Noah clicked his tongue while immediately initiating his beast transformation, allowing silver scales appear over his skin. Right now, that was the best physical defense he had against what was happening around him. "All of you, ready your Essence and spread out your awareness. Execute your movement arts the moment, you sense danger!"
The three nodded, doing as he said while Emery also initiated his beast transformation. Noah was the first to get unlucky. A lightning bolt targeted him and struck down with swiftness but, fortunately, his plan worked. He teleported, appearing 20 meters away from his former location and dodging the deadly lightning that utterly destroyed the ground.
"We need to move." He groaned as he stared forward. The only way to pass the test was if they overcame the disasters happening around them. And since they weren't allowed to escape, judging by the terrifyingly tall wall of powerful Essence that blocked their path of retreat, the only other choice was to brave through the storm. "Come together, we'll layer our Arts to increase our chances!"
The three nodded, moving towards him with Emery having to use his Shadow Jump since a lightning bolt struck his former position. Once together, Noah acted first and executed his Dragon Guard, creating an image of a coiling Dragon coating the team. He acted further, coating the Dragon's scales with the Distortion art, an act to provide them time if the outer defenses failed.
Next was Leonel, who summoned a dome of golden flames over the dragon. Emery also acted, creating a moving spiral of concentrated shadows.
"I'm sorry that I can't be of help." Argos held his head low, a bit of embarrassment appearing on his face but Leonel shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. You're our main hitter here, it doesn't matter. Just focus on fucking up those who try to block our way in the next stage."
Argos smiled bitterly but nodded. He really couldn't be blamed. After all, his Word was not an elemental Battlesoul but he could feel faintly that, perhaps in the future, it wouldn't be only his body that could be enhanced by it.
The group moved, their defense holding its own against the endless barrage of lightning. The problem was their Essence reserves, the three had to constantly absorb beast Essence cores so that they could keep fueling their arts. And worse was that the wind of the tornado wasn't something to scoff at.
It was at a level that could possibly surpass even the lightning storm. After all, anybody would be much happier receiving a strike that'd leave you unconscious immediately than one which would slowly tear at your skin and cause you an unending amount of pain.
Well the four didn't wish to find out which was more painful. They moved forward, sometimes having their defenses torn through with their only saving grace being Noah's distortion redirecting the wind and lightning long enough to reestablish their defense.
The journey was the most tedious thing Noah had ever gone through. The sound of the sharp wind tearing at their defenses as they passed by was really draining on the mind. Plus, they had to be as stable as a rock as they moved, else the force acting on them would attempt to suck them into the storm's maw. After all, it was like looking death right in the face. Regardless of whether they would be saved by the academy's back up teleporter, it would still be hell to feel the pain of numerous tiny but extremely sharp blades slicing at your skin. And that was if, the device could perform its function before they died.
The team, including Noah, sighed in relief as they finally felt the absence of the tornado's powerful suction force disappear, glancing back to see that they had successfully passed through the storm's harrowing clutches.
The four were about to move forward before the Half-dragon abruptly stopped them with a raised hand. The three glanced at him curiously, but followed his silent order regardless and stopped all their movements.
Meanwhile the transmigrator frowned as he sensed his senses tingled, warning him of a possible problem. It was quite misleading since before them was miles on end of clear grass, but he knew better than to dismiss the warnings of the instincts that had ensured his survival back on Earth. His eyes lit up, an indication of the activation of the Silver Dragon Eyes and what he saw made the frown deepen.
"There's a hidden teleportation formation in front of us, I'm guessing it would have taken to the next disaster that we would have to face."
His words made the three's face pale. They knew the implication of those words. It meant that they would have to face another disaster with barely any Essence in their Cores, which had been strained by the wanton absorbing and utilization of Essence for hours on end.
"Hehe. You really saved our asses, Noah." Argos fell to the ground and sighed in relief. "I guess we'll take this time to recover before heading in there."
The others nodded, sitting on the ground alongside him and immediately began to restore the state of their Cores while absorbing the ambient Essence.
Soon, multiple teams passed by the tornado and saw the four lying on the ground. Arrogance and mockery filled their expressions while they thought that the four had given up on the next challenge. They snickered before walking into the distance, disappearing after a few steps under Noah's watch.
The rest of the people who had managed to pass the storm hesitated as they saw this and finally realized why Noah and his team had sat to recover. Though some of them remained unconvinced and walked into the distance, disappearing all the same, the rest waited, choosing to recover their stamina and Essence Core as Noah's team was doing.
One of these teams was the Nolan genius who seemed to be oozing concealed murderous intent as he stared at Noah. Well, at least, the idiot thought it was concealed, to Noah though, it was like placing a massive beacon on his head. The other team was Alyssa's, who had sent him a smile as she sat to recover her Essence as well.
The team soon stood up, stretching before walking forward with smiles while their layered defense appeared once more…
…And shattered as they suddenly crashed into a body of water, disturbing their concentration. And worse.
"Oh shit."
The four spoke in unison as they stared at the at least 40 meter high tsunami that was headed their way!