Emrys planned on leaving immediately as he doubted any of the other contestants bar his peers would be open to the idea of fighting him but decided to test his luck a bit. The mini announcer popped up and asked if he wished to return or issue a second challenge of which he answered with the latter, looking up at the remaining time Emrys raised a brow.
Nineteen minutes, that was much shorter than what he had thought which was twenty-five, he looked down at the headless body of his opponent then to the red axe laying beside him. Emrys walked over and picked it up, though pointless he still couldn't help comparing it to his own weapon of which the difference in power remained astronomical.
Tossing aside the weapon he was prepared to begin his search for a new opponent but the mini announcer said something surprising.
"Interesting, someone's challenged you".
"Do you accept".
It really was interesting no doubt, who was confident enough to do so bar his peers of which a silent agreement still remained for neither to cross the other's path yet. He truly wanted to find out and that was sure, with his body and divine artifacts which were bond to him as his clothes and jewelleries fully recovered he looked fully presentable for a new meet.
"I accept".
The mini announcer snapped his fingers and grinned "alright then, sending you there now".
In a blink he was on another stage standing right before his challenger, she was a beautiful woman belonging to the race of Jorōgumo, though currently in a transformed state she still bore six eyes and stood nearly at the same height as he. Emrys tilt his head a little to the side looking at her, the lady was undoubtedly a Jorōgumo no doubt but she felt......different, sharper, more......simply just more.
"Emrys Von Schafer".
She called out to him using his full name, now his interest had turned into a sudden surprise and not simply because his full name was called out for the first time ever by anyone bar his mother upon his day of naming but more so because of her tone.
Hatred, it carried a heavy amount of it and also a strong hint of pain, he stared straight into the eyes of his opponent for a few seconds wondering exactly why she could possibly such an emotion for him when they were complete strangers to one another.
"Do I know you" he straightforwardly asked.
She raised a hand pointing it towards him and with a voice barely containing it's tremble she spoke "No, not yet. But you will, of that I can promise you".
A small gust of wind blew past him and Emrys felt a slight burning sensation on his cheek, he raised a hand to it feeling a cut and his blood flowing down. Bringing his blood stained fingers to his face he hummed, the cut was healed barely a second later and he gently licked the blood off his tips returning his gaze back to the woman that stood before him.
"It is quite foolish for one to make promises they cannot keep".
"Will cause nothing but unnecessary hurt".
At his words her body began trembling a bit as she laughed as if having heard the most ironic statement of her life, a tear streamed down her cheeks as her gaze turned hardened. With every second she spent in his presence she felt her hatred ever rising and as of this moment it had achieved new peak, it visibly began impacting the area around her in small little bursts which made for an interesting sight to Emrys witnessing for the first time ever what it means taking the first step into the domain of true hatred.
"That a child like you could contain so much evil and yet feel not the slightest bit of guilt".
"If someone like you is to be our savior then what separates you from that monster".
He raised a brow feeling a bit slighted "you've imposed a title on me all of your own bias and now are angry at me for not fitting it?".
"But other than this, I still have no idea what I have done to you".
She closed her eyes and heaved a breath to calm herself–
"Three years ago you came to a–
"That is false" he uttered calmly with a finality in his tone.
She looked to be genuinely flabbergasted "what?".
That was the only word capable of leaving her mouth at such a situation.
"Three years ago I couldn't leave the palace, not once did I ever bother to do so either".
"However I cannot say whatever happened to you is false, that level of hatred cannot be faked after all".
"Whomever you mistake me for I urge you to find him".
She blinked a few times and stood rigid as if processing still what was happening right now, when she recovered her senses she looked so lost.
"Do you.....genuinely not remember what you did".
Emrys shook his head in response "I can have no memory of an act which I have not committed".
She covered her mouth with both hands, the tears threatening to overflow but yet barely so did she keep them from falling.
"Why, how can you be so cruel as to try manipulating and dismissing my pain so blatantly in this situation" she accused.
A weariness was starting to creep in on his mind and he did not like it in the slightest.
"I have no interest in manipulating you, but I'll humor you".
"Describe whom you saw, what did I do exactly".
