Magical constructs.
They were basically humanoid machines created with a mix of technology and mana, though as the developnt of the forr in Taia hadn’t gone far, their power couldn’t surpass the D rank without sacrificing a monstrous amount of mana, which was simply not cost efficient.
The reason for Ezekiel’s curse was the very nature of the constructs. With their appearance, both Vahn and Yuri would have their advantages in battle–which they gained due to the unique nature of their magic–gone. After all, both Life and Death magic couldn’t work on inanimate objects, there were no parts to heal or debuff so to speak.
Yuri could still help a bit, she had tinkered and modified so of the few death spells she knew, gaining the ability to create solid attacks that could work. Vahn, on the other hand, would have to rely on his battle techniques and internal Life magic spells. He would be unable to deal any damage to the constructs alone.
From this, anyone could easily tell how much trouble the two would have been had they chosen to take an individual trial.
"We’ll make do with this, we can still hold them back." The chanic’s eyes flashed as he took out multiple items from his bag before throwing them around the crystal. The next mont, a loud explosion rang out as dust and debris flew into the air while the ground below the crystal platform gave in, allowing the entire structure to fall into the created hole.
He didn’t do more though, afraid that he would mistakenly harm the crystal and reduce their scores. "Make sure to guard the crystal. Anna, light them up!"
The young noble girl responded with a twirl of her mage staff, the crystal at its tip shining bright with a crimson light as she uttered the last incantation of her spell. "Fire Explosion!"
Fiery energy converged the mont her voice rang out in the air, creating a large orb that shot to the fast approaching magical constructs before breaking out into a powerful explosion that laid waste to the constructs’ formation, it’s terrifying force pushing at the wind so much so that even from a distance the four contestants could still feel a slightly powerful gale.
Ezekiel marveled at the beautiful explosion for a second before suddenly shouting out. "Yuri, snipe them!" He then glanced at Anna, noticing how pale her expression had beco. It made sense, such a spell was at the peak of her E rank and had drained too much of her mana too quickly, it would leave her disoriented for a few seconds. "Anna, don’t bother with that spell again. It’s not worth it if you beco so helpless after. Bombard them with sothing less taxing once you’ve recovered."
She forced a nod, her body leaning to her staff as she rested. A bit of excitent surged in her heart as she witnessed her spell’s strength though, glad that she could be helpful to her team.
The chanic had already dashed forward after giving his orders, a bright athyst light trailing behind him as he moved with a terrifying level of speed, his hands grasping at his Psionic pistols before he took aim and opened fire.
His bullets, made from condensed Psionic energy, tore holes into the magical constructs they encountered, unbothered by the steel surfaces that were ant to serve as a formidable defense. Ezekiel didn’t feel any happiness from his attacks though, after all, psionic bullets were inefficient, making use of too much Psionic energy.
Unfortunately he hadn’t procured any blueprints related to the production of bullets so he could only use such an inefficient thod.
Knowing the mage in their group was taking a rest, he had aid at the edges of the construct wave. As he expected, the limited intelligence granted to the constructs prevented them from in-depth thinking capabilities. They simply recorded that more of their horde died when moving left or right so they simply concentrated their gathering at the center and dashed straight forward.
Upon noticing the short distance between him and the horde, the pistols disappeared from his hands before he unsheathed his blades and sent a ntal command to his gear.
Suddenly his gauntlet released whirring sounds as multiple components unclasped and opened up to reveal miniature thrusters on his elbows. "Quick Blade Technique. 2nd Blade: Tempest Strikes."
His figure imdiately flickered into becoming a wild trail of athyst light that dashed about the constructs, his arms moving about like a blur while his vibrating sword tore through the defenses of the machines like a hot knife through butter.
"Dragon Punch!" Vahn, having increased the density of his bone and muscles, practically possessed the strength of a near peak E rank Awakened. Air currents coated his fists as he punched forward, creating whistling sounds in the air as he landed one hit after another on the constructs’ bodies, blasting them to scrap.
The construct seeing this, attempted to surround the two but were torn through like sieves by Yuri’s Death pistol. And those who sought to rush past Ezekiel and Vahn’s massacre were bombed to bits by mines the forr had thrown on the ground on his way there.
"Move back!" Anna, having finished the casting of another spell, shouted out to her teammates.
Vahn imdiately punched downwards upon hearing her shout, his fist creating a powerful air current that pushed the approaching magical constructs away before he retreated, Ezekiel right on his tail.
A mont later, multiple deafening explosions erupted behind them, not as powerful as the earlier Fire Explosion, yet powerful nonetheless. The constructs at the center were practically burnt to ash while those at the periphery found themselves coursing uncontrollably through the air, entire arms or legs missing. Yuri’s beautifully accurate shooting took care of those.
Taking advantage of the constructs’ slowing and stunned intelligence, Ezekiel threw forward a sphere-like object that erupted with a frightening amount of heat, not as hot as the magic Anna controlled, but hot enough to burn the surrounding constructs to cinders.
He was about to charge into the horde when his expression suddenly changed as a pistol appeared in his hand before launching an athyst light that tore through the grasslands before easily piercing the forehead of a sneaking construct, one which had sohow managed to evade Yuri’s sniping in a bid to end Anna who the constructs identified as a Mage.
A wave of relief washed over the girl as she watched the construct drop to the ground beside her, its internal system sparking gently.
Unfortunately, that pause had allowed the constructs to reorganize their attacks and storm towards the chanic, hoping to drown him with their superior number. The latter twisted and maneuvered through the unending wave of attacks, his gauntlet disappearing before a different, much larger machinery coated his arm while he clenched his teeth and glared at the approaching constructs.
"Impact Punch!"
A whirring sound emanated from his gauntlet before the multiple inlaid discs suddenly slamd into the machine as he punched forward, creating a powerful shockwave swept out as the familiar technique powerfully pushed back against the air, pulverizing multiple constructs which stood in its ways.
He retreated explosively after that, returning to Vahn’s side and allowing the latter to heal the tears that had been caused by the constructs’ steel sharp claws–he wasn’t possibly able to dodge every single one of their attacks after all.
The battle went on smoothly after the four had found the right balance to their movents. Ezekiel would handle the constructs for a short amount of ti from ti to ti to allow Vahn recover so of his expended mana, then would have his accumulated injuries be healed by his friend while they both fought.
Anna would bombard the constructs with her decimating fire magic, wreaking havoc whenever she could while being protected by Yuri and her Death pistol.
With no imdiate threats to their lives, Ezekiel and his companions were able to easily finish the first trial while having their crystals completely untouched. Now all that remained was to check his results.
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