Tibaut quickly rolled back to his feet and cursed under his breath when he saw what was a few feet away.

Ash rolled and got up to his feet as well, breathing a sigh when he felt the top of his head. His finger didn't go as far into his head as Tibaut expected so he may have had his skull healed.

Most of the burn that covered part of his face was gone though a few small spots remained, the only evidence he was even burned in the first place. His dislocated arm was now back in place, though given his face when he moved it, it may not have been fully healed.

He created a whip of fire in his hand and dragged his sword over. Tibaut tried to hit him with a surprise attack but the old man dodged the punch, with it instead ripping a few strands of hair from his head when he ducked. He tried to land a counter punch but Tibaut kicked his fist at his lowered stance and backed away the moment he swung his sword.

The sword caught his leg but the metal plate he wore only left him feeling like he had been hit by a bat instead of losing a leg.

Ash raised himself while observing the changes in his body.

(“My strength has increased but I'd say it's only evened the gap between us. I'm not sure I can even take an onslaught of blows from him in this state. But I suppose that isn't the true purpose of this.”)

He summoned five flames around himself that instantly lit up the dark dirt road they both used.

(“Amazing. Truth be told, even if I managed to last another minute or so with the boy, my mana would have run out. I can't imagine what he would have done to me then.”)

But he noticed something strange as he summoned his flames. He'd usually feel the heat they put off when they got this hot, but right now, he couldn't.

He raised an eyebrow and brought them closer until they were less than an inch from his skin and he finally felt something.

(“Does this powder increase your natural resistances as well!?”) He thought, bringing closer to his skin.

(“What the hell is he doing!”) Tibaut wondered as he watched him. Given what he heard from Elizabeth, the best course of action with him looking like this was to buy as much time as possible. But it looked like this orange-haired… Now that the light he was providing was so bright, he noticed something strange about Ash's hair.

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(“Huh? Is it just me or does his hair look weird?”)

(“Idiot, what happened to the boy you killed in the dungeon?”)

(“But his hair looks more dirty than it does black.”)

Ash's hair had a dirty look to it. It was like he rubbed some charcoal in his. There was a noticeable dark hue in it and he now had black highlights, but his hair was clearly orange no matter where you looked at him from. It seemed this was the most it affected person's appearance outside of the dungeon.

(“But anyway, it looks like he's trying to get himself killed with that new power.”)

But when the flame touched his skin, and he removed it, the light made it easy to see there was no discernable burn.

Tibaut looked on in awe before closing his mouth and readying himself to run away. (“Oh fuck off, it was hard enough when both of us were being careful about those flames.”) He thought as he looked at his gauntlet on the floor. The thought of defending himself against those flames with one hand was enough to throw away his pride and start looking for ways to stall out this conflict as long as possible. Maybe if he ran away and followed him from a distance until this ran out then maybe he wouldn't have to deal with this-

As he thought about when this black powder would run its course on Ash, a similar thought popped into his mind for him.

(“How long do I have left in this an-”)

As he looked at his arm-

(“Hold on a second!”) He thought as he observed his hand. What happened to him? The fight had taken so much of his focus that he hadn't realised what happened to his body.

He looked at more parts of his body and grew concerned. “What's happening to me!?”

(“Hmm? Is that boy now just realising? And I was here wondering why he hadn't attacked me yet. He probably hasn't had to fight an opponent this long while using ki. And here I thought a single, decisive blow was what I needed but perhaps, all I needed to do was-”)

Ash turned around and started booking it outta there. Within no less than ten metres he felt an arm on his shoulder. Given the burns on his clothing, the shoulder of his jacket easily pulled and he swung himself around like a top, trying to swipe at the side of Tibaut. Tibaut parried with the gauntlet but was parried himself by Ash's other hand before Ash was slammed by the still burnt and rather unsightly-looking hand of Tibaut. Ash was sent to the floor but instantly backed away when he sent the flames towards him.

After running for how long, the flames finally stopped when he had put over 15 metres between himself and Ash. He could clear that distance in seconds, so it wasn't an issue for him, what was, was his body. His body as a whole looked like it had the life drained out of it. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days and even that punch he landed on Ash didn't feel as impactful as earlier.

(“Fun fact. You have five minutes left with this ki.”)

(“But what happened to my body-”)

(“You have under two minutes left, if you don't want to use your organs and even blood as fuel to maintain your ki. But if you want to turn into a Sokushinbutsu that's your decision.”)