-"The Immortal Sun shines down from the heavens, keeping darkness at bay"
*Nyima*
"It's time for the next battle," Shin'en said. He stood by the staircase. "If Xue still requires healing, then I'll heal her. She should be able to resist my ice healing spells, being a fellow ice mage."
"Thanks for the offer," Xue said, bowing. "However, I'm fine. Sarah, Arima, and Ms. Key healed me completely."
Hal grinned. "Good thing we picked up those herbs back in the Xianian-Seranese mountains.
"Wait, shouldn't we allow An to rest?" Vermeil said, glancing back at her childhood friend. "He must be exhausted."
An moved his arms around in circles. "I feel fine. I can take on two more Xue's."
Xue narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure you're not a monster?"
He laughed. "I'm not." He looked back as he touched his lower back. "I have a large Magicum Organum."
Hal fiddled around with his tablet. "That's right..." He dropped the black device to the floor. "He has...a" He looked up at his teammate, eyes as wide as lemons. "How can that be...this data it's..."
An took the tablet from his teammate. "What's with this device? How can it tell you about my Magicum Organum?"
He swiped his tablet back from him. "That's a secret!"
Xue sat down next to him. "A secret?"
He puffed his cheeks. "Alright, I'm simply very observant, is all. I took notes during his battle with you."
"I doubt that's all it is," Sarah said, crossing her arms.
Hal just ignored her.
"Next up are Nyima and Adela!" Eien shouted. "Time to show us what you got, priestess."
Adela flashed him a smug grin. "I will."
Hikaru sighed. "Why do I feel mocked?"
She frowned. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that! You really did push me to use more of my magical arsenal than I had expected to."
He lowered his head. "That's not much better."
"Yeah, it means you expected my brother to be a walk in the park," Yuzuki said, huffing.
"Can we begin already?" I asked.
Eien nodded approvingly. "Go on, show us your powers too."
"You two are quite rash, are you not?" Adela said with a chuckle.
I chuckled. "You're not the first person who has told me that. Besides, so are you!" I clapped my hands together. "Gather around me, waves! Aqua Draconis!" A water blob appeared in my hands like in my battle against Zelde.
A sly grin appeared on Adela's face. "So, you're going with water. In that case, Forest Draconis!" the head priestess of Xian chanted. A seed appeared in her hand and glowed bright green. Suddenly, a serpentine dragon made out of vines and leaves emerged from the seed.
My dragon surrounded me as Adela's dragon rushed toward us. "Gather and shield me, Aqua Scutum!" A large sphere of rotating water rapidly formed around me as the wooden dragon was about to hit. The water barrier repelled the wooden dragon with an unexpected amount of strength, sending the beast crashing against the barrier.
Adela grinned as she spread her arms out. "Cónglín Zhī Rèn!" Seven large green blades sprung out of each of her forearms. Using the fourteen leafy-metallic blades, she cut the spherical barrier, and the surrounding water dragon into a million little floating water blobs.
'Damn, she's fast!'
I jumped back as Adela was about to slash my face. A nervous smile dotted my face. "Such agility."
Adela snickered as she leaped back. "As you should have noticed from my previous match, I'm the kind of wood mage who prefers speed over defense." She swiftly slashes past my face, causing blood to drip down my cheek.
I wiped away the blood with the sleeve of my blue coat. "I sure hope that doesn't leave a scar. Brilliant light, rain down on us in the form of the legendary rainbow serpent! Lux Draconis!"
Adela shielded her eyes from the glow of the angelic-looking sky serpent materializing in front of me. The large lustrous dragon opened its giant gaping mouth to launch several colorful spheres of light.
Adela speedily dodged all of the light balls and managed to slice parts of the light dragon down as if it were made of meat instead of light. All while keeping her eyes shut. She was as good of a swordfighter as Xue and An.
I quickly retaliated by grabbing a hold of the blades, and snapping them with my bare hands. Blood rolled down from my hands as I kept my grip on them. I grimaced and shrugged off the pain by covering my hands with a thin layer of light prana.
"What kind of martial arts is that?" Lei said, his eyes wide with surprise. "She broke the blades with her hands...did she use some kind of strength-enhancing magic?"
"No," Wanikiya corrected him, shaking his head. "It seems to me like it's her own raw strength. She seems well versed in this kind of martial arts. Some of the movements I've seen before but I don't recall the names."
"There are Kyuu Seishinian karate style movements involved," Eien pointed out. "Along with movements practiced by some forms of Xiānian martial arts."
I smiled. 'Those two are correct. My style was developed from all of those fighting forms.'
"Leaf Chorus," Adela chanted. She side kicked me in the back with her left leg, keeping me from continuing my blitz attack. She grasped my arms tightly, so firmly that my arms started to redden.
A bright array of leaves scattered from Adela's arms as she continued to hold onto me. The leaves danced around her in such a way that it made her look like a vengeful goddess. Adela pushed me against the side of the barrier which was five feet away using a shock-wave of raw power. Slowly she made toward me, as if enjoying the moment.
