Jay slammed his shoulder into the gravel, ignoring the stinging in his cheek as sand entered his open cut. Sweat dripped from his soaked hair into his eyes. He rolled to the right, looking up just in time to activate Eye of the storm before an arrow came his way.

One.

He used his momentum to roll again and escape the firing line. Jay set his feet as soon as he was upright and burst towards Zara. She drew her shoulder back, and Jay once more reactivated his perception enhancing technique.

Jay’s entire world blurred.

His entire world other than the ink-black arrow and the paper-white fingers drawing it.

Jay pushed his legs to their limit. His cells screamed from exhaustion, but he couldn’t let them rest. A moment’s delay would erase his progress.

Zara’s forearm twitched. Layers upon layers of ink made it harder for Jay to see the muscles moving underneath, but he still spotted the attack before she launched it. He slightly twisted his planting foot.

No delay. His body had caught up to his mind now.

Two.

By the time the arrow had fired, Jay was already halfway to dodging it. It soared past his ear as he kept running full pace to Zara’s left side.

She hopped back. The sidestep was next but the barrier wall already hugged her right flank, so she was forced to close the distance to Jay.

Jay’s right foot ground into the gravel. Sending a plume of dust into the air as he skidded for a split second before shifting directions. He turned left, directly facing the spot Zara was about to dodge into.

Jay was correct. She stepped to her left but twisted her body, contorting until she found an angle to fire mid-dodge.

Fuck. Jay had just launched all his weight forward. He couldn’t slip this shot.

Jay raised his fists, the hairline channels along his arms pulsed with light as electricity tried to rush free from the chains that bound it. Eye of the storm pushed the charge back.

Zara fired. Jay focused entirely on the arrow, losing sight of the rest of the world.

Three.

It was heading for his chest. Perfect. Jay's left arm twitched, adjusting its position the minimum required distance. His wrist curled down, Conqueror's fists pointed directly at the arrow.

This had to be timed perfectly.

Jay's fist descended before the arrow was even close. He needed the extra power. Strength flared through Jay's forearm as the arrow neared him. He yanked his arm downwards.

Sparks skittered off the inklike arrow as Jay pawed it down. Not just changing the arrow’s trajectory but smashing it in two. His chest was safe. Zara was in his sights.

And all out of arrows.

Zara tried to shift her weight back in time. She wasn’t going to make it. She’d manage to leap back, but Jay would reach her far before she could reset.

Zara hopped back, backpedalling parallel to the ringside. She drew her right arm back.

And aimed directly at Jay.

Fuck! She ha- Wait. Focus!

Jay bit down, grinding his teeth into each other as he forced himself to look at his opponent. He tried to remember all the times he’d walked into opponents in the boxing ring. All the times he’d walked out victorious.

But he wasn’t boxing anymore.

There was an arrow aimed directly at him.

An unstoppable, piercing, speeding arrow. Slicing through the air, torpedoing towards its inevitable destination.

There was nothing he could do. There was nothing anyone could have done. It was unstoppable. He was fodder. Barely more than a straw bullseye, whose only purpose was to get shot.

It’s gonna hit me.

It’s gonna hit me.

It’s go-

NO!

Jay screamed at his mind, yanking it out of its spiral. But it was too late. By the time he’d regained control of his body the black arrow had already collided with his chest. Splashing into a puddle of ink.

Luckily, Zara had the sense to relax her arrows as soon as they hit Jay. Otherwise, this would have been his fourteenth pierced lung in the last hour.

“For fucks sake!”

Jay dropped to his knees and pounded the ground. He’d gotten used to the chase, picking up on Davad’s favourite patterns and even encouraging Zara to mix it up with some of her own. He’d gotten used to the speed, it only took one attempt for his sparring partner to realise that Jay would learn more if she moved even faster than Davad could. Jay couldn’t tell how close to her top speed they were fighting at, but he’d be interested to know.

But none of that mattered since Zara’s domain beat him every time. It froze him. Even when he knew it was coming, Jay couldn’t do shit.

“You’re getting better.” Zara said as she walked over, the first beads of sweat finally rolling down her temples. “Let’s take a break.”

At least I’m making her try.

