"This may be more helpful for all involved than we expected." The Grand Master stroked his chin as the young maiden walked off from her battle. He appreciated her tactics but her skill was very impressive as well. It had many weaknesses in it for now but he could see polish solving that. Solon was the more frightening one. Sword intent at 20 years of age was like Lind breaking through to Soul Realm at 11.
"You are not worried about heart demons?" The greatest danger to cultivators was threats from within as they advanced in their cultivation journey. The loss of ambition, hope, and such were typical but harmless as it just meant they would stop. Heart demons, on the other hand, could destroy a foundation when a cultivator went to break through.
"That is always a concern. We must make sure to evaluate them when we get back. Fen should be able to take care of those 2, but the rest should also be looked at. Lind–" The Grand Master looked hard as the very young man he mentioned went up onto the ring. "He has several heart demons but maybe this will help set him on a path to dealing with them."
Garnt nodded in agreement. Lind clearly was dealing with more than the issue of Mistress Teyla. The elder members could only look on as Lind began his first duel of the tournament.
****
"You should give up. You already showed your prowess in the elimination round. No doubt various powers will invest in you." A massively muscled man warned Lind off but Lind assumed his stance and calmly waited.
"I have something I am here to do. I will not stop until I succeed." The large man frowned deeply but saw the seriousness in the young man's face. It was not the arrogance of a fool nor was it the pride of trying to prove something. It was the face of a resolute man, not a boy.
"I apologize. Good luck!" The large man assumed his stance as the earth rumbled. Lind felt the Qi flow in the man's legs and knew this opponent knew not to use Qi conjuring to attack him.
"Begin!" The judge of their duel quickly stepped back as the tiles cracked under the large man. Lind felt like a force of nature was coming at him but he could feel a smile tugging on his face. Compared to Teylin, this man was stronger but only had one element opposed to 3. Lind let wind blow him quickly to the side as the battering ram of a man flew by.
Surprisingly, the larger man stopped his momentum without hurting himself and turned back toward Lind. Lind did not wait to see what came next. He could not blend elements but he could use them to pull off some tricks.
A fireball appeared in Lind's hands but then wind picked up from his feet straight up causing it to become a flamethrower for a short burst. The large man was caught off guard but turned his head away only to power through. Lind launched himself forward against everyone's expectations. Darkness covered his body to blend into the shadow the man cast in the sunlight.
The man turned around, trying to find Lind but the moment he looked behind him, the world exploded in light. The blindness was painful but the large man used his element to 'see,' yet he still could not find the boy! Where had he gone?
Cold steel was put against the large man's throat and he froze.
"I concede!" He normally could defend against weapons but the feel of water was on the blade. It would easily slice through his defenses at that range. A 6 elemental. The boy was a spirit cursed 6 elemental!
"Winner, Lind!" Roars of the crowd soared as Lind stepped back sweating. He had pulled out all the stops for his movement skills as the dagger was returned to a sheath on his belt. While it revealed all his cards, others did not know that. The thing that would frustrate many was the fact Lind had all 6 elements. As a counter, he was a nightmare even at tier 3. Strength was needed to overcome him.
Lind bowed to his opponent who smiled at him while rubbing his neck. Lind went off to recover as much as he could while the ring was reorganized for the next round before the semi-finals.
****
"Woohoo! Did you see that Silvia?!" The 3rd Princess was whipping her violet hair like a whip as she shook her friend hard. If Silvia was not in the World Realm her limbs would have been shattered. The furniture was already cracked due to her strength.
"Yes! Yes I saw it. Could you please contain yourself!" Shoti and Solon had excited the Princess but Lind had sent her through the roof. Anyone from court would not recognize the super serious 3rd Princess of the Empire. Her family, on the other hand, would only roll their eyes at the fangirl she truly was when it came to tournaments.
The next round was quickly assembled. Both women saw Shoti and Solon once again defeat their foes in one attack that no one could stop. Solon still did not use his sword. Shoti's whip was impossible to follow for most but Silvia saw the doubling effect that wiped the floor with her opponents who were too distracted to even see the whip uncoil.
"I am not a fan of Shoti's cheap theatrics. She has the skill to not need them." Silvia was aware it allowed for a sure hit but it was not reliable on female targets. Still, the rumors regarding Shoti indicated she had a solution for that, but it had not come up in the tournament so far.
"How do you think that boy will deal with them?" The 3rd Princess' question shocked Silvia. While he had done well thus far, his bag of tricks was limited. Anyone that knew the limits of 6 elementals would quickly push him to his limits. The moves had been impressive, even exemplary, but it was clear to Silvia's experienced eyes that he emptied out his Qi very quickly. Unless he had trump cards he could use repeatedly, he would not get much farther in this tournament.
"I think he will never get the chance, Highness." Silvia looked on as the last round before the semi-finals began to wind down. After this last multi-battle format, the true duels would begin with one at a time occurring.
"Wanna bet me on that?" Silvia glanced over and felt a chill enter her spine. The 3rd Princess had a mean streak in her and she took her betting very seriously. Silvia had suffered at her hands enough but this time the Princess was wrong.
"What do I get if I win?" Silvia smiled wolfishly at the Princess and was gratified to see a trace of doubt flash in her face. Then the Princess smiled wide as she held out her hand.
"If you win, I will let you have a free hand with the Overseer issue here. If I win, I want that boy at the academy under my name." Silvia felt her heart freeze. This was not a small thing. Recruiting the boy to apply was one thing, but the Princess wanted to put him into the academy directly. What did she see in this 6 elemental? Still, the odds were far in Silvia's favor.