Seconds passed and yet she remained silent, Emrys knew then she had no further intention of engaging with him verbally. With nothing else to be said between them the air shifted, a continuous stream of wind began blowing inside the stage.
One would mistake it as simply just a normal occurrence if it were not for the fact his senses were seeing very clearly just how charged they were with mana, he was being blinded by a fog made specifically to inhibit his senses from peering through making it impossible to see even one feet in front of him.
In short this was in some ways a method much better than a simple <
Simply reaching out to take control of the natural mana around and using that to cast spells or shape as it you like was already something rare enough, this went a step beyond that as natural surrounding mana in most cases had no real imprint unlike that born out of a creatures body.
The third was to simply escape the fog but he was sure she was smart enough to have considered that and made plans against it hence her confidence in using this little trick in such a closed and limited space like the barrier whil
Emrys knew it clearly from the start, she was much greater than the red orc, if he had to fight her under the same conditions as he fought him then there was no doubt he would be at a stalemate, but thankfully his vow which had been fulfilled was no longer in place giving him the freedom to do as he wished with mana.
<
<
In a moment Emrys had flown upwards just as fast as the thunderbolt was descending, he twisted his body away to the side as it passed him by a hairs breath but as he had expected that wasn't the end of it. The thunderbolt had struck down on the arena causing incredible damage to it's surface but instead of fading away the spell took root deep into it and in moments extended a branch lightning bolt from it's body which struck at Emrys who flew away to the side in order to avoid it yet from that very same branch another extended pursuing him once again.
The Jorōgumo wondered exactly how Emrys was able to feel or distinguish the bolts through the hazy storm of mana overloading senses, no matter how high he flew he could not escape the wind which was the medium of which her little trick worked, that was unless he tried leaving the world itself which could not be allowed considering the barrier also had a ceiling high above.
But for now nothing was occurring outside the expectations with him yet, even the fact he hadn't begun using mana meant little, in the end all her preparations would prevail in bringing his mortal life to a permanent end.
Nearly a million branches had been created in the short time her thoughts wandered and Emrys no longer had the freedom to dodge as he pleased, dodging another bolt one last time he weaved through the gaps of the other branches in a flash and went back down to the stage. With little time to rest he dodged the bolt that struck down in pursuit and flew right in front of her but only just for a moment as he backed away and flew right up again.
The Jorōgumo knowing full well what he had done acted fast barely forming an incomplete mana shield around herself just in the knick of time before the bolt struck her, but contrary to his expectations when it struck the entire damage of it was transferred directly to Emrys who groaned in annoyance experiencing the constant stream of destructive lightning assaulting him.
A realisation seemed to have crossed her eyes upon this happening, remembering she had a damage transfer artifact on her after having acted out of instinct to protect herself she felt relief, this was her first slip up but thankfully it ended up working out in her favor. But she knew this had to be the first and last of this mistake, though she trusted full well in her preparations she still would never undersell just how dangerous her opponent was.
<
She whispered, the spell was cast but unexpectedly it backfired and was repelled directly onto her causing a complete loss of harmony to her physical and mental state which affected both the fog and lightning spell she had cast.
Emrys now relieved of the assault and also now with clear senses looked at his opponent who was struggling on the floor barely able to get up or think or process anything at all, a weird feeling arose in his chest thinking of her performance. Is she so smart that she was dumb, or is this just due to terribly bad luck. Eitherway this was the second time now he would have to save his opponent from themselves, he flew down and called upon the natural mana around to help him as his own mana was still off-limits for now.
Looking at the mana dancing around his fingers Emrys sighed, it had only been like an hour ago he learned to control the world's mana and now he had to crash course himself through the much harder path of using mana not belonging to you to cast a spell, perhaps he should thank her clumsiness for forcing his growth faster than he intended.
'Hm, thoughts versus imagination. No, thought and imagination'
'The mana in my control responds clearly to my thoughts but only in the form of simple and short commands'.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Suddenly his thoughts wandered to a different matter altogether–
'I wonder why it's so much easier to absorb part of the world's natural mana that it is to control and direct it as you wish'.
