“Well this is going to suck.” Chiyo watched as her sword was stopped with two of four arms.
“We’re outnumbered and outpowered.”
“I was told to surrender in a situation like this.” Chiyo scowled.
“Save us some trouble then. You should be the last ones on your team.”
Chiyo sighed. “Minah. Get as far as you can. I’ll try to slow them down.”
“What are you saying?”
“Hurry up!” Chiyo slid her sword down and entered a low position as golden afterimages followed her movements and she powered her next strike with that energy.
The blow forced Yaclack fifteen feet back with both of his feet buried in the ground, though he was otherwise uninjured. Though his eyebrows did raise half an inch. “I nearly felt that. You are still a fledgling in this path but your prowess with a sword surpasses that. Still If thats all–”
Minah didn’t like it, but she ran forward and past the orcs, her body turning into a blur as the land turned to molten glass behind her.
“No. I don’t like it. I can push myself a bit more.”
“Is that so? Brothers and sisters, give chase.”
“You can try. But you must survive for at least a minute.” Chiyo’s black hair glowed a deep violet as her eyes turned crimson. In the next moment, her muscles seemed to bulge as her presence seemed to increase.
“Her mana is increasing rapidly! But within your limits Yaclack.”
“Arc of Negation.” Yaclack formed a diamond with his four hands and tore free the mana surrounding Chiyo.
The transformation didn’t stop and her power continued to increase.
“Rain of a hundred blades.” Chiyo slashed into the sky above Yaclack which caused a cloud tear and rain to begin falling.
“This isn’t a spell!”
Chiyo moved forward and embedded a needle into Yaclacks abdomen. “That would be correct.”
Yaclack immediately pulled the needle out as the first drop of rain hit him and for the first time since he was a child, the orc screamed in pain. “This isn’t magic!”
“No it isn't. It’s a technique meant to break through physical defenses or cause a distraction to people who heavily rely on their brain for control. Each drop of rain will fill as though a sword has pierced your body. Consider this payback for forcing me to fight you in this state.” Chiyo adjusted a broken wrist and it was fully healed.
“I take it I removed a mana based limiter on a non mana intensive technique. If it’s just pain I can deal with that.”
Chiyo unsheted her blade at a speed that caused the wind to howl and with enough force to cause the sand on the ground to heavily pelt the orc causing him to retreat.
“Pain is but a trial. It does not control me. For I will overcome all trials.” Yacklack muttered the mantra of his clan and took a step forward, his body growing in size as he did so.
“Land splitter!” Chiyo stomped with enough force to cause a crack to open up in the ground as the land heavily filled with tunnels collapsed causing Yaclack and the other three orcs to begin falling into the depths with Chiyo.
Yaclack using his four arms managed to grab onto two of the orcs, one being the strategist while the other was an ax wielder, and through them both out of the pit towards Minah’s general direction.
Chiyo slowed her fall using a small amount of mana, landing softly as she moved forward to strike Yaclack head-on.
The orc parried each blow with his four arms despite each slash being quick enough to create a set of chained afterimages. The exchange itself caused the area around them to shift and the falling rain to evaporate whenever it entered range.
The two fought for a few minutes with neither giving an in: The area they fought in sank into a crater. Then Yaclack seemed to make a mistake.
Chiyo in her bound battle rhythm immediately moved towards the exposed throat when a ball of acid hit her head on and knocked the blow to the side. The slash was tough enough to break through his recently reached expert body.
“You made one mistake, and that was forgetting that I wasn’t alone.”
Chiyo got to her feet and sighed as the acid wounds healed and her hair returned to its natural state. “And your’s was letting me lead you here.” Chiyo pulled a pin from a strange ball, tossed it upward, and muttered a line.
“I surrender.” In the next instant, her body was whisked back to the arena as the underground shook and the land over them began to collapse. Looking up the orc realized he couldn’t escape. Then the grenade went off and shrapnel shot off everywhere.
Moving to the best of his ability Yaclack ran to an open tunnel with his ally only to find a halberd thrust into their body. As a scythe of blood nearly took his head.
“That wasn’t the deal.”
“We can’t have you telling the others about this place before its done.” Answered the black knight.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
A hooded figure sighed. “Let's hope your last two teammates can deal with a sword stuck in some stone as well as that speedy girl. As we’ve already eliminated most of the others.”
