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James was in a very, very weird situation at the moment. From his perspective, he was both in the real world, preparing to battle a man that had just severely injured a Dragon General, and he was also in a strange space of rushing lights and grey mist at the same time.

"What the..? What's going on?" James asked, more than a bit confused and very worried. To his shock, his voice didn't come out of his real mouth but instead echoed around the mysterious space. After trying to say some more, he realized that his words couldn't reach the outside world and so he stopped talking and instead tried to get a sense of what was going on. He still could see what was going on outside, feel the ground beneath his feet, but it was almost like it was happening to someone else. Thankfully, he could still control his real body, although his magic felt extremely... off. And then the man flicked a hand, sending a bolt of Void lightning racing towards him.

"Oh crap!" James yelled.

He went to leap back, trying to dodge the lightning, but before he could move he saw it suddenly slow down to almost a standstill, the outside world appearing to freeze in time. He couldn't move his real body, but nothing else was moving either.

"Is this Temporal magic?" James wondered. "I've never heard of anything like this before."

He pulsed his magic, extending his senses to see if he could get a grasp of the situation, and the space around him practically exploded with pinpoints of light. James was shocked and stretched a hand out, causing one of the lights to float down to touch his palm. His eyes widened.

"Is this... an element? Hydrogen?"

Trying it again, he grabbed helium, oxygen, and countless more. Each time, he could feel his magic shifting slightly, as though it was reaching out to take hold of something.

James' mouth fell open as the penny dropped. "This is like a representation of my magic! Of my mind! How the hell..?"

Words entered his mind. "Unfortunately, things back in the real world aren't looking too good and staying alive is kind of an impossible task right now. However, what I can give you is... well, let's call it a bit of inspiration."

"Is this what he was talking about?" James wondered, remembering the man and the room. "Inspiration, understanding the way that the universe worked. About the basics of everything, the elements!"

He waved a hand, feeling nearby atoms bind together and soon there were water droplets nearby. Then, he let his relinquished control, panting with exhilaration. "And this seems like only the first step into something huge!"

His magic suddenly flared, causing him to take a look at the outside world again. Things were beginning to speed back up, the Void lightning noticeably moving through the air, creeping closer and closer. His magic hadn't slowed down time but had instead massively boosted the speed of his thoughts, allowing him to process things. But now, the outside world was beginning to catch up.

James frowned. "I don't know who this guy is, but since he uses Void magic and fought Strike, there's no way he's good for Reality. And I think I can actually fight him right now!"

He reached out, concentrating on the nearby atoms. Taking control of them with his magic, he gathered them in his hand.

"This is so much easier than before!"

Outside James' mind, in the real world, Iter watched as his bolt of lightning arced towards the kid.

"Did he freeze from fear?" the god thought a bit angrily. "Looks like Alcyrion's descendants don't do him justice."

He was about to turn away when James moved, a bright light filling his palm before exploding out, clashing with the Void lightning and holding it at bay. Anyone watching would have had their mouths drop open in shock. James had just cast an Ion Cannon spell like it was a standard lightning bolt.

James laughed. "This is amazing! This must have been why Alcyrion was so powerful. All this time, Pure Elementalists have been going about it the wrong way. All this time, we've thought of it as casting spells. But spells are for Composite Elementalists, for Temporal and Celestial mages. Pure Elementalists don't cast spells, we just make things happen the way we want them to! With our force of will, our concentration!"

Iter's eyes widened significantly as he saw his attack blocked. "You can stop Void lightning?" he asked, cocking his head. "How is that possible for a mere kid like yourself?"

"Because I get the way my magic works now!" James yelled, but of course, Iter didn't hear him. Instead, the Zenith Wolf smiled coldly.

"Good," he said. "This will make your death at least a little more satisfying."

He snapped his fingers, sending a barrage of white energy spheres hurling down from the sky. "Strike dodged. Let's see how you handle them."

Inside his head, James snarled. "Definitely a bad guy. I can see his attacks destroying everything it touches, even the air! I can't get hit!"

