Mark P.O.V
A large distance was between Cron and me, as the mana presence from each of us started to dye the air and surrounding terrain Gold and red. The area was filled with silence... Until suddenly I and cron had blitzed at each other, clashing together at the centre and creating a gust of wind that blew the ground below us into a rumble. My right forearm clashed with the head of his hammer, but just before I could get away after the collision, cron managed to manoeuvre his hammer in such a way that it got right through my defences and straight for my chest.
I got pushed back by this attack about 15 feet away, though I managed to get back up and maintain my original stance. A hot spill of mana slid off my chest onto the ground, as this was the mana coating I conjured up to my chest to protect me from his hammer attack... But this came with a cost, as steam started to evaporate from my body... 'one more hit from his hammer and I won't be able to achieve the full form... The more I'm trying to coat myself with more mana, the more heat is building up within me due to the imbalance of my mana presence... Trying to manipulate my inner world mana with the outer world mana.'
Flashback
I walked beside Father Alfred, as we both just finished our usual training session. We were approaching the main door leading to the main hall of the academy. But while on the way Father Alfred was lecturing me about a very certain topic that was the reason for the rigorous training I'm undergoing currently.
"for you to achieve the full beast cloak, Mark... You need to push all that mana within you out... That raw form of mana deep inside you is what truly differentiates an Aurora technique user like yourself from the rest... The true mastery of the inner world mana manipulation. Fatherer Alfred spoke with so much wisdom embedded in it... But then I questioned while staring at the sky and the clouds with a thoughtful look on my face.
"but... Father Alfred... What is mana presence itself... How does it help in any of this... In any of my training. You always say that I should practice releasing my mana presence in this kind of meditative breathing ritual... but... I don't even understand the use of it in all of this-." I tried to explain my point further but Father Alfred had placed his right hand on my right shoulder with a more serious look on his face.
"Mana presence is not just a process... It is a state of life... A state of truth equilibrium between the outer and inner worlds... That is you as the inner world... And your environment as the outer world... Every being has it, it's a law that everything in existence has to follow... So when a being is born with mana... no matter how much or how big it is... It must return that same mana at the end of its life, back to the very universe that gave it... For a new life to be born... A past life must be destroyed... Nothing is ever wasted... Nothing is ever lost... The very fact that you're alive Mark... Is mana presence itself... Your body is in sync with the universe." Father Alfred, conversed, while staring at a dead tree close by... And just beside that same dead tree... It was a newly grown plant of the same kind as the dead tree... "life needs death to continue and death needs life to exist... Mark for you to summon the beast cloak... You need to risk it all... You need to disrupt that sync and fully connect with the environment around you, release that pure mana within you and let it act as your armour... Just like how your environment protects you, use that pure mana with your environment and let the two worlds collide."
"it's either you give birth to something new with the price of death...
Or
You
Just
End of flashback
"...Let it burn... I see, so that's it... Alright then." I said with a soft smile, but Cron hit me in the chin with his monstrous hammer, which sent me flying to the edge of the arena... The pain was so much as I didn't block... Or tried to... I just accepted it.
"That is some serious weapon you have there you know," I tease with a stiff smile, as Cron was charging at me with an outrageous speed. I tried to get back up to my feet after the brutal blow to the head.
"Then lose so that you can show everybody you are a weak scum" Cron replied as he swung his hammer in a way that aimed for my chest... Though he landed a solid hit, I still managed to get up. I noticed that it takes a large amount of power for Cron to start the swing process of his hammer... But still all I need to do now is just endure.
"something is wrong... You've stopped putting up a fight... Already calling it quits trash" Cron said while stopping his hammer.
"Well what can I say, this trash knows his game when he sees one... So let's skip the chit chat" I replied cron with a smug face. He got pissed off by my response and started charging at me with an incredible speed and the momentum of his swing was on top. I remained still and waited for his attack... But then suddenly another hammer blade came from nowhere to hit me in my guts. Blood gushing out of my mouth I felt I was going to die after that hit he gave me. He was still coming at me, as I held my abdominal side, as the pain was far too excruciating... But even after that I stood back on my feet with a grin.
"hehe... Anymore... Of that hit... And I'm done for... But still, I need to wait... I need to keep on enduring- ackk!" my speech got cut off by a sudden vomit of blood, as I tried to heal my injuries... I stopped mid-way and dropped my hands down.
