'Hihihi, you are cruel.' Esen had a playful tone as she said that.
Currently, Mares was sitting on the branch of one of those huge trees. He had sensed, and heard, the void beast approaching much earlier than Lhian. When he noticed her whole attention went to the beast, he moved away and choose a spot where he could see how they would perform.
'I was only paid to save them, not help.' He said shrugging. 'And is better this way, if they get a harsh beating now, things will be smoother for them later on.'
He explained while Esen nodded, agreeing with his words. Putting his hands behind his head, he relaxed on the branch of the tree and watched, curious to see how Lhian and the other students would proceed.
The students didn't react too well though. Most of them panicked and run, spreading themselves out in different directions.
"Stay calm! If you all get lost it will be worst later!"
Lhian screamed, enhancing her voice with astral energy, which seemed to do the work. While some still tried to be as far as they could from their original spot, Lhian's reminder made at least more than half of the group realize that, if they run aimlessly, they would probably get lost.
The blue silver-haired in question also seemed distressed but did her best to keep her cool.
Taking a deep breath, she raised her hands and aimed at the upcoming void beast.
Astral energy started pouring into the space between her hands. In less than the blink of an eye, the energy condensed into solid form, becoming a dark blue crystal, the size of a fist, that floated between Lhian's hands.
'Hmm, are there any limits to the size, amount, or the way she creates her crystals?'
Mares asked the white-haired.
'Not really. Oh, interesting idea Mars.'
The crystal was thrown at the void beast, which put one of its arms in front of its face to defend itself. When the crystal connected to the monster's arm, it exploded and made the void beast change its trajectory ever so slightly.
"Frontal afar formation everyone, like we trained!"
Using the small amount of time she managed to buy, Lhian ordered, at the same time that she took note of which type of void beast they were facing.
It had an ape-like body, however with four arms, and longer legs and its feet looked like bird claws. It had gray fur covering its body and long fangs that prostrated out of the lower jaw.
'An Earthly Brute. Hmm, and by the looks of it, is a rank two.'
Mares whistled. For him, that would be an easy and fast battle, but he was curious to see how this, clearly untrained and unorganized group, would do.
Though Lhian bought them some time, few responded to her words. Some attacks were thrown at the Earthly Brute, those of which barely one-third hit, and did nothing more than scratch the void beast.
The beast roared, and this broke the few spirits that were still resilient. Almost all students had turned their backs, trying to get as far as they could from the beast, that now had its sights focused on Lhian.
The blue silver haired had clenched teeth, it wasn't clear if she was stressed with the upcoming battle or frustrated by how everyone performed. Mares was starting to consider getting involved when there was a sudden change.
A bright light green sphere, that had around five meters in diameter, seemed to form out of nowhere. The wind in the whole area moved to that sphere, and the pebbles on the ground all seemed attracted by the sphere hanging in the air. The sphere, made out of very pure and raw astral energy, was slowly rotating from right to left. It wasn't too fast, just enough to barely be noticeable.
Mares had some surprise in his eyes when he saw that. He looked down, to the one that was responsible for that sphere, that being Winna. Different from earlier her wings were now unfolded, and seemed to be at minimum half a meter long.
'So, she is a mage, just like you.'
Mares said, rubbing his chin curiously. He had seen mages before, but none of them were in action, and Esen wasn't exactly in a state where she could show him her powers.
'Please Mars, I was much better.' The white-haired said with clear pride, and in a small attempt to impress the silver eyed. 'Though I will say, she is passable.'
'Ho, coming from my little bunny, that's already a lot.'
He said, not leaving out the opportunity to praise her.
'Hihihi.' And obviously made Esen very happy.
The difference between a mage and a warrior was how they get and use astral energy. Warriors used their bodies' Astral Energy, only absorbing natural resources to enhance their reserves. A warrior's power was decided by the quantity, quality, and density of their astral energy. It is by those means that they use their techniques, innate or learned.
On the other hand, mages used the astral energy of the universe. Opening their Astral Gates, as Winna did, they were able to attract and condense the astral energy on their surroundings and pour it onto their bodies. Then they convert the energy and try to, at some level, manipulate it. It was, on a very small scale, controlling parts of the universe, like even a speck of dust. While a warrior's power was decided by the astral energy in them, a mage's power was decided by the quality and quantity of their Astral Gates.
From the output of energy Mares and Esen observed from Winna, they noticed that she had a great affinity with using her astral energy as air.
