TBATE | Twisted Ethos [Hiatus]

Skills, Tested

As the coldness touched Bairon's skin the bitterness quickly turned into warmth as he reinforced himself with a barrier, his body being outlined by a faint hue of orange.

"Looks like they're charging again," Noah pointed out.

"I can see that," Bairon groaned as he prepared for the attack, "The last plan worked, let's try to stick to it."

"You got it, my dear rival," Noah smirked as he readied his arrows.

Two mana signatures were darting along the covers of the fog, their steps quick and light. Five icicles made their way toward Bairon, all were shot down by Noah as they all crumbled into dust. He and Varay clashed weapons once again, while Kaspian darted past them.

Bairon tried to avert his attention but was stopped when ice slowly crept to bind his feet.

"Not very gentlemanly of you to turn down a woman like that." She taunted.

"Quite the attitude you got, is this payback for appointing you as a temporary treasurer?" He replied as the frost beneath him melted into water as the heat built up under him.

"As a friend of mine once said 'It's for you to decide," She quoted raising her sword until the tip of the blade glared down Bairon's stern eyes.

He smirked for a second before his frows returned to their furrowed state. The ice mage charged towards him and soon enough their weapons locked, each one eying the other as their auras clashed like violent waves.

"You've improved, it's to be expected." He said as he retracted as weapon, catching Varay off guard and taking a few steps backward. She found herself dodging a barrage of thrusts from Bairon as he shuffled his spear back and forth while the former did her best to avoid any of the attacks.

The ice mage tilted her body left to right and swept her feet side to side with the spear's tip only inches away from contact as with each strike tendrils of lightning leached out from the weapon.

"I thought it was Kaspian you'd want to kill, not me." She retorted between her breaths as she ducked just as he horizontally swept.

"You have a point. But as much as you, I'd wanna pass this class." He replied before swinging his weapon upwards, Varay blocked the ascending spear with her sword causing the two armaments to contact producing a low hum.

"You're gonna have to do better than that." She replied, gripping the sword with her right arm. Her left arm reached out, a clenched fist aimed toward his face.

Bairon leaned his head backward dodging the punch, with his weight already shifted his whole body titled and with a single motion his leg propelled towards Varay's sternum. Her eyes quickly darted as time seemed to slow down in her perception, her left hand redirecting the strike just as it hits her abdomen.

He immediately followed it up with a spinning back kick, almost landing it if it were not for Varay's quick response to retreat. As the tensions subsided for a split second the two stared at each other with respect and amazement.

"Happy to see that you aren't always relying on your spear unlike before."

"Likewise, plus the aggression you exhibit."

"So, up for another round?"

"I was gonna ask you that."

As the two clashed their weapons so did Kaspian and Noah with the former trying to bypass the latter. The earth crumbled and the wind howled as pillars were raised, and destroyed, as arrows whizzed and Kaspian's sword clanged.

"So, how's life going for you?" Noah asked in a friendly tone.

"Could've been easier if you just let me take that damn pole." He retorted as a barrage of arrows darted toward him. Kaspian augmented his legs as the projectiles neared their distance, he shot backward as countless arrows planted themselves on the ground but just as the attacks ended two stone pillars appeared on either side of the swordsman.

"Compress," Noah invoked causing the two constructs to move toward one another.

The former steeled his resolve and leaped forward just as the two earthen columns collided with each other, he perched on top of the constructs with a smile, and his rapier pointed towards the archer.

"You're a Flamesworth, show me some fire!"

"I think I'll have to pass, you're already having a hard time." Noah shot back, stomping the ground, "Let's just end this game of cat and mouse."

The earth below Kaspian crumbled as the ground and sky became one, his figure rapidly sinking while a dozen or so arrows raced toward him.

"You are a bastard...figuratively and literally," Kaspian growled with a smile thick with fervor.

He breathed in and out as mana channeled towards his legs, the magic augmenting every fiber of his muscles as the wind began to revolve around him violently.

"I hope I don't get sent to the infirmary for this," Kaspian muttered as his legs propelled forward, crackling like a bullet and catapulting from one place to another, ricochetting in between the large debris of earth in a single move.

Immediately, Kaspian was behind Noah with a harsh gale trailing making the latter flinch in surprise as the wind blew past the both of them. The conjurer tried to arrest Kaspian using the bow, but he slipped right past his grasp just as his rapier plunges right through the stone dome making it crumble as the wind was drilled through it.

Bairon shifted his attention and a tendril of lightning leeched from his spear, flashing toward him just as he was about to touch it.

"Times up, and it looks like we have a winner!"

||Grey Hierghund||

"Quite a show that your students here are putting up," I mused as my body averted from leaning on the stone palisade.

"Cream of the crop, with sir Wykes, lady Aurae and sir Flamesworth being candidates for the position of Lances." She boasted while her eyes glistened in pride, but the expression quickly shifted as my gaze sterned towards her.

"The view is nice and all, but do you reckon having this hidden observation lobby is a little too much?" I asked, pointing out that the entire thing was hidden with illusion magic.

"It is necessary, students who don't lax even without the middle of the headmaster are worthy of their titles."

"A point I agree." I commended as my arms stretched before tucking them in my pockets.

"I find it intriguing, your actions I mean." She spoke up as I turned my back.

"...I'll consider that as a compliment."

"As you should. But it is to be expected, such a plan requires thorough oversight."

"Still teasing me about the part about lady Aurae?" I asked, my gaze still fixated on the door.

"Not like it would harm you, would it not?"

A chuckle escaped my mouth as I exited the observatory, "I'll keep in touch."