Chapter 512: Joshua versus Shawn Part 2

After the first exchange of attacks Joshua had a much better idea of how exactly Shawn's abilities worked after experiencing them for himself. It wasn't just one ability that he was using to get the effects that everyone had been watching throughout his matches. Initially just like everyone else Joshua thought that Shawn was blinking towards his opponents and taking them out which was something several people could do, but he couldn't understand why no one was able to react to this tactic fast enough. Now he knew why people weren't able to react along with the fact that Shawn wasn't using a skill or ability to teleport.

Of the two the first thing Joshua noticed was that the reason no one seemed to be able to react to Shawn in time was because he was using a soul beast ability on everyone at the start of his matches. The ability would cause things within an area to slow down for a period of time. That was why people seemed so sluggish in response to when Shawn teleported in for the kill. Joshua was certain that the effect of the ability was over an area because of a previous fight where Shawn was able to slow down multiple people at the same time, but couldn't do so over a large range. This ability was extremely powerful, but it only seemed to last for a few seconds. That was more than long enough to let Shawn teleport in and try to go for the quick kill, but if you could survive the first onslaught the ability would pass over.

The second thing Joshua had noticed was Shawn's movement capability being related to a spell. Joshua knew this was the case since abilities and skills would have cool downs or a cap to the amount of times you could use them in a row. There was no way that there was a skill out there with the same effects as the blink skill that Joshua had that could be used over and over again without another skill like reset. Joshua highly doubted that Shawn was lucky enough to not only have both these skills, but was also willing to use them right away several times. The other reason Joshua could tell it was a spell was because he could sense some of the mana reserves lesson from his opponent each time he used it. Joshua wasn't nearly as good at perceiving the mana of others as he was when it came to aura, but he could still sense the mana burst into the air whenever Shawn used the skill.

Since the teleportation was a spell Joshua had a good idea of what unique job Shawn probably had and he was starting to zone in on the idea that he was a mage that focused on space based magic. Joshua didn't know what exactly to expect when it came to such a mage, but he at least knew what he was dealing with. Shawn was an opponent that had the magic to warp space to his needs in small ways while having a soul beast that has abilities focused on time that could slow down opponent's perception and movements. It was a powerful combo, but in the end Shawn was going up against a brick wall when it came to fighting Joshua. It didn't matter if Shawn could teleport all day or slow Joshua down if he couldn't hurt him.

It seemed like these thoughts were also rushing through Shawn's mind as he glared in Joshua's direction trying to figure out what exactly he needed to do to break through Joshua's defenses. This was the first time he came across an opponent that put him in this position. Shawn had fought several tanks throughout the tournament, but once you forced a tank to stand still all you had to do was attack a gap in their armor and you'd be able to take them down just like anyone else as long as you aimed for a weakness. The difference here was that Joshua didn't rely on armor and instead had an aura cloak that covered his entire body. There was no opening for Shawn to aim for and he was going to have to figure out a way to whittle him down instead of trying to take him out in one move.

Joshua decided to charge forward and stop giving Shawn a chance to plan things out. Even though Joshua could stay in the aura hardening state for a long period he didn't wish to waste the time. He was going to end the match as quickly as possible and not allow Shawn a chance to figure things out and grab hold of the pace of the fight once again. In his aura hardened state Joshua didn't have the boosted speed that he would normally gain from his aura cloak, but he was still far faster than a mage. If Shawn was going to try to create space between himself and Joshua then he was going to have to use his spells to do so which would quickly drain away his mana as the match wore on.

As Joshua closed in on Shawn he once again teleported away before several portals opened up around him that started shooting out swords and daggers in Joshua's direction. The weapons were flying at him at extreme speeds, but Joshua wouldn't have had any trouble avoiding the attacks if given the opportunity, but Shawn once again used his soul beast ability to try to slow down Joshua once more. The moment Joshua noticed his perception slowing down along with his movement he focused on raising up his scale blade to block some of the weapons while his aura would block any that got past. The swords glanced off of Joshua's scale blade while some of the daggers were able to sneak around it and hit Joshua's arms or legs, but his aura made it so it was like he was getting pelted by pillows.

