Ana watched with a tense smile as TidalWave stabbed his sword through his final opponent. It had been a full twenty seconds or so since the round had started but both of the warriors had ditched defense and exchanged a dozen deadly blows designed to kill each other quickly.

That opponent had put up quite a fight.

She let out the breath she’d been holding. Despite his opponent’s startling and praiseworthy tenacity TidalWave had managed to avoid using any skills to end the fight.

‘I’ll have to get up there soon.’ Ana didn’t want to miss congratulating Emily for all the wins she’d accrued.

Her friend had managed to pass both the first and second round with flying colours. She’d honestly been thrilled watching every second of it from her mother’s laptop. She’d had to bring it into her room after she realised that she didn’t have the space to see the battles on her computer. There were so many fights that a single computer monitor couldn’t hold them all. But just seeing her friend duck and weave expertly through enemies was cathartic enough to give her satisfaction. Unfortunately, the forums and the viewers hadn’t taken notice of her skills.

They had jumped immediately on her weight and then the internet had done its work from there.

‘Bastards.’ Ana typed angry responses furiously as she kept her eyes on the matches.

If she couldn’t fight alongside Emily in the game then she could defend her online. But there was a hell of a lot more viewers than a single person could deal with. Ana took a look and saw the number jump to nearly three hundred thousand. Only a fraction of those were watching Emily’s streamed battles but it was still a frightening number.

‘I'm just glad Milly can’t see this.’ Her friend had no experience with the limelight, she would probably freeze in terror if she knew how many people were watching her.

Ana was about to type a brand new response to one of the commenters when she heard a faint buzzing coming from her phone.

[Message from; Andrew.]

“Ugh.” Ana rolled her eyes.

She had fibbed a little when telling Emily that Andrew had completely disappeared. The man had been trying to contact her for two weeks now. He was lucky he wasn’t being pushy or she would have blocked him off completely. Honestly, she was just trying to keep her distance until she was ready to talk to him again civilly. It wasn’t as though she planned to stay mad at him forever. But the guy was definitely acting more like a jerk lately. And a little crazier too considering his sudden ‘time travel’ story.

She put the phone to the side and ignored it. If she wanted to talk to him she would.

‘Oh.’ Her eyes narrowed as she scrutinised Emily’s opponents carefully.

The third round was just beginning but Emily’s group had hardly moved. They were all standing and staring at the others that had been dropped in with them, nobody daring to fire off a spell for fear of being targeted.

Then Ana saw something strange.

[40,000]

The viewer count for this one fight had sudden undergone drastic growth.

‘What’s going on?’ Ana tried to figure out why this particular fight was suddenly gathering viewers.

[55,000]

It had jumped drastically within a few seconds. And it was continuously growing by the thousand every second after that.

“Oh god, Milly.” Ana groaned as she finally saw the issue with the platform her friend was on.

The viewers weren’t gathering for no reason. There were two people that Emily definitely shouldn’t be messing with inside there. They were famous enough that even a casual player like her knew their names and reputations. Either one of them would draw this kind of crowd and attention, but now they had been both placed together in a single battle. And Emily was stuck between them.

Golden Lion’s Claire.

Grand Thunder’s Jein.

The eternal rivals at the top of the virtual reality gaming scene.

[Viewers: 120,000]

****

The final placement match had begun.

Seven’s eyes flitted from opponent to opponent as she analysed their positions and stances. She had learnt from the countless duels against her teammates that it wasn’t easy to stop your subtle movements from giving away your intentions. She could spot a slight shoulder tensing, a foot shuffling subconsciously towards her or even the tilt of a wand that would give away her enemy’s intentions.

But right now none of those things were occurring.

‘What’s going on?’ Seven looked in confusion at her opponents.

They weren’t just ignoring her, they seemed to all be ignoring each other. Instead of tense shoulders, she could see shivering spines, feet were making their way back as the players tried to escape and wands were lifted without hesitation as though the players had no doubts about their most dangerous enemies.

Two girls that were staring at each other with deadly calm.

[Claire: Level 44] [Jein: Level 45]

Seven watched the players who were slowly trying to edge away as though they were standing near a pair of bombs and hesitated.

‘Am I missing something here?’

She could tell that she was. But she also felt that the atmosphere in this fight was a lot different compared to her other matches. There was a certain tension in the air that hadn’t been present before.