Pulling his thoughts back to the relevant matter at hand, using his thoughts in the form of short, quick and simple commands it was easy to shape and direct the flow of mana. Of course when he says easy he meant it as relative only to himself and a few others alone, but the real problem now was it not registering or accepting his imagination also. Mana is thought to be sentient in a way naturally but also not, only a few rare phenomenons occur where full sentience could not be argued as anything other than a fact and those were it's own thing.
'Wait a minute, I am one of manas most favoured child, why would it reject me so vehemently all of a sudden in this area'.
'Knew something didn't make sense, did something happen between now and eight years ago?'.
He pondered for a bit but very little came to mind except for one thing–
"Dark mana".
Dark mana was the most powerful state of mana but it's nature was also rebellious and went against everything in the world, perhaps unknowingly it's presence in his body was interfering with status as a most favoured child, if it weren't for the fact he possessed two cores he suspected it might have also caused great problems for him had he awoken it before the change occurred.
His mother unlike him was born with only the single nature of Dark mana unlike he possessing two types so Emrys was sure she faced no problems though he was unable to confirm that thought, he sighed to himself feeling slightly annoyed at his current predicament.
'What a doubled edged sword this is'.
With a hypothesis he felt to be sure in mind Emrys began trying a different approach, glancing at the mana dancing around his hands he smiled. Forcing out a measly strand of his own mana he gave it unto the world's mana then dispersed it, instantly a large wave of mana descended upon the stage.
He had no time to deal with feuds between the natural order, so long as it left him out of it then he too then everything would be fine. His thoughts was laid bare to the world's mana as was his emotions, bit by bit he could feel a new level of acceptance being granted unto him but there was one final bargaining chip he had. At his command Aine stopped concealing herself and their relationship to the world's mana, instantly it was his favour had shot right back through the roof going even higher than it was eight years ago.
The large mana he had gathered dispersed but Emrys now could feel clearly how much closer he had become to the world and not just to the world but also to his own self, eight years he paid little attention to and took it for granted which might have cost him a lot more growth than he had achieved in the past eight years if he had noticed his slightly soured status with the world in time.
"What a blunder" he chided himself.
The weight in his body gotten even lighter to carry, suppressing the raging power inside of him no longer was as forceful and violent as it was, even without having formed a new circle and at the end of his growth with the First he felt his limit expand which had inturn caused a weird situation.
The raging power inside him was no longer recognized by the Arcane as the primary limit breaker into forming his Second circle and achieving a whole new league of power but simply power that which should have been introduced into that level now getting consolidated into the first which meant evolution without having to ascend. But this came with a little loss of his bonus, now that such a strong mana wasn't recognised anymore as the limit breaker it meant that it would no longer be growing stronger until it completely overpowered his own entirely.
Though if he were to consider just how strong it had become, already surpassing his 'normal' mana entirely and approaching that of the Dark mana in his body then he cannot really claim to have suffered a true loss especially as this meant when taking his growth into consideration he would be getting a second chance to extort the Arcane once more for a true chance at ascension into the Second circle.
<
A moment later clarity and order was returned to her, she got up up from the stage and simply said nothing but stare at Emrys with an undecipherable look.
"A warning, refrain from using mental attacks against me".
"Though I thought myself to be quite lax in fortifying that area i found out recently that this only rings true relatively when compared to someone like me".
A second after he launched himself forward taking her by surprise but she silently chanted a <
"You are much slower than I both physically and mentally, because careful lest I use that against you also".
"Now, please fight me seriously, your life depends on it".
He flew back and stood there unmoving, it was clear what his intentions were now. Allowing her time to recover and organise her thoughts, she had plans laid out and he knew that but if he were to engage her as she were now it would be too easy to cause panic and affect her decision making leading to more unnecessary illogical moves than he intended to cause.
Emrys could sense it when the change occurred, the air was extremely charged but yet not with the intention to disrupt his senses like the fog, as if set up for something else entirely. But now there was also a new feeling established to him, her mana, it felt so malleable. Like he could take control of it at anytime he wished, this was the true boon he received by going a step beyond in his favour with the world. It wasn't just her mana too but even the surroundings felt malleable to him, her very being felt malleable to him.
