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The flames flew toward Hanjir, who made no effort to avoid them. Instead, the man simply destroyed them before they could reach him.

That was generally the trouble when dealing with destruction types. As much as their power was renowned for its offensive potential, it was perhaps even more effective defensively. Distorting space the way they did could stop virtually any attack, the only exceptions being things that were very powerfully enhanced by the opponent’s soul--but even then, if the destruction user’s soul power was remotely as strong, then it would still make no difference.

So Roman knew that he would not be able to defeat Hanjir in terms of raw strength. But he didn’t need to. Given the opportunity, Hanjir would stop every attack, so Roman simply wouldn’t give him the opportunity. He returned to the air and began a continuous volley of simple shock waves in order to keep Hanjir busy for a few moments.

He recalled Voreese’s lessons. She’d lectured him at length about all the different types a long time ago, but it was these past two months in particular when she’d made sure to drill all the knowledge into his head again. According to her, destruction types were all one-trick ponies, lacking the kind of unpredictability that most other abilities benefited from. Moreover, they were completely outclassed by almost any opponent who possessed superior mobility. To cover this weakness, they would often carry light firearms or otherwise rely on technology for added mobility--both solutions which could backfire against the wrong opponent. This was why they were better suited to large battles where they could provide heavy-hitting support for their allies, instead of individual scrambles where they had to carry their own weight.

This fight wasn’t going to be a problem.

When Roman landed again, he slammed both feet into the ground.

The earth leapt out from under Hanjir and flung him into the air. His path of destruction ran uselessly into the dirt, leaving a pentagonal trail as Roman closed in to take full advantage, already preparing more flames with the hand he hadn’t used before.