Seven had been rather sad that her last two matches had ended without incident. But it looked like every player here was competent enough to at least realise that bursting into battle wasn’t the way to go. Although several of them were getting uncomfortably close to her as they tried to get out of sight of the two girls.

Seven lifted her wand towards one of them and saw that he hadn’t even noticed her.

-106

Seven didn’t hesitate to eliminate the player. She didn’t care if she set off the entire platform into a free for all. She wasn’t going to risk this amazing opportunity just because of two unknowns. The player collapsed in surprise as the high damage number appeared over his head.

The players all froze as they heard her firing her magic blast. Then they all slowly turned their heads towards Seven, watching her awkwardly standing there with the body turning gray beside her.

“Oh?” Seven saw Claire looking at the body while smiling, “Quite the damage you have there-”

The girl’s compliment was cut short as she leant back to avoid being smashed in the face by a shower of ice. Seven’s eyes widened as she saw the exchange. It was as though Claire’s reaction had been inhuman. One second the girl’s head was about to make contact with the attack and the next she had moved back and out of the way. She had moved so fast that Seven saw an after-image of her body.

Seven didn’t even know how she’d seen the attack, it had come from her blind spot.

“So impatient. I guess that’s to be expected from the hothead of Korea.” Claire snarled as she turned away from Seven.

Seven could see the magi had already forgotten about her and the corpse. Now the girl only had eyes for the person that had attacked her.

Jein.

Claire’s blood burned as she laid eyes on the girl. They’d never had a good relationship but now the Koreans had made the first move to get into the game before her team had.

“Someone so low levelled shouldn’t be talking so much smack.” Jein quipped as she raised her staff and pointed it towards the sky, “Blizzard.”

‘What the hell is that?’ Seven gaped in surprise as she was instantly blinded by a bright ice coloured light that shot out in all directions.

The staff let out a brilliant beam of light into the air and Seven could see through blurry eyes Claire making a move to stop her, but before the magi could commit to any spells the air around her grew chilly and she froze as the platform was covered in a blanket of ice and snow.

‘Damn it.’ Seven watched Claire’s body encased in ice for a good two seconds and caught a glimpse of the tip of the magi’s wand flickering with gold.

And then Seven lost sight of her as the snow and hail dropping around her grew thicker.

“Light’s Destruction.”

Claire stretched out her frozen hand and fired a laser of light towards Jein but she knew it probably wouldn’t hit. The girl was too experienced to make a rookie mistake like staying in one place. The spell Jein used quickly spread across the platform in the form of a storm of fog and ice that battered against the players. Claire could barely see a few feet in front of her, let alone across to the other side where Jein had been.

She didn’t have a clue where the Korean had gone.

“God, you had to bring out the big moves straight away.” Claire muttered under her breath as she broke the thin ice encasing her and tried to get a grasp of her surroundings.

She had at least wanted to keep some of her abilities a secret, but she wouldn't allow herself to lose to Jein.

‘A restriction spell?’ She flaked off some of the ice shards that had formed on her body. Somehow Jein had weaved it in at the same time as she created the blizzard.

Faced by the pitch-black darkness of the snowstorm Claire could tell she was in for a tough fight. But this was the kind of stuff she lived for.

“Heh.” Claire’s sourness turned into a chuckle as she ducked and weaved randomly, she didn’t want to risk being hit by a sneak attack, “Light’s Judgement.”

She lifted her wand into the air and watched calmly as orbs of light appeared from the tip and flew into the air. This was a technique she had only known a couple of people to have mastered. The creation of invisible spheres which could be used to manipulate magic and further the variety of spells she could cast. When she gained her class she had been given this skill in honour of having perfected the ability to utilise this rare technique.

She called them control spheres.

“Light’s Judgement; Activate.” She clicked her fingers for added effect and the spheres lit up brightly.

They began illuminating the frost and hail, causing dozens of shadows to light up as the five other players were hit by bright lights from all angles. Claire smiled as she saw several players spread out in confusion across the platform and one separate person running towards her in the cover of the storm.

Jein was trying to sneak around to attack her.

‘I’ll get rid of the riff-raff first.’

“Light’s Judgement; Fire.”

She felt her mana draining as she concentrated on the four players that were still struggling to find out what was happening. The orbs began to spin furiously, releasing small rays of light that flew through the air towards the players. Each one was only a few centimetres long but the space they illuminated as they passed through the wind and hail made them seem far more menacing.

