Aeryn's focus was indeed split, but as he had demonstrated thus far in the fight, he had enough skill with his manifestations to keep track of four or five separate creations. As a result, despite the veritable projectile vomit of energy he was sending into Sol, the Silvis was still able to detonate his manifestation. The spray of shards would shoot into Sol's body, embedding themselves like arrow-heads into the areas that they contacted. Aeryn cut off his energy blast like a tap after only a few seconds, gasping for air as his vision took a moment to return. This wasn't going to be won by brute force - which really sucked, because that was what he was good at!

However, the silvis did have at least some semblance of a plan. Young and hot-headed, Aeryn only really thought a few moves in advance, but it seemed that there was the potential for those few moves to be enough in this case. His power reserves were low, and his shield was compromised, but he had got his energy where it needed to be.

Aeryn tossed his shield aside towards the ground, not trusting the clinging flame upon it, and redirected his focus to the blade-shards. Whilst a good two thirds of the shards hung harmlessly in the air where they had spread, around four dagger-sized blades had hit Sol's torso, and it was those four that would hopefully spell the end of the mage.

As Aeryn focused, the shards spun, and shot inwards. Hopefully scything through Sol's flesh without impediment, the silvis directed the blades towards the area of Sol's heart, hoping to end this battle before Sol could pull the cat out of the bag. There was little in the way of out-powering the mage that Aeryn could do now - Sol clearly wasn't running out of steam, but Aeryn definitely didn't have another face-laser in him. He would have to make do with his manifestations.

Hopefully that would be enough. No cocky comment came from Aeryn now, though, he didn't have the time for it.

It didn't make sense to Sol how the young man could send such a burst of energy and still control his blade to explode. Multiple objects was not the issue but more so the amount of energy in use that required focus. This was a very bad fight for Sol to sustain so much damage, perhaps his age was finally getting to him. The shrapnel pierced in various locations across his mid section, lowest in his thigh and highest in his right rib cage which would puncture his lung. Sol was able to withstand pain but there was no way he could ignore not being able to breath. It wouldn't take long before blood would start filling his lungs to suffocate the man.

Still, Sol was resilient and not out of the fight. The blades would never be granted their moment to dig in like the past spike in his arm. Instead of calling forth his Flame from his hands, Sol summoned the flame from his chest which quickly pushed the blades out of his body as well as cauterizing the wounds. To Aeryn, it would appear that Sol just bled fire which would be discouraging for most opponents. Sol fell to one knee, gasping at the shock of the hit but it didn't stop the red fire from surging forward in three separate streams towards his opponent. The shield which Aeryn so casually tossed away also held a surprise as it did not simply fall to the ground but instead hovered for a moment before slamming back into Aeryn side.

So much happening at one time would be good for confusing the flippant young man. Once one attack hit, Sol would keep the pressure on, even when appearing immobile. He was a tough old man with enough energy to end this punk before crossing over. Toughness was a good quality to have but also one that would probably spell the death for Sol.

It worked! Or at least... he thought it had worked. Was that fire? Bleeding fire? That was hardly fair. It made stabbing the man a health hazard! But regardless - being punctured by energy blades was going to hurt, whether you bled fire or not. Aeryn would have fist-pumped, but unfortunately it was at that moment that his shield decided to pay him a return visit. The silvis was caught off-guard by the smack, and thrown to the side, yelping in pain as the shield's bladed edge dealt him a small gash in his side.

Dislodged from his platform, Aeryn barely had time to react to the incoming flames, reaching for the manifestation and bringing it rushing downwards to act as a make-shift shield. The glowing energy took the bolts of fire, forcing both it and Aeryn backwards in midair, but saving him from some nasty burns. Aeryn landed hard, but managed to convert his fall into a roll to save himself serious injury. That still smarted something nasty, though.

Quickly scrabbling to his feet, Aeryn assessed what he still had available to him. Around eight energy blades scattered a few metres from Sol - the four that had punctured the man easily vanquished by the flames that he had used to expel them - as well as a notably diminished shield. He had enough power to create a few more, but he'd rather keep that energy for avoiding what Sol would no doubt continue to throw at him.

With that noted, Aeryn once more made to end the fight. The eight shards left hanging in the air quickly sped into motion once more, directed towards Sol's fallen form with the intent to slay him fully. They didn't have the force of the 'explosion' behind them this time, but they were more than capable of hitting something vital if Sol was unable to deflect them.

"Look at this way, gramps," Aeryn panted, "You've had a good life, right? A long one, at least."

Uncouth to the end, that was Aeryn.

