ImmovableMage
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136 The More You Prove Yourself
🕑 Added 2023-05-13 00:02:00 +0000 UTC– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 24 –
Terry stepped into the arena. The image in his eyes overlaid with the mana he had felt earlier and confirmed his suspicions. Even if it had not been for the similarity in mana signature, the shimmering combat robes were enough to tell Terry that this was going to be annoying.
Sun and a golden crow again… Terry felt a headache coming.
“Finally.” The young mana martialist smirked and looked at Terry with contempt. “I already killed the other one. Now all that is left is you to regain face for the Blazing Sun.”
“‘Other one’?” Terry tilted his head.
“That shadow-aspected creep,” elaborated the mana martialist.
Nash? He didn’t even touch the scion, did he?
He was already half-assing the alliance from the beginning. Perhaps even waiting for a chance to take me out. If anyone had a reason to kill him, it would have been me.
Terry was surprised, but he did not feel particularly disturbed at the thought of Nash’s death.
“If you have come to avenge the other pest beetle from your sect, I would like to point out that he insisted on dying,” said Terry grumpily. “He had already lost. He refused to surrender. He dared me to kill him. He even threatened me.” And those I care about, but I’m not going to give you any ideas. Terry cut off his thoughts before speaking them out loud.
“Who asked you to win?” retorted the mana martialist coldly. “How dare you lay your hands on a member of the Blazing Sun Sect! You should have listened! You have only yourself to blame!”
Have it your way. Terry dashed forward and unleashed his spherical disruption field.
Naturally, Terry understood that the mana resonance techniques of mana martialists differed from spellwork. After all, there was no spell structure to destroy for breaking a mana resonance. Even so, Terry had already confirmed that the disruption field made it more difficult for mana martialists to trigger a resonance effect.
The mana martialist darted around by relying on a movement technique. That his technique did not create resonance in the surrounding mana visibly annoyed him. He pulled a bladed whip from the inside of his combat robes and whipped it towards Terry.
The metal blade at the whip’s tip snaked towards Terry. With a red glow, the whole whip caught fire.
Terry suppressed the reflex of trying to cut the whip with his keen dagger. He still remembered the nuisance of blocking flexible hellion spikes and the mana tendrils from the hellspawn champions. Instead, Terry dodged while taking time to compress his own prepared spell structure to increase the mana intensity and structural stability.
Terry did not worry about his opponents using weapons. Contestants frequently resorted to weapons when confronted by Terry’s disruption field that impaired their long-ranged magic.
More often than not, Terry was happy whenever his opponents arrived with weapons. It would be even better if they arrived with armor, but Terry had encountered no one wearing proper armor pieces.
No matter if it was armor or weapons, Terry had the perfect way to counter them.
Terry stopped dodging, and the whip's bladed tip was transfixed in the air. Terry did not know how long his compressed spell structure would hold against the whip’s own mana, which was why he did not dare to waste time. With an intense burst of mana, Terry arrived fast in front of the martialist and drew his own dagger.
The mana martialist found himself pressured to let go of his whip whose blade was still transfixed in the air. Before long, the man was covered with painful cuts from Terry's keen mana blade.
Terry was in no mood to play around and paint himself as an easy target in the arena. His slashes were aimed at spots that hurt and debilitated. He had to admit that it felt liberating to finally have a proper weapon again. Something to cause real damage quickly.
Terry finally stopped when he was sure that the opponent wouldn’t be able to put up much resistance anymore. “Surrender!”
“Surrender your mother!” spat the martialist from the Blazing Sun Sect.
What is that even supposed to mean? Terry scowled at his opponent and placed a kick into the man’s stomach. “Surrender.”
“Kill me if you dare!” growled the martialist. He stood back up with shaky legs.
Terry took a deep breath and spoke flatly. “Fine.” He walked forward and just when he was about to cut his opponent’s throat…
“YOU DARE!” An indignant roar rolled over from the audience seats. A figure in shimmering robes decorated with a large sun and golden crow flew up into the sky. "Cease your insolent attack!"
Was there mana in that shout? Terry tilted his head in confusion. He had felt a reflexive pull to obey the order and was not sure where it had come from. Before Terry had much time to think about it, his attention was drawn to the flurry of crimson all around the coliseum.
“Greetings, elder from the Blazing Sun Sect.” Yesenia, who acted as the match overseer, stepped forward. “I ask you to return to your seat. Perhaps you haven’t read up on the rules of the Proving Grounds, but any outside interference in battles is forbidden.”