Then she turned towards the Korean wizard that was making her way towards her.

“Time to show you what I’ve got.”

The short rays of light homed in on the four players with a precision beyond a human’s. Ignoring the snow and lack of visibility they lit up their surroundings as they filled the air and smashed against the ground and enemies.

‘Holy crap.’ Seven was still trying to spot where Claire had gone when suddenly the sky lit up with light and she spotted several lasers heading towards her.

“Stone shift.”

Seven didn’t hesitate to use her skill as the ground she’d been standing in began to face a sudden onslaught of attacks. One second the entire place had been deadly quiet but now she could hear shouts as the other players were hit by the strange attacks. And there were more coming.

Seven continued to stone shift as the lasers drew near. She couldn’t risk a single one hitting her but she hadn’t managed to grasp their timing yet. She could hear the effect each laser would have on her as the players around her let out yelps of pain. They didn’t sound too deadly but there were a lot of them.

Luckily they also made it easier to see in the snow. Seven couldn’t see her opponent’s features but the illuminated ice crystals showed her the positions of her enemies. Two were nearby and another three further ahead.

‘Phew. These are slow.’ Seven held her wand at her side defensively as she began to sidestep the incoming lasers without the use of her stone shifting.

She had been surprised by the sudden rain of fire but quickly discovered that the attack wasn’t as deadly as she had first assumed. She dodged the first few without using her magic by the skin of her teeth before she became used to them. Luckily they could easily be seen through the snow due to their inherent glow or else they would have struck her easily under the cover of the blizzard. If this had been an attack launched by Grenda she would have kissed her chances of living goodbye.

Their speed couldn’t compare to one of Archy’s arrows.

But it wasn’t as easy to dodge as it seemed. Several of the players lit up nearby and they cried out as they were hit by the attacks and one even died under the onslaught as one too many smashed into him. Seven hadn’t even realised they were so close until the rays struck them. But now there were two juicy targets nearby that were damaged.

‘I need to get to them.’

She could tell immediately that each orb was a focus point. She couldn’t even count how many orbs were out there in the snow. But she knew it was at least ten, maybe even more. Seven watched the orbs and players carefully to try and discover a weakness. The flickering lights raining down on them were seemingly indestructible and unblockable by anything she had, although they didn’t deal too much damage.

She used the constantly firing orbs to make her move. They would provide her with cover fire and vision as she snuck her way towards the players. As long as she didn’t get hit she would be fine. Dodging each shot carefully she made her way to the closest player that was under attack and held her breath. She didn’t know how far her attacks would travel in this snow. If her shots weren’t affected she was in the perfect range, however, either way, she would light up her surroundings and give herself away.

Then the surroundings began to get darker.

‘They have a limited amount of ammo.’ She could see some of the orbs flickering out of existence as they reached their thresholds.

She needed to kill the enemies before she lost her source of light.

-106

-106

Seven took advantage of the opportunity to jump towards her opponent and smash her attacks against them. The poor player didn’t even know what had hit him as the snow lit up in a brilliant blue and the magic blasts smashed into him.

She immediately turned away from the other player being attacked and rushed towards the source of the lights. She didn’t want to fight those two girls directly, they were clearly planning to kill each other before anyone else, but she did want to make sure she was in range to do some serious damage once the storm let up. Then she jumped back as she saw a blast of red energy pass by her.

‘That wasn’t meant to hit me.’ Seven realised that the magic had been aimed well above her and was only meant to get her attention.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Excuse me.” She turned in surprise to see a man standing there with his hand held out high, “It’s not the best time to be fighting each other.”

[Jacob: Level 41.]

The last player other than her in the platform aside from the two powerful magic users clashing ahead.

“This is exactly the time to be fighting each other.” Seven gestured with her hands at the area she’d last seen the light magi, “We’re in an arena.”

“Yes, but we are the smallest fish in this tank.” Jacob didn’t bring his wand any lower despite Seven’s hostile attitude, “We need to team up together if we want to defeat either one of those two. Especially Jein.”

‘Hmm.’ Seven thought about it for a second.

“You know what?” Seven turned around and waved her hand at him, “I’ll think about it.”

If he didn’t shoot her in the back it meant he was serious. But if he did then she was confident she could see his attack coming as the red light reflected on the snow. Then she would stone shift out the way and kill him.

