The Meld Stage was the second stage of the anima in which the anima fused into an armament or beast, revealing a new realm of power and potential that an Exalt could only dream of. Even more promising was that it wasn't restricted by grade or realm but mainly seen in older Exalts, who've had decades, if not centuries, by their anima's side with their armament and beast. However, that made it all the more shocking to Oscar as Orden brandished and swung around his great hammer created by the melding.

From what Oscar had observed, Orden was around the same age as him, meaning he had been training as an Exalt for only five years at most, and yet, he had achieved the Meld Stage. Even the most devoted person to his anima training as per his family's tradition, Phillip, had not reached this stage, nor had Gilbert, Celestina, or any of the other grade eights. As Oscar dipped his head from exhaustion, he heard Orden's voice reach him.

"Is that it?" Orden sounded disappointed, making Oscar clench his hands, but the brown-haired hulk did not stop. "You pushed me to use my trump card and went above and beyond what I had thought. This fight was incredible. Even against the grade eight geniuses of my school, I could not feel my blood boiling as they fought from a distance and refused to go head-to-head against me. But you, you're different."

Oscar lifted his head to see Orden take several steps forward and pick up his Invicus Bulwark, which he had dropped from when the hammer crushed into his chest.

"A good armament; I can tell a master crafted it even with my inexperienced skills. They carefully crafted it with the intent to protect you. You shouldn't drop it so easily." Orden chuckled and threw the bulwark right before Oscar's hands. "Pick it up."

Silence ensued between the two as Orden gazed at Oscar with high expectations.

"Take up your armament, and let's settle this. I can't let you lose just after you've pulled out my Meld Stage."

The silence resumed after Orden's statement. Then a burst of clear laughter rang through the swamp, coming from Oscar's mud-covered face. Oscar wiped the mud off but could not stop smiling with coughs of pain at intervals.

Clutching his bloody chest with his right and gripping his bulwark with his left, Oscar grunted and shouted as he got to his feet. He laughed and let out a long breath. "You're right. It'd be a waste not to feel the power of the Meld Stage. Let's finish this fight; I have friends waiting for me."

Orden smacked his knee and hunched over from his laughter. He pointed and wagged his hammer at Oscar as his large body shook from delight. "That's it. I'm glad to have met you here, Oscar Terr. I will bury you respectfully and keep you in my memories."

"Can't say the same about you, Orden Aesn. You're far too troublesome, and I can't allow someone like you to roam free about the other students." Oscar slammed a fist into his forehead, making Orden look taken aback. With his head calmed down from the pain, Oscar took a low stance behind his bulwark. "That feels better."

They each took multiple steps forward until they were at arm's length. Oscar stared up at Orden, and Orden stared down at him due to his towering figure, but their eyes filled with respect for one another.

'Adamasreis'

'Reis Bulwark'

Oscar boosted his physical power with Adamasreis and flowed more Reis from his feet into his bulwark. His deer anima joined in with a wide swing of its antlers.

'Meld Stage Hammer'

Orden swung his hammer with both arms at the same time.

When his attack clashed against Orden's, Oscar felt a horrifying sensation. Was it twice or thrice? No, it felt like the hammer had struck twenty times in quick succession in a split second.

The power of twenty heavy blows of thousands of pounds and twenty shockwaves from 'Earthen Echo' tossed Oscar into the air; his eyes stared straight up into the blue sky as he nearly lost consciousness from the single blow. His deer anima had been flung up with him and was cracked all over, near the point of destruction.

He plummeted back down onto the muddy ground as a cushion. However, Oscar did not give in to the pain and stood back up, dragging his feet toward Orden. In the next instant, he sped up and charged again.

"Yes! Fight! Fight as much as we can enjoy this!"

Orden summoned earth spikes, but Oscar crashed and destroyed all in his path. When he came close to Orden's melee range, the hammer fell toward him once again. The bulwark trembled, and a booming shockwave reverberated from the hammer strike.

'Flowing Mountain'

Oscar felt the Reis of twenty blows coursing through his body and almost blacked out from the pain but held on. He charged ahead and attacked with the redirected Reis. However, the hammer in Orden's hand spun him around in an instant into a different stance to counter Oscar's blow.

