Blake Stone

"I tinkered with it a little and realized that there is more to the Nine Void's Disappearance formation than restriction and entrapment. If complemented with the at first useless-looking Void Opener, it brings out the hidden power, the origin of the name Nine Void." Dagger spread his arms wide and arched his back backwards to give out a mighty figure, if not for his swollen right eye creating a major flaw in the image. The five robed men descended behind him and made a quick bow towards Dagger.

"School Master Dagger White of the School of Formations and Inscriptions!" They payed their respects in unison.

Dagger ignored the five and continued to explain his accomplishments to Brom with a smug expression. "The Nine Void's Disappearance formation has nine different layers, each connected with nine different voids. Alone, the voids are not active but if I put a layer of Void Opener on the formation, a link activates and brings forth the sucking power from a void. The more Void Openers placed, the more voids I can activate. Though I've only been successful in placing twelve of them at once. You see, finding and aligning the balance points and the core is an exhausting task. But a whole and a third layers are enough to contain your energy for a short amount of time", Dagger then ordered his five subordinates to take their positions.

"Divide into groups of three and two. The former, suppress the lady. Take care, you aren't allowed to harm her in any way. The latter, come with me. Also, take note of the child's safety.

"This is my domain! Kneel before me!", he shouted at Brom as he dashed to confront him. An apparition of a giant dagger appeared behind his back with its edge pointing up, challenging the heavens above. Sharp tendrils of energy shot towards Brom but were immediately dispersed away with a wave of his arm. The restriction on Brom's energy was not the issue because restrictions could only restrict so much energy. The issue was the twelve voids sucking his energy even before he released it. But even without energy, he was strong enough to be confident in holding on against Dagger and the two Vice Heads of his school.

While Brom was busy dealing with Dagger and the two, Eir was being suppressed by the other three. She was not as powerful as Brom without her energy.

Blake was sitting cross legged at the edge of the formation, stuffing his mouth with popcorn. He had a few packets in his bracelet. It was quite easy to make them when you just needed to heat them. He did not plan on helping his parents right now in anyway.

He had more than enough power to take on several Daggers but having the power and using it were different things. Until his future self came back, he could not use any complex spells or arts. Basic stuff like flying and heating food was not the limit but extremely close to it. He could only wait for the future Blake before he could ask for his guidance.

For now, he could only watch the show.

In words, the battle was simple and straightforward but in actual, it was filled with many details. A battle between experts and a battle between grandmasters have the difference of heaven and earth. Dagger and Brom were both Grandmaster-level existences and Eir was also just a step away. Though Brom was superior, the improved formation and the help of his subordinates was enough for Dagger to suppress Brom.

Each move was full of tricks and feints. Each step hid a trap behind it and no motion was not without a motive. For the folk with the right eyes, such battles are the most thrilling and full of wonders but for normal people, it would be an accomplishment to even be able to witness a single punch!

While they fought, they did not forget to use their tongues either.

"I couldn't believe it when I heard that you ran away without me", Dagger took out two shiny short white daggers from under his large buckle and slashed them both at Brom's chest.

"Taking my wife was enough to fill my hands, I couldn't possibly break them after carrying your weight too, right?" Brom sidestepped to dodge an attack from a Vice Head behind him and arched his back to dodge Dagger's daggers. He then planted his foot on the other Vice Head's face, blowing him away. What he meant was that Dagger was nothing more than extra weight in his eyes.

"You should regret that you ever left me behind, the organization was alarmed after your escape and reinforced its rules. I was sent to look for you. After a whole decade of searching, I finally find you here! If not for me, they wouldn't have tracked you even in a century!" Dagger was extremely furious as he said this. The way he ferociously stabbed at Brom confirmed it.

"Who'd bother with you anyway? I had said that I'd bring you. Not when and where. Well, it was a pleasant experience back stabbing the number one back stabber!" Brom laughed as he diverted the daggers away with his palms. With both arms spread to the sides, their chests bumped and then their foreheads. A pen knife speared in each of Brom's hands as he stabbed Dagger's back. Dagger did the same with his daggers.

Sounds of metal colliding with metal could be heard as the daggers were not able to pierce Brom's dull armor. Similarly, two small defensive runes activated on Dagger's back, stopping the pen knives from advancing further. If one did not know better, they would surely think the two men were hugging each other.