She had seen how powerful those two other players were and she could admit that she was feeling a little overwhelmed by their displays. But until she was certain she couldn’t beat them on her own, she didn’t want to play an unfair advantage over them. If it came to teaming up then she’d try and look for this guy again.

And if he died before this blizzard let out then that would just be a pity.

‘Thank god.’ She let out a sigh of relief as she looked over her shoulder and saw that Jacob has disappeared into the blizzard.

He hadn’t stabbed her in the back.

‘There.’ Seven soon saw brilliant blasts of light causing the snow to illuminate and then darken as they passed by.

Each one originated from a player that was just barely out of her view, the same one that Seven was sure had created the shooting orbs.

This player was capable of creating at least ten focus points whilst in a high-intensity situation. She was definitely someone that Seven had to watch out for or else she would be killed in an instant. She took in the situation with calm eyes as the orbs began to flicker out faster than they could be recreated. Soon Seven couldn’t see a single new orb in the sea of light. Their master was too distracted to create them.

Claire was under attack.

“What?” Seven let out a small gasp as the air around her suddenly seemed to waver with magical energy.

She could feel a familiar sensation of power coursing through the air. It was as though the area around her had been dosed in electricity that was slowly crowding the sky and suffocating her.

‘Oh.’

She closed her eyes for a split second as she realised what was happening. It wasn’t a spell or a skill, not yet at least. But out there in the dark swirling snow was a figure that was radiating the same kind of energy she felt from Third. And when she looked at her surroundings with her eyes closed, she could see the same phenomenon that had occurred with Muriel and Azeroth. Somebody was flooding the arena with focus points. So many that she could hardly count them for fear of using up all her time.

It was like looking at a gigantic bomb.

“Well damn, I should have taken that guys offer.” Seven chuckled to herself, only half joking.

She could feel herself itching to battle against the monster that had created this attack. She could tell they weren’t ordinary, it had been clear from the way the others had all reacted. She had seen the other players shaking in fear before these two had even made a move. That meant only one thing to her; this was what the players at the top of the game looked like.

And she wanted to fight them.

****

‘I only have a limited amount of time.’

Jein circled her staff in the air as she eyed her opponent and her mana carefully.

“Frost Shards.”

Eight sharp and icy crystals materialised one by one in the air surrounding her and with a flick of her wrist, each crystal tore through the air and sliced towards Claire. Jein watched with satisfaction as the French player was forced to duck at the unexpected attack.

‘So you can’t see everything.’ Jein’s lips curled into a smile.

The moment Claire had begun firing at her she’d been worried that the magi had some way to see through the blizzard. But judging from her reactions she could only tell where Jein was, not what she was doing.

‘This match is going to me.’

Jein moved from side to side as Claire fired more and more blasts of light at her, gathering her magic and concentrating on the area around her. Slowly the entire platform was being bathed in translucent balls that Jein knew were invisible to the naked eye.

Her opponent could tell something was off from the way Jein had stopped moving towards her. A moment later Jein could see Claire retreating as she realised that something was coming.

‘Too late.’

From the tip of her staff Jein could see small transparent balls billowing out and floating in the air around her. Ten, fifteen, thirty… when she finally managed to squeeze the last bit of concentration she had to create the spell she released her magic directly into the balls and with a smile saw them light up with magic.

“Ice Wave.”

The moment the words left her lips the blizzard came to a stop. It was quite a sight to see. The entire world of snow she had created pausing in place at her command. Snowflakes hovered in the air like delicate ornaments, and then they began to quiver and shake as though being pulled apart by an unseen force.

In the air and on the ground the balls let out pulsating glows and with each throb of light the snow around them began to shake more and more. Jein watched with glee as the direction of the storm seemed to reverse, the snow and ice being pulled into the balls as though hit by a vacuum cleaner. Within seconds the entirety of the arena was emptying and in its place were large balls of snow that began to swirl around Jein like guardians surrounding a tomb. Each one was the size of a car and just as deadly.

Jein pointed her staff at the retreating Claire with gusto, “Get her.”

At her words the balls burst apart and the gathered snow splashed onto the ground. But instead of staying still or disappearing the snow began to howl and as though filled with life it gathered together to form a mighty tidal wave. The gigantic wave flooded the platform and made its way toward the startled Claire.

