From what I could tell, each of the fighters on standby were able to observe the previous matches. At least, that was my assumption when the second round began, given how the attitude of the second Fert was so different compared to the first. Unlike the first fighter that had an air of arrogance around him, this one launched a berserk charge imdiately.
The Templar, still on the stage after the previous fight, seed to be caught off guard by the sudden charge. He lifted his shield to block, only having ti to release the faintest golden light before a white furred fist impacted against the shield. His body lifted off the ground, flying back against the wall like an arrow fired from a bow.
I couldn’t help but wince as I saw him crashing against the wall of the arena. Although he had managed to preserve his life with the hasty defense, I could see that his shield arm was hanging limply from its socket, clearly unable to be used.
By the ti that he pulled himself off of the wall, the Fert practitioner was performing a strange movent at the position that he had launched the Templar from. His furred hands ca together in front of his chest, as if praying, and then began to slowly rotate his arms out in wide opposing circular motions. Bihena clenched her fists against the edge of the stage as she watched the rabbit-like fur shift from white to a bloody red.
“That luck…” She muttered, before shaking her head. Once the shift in the fur was complete, the Fert began to emit a red cloud from his body like smoke. For a mont, it reminded of the Martial Spirits back on Earth.
“Is that…?” I couldn’t help but ask towards Bihena, who simply shook her head in response.
“No, he’s not combined his ki with his spirit. This is one of StarKiller’s profound laws. Everyone’s ki is different, having an affinity similar to elental ki. Sotis, the difference is pronounced enough to get things like this. In our last match, she only had one person like that, so she explained it after the fight.”
“I keep telling you to call by my na!” StarKiller shouted from the other side of the stage, stomping her foot again.
Bihena continued on as if she hadn’t heard her opponent’s words. “Anyways, this guy looks like his ki has a blood affinity. The one last ti was lightning, so I’m not sure what special abilities to expect here. Either way, we can’t get involved in the fight anymore.”
“Muuu…” StarKiller’s shoulders sagged, before she turned to look at . “You’re her Keeper, right?! Can you tell her to call by my na! I’m Balu, Balu!”
I gave a small chuckle as I watched the exchange, though I saw a corner of Bihena’s mouth rise up slightly. It seed that she did find so enjoynt in teasing the Fert Keeper. However, my attention was quickly drawn towards the stage, as I witnessed for the first ti the effects of the ‘Profound Laws’.
The red mist around the Fert’s body twisted and distorted, lashing out in strands as he sent one fist forward. Although there was no force behind the fist itself, the red mist quickly launched at the helpless Templar. As soon as it made contact with his body, the blood dripping from the Templar’s left arm seed to rise up to et it.
After that… nothing seed to happen. In fact, it was hard to tell if the battle was still going on or not, as both parties stood there motionlessly. Only Balu across from us laughed happily. “Puppet, puppet! So he’s a puppet master!”
It was hard to properly understand her words until another figure suddenly appeared on the stage. This ti, it was elderly female wizard. However, the templar from before was still standing… “He’s already dead.” I muttered under my breath, understanding that that was the only reason why the ga would continue on to the next round.
“Co on, snap out of it quickly! She’s about to kill you!” Balu suddenly shouted out while a blue mana spread from the wizard’s feet. However, both the practitioner and the templar seed frozen in place.
This was my first ti seeing a genuine spell of what should be the fourth tier. And I was only able to recognize the difference because of the visual disparity between it and what I know. There was no circle, no grand confinent for the spell. Symbols floated around the mage’s body like runes before settling at her feet and expanding.
Within the symbols, I could see intricately detailed spheres and cubes, pyramids and cones, and even so shapes that were hard to classify, each with their own geotric shapes carved along them. Although none of them appeared nearly as complex as the spell that anGreen had fired off in our last match, it was still a sight to behold.
It took several long monts for all of the shapes to fall into position around the woman’s feet, before they began to shift in size and position, overlapping with one another. Just looking at the finished product and trying to understand it was enough to make my head hurt, so I could only imagine the strain in casting such a spell.
Once the spell was apparently complete, the collection of shapes collapsed in on itself. Finally, it ford into the shape of a golden ball of light. The female wizard smiled affectionately at that light before it shot off at the still-frozen practitioner.
As the light shot towards him, the practitioner seed to finally break himself free of whatever state he was in. However… by then, it was far too late. He had only the briefest mont to move his head before the light slamd against his chest, seeming to… dig would not be the right word. The flesh that the light hit seed to be erased.
As the little golden orb passed through the Fert’s body, he seed to simply collapse, the life imdiately drained from him. However, the golden light did not disappear. Rather, it flew back towards its caster, circling around her like a tad pet.
