I smiled, blocking the attack with my bare hands.

  "It's a shame you haven't mastered the Hunter x Hunter technique to the point where it's second nature."

  "What? Impossible!" my elemental spirit said. "You haven't mastered it. I have all your memories—I would know!"

  "Ah, but you don’t," I said, grinning. "You see, I sealed those memories with a condition: they'd only unseal if I was fighting my elemental spirit. I even sealed the memory of sealing them, so I wouldn’t recall doing it."

  My copy scowled. "Then how—?"

  "You’re technically a part of me, so you should have my memories. But since I sealed mine, you wouldn’t have access to them either. It makes sense you figured it out eventually—some aspects of me still linger within you. Of course, this would all be pointless if you had full access to my memories, but you don’t. It’s more like you retained a separate copy. That means you only remember what I knew at the moment I performed the ritual. Anything I learned afterward is completely outside your reach."

  I looked around. "The Soul Society hasn’t been built yet, so I can use my creation magic freely. You see, creation magic constructs physical matter not spirit matter—well not at my level not. I only have a basic understanding of spiritual essence. Sure, I know it’s dense spiritual energy, but its true nature is beyond me."

  Even my appraisal spell is useless. It can reveal anything unless it’s being actively concealed by powerful magic. The issue is comprehension—if you can’t understand what’s being revealed, the spell won’t help. That’s its flaw: it relies not only on the user’s understanding.

  "That's also why I couldn't understand how lightsabers work," I continued. "I got a general idea, sure, but their mechanisms are too advanced. It’s like throwing a caveman into modern society—he wouldn’t understand cars, computers, or phones. He lacks the foundational knowledge to grasp how those things work. Same with me and high-tech magic."

  I grinned. "But I came prepared."

  "I pointed at the claws my opponent wielded. "Those claws of yours have anti-magic properties. They can cut through spells and nullify enchantments."

  "The longer you fight, the more you'll begin to corrupt. Slowly but surely, you’ll lose yourself—until you’re just another mindless elemental beast I just need to stall for time time I don't need to win."

  As my elemental spirit spoke, I kept up my barrage of spells—fireballs, icicles, wind blades.

  "Such weak magic," my copy scoffed, brushing them off. "You think this is enough?"

  "They’re not meant to damage you," I replied. "Just stall."

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  I summoned a dozen swords and launched them. my elemental spirit them away.

  "You’re vulnerable to physical attacks," I pointed out. "Magic might not pierce you, but physical weapons still work. And if we were in the Soul Society, it would break down matter into energy—unless someone powerful suppressed the effect. But doing that delays the process of physical matter being broken down into energy, not stopping it."

  My elemental spirit frowned. "Most beings rely on the body. Even magic users store mana within their physical form. But you’re talking about spiritual energy, aren't you? Soul energy."

  "Exactly. The spirit energy we use in battle isn’t the same as what makes up our soul. In Bleach, Ichigo is still in a spirit body even after he lost his spiritual energy. That implies the essence of a soul is distinct from combat-type spirit energy."

  My elemental spirit. "So your appraisal magic couldn’t even identify the nature of a soul?"

  "Correct. Appraisal magic can’t detect the soul t's simply beyond understanding

  I cracked my knuckles. "Anyway, I’ve already won this fight."

  My elemental spirit laughed. "Confident, aren’t you?"

  I smiled. "You see those swords I just threw at you? They’re forming a formation. Not for a sealing spell—though that’s what it looks like. No… it’s something else."

  My elemental spirit followed my gaze upward. His eyes widened.

  "From the moment this fight began," I said, "I created a meteor. Launched it from orbit. You’ve got no defense against physical attacks, and this... this is a full-on bombardment."

  "You're bluffing."

  "Am I?" I raised a finger. "I only needed twenty seconds."

  My elemental spirit laughed. "Confident, aren’t you?"

  I smiled. "You see those swords I just threw at you? They’re forming a formation. Not for a sealing spell—though that’s what it looks like. No… it’s something else."

  My elemental spirit followed my gaze upward. His eyes widened.

  "From the moment this fight began," I said, "I created a meteor. Launched it from orbit. You’ve got no defense against physical attacks, and this... this is a full-on bombardment."

  "You're bluffing."

  "Am I?" I raised a finger. "I only needed twenty seconds."

  The chains binding My elemental spirit shattered, and his spirit energy flared as he desperately summoned power to defend against the meteor’s impact. It raised his arms and cast barriers, his energy radiating wildly.

  "Looks like you’re barely holding it off," I said. "But what about the second one?"

  Cracks appeared across the sky. Then, like a divine punishment, the barrier broke.

  BOOM.

  Dust engulfed everything. I used a wind spell to sweep it away. The sword maintaining the barrier to contain the impact vanished, leaving behind a massive crater.

  I exhaled. "You didn’t notice, did you? The entire fight, I was just distracting you—long enough for the meteor to be ready. And that wasn’t the only one."

  I held up my hand and smiled. " There were 500 of them."

  “This was a fight I had plenty of time to prepare for,” I said. “And honestly? I think the elemental spirit who cloned me just wanted to use this to train me. I mean… he didn’t really hate me. It just wanted to push me.”

  I shrugged. “Not that I’m complaining. You weren’t easy to kill. You even cut off my head a few times.”

  I laughed softly. "But in the end… my Ice Emperor Blade is truly broken. This is my Shard. The blade grants me such broken abilities."

  I stepped forward, my aura crackling with power.

  "As long as my willpower is stronger than my opponent’s, my attacks cannot be blocked. My second ability allows me to nullify or break any magical ability or power used directly on me through sheer force of will. That means even if someone like Lady Death were to place a curse on me, I could shatter it. It only works on abilities that directly target me. So, for example, if someone creates a fireball and launches it at me, this ability wouldn't nullify it—because it's an indirect attack. But things like curses or debuff-type magic? Those would be completely ineffective."

  “Unfortunately, I can’t use magic while my Shard is active. It seems to redirect my focus toward mastering it fully. Until I do, magic and Shard can’t coexist. A limitation… but also a test.”

  Ivory “Nice tattoos and your eye Colors changed”

  “Yeah. When someone of my race activates their Shard, their eyes turn gold, and tattoos unique to them manifest. It’s different for everyone. Just like how a Bankai is unique to each Soul Reaper. My are green spirals as you can see”