Oscar clenched his teeth, tried to push his buckler in, and urged his deer anima forward, but it was like pushing through an invisible barrier. Emily stood in front with her two staves pushing down, and veins burst on the back of her hands, with sweat glistening as it dripped down her face. Their weapons did not make contact because their Eins entered a fierce struggle between them.

Powerful shockwaves erupted, blowing like an explosion, spreading winds and flames of Ein spreading from the epicenter, but Oscar and Emily stayed firm. Oscar stared straight at Emily, meeting her savage pair of orange eyes that quickly darted away, afraid of his 'Stone Gaze'. He smiled in admiration of her power which withstood his usual mix of Reis and Ein.

Emily returned his smile, but a hint of anxiety cracked on her usually confident face.

Their intense brawl ended with a thunderous explosion, and the powerful Ein cracked the platform. Oscar flew back from the immense force of their exchange, but his deer anima grunted, scrapping its metal hooves across the platform and spewing out red-hot sparks, stopping before the platform's edge.

After the dust settled, Oscar saw Emily was practically unmoved by the explosive clash, only forced by several steps. Her 'Grade Two Weight Boost' granted her immense weight to her staff, twice the grade-one version, and allowed her to stay unmoved and combat his Reis equally. But he had one other level to Reis that Emily had trouble with.

'Adamasreis'

With the body transformation done by his advancement to Elite Exalt, Oscar failed to match the level of progress for Adamasreis he had as an Apprentice Exalt. But he still progressed partly up his waist, increasing the physical boost and Reis stored.

His heart thumped harshly. It had been doing this every time his body endured the full force of his Adamasreis. Oscar made sure not to let the pain show on his face to avoid worrying his friends.

He kicked off from the ground, arriving in front of Emily.

Emily furrowed her brow and summoned a thick stone wall across the platform, splitting it in half. 'Grade Two Stone Wall' stood tall as castle walls, blocking the sunlight and shrouding Oscar's side in shadows. Even though she preferred to fight Oscar in melee, now was not the time because of his 'Shattering Wave'.

She recalled the first time she clashed against it. Even with her 'Grade One Heavy Impact' helping to boost the weight of her blows, she faced defeat in the face of the 'Shattering Wave'. It didn't matter how heavy she became; the waves would expand past her staff to her arms, causing damage.

Before her eyes, cracks spread across the stone wall, and Oscar burst from falling rubble.

Oscar caught Emily with a cheeky smile, confused and cautious of her trap. Then another large shadow, three of them, enlarged on the platform. Oscar stared up to find three balls of sand above him, falling like meteors.

'Grade Two Drowning Sand'

The heavy balls of sand engulfed Oscar. The sand didn't hurt too much against his defense, but he saw the bits of sand that clung to his body, clumping up like rust on metal, slowing his joints and movements and covering his face. From the corner of his eye, not covered in sand, Oscar saw several earth spikes shoot toward him.

'Ripple Shroud'

Oscar unleashed a shockwave of Reis combined from every corner of his body. This defensive technique increased in potency when he combined it with the Ein Shroud he frequently used during the Inner Hall Exam. The sand was blasted away from his body as he freed himself to meet the earth spikes.

'Grade One Earth Spear'

These spears, made from Emily's Ein transformed into rocks, came in many numbers. Oscar swung and bashed his bulwark. The earth spears were like pieces of dirt crashing into a metal wall, easily dispatched by Oscar's power, but that power started to fade.

Feeling the limits of his Adamasreis, Oscar moved, smashing his foot down, and punched out with his bulwark. The 'Shattering Wave' destroyed the rest of the incoming earth spears, leaving only fine dirt that fell on his clothes. An orange color blurred across his eyes, and he turned to face Emily, her two staves held high once more.

Emily's scheme had unfolded perfectly. With all these spells to drag out the time and expend Oscar's Adamasreis, Emily did not need to fear his 'Shattering Wave'. After their countless spars over the years, she understood his timing well.

"Thirty Seconds." Emily smiled.

Oscar remained calm as his Prinstyct burned in his eyes to watch her intent. He could see Emily's Ein moving from her arms to the staff armament, indicating her spell use. However, despite the evidence of her swinging down with a spell, Oscar grew skeptical because Emily was well aware he could see this, just as she could see his movements with the Prinstyct.

'Silver Lance'

With no option but to charge ahead, Oscar stabbed his silver lance with his deer anima's antlers toward her menacing technique. His Elemental Spark of Metal elevated its already sharp tip and emboldened the thick metal, but the overwhelming weight of Emily's blow laid cracks around it.

'They got really strong. We were holding back in spars, but they truly have improved. Their Eins are stronger than mine.' Oscar and his deer anima swung in tandem against Emily's ruthless streak of heavy blows.

'Flowing Mountain'

Though it was a lot, the Reis entered Oscar's body with no issue, and he rebounded it back against Emily, meeting her blow for blow. From the advantages of his early Prinstyct, Oscar had Emily on the backfoot like Frederick. His swift counters overwhelmed her heavy blows, eventually landing several, but Emily toughed it out.

Thirty seconds passed as Oscar and Emily panted and looked messy from the fierce exchange. His eyes flashed with intent.