'I'm still nowhere near as favoured as the young fairy, but I understand a bit now that I've barely scratched the surface'.
For now Emrys decided to refrain from revealing part of his ability to her, not because of he was worried nor was it due to a sentimental reason but simply because a card this big would almost certainly ruin everything she had planned and Emrys had no intention of letting this end so easily.
For now he would go with the simple stuff, clasping he gathered some of the world's mana and shaped it into a ghastly double-edged scythe made entirely of mana, as she was no favoured one he had no worries on if she would he able to pick up on what he had just done.
Pulling the chain bracelet from her hands she tossed them to the ground, a moment later they began vibrating and each lock gigantified and turned molten grouping together to form three metal golems that stood at a height of nearly four feet.
'Smart' he remarked to himself.
Normal golems were already incredibly resistant to magic attacks and their physical stats bar speed were devastating, having metal golems took things to a whole new level as unlike the normal earth golems lacking in speed as a weakness this type sacrificed nothing at all.
Spinning his scythe around he flew straight towards her but it course he got stopped by a golem who punched straight at him but he dodged around the fist and kneed it straight in the face but to his expectations it didn't budge.
It attempted grabbing onto him but he flew back to avoid it, the other two which had been standing began walking towards him and in an instant they vanished appearing on both sides of him delivering a punch but he formed a mana shield around himself. The impact of their punches was so strong it demolished the entire surface of the stage bar the area of which she stood, his mana barrier was riddled with cracks but those were easily fixed with a thought.
The golem on his right became encased with flames and the one on his left buzzed with lightning encasing it like an armour. Emrys reshaped the shield in a split second to form two separate tentacles which he wrapped around the golemns to thrown them a distance away from him. The stage was now in a constant molten state and would remain as such for as long as the fire golem maintained it's form.
It's flames would have affected his flesh if not for the thin film of mana he coated himself with, the fire golem commanded the molten material shaping into great spikes which it launched towards Emrys in the air who easily dodged them
He left the scythe floating in the air and flew down to strike a punch at the fire golem who blocked it with a punch of it's own, the area around it sunk a meter deep from the force of their clash. The lightning armoured golem tried grabbing at him but Emrys backed away to gain some distance but both were right on his heels giving him not time to rest, the fire golem struck a front kick at his body but Emrys swiftly dodged around it and responded with a punch to it's face which the lightning armoured golem caught lifting him up by the arm to a comfortable level.
In a split second it had thrown a thousand punches at Emrys all of which he responded to with a thousand of his own at each fist thrown. He forcefully pulled his hand out of the golemns grasp and formed a partial mana shield at his side blocking the flame golems attack while in the same breath catching the lightning armoured golem by the face and pulling it's head down for a strong knee kick followed by a push kick just before forming a complete mana shield around himself to protect against the pillar of flames striking at him from all sides.
Wasting no time he flew back up and aimed his index down at the stage-
<
Fifteen arrows were summoned in the air, each at least a two meters in length and they descended upon the stage. A hailstorm of lightning attacks reaching more than twenty meters in length and covering the stage entirely rampaged on with immersive destructive force taking a good chunk off it in the end.
The golem at the back standing closest to it's master had molded a shield around her from it's own body and the other two stood as they were completely unaffected by his attack of earlier.
"Too weak huh".
He dispersed the scythe then flew straight down and for the first time she could feel an actual shift in his demeanor, Emrys had no plans of going as easy as he did and that was her que to hasten her preparations while the golemn bought time.
Both golems dashed forward at him with fire golem spat out a tsunami of flames from a makeshift poor imitation of a mouth but to it's shock Emrys was standing atop it's head, with a light kick the golem was down on it's knees.
'As I thought, the one at the back is truly the strongest one'.
The lightning armoured golem shot five bolts of lightning at him which Emrys blocked with a mana shield before flying right Infront of it.