Aeryn did not understand that Sol was playing for survival now. Normally, all his attacks would be calculated and planned but at this point, Sol would just keep the hits coming in order to finish his opponent. With that said, upon the shield hitting Aeryn and the flames striking his improvised protection, Sol sent forth his next attack. The Emerald Flame that lay dormant in the ground after trying to stop one of Aeryn's previous attacks would be put into use. Raising from the ground, the fire would not erupt like most of Sol's attacks but would instead wrap itself around his opponent's legs and harden to hold them to the ground about the time he stood from his roll. Aeryn would notice this easily enough due to the heat the flame would emit but there would be little he could do to get away without having to use some sort of energy.

This gave Sol a bit of time to give yet another blow. Two fires, one blue and one red, appeared with the blue contained in his right hand. The Red wasted no time and shot forward, no fancy manipulation or maneuvering, just a simple standard fire ball aimed for his upper chest that would sear Aeryn's skin, probably destroy some of his clothing, and break a bone or something if Sol was lucky. The Blue flame was kept for defensive purposes and in case a finisher was needed so soon. As it was, no attack should be sent as Aeryn did not have the luxury to examine the battle field and command his blades. Of course, if for some odd reason the blades still became a threat, then Sol would simply expand his Blue Flame to catch them in an adhesive wall of fire. This was why Sol didn't put any thought to his Red Flame and just sent it out in its standard form. He didn't want to be distracted from being able to protect himself.

To Sol's credit, even without his plans and calculation, he had managed to get Aeryn on the back foot. The silvis might have landed the first serious wound of the match, but that was by no means conclusive. He was in trouble. As he rose from his roll, the unnoticed emerald flame latched onto his legs without trouble, catching him by surprise and locking him down. Though it would only be a brief inconvenience - he wasn't so drained that he couldn't break free of a simple binding - it would hold him in place long enough to make avoiding the following attack harder.

Aeryn was nothing if not spry, however, and as he jerked his legs free with a burst of energy, he swiftly dove to the side to avoid the incoming fireball. Rolling once more to his feet, he extended a hand outwards, shooting a small pulse of force towards Sol, little more than a punch to the face, to try and limit his ability to continue his barrage of attacks. The blade manifestations would be left where they were, whilst Aeryn's makeshift shield would stay alongside him as he went into motion.

He had to get back on the offensive, and the best way to do that would be to close the gap between the pair. Sol had done a good job of stopping him doing that thus far, but Aeryn knew what sort of tricks he had up his sleeve by now. The blue fire would cling to what it touched, the green was seemingly solid, and the red was, well. Fire.

The former seemed like it would present the biggest problem, though all of them were slowly wearing him down. But then, Sol was bleeding internally, so fair was fair.

With a vicious cough, Sol's mouth began to fill with the crimson blood from his lung. He wouldn't have long before his body gave out and no amount of sunlight would keep him on the offensive. This was such a shame as Sol had such an advantage this round with a limitless power source and an open field, Sol should have had this match in the bag but his opponent was quick and powerful. Perhaps it was just time to accept that Sol was finished with his days as a fighter but... the turmoil the old man has endured simply wouldn't let him quit. That is why his next action would be the toughest for him to follow through on.

Sol was able to bring his empowered right hand to his face, the Blue Flame smacking away the energy pulse. It would have been simple enough to send out two more Red Flames, perhaps even cause them to explode for an area effect but Sol considered the repercussions. In continuing fighting, Sol would only ensure his own death which wasn't the most pleasant prospect but along with that, Sol would only further injure and possibly kill his opponent. There was no point in exchanging death blows when one was destined to continue on and so the old man resisted his desire to fire off two more shots and suppressed his power. He just stared at the boy who darted around like a mouse and sputtered out as best he could,

"I... I withdraw."

With that, Sol allowed his body to slump over as he placed his hands roughly on the dirt. Spitting a bloody wad, Sol would wait for the tournament staff to take him back and hopped that his opponent would show him mercy like he had done for him. This fight was over...

Wait, what?

Aeryn stopped in his tracks as he caught Sol's words, blinking in surprise. The silvis gazed down at the older man, frowning in contemplation. This was a new experience to him - he couldn't rightly recall an opponent ever actually yielding to him before. Running away, sure, but never putting themselves at his mercy. But then, he supposed that he had largely been fighting in a war before.

Lowering his sword to his side, Aeryn nodded briskly to Sol. "Right. Okay." he said, casting his eyes around the plateau somewhat bemusedly. The silvis made his way over to where his shield lay, collecting it as he dismissed the manifestations. He paused for a moment before walking over to where Sol lay. "If you were in a better state, I'd shake your hand, gramps. You're good, I'll give you that. I don't know a lot of mages as good as you, and I know a lot of mages. Hell, my fiance's a mage, his friends are basically all mages."

Aeryn shook his head, "But I'm guessing you aren't all that fussed about my opinion, so I'll clam up for now." The silvis walked back a few paces and took a seat on a nearby rock, "Guess we wait now, then."