Bihena’s smile grew as she saw the result of the fight. “It should be over now…” She said confidently, as another Fert appeared. Once again, the golden light shot out from next to the wizard, who seed to be casually standing in the center of the stage.
Having seen the result of being hit by the spell, the Fert practitioner imdiately began to dodge at an insane speed. In fact, his speed was far greater than what the light could keep up with, which allowed him to imdiately appear next to the wizard that cast the spell. Rather than fighting the terrifying light, he seed more prepared to fight the frail woman.
At the mont just before the Fert’s fist landed on the wizard, the golden ball blinked out of existence, appearing in front of the advancing fist. Rather… it was better to say that the golden ball of light and the wizard had exchanged places. Yet the result was the sa, as the Fert’s power was focused entirely on offense.
With no ti to pull back or raise his defenses, his fist collided with the light, being erased just like how the previous one’s chest had been. What was even worse was that the spell seed to cling to his body, staying on him even when he explosively launched himself backwards. “Oh, that’s just not fair!” Balu shouted out from across the stage, glaring pitifully towards Bihena.
Bihena could only shrug as she heard that. “Don’t look at , I’m not even sure what that spell is.” When Bihena admitted that, Balu turned to look at instead, but I could only shake my head helplessly. This was my first ti seeing such a terrifying spell as well.
“Well… if they can’t avoid it, surely they can crush it!” Balu convinced herself with a nod, though I had a feeling that there was more to it than that. Given how long the spell had taken to prepare, it couldn’t be simple, even among fourth tier spells. I’m sure that the wizard had other cards she could have played if her opponent was active at the ti, but the fact that she chose to use this ans it should be her ultimate trump card.
A destructive spell with intelligence, and the ability to instantly swap places with its caster. In the next round, it showed one more ability as well. Just like Balu had said, the next competitor aid to simply destroy the golden ball with overwhelming power. And sure enough, it was shattered into specks of golden light when struck by an all-out attack from this practitioner.
However, those golden specks did not disappear. Rather, they turned into needles of light that stabbed into the Fert’s chest. And when he fell… the golden ball once again appeared. “I give up.” Balu said, helplessly shaking her head. “That spell is a total cheat. From looking at it… it would take specific magic elents to break it, right? But none of my guys are magic users, or can nullify magic.”
Bihena shrugged her shoulders at that. “I don’t know. Maybe an area attack that would hit both the ball and the wizard could kill her and end the spell?”
Balu gave a sad smile at that. “No… that shouldn’t be the case.” As she spoke, the stage darkened, showing that StarKiller really had given up the match. “Spells like that… I think I saw one before. It wasn’t this system of magic, so naturally it looked different.”
Her tone sounded different now compared to her childish self before, as if she was revealing a bit of her experience. “When a spell is given life… it’s not tied to its creator anymore. That thing would have just killed everyone that appeared in the ring without discrimination. Or maybe it was set to only attack my people, I don’t know. Either way, this is your win.”
Bihena blinked in surprise as she saw this new side of StarKiller. “Balu?” She asked, her voice laced with concern.
However, at that mont Balu suddenly lifted her head to stare at Bihena, a wide smile on her face. “You said my na!” She shouted out, hopping into the air happily. “No taking it back now, you said it!”
Bihena groaned, shaking her head. “Why did I even bother…” She muttered quietly, though the clacking of pointed feet briefly distracted .
“She is… weird.” Kathy said behind us, her presence practically forgotten in the midst of the ga. “And I don’t think I like this ga. It wouldn’t be very good for .” Her head shook back and forth while the companion hosting the event approached.
“Alright everyone, let’s give a round of applause for EarthForceOne for taking ho the prize in this round.” She approached Bihena, extending one taloned hand to her with a toothy grin. “As promised, five hundred points to the victor.”
Bihena nodded her head with a small smile, extending her hand to accept the prized handshake. Applause erupted in the room, though most of it was from the rabbit girl and the spider girl, who seed especially excited about the turn of events. Balu actually jumped over the stage, hopping to stand next to Bihena. “So, where to next? I could teach you how to race, or maybe so treasure hunts?”
Bihena gave a small laugh, shaking her head before turning to look at . “Sorry, but we’ve got to be going ho now.” She answered, turning to look at Balu again.
The pair of large rabbit ears drooped down pitifully. “Aww… leaving already? Well… maybe you could invite to your Admin Room so we can hang out?” Her words were not directed at Bihena, but rather .
“Once we get qualified to do so, sure.” I answered with a brief nod, which seed to take Balu by surprise.
“Huh? You aren’t actually in the Gas yet? Ohhh, no wonder! I thought you looked familiar! You were a noobie in last year’s eting! Sure, sure, just let know when you qualify and I can make ti to co over!” Balu nodded her head happily at the revelation. I would definitely be speaking with Grimor about her once we got back… She didn’t really seem to be so simple anymore.
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