Death, Devotion, Dissonance

The start of the competition wasn't as exciting as Endra thought it would be. He knew that Arza and the others were attacking the Arcvallen class. Three would be scouting to see what the other three classes' attack squads would be up to and then regrouping with the rest.

As he was waiting, Phel came running. 

"The Crownshield class is making their way here, a total of ten people. The Torgaza's attacking them, while Arcvallen's attacking Torgaza."

"So we're just making a circle, basically?" Endra laughed.

"Yeah," Phel nodded. "Also, the Arcvallen class's attack team was made of 19 students. I think they're trying to catch every class's Helm-bearer one by one before finishing with you."

"I'm guessing Eliseline's the Helm-bearer?"

"Yes."

"Well, we'll see what happens," Endra replied. "Good luck fighting her."

"You too," Phel nodded and flew away. 

Not long after, the Crownshields appeared on the horizon. Endra did not plan to underestimate them, but he wasn't so worried. From their fights, he learned that their defensive capabilities were way higher than the other classes. Sure, they had a solid offence, but Endra was confident.

He aimed two of his guns and pointed at someone who seemed the leader of the group and some girl close by. He used metal bullets. Two loud booms resounded, soon accompanied by two dull thuds. 

The shots got close, but a wall of earth rose to protect the two at the last minute. Two ripped Talismans fluttered in the air. 

Endra was unfazed. He waited a few seconds and sent two shots once more. The Crownshields used their own magic to block the attack to save mana and Talismans. But this time, it was one dull thud and one scream of pain. Their spellcasting wasn't fast enough. One student's left shoulder was pierced. Blood spurted all over the ground.

The gap was filled soon after but their expressions turned heavy.

Endra nodded satisfactorily. 'First, decrease morale. Show them you're not to be messed with.'

He shot again. They both hit the earthen shield, but the Crownshield's advance was much slower. Some students attacked him back. Instead of sending projectiles, they sent spells filled with World energies. Endra guessed they were the homing type. 

Sure enough, the spells straightened their flight midair and flew towards him. Endra used his World energy tentacles to swat those down. 

Then came the projectiles. At this point, Endra couldn't just dodge out of the way and be fine. It wasn't like he was the only mage in the world who could hurl objects at dangerous speeds. In fact, all mages were more or less expected to be able to reliably kill an unsuspecting mage at a certain distance. As star students of the Academies, these 2nd years were coming close to that standard.

Endra blocked the first wave with two explosions, then he let his shadow spread across the ground. Soon, the shadows turned gaseous and the entire space was filled with black mist. He let the mist sweep around his body, and soon, he was invisible.

The students tried to shine light on the mist, but they could only slightly light the surface. The black water droplets did not allow light to penetrate deeper into the black mist. Then they tried blowing away the mist, but the black mist stood motionlessly, no sign of even being affected by the mist.

Endra continued to shoot at the Crownshields, hoping for them to enter the mist.

This was a spell Endra created by mixing two Worlds: Exivear and Ivelisi. It was something he learned from the Chairman, when the latter was explaining different tricks when mixing worlds.

One of the things he taught was that spells could have switching traits. The greatest example was Bella's mud armor. It could become hard like the earth or fluid like water as long as she wills it. The Chairman revealed that any spell combining multiple worlds could be used like similarly.

For example, Endra's black mist was a skill with two traits from two Worlds. It had the immateriality of shadows which allowed the wind to pass through it without issues and the tangibility of water droplets which blocked the light. Of course, those two traits were opposites, so Endra could only activate one over the other. So if the enemies used both light and wind, Endra would have to choose between having his mist blown away or to have light penetrate through it. 

But of course, the students from the Crownshields seemed unfamiliar with the confusing new spell. Endra could even hear some of them wondering if they were dealing with an Absolute.

'Well, it's natural. These things were stuff they would only learn in the 4th and 5th years in the Academy.'

The Crownshields then decided to disrupt the spell using masses of world energies. Endra let them do as they wished, but he made sure to refill any lost gaps during immediately after, so the black mist would look inexhaustible. 

He needed them to think that he could keep this going for hours. This was a bluff. Spells with unnatural traits cost a lot of mana and willpower to maintain. And a black mist that could be intangible and tangible at the same time was definitely not scientific. Hence the massive amount of World energies it took to replenish.

'But I'm confident in my bluff. After all, cheap, yet powerful spells are my signature.' 

The explosions, the gunshots, his flight and illusions. To others, it would look like he was pulling off ridiculous spells without using any mana at all. But what they didn't know, was that concrete scientific knowledge of the spells' mechanisms made them much cheaper to use. 

Like he predicted, the Crownshields soon stopped trying to remove the mist. They fortified their defenses and stood nearby. 

Endra couldn't hear what they were saying, but he knew they had few options. Go inside the mist and try to push him out. Or, they would try to throw some sort of massive spell towards his way, forcing him to get out on his own.

If they chose the first option, Endra would wipe them out. The only reason they were surviving his bullets were because their defense was too strong because they were in a group. In the mist, they wouldn't be able to block his bullets. 

'Ah, I guess they would choose right,' Endra sighed, sensing the huge gathering of mana on the other side of the wall. It seemed to be a Irratas spell, from how violently the mana fluctuated. 'They're gonna drop the earthen wall and throw the giant flame at me.'

Endra thought that the southerners would be more adept at the World of Earth, but what he usually saw were huge flames. They were usually created by multiple casters, making them extra deadly. 

Apparently, those were the most effective method against Myrmis. Endra was worried for the growing mages' morals; but since the world was at war, he supposed the questionable types of teachings would have to prevail over the sensible ones.

As he was busy thinking, the earthen wall fell down and the giant flame headed towards his way. There was no way his mist could survive that. Even if the shadow trait made it invulnerable, basically, the giant flame was still a huge bundle of world energies. 

Hence, Endra ordered the mist to gather around his palm and then he flew up high into the sky while staying invisible to the enemies. As he ascended he didn't forget to shoot at the Crownshields. 

Having to maintain such a huge spell, the students' concentration was hazy. One student had his palm pierced, while another's thigh was shot.

The flame raging beneath Endra lost some of its flair, but Endra knew he would its heat was nothing to scoff at. 

Soon, the flame died out and Endra ordered the black mist to turn gaseous once more and cover the area. Endra smiled, seeing the despair on the students' faces.

'I can keep these guys here indefinitely,' he hummed. 

Perhaps Arza would be able to push through Elise's defense, but Endra didn't think that was likely… Torgaza shouldn't be able to overcome the Crownshield's defense. But the Arcvallen's attack team will definitely be able to win against Torgaza. After that, they'll head for the Crownshield's Helm-bearer. Endra hoped that they would fight the Torgaza's attack team then they'll finally come to him and maybe fight against the Crownshield's attack team as well.

'But if they somehow decide to team up, then I'll be in a pickle…' Endra thought. 

Cooperation didn't seem too unlikely. With their Helm-bearer gone, Torgaza and Crownshield didn't really have much reason to fight against Arcvallen.

'I'll need Arza to finish winning against Elise then head straight towards me…' 

Thinking so, Endra ripped a Talisman of Communication and explained his thought process to Phel.

*****

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