The maze of thorns quickly began to dismantle itself and transform into pure mana. Everyone in the special class made sure to absorb as much of it as they could as they weren’t fully recovered yet.
“That went better than expected.” Cassandra said as everyone was gathering together again.
Shishen was removing the poison from Klaws body with some help from Katia so they weren’t really paying much attention to everything around them.
“Mia, are you alright?” Narissa asked.
“!? Yeah, I’m ok, I can still fight.” Mia said absentmindedly like before. She was still in ‘battle mode’ even if she was less intense than she would be normally in that state. Onyx was also on high alert. Narissa had a thing or two to say about how Mia was now but survival came first and even if her heart ached seeing Mia like that, she had to keep her head in the game.
“I hope the next ones are as easy as this was.” Kaki said.
“Me too.” Moon, Mathias and Luminus said while nodding.
“Katia, don’t ever be corrupt, Words cannot describe how bad that thing really is.” Klaws said as he was finally being purified of the poison. His new resistance to it also helped.
“I don’t plan to. But are you alright?” She asked back.
“Give me a few minutes. All I am feeling right now are the residual effects, I think. Thanks Shishen.”
“For something so nasty, it is quite easy to dispel. At least compared to what you brought to me before.”
“How long do you think we have until the next one comes?” Cassandra asked.
“10 minutes.” A strange voice was heard about 15 meters from them. When everyone looked in the direction they saw the elf from before. Null.
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“Wha..!” Everyone said in some way or form as they turned around and saw the elf standing a few meters from them.
He had long silver hair, tanned skin and yellow glowing eyes. He was very slender but only because his muscles were very compact. He was around 170 cm tall. He was using very tight black green clothing, akin to a full body swimsuit, with a strange lime green scarf on his neck and a red piece of cloth tied on his waist. He was also barefooted.
“No need to panic. I came to let you know of my challenge. Anyone with a weapon will fight me for as long as time permits. No spells will be allowed beyond healing or strengthening themselves. No outside help too in those cases, if you can’t use them yourselves, don’t rely on others. If I am hit or disarmed even once I will admit defeat and leave. No one is allowed to interfere using magic while we are fighting. You may come alone or in a group. I don't care. Failure to adhere to the rules will result in the death of the non-combatants” Null explained. When he was saying the last part, thin swords made out of a silvery material appeared themselves at the necks of Katia, Cassandra, Shishen and Narissa. They stayed floating in place for a few moments before vanishing.
The message was clear. He could easily kill anyone who wasn’t combat ready and there wasn’t a thing anyone could do to stop him if he wanted to. Not even Mia could use a spell fast enough to stop a blade cutting their necks at point-blank range. Especially when she could feel that the psychic powers of the elf were leagues above her own.
There wasn’t much talk after that. What had to be done was very clear. Moon, Mathias, Luminus and Kaki would all fight together against the elf and try their best. Mia didn’t know enough about swordsmanship or spearmanship to say that her classmates had no chance. As far as she was aware, at least on a technical level, they were leagues above her. But there was no way that she would gamble on the possibility that they could do something. Always preparing for the worst and hoping for the best is something that Mia lived by.
“I have a plan but all of you need to stay away from me and you four need to endure as much as possible.” Mia suddenly said.
“What is your plan?” Narissa asked.
“Can’t say, too complicated to explain, just trust me.” Mia said in a very firm tone. Everyone had to just accept it and go on like normal.
Klaws along with Onyx went to protect the girls to the best of their abilities as per Mia’s instructions even if Klaws was barely healed from the poison while the other four took their positions surrounding Null. Mia was in the middle of those two groups, doing something incredibly stupid or revolutionary depending on one’s point of view. But for her to have any hope of achieving what she wanted to do, she needed time, time she hoped her classmates could buy her by surviving.