Trillia yanked her right arm towards her chest, a desperate attempt at parrying the relentless assault that Titan seemed to excel at. The deity was using a rapier that had the exact same dimensions as her own, but the difference in skill was night and day.

Especially without utilizing skills, it felt impossible to see his strikes coming. Every thrust, every lunge, every swing felt like a feint. At first, she thought that would make it easier to figure out where the damn blade was coming from. The one time she nearly succeeded in a parry, she took a left hook to the head and collapsed immediately.

Their blades clashed and sang out in the arena for another two minutes before Trillia felt the rapier pierce her throat. Magic flooded her body, stopped the bleeding, and began to heal the wound as she flopped back onto the sand. "It's not possible. Mom was an easier opponent! I could at least understand how she fought!"

Blossom yelped. Trillia turned to look at the other fight. She saw Tempest had cleaved the poor girl's arm completely off with a falchion. "By the grace of the Axles, how are you so slow? The mortals in the realms I look after aren't this incompetent!"

Tears welled up in Blossom's eyes, and she looked crestfallen. Over the past two months, the group had been training every second of their spare time. Trying to learn how to project a divine aura, trying to maintain composure, and project anything in the face of the eldritch. Training their bodies to move better under pressure.

Titan walked over and put a hand on Blossom's shoulder. "You're doing better. For a caster, you move well. But you need to stop chanting your spells. They may lose efficacy, but the speed will make up for it. Tempest charges recklessly because she is used to being nearly immune to damage. You will not win a fight against her, going for offensive spells."

"As if you know anything!" Tempest snorted, and as she began to turn away, Titan chuckled. "Care to show them what happens when we don't hold back?"

Tempest paused.

"Or are you scared, cousin? I understand. You're just a celestial, after all. Good at breaking people down who are trying."

Tempest whirled on him, and the two mortals got to see how she gained her title. As her falchion sliced through the air, they could see visible wind wrapped around it, and deep gashes appeared on the ground around Titan. The woman charged at him, producing another falchion in her other hand.

Trillia gained her wits about her and ran over to grab Blossom and pull her away. Both were happy to watch, even if the speed of the other combatants left it difficult to discern the subtle differences.

"Why isn't he moving?" Blossom whispered to Trillia without taking her eyes off the fight.

Titan's rapier had been replaced with a club made of some metal that Trillia had never seen and what looked like a giant door made of the same metal. Tempest's weapons were intercepted at nearly every strike, and only tiny cuts appeared on Titan's club arm but sealed almost immediately. "Good! You've learned how to utilize your most basic of attack magic! You're not as incompetent as I thought!" His laughter only seemed to infuriate Tempest even more.

The shift was subtle, but Trillia noticed as Titan twisted his foot slightly.

"[Reverb]"

Trillia heard a loud pop, then nothing. She watched as Tempest and the surrounding area of the arena were crushed flat, bones poked out of Tempest's arms and legs, her mouth open. Perhaps in a scream that Trillia didn't hear. The massive slab of metal that Titan used as a shield continued to vibrate and pulse out shockwaves. Eventually, he placed a hand on top of it to still it.

The healing had Tempest back in good health almost instantly. The woman didn't rise to taunt him, though. Titan looked over at the two mortals. "Make no mistake. Tempest is a glorious warrior, but the difference in power, time, and skill cannot be overcome with determination. Let this be a good lesson for today. You will face enemies that are insurmountable to the two of you. You must find another avenue of attack, or you will die."

The two sat there, staring at Tempest, who still hadn't moved. Despite how fast he had been in their sparring sessions, he had never once tried to attack her until his final move. "Some days, I hate being your cousin." Tempest's words were the quietest they had ever heard the woman be.

Titan painted a smile on his face as he walked over and extended her a hand. "I always love you. I am an ill-suited opponent for you, Tempest. That will never change. I'm sorry for insulting your people and goading you into a fight."

Tempest sniffled and grabbed his hand, pulling herself up. She dusted herself off as her weapons vanished into the sand. "Two thousand years and not a single win. What a miserable fucking Deity of Conflict am I?"

A heavy red hand patted her on the head. There was no malice or condescension there. "Your father taught me well, so it's not really fair."