Rising far above her and filling every angle it was impossible to dodge the attack. Let alone Claire, everyone left on the platform would be destroyed. She watched as the wave made its way through the arena and grinned.

This had been an easier victory than she’d thought.

“Titan of Light.”

Then the grin was wiped off her face as Claire clenched her teeth and raised her hands into the air. Before Jein could even blink there was a shimmering of light in the air in front of her wave, and out of the portal stepped a golden giant clad in armour.

“What the heck.” Jein didn’t know this kind of magic was possible.

The giant smashed against the wave and as though the snow was a living entity the wave stopped in its entirety, spraying snow and ice everywhere. The golden guardian had managed to stop the attack with its body, and was continuously struggling against the wave as it pushed. But Jein could see the giant was struggling.

‘That thing is going to break.’ Jein didn’t dare to hold back and immediately began creating crystals in the air that fired towards the titan and Claire.

The magi couldn’t make it over her wave but she didn’t want to risk anything unexpected. She hadn’t even thought the French player would survive her ice wave attack at all. She had underestimated the professional. Jein moved closer and closer towards the edge of the wave as she tried to close the distance between herself and Claire.

As long as she could get one good shot in or even destroy the titan then she would have won.

“I see.” Jein heard a voice by her side and with a startled jolt she barely managed to dodge a blast of bright red magic that had been aimed at her head, “So this was your plan.”

[Jacob: Level 41]

“Who are you?” Jein flicked her staff and the gigantic wave began to take over its own actions, then she pointed it towards the newcomer, “Oh right.”

She moved back as the player attacked her again. She’d allowed him to get too close for comfort. She’d forgotten there were still people in the arena other than her and Claire. She’d thought the French magi had managed to kill them all.

“Ah, that hurts.” Jacob smiled as he released blast after blast at the retreating wizard, “But I guess we aren’t all famous enough to be recognised.”

“You have that right.” Jein waved her staff and shards of frost materialised around her, firing immediately towards Jacob as he tried to close the distance, “You should have hit me with your first attack. Now you have no chance.”

“Yes.” Jacob nodded and lifted his wand towards her, “Blood Sanctuary.”

“Oh shit.” Jein tried to move out of the way of whatever was coming.

But before she could even lift a foot the ground swirled with the colour red and ten bright red tentacles of blood lifted themselves out of the stone and tangled together to create a cage around her.

“Ha. If you wanted to kill me you should have brought something that could stop my movements.” Jein realised she could still cast spells, “Ice spears.”

Jein fired off spears of ice and large ice crystals at her opponent. Each shot of red energy he fired at her was blocked perfectly as the spears hit them head-on, the faster and smaller crystal shards were sent rocketing towards Jacob’s body. She didn’t need to move to defend herself.

“Yes.” Jacob eyed the attacks and moved back to a safe distance with a grin, “But I never said I was going to kill you.”

“That’s my job.”

-106

Jein let out a shout as she was smashed from behind by a bright blue attack that lit up the area around her with sparks. The blood cage seemed to let out a human scream as it was hit by the attack as well, and the red tendrils withered and retreated as they curled back into the ground.

“Who-”

Jein’s words caught in her mouth as she spotted the newcomer. She recognised this person. She had seen her in one of the videos Ji-Woo had shown her.

“Flying girl.”

[Seven: Level 43]

****

“What the hell is that?”

Seven stared in wonder as a wave of ice made its way across the platform. It was completely unstoppable. And it was heading right towards her.

“Titan of Light.”

The air seemed to brighten as Seven saw Claire waving her wand and lifting her hands. Within seconds the wave had reached the magi and was almost at Seven, but then a brilliant golden giant appeared in front of Claire and with a mighty roar it pushed back against the wave.

‘Damn that’s cool.’ Seven hadn’t even had a chance to do anything but think of running from the attack.

But this girl was blocking it without breaking a sweat

“There you are.”

Seven felt a hand curling around her wrist and with a snap, she broke free and leapt back.

And she came face to face with the other surviving opponent on the platform.

“Jacob.” Seven felt relief wash over her.

At least he hadn’t taken her distraction as a sign that he should kill her.

“We don’t have the time for this. Do you realise that’s Jein? We can’t beat her without teaming up. Claire’s attack won’t hold the wave back for long.”

Seven stared up at the girl that had created the blizzard and now the gigantic wave that threatened to kill them all in one fell swoop. The titan was already beginning to sway from side to side as it grew tired.