'The hammer can also move him like that?' Oscar revealed his shock. The hammer's movements could not be seen within his Prinstyct. 'Dammit. I misjudged its speed. No wonder he achieved the Meld Stage; his anima control is out of this world.'

His Flowing Mountain clashed against the hammer, and he lost out because Oscar could not fully transfer the powerful Reis of twenty hammer strikes, losing some in the process. However, better than before, Oscar was only forced back several steps, but his arms bled from several tears due to the twenty-multiplied 'Earthen Echo' that coursed through his body, causing him to gurgle out blood.

'Silver Lance'

'Shattering Wave'

Oscar thrust with his deer anima's antlers as support. His Adamareis fast approached its limit, so as a last-ditch, he used the last of his Reis to at least do some damage to Orden. His lance stabbed at Orden, who responded with his hammer; Oscar's 'Shattering Wave' rippled against Orden's twenty-multiplied 'Earthen Echo', and their Eins burned fiercely into their strikes.

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But once again, his lance shattered. Oscar brought up his bulwark in time and used 'Silver Sheen' to defend himself. His body flung back as more blood and silver metals scattered off his body.

"Are you finished?" Orden stared at his bloodied arms, sweat dripping down his face, but he looked downcast as if he had lost his favorite toy as Oscar crashed onto the muddy ground. None of his words reached Oscar, who wheezed and gasped in pain.

Oscar's vision started to dim as a hazy dark fog lingered around the edges of his world, and he relaxed his hand that gripped his bulwark. His deer anima came over and sniffed over Oscar's face affectionately and nudging him with its head. But, despite this act, Oscar slowly began to sink deeper into the dark world.

Then, he recalled something—a memory from long ago.

…….

"Get up, or I will gouge your eyes out." Draven stared down at Oscar's broken body on the sand. "I controlled my strength not to kill you, but if you die of your own volition, that's your fault."

Within the sandy arena, Oscar struggled to get up as his body kept sinking into the sand, unable to muster the strength in his limbs. Then a kick landed on his face, forcing him upright to his feet. He could only spit out more blood, making the sand red.

"I said to get up." Draven tilted his head close to his shoulder weirdly. "How foolish to let yourself stay down like this. No matter what, get up and fight with your life on the line."

"Yes!" Oscar charged again at his master, ending up back on the sand after a short exchange. Draven's shadow came and covered him, prompting Oscar to lift his head. He clenched his teeth and stood up before his master.

"Not bad." Draven dusted the sand off Oscar. "I believe the time has come. Your Adamasreis is not ready yet, but you can learn the principles behind the final technique, Omnireus."

"Omnireus? You never mentioned it in your manual." Oscar clutched his injured arm, limping down his side.

"Because you didn't even start Adamasreis at the time." Draven drank a hot cup of tea. "In fact, it's still dangerous for you to use it. It's meant for 100 percent Adamasreis, but being 85 percent complete is the absolute minimum I will require to allow you to use it. But you still might feel the power tear you apart."

"It's that bad?" Oscar furrowed his brow.

"Learn it. I don't think you'd run into a situation where it's necessary unless you fight someone above you, but you're not that dumb, right?" Draven scoffed and waved his hand elegantly.

"That would be idiotic." Oscar shook his head.

…….

"Master, it seems I am an idiot after all." Oscar snapped his eyes open, peeling away the darkness that clouded his vision. Feeling liberated for some reason, Oscar easily stood up, looking unusually relaxed.

"Something's off. Did I hit you too hard?" Orden looked confused at Oscar's sudden change. He didn't know why, but he felt cold sweat and shivers down his back, unconsciously holding his hammer tighter. Something about Oscar now unsettled him despite his overwhelming power in the previous exchanges.

"No. Nothing like that." Oscar shook his head and walked slowly toward Orden, the island crumbling beneath them. He activated Adamasreis. "Let's face off one last time."

With the rapid spin of his hammer, Orden swung at Oscar faster than Oscar's Prinstyct could predict.

Oscar showed no particular reaction to the hammer, blocking it with his bulwark. He could almost hear his master's instructions replaying in his mind.

