The battle started. While there was a veneer of it being a trial, that was what it truly was. A battle where it was unlikely anyone would die… but not impossible. Given the wide spread of cultivations, the weakest members were at the greatest risk.
Ever since he stepped foot on the Third Peak, John’s spiritual energy had been eagerly building. Now, it was finally able to do something, erupting from his body as wind and flame. Yet neither had much visual flare to it, the ethereal flames mingling with the invisible wind. The flames were an additive to his flight that John had come to appreciate, helping keep him aloft while also providing a counter for the grounding techniques the Sky Islands seemed to favor.
John would not risk a drawn out battle with Ayhan and Lir at risk, nor did he think it would benefit them regardless. He was aware that Morana favored war darts as weapons, and was able to attack at range effectively. She was not incompetent in melee, of course, but it wasn’t her favored range either.
Her first attack came swiftly, twisted air and earth as she threw what was effectively a javelin towards John. It arced up above, almost ponderously, then suddenly shot down towards him at increased speed. John calculated the possible change from there in a moment, and decided he couldn’t afford to dodge. Instead, he cut it out of the air with his sword, slicing the weapon in two. The weight of earth attached to it only caused him to bob slightly as he burned the element away.
Viriato’s attack took a moment longer for him to prepare, but it did exactly what it needed to. His target was one of the late Soul Expansion Phase cultivators, meant to outmatch Ayhan and Lir. His choice was the one trailing slightly, their exact intent never to be revealed. One from each hand, Viriato shot twin beams of light and darkness intersecting precisely at his opponent. The resulting explosion blasted the enemy cultivator completely out of the arena, and John imagined there had to be some wounds even with defensive formations in place.
Ayhan and Lir attacked the other with their long weapons, Lir’s glaive sweeping at their opponent and deflecting his lighter spear towards Ayhan, providing an opportunity for him to encircle it with his spiked chain.
John imagined that situation would resolve itself rapidly, but there were still dangerous opponents in play he had to reckon with. Twirling axes from the late Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator arced towards John. They were much more strongly supported, so he didn’t even try to cut them out of the air. Instead, he twisted his body to slip around them, merely slightly deflecting one with his sword.
In his other hand he was charging a concoction of five elements, a throwing dagger ready to slip into his hand. His eyes were locked on Morana. It would take her a moment to prepare another attack. Meanwhile, the twin axes continued past John, threatening his companions rather than trying to cut him off from behind.
A sound enough tactic, but he’d been prepared for either eventuality. His arm snapped forward… his hidden intentions revealing themselves as the overcharged dagger flew towards that Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator. The man had enough control to withdraw the majority of his spiritual energy from his distant weapons to defend himself while redirecting their trajectory so that the weapons wouldn’t be vulnerable.
The throwing dagger still knocked the man from his perch on one of the few floating platforms, hitting him directly in the chest. The four element cycle didn’t have any particular focus behind it aside from destruction and force, and John was fairly sure he’d cracked the man’s armor. He was just short of the formations determining it to be a killing blow, however. Or perhaps they were partial to the Third Peak. He didn’t have time to worry about such details, as new attacks were incoming from Morana.
Two war darts, one aimed towards him and one towards his disciples. If he moved to intercept, the one targeted at him would certainly follow and he would have to contend with both at once. Even so, John didn’t despair. There was no time for it, frankly, and he felt supremely calm despite the circumstances.
Anyone who felt they needed the advantage of a whole minor stage of cultivation over each of his disciples and Viriato was someone he didn’t take seriously in the grand scheme of things. Morana might be stronger than him now, or she might not, but if she had an advantage it wouldn’t last. No wonder she hadn’t reached the mid Ascending Soul Phase, with an attitude like that.
John lobbed what was effectively lava, molten earth that would counter the air and earth elements Morana used. That attack struck the secondary attack for his disciples, and while John didn’t completely negate it he was confident that he’d weakened it enough. His sword clashed with the other, and he once again dropped slightly as the earth element in the attack tried to pull him out of the sky. His flames consumed it, but he was awkwardly positioned and had to regain altitude.
The other attack reached Lir and Ayhan, who were still wrestling with the late Soul Expansion Phase cultivator. It had only been a moment, after all, and they were at a disadvantage of cultivation.
Ayhan yanked his spiked chain, pulling the enemy cultivator into the trajectory of the incoming war dart. His chain had slithered around the man’s hands as well, so he couldn’t easily let go. His reaction was swift enough that he leaned into the movement, intending to go past the attack instead. That failed for multiple reasons, but the primary one was Lir leaping from the platform and slashing her glaive into his side to arrest his momentum at just the right spot.
Clearly, Morana had faith that her disciples were going to avoid the attack. When it came to the final moment, however, he was still there and she instantly dispersed her energy. The kinetic energy of the weapon still shoved him forward, causing Lir’s glaive to slice slightly deeper.
Viriato could have finished him off at that moment, but he instead targeted the Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator that was theoretically his opponent. Though he was more clever about it than that.
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John was truly impressed by what he pulled off. Fire and water combined together on one hand- unlike certain interpretations of the elements, they worked together just fine with the fire bolstering the water. He shot forward a beam of ice from that hand, coating one of the twin axes as it tried to return to its owner. Weakened, the remaining spiritual energy was overwhelmed and it began to drop, coated in ice.
