The forest was silent. Only the wind whispered through the trees as Reygart's cloak fluttered softly behind him.
"Well..." he said, voice low and firm. "Do you have what it takes?"
Michael swallowed, a bead of sweat slipping down his temple as his eyes locked onto Reygart.
'Can I really take him on…?'
His body tensed, but not out of fear. Something deeper clawed at him—primal, instinctive. The man before him was no longer a mentor, no longer someone to rely on.
But an enemy.
He gritted his teeth, pushing through the feeling, then slapped his cheeks. The sharp sound cut through the silence as his gaze hardened.
'I need to know… how far I've come.'
"Alright, Master Rey," he said firmly, rolling his shoulders as mana stirred faintly beneath his skin. "Let's go."
Above them, Redhood leaned forward on the branch, his tails swaying anxiously as his eyes tracked every subtle movement.
'Can Mickey really hack it?... Reygart's a freak of nature… but…'
His paws clenched.
'I believe in him. I've got to.'
"Kick his ass, Mickey!"
Michael smirked, not once taking his eyes off Reygart.
"That's always been the plan, buddy."
Reygart's grin widened slightly, amused.
"Oh? So you've grown some ba—"
Michael blitzed forward. The ground beneath his feet cracked as he launched himself, appearing behind Reygart mid-sentence, his fist already cutting through the air.
Reygart tilted his head just enough for the punch to skim past his cheek.
Michael didn't hesitate.
His body moved fluidly, one strike bleeding into the next—a barrage of punches and kicks, each faster than the last, mana subtly reinforcing his movements.
Yet none of it mattered.
Reygart's footwork was minimal, almost lazy, his body weaving through every attack with an ease that bordered on insulting.
"Not bad," he said, slipping past another strike. "Attacking while I'm talking… now you're starting to think like a wizard."
His eyes sharpened.
"But if you think you'll land anything with attacks like these…"
His leg snapped out to the side.
WHOOP!
Michael dropped low, rolling behind him, only for Reygart to pivot instantly, his fist already driving upward.
BOOM.
Michael barely crossed his arms in time, his guard buckling under the weight of Reygart's fist. The impact launched him into the air as a shockwave ripped outward, kicking dust off the forest floor and rattling the leaves overhead.
Pain shot through his arms, but his body reacted on instinct—twisting mid-air as he swung a backhand toward Reygart's head.
Reygart caught his arm.
"Come now… surely you can do better than that."
With a flick of his wrist, he hurled Michael toward the trees.
Michael flipped, reorienting himself mid-air before landing against a trunk. His feet planted firmly as black mana rippled beneath them, stabilizing his stance.
The bark cracked under the pressure.
Reygart raised his palm toward Michael.
Lightning erupted as a massive orb of crackling energy screamed toward him, tearing through the air.
Michael stepped forward, planting his foot as he clenched his fist. Dark, fluid mana coiled around it, unstable yet dense. His control over mana felt more natural than before; he didn't need to struggle anymore. The mana surged through his body toward his right arm as the fluid black energy tightened—three months of training finally bearing weight in his body.
"Now… Absolute Breaker!"
He drove his fist forward. The sphere clashed on impact before its light burst outward in splintering fragments. Static hissed through the trees as loose debris lifted from the ground and scattered, leaving that faint scent of ozone lingering.
A grin spread across Michael's face.
"You'll have to try harder than that, Rey."
For a brief moment, Reygart said nothing.
Then his eyebrow twitched.
"Why you little brat… what happened to 'Master'? Looks like I'll have to take you a tad more seriously now, since you've learned to get cocky."
Blue mana began to stir faintly around his body.
Thin arcs crawled across his arm with a soft crackle. Dust shifted at his feet, and nearby leaves rattled as stray currents snapped through the branches.
Michael's grin thinned immediately.
Reygart moved.
Michael's pupils shrank. Reygart was already on top of him, fist clenched. By instinct, he moved, fist surging forward to meet the incoming strike.
Their fists collided.
The forest shook violently under the impact. Wind spiraled outward as the ground beneath them cracked under the pressure. Michael's arm trembled, the force overwhelming him as he was blasted backward, crashing through tree after tree before slamming into the fifth with a heavy thud.
He dropped to one knee, breath ragged, the faint glow of black mana surging around his body.
Above, perched on a tree, Redhood winced.
"…Yeah… that's definitely gonna hurt later."
Michael's fingers dug into the bark behind him, tightening until it cracked beneath his grip.
With a sharp pull, he tore the tree free from the earth, roots ripping loose as clumps of dirt scattered into the air. Without hesitation, he swung and hurled it forward, the massive trunk spinning violently toward Reygart.
Reygart didn't move. He simply raised an arm, lightning crackling along it in a sharp burst before flashing outward.
The tree split clean in half.
The two pieces crashed past him without resistance.
But in that same instant, Michael was already gone.
Only a swirl of dust lingered where he had stood, his presence completely erased. Even his mana had vanished. His body slipped into the motion of the falling debris, blending seamlessly with the split halves of the tree as they passed Reygart, masking his approach.
Then from Reygart's blind spot—
"Here, have a—"
Mana surged violently around Michael's left fist, faster and denser than before. The translucent energy darkened as it compressed, spiraling tightly like a restrained force on the verge of breaking.
"Atomic Boom!!!"
He drove the punch forward.
Reygart turned, almost out of curiosity, and raised his hand, meeting the attack head-on.
The moment they connected, the impact detonated.
The ground beneath them fractured instantly. Cracks spread outward as a violent shockwave tore through the forest, sending wind spiraling in all directions and ripping leaves from the trees. Branches snapped under the force.
Redhood took cover, clenching his teeth atop the tree.
For the briefest moment, Reygart slid back, barely an inch.
Then everything calmed.
Dust drifted through the air, faint static still crackling in the aftermath, while a charged metallic scent lingered over the fractured ground.