Aurora remained where she had been thrown, her body pressed against the invisible boundary, the space around her still trembling from the force of my strike. For a brief moment, neither of us moved. The void around us was no longer stable. My domain had taken hold, pressing outward, while hers flickered in response, trying to maintain its structure.
Then she straightened slowly as if the impact had been nothing more than a test she had already accounted for.
She turned and looked at me, her expression unchanged, but her eyes now carried something new.
"That," she said, her voice steady as it echoed across the fractured void, "was better."
I rolled my shoulder slightly, feeling the strain across my body despite the constant flow of Essence repairing me.
"You said I needed to go all out," I replied. "I'm getting there."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