Around Virato’s other hand was a combined beam of light and darkness together. Forming that at the same time as he did his other two elements showed an exceptional amount of focus and skill. It clearly wasn’t perfect, as the beam detonated prematurely, right before it actually reached the other axe- but the explosion was significant enough to knock it off its trajectory regardless, leaving the other cultivators attacks a moment behind.
That meant John didn’t have to worry about him for that instant, and he regained his balance, slipping just behind one of the circling platforms so that Morana couldn’t so easily target him.
Ayhan and Lir snatched up Virato, flying him closer to the enemy. He could leap, of course, but having him with them provided them greater safety. That was good, because Morana chose to target them.
John had promised that she wouldn’t be able to engage with his disciples, but situations changed. More importantly, he saw something in Viriato’s eyes that let him continue to concentrate his energy instead of launching a counterattack.
A powerful attack from a cultivator nearly a full Phase ahead of Viriato streaked towards the trio. He didn’t rely on the same tricks repeatedly, instead pulling out something even John hadn’t seen. A lens of water appeared in front of him, and he blasted light into it, focusing that light into a tighter beam with the help of the lens. Fire and darkness gathered until Viriato could sustain the other attack no longer, his reserves momentarily depleted.
A cone of dark flame caught the incoming projectile, spread widely because he couldn’t predict quite how the attack would turn. The flames burned through earth energy easily, and the darkness reacted with the lingering light on the incoming war dart. Viriato looked nearly spent as he was dropped onto the next platform, but the attack was negated.
The Consolidated Soul Phase elder focused more of his energy on the single throwing axe available to him, sending it streaking towards John like a bolt of lightning. In turn, John activated the platform he was next to.
He’d been growing ever more familiar with how the crystals worked as he fought. They were clearly efficient conductors of earth and air element, otherwise it would be pointless to have them at all. They were also part of the battlefield, and there were no rules against making use of them. The only one that existed was a strong suggestion that they should not be intentionally destroyed.
The platform pulled him along with it as it rocketed towards Morana. Was she likely to die from being smacked by a floating platform? Not at all. It would be a minor inconvenience, most likely. But her reflexive attack did nothing except scar the platform.
John’s platform crashed into hers. Morana had leapt away, flying off to the side. John still had three elements ready, and a whip of water, curled around the side of the platform as it split to wrap around her ankles. If he tried to sink her with earth, no doubt she would have ample experience to counter him. Flame coursed out of John, empowering the water- and causing it to boil around one leg and freeze around the other.
He pulled down with all his might, swinging her towards the lacking arena floor below. However, she strained her energy to keep herself high, and she didn’t drop below John’s own level, simply being pulled around a bit.
Then her own companion’s axe struck her in the back. John hadn’t expected it to work so well, but these cultivators were very unfamiliar with darkness. Concealing her movement from her companion while also muting his incoming attack in her own senses was perhaps the best display of darkness he’d ever pulled off.
The formations activated, indicating a killing blow and that she was out of the battle. John sprang towards the one remaining opponent just on the far side of her, his elements swirling within him, if tiredly.
The instant he passed by Morana, she stabbed at him with one of her war darts. She was… entirely unsubtle about it. John had seen her arm drifting, and felt her energy building internally. He didn’t know what she had against him, but he also didn’t care.
As it turned out, cutting through the defenses of the formation was quite difficult… but he managed it regardless. Her hand sailed off as his sword swept down, always having been the target of his current charge. The instant it was away from her, flames dissolved it as she screamed in pain and rage.
John’s momentum carried him forward to her lieutenant who had just barely retrieved his axe. He saw Ayhan and Lir approaching, and clearly thought about trying to take one of them out. His eyes focused on John, and he threw down his weapon. “I surrender!” he yelled, looking frantically towards Sitora, the Island Master of the Second Peak.
Morana’s final attack was pathetic, a war dart thrown with her off hand and flagging energy. It didn’t even make it to John, but not because the formations stopped her like they were supposed to. No, instead it was Sitora that flicked her attack away with a gust of wind, almost casually. She was still fresh and the combatants were exhausted, but even so John was reminded of her power during the Leviathan battle.
“Don’t dishonor the peaks further, Morana,” Sitora said casually. “You have lost.”
“But he-”
“Defeated you quite directly. I would suggest you take this chance to rest and learn from your battles. I anticipate there will be a challenge from the master of the Fourth Peak in your near future given your display of weakness.”
Ayhan and Lir looked slightly disappointed they hadn’t been able to clash with the remaining man, but given the significant gap in cultivation they also looked somewhat relieved. In a properly safe environment it would be one thing for them to try it. Either way, they would have learned much- and would have the opportunity to challenge the Second Peak properly.
John still didn’t know why the Island Master of the Third Peak hated him, but he could come up with any number of reasons. Most likely the answer involved both politics and pettiness.
“Come,” Sitora said. “I believe you have done what you came here for.” With that, her winds picked up herself, Viriato, and the two disciples. They could have flown without her if they hadn’t been exhausted, but the short battle had involved extreme expenditure of energy.
John flew after them, pulling air and earth from the surroundings… as well as three other elements that most cultivators wouldn’t even sense, dim as they were compared to the strength of the two prominent in the region.