The green-haired looked at the void beast, which was momentarily distracted by Winna's Astral Gate, and made a diagonal motion with her right hand, at the same time that she made a simple sigil with her left hand. A blade of wind was formed and went straight to the void beast.
The wind was vastly faster than the beast, which was getting furious after being repeatedly attacked, without itself being able to attack.
Ultimately, the Earthly Brute decided to ignore Winna's wind blade, while it did its move. That was the main reason for its defeat.
Clapping its hands together, the beast hammered it down on the ground, creating a shockwave. At the same time, Winna's attack hit the beast, the blade was not too big or too powerful, but it was concentrated enough to cut the beast's body.
The shockwave traveled a dozen of meters, making most of the students that hadn't run from the affected area, fall. The trees only trembled though. It was noticeable how resistant they were.
Lhian was not one of the falling students, the tremor was only a slight annoyance that didn't manage to shake her off.
'That teacher of hers doesn't seem to neglect some good training.'
Mares nodded at Esen's words. From what they saw until now, most students were closer to what Mares knew as a student than to warriors in training. That group of five and Lhian was the only exceptions.
Seeing an opportunity thanks to Winna's attack, Lhian followed with her own. She clapped her hands, raised her arms, and opened her hands, making an arc. Some type of dust seemed to form from her hands, dust that concentrated in five crystals surrounding her. Like the one she made previously, the crystals were complete in barely a few seconds. The silver blue haired waved her hands to the front and the five crystals went flying to the beast.
The Earthly Brute roared, it was getting angrier and angrier with the unstoppable flow of attacks. It once more decided to ignore Lhian's attack, putting everything into running in Winna's direction, since she was the one that first injured the beast.
The crystals this time had a completely different effect though. Before they even hit the beast, they all shattered, releasing a huge amount of dust that clouded the Earthly Brute's vision.
"Luo, you better not miss!"
Lhian screamed in a demanding tone. She was annoyed at how almost everyone had reacted to the beast, and it was starting to let it show.
"We don't need to obey you Lhian!"
Clest, the girl with three eyes, told the blue-silver-haired, while she jumped through the trees and branches, at a speed that both Mares and Esen thought was decent. She was in the right direction of the beast and was throwing sharp objects at it, mostly aiming at its eyes and ears.
"Yup! We just want to show up in front of these crybabies!"
Luo declared with the loudest voice he could. He was in the opposite direction of Clest, his body was a little different, a tad bigger, his hair wilder and a few centimeters longer, and if one were to look closely enough, they would notice that his teeth looked like fangs and his nails like claws. He was carrying a branch of one of the surrounding trees, said branch being as large as his torso.
"Hope you like my lil' gift, ugly bitch!"
The werewolf alien screamed, throwing the branch at the void beast. Between Lhian's cloud of dust, Clest's sharp projectiles, and a branch that was as resistant as a rock, the Earthly Brute was greatly annoyed.
It took a deep breath, followed by a high-pitched roar, that sent all the dust away and allowed it to see its attackers. Lhian also joined, nonstop throwing small crystals, of the size of an adult's hands, to the beast. And Luo, after throwing the branch on the beast, was casually taking huge rocks out of the ground and throwing them as well.
Being attacked by all sides, the monster was utterly confused about who it should go to counter-attack.
"And for the grand finale! Winna!"
Callon, the gray-skinned one, screamed, calling his teammate. He was near her, and once he took a jump, Winna used her wind manipulation to impulse him even more, throwing him to only ten meters of distance from the beast's face.
For a moment it looked like Calon would punch the beast, as he put his right hand back, taking a pose that seemed he was preparing impulse to a strong punch. Instead, he grinned and raised his left hand. A strong light flashed, blinding the beast, which was the only one not ready for this move. Well, the beast and the students were not taking part in the fight, meaning almost all of them.
Mares was the only one not bothered by the light as he kept looking straight to the battle. This allowed him to see the fifth member of the quintet, Venissino, the one with four arms, approaching the beast.
He pointed to the cut Winna had made earlier in the beast with his four hands. From the tip of his fingers, a jet of a dark purple liquid was thrown, going straight to the cut on the beast. As soon as it connected to its blood and flesh, smoke started getting off where the liquid connected. It was some kind of poison and a potent one from its looks.
A wave of weakness hit the void beast and none of the attacks that were hitting it stopped. Venissimo had already jumped back, and in a few seconds, the beast fell to the ground, dead and defeated.
And as such, the first battle on their hunting ground, had officially come to an end.