[Third Person Pov]
Around Lucian stretched an open field, but unlike the oppressive darkness of his previous Domain, this one carried a very different atmosphere. The space felt heavy and solemn, like the silent aftermath of a long and brutal war. It resembled a burial ground, a battlefield long abandoned by the living but still marked by the echoes of conflict.
Blades and countless other weapons jutted out of the earth in every direction, their hilts rising from the ground like crooked tombstones. Spears, swords, daggers, axes, glaives, and lances stood embedded in the soil as though the battlefield itself had grown them. The landscape extended endlessly into the distance, a graveyard composed entirely of steel and iron.
It was an endless field of weaponry.
Lucian glanced beside him and noticed a spear lodged firmly in the ground nearby. Without hesitation he reached down, wrapped his hand around the shaft, and ripped it free in a smooth motion.
He spun the spear once in his hand, testing the balance before swinging it through the air with a satisfied smirk.
"Nice."
As he lowered the weapon, he noticed movement from the ground where he had taken it. The earth shifted slightly and a brand new spear slowly emerged from the same spot, embedding itself exactly where the previous one had been.
Lucian blinked once before grinning wider.
"Really nice!"
Hecate stood several paces away, quietly observing the strange battlefield. A faint smile rested on her lips as she took in the sight of the countless weapons surrounding them.
"Once again I'm impressed," she said calmly. "This is a very beautiful spell, Lucian. You've truly outdone yourself."
Lucian rubbed the back of his head slightly, clearly embarrassed by the praise despite the goofy smile spreading across his face. "You know, if you keep complimenting me like that I might just become arrogant."
"You already are arrogant," Hecate scoffed, shaking her head. Her gaze moved across the endless graveyard of weapons before returning to him. "So are these all the weapons you've ever made?"
Lucian shook his head immediately.
"You should know the spell works with more than just that," he explained. "It contains all the weapons I've ever seen. Although admittedly… almost all of them were made by my own hands."
Hecate stared at him strangely for a moment.
"Wait. Just how many weapons have you made before?" she asked.
Lucian shrugged casually as if the question barely mattered.
"That's hard to say. A thousand? Ten thousand? I lost count a long time ago. I don't necessarily keep all of them though. Most of the time I melt them back down and forge new ones from the material. But thanks to the spell you created, that barely matters anymore."
Hecate sighed as she shook her head slowly. Then she paused mid-motion, a thought suddenly forming in her mind.
"Wait a minute… you said all the weapons you've ever seen. Does that mean—"
"Yes, it does," Lucian replied immediately, already understanding exactly what she was implying.
Lucian raised his hand outward.
A sudden crackle of energy erupted in his palm as a bolt of lightning manifested there. The electricity condensed and solidified into a tangible form, and Lucian grabbed hold of it firmly.
The weapon hummed with divine power.
Hecate pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.
"The Master Bolt…" she muttered. "Lucian, do you have any idea what he would do to you if he ever catches you summoning that thing? I'm honestly starting to regret giving you this spell."
"Why do you think I haven't used it in battle before?" Lucian sighed while shaking his head. "I've had this thing stored away for years. That's another reason why I wanted to create this subspace and spell in the first place."
Understanding flashed across Hecate's face.
"I see now," she said slowly. "Apart from empowering your spell, you wanted a space where their view is blocked while you use their divine weapons."
"Exactly that," Lucian replied with a proud grin. "Now then, can you please create a mist form? I want to test this spell out."
"Knock yourself out," Hecate said while waving her hand dismissively.
The mist surrounding the battlefield responded instantly to her will. Fog gathered together in a swirling mass before gradually taking shape.
"Well that sounds counterproductive," Lucian said with a grin.
Hecate stared at him flatly.
"It wasn't funny the first time you made that joke, and it isn't funny now."
"Whatever, you have such a terrible sense of humor" Lucian replied while waving her off dismissively. His focus shifted toward the newly formed mist figure standing across from him.
The mist form looked exactly like him.
'Did it really have to look like me?' Lucian thought to himself, already knowing what he was about to do to it.
He sighed once before raising his hand.
All around him the magic of the Domain responded instantly to his thoughts. Weapons began materializing in the air one after another, appearing in massive numbers until the sky itself seemed filled with steel.
Swords.
Spears.
Daggers.
Glaives.
Axes.
Scythes.
Lances.
Arrows.
Javelins.
Dozens quickly became hundreds.
"I love this~" Lucian smirked as he stared at the massive array of weaponry floating above the battlefield.
He flicked his fingers downward like issuing a command.
Instantly the entire arsenal descended.
The weapons fell like missiles from the sky. The air screamed sharply as they tore through it, and the ground trembled violently as they struck the battlefield again and again in a storm of steel.
Impact after impact shook the field.
When the dust finally settled, the mist form that had stood there moments earlier was nothing more than scattered strands of fog. The damage inflicted upon it was far too severe for the construct to maintain its shape.
Lucian brushed his hands together with a satisfied smirk.
"Well, that was satisfying."
Hecate calmly summoned another mist form in his likeness.
"This one has the same spell and weaponry as you do," she explained. "You will train your spell against him. You will increase your familiarity and efficiency with the Domain through combat."
