While Kyrion made sure all of the attention the proctors would give his team was busy watching two teams gather and form an alliance with a potential future enemy. He had snuck back to the crater. Where Linda had been, a spherical core sat on the ground.

Placing his foot over the orb alerted his senses to the usage of mental magic. Its abillity hides the user and drains mental energy from those under its effect until they pass out.

“Not gonna stop me?” Kyrion asked aloud as a man with red feathery wings and a face that matched Kyrion’s in some ways, yet felt false, like a silicone mask.

“How long have you known about me?”

“You were the reason I came here directly. Tell your master that if he wants to fight me. Then come to this area after the tournament.”

“Hah! You think you can take that paragon? Squawk!” The mouth didn’t open as he squealed like a crow.

“I’d rather do this in a place where no one can get in the way.” Kyrion pulled a tombstone out of his domain and pressed it into the ground.

Here lies Gios. May the bastard never cause problems again.

“Harsh. You do know we are all the same. We all want the same thing.”

“You're right… I could really go for some breadcrumbs.” Kyrion said sarcastically.

“See? We want the same things.”

Kyrion waited a moment with a raised eyebrow.

“Wait. That was sarcasm.”

Kyrion pulled out an empty sack of breadcrumbs. There were beak-shaped holes in the bag. He then pulled out a whole loaf of french bread.

“You will not buy my loyalty with just bread.”

“What is it that you want? Birdion.” Kyrion waved the baguette around.

“I want to live in peace with my mate.”

“So why join him? He's the opposite of peace.”

“My mate is dead. Great Gios has sworn to retrieve her soul from the realm of the lost and bring her back to life.”

“He has a resurrection spell? Or are you trying to die.”

“He said the power required the stolen shards to be returned.”

“Mmmmmmm. See this? Talking, is more beneficial for both parties. I can now inform you that Gios didn’t tell you the full truth. I have a powerful resurrection ability but it’s currently locked. I also doubt her soul is still in the realm of the lost…Not unless it was very recent.”

“You lie. I have a self resurrection ability and he can heal. We can’t have the same powers.”

“It’s different though I don’t really care. Talk is over. Severing wind blades.” Kyrion didn’t cast the spell with any movements which didn’t tell his opponent where the blow would come from.

The bird rolled to the side as a breeze that left a trench in the ground barely grazed him. However, the fist coming to his face wasn’t dodgeable as the mask was torn from its place and the creature was sent flying down into the crater left behind by Asela’s spell going off.

“Endless tide!” Kyrion created water from his mana and began to rapidly fill the said crater with water. It took him all of thirty seconds for it to hit the rim.

“That was close?” The bird man said from behind Kyrion.

“I didn’t see you move.” Kyrion raised an eyebrow as a wave of fire engulfed him.

After a solid minute of concentrated flames, the flames dispersed and Kyrion stood there uninjured. Well, he has ten puffy brown blisters on each fingertip.

Kyrion put the object in his mouth and it was as though his finger was healed. “Perfectly roasted.”

“Are you a cannibal?”

“Hmmmm? Tramush with toh gash” Kyrion tilted his head forty-five degrees to the right as he chewed. He drew a rectangle in the air with mana and it did nothing.

“Can’t cast with those blisters Can you.” The bird man dashed forward and slammed face-first through a pane of enhanced glass.

“Cursed walls! How–”

Kyrion slammed the pane on top of the man like a fly swatter.

“Stop!”

Kyrion brought it up slammed it down harder then repeated the process for a minute only to sigh as he tossed it to the side

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“I have trained to grow stronger than those cursed walls.”

“How does one become immune to glass?” Kyrion said after finishing his marshmallows.

“It’s a talent of mine. The same tricks don’t kill me twice.”

“Kill?” Kyrion nodded to himself and prepared to dash forward.

“Yes, the mighty Kyrin never dies the same way twice!”

“Lame. Mega lame. Your name is now Birdion.”

“You can’t just change my name!” Birdion protested.