She extended her hand to Jay and helped him up off the ground before walking over to the bench and taking a seat.

“You’re pretty close. I think if I explain some of the underlying theory it might click for you.”

Jay nodded. While he was a practical learner, not everything could be learned by brute force repetition. Now that he’d got the easy training out of the way, maybe he could try and get his head around the tougher stuff.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“The principle Davad uses is from a guy called Asher. He was one of the first people to use a bow in a duel like setting, so a lot of his principles set the groundwork for modern archery styles. I can’t say for certain, but I think Davad is using Asher’s domain technique of firing his personal essence like an arrow into his opponents.”

“We thought that when we watched yesterday.”

“That’s only the means of attack though. Anyone who uses essences somewhat related to piercing can do that. The thing that sets Asher’s domain technique apart is the message contained within the domain arrow. He manages to directly inject his thoughts into his opponents’ minds via his domain.”

What?

“Domains are rarely that useful in damaging your opponent. They reflect your pure personal essence, and that can’t often be transformed into something deadly. Otherwise, the user will be close to death all the time. Of course, if you focus on the essence of death, poison, or anything like that, then it can do some damage. But generally speaking, you’re better off using your personal essence to manipulate an outside essence and use that to attack your opponent. You following?”

“Makes sense to me.”

“One thing that can only be transferred via domain, is your specific thoughts and feelings in that moment. It’s inherently personal, and thus can’t really be transmitted by an outside essence. Sure, if you controlled the essence of sadness, or something like that, you could make someone sad. But it wouldn’t be your thoughts.”

Jay wondered what that imaginary harmoniser would look like. You’d have to have a depressing life to overlap with the literal essence of sadness.

“One of Asher's tenets was convincing himself that everything in front of him was a target. The purpose of an archer is to hit targets. It’s what they train for, it’s what they do. Whether that target’s a bullseye on a field, or a soldier in a siege. They’re both targets. Both far away things to aim for and not much else.

“Your opponent in a duel is a lot more than a target. When you’re trapped inside the arena with them, the two of you are the only things in the universe that matter. That mentality doesn’t help an archer. To them, their opponent needs to be a target. Nothing more. Using Asher’s mentality, an archer grows colder, more calculating. More importantly, they grow more accurate. His domain technique only enhances that.”

Jay was beginning to see where Zara was going. He remembered how he felt each time she’d froze him on the battlefield. The inevitable feeling of helplessness before he got shot.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “Finding one’s place in the world and moulding the world in one’s image.”. It’s plastered to the insides of people’s skulls before they even know what essence is. But the same is true in reverse. The world moulds you in its image as well. The essences that you surround yourself with affect your personal essence significantly.”

Jay had never thought about the reverse side of harmonisation. Neither the sage’s poems nor Akira’s analogies had really touched on it. It was certainly something to think about, how he’d been changed by his new world, but maybe not for right now. He had to figure out Davad’s domain first.

“It makes sense that an archer’s domain can manifest itself as a piercing spike. That’s how archers interact with the world. But nobody figured out how to use that domain until Asher. Why try and pierce someone with your domain when an arrow is a thousand times sharper? He figured out another use for the piercing domain. Getting inside the minds of his opponents.

“Asher’s defining quote from his legacy crystal was about his domain attack: “I’ve already convinced myself that they’re targets. Now I just have to convince them too.” That’s probably what Davad’s doing, with a few personal changes obviously, but the core should be the same.”

Zara’s explanation made a lot of sense, and Jay took his time combing through her brain to extract everything he could from it. Once more, Jay saw the gulf between himself and the top of the division. Although they were ranked on their fighting ability, harmonising was so much more than that. Jay needed far more than a few rounds of sparring to grow stronger. He needed to develop an understanding of himself, of the essences he wielded, and of the entire world around him.

The journey to the top was a long one. And it wasn’t supposed to be easy.

Regardless of the destination, the most important step of any journey is always the next. And Jay had a pretty obvious next step in directly front of him.

Convince himself he wasn’t a target.

----------------------------------------

Jay dove to his right, collapsing into a roll.

He knew an arrow was coming, so he’d already raised his fist and activated Eye of the storm before looking up.

