The true fruits of his training in that realm were showing itself now in this extreme situation he had put himself in, the ability to manipulate and micromanage mana to a point beyond belief, having learnt this Emrys was able to solve half of his problems in a matter of minutes. Though now able to cast spells as before two issues remained, upper tier spells were out of bounds amd even basic spells were weakened a lot more than usual.
It wasn't all bad as this also served as a learning opportunity for him to break some more limits, he had more than enough time before he was forced to face someone he couldn't deal with through minimization.
'My adaptation still hasn't fully kicked in it seems, what a picky thing'.
The weight was definitely getting easier to bear but compared to even some of the weakest participant's here he would be the equivalent of a statue physically if he attempted to engage with them, the only thing still able to keep up far beyond his limits was his mental capabilities even with the great hit it had taken.
A sudden thought popped up into his head and he could only stare in silence flabbergasted at his own audacity 'my immortality is going to be the end of me someday'.
With a made up mind brought by upon by his Emrys stood up and looked up at the time, there was still an hour and twelve minutes left before he was to begin reaping his rewards meaning still more than enough time.
The ground beneath him trembled heavily as did the trees, it seemed some of the contestants weren't able to resist using some of their best cards after all which was simply expected. He began leaping around using the trees and shadows to his advantage and stopping multiple times in-between to restore balance to himself when the weight pressed down on him even more.
'One of my targets should make do, it would be a much too early of an harvest but the rest will make up for it'.
He made a beeline for the target closest to him and upon reaching there he stayed high up on a tree watching the scene unfolding before him, right now his target was currently surrounded by three other contestants whom he immediately recognized to be a team and one with adequate members at that still his target whom was an orc hybrid looked incredibly calm and collected.
Emrys took a look at the leather pouch each member had around their waists and how bloated it seemed, their harvest was most surely a great one and there was denying that but the one held by his target seemed two times bigger than theirs combined which served as a great surprise to even Emrys.
It hadn't been long at all since this round began and he was a loner so how strong was he to have collected so many in such little time, he only chose him because he felt adequate before but now that he focused a little more it seemed that he was more than that.
'Sometimes being weak helps with knowing just how strong someone is huh, interesting' he thought to himself.
He jumped down from the tree as his patience reached the limit, they immediately looked to see who it was and almost immediately you could see the color drain from the faces of the members who recognized him on the spot.
"Forgive my interruption but I need a favor from you all".
"Can you be my training dummies for a little while".
Though feeling nervous what Emrys said managed to strike their pride greatly, the member on the left who looked to be the leader stepped forward a bit hiding his nervousness and putting up a brave front.
"Hey, that's a bit too much don't you think".
"Even considering the difference between us we're not so low that you may talk to us in this manner".
His teammates looked up at their leader, their respect for him growing though they remained largely strangers to each other.
Emrys tilted his head a little to the side "I see".
They looked to be a little relieved thinking he was an understanding person but that thought changed when all of a sudden multiple mana bullets came flying at them prompting their leader to put up mana shield around his teammates bringing it down a second later and looking quite enraged at Emrys.
"As I thought, words weren't enough, you can attack me now" he said to them nonchalantly.
"You bastard!" The leader exclaimed and looked towards his teammates.
"It seems we have no choice, that monster isn't letting us be".
They nod in understanding and prepared themselves to engage with him.
Emrys raised a brow at being called a monster wondering a little what he had done to gain that perception in their minds but he cared little for the answers now, he could feel very well that his adaptation was slowly picking up the pace just by how tense of a situation he had found himself in.
They considered their opponent and the fact they couldn't afford to go at with him with anything that wasn't their best, even more tension arrived from the person standing behind them whom they originally intended to subdue but seeing him standing still as he is looking to be without any intention to interfere it eased their worries a little.
<
The mage on the right suddenly yelled and suddenly thick vines burst through the earth and bind him with great strength, the leader who took the role as a warrior rushed forward the instant the spells took hold and sent a slash of aura towards Emrys who countered with a mana bullet aimed at a specific point changing the direction of the slash but the leader didn't look moved at this as he sent three more towards him in but a split second and jumped high into the air making way for the fireball tearing it's way through to Emrys.
He shaped a thin strand of mana and used it to cut the vines for the split second of release which he used in getting out of it's hold before it regenerated but the moment he got out the warrior came down like a meteor with his heavy greatsword forcing him to jump high into the air and with the move the trap was complete as the fireball which he failed to notice it's lack of impact returned to meet him mid-air and exploded like a mini-sun shaking up the area for miles and turning everything to ash bar the members and his target whom were protected by mana shields.
But suddenly the surrounding mana turned unstable and began rushing at the explosion eating at it until there was nothing left and from it Emrys fell to the ground looking midly burned, though they had faith that the explosion would not be enough to kill him it still seeing him coming out largely unscathed though right in the very center of if left deep imprint which got even more terrifying when they saw him regenerate so quickly without the aid of mana or healing magic.