"Accepted." They firmly shook hands as the boy went back onto the stage.
****
"You have been impressive, young man, but it ends here. You better surrender or I will mark up that pretty face of yours." A slender man leered at Lind. He held a short sword and his skin was a yellow pallor of illness to Lind's eyes. The man had wind and darkness elements but something felt off. Lind concentrated and felt the sword was wrong.
He did not recognize the element on the blade! How was that possible? It gave Lind an ill feeling he associated with food poisoning or being really sick. He wracked his brain and then came to a swift conclusion. It was a demon blade! It had to be imbued with poison! Demons cultivated a version of the 6 elements slightly different from most the rest of the world.
Lind had no time to ponder how a human got a demon blade, but he assumed his stance and knew he had to be quick this time. His mother gave him some pills to deal with poisons, but he was unsure if they would work for that blade.
"Arrogant child, I gave you a chance. You are lucky I can't kill you!" The judge frowned at this statement but unless an actual lethal attack was done, they could not stop them. The peak Soul Realm looked hard at Lind but saw no fear there. Sighing, he prepared to start the duel but also to stop the slim man if needed.
"Begin." Lind disappeared. The slim man was shocked before he looked up. It was a massive mistake as a new sun appeared in the sky and fully blinded him. Fire burned on Lind's hands as he slammed into the shoulder of the slim man and launched him off the ring completely past another duel.
The crowd went silent as Lind heavily breathed trying to recover some Qi. That move was beyond strenuous but it had the appeal of making people look up. Humans would prepare for attacks from blind sides, but when looking up, there would always be a window they would try to find their target before defending. Lind took no chances and as soon as the head tilted up he blasted the light element.
It was different from his last fight where he evenly spread out to each element, instead Lind maxed out wind to launch him into the air, light to blaze far brighter than the sun, and encased his limbs with fire in case the poison demon blade got between Lind and his target. Gravity and velocity did the rest. Physics for the win, basically.
Once Lind stood up, the crowd cheered. Lind was stunned as he actually heard his name being yelled out. Small children were jumping up and down and a strange feeling entered his heart. He felt like he was unworthy of it all. The tears in Teyla's eyes cleared the feeling away. He was not here for adulation. He was here to save his Big Sis. He waved at the crowd and smiled, but any that saw his eyes would note the smile did not reach them.
His right arm that did the major part of the hit was in pain. Likely, he had fractured his arm. He popped a healing pill and went off to meditate. The ring had to be changed again for the semi-finals. One step closer to his goal. Lind began to meditate.
****
"H-how?!" Silvia felt like her soul left her body. The power that boy put out just now was beyond tier 4! She was certain of it. He clearly was still tier 3, but to generate that kind of force was undeniably tier 4! It was of little comfort that the 3rd Princess was as shocked as her. The ring quickly changed and the semi-finals began.
"There is another one." The words of the Princess drew Silvia's eyes. What was she talking about? Silvia looked over and saw a girl with dark azure hair and matching robes wielding 6 elements. Unlike Lind, she was tier 7. It was difficult to say how proficient she was but her power was undeniable. What were the odds of two 6 elemental cultivators at this backwater tournament?
"A member of the Gu Clan?" Silvia spoke her thoughts out loud and the Princess nodded. They both went through the list of important people and matched up the curvy woman to the young mistress of the Gu Clan. What was she doing in this tournament? This was a tournament for budding cultivators to draw attention to themselves. Young masters or mistresses had no need to compete.
"It is unimportant. It just means this trip was far more interesting than we realized. I have heard the Gu Clan has the greatest success raising 6 elementals but still limited results in the World Realm. Let's see how this unfolds." The semi-finals began with 2 unknowns that were barely interesting and were clearly lucky to make it that far.
Solon and Shoti once again devastated their foes in one attack. Shoti changed up her attack to 3 whips at once yet none could see it until it was too late. Finally, Lind came on the stage.
****
"Why are you here?" Lind felt slightly uncomfortable as a crimson robed member of his clan stood across from him. Lind bowed without answering and assumed his stance. The young man across from him raised an eyebrow but then his face lit up and a deep frown showed on his face.
"You really think you are worthy of the Young Mistress? Bastards should know their place. Concede and I will forget this foolishness." Lind felt his nervous heart still. His goal of helping Teyla was suddenly drowned in rage. The deep green eyes stared at the idiot across from him as the world suddenly changed.
"Shut up. Fight or get out of my way." Lind's words were ice cold and even the judge blinked. How could a tier 3 Soul Realm put out this kind of aura? Seeing both were ready the judge started the fight.
The world became pitch black instantly and then the scream of the clansman filled the air as he rolled out of the darkness with burns all over his body. It was not from fire but boiling water. It was impossible to avoid it when he was unprepared and could not see. Everytime Lind attacked, he changed his combination and never the same pattern.
His first battle was avoidance and then somehow redirecting lightning back at his enemies. He then demonstrated excellent basic control of all 6 elements to get close to his foe. He surprised his next opponent with a surprise attack from the sky and power. And finally, Lind wiped out his enemy with a hidden attack. None of it was beyond basic control but the power clearly took a toll on him. His face was pale and breathing heavily but he did not fall over.
"Winner: Lind!" The judge called the battle and Lind made it to the finals. The pure silence this time was not broken by cheering. The brutal attack had stunned all. Lind limped off the stage as there was blood trickling down his right side. Clearly, an attack had gotten through but he had powered through it. One more step to his target, Lind grimly smiled as he popped a pill and began meditating once again.