BOOOM!!!
Rey narrowly avoided Amara's welcome attack, and chunks of debris once again dotted his sight.
But he was prepared this time.
'Mixed Sequence 9 & 8: Minor Flipped Axis!'
Rey switched directions and positions with one of the countless debris around, appearing right behind Amara in the process.
He launched a powerful fist at her, putting all his strength into it.
But she easily offered a defense.
That was when he smiled.
'Minor Flip!'
WHOOSH!
His other fist suddenly replaced the earlier one, rapidly approaching her face.
But she dodged it, almost as if she was already expecting the attack.
"Such cheap tricks…" She laughed, twisting her body so she could send Rey a flying kick.
BAM!
Her attack connected, and although Rey shielded his body with his other hand, he was still sent flying.
"Damnit!"
After struggling for a while, he managed to regain his momentum, rotating in the air before safely landing on the ground.
His entire left arm felt numb from the attack.
"Did you really expect something like that to work on me?" Amara folded her arms and laughed loudly. "At the very least, if you want to trick someone with Minor Flip, you should use your dominant hand as a feint, so the target won't be prepared for the switch."
"..."
"Instead, you used your left hand to attack me initially. It was clear that you would switch to your right. Even if you weren't, I still prepared counters for both of them. It's useless to use Low Sequence attacks against me!"
'She's right…' Rey sighed, feeling a little discouraged by the situation.
Although his plan was to trick her by pretending like he was going to use Minor Flip, she still blocked his left hand, and when he used Minor Flip, she was prepared for his right hand.
He would have lost either way.
'And worse yet—'
"You're far away once again. What will you do now? I hope you don't think I'll let you advance the same way you did before." Amara spoke Rey's mind, causing his frown to deepen.
This girl wasn't just a genius in terms of raw talent, but her fighting ability was not far behind Rey either.
Ever since he entered this world, Rey always took pride in his knowledge and experiences. Even if he was weak, he could make up for those deficiencies with unexpected counters and shrewd moves that he had picked up from his past life.
And up until now… they had worked.
But that wasn't because Rey was exceptional in any way, but it was simply due to the quality of opponents that stood in his way.
—Slaves.
When compared to slaves, he could be considered immensely skilled.
He was a one-in-a-kind level of talent.
A genius.
But that was where his advantage ended.
To the likes of Nobles like Amara, Rey was actually not special at all. His past experiences meant nothing, and he was completely worthless in their eyes.
The world of slaves and commoners was simply too far removed from the realm that these people existed in.
It was like night and day.
'It's the same way I thought this was some medieval world… until I arrived at this estate and found technology that even Earth doesn't possess.' Rey sighed, now understanding his situation with a clear head and an unbiased judgment.
He already knew he couldn't win this fight.
Not only was Amara holding back against him, not using Sequence 5 Techniques, but she was also not using Chaos Art against him.
Indeed!
Amara could also use the same Inverse Technique that was his only fighting card.
How exactly could he beat her?
The answer was obvious from the start: he could not.
As frustrating as it was, Rey accepted the facts and focused on the most important thing as well as the main purpose of this spar.
'Let's learn as much as possible from her.'
His black and white hair fluttered with the wind and his eyes shone with greater determination and unbridled resolve as he once again marched towards her.
This time, it wasn't with the intention of winning.
Instead, he was determined to last for as long as possible. Even if it was for one more minute, or five more seconds.
He planned to squeeze out every last drop from this experience.
Not stopping even for a moment.
Until…
"Haaa, haaa…" Rey was exhausted beyond description.
He had been at this for barely thirty minutes, yet it felt like several hours had passed. Although he kept acclimating to the situation, he could never get an upper hand.
Anytime he memorized Amara's patterns and tried to counter her, she would switch patterns and force him to repeat the cycle.
Through this process, Rey began to refine his own skills and properly understand his opponent's moves.
He could tell…
'I'm countless times stronger than I was before this match began!'
In only thirty minutes, had amassed so much knowledge and experience that he almost felt ashamed of his previous attainment.
But the battle wasn't yet over.
He had hit his limits.
He had also explored his Techniques to the current limits of his understanding.
He could barely do anything else at this point.
Thus—
"Can you show me, even if just once, what a Sequence 5 Technique looks like?" Rey politely asked Amara.
"Really?"
He nodded.
"You could die, you know?"
"I trust you enough to know that won't happen." He responded.
This caused the girl to giggle aloud.
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"If you wanted me dead, why go through all this trouble of teaching me? I would already be dead had you intended it. That's how I know… my life is in your hands, Young Miss."
"Hmmm…"
After a brief moment of silence, Amara finally heaved a sigh and nodded.
"Fine. Just once."
"Thank you, Young Miss—"
"Call me Amara."
"Alright… Amara." Rey smiled lightly and nodded in preparation.
"Keep your eyes peeled. I won't show you again." She raised her hand as she said this, bringing forth an absurd amount of energy from her fingertips.
The threads of Ether grew fatter, eventually bursting as they grew unstable and diffused into the air.
'It appears she can't control her Ether usage like she does with lower Sequences when it comes to Sequence 5.' Rey observed in silence, but still marveled at the sheer intensity of it all.
The glorious light of universal energy filled the space as Amara whispered words.
"Spirit Art…"
The world began to tremble in response to her call. Light particles danced in their millions as the power continued to swell.
"... Frost Technique #5…"
Rey's eyes were wide open as the whole world around him turned into a calm, serene world of cold white.
"... Absolute Zero Field."
He didn't even hear Amara's last words before he was engulfed in the ice.