“Do I look like I care? Tell you what if you win, I’ll upgrade you to Phinnion.” Kyrion teased.

“I’m going to enjoy destroying you.”

“Found you! And there’s even a nearby body of water!” Said a familiar voice.

“Time to duck out.” Kyrion punched the ground causing a dust cloud to surround him as he teleported away.

Volain crossed the large lake in ten seconds, a powerful tide following behind him.

“I found you! Rion!” Volain yelled as he slammed his elbow into Birdion’s nose

“I’m not Rion.” Birdion stated.

“I saw your real face, and you smell like yourself. Just because you're wearing a realistic bird mask doesn’t mean that you're getting away from me. I know that fire mana anywhere!”

“No! My name isn’t Rion it’s Kyrin.”

“I also know your real name. Switching it around won’t work on me!” Volain proceeded to pummel Birdion into the dirt before a torrent of blue flames came at him.

“Stop this at once. Our schools are allied, if you want to fight him then you must beat us first.” Milo said from above.

“Where’s Lisa?”

“She’s been removed and the artifact in her possession destroyed. It’s core was shattered as well.” Birdion stated.

“Hmmm. You really aren’t him. The Rion I know would never fight with a fangless dragon.”

“Fangless dragon?”

“You're weak Milo. In heart and mind, going against me would end in a slaughter.” Volain's mouth seemed to extend as his predatory tooth-filled smile was ear to ear in a literal sense.

“You won’t be able to take us both alone.”

“As far as I’m concerned neither of you are my problem yet but you're both here and I’ve got a taste of blood.”

A second blast of blue flames flew at Volain only to vanish suddenly as his spell was countered. “Weaker than it looks.” Yaklack entered the battle with his two sets of arms held in a diamond formation.

“Shadow strike.” An obsidian orc appeared behind Edwin his hands retreating through what would have been a chest cavity had the arena not detected a lethal blow. Quite a bit of blood still covered his hands, however.

White Fox observed a piece of gold and flicked it at the orc which caused it to backstep instinctually as a pink-haired girl barely missed him with a comically large hammer.

The area shattered and a second crater joined the first, only it was much smaller than the first.

“See, my boys are hungry warriors. Sorry, you really should have stayed in your area if you wanted to make it to the next round. Here's how I see it. If you can’t beat us here, you won’t beat us in a rematch.”

“Why did you do that White Fox?” The pink-haired girl argued.

“Do what?” White Fox asked as one of his undead carried a water basin to him to wash his hands.

“You know what you did.”

“Huh, if I don’t get it out when it starts itching like that I'll end up with a nosebleed. I have a unique consolidation.” White Fox then dried his hands with a clean towel.

“Constitution?”

“What did you think I said?” White Fox asked as he took a bite out of a cookie. Oddly enough, like Bastion he appeared slightly shorter than he was during their previous matches.

“I think you’re getting dumber.” The pink-haired girl raised her hammer.

White Fox pointed a finger at the hammer and yawned. “Look. If you want to us to fail our mission due to infighting then go ahead. He isn’t our target and if you hit him, then we’d be forced into a fight that I don’t think we’d win. If you haven’t noticed. We’re surrounded.”

A black armored hand caught Milo on his shoulder as a figure roughly forced them back.

“What are you!”

In the next moment a series of compressed spears of water shot out of the ground where he’d been standing. The attack caused a shockwave as they passed through where Milo’s neck, eyes, and heart had been.

Volain clicked his tongue.

“Full retreat!” Milo ordered.

“Already lost your nerve? Waste of time. Guess that battle with Cecil has your tail tucked between your legs.” Volain laughed to himself.

“Well then bird face. Come back when you're stronger and maybe it will be a fun fight.”

“Isn’t Rion your enemy? We could take him down together.”

“I don’t team up with weaklings. Also, I want to enjoy my fight, maybe let him make more lakes and rivers for me.”