'Adamasreis'

'Silver Lance'

'Shattering Wave'

'Ein coated Antlers'

Laying his silver lance atop his bulwark in the center of the deer's antlers, Oscar used his strongest move to meet against Emily. With the deer carrying him, he could charge like this all day to pursue his foe, but he knew Emily would meet him from the front.

Again, Emily strode in front of him, facing down his lance fearlessly. Within his Prinstyct, Oscar witnessed Emily's Ein flow into her staff and the ripple of her swinging forward. Just another usual combo but with all of her Ein.

But her next move stumped Oscar. The Prinstyct could see the intent and flow of movements but could not tell the scope, type, and details of the spell about to be used. Instead of 'Weight Boost' as he expected, Oscar saw rocks with glowing cracks rotating around her staff.

He got a strange feeling from those glowing, cracked rocks but decided to go on anyway. Sand hit him, and a stone wall rose in front of him. Like himself, Emily went all out for this final exchange.

The lance pierced through the wall. He ignored the sand tying him down and stumping his deer anima to a crawl. Like a standing guardian, Oscar faced Emily's new spell she kept hidden from him.

'Grade Two Kinetic Core'

The rocks with glowing cracks began spinning so fast they looked smooth as spheres; similarly, their rotation around the staves sped up so much it was impossible to see the staves within, making it seem like Emily wielded a giant mace. Then with the force of 'Weight Boost', Emily smashed it toward Oscar's last blow.

'How's this, Oscar? The Kinetic Core is distanced from my staff, so your 'Shattering Wave' will be spent on them if they could break past it.' Emily kept this as a secret weapon against Oscar, and what time was better to use it other than now?

Oscar and Emily exchanged fierce smiles as friends.

The rocks of 'Kinetic Core' battered on Oscar's silver lance so fast that it sounded like a woodpecker's rapid beating of a tree. His 'Shattering Wave' destroyed the rocks, but his lance fell apart. Oscar's bulwark and antlers remained to oppose her weight-boosted staves.

But this time, he had no Reis since it was spent with the 'Shattering Wave', and he was not in a situation to get more right now. The thought of retreat floated around, but Oscar went against his better instincts and met against the staves. He wanted to take this chance to know how he could fight against this.

Their blows met against each other. But this time, Emily's Ein overpowered his; even with 'Ein Awaken' to concentrate it, her Ein moved forward. Oscar's bulwark touched her staff, and he reeled from the immense weight, but it wasn't as bad as before.

'She's expended a lot.' After all the spells he saw Emily use and the fierce exchanges, she spent more Ein than him. However, this lessened weight still proved a threat. His deer anima's legs buckled.

Oscar laughed and shouted in exertion. The force of her heavy staff falling was pure Reis for him to take. He took the Reis from it and redirected it, returning the force straight to the staff.

Forcing the Reis back to the point it came from, Oscar clenched his teeth, knowing what the results would be. It was akin to trying to put a cork on a powder keg about to explode. As the two force collided, the Reis exploded between Oscar and Emily.

Oscar fell off his deer anima and tumbled on the floor. Emily staggered a few steps but winced as she felt dizzy from the powerful Reis. She knelt on the floor, clinging to her staff, leaning her head forward.

"Dammit." Emily sighed.

Oscar got up and dragged his feet to her. His arms burst with Adamasreis. "Yield?"

Emily cursed out. "Yield. Fred, can you carry me? I'm too tired to move."

"Yea, yea." Fred carried Emily in his arms. She smiled and snuggled by his chest before falling asleep. Fred smiled helplessly and turned to Oscar. "Nice fight. But now she doesn't have that surprise move on you anymore."

"Drawing out my Adamasreis, tricking my Prinstyct with a similar movement of Ein that turned out to be a different spell, and using her spells to their maximum effect. She trained hard." Oscar praised as they got off the platform and toward the healing station. "You could have told me."

"Surprises work well. However, Emily must be frustrated that she lost in a straight melee. You overpowered her in an exchange of blows right before the climax." Fred stared down at Emily, who had a frown in her sleep, and laid her down at the healing station where a healer came to tend her wounds.

"Her Ein was stronger than mine. Unlike me, I expect she'll be a Middle Elite Exalt before the Ashen Grove." Oscar groaned. His progress in Ein was slow, even with the extra resources. The Grade Four Exolsia's slow progress became more apparent as he kept training. "Master said Reis will give me the edge against those equal to me, and complete mastery will grant me the power to fight above my means. If I were complete in Adamasreis, perhaps the fight would have been easier."

"Why is the loser so sour? You won! Cheer up." Frederick tried to console Oscar.

"I won. But there's so little time, and I'm a slowpoke." Oscar pondered.

"Slowpoke or not, you're strong." Emily got up with a scolding pair of eyes. "Even if you don't become a Middle Elite Exalt, you can secure victories over the Lower Elite Exalts in Ashen Grove. There's definitely a place for you there. Leave the rest to Celestina and the others. You don't need to feel like you have to carry it all on yourself."

"I know. I just want to be of more help." Oscar said. The trio passed the time while drinking some refreshments provided by the healing station. Another hour passed until Oscar heard his name called once more.

"Third battle." Oscar stretched. "Are you coming?"

"Sure, we got nothing else to do." Frederick and Emily went on to cheer Oscar on. However, their steps halted at the platform. A tall woman with red hair and green eyes stood with two axes in her hands.

Oscar smiled slightly. "Hello, Serena."