“Hand him over!” The elder pointed at Terry.
Yesenia looked at the elder coldly. “Did I stutter? Return to your seat!”
“You dare!”
“Who do you think you are?” growled Yesenia unfazed.
The elder from the Blazing Sun Sect flared his mana and let everyone get a sense of his power. “Do you really want to suffer for the sake of an outsider? Hand him over and no one will get hurt.”
“You must have gotten hit on the head too much,” sneered Yesenia coldly. “'For the sake of an outsider'? We stand here in the Proving Grounds – the most sacred institution of our Thanatos Empire. And you are defiling it with your interference. Are you tired of living?!”
“I want him dead,” growled the elder.
“You are free to join the battle for recognition,” replied Yesenia sternly. “If the audience wills it, you will meet eventually.”
The elder scoffed with indignation. “How many lives here is that outsider worth?” The elder flared his mana once more, and many of the surrounding audience members fainted.
Yesenia smiled mirthlessly and then she shouted to the audience. “Did you hear that, Thanatos? You have been threatened. What is your response?”
“““Fight!””” “““Fight!””” “““Fight!””” The audience shouted in unison. Even some of the half-fainted people yelled as loud as their lungs allowed. Every Thanatos citizen glared defiantly at the delegation from the Blazing Sun Sect.
“That’s right,” exclaimed Yesenia with satisfaction. “Thanatos doesn’t bow to threats!” She cast her own magic and flew up into the sky. Other soldiers in crimson joined the overseer. More soldiers entered the audience ranks to surround the remaining members of the Blazing Sun Sect delegation.
“Mad Empire,” cursed a martialist from the Blazing Sun Sect.
Clap Clap Clap Another figure in crimson stepped out of the shadows while clapping. “A proud day for Thanatos. This almost brings a bloody tear to my eye.” The statement drew attention to the crimson iris at the center of his forehead.
Yesenia could not help but smirk when recognizing the unexpected guest. “General Eli, it is our honor.”
“The honor is mine, overseer.” Eli smiled at her. “Visiting the Proving Grounds is one of the few pleasures that makes a retreat from the frontlines worthwhile.” He moved his gaze to the elder from the Blazing Sun Sect. “I was enjoying the match until your interference. That has me rather irked. I consider you irksome.”
“YOU—”
“Shut the wastes up!” Eli slapped the elder from the Blazing Sun before the martialist could defend himself. A corroding palm imprint remained on the elder’s face and the skin melted away painfully. “The Sky River Sect has just crumbled before Thanatos and it is just the last of many. You dare to put on a show with just your puny Blazing Sun Sect? Where do you get the gall, I wonder?!”
Eli glared with disdain at the elder. “I did not need to show my presence here. The overseers are more than capable of dealing with the likes of you. The reason I have shown myself is only because your blood isn’t worth a single drop of theirs.” He addressed the soldiers without moving his gaze away from the sect elder. “Mark their mana signatures and faces. If any of them ever steps into Thanatos again, cripple their cultivation and hang them out for their ‘friends’ from the other martial sects to find them.”
The sect elder flinched in pain from the corroding palm and retrieved a healing item.
“If you dare to heal that mark, I will cut off your head,” threatened Eli.
“We’ll leave,” said the elder submissively. All of his bluster had vanished with the realization of what kind of power he was facing.
Terry’s opponent moved to join his sect members, but before the martialist had made it far, an intense Metal Hammer spell rained down from the sky and squashed the man into paste.
Eli had cast the spell while keeping his eyes on the elder of the Blazing Sun Sect. “It was you that sealed his fate when you interfered and tainted the sanctity of our Proving Grounds. Remember that.”
Eli spoke firmly while observing the mana martialists, but his voice was amplified and could be taken as a warning to whoever else might have harbored thoughts of meddling from the outside. “If you have blood debts to settle with a contestant, then wait your turn.”
Standing under the sky filled with these imposing characters, Terry was reminded of his own relative insignificance. It brought back past memories. Of the time when he had sensed a huge poison-aspected spell in the battle against Willow’s faction in the Libra Outpost. At the time, Terry had only been able to count on Amelia the Spellcrusher to stop the poison spell from being unleashed.
Not much I can do about it. Terry had already decided to not take his own insignificance to heart. One step at a time.
Terry had become desensitized to the blood and death around him, too, and he cared little about these insane martial sect members to begin with. He picked up the whip and searched for the overseer’s gaze. “Can I keep this?”