Tempest gave him a little sneer. "I hate the fighting style. I won't deny how effective it is, but it's just so..."

"Slow. You don't like being slow and methodical in fighting. Well aware, cousin." The two shared a grin as Tempest took a deep breath, turning to look at Blossom. "Sorry for being a bit of a bitch. I'll try to be more constructive in our lessons."

Before Blossom could muster a response, Tempest leaned in and whispered something to Titan before patting his shoulder and walking off. Titan's smile dropped as he nodded.

"Shall we practice our auras for a while? I imagine the two of you need to rest a bit."

A familiar voice cut through their replies as the Professor stepped into the arena. "Actually, I did tell you that I would teach you how to fight with weapons as well. Tempest, come back here."

The four of them lined up as their teacher stood in front of them. "I won't be using weapons today, but you all can. Instead, I'll be focusing on something else. Testing your mental defenses while we spar. We will do this in teams of two. Titan and Blossom. Tempest and Trillia. Let's start with the first two."

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Titan and Blossom glanced at one another, and their mood turned serious. The two stepped forward, and Trillia moved off to the side with Tempest. The Professor's garb changed into loose-fitting clothes, she slid into a relaxed stance and raised her hands, and two more arms joined the first set. "Your goal is to survive for thirty seconds. Don't be scared. I won't kill you. Do you understand?"

The two standing across from her nodded. A small chime sounded. The look on their faces had been as if someone was ripping out their insides. Faces contorted in pain, Blossom seemed to be entirely locked in place.

Titan gritted his teeth and clenched his hands. A slow and heavy foot made its way towards her. "I'll lessen the intensity, but what you just felt is going to be what it's like to fight the shard you've been seeing. Blossom, focus on your homeland. Focus on your patron. Focus on the scent of flowers in the woods and the smells of fresh fruit. The sounds of young sproutlings running about and laughing as they splash in the rivers of your hometown."

"Titan. You're a god. Your domain is endurance. Endure. Lean into what energy permeates your body. Think of your followers carrying stones to make temples for their masters. Think of the mother raising her children in the harshness of the Avati desert. Think of the endless war on the front lines of the infernal bands against the eldritch. ENDURE!" Titan's eyes glowed faintly as he sunk his mind deep into his past. His footsteps came easier as he marched towards the Professor.

Blossom let loose a guttural cry and raised her hands. "[Entangle]!" Roots manifested in the ground around the Professor and began snapping at her face and hands. The Goddess smoothly side-stepped them but was happy to lessen the mental load a little more, giving them a bit of a win. Titan's speed increased dramatically. Trillia realized space was being distorted more heavily as his feet sank deep into the sand and yanked out explosions of the stuff as he charged forward, mace at the ready.

The Professor moved quickly and methodically as if Titan was standing still. Grabbing the wrist of his mace arm with one hand, and quickly spun her body weight into his shield, her other three hands pushing out and snapping his arm in half. Titan howled in pain and staggered back. Blossom popped up from behind him, grabbing onto his shoulders with one hand. Her other shot forward. "[Bloom]"

It felt like the world had thrown up a brightly colored bouquet of flowers from her hand. Trillia was too entranced to laugh, but Tempest leaned forward, watching intently. The flowers spewed out a mist. The Professor seemed to vanish from her engagement with Titan and landed a dozen feet back, her hands up and around her face. Trillia could feel the pull of mana from the goddess.

Blossom slapped her free hand onto Titan's other shoulder. "Oh great, Mother Gaia, grant this foolish daughter your mercy and heal our wounds [Rejuvanation]!"

Titan's arm snapped and twisted back into place, and the god wasted no time lifting his mace and charging full-speed at the Professor with Blossom on his back.

"Well done." The Professor smiled and raised a hand. The two stopped in place as their faces twisted up in agony again. "Stand down." Her words carried power, and as the agony faded, so did the rage. As the rage subsided, exhaustion visibly took over. Titan slammed his shield into the ground and leaned heavily on it.

"By all that is. What sort of torment is this?" Titan could barely muster the words. Blossom clutched tightly to his back, once more locked in place.

