After the King and Kaya left, Ray walked away from the area and wandered about the outskirts. He didn't know why but he suddenly wondered about his and his brothers' talents. It was too much of a coincidence that all five of them were gifted with amazing grades and elements.
'I guess I have to put my faith in fate?' Ray shook his head.
Suddenly, his right ear quivered slightly and he could feel his body tense up. He shifted his line of sight towards the right and saw the same two robed figures from the Mystical Stairs.
*Whoosh*
Three grey robed figures appeared and they all surrounded Ray. They were in the outskirts of the city and surrounded by tall trees, void of other creatures.
'They were secretly observing me? No, that shouldn't be possible otherwise the King would've noticed them.' Ray frowned.
"A man can't go for a stroll these days, heh." Ray massaged his forehead and spoke.
Ray looked towards the black robed figure and the white robed figure and said, "Your names are Bane and…Brax, right? So, care to tell me who ordered you to sabotage us?"
A low guttural voice emitted from Bane, "It's your lucky day!"
"Oh damn, you can actually speak." Ray feigned his surprise.
"Who the fuck are the other three?" Ray asked while pointing at the grey robed men. Bane and Brax did not answer him. Ray observed that they had numbers on their chest from one to three.
A soothing ethereal voice instead emanated from Brax, "Any last words?"
Ray gravely frowned and thought, 'Oh fuck! They're here to kill me, so much for thinking they would only try to kidnap me.'
Goosebumps appeared on Ray's skin as he felt a certain negative intent from the five figures surrounding him.
"Is this the famous killing intent?" Ray chuckled, trying not to let the killing intent affect him.
One could say, the five brothers are very strong to an unimaginable degree but they lacked one important and vital thing in the vast universe, real life experience. In the face of the unknown, one's state of mind can be affected to a huge degree.
All of his previous bouts with Garr's group and the rest were battles without the concept of life and death. They were just merely spars. Now, Ray is in a situation he would have never thought of or prepared for.
'Killing someone…' Ray clenched his fist and his frown deepened.
*Phweee*
A whistle resounded and the three grey robed figures pulled out a sword and bolted towards Ray. Ray couldn't flee as they kept tight track of his movements to prevent him from escaping and they also had to be careful because their target is someone very strong. Instead of letting the enemy control the flow, Ray responded in kind.
*Boom*
With unimaginable speed, Ray reached before the grey robed man named Number Two and delivered a full-blown punch to his back. Number Two could not react in time before he was flung away from the other two.
Number One and Number Three swung their sword at Ray, aiming for his chest and legs. In the span of a second, Ray jumped up and angled his body vertically between the two swords and retreated a few metres away, successfully dodging them.
Ray noticed their swords were covered with a light blue aura. He figured they coated their swords with their elemental energy.
"Aren't you two going to join them?" Ray looked at Bane and Brax.
"Haha, we don't want to make it too easy for us." Brax slightly chuckled while rubbing a ring on his index finger.
*Sigh*
"Easy?"
Ray disappeared from his spot and appeared before the two grey robed men. He didn't give them a chance to react before he violently punched their guts and tossed them away into the dense forest.
"Now, I can fight you two." Ray stared at Bane and Brax with focused eyes.
Brax looked at Bane and said, "Lead the fight, I'll support you."
Bane nodded and stepped forward. He clenched his fists and slowly flames enveloped the entirety of both his hands. Brax smiled and joined his hands before a small elemental aura emanated from him.
"Bind!"
*Rumble*
The ground shook with low intensity before numerous narrow vines erupted from the ground and shot towards Ray. Ray eyebrows jumped in surprise and he swiftly dodged them.
'Those vines are quick but I'm faster!'
*Whoosh*
Having no time to breathe, Bane arrived before Ray with an incoming fist aimed at his head. Ray couldn't dodge in time and crossed his arms in front of him to block the punch.
*WHAM*
"Kagh!"
Ray skidded a few feet back from the impact. He rubbed his forearms trying to ease the slight pain from Bane's fiery punch.
*Grasp*
Two vines wrapped up around his ankles at breakneck speed and flung him back and forth onto the ground. Ray was immediately annoyed and frustrated with the vines. Using his elemental energy, Ray shattered the vines around his ankles and jumped away. Brax lifted his eyebrow and smiled widely with intense excitement.
"Fire Whip!"
At the same time, Bane conjured a whip made of flames and lashed at Ray. Ray noticed the incoming whip and quickly dodged the whip.
*Boom*
The whip instead tore and shattered a small chunk of the ground from where Ray previously stood. Ray figured Brax would be an annoying enemy to fight against so he rapidly dashed towards Brax in the hopes of taking him out.
"Pierce!"
Brax released a flurry of sharp and quick moving branches to attack at Ray to stop him from coming closer. Ray tried to dodge the branches but there were too many of them, resulting in him getting cuts on his body. Bane did not waste up on this opportunity and shot a massive fire beam at Ray.
'Oh fuck!' Ray tried to dodge but more vines bound his legs and it was too late for him to destroy the vines.
*BOOM*
The area where Ray stood was engulfed in an explosion, leaving small fireworks in the air. A small crater appeared in the midst of the explosion signifying it's terrifying power.