'The Shattering Wave is to take the Reis you kick up from the ground and unleash it with the Reis stored by your Adamasreis. The Flowing Mountain is a similar principle by redirecting the Reis of someone's attack and combining with the Reis from your feet.'

'You had a pretty good idea when you fought against the Raeven brat many years ago. Tripling your Reis by throwing the buckler and constantly redirecting the Reis you built up was good, but that was all Flowing Mountain and akin to a circular flow, easy and one-directional.'

'The Omnireus encompasses all the techniques of Reis you've learned. Here are the steps. First, use Flowing Mountain on the opponent's attack.'

'Flowing Mountain'

Oscar drew in all the Reis from Orden's heavy blow.

'Second, once you have their Reis, kick-off more Reis from your feet to add to the mix.'

His feet spun on the muddy ground, flowing up more Reis.

'Third, release your Adamasreis out of everything except the fist or whichever part you're attacking with; concentrate everything onto that. Now, do you see how this is tricky? You're fine with two sources of Reis and withstood their polarizing powers, but now you're dealing with three, and none of them are easy and one-directional.'

With a roar, Oscar piled on all the Reis from his Adamasreis, concentrating it into his fist, popping out veins and making it purple. Pain coursed through every fiber of his body from the sheer amount and concentration Omnireus required; blood spilled from his mouth due to how fast his heart was beating, bursting some blood vessels. His deer anima appeared under him and manifested two lances as the third covered his arm.

'Treble Lance'

Orden ordered his hammer to adjust to the correct spot to counter. He did not know what Oscar was doing since it seemed like usual. But he did not falter and strained his body, filling his hammer with all his Ein and even coating his free hand in stone to follow up.

The island shook from their clash, but Oscar's powerful lances of metal and Ein shattered, leaving Orden stumped as he gazed at Oscar. Oscar smiled and shouted, bringing his untouched purple fist forward. The Treble Lance was merely to use up as much Ein as possible to deter some of the hammer's power.

'Fourth, use Edureisclad to harden your attack. It will strike like the hardest material in the world.'

'Edureisclad'

Oscar's fist became more purple, and he slammed his knuckles onto Orden's hammer and stone fist. The sheer force behind it made Orden stumble back in shock as the fist forced his hammer back.

'Finally, when your attack makes headway. Unleash it all with Ripple Shroud and all the Ein you can muster.'

'Ripple Shroud'

In the final blow, the skin on Oscar's fist burst out, revealing the flesh underneath and blood splattered all over along with a blue flame of Ein, but the ensuing shockwave of Reis surpassed anything he had ever done before. All of the techniques had come together for this single moment.

'Omnireus'

"This attack!" Orden shouted, putting in all of his might and Ein, depleting his core to withstand Oscar's nonsensical attack. The heavy hammer burned with so much Ein, and the opposing forces sent out undulations of force that blew away the waters and upended trees. The island broke apart under them as they sank lower and lower into the swamp.

Despite Orden's best efforts, the Omnireus overwhelmed his Ein, knocking away his hammer and demolishing his stone fist, and the shockwave hit his body, churning his insides and cracking his bones. Blood spewed out from all of his orifices, and Orden could do nothing but clench his teeth to bear the pain. He dropped his hammer, and the Meld faded, revealing its original black hammer with red cracks.

His chest burst open as more blood sprayed out, inducing more muffled grunts of pain. But Orden could not hold on for much longer as his eyes closed; the injuries and depletion of Ein had forced him to black out. As he fell, his last thoughts turned to the incredible power that Oscar had displayed, smiling faintly. 'Pretty good….'

"Hehe," Oscar could barely keep his eyes open as the backlash of the Omnireus hit him. Every part of his body screamed out and ached in agonizing pain, and his every heartbeat spread a pulse of sharp pain that reverbed to his fingertips. Finally, he closed his eyes and allowed the darkness to take him.

The island had collapsed. Oscar and Orden fell like two tiny pebbles into a drain straight into a deep, unfathomable chasm formed from the final exchange. Into the darkness, they fell, unknowing of where they would end up.