The Professor walked up to them, placing a hand on each of their foreheads. "It's an aura. The closest translation for the spoken word is Oblivion. It attacks the soul directly, and the only way to defend against it is to do so in the Aetherian plane while you fight in the physical one. Make no mistake, all of you. You must learn to fight in both if you are to succeed."

Relief washed over their faces as they walked to the sidelines and plopped down. Tempest and Trillia stood next. As they started to take their places, Tempest turned her head to Blossom. "That was a solid attack. Use that against me next time, and you might pull out a win. Good job."

Blossom offered the woman a warm smile and seemed to pep up a bit.

Trillia unsheathed her rapier and stood at the ready. Tempest stood next to her with both falchions drawn. "I'll do my best, Fairtrade. But don't expect us to get far." Trillia offered a grim nod as the Professor took up the same stance across from them.

The same chime sounded, and Trillia's vision went black. All around her, she saw death. The deaths of her parents and of her uncles. Their bodies were torn gruesomely apart. She tried to take a step forward, but as her foot landed on something, she looked down to see Amelia's twisted form beneath her. Her heart raced, and her mind spun. She heard distant voices. A stiff slap from the flat of Tempest's blade dulled the horrors around her. Briefly, she saw the Professor standing across from them.

Trillia thought of sitting around a fire with her parents and Cordaos, eating stew and listening to them tell tales of battle and glory. She thought of Ba'Shoon teaching her magic. Thought of the people of D'Jamu that she had saved. The battlefield slowly came into clarity.

Tempest stood between her and the Goddess. Surprisingly, Tempest was doing far better than the others had. Her falchions were a whirlwind of strikes and wind blades. While the Professor easily side-stepped them or casually slapped the blades aside, she didn't seem able to mount an offensive.

With her mind firmly back in place, Trillia darted to the Professor's back and lunged with her rapier. The battlefield vanished again as her mind went to war, trying to hold off the horrors that the Professor was trying to force her to live. Rage began building inside of Trillia, and her mind slowly faded from higher thought to instinct. Something about the visions had changed. Instead of just being an illusion, it felt like a prophecy. It felt like divine providence if Trillia didn't succeed.

She screamed and tried to pump her mana through her arm and into her blade. The tip of her rapier glowed faintly. Both the Professor and Tempest vanished from before her. Trillia stood, fixed in place with her rapier thrust to where the Professor's heart should have been. Trillia looked over to see Tempest looking utterly confused and a proud smile on the Professor's face. "Is it over?" Trillia felt the full weight of the Professor's power hit her mind and body, washing away all her emotions and leaving her with a peace and stillness she had never experienced before.

"There is a woman in your realm known as the Ambassador of Mortality. Seek her out."

Trillia was confused. She sheathed her rapier and glanced over at Titan and Blossom. Blossom wore a huge smile and gave her a thumbs up, but Titan's face looked dark. "I'm....I'm confused."

Tempest walked over to her. "Fairtrade. That was divine energy. The woman she is talking about is a mortal that has crippled gods before. Using a technique very similar to that. It's a strange phenomenon that can seemingly only be manifested by mortals who have been deeply touched by gods."

The Professor clapped her hands happily, once more in the gown that she normally wore. "Oh, well done! Many people capable of universal mana manipulation have the ability to manifest divine energy, but few ever achieve it. That sort of power and attack can deal an incredible blow to the eldritch since it is divine in nature." Her face turned serious, and she gently poked Trillia in the nose. "That does not mean you should try to kill one. Don't be a fool. Only resort to it if you absolutely must. At least until you've had significantly more training in the matter."

Trillia blinked a few times, her gaze slowly lowered to the hilt of her rapier. "Divine energy? But...I'm just...."

Titan's heavy hand landed on her shoulder. "A prodigy who is the avatar of a Darktone, the daughter of two heroes. Cherished by her friends and families and well-respected by everyone else. Don't you dare for a second sell yourself short Trillia."

The Professor clapped her hands together. "Good lesson! I'll stop by again sometime. I won't be showing you the eldritch for a few weeks. Practice those auras and these skills." With that, the woman vanished.

The four of them sat down in the sand and shared silence together. None of them said it, but Trillia had no doubt that they had all been shown something similarly horrifying.