Volain tossed Birdion across the lake turned to the west. Frp, there ge continued to walk if he found his opponent great. If he found another team, great. Fighting a team that made it to the finals due to his interference would create boring finals. Behind Volain 5 orcs, an elf with blue skin and violet eyes, and a human with short orange hair, was forced onto their team as an alternate on the condition that they appear in the final two rounds. As Volain wasn’t exactly a student in the sense that others took pride in, it was a condition for his participation.

As everyone left the area, Kyrion rose out of the ground as though it were water and took a deep breath. He would bet money on his ability to take out the opposing teams in a one-against-all fight, but not even he was dumb enough to fight three teams with people who could match him head-on. And while he threw spatial magic up, it had gotten countered in seconds which could have ended in him being bisected if he was unlucky.

“He knew exactly where I was. Didn’t he… bloody echolocation.” Kyrion shook his head and pointed at the lake. He then swiped a finger to the side and traced a line down the plain. Over time it would form into a river.

“Issac. Undine, I require some assistance.”

A cerulean swan the size of a bear appeared on the lake with a crown of silver and black eyes that saw more of the world than most. Its feathers seemed to make the water present seem crystal clear.

“Do you require my endless wisdom?”

“Where’s Undine?”

“Uh… We had a falling out. You don’t want the details.”

“Try me.”

“How do I explain it to a human? Let's say she doesn't like when I look at other birds the way I look at her.”

“Stop there.” Kyrion shivered. “Ok. I need a rune for water accumulation, or a spell that forms water from air and stray atoms–I mean ambient mana.”

“Interesting. I can do that but first.”

“Don’t cheat on your wife even if this bird is really pretty. Or split up, and I’ll enact a law that prevents relations with other spirits in my core. You will be alone together.” Kyrion gave them an ultimatum.

“Fine. Here’s the rune.” Issac traced a symbol that drew two lines downward and flowed diagonally to the right like a river eternally parallel, the symbol for water. The infinity symbol was then placed in between the parallel lines near the middle.

“That's a pretty bad rune.”

“Of course it is. But it will create water within the bounds for eternity. Eventually flooding the world, you already know how to accomplish what you want to do. Thanks bye.” Issac left Kyrion standing at the bounds.

“Fine…” Kyrion sat on the ground and thought over what he’d learned.

For an area to receive rain, there must be a minimal amount of vegetation or water to continue the cycle. Then clouds will appear regularly to keep the levels balanced. The more living creatures in an area the more likely the land will work to keep them alive. When creatures die the land takes their nutrients and reinforces the land even further.

“Ugg. He’s telling me to grow a grove here. I mean I was going to do that eventually.” Kyrion sighed as he pulled various red grass seeds. Red grass, or fall grass, was a variant of grass that was hardy and stored excess nutrients that were shared with larger plants. They were excellent at turning blood into nutrients.

Kyrion then spread a gallon of his preserved blood over the freshly planted seeds causing the land to smell of copper.

Pulling out some lotus seeds and water lily seeds he planted them at the edge of his lake. The water lilies were grown in a way that would keep the water clean, while the lotuses would heal anyone who consumed it.

Kyrion then planted a few tomato plants, strawberry bushes, raspberry bushes, and pomegranate bushes. An effect of using blood grass caused red plants to grow blue, and have naturally high healing and rejuvenation abilities. It was where Kyrion’s blue pomegranates grew naturally.

Apple trees were also added closer to the edge of the future grove, as well as a patch of water peppers. A spicy pepper that soothed as it burned and was very good for digestion. Out of spite, he’d planted marigolds along with other anti-pest plants to prevent critters from interfering as well as adding some runes that would turn insect larvae into nutrients. While he wanted pollinators he didn’t want pests to interrupt his second grove.

His last set of actions for the day was to plant a few acorns in the area. With this method of growth, the fruit plants would grow in a day. Die come spring, spreading their seeds further as they would slowly grow unhindered and on a large scale that coming year. Which would leave him enough time to graduate and finish his war. He’d build his home tomorrow.