"Is he dead?" Brax tilted his head. Bane just squinted his eyes and waited for the smoke to dissipate.
*Huff Huff*
The burst of smoke dissipated away and they saw Ray standing and breathing heavily which answered Brax's question. Ray's body was covered with numerous minor burns and his clothes were in tatters.
'Good thing I covered my body with elemental energy to protect myself. Still, that fire beam was strong.' Ray thought while wincing in pain.
"You're still alive after taking Bane's Fire Beam head on? I don't know if you're lucky or unlucky." Brax spoke with amusement.
"Heh." Brax roughly grunted.
"Fuck you, assholes. Your dogshit killing intent can kiss my ass. I wasn't planning on revealing my elemental powers until the later stages of the tournament but it doesn't matter now." Ray spoke, annoyed at himself.
'His demeanor…' Brax narrowed his eyes. Brax and Bane felt a sudden shift in his presence.
*Phoo*
"You won't be able to partake in the tournament anymore after I'm done with you two." Ray exhaled.
Without any further ado, Brax rapidly threw out javelin made of sharp branches at Ray. Bane stood in a stance as if he was holding a bow and shot out a few fire arrows at Ray.
*Crackle*
Seeing the two attacks inching closer to him, Ray smiled and disappeared from the spot, leaving a trace of lightning.
"Lightning Fist!"
*Rumble*
Right next to Brax, a fist made of lightning appeared which shocked Brax. He was watching the small trace of lightning that Ray left and next thing he knew, there was a lightning fist next to his face.
'He has li-'
*BOOM*
Brax's face took the full impact of the attack and he propelled away, smashing and knocking down onto multiple trees.
Bane widened his eyes in disbelief, 'Such incredible speed!'
"He'll probably be back but that's fine." Ray shrugged.
"The Lightning element…" Bane slowly uttered.
"And to think I have one more besides my Lightning." Ray shook his head. Ray didn't care whether he revealed a part of his secret or not since he decided in his mind that these two should die no matter what.
"What?!" Bane's body trembled in shock. 'He has two elements?! And one of them is Lightning?'
"Haha, are you ready?" Ray chuckled.
Bane did not let down his guard and was on full alert. His eyes were fully focused on Ray to keep up with his insane speed.
*Crackle*
With a perfect reaction time, Bane blocked Ray's Lightning Fist with his own Fire Fist. To create space between them, Bane flared a fire blast from his body sending Ray backwards.
"Lightning Burst!"
Using the momentum from Bane's attack, Ray sent out lethal thin lightning bolts from his fingertips. Dangerous lightning bolts branched out into dozens of smaller bolts aiming for every single part of Bane's body. Bane did not have time to dodge the dangerous lightning bolts and could only conjure a fire wall and coat his body with elemental energy to reduce the impact.
*BUZZ BUZZ*
The lightning bolts made quick work of the fire wall and zapped onto Bane. Bane shrieked in pain as the lightning bolts sent stinging pain all over his body. His muscles tensed up and he felt a vibration hum throughout his muscles. At this rate, he wouldn't last long from the constant barrage.
*Swoosh*
Suddenly, a thick viny branch shot out from the forest towards Ray. Ray had to stop his attack and dodge the branch.
"Oh, you're back." Ray slowly narrowed his eyes.
Brax came out from where he was flung away with a bruised face and few holes on his robe. Bane fought off the pain, took this chance and grouped up with Brax. Bane hissed in pain as his body felt numb to him. Brax placed a hand on Bane and a light glow enveloped Bane, dissipating some of the pain and relieving his numbness.
"Thank you." Bane slowly uttered.
"We have to be caref-" Brax stopped his words in complete shock and fear.
*Rumble*
A dense sphere made of lightning was formed between the palm of Ray's hands. It was completely opaque and streaks of electric current coursed through the sphere. The veins in his arms throbbed with pressure and power. A thick potent aura surrounded Ray and shockwaves formed beneath his feet, cracking the ground.
A light flashed from the corner of Brax's eyes and he noticed the ring on his finger started to flash. Brax widened even more in panic and shook Bane to get his attention.
"Someone strong is coming! We have to use that now!" Brax hurriedly said.
"Huh…" Bane was momentarily confused.
"NOW!" Brax yelled anxiously.
Bane pulled out a scroll from his robe and ripped it in half. Ray witnessed this and was confused on what they were doing. Not wanting to waste any more time, Ray threw the Lightning sphere at the two.
"Eat my attack, dickheads!"
As soon as Bane ripped the scroll in half, Bane and Brax started to glow brightly. The light shone too bright for Ray and he had to look away.
*BOOM*
The Lightning sphere exploded upon impact and a huge explosion made of lightning expanded from the point of impact. The explosion sent Ray flying away from the vicinity as he saw the devastation that he caused.
"Holy fuck!"
*RUMBLE*
He saw a titanic explosion of lightning ravaging through everything in the area. The plant life in the area were reduced to char and a massive crater was formed from the aftermath. Ray was still zooming away due to the explosion.
"Heuk!" With an abrupt stop, Ray felt someone grab him from above. He looked up and saw Alexander look at him with an obvious frown. Alexander looked at the state he was in and he felt cold inside.
"What happened to you?" Alexander asked.
"Haha, I'll tell you on the way." Ray chuckled.