Once again, as he concentrated, the attack seemed to slow down, giving him time to think and use his magic. James waved his arm, instantly causing thousands of shards of rock to erupt out of the nearby ground. Each one blocked a sphere, getting deleted in the process while consuming all of its energy.

Iter's eyes widened significantly before he growled, still seeing a calm and unhurried expression on James' face. "Cocky and ridiculously hard to gauge. You're reminding me of him more and more."

Meanwhile, James was absolutely freaking out.

"I had no idea I so much control!" he cried, practically jumping up and down with joy. "That's something only a mid-tier Earth Elementalist should be able to do!"

He grinned. "I know it's a life and death battle, but I'm wondering how far I can go with this!"

Iter's next spells were all blocked in a similar manner, although with varying elements as James tried out different aspects of his magic. Pillars of flame, massive ice walls, lightning shields, he could do all of them.

Iter finally lost it after seeing a torrent of Void lightning get swallowed up by a flood that appeared out of thin air.

"You know kid, you're really starting to get on my nerves. I think I'll give you a taste of what 15 percent of my original power feels like. Maybe that should get you to take this seriously!"

Iter raised a hand, covered it in white magic, and slashed down, cleaving the fabric of Reality in two. Space split and cracked, heading straight for James.

"I can't get hit by that! Have to dodge!"

James rolled out of the way, the air where he had been standing disappearing as it was hit. Iter then simply flicked his fingers and the ground exploded upward in a blast of Void magic.

James panicked, swiping his hand sideways to harden the air below him, just barely managing to block the spell. He was still blown a good ways away, though, and tumbled across the ground.

"Looks like it was only my magic that got a buff," James thought painfully as he stood up. "If I knew more, I could probably heal myself, but right now I'd stand an equal chance of accidentally killing myself. I have to remember that I'm not invincible!"

Iter suddenly appeared in front of James with a now-annoyed expression. "Start taking this seriously, brat, or die."

He punched, his fist blasting at James' ribs. The boy was hit with the same overwhelming feeling as Rentor before his magic flared, clearing his head for just long enough.

"I can't get hit by that! Dodge!"

James channeled the element of speed, flashing several meters away, but Iter instantly appeared behind him and shot magic into the ground, creating an explosion.

"I've fought countless battles," he said, watching James roll to his feet. "Even if I'm not at full strength, there's very little you can do if you keep dancing around like that."

"I can't even take one of his attacks or I'm dead!" James thought frantically. "What should I do? He's too strong!"

Iter attacked again, shooting a bolt of lightning before striking close. As he tried to fight back, James grimaced.

"If I use magic, then he just tries to punch me and I can barely dodge. How did Alcyrion even manage to fight against someone like Lord Iter back during the Origin War? I can barely even handle one basic guy!"

Of course, if anyone knew what was going through James' head, they would have been shocked. Likewise, if James had known that he was actually fighting the god of the Void, he would have been very surprised.

"Come on, come on, think! You're a Pure Elementalist, thinking is one of your things!"

James condensed lightning in his hand and threw out something that looked suspiciously like a Sharplight Blade, but Iter just blocked it with a wave of his hand.

Inside his mind, James closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. "What do you do when facing a strength-based opponent?" he asked, trying to think, not only back to his training at the Quintessium, but all the way back to a year ago, when he was still enjoying comic books on Earth.

"Whenever a superhero had to fight someone who was strong, they fought them directly if they were on the same level or... or used speed! If I can be even faster then I can't be as easily attacked!"

James drew on more of the surrounding elements, increasing his speed further and further. When Iter attacked this time, he focused on dodging entirely, trying to use his magic to sense where Iter was going to strike.

After shooting repeatedly around the stadium, avoiding Iter's attacks, the god finally jumped back into the middle of the stadium to give James a scathing look.

"Are you only going to dodge? Or are you going to actually fight back?"

James panted inside of his mind-space, thinking about the same thing. "So I can dodge, but how the hell am I supposed to actually do anything else? I don't think I cast magic when I'm dodging, and I really don't want to test that out right now, so is it just going to be this until I run out of energy? There's got to be something I'm missing!"

His mind wandered before remembering the last thing the man in the memory had told him. "Try creating swords when you get back. It should work this time."

