Maybe he was coming up with excuses just to fight them.
In truth, there was something lingering in his mind.
And it was,
....He wanted to smoke them.
Rolling his sleeves up, he then pulled his gloves, fastening it. Feeling the ring on his finger, he felt his body lighten as if he could stretch his muscles.
Swoosh—!
Immediately, Brandon's figure blurred away as he grabbed the pathways, appearing right before Raven.
Bang—!
The two's fist's collided, sending shockwaves as if the air had been distorted by a single exchange.
Brandon immediately leapt back, setting a fixed distance from Raven. But it was then when he felt his senses disorientated. Or most probably his hearing?
Was he hearing right?
He could hear a couple of footsteps around him, but as his eyes abruptly flicked all around, there was nothing.
Most likely Sarah's ability.
To think she could create such realistic auditory hallucinations.
Maybe he had too many expectations for her combat capabilities. Clearly, she seemed to excel in support.
And that was his assessment of Sarah.
Boom!
All of a sudden, explosions rang from the corner. Crackling flames ignited, obscuring his vision as it sent tremors, shaking the ground with intensity.
A hand engulfed in flames appeared right before his peripheral vision, only for Brandon to twist his body to the side, barely dodging Reinhard's attack.
At the same time, Brandon felt a sharp, heavy pain in his stomach, right before he noticed Raven's fist implanted right in his abdomen, sending him hurling back several distances away.
Just as he was about to land on his feet, water bullets pierced right through his leg in rapid successions. Condensing with purple electricity, his drenched figure spasmed spontaneously.
A combo attack between Amy and Claire, perhaps?
"Khh...!"
Boom—!
Sensing Reinhard rushing towards him, as flames loomed around him, he was about to grab the pathways, when he realized his legs had been encapsulated in ice, swiftly crawling up to his waist.
Boom—!
An explosion resounded, and Brandon gritted his teeth as he was sent flying upwards.
While recovering from the pain that had just occurred, he felt the back of his head slammed, and Brandon was sent flying down, crashing hard on the ground.
"Akh!"
Spitting out blood, Brandon massaged his head. His hair had already come undone and he brushed his bangs back, the ends of his mid-length hair smoothly flowed down.
This was no sparring session anymore. They were out for his blood, as if they wanted to deny his strength, his dominance over them.
Brandon couldn't have that.
It should've been a friendly spar at first, to teach them of the world's strength, but this....
He wanted to win.
Out of sheer pity, Brandon's figure blurred in that instant, the fog scattering from where he once stood as he appeared right before Reinhard. His fist clad in amethyst flames swiftly struck Reinhard's cheek, sending Reinhard flying back.
Smoothly swaying the hand that had just struck Reinhard to the side, Brandon felt a light tug on his fist, and as he subtly increased the mana output, his hand moved fast as if disappearing.
He did not know who he had just hit, just that, he knew his attack worked as he felt the vibrations all over his arm.
Then, once again, his senses disoriented. No, as of this moment, he could see several silhouettes emerging from the fog. Sending his hand forward, chains shot from the ground, scattering the fog and the silhouette's.
However,
There was nothing.
"....?"
"Nice one, Sarah!"
A scream resounded.
He surmised that Sarah's sound illusion was much more immersive than at first glance. The auditory illusion was powerful enough to trick the brain, or more precisely, his sense of sight.
He had to give her credit for it.
Sarah was the most annoying opponent at the moment.
With such thoughts, his first priority was taking Sarah out.
Swoosh—!
Before Raven and Claire could hit him, Brandon's figure blurred once again, sending the fog in a scattered manner, and appeared right before Sarah.
Sarah's eyes widened at that moment. But it was only for a brief moment, as she clasped and twisted her hands together, a veil of sound materialized, and Brandon paused in his attack.
He felt his ears start to bleed from the static sound, a frequency high enough to make him feel like his eardrums were bleeding.
"Ukh!"
A shadow entered his peripheral vision, and he felt his ribcage shatter as he took in the full brunt of Raven's attack.
But pain.
He could handle pain.
In that instant, a chain shot from the ground and he used it as a foothold, backflipping, narrowly dodging Raven's surprise attack.
Amethyst flames erupted, engulfing his entire leg as he counterattacked, hitting Raven squarely on the face, sending him away.
However, Brandon extended his hand forward. Threads shot from his fingertips and latched around Raven.
Clenching his hand, Raven was pulled back towards him and Brandon landed another attack.
Bang! Bang!
Attack after attack. The same instance occurred, but that was until what seemed to be a flaming arrow shot towards his direction.
However, the arrow's trajectory was slightly off, piercing brushed past him.
At that moment, an explosion echoed from behind Brandon and he looked back.
There, he could see a large gaping crater etched on the ground.
The sheer destructive force of the arrow amounted to that much.
It was quite scary.
But most probably, Reinhard missed due to the lack of control over his attack.
That was the most optimal conclusion Brandon could come up to.
Seeing Raven down on his knees, Brandon's alarm bells suddenly rang and he looked up.
A large magic circled hovered above him, and ice began to encapsulate his legs once again, swiftly crawling up.
Just as Brandon was about to break free of the ice's hold....
Tzz—
Sparks of purple lightning entered his peripheral vision. That, and searing flames ignited from a different direction.
Having no time to grab a single pathway, Brandon crouched down and chains shot from the ground, completely repelling the oncoming attacks.
Clank—!
Claire's rapier seemed to be stuck in between the narrow gap of the chains, while Reinhard's attack scattered away.
Brandon turned to look at their directions.
There, he could see Claire glaring at him, her chest heaving up and down as she tried catching her breath. Reinhard, who seemed to be glaring at him as well, his blue eyes flickered ominously.
Rachel on the other hand, had her hand held up as her chest heaved up and down in the same manner as Claire.
They all seemed to be on edge.
But the same could be said for Brandon.
He too was on edge.
He wanted to go all out. To use everything in his arsenal.
But just as he was about to continue...
Beep—
A beeping sound rang from somewhere, and a static voice followed shortly after.
—Attention! Your time is up! If you would like to extend, ring the button once. If not, please proceed to the exit.
It seemed like their rental had expired.
"Looks like this is it for today."
Brandon shrugged as he looked at Claire.
Clank—!
Immediately the chains dispersed, and Claire's rapier fell on the ground.
"Haaa... H-haaa..."
Claire went down on both knees and tried to catch her breath.
"You're fucking.... Haa.... Insane."
"You guys almost got m—"
Boom—!
Another attack pierced through. But Brandon was able to block just in time with his chains. The flames immediately dispersed soon after.
Claire turned her head to the side.
"Reinhard, what are you doing!?"
However, Reinhard seemed out of it. As if he had never heard the announcement, he bursted forward, flames igniting behind him, and appeared right before Brandon.
However, at that moment, just before Reinhard's palms reached him, threads loomed in the air and latched onto Reinhard.
"Rein, didn't you hear the announcement?"
"Fuck why am I so.... Hm? What announcement?"
A look of realization washed over him as his brows raised.
"We're done here."
"Oh."
He may have sounded like he had just realized it. But Brandon could see Reinhard biting his lip in frustration.
It seemed like he was still on edge.
Shortly after, they cleaned up after themselves, changed their clothes, and stepped outside the training facility.