I stood up as fast as I could. A sticky red liquid trickled down from my forehead and left arm— blood. 'Damn it. Iah and Lei were right, this girl really is merciless in battle.'
"Shuǐ Zhī Xīng," I chanted. I took out a paper talisman from my coat and held it out toward Adela.
"A charm?" Adela stopped moving forward as she sent thousands of leaves in all directions.
I used the still floating water blobs to slow down the leaves. "Argh, release!" I yelled. A blue, glowing, eight-sided star symbol covered in runes that were unintelligible to most others emerged from the charm. The giant star stopped the leaves in their tracks as if it were a shield.
Adela went straight for the seal, just like I had wanted. "Oh, come here, Giant Sacred Tree!" A giant tree sprouted between the two. Giant roots spread out from under the illusory rocky ground and grabbed a hold of me.
Adela flashed me a cold smile as the roots tightened their hold. "Checkmate."
I struggled against the roots, but the more I did, the more they would squeeze me.
"Second release," I chanted. A giant star-shaped water beam emerged from the star charm. The highly concentrated water prana laser blasted a seven-inch-radius hole into the tree as if it were paper. The beam didn't stop with the tree. Adela held her arms out in front of her as the beam struck her with enough force to send her flying toward the barrier before she could even have the chance to move out of the way.
Adela gasped for air as the seemingly endless beam continued to splash water across her face. She whispered, 'This must be how he feels,' as she stared at Lei.
"Seal!" I said, causing the water to stop. I ran toward Adela. "Are you alright?"
Adela pushed and squeezed her chest to get the water out of her lungs. "I just need...to catch...my breath is all."
I furrowed my brow. "I'm sorry for going overboard with that spell."
Adela raised her right hand and shook her hand. "No need to be. After all, you are doing what you have to do in order to win."
I shook my head. "That might be true, but I didn't mean to hurt you this much."
She chuckled weakly. "You're too kind. Remember I'm a wood elemental, water shouldn't hurt me for too long." She coughed out blobs of water. "My body will absorb it over time."
I shook my head. "Yeah, but even plants can drown if they have too much water."
"I told you it's alright," Adela reaffirmed as she got up. She staggered forward but continued. "Now, let's end this." She manifested a green sword out of the surrounding leaves. Her feet rose several feet from the ground. "This priestess of the Xian won't be defeated by one spell." Leaves surrounded her. Metal blades flew out of the sleeves of her now tattered and drenched hanfu.
"Damn it, this is bad. Nyima, dodge!" Iah yelled, leaning forward. Perspiration rolled down his face as more leaves gathered around Adela.
I gulped. 'Damn it, what now? Her wood and metal spells can slice through my water and light spells respectively.' I stared at my water seal. 'I could use the third release, but doing so will leave me too exhausted to fight the next match. Yet, this might be my only chance to make it to the next round.'
Adela suddenly descended the air as she coughed up blobs of water.
'Is she alright? Wait, this is my chance.' I gathered water around my arms and legs. The water in my feet propelled me through the sky like a jet pack.
Adela grinned through the pain. The wooded dragon from before rose behind me.
'Damn it, how had I forgotten to destroy that?'
The dragon lurched at me and whipped me with its long, spiky tail, sending me crashing to the ground.
I coughed up blood as several bones shattered upon striking the floor. Pain coursed through every nerve of my body, it was as if I were being ripped apart from within. "Lux Alma," I chanted weakly. A bright glow enveloped my body. Wounds and injured bones mended themselves instantly, just in time for me to jump out of the way as the wood dragon plowed into the ground. It broke through the ground with ease, like the powerful roots of an old oak tree.
I ran up the shallow crater that had been created upon my ungraceful landing. Rocks were quickly being swallowed up by the dragon below. The wooden monster ascended, its creepy venus-flytrap jaws wide open. I spun around and kicked the thing's head to keep the jaw closed.
"From the brilliant heavens, come forth; Arrows of Divine Light!" I chanted. Arrows of light rained down from the sky, piercing the wooden scales of the dragon's head with ease. The dragon dissolved into a sea of small colorful blooms.
"It's done," Adela announced before coughing up more water.
"From the brilliant heavens, come forth; Arrows of Divine Light!" More radiant arrows flew directly above me.
Adela moved to the side. The arrows pierced through the ceiling of the barrier. "More of those arrows?" She glanced down at me and rained her leaves down, crushing the ground into fine powder.
I held my seal over my head. Another water star manifested around me, guarding against the initial onslaught. But that was it, the seal flickered in and out as its energy faded.
I looked up in horror. 'This is it, I've lost.' I made direct eye contact with Adela whose leaves had stopped falling down. I gasped and took the chance to emerge from the crater. Boulders, pebbles, and sand now covered the arena as something struck the spot anew.
"Adela?" I called out.
"Adela!" Lei screamed, standing up from the floor.
In the center of the crater was Adela. Her spell had completely fallen apart. Blobs of water mixed with blood were ejected from her mouth as she spasmed.
**Solar Question: What do you think will happen with Adela?**