'Hm, so that's how you do it'.
He raised his hand and immediately they were on high alert as the warrior threw his greatsword at Emrys with a speed like that of a bullet and just as Emrys dodged to the side the warrior was already there catching the still traveling sword mid-air and swung it at Emrys with a much greater speed than his body would currently allow him to avoid prompting him to manipulate the surrounding mana to form a partial shield stopping the blade and giving him just enough time to counterattack or so he thought but the warrior's teammates weren't sitting around idly as the mage once again restricted his movements with the spell <
<
<
But to everyone's surprise the spells she cast backfired the moment she completed her casting causing her to fall down to her knees unconscious while bleeding out of her eyes and ears.
The shocking scene unfolding before their eyes disrupted their synchronization and Emrys wasted no time in taking advantage of that to grab the greatsword from the warrior's hands and cut off both legs in a single slash then rushing forward at the still shocked mage to cut off one arm and break the other all in one go.
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They both screamed in great pain at the top of their lungs and the warrior yelled curses between breaths at Emrys who simply looked around nonchalantly, he dropped the greatsword and walked towards the one who had tried to subdue him with mental spells.
"Stay away from her you bastard!!" Yelled the warrior.
Emrys looked up from her unconscious body towards the warrior "hm, according to what I've learned you should be healed once the round is over, that's good".
He ignored him again and went right back to inspecting the unconscious one, to be honest he had no idea what made that spell backfire, she was a double caster although one who needed a fair bit of time it seemed but there was no way those spells failed because she messed up with directing mana.
'Did I make my mental defenses too strong?'.
'That shouldn't be, I was very lax in this area or is my point of view just terribly skewered compared to what's seen as normal'.
And he hit the nail right on the head with that thought, Emrys along with his peers had a terribly skewered point of view on what was considered normal or impressive compared to the rest of the populace and even most geniuses so most of what they achieve barely registers in their minds as a feat.
Putting aside those thoughts for now Emrys picked up the pouch around her waist and the one around her wrist then walked over to her dismembered teammates still struggling on the ground in great pain and took theirs also, he called the little ball of darkness over and tossed them in there.
With that taken care of Emrys took the time to fully allow himself settle into the new freedom he had just gained from this battle, his adaptation had sped things up as he expected. Strenuous amd extreme situations are what it needed to really take hold but this wasn't enough yet, they were splendid helps but they could have done much more, gone all out if only the lady's spell didn't backfire causing a crack in their synchronization.
"Why didn't you join in" he asked.
His target who had been standing still in the same position the whole time finally moved, he leaked out a decent portion of mana and spread it around like a fog.
"Because I do not prefer teaming up".
Emrys was silent for a moment and then showed a small smile "you should have, there was a great possibility that the current me would lose if you were involved".
"Yeah, I can see that you are weakened by something and are forced to fight as you are now".
"Possessing not the sharpness, skills or body of a warrior yet you fight like one although quite clumsy and unprepared".
Emrys raised a brow "admirable senses you have".
"I accept the compliment, though I am quite relieved that the heavens are on my side and I get to face you as you are now".
He couldn't help but smile at his words "interesting, I would have thought you a different type considering your first proclamation".
The target shook his head a little "I am not honorable, just selfish".
"I see".
Emrys took a step forward but suddenly felt himself unable to move, he looked up for a moment before the crushing invisible weight came pressing down on him and the earth.
'Gravity magic, how amusing'.
Using his shaky over the surrounding mana he haphazardly caused a great disturbance in the flow of mana inside a certain area which in turn made the effect on him weaker and unstable but the hybrid wasn't sitting idly either as he silently reinforced the spell while preparing a second.
"Commanding mana that isn't your own, how monstrous".
"But it seems you're not proficient enough yet in using it to cast spells, good for me then".
In a moment the air turned boiling hot, trees from miles away dried up of moisture in but a second and by the next everything was ablaze. The hybrid was leaving a heavy amount of crimson red mana which roared wildly as a spiral of flames began forming in front of him, at that moment the already terrible heat rose even higher as the earth bar the spot where he stood melted into a giant puddle of larva but even that too burned to nothing in a matter of seconds.
The flames grew bigger and denser until finally taking the shape of a giant arrow, once it had been completed the heat had gotten so bad it burned the surrounding mana itself and destabilized his first spell, the mana he had dispersed at the very beginning reformed to take the form of a dome around Emrys.
<
"Release" he whispered.
It cracked and whistled through the air hitting Emrys fair and square, the dome of mana turned bright for a moment and settled as an inferno of flames raged on around like a dragon tyring to break through the void.
The hybrid began sweating profusely as he put all his effort into containing the arrows power from breaking through the barrier and harming even himself in it's path of destruction, through continuous reinforcement he was barely holding out but the worries about his mana depleting before the spell fizzles out was weighing on his mind prompting him to stop supplying mana to the gravity spell keeping Emrys in place.
