"Ok, so put it simply, you want use illusions as a method of deception to lead the dragon away and use this time to pass through?" Kashia summed up what she heard from Mattheia "I definitely like this approach much better than actually fighting the creature."
While the plan seemed to be quite logical, Sherkhan's face was showing signs of disappointment, which was immediately noticed by his comrades.
"Sher, there will be more fights for you in future" Mattheia spoke to him "You don't need to fight and show your strength all the time. Sometimes, it's better to avoid fighting in order to reach the goal."
Gerhan sighed.
"It's not that I don't get it, and I was also taught to be wise about when to engage in a fight and when I should consider other options for my comrades and myself. I just always wanted to fight a dragon like my father did."
It was exactly what Kabanos thought - his friend apparently wanted to prove himself, to show that he is strong and most likely get a praise from his family. He got that, it was really understandable, but not something to be done when others can be put in danger. That is why, they confirmed each others roles and started going with the plan Mattheia came up with.
Meanwhile, Nine and Junie were observing everything happening within the arena with the teachers.
"Now, this one is quite mean, you know?" she commented, pointing at the creature Mattheia, Kashia and Sherkhan needed to pass "I can see it's not a regular earth dragon. How in the hell did you manage to get something, or rather, in this case, someone like that on board?"
"Ho, Kleia, you still have these sharp eyes of yours, I guess" it was Ricaud who reacted to her words "It's all thanks to headmaster Dante."
The oldest among the teachers smiled wide when Nine looked at him.
"Then it is what I think it is?" she asked, and headmaster gave only a short nod as a reply "Well, not gonna lie, it got me interested."
"Would you mind telling me what this is about?" Junie felt she was only one within the group, who was unaware of the topic Aukkleia brought up "What's the case with this dragon?"
"Well, you should learn soon enough" Nine said mysteriously "As long as our young ones fail to get through with the illusion, which is very likely to be the case."
"Why? You don't believe in their abilities?"
"Oh, I do, especially in Mattheia. But their abilities are not the case here. It's just, there are things I doubt will work on this one."
"What do you mean? It looks like a regular earth dragon to me. And it's not even the biggest one I've seen in my life."
"It's not a real dragon, though. Be patient and watch. They will need to change their tactics."
While the discussion among the teachers and two masters of Kabanos family heir was happening, Mattheia, Kashia and Sherkhan were already proceeding with their plan.
By using illusions of various objects and creatures as decoys, they nearly managed to reach a corner leading into a passage from which the dragon emerged. So far, it seemed that their plan was working all fine, but then - the creature suddenly stopped following the illusionary shadows, and turned toward the direction where the group of three srudents currently was.
With a roar, the earth dragon stomped heavily, causing a huge piece of stone to emerge from the ground, blocking the way leading into the passage Mattheia and others wanted use for moving further. The boy immediately used explosive spell, hoping it would destroy the stone wall, but - surprisingly - it was left unscathed.
"It doesn't look well!" Kashia was also trying to help with her magic - still, no matter what they did, the stone did not budge.
"You keep trying, and I'm going to cover your back!" Sherkhan shouted as he turned towards the direction where the dragon was "If you cannot break it, I guess we have no other choice, but to fight."
"I just hope teachers here will really react if things go south" said Kabanos, while throwing more blows at the stone wall, which started breaking the wall finally "This is not going down that easily."
"It doesn't feel like a normal stone, that's for sure" angel girl pointed out "I can sense immense magic flowing into that stone, reinforcing its durability."
"Is it something you can break or do we focus on fighting?" Gerhan was asking that, while blocking blows from magical attacks the dragon was sending at them from the distance "For some reason, it's not attacking physically, so we may have a shot if we act fast."
Kabanos was thinking hard about what would be the best approach here - the magic applied to the stone wall was peculiar one, and it was not really a particularly strong spell, but he could not quickly find a way to break through. Of course, he could try to break through with a brute force - however, this could cause harm to the surroundings and deplete his magical energy which would be problematic for their further passing of the trial. Still, facing the dragon was not really an efficient choice too.
For now, he turned towards the dragon to help with defense barriers, and noticed something unusual about the creature.
"Kashia, you are a specialist when it comes to feeling the flow of magic" he spoke to angel girl "Is it just me, or is something off about how the dragon's magic seems unbalanced? It's already weird it's not attacking physically, but the spells are strangely constructed too."
