Today was one of the most exciting times of Tamashi's life. Watching the aspirants for his Elite Force was always exhilarating. Some of the most powerful young mages the kingdom had to offer with exponential room for growth given time and experience would grace his presence in the arena time after time and for him it was simply wonderful. To witness and guide the younger generation which would end up being the kingdoms future. It was integral for him as Supreme magi that he ensured that the future magi didn't become soft and complacent. There was way too much at stake if they did. He and the other pillars of power the guild masters, were not immortal afterall, however the demons were.
Sure occasionally a mage or two would go rogue and cause significant problems for the kingdom or mankind in general but the demons were the major bane of all beings in existence. Besides if a criminal mage emerged and happened to be a former aspirant or active member of the Elite Force they would be easier to deal with. So the Elite magi tournament had it's uses. Before taking his seat Tamashi saluted each of the guild masters who saluted him in turn and also took their seats. As he did so, he gradually scanned the appearance of each contestant. Well, their outfits and masks really, because every contestant was disguised for the most part seeing as their identities were supposed to be concealed from everyone besides him, which included even the guild masters. Tamashi's gaze was immediately drawn to a specific contestant wearing a purple coat which moved with an unnervingly creepy motion like that of an octopus slithering along the ocean floor, despite the fact that it could simply be an illusion caused by the effect of the wind on whatever fabric it was composed of. If he wasn't aware of the young mans reputation for mainly taking on missions which required him to hunt Demons, he would immediately suspect that Purple coat might be one himself. However due to rumors and factual knowledge gathered by several guild masters and other mages, the notorious aspirant clearly had a vendetta of some sort against the demon race, having a nearly flawless record of taking them out. Even the other contestants and several guild masters were staring at him with keen interest or out of pure curiousity, based on what Tamashi could observe from his periphery. Especially since the mage was lowering himself into a sitting position on the arena floor. 'No wonder everyone is looking, they can't help but look. Especially when he's making such a bold and confident move, doesn't he know the potential lethality of his fellow aspirants?' Tamashi thought to himself. 'He must have one hell of a skillset to be so confident. Especially without prior knowledge of his potential opponents power, several at that.' Making a mental note to pay very keen attention to Purple Coat throughout the tournament, Tamashi let his gaze slip away from the young man and started observing the next contestant. This mage was a tall young man wearing a black mask with a crossbones skull on it. The one who can manipulate mana to cause explosions of varying magnitudes depending on the conditions of how he setup the explosions to happen. Dominaire was the guild master who had recommended him as a potential member for the Elite force, he was an orphan who had lost his parents to the demons. It was abundantly clear what his motivations for opting to join the Elite Force were. Theoretically his ability was quite straight forward in nature. It was meant to be lethal and didn't allow for certain other applications like defense in terms of coating ones body with it. It's defensiveness lay in it's offensive uses, afterall no one would want to tangle with a landmine. Even if they did there were no means of doing so without risking a limb or two at best and your life in the worst case scenario. This aspirants codename was Boom.
As Tamashi turned his attention to the next mage, a smile slowly crept up on his face. 'Ah... Death Web my daughter i hope you make me proud, i wonder how you would do against Purple Coat?' Tamashi wondered. He wasn't one hundred percent a fan of his daughters mask, with it's multi colored polka dots representing her ability to manipulate light. It's not that the mask didn't fit her or anything like that he was just of the opinion that it didn't do her abilities justice. However that was a foolish notion when he thought about it in earnest, even if she added the black widow to it that still wouldn't encompass a proper representation of her potential. 'Well no sense dwelling on my daughter and being biased on to the next one i guess.' As his eyes rested on her brown leather garments and bright colored mask which practically glowed luminescent, looking as if she had flowing lava on her face Tamashi couldn't help but feel respect toward the first Supreme magi's Descendent. Stream had the potential to be just as powerful as her ancestor. Especially if she remained steadfast in her training and continued to improve her skills to the best of her ability. All she had to do was survive and persevere and another pillar of power would be forged.
The next two mages were a female who could manipulate mist and a young man whose visible skin resembled a tree bark, apparently his defensive measures via his ability to manipulate flowers, trees and things of that nature. They were recommended by his wife herself. With such an high reccommendation Tamashi didn't need to ask questions, he was very excited to witness them in action.
The male Mage's codename was Splinter and the females codename was Mist or Genie. He was boiling with anticipation. The remaining aspirants were another male and female with somewhat similar masks one of them Tamashi knew via association with his father Dominaire. The young man had the ability to become invisible and intangible. He could phase right through solid objects and apply those abilities to various animate and inanimate objects alike, albeit to varying degrees. His father was capable of achieving those feats via his ability to manipulate his own velocity, that's why it wasn't difficult for Tamashi to assimilate what the young man might be capable of without watching him in action. Fade's mask was translucent but funnily enough it was impossible for you to see his features beneath it. Float's mask had a similar effect to it, however it was slightly different, having the distinct look of a bubble and it's rainbow like color scheme along one edge akin to that which one could observe on the surface of a natural bubble. She floated above the surface of the arena floor like a balloon on a string. Tamashi found that fascinating and ironic, seeing as the person who had recommended her and was accepted into the tournament himself purely on his own reputation... was currently sitting on the arena floor like he didn't have a care in the world. Float had the ability to manipulate bubbles composed of various liquid substances. There were various lethal attacks she was capable of using, despite having what most would probably perceive as a weak affinity. 'Purple Coat was very deadly, so for him to personally reccommend her.... interesting.'
"Good day Elite Force applicants, i have received recommendations for all of you here, even though some were special cases." He said considering Purple Coat and Float in particular. "However you are here regardless, to prove your prowess and potentially join this kingdoms prodigious demon hunters. Well, atleast you'll mainly hunt demons but you will occasionally be requested to assist with other matters. Everyone in this tournament has some form of lethal ability, therefore we're prepared. We have a team of this kingdoms best healers on hand to treat you from whatever injuries you might acquire during combat. The guild masters and i look forward to witnessing what you're all capable of, so without any further delays good look to you all... you may begin."
As soon as he gave the order Fade was the first to move, disappearing from sight, however Tamashi had an idea where Dominaires son was headed. So he simply diverted his gaze to where Purple Coat was seated on the arena floor, mere moments later the mysterious mage started rising to his feet, then turned his head in the direction where Fade had been. A few moments later the guild masters son materialised into existence stumbling forward as Purple Coat's hand went flying towards his face. Fade had to tilt his head swiftly to the side, only narrowly avoiding a precisely placed punch.
From the accuracy and timing of the attack, Purple Coat must have known where Fade was even before he materialised. This meant that either his opponent had tracked his movements via mana sensing or he had other means of sensing others even without being able to see where they were.
However, what intrigued Tamashi the most was that his mana siphoning was so refined that he could disable the abilities of a well trained mage like the son of a guild master. Siphoning the mana from an attack was immensely more difficult when the attack was from a mana reinforced body as opposed to a projectile based attack... Purple Coat was something special. No wonder Fade had stumbled. He was in a state of shock and understandably so. It didn't take long for him to recover from that shock, after which he swiftly put some distance between himself and his seemingly unperturbed opponent. Before Tamashi could even turn his attention elsewhere, a small vacuum between Purple Coat and Fade was immediately filled with swirling mist. 'That must be Genie, swooping in to attack while her opponents are distracted not allowing them enough time to recover.'
From the information provided to him he knew that the young woman's beast bond gave her the ability to manipulate the black mamba. That Mist was most likely infused with black mamba venom, both Fade and Purple Coat would have a very painful experience if they didn't evade her attack as soon as possible.