It may not be rope – one can never have too much rope – but I’m sure a magic whip can be useful too…
Terry was entirely oblivious to the fact that the martialist delegation from the Blazing Sun Sect took his actions as an intentional insult to injury.
***
“““Field!””” “““Field!””” “““Field!”””
“““Wolf!””” “““Wolf!””” “““Wolf!”””
The audience seems to be excited. ‘Wolf’? Terry sent the audience an incredulous glance. Are they blind? He looks like a leopard.
Terry and his opponent looked each other up and down. The felan mana martialist had swaggered boisterously into the arena.
So this is a felan? Terry found his eyes subconsciously following the swinging cat’s tail behind the mana martialist. Ah right, the Captain said that the felan realm entrance is located inside one of the martial sects in the Free Factions Union.
“You are basking in the presence of me, the great— Wait, are you the one that offed the scion of the Blazing Sun?” asked the felan martialist.
Ugh… Terry was already tensing up at more trouble brewing. “Yes, why? Are you planning to avenge him?”
The felan martialist pulled back his lips. “Nah, the guy was an asshole.” He stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders.
Terry noted the mana radiating from the felan’s belt. He could tell that it was a magic item, but he was not sure what kind of crafting style would lead to such a mana signature.
“I’m Rafael.” The felan martialist introduced himself. He smirked. “But you can call me Fenrir if you want.”
“Why would I want that?” Terry blurted out with a raised eyebrow.
Rafael looked slightly disappointed. “If you’re not scared of the martial sects, we might become friends.” He grinned and punched his own palm. “But to judge a person’s character, it is best to exchange fists first, don’t you think?”
Terry tilted his head in confusion. “Not really?”
“Just humor me.” Rafael grinned a toothy grin. “I consider myself a traditionalist.” He baited Terry with his clawed palm. “A civil match to exchange pointers never hurt anyone. At least not if done right.”
What a weird character. Terry shrugged and prepared himself for a fight. He unleashed his disruption field, much to the audience’s delight.
Rafael’s grin twitched. “Well, that was set up faster than I expected.” He tentatively tried moving his mana through his martialist cultivation points. “More annoying too.” He showed more of his sharp teeth. “Nice.” He stepped in a circle while slowly approaching Terry. He moved his hips slightly while his tail swayed from side to side. “Alright, first round like real men. Fist to fist!”
Uhh… Terry was not surprised to see a mana martialist preferring close combat, but something about this opponent was not quite what Terry was used to.
Terry cycled his burst techniques and confronted the felan martialist head-on. Only after a few exchanges did Terry notice he had subconsciously refrained from using his keen dagger. He also realized that his opponent had not extended the sharp claws Terry knew the felan had.
Terry realized what had felt different from the other matches. This felt like a sincere spar – the first in a long row of death game matches. Terry involuntarily recalled the matches with Vicente in Tiv. Although Rafael did not appear to be quite at the same level as Vicente and closer to Terry’s current level. The felan’s martialist cultivation allowed him to keep up with Terry and his burst techniques.
They exchanged pointers in close-combat techniques for several minutes until Rafael jumped back and distanced himself.
“You have that immovable spell, right?” Rafael unexpectedly spoke up again. “Pebbles and all. How quick can you cast that?”
Terry reflexively frowned. This was the kind of information he should normally keep to himself. Then again, he could just ask anyone that has seen my matches, right? Terry relaxed. “Fast enough, why?”
“Well, I myself have a bit of a timing problem,” admitted Rafael. “In fact, I already lost a match because of it.”
Terry moved his eyes from side to side, and back to Rafael, unsure of what the felan was getting at.
“How stable is your spell?” Rafael continued with his questions. “Can your transfixed pebbles block powerful attacks?”
Okay, this is definitely getting into dangerous intel territory… Terry frowned again.
Rafael relaxed his fighting stance and scratched his chin. “Honestly, since I’m back to zero, I don’t really care about the match, but maybe I’m lucky here.” He put his hands behind his head. “Meaning we’re both lucky, of course. From what I heard, you suck at damage output, but you’re excellent at defense, or at obstruction at least.” He glanced around at the mass of rotating spell slicers. “Immovable stuff and spell disruption.”
Terry tried to maintain a deadpan expression while thinking the felan had a point. He had repeatedly noticed his lack of good means to inflict damage quickly, especially at range.