“I think we can’t beat her at all.” Seven honestly couldn’t see a way to do it.

When she closed her eyes she could see the sheer amount of focus points that composed and held the wave together. The player that had created that thing was a monster.

“I can get over the wave.” Jacob didn’t hesitate to lay out his plan, “But I can’t defeat Jein by myself, although I will definitely try. She is not known as one of the best players in the world for nothing. She is extremely skilled and I’m afraid only a surprise attack will give us a chance.”

He peeked at the titan that was holding back the wave, “She’s probably under the impression that Claire is her only threat. If I sneak up on her I think I can trap her safely, all you have to do it come out behind her and finish the job.”

‘Do I want to team up to kill this person?’ Seven thought about it for a split second before nodding her head.

She didn’t care for ganging up on people. But then she thought about the kind of person they were facing. She wasn’t sure who Jein was exactly but from the girl’s attacks and tactics, it was clear she was someone at the top of the game. And now Seven had a chance to fight against her directly instead of just running from her attacks.

That was something exciting enough for Seven to give it a try.

“So how are you going to get us over that wave?”

“Us?” Jacob looked at her with narrowed eyes, “This is no time to hold back. I’ve seen the video of you and your teammates fighting against that NPC Azeroth. You are able to walk in the air, and you easily crossed a distance higher than this wave.”

He began to make his way towards the wave and with a push of his hand a section of the snow turned blood red, “Remember, I will trap her. Make sure to come from behind her and land a killing shot.”

Without another word he walked through the blood-red portal and disappeared.

Admittedly he hadn’t given her much time to think or talk, but even if he had she couldn’t do what he wanted her to. He had seen her using aura step and thought that she was hiding her skills. But that was an ability she’d already lost.

‘Well, that guy is going to die.’ Seven shook her head sadly and stared up at the incoming wave, ‘And so am I if I don’t do anything.’

To her, it looked like a massive array of focus points tiding over and smashing against the giant. She had only recently begun to be able to see the focus points when her eyes were open, but with all the snow in the way it was hard to distinguish what was a focus point and what was ice. The massive titan was holding on but now he was slowly being pushed further and further back by the unstoppable attack. Its armour was cracking and within it, bulging muscles seemed to be pushing at full power to try and keep up with the pressure.

“There has to be a way to stop this thing.” Seven tried to concentrate on the focus points.

Each part of the wave was covered in them, although they didn’t seem as strong as they did when they first started. But she couldn’t think of anything to stop the attack. It was just too powerful.

‘Damn it.’

Jacob had been right. If she knew aura step she would have easily been able to get out of this mess by gliding over the attack. She couldn’t do anything as she was. She di to fly, or teleport or even come close to the players she was seeing now. She suddenly realised how it felt for others to encounter something so much bigger than they are. These two magic users were far above her...

*SLAP*

Seven rubbed her cheeks as she felt the sting of her palm on them, ‘Calm down Emily.’

This wasn’t the time or the place for her to panic, she needed to get something done.

She closed her eyes and took in the entire structure of the massive wave before her. The snow slowly faded away from sight as she began to concentrate on the focus points. Each focus point was a new area in her eyes and yet despite the chaos, she could see a certain pattern. It was something she couldn’t break, or even try to attack.

‘Focus, focus.’ She shook her head as the negative thoughts threatened to overwhelm, ‘Think of what you can do.’

This was the same problem that Muriel had posed to her. She didn’t need a way to magically create things from thin air or even use her own focus points to fly. She just needed to find a way to manipulate the environment around her. She needed to find a way to change the focus points creating the wave.

With a calm focus she shut her eyes tightly and approached the deadly wave. Each footstep she took towards it illuminated another area controlled by a focus point in her mind. Soon she could see the entire wave, a massive torrent of focus points stopped in mid-air by the titan.

‘If I touch it, I’m dead.’ Seven could tell that instinctively from the power she could feel coming off of the wave.

So she stopped in front of it instead.

She took a quick peek at the wave and was startled to see snow billow forward only inches away from her face. She hadn’t seen anything like this when she had her eyes closed, and she couldn’t even feel the cold on her face. She closed her eyes again and immediately realised that she wasn’t looking at a wave at all.

‘Oh, I see.’ She could only actually see the focus points, ‘The snow isn’t there.’

