Chapter 20: Talia’s Fight

Talia Vane stood at the center of the chaos with her Grimoire already in hand.

Across from her, the broad, heavy-set man in the golden-lined black robe had already drawn his own weapon. A massive, jagged hammer rested in his grip, easily the size of a horse’s head. His shoulders were wide enough to block doorways, and his eyes burned with cold calculation.

Talia’s crimson scarf fluttered behind her as she spun the green sword that had unfolded from her Grimoire. The blade was long, elegant, and glowing with faint emerald light.

"Name’s Talia Vane," she said coolly. "You’re the brute they sent to test me. Hope you’re ready to lose."

The man grunted and swung the hammer in a casual arc that split the air with a thunderous boom. "Name’s Garrick."

He attacked first.

The hammer came down like a meteor. Talia sidestepped with perfect grace, the scarf trailing behind her like a living ribbon. She countered with a single vertical slash, the green sword leaving a trail of compressed wind that sliced through the hammer’s shaft and sent Garrick stumbling back.

"Decent speed for someone your size," Talia said, voice calm. "But not fast enough."

Garrick laughed and raised the hammer again, this time channeling raw power. His Grimoire flared. The weapon began to glow with heavy emerald light — the exact same shade as Talia’s sword.

"Pure Strength Increase," he announced. "My ability doesn’t give me spells. It gives me raw power. The stronger I get, the heavier this hammer becomes. You can’t block it forever."

He swung again. The hammer left a crater in the stone beneath him. The impact wave sent nearby students flying backward.

Talia’s eyes narrowed. She had seen this kind of brute force before. The man was treating his Grimoire like a muscle pump rather than a weapon. The more mana he poured in, the harder it got. That was why he had chosen such a heavy weapon — he needed something that could match his growing strength.

She spun the green sword and performed her first technique from the Heavenfall Cyclone Grimoire.

"Wind Step."

She vanished in a blur of compressed air, reappearing behind Garrick. The sword slashed across his back. The impact was so precise that it only tore the fabric of his robe, not his skin. Garrick roared and spun the hammer in a wide circle, trying to catch her.

Talia leaped. The scarf caught the wind and carried her upward. She twisted mid-air and drove the green sword down toward the crown of his head. The blade glowed brighter, carrying the density of wind itself.

Garrick blocked with the flat of the hammer. The two weapons locked together with a deafening clang. The force of the collision sent both of them sliding backward across the stone, carving furrows in the platform.

"Strong for a woman," Garrick spat. "But not strong enough."

He poured more mana into his hammer. The weapon began to glow white-hot. Talia’s eyes flashed.

"Heart Piercer."

The green sword spun in her hand and launched forward like a spear of compressed air. It struck the hammer head-on, shattering the weapon’s surface and sending Garrick flying backward. He crashed through the edge of the training platform and into open sky.

Talia followed him in a single bound, scarf trailing, green sword held ready.

They hovered thirty meters above the academy, wind howling around them. Garrick rose to meet her, hammer reforming in his grip. His breathing was heavy, but his grin was wider than before.

"Interesting. Most people break after one hit. You don’t."

The fight continued.

Garrick charged with another massive overhead strike. Talia activated her second technique.

"Wind Wall."

A dome of compressed air formed around her body. The hammer struck it with the force of a siege engine. The shockwave was so violent that it cracked the surrounding clouds. Talia’s green sword glowed brighter as she channeled mana through the wind layer, turning the defensive shield into an offensive weapon.

"Wind Fang."

She burst out of the wall like a missile, green sword extended. The blade struck the side of Garrick’s hammer and shattered it into pieces. The hammer head flew off and embedded itself in a distant cloud.

Garrick roared and lunged bare-handed, his pure strength now reaching a terrifying level. Talia met him head-on. Their fists collided with the force of twin meteors. The impact sent shockwaves through the entire academy.

They traded blows for long minutes — punch for punch, block for block, kick for kick. Talia’s Heavenfall Cyclone Grimoire allowed her to move faster than she had any right to. She weaved between Garrick’s heavy attacks, landing precise strikes that would have killed most people. Her scarf acted as both a distraction and a whipping weapon, cracking across his face and forcing him to spit blood.

Garrick’s strength was growing with every exchange. His body was swelling with raw mana. The air around him shimmered as his Grimoire pushed him to his absolute limit.

Talia’s breathing was steady. Her crimson scarf whipped behind her. Her green sword never stopped moving.

Then she did something Garrick had not expected.

She planted her feet, spun once, and launched herself upward. The green sword glowed with an intensity that made the clouds themselves look pale. She brought it down in a single, devastating strike.

"Cyclone Edge."

The sword struck the center of Garrick’s chest. The impact was so powerful that it drove him backward through the air, carving a trench through the clouds. Garrick slammed into the distant barrier of the academy and bounced back, coughing blood.

For the first time, Garrick looked genuinely surprised.

Talia hovered in front of him, green sword lowered, breathing calm.

"You’re strong," she admitted. "But I’ve trained against worse than you for years. And I’ve never met anyone whose power scales the way yours does."

Garrick wiped blood from his mouth and smiled through the red.

"Same to you, you’re a worthy opponent."

They faced each other again, green sword and broken hammer, wind howling between them. The fight was far from over.

But neither of them had taken the first life.