“I’m kind of the opposite,” said Rafael. “I’m great at inflicting damage, but my timing is… uhh… It has lots of potential.” He grinned another one of his toothy grins.
Is he proposing an alliance? Terry was not sure how he felt about that idea. His last alliance had been a disaster. In contrast to Nash, Rafael hasn’t tried to ambush me, though… not yet.
“Can I test my attack against one of your immovable thingies?” asked Rafael.
Terry narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “If by attack you mean a mana resonance technique, then I would have to retract my disruption field. I’m not sure I like that idea.”
“You can ask any member of the audience. My attack will take longer than you need to put up your domain…” Rafael was scratching the back of his head with a sheepish expression. “I’m sure they’d be eager to confirm that. They’re like a bunch of gossipping seamstresses.”
“If your immovable object can resist my Heavenly Wolf Slash, then it’s your win,” said Rafael.
Terry blinked while the felan’s words repeated in his head. “Heavenly… ‘wolf’?”
Rafael looked unamused. “How come this part is always the same? You hairless ape-folk are learning azure dragon scriptures or eternal phoenix steps and no one is batting an eye, but have a felan wanting to learn from the Heavenly Wolf, and everyone acts as if it’s turning black to white.”
Terry involuntarily burst out laughing. “So-sorry. My bad. You’re right. You have a point.” He was still chuckling when he retracted his disruption field. “I’d like to see that attack of yours, but can you aim it at a pebble?” Terry hurled a pebble towards another corner of the arena, where it transfixed in the air.
“I’ll shred your little pebble,” said Rafael boisterously. He continued in a quieter voice: “…and probably the wall behind it.” He sent a glance to Terry. “Can you keep that pebble up for a while?” He extended his claws and gathered mana from his cultivation points.
“Sure…” Terry was curious how this would go. How big is that timing problem of his?
Terry could detect the beginning of an intense mana resonance after more than a minute of Rafael’s concentration. It took two more minutes before the image of a large white wolf appeared. Another minute passed by before Rafael’s claws began glowing and the white wolf opened its mouth to bite.
“HEAVENLY WOLF SLASH!” Rafael slashed his pair of claws. One went side-ways, and the other was an uppercut.
Why is he shouting?
Oh, wow… Terry subconsciously whistled at the intensity of the flying mana blades that were accompanied by the image of a large white wolf charging. The distrustful coliseum contestant in Terry had to wrestle down the curious Academy student in order to be prepared for any potential backstabbing.
Terry’s worries proved to be unwarranted. Rafael’s attack did not suddenly change direction and instead continued towards the immovable pebble. One of the mana blades from each of Rafael’s hands collided with the immovable pebble. These both broke apart during the collision. The remaining blades passed by the immovable pebble and impacted on the arena’s wall.
Large sections of the wall were sliced apart, and deep crevices were left behind.
That’s some damage alright. Terry thought to himself.
“Alright, you win.” Rafael nodded while looking at the unharmed pebble that remained transfixed in the air. He moved his gaze to Terry. “If you’re up for an alliance, you still get the win.” He retrieved a piece of paper from his belt. “If I’m not mistaken, you are one win short of another item. I would suggest you use this.” He pressed the paper to another location on his belt and moved his claw in a specific pattern.
Terry could see a mana layer gather on the piece of paper. Afterwards, Rafael flicked the paper to him. Terry received the paper while paying careful attention to mana movements. “What’s—”
[This is a communication talisman.] Rafael’s voice appeared in Terry’s mind. [Should be helpful for coordinating in case you agree to an alliance. Gather mana at the center of the paper if you want to transmit your thoughts back to me.]
[HELLO?] Terry did as instructed.
[SHH! No need to shout.] Rafael snickered. “So, how about—”
“Fight, yield, or nominate an alliance leader,” barked the match overseer.
“Unnecessarily rough and rude, but that’s the gist of what I was wondering too,” commented Rafael drily. “Alliance. Terry is the leader.”
“…okay.” Terry overcame his reservations and agreed.
A part of Terry was still intrigued about winning with alliances.
Another part was just looking forward to having someone else to talk to aside from Damian. Terry had wondered if his increased attention to Damian’s opinion was related to the fact that for a long time, Damian had been the only person with whom Terry had held proper conversations.
Most importantly, however, Terry saw value in the alliance, because if everything was true, then Terry and Rafael would complement each other’s abilities.
***
Comments
Aurora1325
lol
Sesharan
Thank goodness. Finally, a proper ally for Terry. …I hope.
