I dove behind a cluster of planted greatswords as another wave of blades rained from the sky. The sound of steel striking steel filled the air.

  I surveyed the devastated battlefield, my mind trying to evaluate the situation. My army of bot accounts lay scattered across the ground like broken toys. At least fifty of them, maybe more. Hard to get an exact count when some had been literally bisected, their armor split clean through. All that effort carefully levelling each one of them up was wasted, barely lasting thirty seconds against him.

  Swish.

  A falchion embedded itself inches from my head. The near miss brought me back to reality.

  "Spread out!" Estella called over the metallic storm. She was already moving, weaving between the falling weapons with grace. Each step placed her exactly where a sword wasn't, her body flowing like water through the deadly rain.

  Tirion had grabbed Lysa and pulled her close, his shield held at an angle above them both. The shadow enhancement was gone, but his basic defensive technique was still keeping them alive. Barely. Each impact left another dent or scratch in the increasingly battered shield.

  "He's herding us," I realized, watching the pattern of falling blades. "The sword rain isn't random - he's forcing us into specific positions."

  As if confirming my analysis, the blademaster appeared between two columns of planted swords. His current weapon was a curved dao. The strike came faster than thought, aiming to separate my head from my shoulders.

  The blade never connected. One of Estella's chakrams intercepted it mid-swing, the ring-shaped weapon perfectly placed to redirect the dao's momentum. The blademaster's strike carved through empty air as I stumbled backward.

  “Many pretenders have seeked an audience with the king. “ The blademaster effortlessly deflecting one of Estella's chakrams with a sword he'd just plucked from the ground. “ But as long as I am around, none shall disturb his rest.

  "We're not pretenders," I shot back, ducking under a falling claymore. "We're just…" A sword nearly took my head off. "—adventurers!"

  "Adventurers? I have seen thousands of 'adventurers.' Glory seekers. Treasure hunters. All believing themselves worthy." He materialized between Tirion and Lysa, forcing them apart with a series of lightning-fast strikes. "All failing to understand the true purpose of this test."

  "And what exactly is that purpose?" Estella called out, her chakrams spinning in defensive patterns as she danced through the rain of blades.

  The blademaster paused, standing perfectly still as swords continued to fall around him, none seeming to come near him. "That is for you to figure out."

  Another wave of swords fell on us.

  "Split pairs!" Tirion called out. "Back-to-back, alternate facing! Keep mobile!"

  We tried to comply, but the blademaster wasn't making it easy. He was everywhere, each appearance wielding a different weapon from his endless arsenal. A spear thrust here, a hammer strike there, each attack flowing into the next.

  The natural partnerships formed instantly - Tirion with Lysa, me with Estella. Tirion and Lysa moved as one unit, his shield covering her spellcasting while she maintained a stream of shadow magic to deflect the falling blades around them.

  Estella's hand grabbed mine, yanking me sideways as a zweihander crashed into where I'd been standing. "Match my rhythm!" she commanded. "Stop thinking and feel the flow!"

  We spun between the forest of planted blades, her chakrams creating a defensive perimeter while I focused on not tripping over my own feet. Our backs pressed together, turning as one to cover all angles.

  The blademaster appeared between the pairs, dual-wielding a katana and a scimitar. His strikes flowed like water, forcing both pairs to dodge in opposite directions. The sword rain intensified, herding us further apart.

  The blademaster materialized in the center of the arena.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "You have shown... potential. But like thousands before you, you fail to grasp the deeper truth." His blindfolded face turned to each of us in turn. "I tire of this." "Now, witness the true nature of the six paths." His voice boomed. "The technique that even the First King himself acknowledged."

  “Rokutton no Michi”

  [Path of the Six Elements]

  The blademaster's form stilled, his sword lowering to point at the ground. The falling weapons around him slowed, then stopped entirely, hanging suspended in the air. Six ghostly circles materialized around him, each pulsing with a different elemental energy. "Behold," he said, "the path that transcends mortal understanding."

  “First path, swift as the wind”

  "The wind teaches us the truth of combat," the blademaster said. "It cannot be grasped, cannot be predicted. Like thought itself, it exists in all directions at once."

