Tian’s game plan was to trigger Jumanah into showing her defensive capabilities so that he could copy them. If he could, the doppelgangers would be worth creating. But that was an ‘if’; he still had other means apart from doppelgangers.

…

Jumanah’s figure faded and she appeared beside the column of fire. Tian stopped roaring and started casting spells. Jumanah’s tension rose but she maintained her calm. This wasn’t her first time facing a Celestial Grade but the Celestial Grades she had fought had always easily defeated her. But Avatari said she was a good match against Tian since their abilities worked in a similar way; they required knowledge of their opponent to use certain abilities.

Jumanah had no idea what spell Tian was casting but she was advised to be passive during the battle. Alas, this unusual behavior didn’t go unnoticed by Tian.

…

Tian set up his spells and waited for Jumanah’s next move. He had shown one of his capabilities but he didn’t clearly see how Jumanah evaded his roar so he couldn’t copy the ability since he didn’t properly understand it.

He also noticed that unlike the battle with the Mad Demon, Jumanah was extremely cautious. Whether it was because he was a Celestial or for whatever reason, Tian was not content with showing her a bunch of his abilities while she dodged around.

A minute of silence went by and Jumanah was the first to cave in to the pressure. A portal unfolded and moved downward, revealing a blue spear with patterns carved on them.

Jumanah swiftly faded and appeared in front of Tian, who was floating some meters high in the air, swinging her spear upward, toward his head. The spear passed through Tian without any resistance like he wasn’t there.

Jumanah swung downward as her figure faded and Tian roared at the faded figure. Jumanah reappeared on the ground; she had left an afterimage to attack Tian the second time so she didn’t get hit.

The afterimage’s spear passed through Tian like an illusion while Tian’s attack passed through it without any effect. The afterimage faded away afterwards and Tian thought ‘The images can’t render any damage if they are being attacked. Her ability seems Time related since she can use it to accelerate time for herself. The aspect of Time she uses is Timelines. She seems to materialize various choices and switch between them’.

Tian’s intelligence was not to be underestimated. One look at Jumanah’s ability and he already deduced how it worked.

Something clicked in Tian’s head and a plan swiftly formed in his mind. Not wanting to give Tian time to think, Jumanah threw her spear toward Tian. Tian swiftly weaved the energy around his body but the spear reached him before he could finish casting the spell. 10 afterimages separated from the spear and hit Tian but they only succeeded in scratching his tough scales proving that the natural advantages of a Celestial Grade was not to be overlooked.

The real spear close to Tian turned to an after image as the spear reappeared in Jumanah’s hand. Tian’s spell finished and his body was covered in a reflective layer of energy as he completed the spell Karma.

He flew towards Jumanah who flew back and threw afterimages of her spear at Tian; she was trying to test out the capabilities of this new spell. The afterimages bounced of the mirror like energy like a tennis ball hitting a table.

Tian cast one of the spells he had prepared and a bubble of translucent silver energy sailed towards Jumanah. An afterimage split from Jumanah and slashed its spear toward the silver bubble. The moment the spear touched the bubble the afterimage froze as the bubble covered it and kept it in a state of stasis.

Jumanah completely lost her connection with the afterimage and she thought ‘Broken ability spotted!’ The bubble split into smaller bubbles as the afterimage in it disintegrated.

The smaller bubbles chased after Jumanah as Tian created even more bubbles. Jumanah thought ‘It’s even more broken than I thought!’ Jumanah’s soul ability, which came with her race, reduced the cost of using her skills the more powerful her opponent was. It wasn’t automatic since if she didn’t experience what made the opponent so powerful she wouldn’t benefit from the ability.

Tian’s bubbles were a modified form of his Erasure spells that stopped the time of whatever it touched and converted them to energy depending on how much understanding he had about the object and how much energy was used to make it. Its name was Yin Reform.

Both Tian and Jumanah were fighters that had abilities that gave them advantages over opponents that were stronger than them depending on certain conditions. So the fight was very 50 – 50 since they could counter each other but Tian’s bubbles threatened to change the game.

It didn’t matter how little energy she put into her skills Tian now understood how they worked so they were neutralized. Jumanah sacrificed tens of afterimages, throwing spears, duplicating and enhancing her attacks with her afterimages, to learn that all such moves were completely pointless.

Even if she somehow could destroy the bubbles the mirror like layer of energy around Tian had proven itself impervious to her attacks. A column of fire, half white and half black, left Tian’s mouth as Jumanah contemplated her next move.

The bubbles had surrounded her at this point so she couldn’t dodge. A portal opened bringing out a tower shield made of blue stone. Jumanah held the shield toward the pillar of fire, successfully blocking the attack.

Tian didn’t bother to stop spewing flames at the woman while the bubbles floated closer and closer to her.

Jumanah thought ‘Should I do it?’ She still had an option but it would cost her a ton of energy. She thought ‘There’s not cheap way to win this fight, I have to pay the price. If he can still stand after this then I’ll just have to live with it’. Throwing caution to the wind Jumanah let her energy flow through her as she prepared for a 3 move combo.