Stepping up to the stage, Hana waited for the Announcer to introduce her.
The megaphone screeched and then Jan Trensta made her announcements.
-"UP NEXT, THE SENSATIONAL HANA MAKER!" her introduction was weak but the crowd still waited and wanted to see what she was capable of.
The first stage was cleared and set up, she couldn't see through the barrier until she finally passed through it. It became transparent for the audience's benefit and Hana saw the enemy at last.
"Radwets!" She leapt to the side when a spear like appendage flew straight towards her eyes. 'This was intentional, Radwets go after the eyes.' Hana focused herself and watched Caoimhe fly up into the air.
There was another incoming strike, the Radwit rolled and started slashing in the air at random. There were two targets in the arena with it and the Radwit would consume their eyes before it used their corpses for fertilizer.
Caoimhe was dropping flower pedals all over the stage. For a few seconds, tvery time she flapped her wings more pedals fell. When they struck something, flowers grew and their roots snagged anything nearby. Rubble was soon covered in blossoms and loose pedals. 'Pretty,' Hana thought as she dodged them.
There was no time like the present for Hana, she pulled a big hammer from storage. 'This should make it easier.' She had never handled a hammer before but it looked easy to hit the target with. Hana leapt into the air and used her wings to support her while she chose her trajectory carefully.
The Radwit was focusing on Caoimhe's periodic attacks.
Hana swung in a cleaving motion, it struck the side of the Radwit and slammed it against the shield. It tried to get back up but suffered with broken limbs, falling over, it had given up on its life. She clasped hands to the Elders, unwilling to kill the creature.
'This is a good child' One of the judges saw her personality instantly and was overjoyed, 'Compassion is difficult trait to train.'
As they waved her to the next round, she took a step off of the platform and several elders went in to restrain the summons and pack it off to safety.
The crowd cheered for her ascension up the ladder and the fog covering the arena cleared.
Coiled in a serpent position in the middle of the stage was a strange beast. It had the head of a snake but the body of a tortoise. The Voyagers Canyon Snakehead Tortoise was one of the fastest wind beasts that walked on land. Sharp blades of wind cut at the stage and its Snake head struck directly toward Caoimhe.
Hana didn't know what to do, she threw the hammer while she ran. Using the release momentum she caught up to it before the snakehead could grab at the basket drake. Her wings scratched at the fangs that tried to bite at her during her rotating rescue. Caoimhe was safe and in Hana's arms when another wind blade was coming directly for her.
Hana flashed across the stage, a golden aura surrounded her.
The purple and green aura she held before switched, raising her wings again to defend like a shield had brought out her defensive skills. She focused on the turtleshell and tried to use the Eagles Eyes Pierces Rock technique.
A crack appeared on the stage below its belly.
Hana didn't have any directed attacks, she grabbed the hammer that was still loose on the floor and struck the head away. Her wings were doing a good job of stopping the wind attacks but the venom was still a real threat.
Her heart thumped. She could feel her blood and energies circulating.
A bright flash surrounded her midair. Her health and beauty seemed to get a boost and then a massive crash came from above, pressing the turtle down.
She could feel the force of gravity and light, suspecting something she thought while swinging the Hammer down again and again, trying to break the turtle shell. 'A benefit from having opposing attribute parents?' She tried channeling light, a blue lightning was surrounded by black fire. 'Why is my body acting like an elemental?' Confused, she threw the rest of her strength into her swing and heard a cracking noise.
Parts of the shell broke away and hoarse groan came from the Snakehead Tortoise. It's momentum was shattered, it staggered and fell to the ground. Its head bobbled defensively but it postured no interest toward Hana, submitting.
-"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Jan Trensta yelled out over the megaphone again, she caught everyone's attention and continued. "Look at that! HANA MAKER HAS FORCED THE VOYAGER'S CANYON SNAKEHEAD TORTOISE TO SUBMIT!!" The crowd roared and she waited for it to lose its pace before yelling again. "LETS SEE WHAT'S BEHIND DOOR NUMBER 3!"
The fog started to lift as Hana entered the Arena floor. As soon as the fog lifted, another began to form. It was a red fog, it gave off the stench of blood.
Hana could feel something sinister on the other side of the red wall that was approaching, she flew up and tried to take a look but quickly found the top of the stage shields.
Although she was in a much better place in that moment, she was completely exposed. The red fog swirled and drilled into the stage, it flowed like a dragon.
The roar of its passing around the stage and the dust mixed with the fog. Soon, a rust, blood red mist dragon was boring holes through the stage. Moments passed and the stage was gone. The mist Dragon coiled around and launched itself when nothing else remained, it targeted Hana.
Caoimhe started dancing in the breeze, repeating her rain of flower pedals. There was not enough energy in her little body to effect a huge change but the flowers that bloomed bound the dragon for an instant. That moment was enough for Hana to escape and dodge the incoming dragons head.
Effectively, she had been on the defensive but her heart was racing. She tried the eyes again, it split the dragon in half. Its body reformed.
Hana was speechless, her pulsing heart thumped again.
{Thuh-Thump, Thuh-Thump}
A dark power rushed over her, instincively, black and frightening. Wings of white grew from her wrists, they didn't match the wings on her back. The white wings burned with a white fire, her body shifted flowing from black to white. and then a blast of energy swept across the stage.
The Judges were stunned. "Wild Red Heart?" They stood with their arms folded, making speculation during the burst of energy. 'What sort of Bloodline did she awaken?'
The Wings on her arms didn't match the wings on her back but with her increase in speed she was no longer in a distressed position. She cut through the air and slashed at the air next to the dragon while she passed. A deep wound crossed the length of the dragon and its internal mass spewed across the stage. The fog swirled a bit, attempting to recover. Its momentum was lost.
Hana swept her wings across the stage again and cut it in half, then into quarters, sixteens and sixty-fourths. The Mist dragon evaporated and a formation plate cracked, falling to the stage.
Blood was everywhere on the stage, her wings were stained, spotted and absorbing the blood. A shade of pink filled the tip of the white wings and then they disappeared.
'Hana's lost her strength' The Judges watched her settle down and recall her power.
-"WOW, JUST WOW!" The announcer made her usual speeches, then she said, "There is only one stage left and that's against the Sect Disciple. I wonder which one they've sent out!" She raised her hand and pointed to the stage floor. "HANA MAKER VERSUS FINNIGAN, THE MARTIAL SOLDIER!"
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