The best techniques Fortkran had worked when his opponents directly interacted with him. Absorbing some of their energy, while minor, gave him an advantage. He could redirect their attacks with Gravity Blade and try to disarm them. When Cosima shifted the ground around underneath his feet he just had to rely on foot techniques to keep himself steady. At least he’d had the basics drilled into him over and over, even if that particular occurrence hadn’t come up.

The one advantage that Fortkran had was his opponent eventually had to attack. She found a good enough opening to take a swing at him, and he used Gravity Blade to parry while his sword slipped down her staff, controlling her movement with his energy and what muscle he had to prevent the quarterstaff from coming down on his shoulder. There was enough force behind it he knew his energy couldn’t withstand the blow, but he managed to avoid the attack and bring his sword to bear on Cosima.

As his sword slid down her staff she had to let it go to prevent her hands from being sliced, and even as she stepped away his sword tore through her thick defensive energy. “I surrender,” Cosima called out. Fortkran stopped his follow-up attack. The match was his… though he couldn’t say it had been easy. He’d had to push himself to the limits to not get struck by the attack to his shoulder- or really, targeted at his head so that even dodging he’d likely get hit on the shoulder.

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So far, Fortkran had done a good job representing the Tenebach Clan. Even if he was only in the sixth level of the Spiritual Collection Phase, his performance was good enough that it was overlooked. However, training and determination would only take him so far against opponents also determined to win… and with better cultivations.

His next opponent was a sturdy woman with a rarely seen element. At least, in the Stone Conglomerate. She was a fire type cultivator, which wasn’t unheard of… but one of the few in the tournament. Fire didn’t innately overcome darkness. It would overcome earth and be weak to water, but against darkness who had the advantage relied on who had the higher cultivation. Of course, a higher cultivation was always better, but it wasn’t unlikely for a cultivator with an elemental advantage to overcome a few levels of difference in cultivation with all other factors being equal. Fire and darkness weren’t directly related in the cycle, but each could overcome the other with increased efficiency if there was a difference in power.

Fortkran could sense that his opponent, Maura, was in the eighth level of the Spiritual Collection Phase. There was little hope for him to win, especially since he had never fought a fire type cultivator before- and Maura had certainly faced darkness cultivators. All the advantages of his extra training and the affinity boost from the family’s guardian beast meant nothing with a big enough gap in power.

It wouldn’t be too shameful if he lost, or even if he gave up beforehand… but this was a good opportunity. He’d never fought a fire cultivator before, but he readied his sword against her twin axes. Fire was near the end of his list if he intended to complete a full cycle of elements in his cultivation… but it was never too early to learn something. Especially since he might face more opponents of the sort outside of a tournament.

As she moved, her axes left trails of fire in the air. Those weren’t just for effect, but Fortkran could feel heat from the trails of flame. Thus, even if he dodged an attack it prevented him from carelessly moving in for a counter.

Fighting against two weapons was new to him, but his trainers had occasionally used their fists or feet to attack when he focused too much on their weapons. With spiritual energy, a fist wasn’t necessarily less dangerous than a sword. He could parry one axe and dodge another as long as he stayed light on his feet.

Even during their brief exchanges, he could feel his sword heating up. He dispersed the fire elemental energy, absorbing just a bit of it inside him. The mixture of fire and darkness was like lying in the sun with his eyes closed, and equally pleasing, but he didn’t have much time to dwell on it. He could tell he was exerting more of his energy to disperse Maura’s fire than she was, which meant he was already on the back foot. He could try to look for a good opening before he ran too low on energy, but he opted instead to prolong the battle as much as possible, keeping up his defensive tactics.

Instead of dispersing the fire directly away from his blade, he found if he waited for another attack he could also force it back on his opponent. That worked twice, before she took advantage of her better control of the fire to double up on the power. His sword nearly melted in his hands… except not really. His palms were nearly burning even with the wrap separating him from the tang of his sword, and he was sweating not just from exertion but from the heat encompassing the arena.

He ducked under a swing, directly blocking the other axe with his sword. With Gravity Blade and the advantage of two hands, he pulled one axe away from her, sending it sliding across the arena… but he found she was nearly as good with a bare hand as with an axe. It was just lacking in reach. With the advantage of two cultivation levels, she wasn’t even afraid to deflect his sword with her bare hand… bare except for a thick coating of fire elemental spiritual energy, of course.

Forktran longed for the peaceful chilling he normally felt from the darkness inside of him, but it was too overwhelmed. He at least managed to hold his ground for a few minutes further before his sword was knocked off target by her axe and her flaming fist reached his chest, even as he attempted to dodge. The fire burned through his spiritual energy, his armor, and his flesh… though not terribly deep. The arena’s defenses came to his aid, and she hadn’t actually tried to kill him. Even so, the burns were one of the most painful things he had experienced. Behind damaged meridians, but more than anything in his former world.

-----

One advantage of being a young master from a sizable clan was that he had access to good medicine. After the match he was taken aside and quickly had cooling ointment applied to the burns. The doctor assured him the wounds were only superficial and would heal cleanly, but they served as a gentle reminder to him of his mortality. He had fought in a tournament, but in the future he might be asked to fight in a real battle… perhaps to the death, if it came down to that. He knew the Tenebach clan had no immediate plans to throw him into something they thought he wouldn’t survive, but if he was going to be a part of them, he had to do his share.

His grandfather Luctus came to him after the doctor left. “An adequate performance. More than adequate, given your current cultivation level.”

“Thank you. I thought I was improving a lot… and perhaps I was, but I realize now how much further I have to go just in the Spiritual Collection Phase.” Fortkran circulated the energy inside of him, which reinvigorated his body and helped soothe his wounds. The tidbits of fire energy he collected were carefully touched to the seed of darkness, and he felt for adverse reactions. However, it readily absorbed the fire, growing slightly. It wasn’t something he could actually measure, but it was similar to a few days of cultivation. He would love to absorb more different elements, but trying more than tiny amounts of them was risky.

“Even though you did well,” Luctus continued, “Be aware that people will still remark about the young master of the Tenebach clan losing to someone at the eighth level of the Spiritual Collection Phase. It was known that you were previously close to Foundation Phase… but do not mind the words spoken about you. Only be aware of who is saying what, and why. Some will think us weak… and you will need to continue growing to prove them wrong.” Luctus sighed, “If you had embarked on the most speedy path of cultivation with a third tier totem, you likely could have won several more battles. However, all that is important is that you continue to grow.” Luctus closed his eyes, and Fortkran could see and feel his darkness energy flowing over him. “You are growing quite well, and the Seed of Darkness seems like it will properly mature under your care. Let your successes and setbacks in this tournament remind you to keep working hard in your cultivation. There will be many more important things in the future… and I can say that even as you grow in success, so too will our expectations grow.”

He nodded. That was how this world was. Cultivation was about continuous growth, and if a cultivator stagnated… they lost much of their value. However, even without the reminder… growing stronger was personally satisfying. Perhaps it might not be enough to push himself through the hardest moments without other motivations, but being able to measurably compare his increases was extremely satisfying. He was also motivated to be stronger so that he wouldn’t get injured again… or at least, that future injuries would be reduced as much as he was able.