danced, Aldr's heart filled with a never ending sense of thrill, the true thrill of a true battle, one where the odds are matched, where anything could happen, the sound of his heart getting louder, quicker.
The black tachi was relentlessly swung, carrying an air of emptiness as it collided with a sword of bright vermilion flame. One carried the emotionless remnant of a shade, the other carrying the pure blazing will of a human. And they danced.
The streets were illuminated with sparks and flame as Aldr weaved through a series of attacks from his younger self, the black tachi dancing through the air.
It's curved blade met the flat edge of the flaming sword, colliding with it as if the sword was made of steel, the owner of the tachi extended its will to the blade and twirled it while still clashing with the flaming blade, allowing it to slip past the blade, and let it duck below to slash Aldr across his torso.
Aldr winced slightly and created distance between him and his younger self.
'Still a nuisance...'
An intense burning sensation spread across his arms, creeping further while he gripped the flaming sword, the price of expanding his will over the space was taking tolls on his mind and his body.
'How much longer...'
[5 minutes left.]
He cursed inwardly and started gathering flame into his left palm, holding the blade with his right as his younger self eagerly closed the distance.
"Not this time."
He stepped to the right of his younger self, whom didn't have enough time to convert his momentum, and grabbed his face with his left hand. And then he released the song of flame into him with all of his willpower, unleashing a huge plume of flame and condensing it as he incinerated his younger face.
'What a waste...'
When the flame died out, his younger self was gone. Dead. Yet in his place, a figure that represented a black silhouette stood still.
'A shade.'
He took a step towards the unresponsive shade and grabbed it.
"Sorry, I have to devour you."
He unleashed his will to consume the shade, and let out a sigh as he felt his strength slowly rejuvenating.
[You've consumed the soul of a shade.]
[Nothing has been gained.]