Novel Full Chapter 947: Recognition and flow
Chapter 947: Recognition and flow
[Ice Needle. Rank 1-star]
A classic. Small. Precise. But instead of launching it like a projectile, she tossed it sideways—off course, angled to miss on purpose.
Lucavion didn’t even look at it.
But as the needle passed his right shoulder—it burst.
Not a shatter. Not an attack.
Just a flash of cold mist.
Thin, harmless—enough to fog his peripheral vision for a single second.
She was already moving to his left.
Lucavion’s estoc lashed out again, sweeping through the mist. Almost too fast to dodge.
’Down—!’
She dropped low, hands skimming over the frost-laced stones, her cloak dragging in a tight arc. Her fingers curled again.
[Frost Pulse. Rank 1-star]
The spell leapt from her palm as she rolled—purely by reflex, bursting from her skin like breath turned to ice. A raw flare of mana, wide but weak. It wouldn’t knock him back.
But it would tilt his weight off center.
Lucavion stepped through it—unbothered. But not untouched. His forward push slowed, his blade veered by a fraction.
She rose with her next spell already forming.
[Shatter Shard. Rank 2-star]
A crystalline dagger formed in her hand, sleek and cold, no time to finesse the edges. She didn’t throw it.
She ran with it.
Lucavion’s eyes finally sharpened—not because of the shard, but because of her approach. He moved to counter—
And that’s when she threw it.
Not at him.
At the ground.
Right where her own foot was about to land.
CRACK—!
The shard exploded, sending a bloom of frost outward in all directions.
The air filled with slivers of ice—sharp, chaotic, and unpredictable.
Lucavion’s cloak snapped backward as the shards struck around him.
And in that moment—between surprise and reset—
Elara lunged.
Not with magic.
Not with anything complex.
Just her hand.
Her palm slammed against his ribs—barely a push, really—but the frost blooming beneath it flared.
[Iceprint. Rank 1-star]
A minor contact-spell, usually used to track or tag. But with mana pushed hard into the core, the print pulsed with cold—
And stuck.
Lucavion’s breath caught—just slightly.
Elara didn’t wait for his reaction.
She darted back.
Three steps. Then skidded to a stop, frost hissing beneath her heels.
Lucavion stood still for half a second—staring down at the faint blue glow pressed against his side.
His fingers brushed the glowing edge of the Iceprint on his ribs. His eyes narrowed—not with annoyance, but with something sharper. More curious.
Then he looked up at her again.
And smirked.
“Not bad,” he said, tone unreadable but edged with approval. “I guess we can call that a start.”
The estoc turned in his grip—quick, clean, a shimmer of black steel catching the soft rise of dawnlight. And then—
He moved.
No warning.
But this time, Elara didn’t freeze.
Her feet adjusted without thought, heels biting into the frost-slick stone as she dropped into a ready stance. Her palm opened—not to force a spell, but to invite one.
[Glacier Vein. Rank 2-star]
She whispered it into the ground without speaking. The spell surged—not in a line, but in a spiral, twisting underfoot to reroute her momentum. She didn’t have to steer it. It knew what she wanted.
Lucavion was on her in two strides, estoc flicking out in a quick jab—not fatal, not reckless. Testing. But her left hand already moved.
[Slipcast: Ice Needle. Rank 1-star]
This time she didn’t hurl the spell. She let it slide along her wrist like a thread pulled taut, then snapped her arm outward. The needle curved—not by intent, but by feel—and scraped past his blade, brushing his shoulder before dispersing into light.
Lucavion’s smirk twitched.
“That almost counted.”
[Snap Freeze. Rank 2-star]
She fired the cone low again—not wide like before, but thin, concentrated, a horizontal line of slick cold that caught the edge of his boot. He sidestepped—not fast enough.
His balance dipped.
She surged forward—too fast, too close—but she wasn’t trying to strike.
[Snowbind Thread. Rank 1-star]
It bloomed beneath his knees like a trap—and for a second, it caught.
Lucavion grunted.
Then—
His blade swung down, and the thread shattered instantly.
But Elara was already pivoting.
Her right hand glowed with tight, shimmering frost.
[Fracture Lash. Rank 2-star]
The ice coiled like a whip along her forearm. She didn’t know this one well—it was experimental, unstable—but it felt right now.
She brought it down in a wide arc, the ice cracking at the air like a blade—
CLANG!
Lucavion’s estoc met it mid-swing.
But not perfectly.
The frost shattered across his forearm, dusting his coat with ice-glitter. His stance stuttered again—not hurt. Just checked.
Elara stepped back, breathing hard, sweat and cold laced together across her brow.
She wasn’t winning.
Not even close.
Elara’s breath came out in misted gasps, her limbs burning—but not from exhaustion. From something sharper. Lighter. She could feel the shape of her thoughts shifting, less cluttered now. Less caught on every mistake.
’I’m getting into it…’
For the first time since she’d thrown that first lance, the air in her lungs felt clean. The tremble in her hands had faded, replaced with a grounded thrum. The next spell didn’t need overthinking. It just needed her.
A small curve tugged at her mouth—almost a smile.
But Lucavion didn’t let her keep it.
Not for a second.
He moved, no pause between his footfalls—his estoc flashing like a slash of shadow as it came toward her once more. Not reckless. Not showy. Just relentless.
Elara barely twisted in time.
[Ice Bracer. Rank 1-star]
The shield formed halfway through the swing, crackling into place across her wrist. It caught the edge of his blade—not with strength, but with placement.
CRACK!
Her arm jarred with the impact. But she kept her footing. Spun with it. Slid backward over another spiral of ice she conjured without thinking.
[Glacier Vein. Rank 2-star]
Again, the frost coiled under her like wind beneath wings, launching her sideways, out of his reach—then planting her on the far edge of the path.
She skidded to a stop, ice trailing in an arc around her.
Lucavion didn’t slow. He turned the moment she landed—closed the gap again, faster than she could prepare.
Steel clashed with frost. Estoc against spell. Movement against instinct.
Their blades didn’t spark, but the air did—humming with mana, tension, and something else…
In the middle of it, as she ducked under another blow and countered with a flare of palm-wide ice—
She spoke.
Between breaths.
Between pulses.
“The tea…”
Lucavion’s blade halted mid-swing—not fully, but slowed, uncertain.
Elara circled, eyes sharp.
“You said you sensed me because of it, right?”
Lucavion’s eyes flicked to hers—calm, steady.
“Yes,” he said, simply. “That’s right.”
She hesitated—but didn’t stop moving. Her hand readied another spell, mana already weaving down her fingers.
“Then…” she said softly, almost a whisper against the clash of magic. “Do you know what it is?”
For a moment—
Just one—
Lucavion didn’t answer.
His eyes didn’t narrow. His stance didn’t shift.
But he said nothing.
But that silence of his…
It said more than any admission could have.
Elara’s gaze hardened, her next spell faltering at her fingertips—but not from confusion. From recognition.