She gestured toward the new opponent.
"Now go on."
"Hai Sensei!" Lucian declared dramatically.
Without hesitation both Lucian and his mist form rushed toward each other across the endless field of weapons.
Lucian dashed forward across the weapon-strewn battlefield as the mist form moved at the exact same moment. Both of them closed the distance rapidly, their movements perfectly mirrored as if they were reflections stepping out of the same thought.
Lucian reached for the nearest weapon embedded in the ground and ripped a sword free just as the mist form did the same on the opposite side. Steel clashed against steel with a sharp ringing sound as the two blades collided the moment they met.
The force of the impact pushed both of them back half a step before they attacked again.
Lucian swung his sword low toward the mist form's side, but the copy twisted its body and blocked the strike with identical precision. Their weapons slid against each other before separating, both combatants immediately shifting their stances.
"Of course you'd block that," Lucian muttered under his breath.
The mist form said nothing, but it moved exactly as Lucian would have.
Lucian dropped the sword suddenly and reached behind him, grabbing a spear that was planted in the ground. In the same instant the mist form released its own weapon and mirrored the motion.
Two spears swept through the air as both of them attacked simultaneously. The shafts collided, scraping against each other before Lucian twisted his wrist and redirected the weapon toward the mist form's shoulder.
The mist form leaned away and countered with a thrust toward Lucian's chest.
Lucian stepped aside just in time, the spearhead missing him by inches as he retaliated with a sharp kick that forced the mist form back.
Both of them slid across the ground before recovering.
Around them the Domain remained active, the endless field of weapons stretching into the distance beneath the dim red sky.
Lucian raised his hand.
Instantly dozens of weapons materialized behind him in the air.
The mist form did the exact same thing.
"Well that's annoying," Lucian muttered.
Both of them flicked their hands forward.
The weapons launched simultaneously, streaking through the air like a storm of steel. Swords, spears, and axes tore through the sky toward each other before colliding mid-flight.
The air rang with the violent sound of metal crashing together.
Blades shattered. Spears deflected. Axes spun wildly before embedding themselves into the ground.
Lucian rushed forward again while the weapons continued to fall around them.
This time he grabbed two swords and swung them both in a rapid series of strikes. The mist form countered each blow with identical movements, their blades clashing again and again as sparks flew.
Lucian ducked beneath a returning strike and drove his shoulder forward, slamming into the mist form and sending it stumbling back.
He raised his hand again.
A massive cluster of weapons appeared overhead.
The mist form responded instantly, summoning its own arsenal.
Both of them launched their attacks at the same time.
The battlefield exploded with falling steel.
The scene repeated itself again and again.
Lucian fighting with swords one moment.
Spears the next.
Axes, glaives, and scythes appearing in his hands as he experimented with the endless arsenal surrounding him.
Each time the mist form matched him perfectly.
Every strategy he attempted was mirrored.
Every mistake he made was punished.
Sometimes Lucian managed to overwhelm the copy with a sudden barrage of weapons raining from the sky. Other times the mist form did the exact same thing and forced him to dive aside to avoid being skewered by his own techniques.
Day slowly faded into evening within the Domain before Lucian dismissed the spell and collapsed onto the floor of the training hall outside.
The next day the training began again.
Lucian activated the Domain with the familiar song of his chant echoing out.
The battlefield of weapons returned instantly.
This time he moved faster.
His control over the spell had improved.
Weapons appeared more quickly at his command, and the attacks he launched became more precise as he practiced manipulating the arsenal filling the Domain.
Once again he fought the mist form.
The two figures clashed endlessly across the graveyard of steel.
Some days Lucian focused on close combat, grabbing weapon after weapon from the ground while constantly switching his fighting style.
Other days he stood still and commanded the sky itself, raining down hundreds of weapons like missiles while maneuvering through the chaos.
Each battle pushed him further.
Each mistake forced him to adapt.
Each victory sharpened his control over the spell.
Hecate often watched from the edge of the battlefield, her arms folded as she silently observed the progress.
Sometimes Lucian overwhelmed the mist form and destroyed it in a spectacular storm of blades.
Other times the copy defeated him and forced him to collapse in exhaustion before the Domain even ended.
But every time he returned the next day.
Again and again the battlefield filled with clashing steel.
Lucian charging across the graveyard with a spear.
Lucian parrying strikes with twin blades.
Weapons filling the sky like a violent constellation before crashing down upon the battlefield.
Mist forms dissolving into fog only to be recreated moments later.
The red sky above the endless field of weapons silently watched over it all as the days continued to pass.
By the end of the week Lucian's movements were noticeably sharper.
Weapons appeared in his hands almost instantly.
The storm of steel he commanded from the sky had grown far more controlled.
The battlefield itself had become familiar to him, as though the Domain was no longer simply a spell he cast but a place he understood instinctively.
Seven days passed like this.
Seven days of relentless combat.
Seven days of refining the power of his Domain.
And by the end of that week, Lucian stood in the center of the endless graveyard of weapons, breathing heavily but smiling faintly as another mist form dissolved into fog before him.
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