*Bang*
Abe skidded across the ground with his arms in a guard up position. Through the flames he could see his opponent running at him in full force. Although Mane had no energy per se, and his speed was far from anything outstanding, his manipulation of the elements compensated for this disadvantage a bit. His magnificent command of the elements was notable. Although he wasn't able to avoid all of the attacks, he avoided at least 65% of them. That was a very high evasive rate considering that he was battling as a non-wielder. This was made possible due to Mane's understanding of the wind element. Apart from using the wind to magnify his flames, he was also able to perform complex movements from his comprehension of the wind element. These movements required a high level of flexibility. Luckily, Mane did not only know how to bend water to his will, but he understood its composition. Hence, the flexibility of water was also a skill he had under his belt. Relying
Mane's wide grin unsettled his colleagues. They clearly held the advantage, so why didn't it feel that way. The chill that went down their spines was not understandable considering the current situation. After all, no matter how one looked at it, they had their enemy surrounded, cornered.Mane stretched his arms wide apart, his legs just as widely separated. Almost in response to his actions, the winds began to howl ferociously. Although he used the winds to increase the area of his flames, it was a difficult thing to do. If he got it wrong, the winds would disperse the flames. In other words, extinguish them. Hence, he didn't use that method so often. Abe had realised that his control over wind was not as great as the others, so he had employed the strategy to have John slowly take care of the fire. They had ignored one thing though. Controlling the wind so accurately may be a problem, but recklessly unleashing it wasn't so hard. And that was Mane's goal right
"You will pay for this!" Jake screamed at Mane. The very fact that he didn't address Mane as 'brother', but used a pronoun was more than enough to convey how furious he was. His fury was well within reason, for his other half lay on the ground unconscious. They might be superficial wounds, but what did he care? He dashed towards Mane at incredible speed, closing the distance of approximately 40 metres within a couple of seconds.Mane's expression changed at the sight of his colleague- rather, his enemy for today- rushing at him. Without any inner energy, there was no way he would be able to avoid this attack. It was similar to Frederick's surprise attack at the beginning of the spar. Since he wasn't expecting it, he couldn't avoid it. All he could do was brace himself for the impact, by putting up his guard with his arms crossed to form an x. His arms shone dully with a brown hue, evidence of the fact that most of the earth element armour was concentrated on his
A wall of fire. A magical sight. A miracle in itself. An unbelievable scene it was. Flames of gold slowly merged together, a distinct shape beginning to form. Abe and Jake could only watch in amazement. They couldn't get any closer to the flames. The sheer amount of heat it gave off was beyond anything they had ever felt. Even from this distance, the fist of earth that coated Abe's hands was melting away, like a piece of iron in a hot furnace."Incredible. My flames are nowhere near as hot as this" Jake said whilst swiping off the sweat that had started to form on his forehead."IGNIS DRACO!!!" Mane's voice was heard once more, the authority in them conveyed to the flames. The shape of the fire was finally made clear."Is that a…?" Jake had barely posed the question when Abelard replied. "It is. Only one creature of legend fits this description."The figure forged by the flames was fire itself
*BOOM**BOOOM**BOOOOM*The sound of the fire dragon crashing into the walls was deafening. The fire dragon spear had already destroyed four walls, but it wasn't without cost. The flames were dimmer than before. The previously unbearable heat wave was now much more tolerable. Abe and Jake noticed the change. A change that was very much to their delight. Mane noticed it as well. After all, they were his flames. The walls had successfully taken off half of the heat the dragon carried. Though the next few walls were not as tall as their destroyed compatriots, their shorter height made them sturdier. They had lower centres of gravity, hence were more difficult to destroy. Abe knew this. And so did Mane.The new information had Abe reassured of his victory. He was certain that the walls would be destroyed. But their destruction would mark a successful completion of their goal- cancelling out the flames. Once the flames were dealt wi
*BOOM*The flame dragon- or at least what was left of it- crashed into the seventh and last wall. Despite looking dispirited and far dimmer than it was before, the majesty of a dragon was exuded from its being. Although summoned from the flames, the fire dragon gave off the aura of a real dragon. The seventh wall faced the same fate as its brothers before- destruction. Yet it had served its true purpose, for the flaming dragon was almost extinguished, its light diming very quickly. As the flames slowly died out, Abe could finally make out Mane's figure from across the field.The blue haired boy looked visibly exhausted, even more than he was. His face and clothes were drenched in sweat. Though it was hard to say what caused the sweat. After all, he had literally been playing with fire all along. Across the grounds Mane smiled at him. It was a smile filled with pride. Abe noticed that Mane's pride was not for himself, but for his friends. The
The bolt of lightning that struck Mane was powerful, the shockwave from its descent knocking Abelard and Jake onto the ground. They could hardly believe that the target of that lightning bolt looked so energetic and well. There were no signs of injury on Mane. The only evidence of the difficult battle were his dirty clothes and dusty face. The former exhaustion was nowhere to be seen."How is that even possible?" Jake asked with disbelief as he struggled to get back onto his feet. He fell the first few times, finally managing to pick himself up on his fourth try. Scepticism filled his voice as he sought to understand what was happening before him. Lightning was a destructive element. It was one of the rarer forces of nature. As an uncontrolled beast, it gave life and took it back on its whims. Fire was birthed from this great element, and although fire in itself was destructive, it paled in comparison to its parent.What they had just witnes
*crackle* *crackle*"Abe? Abe? Abe!" Jake roughly shook Abe to grab his attention."Yeah…yeah. Sorry about that" Abe smiled embarrassingly when he finally came to."You were reliving it, weren't you" Jake said, the confidence in his tone showing that he didn't require an answer. He already knew the answer. Abe nodded at his words. He looked to John and the two newbies. "Lucky bastards" he mumbled softly under his breath."What was that?" John asked, puzzled by Abe's unnatural loss of concentration."Nothing. I was asking if you needed a fresh one." Abe lied without batting an eye, pointing at the block of ice John was applying to his shoulder. The fall from the explosion in the earlier duel had caused a bit of swelling. Mane had frozen some water into ice blocks and wrapped them in towels for any injuries. Luckily, there were no severe injuries."No thanks. This one
"Got to hand it to you kid. You actually pulled it off" Mane walked lazily towards the door before him. He pulled a bunch of keys from his pocket and inserted one of them into the keyhole. A clicking sound was heard when he twisted the key, indicating that he had pushed in the right one. He pushed the door open to reveal what lay within- the healing springs. There were at least eighteen of them. Even royalty would marvel at the lavishness of the one to whom this belonged."Not necessarily. If I didn't use my glow, I wouldn't have succeeded." Mane replied to the 6th's earlier comment. He bent down to assess one of the pools. The pool was as clear as the others in the room, and seemed to give off a green hue."They have been restocked." Mane stated. "I wonder, when did he get this done?" It was a question to no one in particular. As for who the mystery person was, only Mane knew."His talent in alchemy is very high. To thi