Yaclack grimaced as the scythe was tugged slightly and the orc was taken and he was sent out of the arena.
Minah threw a pair of daggers at her pursuers as she ran around the outskirts of the rotting desert.
The strategist evaded the daggers, while the ax wielder deflected both the one sent at him. However, they realized too soon that it was a feint and watched as Minah ran into the field of rot and insects, moving through them with ease towards a sword buried in six feet of stone. The sound of a Violin resounding throughout the area
The Ax wielder lit his axes on fire and then watched as they exploded leading to a spirit-broken state which in turn immediately sent the warrior out of the arena as the state nearly allowed for the miasma in the environment to turn him inside out.
“What did you do!” The strategist seemed surprised.
“Nothing. If i’m being honest both of my legs have just broken and my armor won’t let me topple over. Guess this is where it ends.” Minah built up mana in her right arm and transferred it into a propulsion device in her fist before throwing a punch that caused the arm she used to fly off in the opposite direction her mana seemed to backfire and yet the strategist for the Orc’s team was pierced by shrapnel.
“That was close.” The orc woman turned to leave but suddenly realized that either the field had spread or she had gotten so far in, that she could no longer see the exit. So instead she wondered why her allies hadn’t returned or why she hadn’t been transferred somewhere safe as she kept the wound in her shoulder plugged. Eventually, her eyes fell on a sword hilt she’d glimpsed from a scrying orb with a storage capability. It showed a golden warrior wielding a sword that was also one of his teammates.
“You’re trapped which makes this nice and simple.” The orc approached the sword buried in the boulder blood trailing behind her. She then reached for the blade only for a jolt to pass through her as she passed out. The mana around the sword sent out a rejection that instead of slaying only knocked her unconscious.
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Chiyo, Minah, and Hel had journeyed to the forest after a quick discussion with the headmaster as their captain had prepared something for them all ahead of time. As though he’d predicted the outcome of this match to the end, where only Brion remained on one side while the other had a stable and yet unconscious warrior.
In such a plan the mission was simple: destroy Brion and the orcs win, but for anyone to destroy Brion in that field of Chaos, they would need to use a lot of energy and would risk destroying themselves. The two remaining teams with able members aside from Chester, who for all intents and purposes appeared unreachable, could pick their next opponent if they could get to Brion or the orc and land a finishing blow.
Yet there was a stalemate, a bit of uneasiness as people suspected that things were going a bit too well for them.
As Chiyo led them into the dungeon, the three women saw both Ander and Damien fighting in an arena built just for them. Lightning flew, sound shattered, the world screamed and yet they continued both with heavy injuries.
“Wait. So they weren't really kidnapped!” Minah started with a scowl.
“I mean, I gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Fight for my amusement or die.” Maldian fibbed a bit. It was more along the lines of becoming my apprentice or letting the other surpass you by leaps and bounds.
Chiyo bowed. “Master, we have been told to come here but aren’t quite sure why or what it would accomplish.”
“The shepherd or gods can only invoke one heavy limitation at a time.and have decided to stop his spatial affinity from working which means time is no longer a barrier, secondly everyone save Chiyo is ready to reach that next level before the final round. That is why he’s currently stalling for time.”
“Oh. So they're going to evolve their spirits now? This can’t be good.”
“Wait did he plan damaging his affinity?”
“No. But it was a heavy restriction that superseded the one he already had. So long as years don’t pass in minutes, you should use this as the opportunity to reach the cusp of practitioner. I don’t recommend breaking into the expert tier for another three or so days however.” Maldain looked longingly at various tokens in his left hand. As the number 3 his tablet was a coveted artifact and while not as good as the monopoly Charles and Alexander had on the top two, it was still quite effective.
“Take these and ask the dungeon to build you two private rooms for meditation. This is probably going to hurt. As for Chiyo, the only thing you did wrong was fight a recent expert as a peak fledgling, Not something you could win on your own and yet you held your own against a true spirit master. Though when you get the mana I expect your 100 swords technique to be actual swords not raindrops.”
“I will endeavor to reach that level.”
”Now then. As a gift for such a bout I give you Raijin.”
