Altura

As soon as I had a moment to collect myself, I felt a massive will target me and my people, trying to destroy their ability to cast. I fought back, using my staff to cast an alternate will, blocking it. I knew what it was trying to do, it was easy too. The vines, who I presumed were behind this, wanted to occupy me, so I wouldn't just kill all its plans.

‘Are you going to show yourself, you manipulative coward?’ I asked the vines.

A fog filled the area, blocking my view.

‘I only ever tried to help you, Altura.’ The vines replied, their hazy silhouette appearing before me.

‘Yeah, right’ I scoffed in reply.

‘I can do little for you now that your arrogance prevents you from truly improving’ The vines replied, still at their old habits.

‘Oh, sure, whatever makes you happy vines, whatever makes you happy.’ I replied, sarcastically. ‘Just remember, if you harm but a hair on my allies’ head, I shall hunt you down and destroy you.’

‘I suspect you will find that rather hard. The System may have bound my roots here, but a part of me has long since landed on the planet.’ The vines said. So, the vines were up to something on the planet. Not the most unexpected thing.

‘So, what is your big plan? To hold me until your minions are done with my allies? I assure you are mistaken if you think they will win.’ I said, increasing the will I put into fighting the vine.

No, you silly fool, I am going to kill you and then move on to your allies. I know that the First Warriors fools, however numerous, are too weak to kill yours. But I am not. And then the attack began in truth. The pressure exerted increased by orders of magnitude, and I felt my forces crumble as the vines progressed. But I wasn't about to just give up.

I refocused all my attention on the vine, putting as much will as I could. The vines’ push stopped, and even went back a bit as I pushed back. The same series went on for a while as we fought an invisible battle. I had little idea of how it affected the people around us, and I suspected that the effect was close to none.

The following battle would have to be fought by me. At least I was giving people time to fight.

So, are you so sure of your victory, Altura? Does your arrogance still not wane? Shall you still fight as your allies die? The vine said. I put more will into fighting it in retaliation. The vine was a master manipulator, I was not going to beat them at it. No, I was going to just use what I had in plenty. The will to do things. Or sheer stubbornness. A matter of perception.

Xerte

“So, any idea what the System meant by that?” Norrin asked as they were teleported to a land of fog.

“Not a clue.” Xerte replied. Xerte had guesses, but no clues.

Norrin scoffed in disdain, clearly still angry at him. Well, Xerte could do little about that, in the end she had been a part of a faction hunting for him, and thus his enemy.

“Well, you are going to stay here and protect my brother while I look for allies. And if anything happens to him, I swear to you, I will find you. And I will kill you.” Norrin said, removing a ring from her finger. A few seconds later, an injured boy lay in the space between them.

“But wouldn’t he be safer with you in the ring? Xerte asked.

“No, the ring is very delicate and would break easily in big battles. Besides, it is not good for him to remain in there.” Norrin said, teleporting away, leaving Xerte alone in the fog.

Xerte settled down, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did. Xerte just waited there for hours. The wait was boring, and excruciating, but he did pass the time. Koris just continued to sleep beside him, his breath calm.

Xerte tried to check him a few times, but he could not even find out what was wrong, just that he would not wake up. In the end, he had to give up.

A few hours into the ordeal, he finally heard activity. Crouching in preparation for attacks, Xerte tried to eavesdrop.

“Are you sure one of Artica’s is here? I hear that she is a tricky one and so are her people.” one said.

“Oh how tricky can a Spirit Tree and her minions be. I am sure she will be dealt with quickly.” another said. “Oh, there he is. The little minx has been eavesdropping.”

Xerte became alert, conjuring a shield. And not a second too soon, a variety of attacks soon headed towards him. Xerte countered, making a typhoon appear behind them as he fortified his defenses.

A typhoon was always the best answer. A pity he couldn’t teleport around though, he would deal with them quicker then. But it wasn’t as if it was some great halt now. Xerte dealt with them well enough now.

A number of conjured daggers flew towards the group, killing half of them as they failed to register a single fact: despite all their problems, a proper defense needed a ginormous amount of Qi against a directed attack. A dagger would target a part of their spherical shields and pierce through that part. The rest of it was intact? So what, they dead anyway. A bunch of amateurs.

The First Warrior was less of a threat than he thought, if this was the best that he could send. The two talking about him seemed the most furious. Xerte was pretty sure that they felt that he had been unfair or something. Xerte decided to kill them next.

The next wave of daggers went off, followed by another, and another. The battle was one-sided, the other side had let Xerte dictate its tempo, and he was sure that they would not be able to react before they died.

And he was right. A bunch of Mid-Grand Trees. Xerte had no idea what they were so arrogant about, they might be a big deal back on the planet, but the Tourney operated on a different level.

Xerte just leaned back, conjuring a chair and sitting with Koris on a bed before him. A few seconds later, he had turned it into a virtual fort of diamond. Just layers upon layers of it. A bit of planning went a long way in dealing with these people.

The next group came by, this one had a Late-Grand Tree among them. Xerte dealt with as easily as the first. The defenses did not falter, and neither did his attacks.