The girl stopped supporting the barrier, leaving it to Mattheia, and focused solely on the dragon's energy. Moments after, she told to other two:
"I didn't see it before, but indeed, the body size and energy don't add up, there is far from enough to fuel such a huge body. It's hard to believe it can move and fight with such an amount of energy."
Sherkhan was just standing there for some time now.
"I don't get what you are talking about" he said to other two "What does it change? Are we fighting it or what?"
Kabanos scratched his head before replying:
"I guess it's the only way to check if my feeling is right. Go ahead and attack the dragon, we will support."
Sher's eyes were literally sparkling after he heard that - it seemed he really wanted to have a go against such a creature, and he rushed at full speed immediately, starting with his signature dance-like moves he also used during a fight with Mattheia. However, much to his surprise, all the blows he aimed at the dragon's body, went through as if he attacked the air.
"What in the hell!?" Gerhan, surprised by the lack of resistance, had to quickly regain his posture "Matt, can you tell me what's this about!?"
"It's a kind of transformation magic! Aim for the creature's core!" Kabanos replied, but seeing his friend's confusion, he added "Hit its head! The energy is the thickest there! I will support!"
Sherkhan rushed, using surroundings to jump high enough to reach the head, and bumped away as he hit a barrier. This very moment, Mattheia made his move and landed a hit just a second after the barrier managed to block Sher, successfully penetrating it. Once he did that, a loud scream echoed, and the humongous dragon body started fading away.
All three students moved back from the creature, observing what is happening from within the barrier. In front of their eyes, dragon's body started shrinking, and ultimately only a slender girl with red hair and eyes, wearing the school uniforms was standing in the spot where the creature was - she looked both tired and frightened.
"Ok, so it was a person all along?" Gerhan looked at Kabanos, who nodded and replied:
"Precisely that, though I'm still not sure if it was actually a type of illusion or really a transformation magic."
After hearing that, Sherkhan nodded and asked:
"What's the plan now? What are we going to do with her after she changed back?"
Mattheia shrugged.
"No idea. She doesn't look like a threat anymore, so I guess we can leave her as she is and finally complete this task. It's been already some time since it started."
"Yeah, I feel like we are already past dinner" Kashia complained.
With that, they started walking further into the maze to reach the finish of this task, and then...
"Wait, please, don't leave me like that, I can help you!" surprisingly, it was red-haired girl who called them "The path further isn't an easy one!"
The three turned around, looking at the girl, and then at each other.
"Why would we trust someone who just fought us?" Kabanos asked her "Besides, you don't seem to be in shape to help anyone!"
The girl shook her head.
"I've been fighting others to find a worthy party!" she said "You are the first people since I left my village to give me so much trouble in a fight!"
Mattheia took some steps towards the girl, followed by his two companions.
"What about people who went here with you? What happened to them? Did you do something to them?"
She quickly shook her head.
"If someone did something wrong, it was them" she said with an angry face "They underestimated me because of how the previous challenges went for me, even though they didn't know these were not giving me a chance to use my real skills. They betrayed their teammate!"
Mattheia looked at Kashia and Sher.
"It doesn't seem she is lying" angel girl told him "Still, her current condition."
"I told you, it's temporary!" red-haired girl looked offended "I'm always slightly exhausted after changing form if I use it for long, that's all."
Kabanos was really interested in what she just said.
"Changing form? You mean it wasn't illusion, but rather a transformation magic?"
The girl scratched her head.
"I don't know how to properly explain this myself. You see, I'm a dragon kin, and everyone in my bloodline can take a form of a dragon, so we consider this to be a part of our identity. It does have magical roots, but it's not like your everyday magic."
As she was speaking, Mattheia could notice her magical balance getting back to shape.
"What's your name?" he asked.
The girl looked surprised for a second, but then replied:
"Dia Draekia."
"Mattheia Matos del Ros Kabanos" the boy introduced himself, and then his companions: "This is Kashia, she is from Sky People, and Sherkhan Gerhan, who is a swordsman."
The other two greeted the girl with a node.
"You can tag along" Mattheia told her "But you try to do anything fishy, and we cut you immediately."
Dia agreed to their conditions, and now, with team of four, they proceeded further, hoping to finally complete the last trial.