James frowned. "I know that Alcyrion used swords when he was fighting Iter, but I haven't had any training yet."

He hesitated for a moment before grimacing. "Fine, hopefully my sword-fighting skills got an upgrade along with my magic. Otherwise, I'm screwed!"

Iter was about to raise a hand to unleash another torrent of attacks, but he stopped when James flicked his hands out, summoning two steel swords. The god raised an eyebrow.

"You also dual-wield?" he asked with interest. "Not really a surprise when considering your Dragon-God did the same. Let's see if you have any skill."

James rolled his wrists, feeling the weight of blades settle in his hands. "It doesn't feel like anything's happening. Maybe I made the wrong choice?"

He looked up to see Iter hurtling towards him. "No time to debate!"

This time, when James dodged the first punch, he moved to the side instead of moving back, at the same time swinging a blade down. Iter moved his hand up, blocking it with a bare hand before aiming at James with a palm strike. The boy, acting on the instinct of his magic, swung a blade around to block before realizing how stupid that was.

"I'm an idiot," he thought, closing his eyes. "There's no way my steel blade will be able to block one of this guy's attacks. I'm finished!"

However, he didn't die, instead hearing a grunt of surprise from Iter. Opening his eyes, he found that the blade had somehow blocked the strike and was lightly glowing with magic.

"Anti-void sigils," Iter said scornfully. "How quaint. Although, the magic is quite interesting. Where have I felt that before?"

James got over his shock in time to dodge another punch before trading a flurry of attacks with Iter. Now that he knew his swords could at least block a few of the man's attacks, he felt much more comfortable following the rhythm that his magic set, but it still felt like something wasn't coming to him naturally.

"The swords were nice and all," he thought as Iter blocked another swing. "But couldn't Enigma have given me at least a little more training? I am literally going off of instinct here!"

James was forced back as Iter suddenly flicked his hand, creating a ring of Void lightning around himself. Then, he dropped one sword to shoot a beam of fire to clash with another of Iter's spells, holding it at bay but struggling to gain any significant lead.

"So, you can use those blades of yours," the god said with interest, watching James fight him back. "However, it's obvious that you're lacking behind your Dragon-God. Even now, I'm still not trying and yet I'm able to hold you off. Maybe that's because you're just a child." He shrugged. "Who knows? Unfortunately for you, your Primes are almost here by now and that means that I have to end our fight a little early."

Iter sent out a wave of magic that blasted the boy away, causing him to stumble before managing to stay on his feet. Then, he stretched out an arm and James finally noticed the huge greatsword that had been hovering near the center of the stadium during their whole fight.

"What is that?" he wondered. "A weapon?"

Iter caught the sword with one hand, hefting it easily despite its apparent size and weight. When he lifted it up, James' magic flared, causing his instincts to scream danger. He reached out and pulled his other blade back to his hand, spinning it around before tensing up.

"You know," Iter said, considering the weapon in his hand. "I don't remember the last time I had to actually use Clayrbodias against a mortal. Must be the fact that I'm weak right now."

He shook his head and rested the sword on his shoulders. "Regardless, at least feel a little proud that you got me to this point. Now, let's see how long you can last."

James had just enough time to think, "Wait... Clayrbodias?!" before Iter rushed him, grabbing the greatsword with both hands and swinging it in an overhead strike. James felt like the sky itself was crashing down to destroy him and he blocked with crossed blades.

It did, in fact, feel like getting hit by the falling sky. James was blasted end over end, barely managing to come to a stop by digging his hands into the ground. He lay there panting for a moment before crawling to his feet and found that both of his swords had disintegrated in his hands.

"So much for anti-Void magic," Iter said in amusement. "Well, one strike is still more than most can even dream of handling." He sighed. "I can't wait till I'm back to full strength."

James looked at Iter with a shaky breath. "What am I supposed to do? I've got nothing to defend myself with! There's no way he'll not kill me with his next attack!"

He closed his eyes, remembering what the man had said. "I can make new swords now. He told me that I could and right now I don't have another option! So, come on!"

