Arwyna's Point of View
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"I think that should do it with twice the power," said Seraph, ready to attack.
"Let's go, Seraph. Thanks to the evolution, I have much more energy now," said Sylph, confidently.
"Evolution? Incredible, I would have never imagined such a thing," exclaimed a student.
"You heard that, apparently they are twice as powerful now, it's crazy!" exclaimed a Metaryon.
"Arwyna now has all her chances to win this fight," said Yoko, looking admiringly.
"Let's go!" I ordered. Sylph created numerous yellow magic circles, then unleashed the 'Gaia's Rain' technique. A rain of rocks fell on Zyriel. Seraph, meanwhile, rose into the air and used the 'Illumination' technique: A powerful flash lit up the arena, blinding everyone who was watching. Zyriel, blinded, still managed to dodge some rocks. But that's when I used my plantbending to make seeds grow inside the rocks, previously placed by Sylph. Thorny roots intertwined around Zyriel, who let out a slight cry of pain for the first time. As the other rocks fell on her, Seraph charged an attack while I connected all the rocks with thorny roots.
"Let's go, Sylph," I shouted, and the rocks tightened even more, and the thorny roots released a deadly poison. Zyriel was now at the center of an immense sphere of earth and thorny roots, elevated in the air, with only poisonous gas for air. Her health gauge dropped drastically to 26 percent.
"Zyriel!!! Do something!" cried Zayren, looking worried.
"She shouldn't have underestimated you, Arwyna," the elves shouted.
"Seraph! Let's finish this!" I shouted to Seraph.
"Understood, Arwyna! 'Light Blast'!" he launched, his hand towards the sphere. A white magic circle appeared before his hand, then another one appeared laterally on the rock mass, dividing it into two sections, a third circle appeared, dividing the earth mass vertically. Seraph snapped his fingers, and a luminous explosion disintegrated everything in its path, illuminating the sky. Zyriel collapsed heavily to the ground. Her health gauge fell to 1%.
"She's at 1%!!! Finish her, Arwyna!!!" Yoko shouted. I thought the poison would finish her off, but I quickly understood why it didn't; a purple beam shot towards me but hit Sylph's magical barrier, a purple gas escaping upon impact; she had absorbed the poison. Zyriel slowly stood up, her red aura agitated, seemingly spreading more and more across the field.
"I'll finish this," said Seraph, unleashing 'Light Beam', but like the first time, his attack was absorbed by Zyriel's 'Mystic Siphon'. Seraph immediately stopped his attack before Zyriel absorbed too much.
"This is bad. She's going to use her Ketsurei," calmly announced Anos Sendaris from the stands.
"Yeah, she must be really pissed," added Zayren.
"her Ketsurei? What's that?" asked the professor.
"The Ketsurei is a Jutsu that allows you to remove a specific or total amount of limiter in the Tenketsu," began Anos.
"Remove limiters?" repeated the professor, astonished.
"Yes, as you know, the energy vein systems have nodes that produce, distribute, and circulate the given energy throughout the entire system," began Anos Sendaris as Zyriel slowly rose into the air, pushed by the incandescent red aura emanating from her. "Chakra also has its chakra nodes called Tenketsu. The Tenketsu produce chakra until the chakra reserve is full. If they kept producing, the vein system could be damaged, causing excruciating pain to the body until it explodes due to excessive chakra production," explained Anos.
"So, the Tenketsu regulate chakra production while considering the user's body limit and chakra reserve?" asked Kaiser.
"That's right."
"But then, what's the connection with Ketsurei?" asked Yoko.
"It prevents chakra regulation," deduced Areyos.
"Exactly, but not just that," said Anos, looking even more serious. "It also brutally accelerates its production," he answered, causing astonishment among those listening. As I was shocked by what I heard, Zyriel's aura unleashed across the entire arena.
"But what's the point of using such a lethal technique!!?" Yoko exclaimed. Anos's answer chilled me to the bone:
"It's only lethal if the chakra reserve is full and the body can't get rid of the excess chakra fast enough. It means she just needs to prevent her chakra reserve from filling up by using extremely powerful Jutsu... continuously."
"What!?" exclaimed the students, astounded.
"And yes, that means from now on, she'll chain extremely powerful Jutsu without caring about the chakra she has left until she can use her 'Ketsurei' again to close her Tenketsu," added Zayren, his eyes on his sister. "But well, I doubt she intends to drag this fight out. She'll end it with one decisive attack."
" 'Ketsurei: opening of the first quarter'." said Zyriel. A brutal explosion of incandescent red aura emanated from her, then she continued with another technique. " 'Ranmei: Tempest of Majestic Flames'." A hot wind suddenly swept through the arena, then a tornado of fire charged with yellow lightning appeared around her, then spread across the entire arena. Soon, the whole arena was aflame. Zyriel's aura constantly emitted increasingly hot flames. The ground beneath us began to glow red. Zyriel was completely surrounded by impenetrable flames.
All traces of plants and ice disappeared from the arena, and even though she only had one percent left, the light attacks, though quick, would be absorbed and reused to reinforce her storm of flames.
"Arwyna, what do we do?" Seraph asked me, also within Sylph's barrier.
I clenched my fists, my heart pounding. "I... I have no idea," I whispered, feeling panic rise within me.
"I must admit you surprised me... Arwyna," she said, looking up at the sky.
"But as I've been telling you..." she said, raising her hand to the sky. "It's not enough," she finished. Her gaze piercing mine. Like Corvus facing Areyos on the first day, a sudden pressure paralyzed me, my heart suddenly racing. I could only contemplate my punishment. Before this majestic spectacle, I could only realize the powerlessness I represented in her eyes. Before the spectators, Zyriel was about to assert her dominance over most students in an indisputable manner.
