Clorissa held a stance as the mask opponent rushed forward with a blast of sonic waves. She was able to create another bubble barrier, reflecting it again. She aimed her staff forward, the tip roaring with life as she fired off a small blast of bubbles, which cut through the air and struck the masked man's shoulder.
She frowned as she aimed the tip at him again, using [Power Strike] as she shot another blast. The masked man watched as the beam flew through the air towards him, he quickly dodged it.
The quick dodge left Clorissa with a surprised expression, but it was instantly replaced with a look of irritation. She turned and quickly rushed towards him. He continued to rain sonic waves towards her, but thanks to her shield, it was reflected easily.
The masked man's expression was unreadable, but he was panicking. He wasn't sure what to do, any attack he threw, she would reflect. The only hope he had was to overwhelm her with attacks. He quickly used [Dash] and raced around the area. As he moved through the terrain, he continued firing sonic blasts at her, but they were blocked by an all-around shield. He continued, 'She'll run out of mana sooner or later...' He thought as he continued raining down attacks against her shield.
As the blasts collided with her shield, she watched as he moved through the trees. 'I see what he's trying to do... He's banking on my mana running out, I have to be more offensive.' She brought down the shield and using her own [Dash] skill, she moved towards where he would be next, aiming the tip of her staff at the area.
Water swirled around and began to form bubbles as she was ready to blast it, but something stopped her. It was like a blur, as the masked assailant moved to the predicted spot, something came crashing down on top of him, causing the branches to break and snap under the weight.
She looked surprised as the water dripped to the ground. As the cloud of dust faded, it was revealed. The masked opponent lay underneath Faxon's large body. She gave a small smile, "Faxon! What an entrance!" She walked up to him as the large man rose to his feet. He looked to the defeated man, "Oh, looks like I took him out." He turned towards her, "It looked like you had it handled, but thought I should lend a helping hand,"
"Thanks for showing up!" She said as her attention turned to the protected flag. Sky flew down and circled her, glowing. She smiled again, "Say, where's Aluxio?" She wondered as she patted Sky gently. "He's with Alaric, we ran into him on our way here." She nodded, as she noticed the blue flag in his large hand.
"Oh! You got one!" Faxon walked towards the B flag, stabbing the blue flag into the ground near it. "Yes, now, we just have to hope Alaric and Aluxio can protect the C flag."
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Flames roared through the forest as Alaric jumped past it, racing towards him. He swung his staff in various directions, but the boy was able to dodge the strikes with ease almost. But on the opposite side, Aluxio rushed in with his [Slash] skill, a blue slash racing towards him, cutting through the air. He smirked and quickly parried with a fireball of his own.
Alaric quickly aimed the staff at his body and extended its length, causing it to push into his side. He was ready to continue with another strike, but the fire-wielder extended a fiery whip toward one of the branches, causing it to burn under its grip. He swung off the branch with a kick aimed at Alaric.
Thinking quickly, he rose his staff and blocked the kick, pushing him back slightly, his feet planted into the ground. He spun and the staff slammed against his body which sent him flying to the side, which was an assist to Aluxio. He aimed the blunt side of his blade and hit him hard.
The boy felt the damage being done, and his mana was depleting quickly due to the continuous attacks he was throwing. But, with as many moves as Alaric has been using, he was sure to be low as well. Right now, his main goal was to get their flag and get out of there.
But he kept using skills, that would be impossible. He was snapped out of his thoughts as a kick was shoved into his stomach, causing him to crash into a tree. He felt the wind get knocked out of him, as he groveled and clenched his gut.
Alaric rushed into and aimed a strike at his body using his [Power Strike] skill. As the strike landed, the pain rushed into his body. He felt his limbs go cold and his head banged, his heartbeat in his ears. Alaric let out a short breath, he was now defeated. Aluixo rushed over, "Is he down?" He asked as Alaric gave a sharp nod.
"We should take him with us and keep an eye on him, let's hope the others can handle the other flag," Alaric explained as he grabbed his body and slung him over his shoulder. The two raced towards the two flags.
Once they reached the flag, Alaric dropped the guy next to it, but of course he kept a close eye on him in case he woke up before the time was up. Alaric sat down as Aluxio sat next to him. He let out a soft sigh, "So, Alaric," Aluxio said, gaining his attention.
"So, you seem a lot more powerful than I thought, why didn't you tell me you that amazing!" He exclaimed, as Alaric gave a shocked expression. He moved away a bit at Aluxio's sudden excitement. It caught him off guard, he wasn't expecting such praise. He thought his performance was a bit lackluster, since he needed help to defeat that flame-wielder.
Alaric rubbed my neck, "U-Um..You don't have to flatter me, after all I needed help to beat that guy..." He said, whispering a bit. Aluxio gave a puzzled look, "You did most of the work though, I'm sure you could've taken him without me," He looked ahead. "You were probably focused on securing the flag so you couldn't go all out." Alaric looked off, feeling the embarrassment bring heat to his cheeks.
With someone like Aluxio, who seemed super strong, being Praised by someone like that made him a bit embarrassed. "T-Thank you..."
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After a few minutes, the second stage was over. Everyone was teleported back to large collosem. Alaric looked around, and suddenly he was next to his entire team. The guy him and Aluxio was looking after was gone and they stood in front of a large screen that was ready to present the results of the second stage. Alaric didn't feel nervous, he knew him and his team had this in the bag. He glanced up at the screen as the Headmaster walked in front of the entire group of students.
"Alright, congrats for getting past the second stage of the exam. We will display the results," He pointed towards the screen as first, the red teams were on the screen. But only the winning red teams were displayed. As Alaric's gray eyes scanned the bright display, his team was shown. He felt a smirk tug at his lips, Aluxio's plan was damn near perfect.
As the blue teams were display, his eyes aimlessly tracking for a certain name.
Once his eyes landed on the name, he felt his eyes light up and a larger smile tugging at the corner of his lips. 'Arthur passed,' he thought to himself as all the chatter around him ceased as the Headmaster clapped his hands. He focused his attention back on him.
"If you didn't see your name, that means you unfortunately did not pass the second stage. But, you still have a chance at becoming a student here at A.A.A. We'll be taking a brief break to let you all rest. Use it wisely." He said as everyone broke off into their own groups. Alaric stayed with his original group from the second stage.
"So, any idea what the next stage is?" Aluxio asked as the group shrugged, they had no idea. "I'm not sure, but whatever it is will require energy since he's giving us time to rest," Clorissa said as they began walking. Alaric glanced around, wondering where Arthur was, 'Maybe he's with his group,' He turned his attention towards his group.
"Maybe it will be an obsticul course or something." Aluxio said, as he tapped his chin. Alaric stayed to himself, he had no idea what it could be. But, before he could think, a sound played in his ear, and he knew this sound. He had leveled up. He looked at the points he earned.
New Skills:
-Immobilize
-Ruyi Jingu Bang Skills:
-Flame Enhancement
Attribute Points:
5
Alaric looked a bit shocked, he finally got some new skills along with some attribute points. He looked at the describe of his new skills
Immobilize
Tier: A
Description: The user can hault a oppoents movement with the flick of the wrist. The duration depends on the oppoents strength. But the effects makes the stand still like a rock, letting the user land as many attacks as the duration.
Alaric gave a suprised expression at how good this skill was, it would definitely help give his combat more variety. The fire enhancement skill was pretty self-explanatory. So he didn't need to look at it's description. He smiled, this was amazing. His arsenal was expanded and he was stronger than ever now. Whatever this last stage was, he would be ready for anything.