To achieve a Metal-element barrier, according to the ancient Fengnian theory, there were three basic methods.
The first was the 'Triple Barrier', which protected Tori's energy from being absorbed by the aggressive terrain controlled by Castellanos. Initially, it had served to ward off himself from the disembodied souls. The protection Tori employed corresponded to the third layer of this barrier, which had the property of the Fire element and provided spiritual shielding. However, at the most basic level, the Triple Barrier offered physical and structural protection, with the Metal element as its property.
The second method involved the use of Wei Qi. This defensive Qi protected every human being internally, and could later merge with the skin to strengthen it, or in a more advanced state, extend as an external layer. Wei Qi, intrinsically linked to the Metal element, was commonly used by mages for defense, just as Tori had done—concentrating it in specific locations—against Castellanos' attacks.
The third basic method consisted of generating a neutral Qi bubble, which the user would then coat with the elemental property, in this case, Metal.
In any of these cases, Carlino Castellanos had reasons to be concerned. Having 'done his homework', he knew that within the controlling cycle of the Five Elements, Metal was subdued by Fire. And though Tori's previous attacks, even of the Fire element, had been substantially weaker than his defensive barrier, to the extent that he didn't need to avoid them, it would be different if he were to receive the famous Fireball head-on.
So, the demon, upon hearing the vagabond's last words and sensing his obvious surge in Qi concentration, immediately leaped towards him with the intention of avoiding the firing of the attack. He landed with his powerful fist, leaving a hole in the ground where Tori had been a moment ago, giving the impression of the vagabond moving even faster than before.
"Aw! Scared? Afraid of the punishment for not studying enough?" Tori spoke, smiling in a provocative way, while still pointing at Castellanos with three fingers per hand. "Not yet..." he thought, before evading the next charge, feeling the air left behind by the furious passage of the demon. Deciding to change his strategy, instead of powerful charges, Castellanos decided to corner Tori with quick punches. He encased his fist in Earth, forming the sharp spiral with which he had previously slain the Sword of Faith, Marco de Luca. He then began to attack Tori repeatedly, who, with his arms busy gathering energy, could only evade.
The chase led them to an area of the forest filled with disabled undead bodies. While running backward without losing sight of Castellanos, who was attacking frantically, Tori noticed they were heading to the place where the demon had previously faced the seven Swords of Faith. These elements gave Carlino the advantage of picking up and throwing various weapons from his victims during his onslaught.
"Not yet...?" Tori thought again as he dodged an old saber—which nearly left him without an ear—thrown like a projectile by his enemy.
"If you're not going to pick up those arms, then I'll have to cut them off," Castellanos said, picking up a long Nordvian sword from the ground. The demon smiled again; during the chase, he had perceived that Tori's efforts to dodge and run constantly not only hindered him in the process of charging the supposed Fireball but, in fact, might even have pushed him back in that maneuver.
"'The answer!" Tori said abruptly, his face beginning to glow slightly with the flame that started to burn along his pointing fingers. "Since you didn't do your homework, allow me to enlighten you!"
"You're not going to gain time by talking, fool," Castellanos said, smiling maliciously, advancing towards Tori to attack him with the sword he had just picked up from the ground, and the Earth-element spiral as a double hilt.
"The meridians through which Qi circulates... have elemental properties. Did you really do your homework?" Tori said, smiling, as he jumped back, moving considerably away from Castellanos, who clearly did not expect a movement of that extent. "Three of them are Fire channels, and they circulate in the hands... so it's much easier to cast a Fireball than... a Waterball, for example." Tori let out a silly laugh, and the smile that later adorned his face carried a touch of madness in the light of his now brilliant finger phalanges. "Hm? ...Meridians? Heart? Pericardium? You didn't study anything!"
Tori suspected that Carlino's theoretical knowledge was limited, but considering what he was capable of, he was surprised that he was unaware of something so basic. 'Well... It's boring material, that's true...'
The smile disappeared then from Castellanos' face; in his desperation, he threw the sword at Tori, who dodged by jumping. The demon, anticipating this, waited to see him in the air to throw his Earth spiral like a projectile from his hand. However, his aim failed, as Tori had accelerated again.
"Damned peasant!" Carlino thought when Tori, with a feline leap, had him right above his head, pointing at him with maximum-charged energy. Were the fluctuations he was feeling in Tori's energy not a setback in the 'charging' of the Fireball, but his Qi flowing through the meridians?
"I will resist with my own Wei Qi then and demonstrate my enormous superiority even in elemental disadvantage!" Castellanos couldn't conceive how the situation had turned so different as he had predicted not long ago. However, he knew the potency of his defense, and instinctively enlarged his Metal barrier. If he could withstand that attack, the mage was finished.
"So that's it..." the vagabond thought, smiling. And then, as if pulling the trigger of a weapon, just a few centimeters from Castellanos, he snapped the fingers of both hands.
"Fireball. Bum!"
