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The mandala expanded rapidly, layers of golden symbols rotating within one another. Rings locked into place with mechanical precision. Lines of light extended outward, forming a dome that began closing around Ethan from every direction.
The air inside the Mirror Dimension grew heavy.
Ethan looked up at the descending construct.
He did not rush.
He placed one hand on the ground.
Green energy spread outward in thin lines, cross crossing into a magical runic patterns. The Runic lines formed a circular pattern beneath his feet, more runes appearing one by one in a steady rhythm.
The golden containment dome closed over him.
The moment it sealed, the sigils activated.
Gravity multiplied.
Space tightened.
The energy inside the dome began stripping away external magic, layer by layer.
Outside, Clint held his breath. "Is that… bad?"
Wong answered quietly, "It strips the one trapped inside from all kind of magic."
Inside the dome, Ethan's outer aura peeled away under the pressure. Sparks of green dissolved against the golden walls.
He exhaled slowly.
Instead of resisting outward, he redirected his power inward.
The necromantic energy that usually surrounded him withdrew completely into his body.
For a brief second, he looked almost normal.
Then his eyes glowed brighter than before.
He pressed both palms outward against the inner wall of the containment dome.
The golden surface reacted, pushing back with crushing force.
Cracks began forming under his hands—not spreading wildly, but in precise fracture lines following the geometry of the sigils.
"You are breaking the core of it" the Ancient One observed calmly.
Ethan spoke through clenched teeth. "Everything has a core, I just need to find it and break it."
Ancient one smiled as she nodded.
He shifted his stance.
The green runes beneath his feet ignited.
Instead of blasting outward, they pulsed in rhythm with the rotation of the mandala. He had matched its frequency.
' I hope physics Resonance works here too' Ethan thought gritting his teeth.
The containment dome flickered.
Golden light and green light synchronized for half a second—
Then the dome destabilized.
Hairline fractures spread across the entire construct.
The Ancient One narrowed her eyes and rotated her hands faster, reinforcing the outer rings.
But Ethan moved first.
He pulled his hands inward sharply.
All the cracks converged toward a single point directly in front of him.
Then he drove his elbow into that point.
The dome shattered outward in explosion, fragments of golden energy scattering like glass.
The shockwave rippled across the arena.
The Ancient One slid back one step, absorbing the force.
Ethan stepped out of the collapsing containment field.
He was breathing harder now, but his posture remained steady.
Without hesitation, she changed tactics.
She drew a long arc in the air.
A massive corridor of folding space opened between them. The corridor twisted infinitely, reflections looping into themselves. If Ethan entered, he would be lost in endless spatial recursion.
She thrust her palm forward.
The corridor surged toward him, attempting to swallow him whole.
Ethan did not dodge.
He extended his arm and summoned a long spear of condensed bone and soul energy. It was thinner than his previous attacks—focused and sharp.
He hurled it directly into the center of the corridor.
The spear pierced through layers of folded space, anchoring itself into the core distortion point.
Green energy spread through the corridor like cracks in ice.
The infinite loop destabilized and collapsed inward, imploding before it could consume him.
The resulting backlash shook the entire Mirror Dimension. Buildings in the distance bent at impossible angles.
The Ancient One rose into the air.
Golden energy spiraled around her body in controlled streams. Multiple mandalas formed behind her in a layered halo.
She extended both hands downward.
From the sky above Ethan, dozens of golden chains descended, each inscribed with binding sigils. They moved with precision, targeting his wrists, ankles, neck, and torso.
Ethan reacted instantly.
He spun in place, summoning a rotating ring of skeletal blades around him. The blades intercepted several chains, slicing them apart.
But more wrapped around him.
One locked around his left arm. Another around his leg.
The chains tightened, glowing brighter as they restricted the flow of his magic.
The Ancient One descended slowly, maintaining the bind.
"Your strength is impressive," she said. "But you still expend too much energy, make you easily prone to other attacks"
Ethan looked up at her.
Then he did something unexpected.
He stopped resisting.
The green energy around him faded almost completely.
The chains loosened slightly, sensing reduced output.
He focused inward.
Instead of attacking the chains, he allowed a thin stream of necromantic energy to flow along their surfaces, tracing their sigils.
He studied the pattern mid-battle.
Then he twisted his wrist.
The green energy flowed into the chain's inscription points and reversed part of the binding formula.
One chain snapped—from being corrupted within.
He repeated the process rapidly.
One by one, the golden chains broke apart in bursts of fading light.
The Ancient One's eyes looked pleased.
"You learn quickly."
Ethan stepped forward.
"you are going easy one me, giving me time, this feels more like training then spar now" he said.
" Do you want to stop?" She asked smiling.
" No, I want to learn more" he said grinning.
He vanished in a flash of green and reappeared above her, delivering a downward strike infused with compressed necrotic force.
She crossed her arms, forming a thick golden barrier.
The impact sent a shockwave across the arena, splitting the main platform into several floating fragments.
They landed on separate pieces of stone, now suspended in a void of fractured city reflections.
Both were visibly affected now.
Small burns marked Ethan's arms.
Fine cracks of fading golden energy traced along the Ancient One's sleeves.
The Mirror Dimension trembled again, nearing instability from the accumulated strain.
For next another hour they continued to battle or rather Ancient one continued to teach him.
Then she lowered her hands.
"For now this is enough," she said calmly. "You will need time to digest what you learned today "
Ethan let the green glow in his eyes fade gradually.
The skeletal constructs around the arena dissolved into drifting particles.
After a few seconds, he nodded once.
The Ancient One rotated her hand gently.
The fractured arena folded inward, the floating debris reassembling into solid architecture as the Mirror Dimension began returning to its dormant state..