Chiyo read the characters on the side, Fujin. “I will cherish this blade for as long as I live.”
“Right… Well then I have a dual to supervise.” Maldain looked to the screen allowing Chiyo to scamper off and practice a few swings.
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Karl used masked goblins to lead Hel and Minah to their reawakening booths. Bella had already gotten in hers while Cecil was nowhere in sight.
“For the next year and a half I will be putting you under a lot of physical and mental strain as we get you to adapt to the new levels of power in your system. The people you fight will mostly be in the lower expert tier of power. That team has a few dragons in black armor so be careful.”
“So, will my spirit enter a metamorphosis?”
“Correct, you will also be unable to use cores. Unlink you three Tiffany has gone through her second awakening and will be pushing into the expert tier where her spells and runic effects will become much more potent.”
“If she’s so strong, how did she lose?” Minah asked petulantly.
“Casting an expert tier spell with a teammate that had a lot less mana and just as much experience. She made sure not to reveal her spell limits to the enemy. As there could be another fight.”
“How can we win when our captain is out of the fight?” Minah asked.
Hel scowled. “Kyrion once told me, well a fake me, though he linked me into the conversation as well via his plans. But I digress. He told me that death is an inevitability and that he wouldn’t let it happen to him by accident. It was a hint to his opponents as well as to Cecil and I, he planned to fake his death during the tournament to buy us some time. He’s also apparently had plenty of practice dying, or being in situations where he should have died.”
“One at birth, not counting the monsters that failed to eat him, the attempted kidnappings, the multiple deaths during a time loop, that last decapitation, various deaths in the land of the lost and the one where his heart was just destroyed.” Karl listed off a series of concerning situations.
“It was during the time loop shenanigans, technically it didn’t happen.”
“No wonder he’s so paranoid. Die enough times and I guess he knows when something doesn’t feel right.”
“Paranoid?”
“I did tell you abount the communication devices he gave us to keep track of our teammates while we’re out and about. Didn’t I?”
“You did but they can be used to find the location of allies.”
“And if he could always make these, what would stop him from hiding one in your armor or gifting it to you.”
“Wait, is this how he stayed steps ahead of me? It’s a wonder my secrets stayed secret.”
“Master deplores having to fight fair and thus is a poor opponent in anything that should be perfectly balanced. Now that it’s just the three of them left in the alliance he doesn't need to really worry about fair play, or collateral damage, let alone holding back.”
“Just so I understand how much mana he has? The test was a distraction right?”
“It is no longer measurable in a sense. One could say limitless to a degree, if he was willing to sacrifice the lives of those in his domain for mana. Truth be told Kyrion was gauging the limits of that orc’s mana probing ability for this exact set of circumstances.”
“So that reading was a lie?”
“Yes, the point was to give them a believable limit in case he needs to appear to be taken out. ”
“Isn’t he supposed to be a different person?”
“Volain probably told them that Rion just changed his name and face again.” Lin sighed as she entered the area.
“What is it?”
“We will need to move up the plan. I’ve found who the other shards belong to. Victor is one of Volain’s shards, Sheeva is one of mine, and Minerva belongs to Minah. You will need to evolve your spirits while this is going on. Volain will be invited in a minute; he's strong enough for a shard already.
Karl let out a monotonous sigh. “I’m exhausted.”
“That's out of character.”
“Without access to his domain pulling creatures out is much harder than it needs to be. But according to Undine, that continent is currently considered sacred which means entities from the incursion won’t be able to attack it. Thus we’ve been building underground settlements with the help of a Dwa–Earth Fairy.”
“I was going to ask that.”
“Did you know that the captain's blood is 55% mana alcohol? No one thought it prudent enough to inform him that alcohol under a certain tier does nothing for him though has been tested. Breaking past that tier is like a poison that works fast, dealing damage while getting him drunk fast, then it fades and he gais a higher tolerance.”
“Does that mean he’s perpetually drunk?” Lin caught the change and went on it.
“He blacked out when it first happened but that's common among higher affinities.”
“Can you lot, hurry up?” Asked a bird-faced man with emerald eyes from behind. In his hands was a wheelbarrow loaded with seeds.
“Who the?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Lin moved them out of the way and sighed.