Kerrin

Kerrin sighed as the hole left. The questions it had asked were not hard, and forming Spirit Qi had answered the last quite well. The Spirit Qi did not even change much for him, blood had many of its properties. What awaited him on leaving did surprise him, though.

Kerrin found himself in a sea of fog, alone. Wait, no, he wasn’t alone. Acting quickly, he teleported away as a fire last hit the space he was at before. Kerrin threw a bit of blood in the direction that the attack came from and lit it up. A person revealed himself on the other side.

Kerrin immediately conjured a typhoon of fire, attacking them. Teleporting around, he released attacks one after another at the space. But received no reaction. A whisper of noise had him conjuring defenses as a dagger clashed against his shield. Now he was very glad that he had taken the time to level into the Spirit Tree level as the Archduchess levelled.

Kerrin wouldn’t have survived that attack without it. A shadow emerged from the darkness, staring at him for a second before sinking back in. The person must be one of the other Spirit Trees, a darkness element one most certainly. And how did one clear darkness? A lot of light.

Kerrin lit up the fog, sending little lights of fire into it. The fog swallowed them, a wholly abnormal action. A normal fog did not swallow lights whole. The swallowing was something reserved for darkness.

Kerrin sent more and more lights, teleporting around with his defenses. The attacks continued, each hitting with the weight of a thousand kilometers of rock. A normal layer of diamond would have fallen. But Kerrin had blood, and blood endured.

The battle continued, Kerrin threw lights into the darkness, the person attacked him. A few minutes later, something changed. The person teleported less, the sped grew slower and the attacks weaker. And Kerrin conjured lights with renewed vigor.

And these did not get swallowed. In fact, the opposite happened. As they fought, more and more of the old lights appeared, shining brightly. The attacker felt the pinch. A few clashes later, she finally revealed herself to Kerrin, illuminated for a second by the lights before she promptly burned to ash.

Kerrin had no idea what the person was, but he suspected that she practiced something similar to the Jade arts to magnify her affinity. But in the end she died. The battle had not ended, however, the lights began re-emerging quicker, joining together in increased brightness.

Kerrin hastily summoned layers upon layers of dark blood, attempting to block all light. And not a moment too soon. The light collided with each other and exploded outward, dispelling the fog for miles and incinerating everything in sight.

And just like that, Kerrin had another hundred million Qi. Xerte was going to be so jealous.

Aswelth

Aswelth sighed in relief as the Grand Elder’s convoy left. At least she hadn’t interfered with the Arch Duchy’s operations, even if her presence alone had caused a veritable stampede of people. Just about everyone wanted to meet the newest Warrior Tree.

But the duel had been scheduled, and the Grand Elder had left for its venue. Aswelth could not deny that he was a bit nervous for it, the duel would decide whether the Arch Duchy survived. The Arch Duchy’s own situation had not eased, it had gotten worse, if anything. The people still wanted to level up, and they still didn’t have enough beasts to let them.

A growing number of people wanted to consider expanding and war as a viable alternative. Aswelth had stopped them for now, claiming that the Archduchess would not agree, but it would not last forever. The Archduchess had better return soon, or the Arch Duchy she returned to would be very different from the one she thought she would be returning to.

“General! The Confederacy’s civil war has ended!” one of the division commanders said, A, some good news!

“Well, what are you waiting for? Just activate the next step of the plan.” he said.

“Um, there is a problem, sir.” the division commander replied.

“What is it? Aswelth asked, growing irritated at the young man.

“The Oceana sir, it has claimed the Confederacy.” the division commander said.

“The Land of Six Jewels is under Grand Elder Artica, why is Grand Elder Betaca shoving her nose in? Just be ready to move at my command, I will go and see what is going on there.” Aswelth said.

“I fear that there is no need to do that.” a voice suddenly said from beside him. Aswelth pivoted towards it, drawing his sword. But all he was staring at was a tree.

“Hello. I am Elder Mauriss, I think you know me.” it said.

Aswelth sheathed his sword, but remained alert. “Yes, what do you mean there is no need to do that?” Aswelth asked.

“The reason is simple, I already know what she is up to. Grand Elder Betaca will deploy an army there over the next few days. And when Grand Elder Artica is busy at the duel, she will attack and destroy the Arch duchy, crippling Altura and destroying any chance that Grand Elder Artica’s faction may make a resurgence.”

“I suspect that the First Warrior has offered her a great reward to do so, the death of Grand Elder Itacia perhaps?” Mauriss said.

Aswelth swallowed. The Arch Duchy could not fight a Grand Elder level force, a Grand Elder alone would devastate them.

“Do not worry, she can’t deploy too much of her forces, most of it is deployed around the duel, or do you expect it to end peacefully. No, I suspect that there will be a battle there in the end. I will hold the Grand Elder, your job, Aswelth, is to hold the rest.” Mauriss continued.

“Why are you doing this? Opposing Grand Elder Betaca will give you nothing.” Aswelth said.

“No, but I already chose my faction, General, and how would I consider myself loyal if I let it fall? What you need to do now is simple, you need to invade the Confederacy, just like you planned. The time for peace is over, war is here, and there is nothing any of us can do about it.” Mauriss said.