The golem was fast as he had expected, definitely the fastest of the three as it had caught him the very moment he was within range. He forced open it's hand with his strength and struck a kick at it's neck but it dodged that easily, Emrys flew to the side to avoid the large ball of fire searing a path straight to him hitting it's companion instead while in the same breath rocketing himself towards the fire golem only to be met with a perfectly timed <
The momentary distraction was enough for the two golems to pounce or so they thought but Emrys had put up a mana barrier in time and in a split second disperse it to reform the scythe adding to it a torrent of lightning then performing an upwards slash. A pillar of lightning reaching nearly a hundred meters in length flashed for a moment before dying down, on the fire golems arm was a deep cut marking his first real damage against the constructs.
"Resistance, not perfect immunity".
The flame golem healed the mark and punched down at Emrys once more but he parried it's arm to the side and grabbed it by it's makeshift mouth high into the air faster than the lightning armoured one could prevent and threw it high into the air while shaping the mana around to form two giant hands closing in on crushing it from both sides. The flame golem roared as it burned with a much greater intensity almost like a supernova causing a blinding light that could be seen for miles on end, the constructs were destabilised but reformed around the burning golem like a pool of water crushing it under an immense level of force.
The lightning golem acted fast as it leaped high into the air and shaped a part of the armour around it into a footing to jump even higher until it reached a comfortable level and shot out a giant lightning construct shaped in the form of a snake striking through the ball of mana to push the fire golemn out while sending down a great bolt at Emrys who casually put up a mana shield only to be surprised at it breaking to pieces and devouring him in it's torment without mercy.
Both golems fell back to the stage with no damage bar the fire golem who was still reforming from almost being crushed to a pulp, both looked up to see Emrys looking to be with barely any damage which even he seemed to be slightly amazed by.
'That confirms it, my affinity grants me a bit of a resistance'.
"Useful" he mused and looked down at the golems below–
<
<
<
A six meter cubic structure made entirely of lightning mana was manifested around the golems restricting their movements and imprisoning them within a field of constant torment, she watched as the strikes tore at her golems piece by piece down to their very cores until nothing was left.
But making one final struggle in a desperate attempt to survive the lightning armoured golem forcefully began absorbing the attack into it's own core as it's body tore and recovered itself over and over again. Emrys seeing this simply smiled as he even began helping it, the golem kept absorbing but yet the mana wasn't depleting, in fact it was growing even more and soon enough it's core could contain no more and cracked.
With it's core destabilised the power contained within went wild and rampaged against the torment of lightning, the prison began shaking and Emrys knowing what was about to happen levitated the prison high into the air and cast a fourth spell
<
It's core shattered to pieces killing the golem and unleashing a great explosion within the prison, Emrys began compressing the prison as it the power inside struggled to expand, from within he fed it's rampage giving it no chance to die out unless he wished it to be so.
The prison was compressed until it could fit in the palm of his hands and then he left it in the air to float while he began walking towards her.
"Are you not done preparing yet, my patience's running a little thin".
She displayed no reaction to his words, only sending a command at the last golemn to step forward as she placed a hand atop it's own, an enchantment revealed itself for a momentt before fading away. The golems body turned red hot as a pulse similar to that of a heartbeat began beating in it's chest, lot's of steam rose off it as it's form began dissolving into a cocoon and shrinking down to a height that towered only slightly above that of Emrys.
The cocoon broke shattered to pieces revealing a whole new advanced form of the golem, from it's back were two great metallic wings that seemed to be in an almost liquid state of flow and in it's chest were there crystal-like objects
One red, one blue and the other black. On it's face was a single red eye and it's head seemed to be on set ablaze by flames, a pressure incomparable to the opponents he had faced upon returning home was felt from it. If the other two golems of before stood at the peak of a First star warrior in strength this one was almost certainly comparable to that of a Second star in it's fifth tier, capable of killing the other two with little effort.
"Fine, I'll play a little longer".
Emrys knew full well that unless he actually enhanced himself with his own mana rather than externally shaping some bits of the world's mana to deceive his opponent then he would be absolutely slaughtered by that golem in terms of physical strength and maybe for the first time get outmatched in speed, yet he had no plans to do so even until this fight came to an end.
<
<
The stage glowed with a dim light which died down quickly, with his preparations completed Emrys released his claws and smiled.
EnD.