My bubble converged with those of the other three, the spell forged material descending below us, and merging with the sandy ground, until we stood in slightly swampy ground, wet sand everywhere, as we stood at a distance of about fifteen meters to the nearest competitor, and about 30 to the one standing on the other side of the mud ring.

The final placement will be decided in an all against all, only aqua spells are allowed, runes are no longer restricted. Every competitors name, refinement and tier will be displayed to the other three, if you choose to opt out, you will not be allowed to see the others soul refinement and tier.

It was a hard decision, the sheer advantage that this knowledge could give me was obvious, and at the same time, the others would know I had access to thirty runes.

You demonstrated adequate control over aqua, with over 800 possible tier zero spells, the system can create a direct link between your elemental trait and the aqua Arcana within your soul, potential physical changes are possible, tier zero spells of an Arcana incorporated into your body will be influenced by your physical state, and may be unleashed at any time, creating a small physical strain that does not stop you from casting higher tier magic with the soul.

I decided to embrace this while rejecting to display the full array of my power, and felt something change, my muscles relaxing a bit and my veins and arteries turned just a bit more blue, glowing with the power, and I felt the way my tier zero aqua spells were now part of my instincts, the runes available to me running through my mind, every thought pulsing through me, when finally, the others decided upon their display too, a count-down of five seconds beginning, before the purple wall finally fell apart, my body changed, true power on my fingertips and a quick ebb control and close bubble protecting me, while the others used their best spells, I stood there, ebbing any attacks that were directed at me, and the bubble protecting me from anything stronger.

It was when we realized that tier zero spells were worthless against each other that it became a battle of true tactic.

Two people were in a standoff equal to the one I had earlier, a beam of water circulating between them while they searched for an opportunity. I was troubled by someone doing their best impression of a steamy water hose, his steaming water reducing my closed bubble by a bit every time it impacted, and not leaving me the room to recast, six seconds were open to me, and the time frame grew shorter faster than I would have liked.

Then, I used the beam and focus runes on one of the two in the standoff, while diverting a bit of my ebb control spell to weaken his opponents beam, making the water rushing towards him more of an actual spear, rather than a mere stream of water, forcing him on the defense in the last second, and allowing his opponent to approach, which resulted in a much more intense fight.

It was interesting to watch every rune fill with aqua, to the point curiosity got the better of me and I cast corrupt beam on my opponents scorching stream, the spell failing as I quickly followed up with a open stream version, turning his death hose into a spray cannon, the individual pieces much easier to repel, and the opportunity for a bubble stream in the direction of the competitor I had disoriented earlier by condensing his opponents attack, teasing my direct opponent to do his best, while the teamwork against the already downed man made sure to take him out, his previous ally once again creating a stream of water towards the steamer, while I send a bubble projectile forwards, my shield stopping once I realized that control ebb and open stream were better suited to protecting myself, while I alternated between an array of different attack spells, Mostly altering between bubbles and streams, until I surprised him with a pour bubbles beneath his feet while the other contestant charged him, both slipping on the mud and the suddenly popping balls beneath their feet, allowing for me to unleash hell while they attempted to stand up.

I decided it was time for a second level spell. A single aspect of power I could use to cleanse this battlefield of both my opponents at once.

Condense focus beam stream was my first Idea, and I knew it would be a spear of overwhelming power, but this fight needed to end in a way that left no question to my superiority, something that would stop my opponents from questioning why they lost, and made the embarrassing sign of them being equal to me something everyone could forget.

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I was the avatar of death, bringer of the end, and I had to be peerless, if I even hoped of achieving actual immortality at some point.

What I needed was a flood.

Connect stream open area. It would normally be a spatium spell, but I forced aqua to take hold in it, concentrating as I made it take the form of the spell I wanted, feeling it connect to every possible source of liquid in the area, before drawing upon the realm of Aqua itself.

Then, something between time and space screeched to a halt, and water began spewing from my every opening, the clouds above us raining down, while the black liquid from outside was dragged in. Soon, the arena was flooded, while my opponents remained stuck in the mud, gasping for air while I did my best to concentrate on the spell, feeling myself become one with the magic.

I was more powerful than I used to be, and I knew I was about to die as my chest split apart, and pure water began pouring from me. It was a suicidal spell, killing everything just to flood an area. I could only do this type of magic here.

As I realized that I was about to become a gate, I started panicking, trying everything to stop this spell, but my own power was sapped to meld the realms, this unstable demi plane not meant for this spell.

Tier 2 Spells 3/8

Arcana

Spell

Description

Spatium

Penetrate (Dim dispel of the closed dispel)

Disturbs the space around a target and makes it easier to hit. Any attacks have a higher chance of penetrating armor.

Spatium

Wall of faith (Corrupt decay area mirror)

Erect a wall that changes everything touching it, sending it back with the same force it impacted the wall.

Aqua

Flood (Connect stream open area)

Connects every nearby source of liquid, after doing so, it violently unleashes this water upon the target area. Possibly opens a gate to the realm of aqua.

“Congratulations on surviving, Had you died, your body and soul would have permanently connected this demi plane to Aqua, and quite probably then proceeded to flood the material world. The only reason you weren’t killed outright is the fact that the demi plane was not yours to command, and as long as that doesn’t happen, this effect will probably be impossible to replicate. Anywhere outside this demi plane, the spell is probably going to exsanguinate everyone too weak to separate the connection, produce a bit of rain and leave you with a bad headache. Given the critical situation, we decided to rank all three of you equally among the third place, number two and one staying empty for this fight, as the fight would have dragged on almost eternally.”

I heard these words, analyzed them and filed them away for later reassessment as I regained consciousness, instead feeling my body almost rotten.

“Thanks for saving me, I need something to eat and the fastest path back to the training grounds. Aqua is my weakest power, and I don’t want to embarrass myself more than necessary.”

With an annoyed grunt, I was handed a weird paste, that I consumed in seconds, my body regenerating as I stood up from the ER like room, disregarding anything the doctor said and instead hoping to arrive before the next tournament started. I had to leave a better impression, after all. At least something other than the general Idea of me being an asshole that would rather die than let others win.

Dashing through the corridors, I heard the announcement of the spatium training beginning, and cast the warp and connect rune upon it, drawing me into the massive teleportation spell, even as I was way too late for this test.

Still, I would be there, and I would show those bastards what expertise looked like.

No one would dare to question me.

My world still swam from early being turned into a portal, my joints hurting and the headache of using and creating a tier two spell almost knocked me out, and yet, I knew that none of them would have a chance against someone as great as me.