A crack occurred on the dome but he healed it up just as fast as it appeared of at least he tried to, some tiny wisps of flames slipped through and just that alone was enough to turn the environment into something more terrible that it already was.
'Dammit, I couldn't have reached my limit could I?' the hybrid thought to himself in a panic.
But to his great luck the inferno began dying down at a visibly fast rate leaving a deep hole that gave the illusion of it being endless.
The hybrid sat on the ground exhausted and closed his eyes waiting patiently for what was to come after killing a contestant but seconds passed and yet the penalty was not enforced, his eyes sprung wide open at the instant realization of what that meant.
"Impossible".
From the deep hole emerged Emrys floating high up with not a single bit of damage on his body, he looked quite amused and pleased for a reason the hybrid could not figure out.
"What are you, an immortal?".
The smile on his face grew wider "correct, I am indeed truly an immortal one".
He walked over to his exhausted target and stood before him "get up, I have no interest in having another unsatisfactory battle".
"Release your circles, now".
The hybrid closed his eyes and gave no reply but with this Emrys had his answer, he took the bloated pouch away from him and put it inside the ball of darkness same with the others. With his original objective now completed Emrys had finally achieved a good enough mobility for his standards so he would not be leaving completely empty handed at the very least, in a matter of seconds he was back to his new isolated spot not bothering to count the loot knowing without a doubt that it was enough.
'Maybe I could hunt a little more later'.
Emrys had used up quite a bit of the time meant for resting on confrontations which he found a bit wasteful though he initiated the second, eighteenth minutes had gone by this time in total adding on to the original eleven taken by the first making almost half an hour of time gone.
'Noisy'.
He wished he could use sound isolation right now to drown out the raging sounds of battle but his the available mana within his control was too scarce to carry out that basic spell and he still wasn't able to cast spells with mana that wasn't his, commanding movement was relatively easy though not without it's problems but the mana refused to listen anytime he tried casting a spell with it.
'I'll get the hang of it soon anyway' he shrugged and allowed himself drift off to sleep after requesting that the young fairy wake him up when an hour had passed.
Meanwhile somewhere on the other side Ishmael was standing over a contestants body and holding onto another by his head while he screamed as it crushed ever so slowly, on his face was an wide smirk displaying one of his fangs.
"There you are".
Standing a short distance away was Hope looking at him with curious eyes but moments later she turned around to leave, Ishmael panicked a bit and rushed to block her path.
"Don't just walk away from me, all I want is-
Ishmael did not get to complete his sentence as Hope had simply walked around him, seeing this he sighed and blocked her path again.
"We're the last of our family yet you can't grant me a little audience, even if not as family but as our supposed leader".
Hope said nothing and simply stood staring at him for a full minute until Ishmael felt like he should stop here for today, shaking his head in disappointment at not being able to have gotten anything today he jumped far away to the other side. With her unwanted guest gone Hope continued walking but stopped, she went over to the defeated contestants and dutifully picked up the bracelets around their wrists along with their pouches to be kept alongside the others in the sealing scroll hanging around her waist.
She got up and continued her walk to the other side to find the last two of her marked contestants, the top spot wasn't part of her goals for this round but she could not allow herself to fall too behind in the rankings at the end so the decided place to stay would be somewhere within the top twenty and this is why she had picked out three prime targets capable of getting her this spot in the end, the first had already fallen and now what remained were the final two.
In a few minutes she had managed to walk over to her target at a pace that seemed normal but achieving a total distance that shouldn't be possible for how it seemed to the naked eyes, her target now only standing a few meters away from her looked to be incredibly nervous, coming face to face with a being of legend said to be the strongest race of divine creatures in the realms wasn't something he'd ever hoped for or had in mind.
His instincts were screaming at him from the depths of his soul to run away or just surrender from the insurmountable danger standing before him yet he stood firm for one simple reason, his dream of becoming a knight, a most noblest of ranks that could not be stained by cowardice, no matter how outmatched he was he could never forgive himself the humiliation of running away with his tail tucked between his legs without at least putting up a fight.
Hope read him like an open book, those eyes lacked the ability to hide anything in the slightest, his burning determination oozed heavily through his mana and it bothered her blood a bit seeing another presence trying impose itself so blatantly before hers when it was largely unworthy of such display.
A crushing weight fell atop her target bringing him firmly to his knees with his head bowed down unable to move in the slightest, he roared at the top of his lungs blared his mana at full force and used every bit of strengthening skills in his arsenal and yet all amounting to abject failure as not even in the slightest did the ground tremble nor did the grass billow, in the end all it took was but a simple breath to blow out his mana like a candle and disarm him entirely of all skills casted upon himself.
And just then it broke, shattered to a million pieces as reality set upon him crushing every bit of will he had left. Her blood feeling satisfied at the rightful position it had forced him into released the pressure as Hope nonchantly walked up to him and took his storage box then continued on her way, his head never once coming up the whole time, it was a complete and utter defeat.
EnD.