Shawn seemed to take notice of this fact as he reacted quickly and casted another spell that created a huge portal above Joshua that dropped a giant rock down towards him. If this were a normal person such a massive rock would have squashed them on impact or forced them to use a skill to get away, but Joshua circulated aura through his scale blade and used an aura blast as he swung his blade upward. Even if he was still under the effects of Shawn's slowing ability the rock wasn't exactly hurtling towards him like a meteor. That gave Joshua's slowed down body plenty of time swing his blade upwards towards the approaching disaster.

Once Joshua's scale blade made contact the resulting explosion shattered the rock sending pieces everywhere around the arena. Shawn had to dodge a few of them as he teleported away from the madness, but since Joshua could keep track of him with his aura sense he started rushing towards him once more the moment Shawn's ability wore off. After being under the effects of it for a second time Joshua was certain that the spell would only last for five seconds. That might have seemed short, but it was clear that if Joshua made any mistakes it could end up being the reason he lost the match. There was one other thing that Joshua was starting to understand about the ability, but he still need to test something to make sure that he was right about it.

Joshua used the cover of all the dust from the exploding rock to close in on Shawn without him being able to see him right away, but Shawn was smart enough to keep his distance from the cloud of dust formed from the rock. The moment Joshua appeared Shawn sent more swords out of portals in his direction, but Joshua just batted them aside as he sent over an energy slash towards Shawn. Joshua was expecting Shawn to teleport out of the way, but instead Shawn created a portal in front of himself that sucked in the energy slash. He then created another portal that sent it back in the direction of Joshua. The tactic was surprising to see, but Joshua didn't panic as he cut through his own attack and continued charging forward.

While racing to get close to Shawn Joshua once again felt his entire body slow down as he was caught in Shawn's soul beast ability once again. The tactic was getting annoying especially now that Joshua knew for a fact that it would be pointless to try to attack Shawn from a distance. This time Shawn opened the smaller portals that shot out swords and daggers behind Joshua. In this situation Joshua wasn't able to block the incoming attacks, but his aura cloak still made all of the weapons feel like barely anything was hitting him. Joshua just didn't want to stand around and be a punching bag for the next hour. He needed away to get around Shawn's soul beast ability and he had an idea of figuring out how.

An aura pulse was sent out from Joshua and he could tell that his aura was traveling through his surroundings slowly at first. Joshua had his eyes closed as he focused completely on the aura pulse. As the pulse traveled out it suddenly gained speed right after reaching five feet away from Joshua, and this was all around him. From that Joshua was able to figure out the range of Shawn's soul beast's ability. A smile came to Joshua the moment he figured this out as he waited for the five seconds to pass that he was stuck in the time bubble. Even though Joshua could try to run out of it by the time he reached the edge the bubble would be breaking down anyway.

Although Joshua had been held back for the most part at this point when he looked over to Shawn he could see that the man was breathing hard and that most of his mana was gone at this point. There was no way he could drag this fight on for too long using so much mana to just try to hold off Joshua, but at the same time Joshua needed to end things before his aura hardening ran out. Joshua concentrated aura in both feet as he kicked off with one and closed the distance between himself and Shawn once more. This time around Shawn teleported away as Joshua expected, but that was still a spell that took a second for Shawn to cast.

Joshua used his aura sense to track where Shawn had teleported to and smashed his other foot into the ground as he shot in the direction that Shawn had gone surprising him. Shawn was forced to use his soul beast ability once more to stop Joshua who was quickly closing in on him, but Joshua was having none of that. He blinked directly out of the slow down zone of Shawn's ability and ended up directly in front of him. Before Shawn could try to teleport away again Joshua grabbed him and slammed him into the arena floor. Being so close Shawn wasn't able to use any spells to attack Joshua and his soul beast ability didn't matter at all now that Joshua had caught him. Joshua stabbed his scale blade into the ground as he charged an aura blast into his fist that he slammed down into Shawn's back creating a massive crater that would have shattered his spine if he wasn't taken out of the arena. With that Joshua had won his first match of the day.