The snow was just magic being manipulated through the focus points. Seven looked at the nearest focus point. When she had her eyes closed it was as if she could reach in and pull it out. There was no deadly snow in this place, only the magic stopping her from passing through the space.

So she brought her hand up to the focus point and reached out to grasp it.

‘If I do this I could die.’ She hesitated as she brought her hand near the magic, then she clutched her fingers together and let them go quickly, and she grabbed at the focus point.

-Blocked.

Seven grinned as her hand came to a stop hovering above the focus point and into the area where she knew the snow must be. This was the same feeling she’d had when she was creating the platforms with aura step. A gentle push back that meant an invisible surface was being created on top of the focus point. But now she had managed to create it using her own enemy’s focus points.

She wasn’t being harmed by the attack at all.

Then she opened her eyes and saw that in front of her it looked as though a single handle-hold had been created in the massive wall of snow. A place that was solely her own and she could manipulate at will. It was tiny and was quickly becoming nonexistent as snow piled on top of the hole, and it was hers.

It was no aura step, but it was a start.

‘Good.’ Seven’s eyes twitched as she gazed at the mass of focus points in front of her.

She no longer saw a deadly wave when she looked at it. If it had been moving it would be a different story. The force of the wave would have crushed her underneath it and she wouldn’t have had a chance of being able to manipulate the focus points so delicately like she was now. But now that it was being held tightly in place it was just a wall of platforms she could use to climb.

And so she did.

‘Hup. Hup.’ Seven made sure to keep her eyes shut as she clambered over the focus points one by one.

Even if the snow was parting she wasn’t confident that her concentration would slip if she opened her eyes and saw the wall again. Each time the thought of slipping on the snow or falling entered her mind she instead shifted her concentration onto the next focus point, making sure it solidified underneath her feet and making sure her hands had another one to grab onto.

“Oh shit.”

Seven heard a female voice cry just above her and grinned, pulling herself over the final stretch of the wave and opening her eyes.

‘Oh nice.’ She was facing a girl trapped in a blood-red cage and Jacob standing in the distance.

But before she could react the Korean wizard lifted her staff and fired off attacks while speaking to the male magi. Seven took the opportunity to get closer and closer to Jein as she was distracted by her opponent.

“Ha. If you wanted to kill me you should have brought something that could stop my movements.”

Seven could see Jacob being forced back even though the girl was stuck in place. Her attacks were just too strong and frequent for him to get a solid shot in.

“Yes.” Seven could see Jacob grinning as he retreated and he shot her a look, “But I never said I was going to kill you.”

Seven lifted her wand and let off a magic blast as she finally reached the trapped player, “That’s my job.”

-106

“Who-”

Seven could see Jein’s eyes widening as the attack hit her and decimated the cage surrounding her.

“Flying girl.”

Jein immediately smashed her staff onto the ground, causing snow to fly into the air and obscure Seven’s vision.

‘Holy crap, she’s fast.’ Seven had only managed to get a single shot off before her enemy had reacted.

Seven fired off magic blast after magic blast into the area she’d last seen the wizard. She didn’t want to give this tidal wave creating monster a chance to retaliate. But when the snow cleared Jein was gone.

“What the heck?” Seven looked around only to see Jacob hurrying towards her with a confused look on his face.

“Where did she go-”

-99

-99

-99

Jacob hardly got the words out of his mouth before the ground they were standing in was peppered with spears of ice that cut into their bodies and shattered across the stone platform.

‘Crap.’ Seven watched Jacob’s body turning gray and realised he’d been killed instantly by the bombardment.

She would die if she was hit again.

“Flying girl~” A playful voice resounded through the air towards Seven, “Why don’t you come and join me?”

Seven felt her heart plunge in dismay as she looked up. Floating in the air on top of an icy platform and waving her staff happily was Jein, looking completely content and comfortable in her surroundings.

‘Aura step.’ Seven could feel her confidence fleeing as she realised her opponent had been one step ahead of her this whole time.

They had never even been on the same playing field.

“Now then.”

Jein’s eyes lit up as she saw the titan finally cracking under the pressure of the wave, falling with a gigantic boom and disappearing. One opponent had already died, Claire would soon follow and now only Seven was left. Jein took her time to form dozens of ice shards in the air. This was the final opponent, and she wasn’t willing to let them get away.

“It’s time to finish this.”