Jay started sprinting as soon as his feet reconnected with the ground. He flicked his head up just to confirm his instincts.

One.

Jay didn’t dodge this arrow. He didn’t want to slow down.

As the ink formed into an arrow, Jay kept advancing. Steadily closing the distance between him and his opponent. The arrow formed and Jay tracked its course to the millimetre as it flew towards him. He held his left hand in front of him as he ran, blocking the arrow’s trajectory.

Before, this manoeuvre required perfect timing. It still did, but experience made timing a hell of a lot easier. In the seven fights since their break, Jay had managed to deflect Zara’s arrows in every single one.

The eighth was no exception.

Jay's steel knuckles tapped against the arrow, adjusting its path just enough to send it flying over his shoulder.

Zara hopped back, launching herself to the edge of the ring. She drew back another arrow, letting it fly towards Jay's chest mid-air.

Two.

Jay had to commend the archer, she was one of the best sparring partners he’d ever had. As well as teaching Jay the intricacies of Davad’s domain technique, she’d changed her fighting style to more accurately match Jay’s future opponent. From sticking to similar movement patterns, to aiming for the chest rather than the head. Jay really felt like he was fighting a miniature Davad right now.

A miniature Davad that was both faster and more accurate than the original.

Jay punched the second arrow out of the air, refusing to slow his advance.

Zara sidestepped to her right, taking her away from the ring’s edge, and dropped to one knee. She wrenched her arm back and let loose her third arrow.

Jay narrowed his focus on the arrow, it was thicker than the others, and had a silvery sheen where the others were all pure black.

Three.

The arrow leapt off the string, spiralling through the air, almost with a mind of its own.

The spinning arrow split into three, and Jay only had two hands.

Not parrying this one.

Jay switched gears and leapt to the left, slowing his forward push but still not losing ground. If Zara truly wanted to evade him, she’d pivot and launch herself after her arrows. But Davad was neither that aware nor that agile. She retreated back and allowed Jay to keep pace.

Jay knew what was coming next. He had to ma-NO!

Fight your fight Lightning. Don’t worry about hers.

Zara’s bow trained on him.

She pulled back.

She fired.

It’s gonna hit me. It’s gonna hit me. It’s gonna-

Jay powered through the thoughts. He knew this was just a fake. Eye of the storm had forced his eyes wide open and shoved the knowledge into the forefront of his mind. There was no room left for doubt.

There was no arrow, and he was no target.

He was Jay Lightning Leonard. In front of him he only saw an opponent.

A retreating opponent ready to be finished.

Jay relished the shock on Zara’s face as he closed the gap. The channels of white light flowing down his right arm grew brighter as he cocked his fist back. She looked helpless. She couldn’t do anything but hold her hands out in front as Jay crept closer to a knockout blow.

The bubbles of bulging black rolling underneath Zara’s forearms sowed the first seeds of doubt in Jay’s mind. Maybe this wasn’t the end? But Jay couldn’t stop now, even if he wanted to. He was travelling too fast.

Black ink spouted from Zara’s arms, pouring out into the space between Jay and his opponent. It took shape. Arranging itself mid-air into a gigantic tower shield.

Jay couldn’t even see his opponent anymore. All he could see was the black wall growing larger and larger.

Jay let his right arm loose. If he had to break through a shield to get to his opponent, so be it. Davad had a shield too, it was the whole reason they were fighting.

Jay’s fist flew forward, perfectly straight, channelling all his momentum behind it. It slammed into the shield.

For a second, Jay thought the shield would hold.

For a second.

Hairline fractures radiated through the shield, branching out from the Conqueror’s knuckles. White streaks, snaking through the ink, looking for any point of weakness.

More electricity poured out of Jay’s fist. The cracks grew wider, prying the shield open from within.

Jay’s fist had almost completely fractured the shield. It just needed one more tap to completely break.

Momentum did Jay’s job for him.

His body slammed into the compromised black shield. Shattering it into thousands of pieces like it was a pane of extremely tinted glass.

He’d expected to find Zara crouched behind her broken shield, or potentially retreating with an arrow ready to fire.

What he didn’t expect. Was for her to be standing directly in front of him, swinging a war hammer twice her height and at least four times her weight.

Swinging it directly at him.