Cron who noticed everything began to laugh and he kept on coming at me.
"I will make you bleed till you pass out... Cause from what I'm seeing... You just don't know your limits trash... So just give... Up" Cron said with a smirk on his face. Running at a velocity which was faster than before. As he came at me, my hair blocked out my eyes with a shadow over them... I couldn't speak... I couldn't think... All I could do... Was endure...
"... " I whipped away the remaining blood in my mouth, as I stood up after regaining some strength and positioned myself in a wide stance. As I waited... For the impact..... Until...
"let the two worlds...
"IT'S OVER!" Cron roared out with a mighty swing from his hammer which was now laced with gold mana... As the hammer came down aiming for my head... Everything slowed down... I could feel it...
Collide..." I finished my sentence, as a loud boom rocked the terrain and dust filled everywhere...
"hm, it's done- what..." Cron words were stuck in his throat, as the cloud of dust was clear to reveal me still standing tall... But this time... A thick red mana coating was now around my head and upper shoulder as everyone just stared at the scene... The mana cloak started to cover around the rest of my body... 'I did it... Come forth'
I placed my right hand on Cron's hammer, as a cloak-like hand started to overcome and grasp the whole head of the hammer. The cloak finally covered my whole body and started to form a giant humanoid figure that appeared like me without skin and had glowing red eyes.
"...... AURORA TECHNIQUE: BEAST CLOAK...."
Dante's P.O.V
I was astounded by what was going on.... How did he summon the cloak... AMAZING!
"...i can't believe it... He did it... He actually did it, wait so this was his plan from the very beginning" I analysed.
"he managed to disrupt the sync... Now he has gone beyond his limits, to a state of true mana presence..." Rin pointed out with an awed look on her face, as she was off her seat.
"He really risked it all for this one move huh... I'm just glad he managed to pull it off." luca pointed out, while glaring at the screen. "if he hadn't succeeded..."
"he would have burnt himself from the inside out... I'm impressed and grateful for the outcome... At this very point, even I can't read his level now... He's off the scale." trinity concluded with a soft smile, as everyone just continued to stare at the screen in awe.
"I can't wait for the day the two of us will go sparing with this beast cloak you have there" I said grinning at the screen.
Mark P.O.V
I continued to stare with a stoic expression at cron who was now terrified, but still he got himself and tried to struggle his hummer out of my grip... But I just increased my grip on it even more, as cracks started to appear on it.
"as you said... It's over... Yes." I started off my speech by increasing my grip on his hammer... Until it finally shattered into chunks of metal on the ground... Cron started to move back startled... But just before he could blink, I vanished and reappeared in front of him with my fist launched at his gut, as this caused a large shockwave from cron's back... This resulted in Cron passing out... Ultimately making me the winner.
"but it's over for you..." I finished off my speech and started to close my eyes, as the red cloak soon vanished off me and from there I felt my whole body collapse from the stress and the pain starts to set in... I just smiled and allowed the darkness to consume me... But I managed to whisper... "I...did it... Father alfred."
Author's P.O.V
The whole observation room was filled with cheers. Mark's win made his teammates cheer for him from their rooms.
The generals in approval clapped their hands for Mark in their meeting room.
"This mark of a guy has the potential to be a general one day" a general said stroking his chin.
"I guess Father Alfred is raising monsters," one of the general's escort commented, while looking at the screen.
"Let's see what the rest of the 12th academy students can do since there remain only two more students," another general said standing up from his chair to leave the room.
The anchor announced the next round of contestant
" from the 1st academy..... Mona Lisa de Montford" he said looking for the crowd's excitement but the only thing he got were claps from the audience.
" And our second contestant, From the 12th academy who are on a winning streak comes..... Trinity Hashima" the anchor said. The crowd cheering at the sound of her name filled the whole observation room, as these were some of the 12th academy students.
While Trinity and Monalisa stepped into the arena, Monalisa was analysing Trinity wondering how her teammates were able to beat three of one of the best students in her academy.
"I long for that you give me everything you have in this fight of ours, " Monalisa said smiling softly.
"GET READY!!"
"We will see as the fight goes on. But I hope you will be able to keep up" Trinity replied with her normal angelic smile.
"FIGHT!!!" The anchor said through the speaker attached to the dome.