He grabbed hold of the nearby elements and began to condense them together, trying to create a set of blades. Just like his previous attempts, they resisted, not wanting to bind in the right ways or form the right shape. James growled, pushing out more and more of his magic.

"Come on. Come on! Why is this the only thing that's hard for me to do?!?"

Outside James' mind, Iter gave the boy a bored stare before hefting Clayrbodias again. "This was fun, but it's time for me to go. Now die!"

The Zenith Wolf appeared in front of James, swinging down once again, aiming for the head. James didn't notice, still distracted in his mind. Finally, he felt something give and he forced even more magic at the problem.

"A little more! Come on, I'm so close! COME ON!"

Suddenly, the elements answered, materializing a pair of swords that James grabbed instantly. He swung them up, crossed them in front of his head, and once again Lord Iter's attack hit like a falling mountain.

Iter snarled as he somehow, impossibly, felt James' swords hold. An explosion of magic and power rippled through the stadium and the ground under James' feet cracked, but he held on, gritting his teeth and pushing back against the god. Finally, Iter was hit by a blast of magic and hit the ground several meters away, rolling to a stop before looking up with a face full of disbelief.

"How... how is that possible? This is Clayrbodias! The sword that has cleaved worlds, universes! HOW CAN A CHILD BLOCK ITS STRIKE!?!"

James looked down, also in a minor state of disbelief, to see that he wasn't holding steel swords like he had expected. In fact, he had no idea what they were made of. One was mostly red, with small gems embedded in the hilt and sigils flashing up and down the blade. The second had the same shape as the first but was instead blue with a hilt of green. It didn't have any gems, choosing to sport a wrapping of white cloth around the crossguard. Like the first, it also had mysterious sigils flashing up and down the blade.

Iter's eyes locked onto the swords and he stood stock-still for a moment before falling back out of pure shock, almost dropping Clayrbodias.

"Im...possible. Absolutely impossible." He looked up at James with an unreadable expression. "Who... who are you?"

James was still confused, trying to figure out what exactly he was holding, when he suddenly felt a presence emanating from the blades. Looking up, he saw two figures materialize inside of his mind-space. Both were dragons about his height, one red with battle armor, while its twin was blue and wore what looked like a martial artist's robe, built for fighting yet still refined.

The red one shook its head, letting off an annoyed growl. "Who the hell woke us up? I was having such a good dream!"

The blue one gave its companion a glare. "Stop complaining! That's you ever do!"

The red dragon roared loudly. "Well, we better have been summoned for a good reason! Otherwise, I'm going back to bed!"

The blue dragon scoffed and turned away, piercing James' mind to observe his surroundings. "I'm sure it's a good... oh. Dear. Alcyrion."

"What? What is it? It can't be that bad." The red dragon rolled his eyes before also taking a look outside. He instantly jumped back, his face flaring up in anger. "WHAT?!? HOW IS HE BACK!?! I'M GOING TO RIP HIM TO SHREDS, ALONG WITH THAT STUPID WEAPON OF HIS!!!"

"Calm down," the blue dragon said, regaining control of his emotions. "We have company."

They both turned to look at James, who had been standing there with a look of utter shock. He finally blinked and shook his head.

"I must be dreaming, right?"

"I'm afraid not," the blue dragon said with a slight smile. "Your magic feels quite familiar. You're a Pure Elementalist, just like Alcyrion, aren't you?"

James gave a hesitant nod and the eyes of both dragons lit up.

"Then this whole thing makes a bit more sense! Wonderful! Now we might actually be able to do something!"

James sputtered. "But I don't even know what's going on! Who are you guys?"

The red dragon gave him a dumb look. "Are you an idiot? What sort of question is that?"

The blue dragon whacked him over the head. "We've been gone for a long time, so it makes perfect sense. Calm your britches." He turned back to James and smiled.

"We're the souls of the swords you're holding in your hands. I think the last time we appeared in the universe was, oh, say 12 billion years ago? What's your name?"

"Uh, James. James Newman," the boy answered, a little faintly.

"Wonderful," the blue dragon said again with a grin. "I'm Genesis and the idiot over there is Ruin. Nice to meet you! Now, feel like stopping that overgrown puppy and maybe save this world in the process?"