"But!!!--" Yoko exclaimed, panicking.
"I must be dreaming?!" Corvus said, shock on his face.
"It's impossible!" an elf exclaimed, her eyes wide.
"It's even bigger and more complex than Arwyna's! It covers the entire arena!" another voice added in the stunned crowd.
To the general surprise, Zyriel, who had only one percent of life left, revealed her third energy system: mana. As the entire arena was covered in a veil of ardent fire, a gigantic incandescent magic circle covered the sky. More complex magic circles and runic inscriptions of different sizes were visible within it, making the whole thing mystical and terrifying. Fear rose in my heart when Zyriel began her incantation:
"Oh immortal sovereign of eternal flames, hear my call." Zyriel began. The atmosphere suddenly became charged with an overwhelming heat, as if the sun itself had come closer.
"From the abyss of dusk to the zenith's glow, spread your majestic wings and ignite the sky." She continued. The light around Zyriel became unbearable, an incandescence that devoured the sky. I could feel the vibrations of this incantation down to my bones. It was raw force, an absolute will imposed on reality. Above her, the sky tore apart, revealing a vortex of swirling flames.
"Awaken and reign supreme! Ardentis, the Phoenix King," she finished. And then, I saw it. First, a cry. Not just a bird's cry, but a divine roar, a call that seemed to be born at the heart of the stars and crash down to earth with the power of a cataclysm. The flames parted, revealing a majestic creature: the Phoenix King.
I first thought it was an illusion. His wings, immense and imposing, dominated the sky, each feather a dancing blaze. His body was a perfect blend of fire and light, his eyes burning with a golden glow that made me look away, overwhelmed by the purity of his existence.
He descended slowly, each wingbeat causing waves of heat and winds so intense that the dust particles in the air turned into incandescent sparks, and the ground became completely glowing.
A shiver ran down my spine. This was not just a summoning. It was a declaration: Zyriel was not just a simple mage. She was something else, something I had always wanted to be: a majestic force that nothing could eclipse, the sovereign of a power that no one could challenge.
"A divine beast..." I thought, unable to utter a word, so terrified I was.
"What do you wish me to do for you, Fallen One?" said Ardentis, the Phoenix King.
"I want you to empty their life gauge."
"As you wish," declared the Phoenix King. As he was about to flap his wings, I already felt my strength, my determination, and my courage leaving me. Time seemed to slow down, and the sound muffled. My life gauge was still at 100%, but Sylph and Seraph reinforced the magic shield with all the energy they had. But, they should have realized, we could do nothing against a divine beast. The Phoenix King flapped his wings once, a wave of fire swept across the arena, instantly emptying my life gauge after vaporizing Sylph, Seraph, and their mana shield in an instant, thus marking Zyriel's victory.
Areyos Orionis's Point of View
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With the magical simulation over, Arwyna fell unconscious. She fought well, but she is far from the level of this Devas. The Phoenix King she just summoned, is it an equivalent of the King-Peacock? If so, this girl is certainly among the most powerful in the class. She's clearly in the top 10. I've learned a lot from her fight. A lot to ask Barrios about.
Anyway, the elves went to get Arwyna while many students admired Zyriel's grace. The Phoenix King disappeared a few seconds after Arwyna's defeat. The giant screen displayed Zyriel as the duel winner.
"Her Majesty was really incredible as always," some humans murmured.
"'Her Majesty'?" repeated intrigued students, the murmurs growing louder.
Zayren hit his forehead, annoyed, "You're all so dense! I told you my sister and I wanted to keep a low profile," Zayren shouted.
"We're sorry, Your Highness!" they shouted, scared.
"No need to punish them, after my fight, we can't really keep a low profile anymore, and since we're twins, they expect you to be as strong as me. It's my fault, I should have ended the fight earlier without showing too much," said Zyriel, approaching her brother.
"You're....?" the professor exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, allow me to reintroduce ourselves, I am Zayren Versalys, prince of the kingdom of Atheria, and this is my twin sister, Zyriel." The students' admiration for these royalties fueled more whispers.
"Well, welcome to Moore Academy, Your Majesties." the professor said with an enthusiastic smile.
"Thank you, professor, but Mr. Zayren and Miss Zyriel is quite enough."
"Understood, Mr. Zayren," said the professor. "Now, take Arwyna to the infirmary to check her psychological state."
"Understood," said some elves.
"Professor, how come she fainted if it was just a magical simulation?" Yoko asked.
"Oh, that? It's simple, when we activate the magic system, both combatants are teleported into a small dimension where they are unconscious. Their consciousnesses are linked to images formed with the mana of the system to simulate in real-time what would happen if they were to fight. But sometimes the fight can be so exhausting or traumatic that the warriors think they're really living it, given how realistic the simulation is. And eventually, it can cause fainting, like in Arwyna's case."
"Ah, I understand better now," said Yoko.
"Alright, we have two more fights to go. Be prepared, it could fall on anyone," said the professor. The giant screen randomly selected two fighters.
"Yes!!! We've been waiting for this fight," some Aegyls said.
"Are you kidding? It'll be a massacre," said Yoko.
"We'll see about that. Don't cry for him afterwards," they replied confidently.
"Silence, everyone!" the professor shouted, which immediately quieted the class. "For the next match, we will have Corvus Sherwind vs. Areyos Orionis. May the best win."
To be continued...