  The air pressure dropped suddenly, making my ears pop. Wind began to coalesce around each floating sword, forming visible ribbons of pale green energy. The wind-infused swords exploded into motion, but "swift" didn't do justice to their speed. Each blade became a streak of emerald light, cutting through space with such velocity that they left vacuum tunnels in their wake. The attacks came from every conceivable angle – no, even angles that shouldn't have been possible, as if the wind itself was bending space to create new paths of approach.

  "To master the wind is to understand emptiness," he continued, his form blurring between the strikes. "Where there is resistance, wind finds another path. Where there is structure, wind tears it down. This is the first truth of the six paths."

  "Move!" I shouted, but the warning came too late. The first blade passed so close to my face that I could feel my skin tighten from the pressure difference. The vacuum trail it left behind tried to pull me off balance, right into the path of three more attacks.

  Before I could gain my bearings, next attack came.

  “Second path, burn like fire”

  "Fire is not merely destruction," the blademaster's voice resonated. "It is transformation, purification, the eternal dance between creation and annihilation. Those who fear fire understand only half its nature."

  The temperature in the chamber skyrocketed, instantly evaporating sweat from our skin, leaving a crust of salt that stung our eyes. The swords began to glow. Metal that should have melted at such temperatures instead began to glow with inner light, as if the blades had become windows into the heart of a star.

  "In its heart, fire remembers. It remembers when the world was nothing but flame and potential," he continued, his movements leaving trails of burning light. "Every flame carries this memory, this yearning to return all things to their purest state."

  Each swing of his sword created arcs of living flame. Where the flame trails crossed, they didn't dissipate – they grew stronger, feeding off each other. The whole arena had transformed into an inferno.

  "This is the second truth of the six paths: To master fire is to accept that all things must change, must be unmade to be reborn."

  Damn, we were just like target dummies, dancing to his rhythm while he demonstrated his techniques. It was almost like he was playing with us. Each path seemed designed to completely overwhelm us in a different way. At this rate, he'd cycle through all six elements and we'd be nothing but decorations for his hill of swords.

  We needed to seize back the initiative. Break his flow somehow, force him to react to us instead of the other way around. The endless sword rain had finally slowed – probably because he needed to concentrate on maintaining the elemental paths. If there was ever a time to counter-attack, it was now.

  "Cover me!" I shouted.

  Estella was the first to understand my intent. Her chakrams spun into a new pattern, targeting the burning swords that formed the tightest defensive ring around the blademaster.

  "Tirion! Lysa! Left flank corridor, now!" she called, already moving to create the opening.

  They didn't waste time asking questions. Tirion shifted his shield stance, creating a mobile barrier that cleared a path through the fiery storm.

  "Shadow Crush!" Lysa's magic shot out like dark lightning, disrupting the flames. The burning swords faltered in their dance, creating a momentary gap in their coverage.

  "Path's clear!" Tirion shouted, his shield deflecting a particularly aggressive flame sword. "Whatever you're planning, do it now!"

  [Spellblade 10%]

  With the path cleared by my teammates, I charged forward. Dark energy coiled around my iron sword as I pushed mana into it. This was my signature move – the one thing I could always count on with my absurd magic stats. With my SSS++ Intelligence, Spellblade could punch way above its weight class.

  Dark flames danced along the edge of my sword as I closed the distance. The blademaster hadn't moved, hadn't even shifted his stance. That should have been my first warning.

  "Your magic is strong," he acknowledged as I approached. "But—"

  I didn't let him finish. The blade came down in a perfect arc with the full force of my might. With my magic stats, this strike should have been able to cleave through almost any defense.

  Should have.

  "Third path, immovable as the earth."

  The ring of earthen-brown swords responded instantly. One blade intercepted mine with casual ease, and it felt like striking a mountain. The impact traveled up my arms, rattling my teeth. My enhanced blade, which could normally cut through steel like paper, couldn't even make his sword tremble.

  "Earth teaches us patience," the blademaster spoke. "It does not dodge, does not yield, does not seek to overcome. It simply... is. Ten thousand blades may strike, yet the mountain remains unmoved."

  "You see only the surface," he continued, as more earthen swords began to move. "But earth's true strength lies in its depths. Each layer built upon countless others, each grain of sand part of an endless whole. This is the third truth of the six paths – true power needs no movement to manifest."

  "Now, was that all? Or do you have more to show?"