Human eyes can only focus on and process what lies ahead, limited to what their pupils are centered on. But now, with the Expanded Vision component, Dante could see the entire scope of his vision and process every detail within it, powered by his innate ability — the Six Eyes. This was quite a solid upgrade, especially considering—had he possessed it during his fight with Kaela, he probably wouldn't have ended up with a few broken ribs. With this wider field of view, he could have kept up with her speed when she accelerated.
'Awesome. Now I can process images from my entire field of vision... what a strange, indescribable feeling,' Dante thought, feeling the might of his vision projection extending around him like an invisible net.
The next day, Dante arrived for his upcoming match. This time, his opponent was Austor — another wind element user. Dante figured it would be easy to deal with him just like the previous wind users. Probably. Or maybe this guy would actually give him some trouble... after all, Austor was ranked in the top four.
Austor was a young man with gray hair, slightly taller than Dante. He had the air of someone serious and professional. Of course he did — to make it this far in the tournament, one had to be formidable. But Dante didn't take him too seriously, mostly out of habit. He had already beaten two wind users; this one might look stronger, but Dante wasn't too worried. For the first time, he understood how Kaela must feel — that sense of indifference toward opponents weaker than oneself. In a way, he was starting to become like that too. Still, he sensed a difference between them.
Before the match began, Austor spoke first:
"Dante, right? I watched your previous matches. I have to say, even though you didn't achieve a flawless victory, you fought brilliantly. I admire that. Show me what you can do."
Dante nodded. "Okay."
The match began.
Austor was given the first move — Dante wanted to observe and learn. So he gave his opponent some space. Austor drew two short blades, about 40 centimeters long with strangely curved hilts, and began spinning them skillfully in his hands. With a sudden flick, he hurled one of the spinning blades at Dante.
Dante easily read the attack and dodged. He closed in, confident — an opponent like this could be overwhelmed with Mindstep, no complicated tactics needed. He had done it so many times before.
But this time wasn't going to be so simple.
Austor threw the second spinning blade, and again, Dante dodged with ease.
As Dante closed the distance, he swung his bat with his right hand and made a pulling gesture with his left. He had looped his thread around Austor, preventing him from escaping. His bat sliced through the air with a sharp hiss — but Austor managed to slip to the side, releasing a powerful blast of wind that stalled Dante's momentum just enough for him to evade. Somehow, Austor had also freed himself from the thread.
Ignoring this, Dante pressed on with another swing. But this time, he didn't try to break through the wind force. Instead, he aimed to force Austor to keep using that defensive move. The wind blast that had repelled him must have consumed a lot of Austor's essence. Dante chose his angles carefully, pushing Austor to burn even more energy on defense.
Each brutal swing of Dante's bat drove Austor further back, making him grimace and struggle — Dante's ferocity was clearly beyond what Austor had anticipated. In his earlier matches, Dante had always started cautiously, defending against his opponents' attacks while analyzing and predicting their patterns before countering decisively. That was the style everyone had come to expect — especially his competitors in this tournament. Naturally, they assumed he would fight the same way again. But it seemed Austor had miscalculated.
While he fought, Dante observed his opponent's emotions — and what he sensed made him pause.
'He's definitely calculating something. I can tell because his emotions are so calm... with a hint of excitement, as if his plan is going smoothly. But at the same time, there's a trace of struggle and surprise there.'
On Austor's face, however, there was only an expression of strain.
'Ah, I see. Another actor, huh? Hmm, that's worth thinking about,' Dante mused, shaking his head to push aside the curious thought. 'Now's not the time.'
'Doesn't matter what you're planning. I'll just fall back and reassess to be safe.'
All these thoughts flashed through Dante's mind even as he kept up the pressure, forcing Austor to retreat around the arena, repeatedly using wind blasts to defend.
Suddenly, a satisfied grin spread across Austor's face. A spinning blade came hurtling toward Dante — fast and deadly. But before it could reach him, Dante's instincts screamed danger. He stomped down and leapt backward, just in time. The blade whirled past the spot he would've been standing barely a tenth of a second later.
Seeing the blade slice through the air in front of him made Dante's heart race. The thought of what could have happened sent a chill down his spine. He could almost feel the blade cutting him in two. Sure, the medics could patch him up afterward... but just imagining it made his face go pale.
What unsettled him even more was the silence. A blade moving at that speed should have produced a loud whoosh or a shriek of wind — but there was nothing. It had flown as silent as death itself, like one of his own kind. And Dante hated that. The fear in his chest began to twist into anger. Austor needed to pay for almost slicing him in half.
Still, that spinning blade terrified him. It could attack from any direction, unpredictable and swift. And the worst part — Mindstep couldn't read its movements. He had only dodged thanks to sheer luck — or rather, because he had read Austor's intent in time.
Austor caught his returning blade smoothly, spinning it once more in his grip.
Dante felt a sense of unease creeping over him.
'Wait a minute... he had two spinning blades. So where's the other one?'