“Our final round event is called, Siege! Each group is given a tower with a spherical orb to place anywhere within or on the tower. So long as it is within 10 feet. The first one to bring their opponent’s sphere to their tower wins. When a team is deemed unable to continue it also counts as a win.”

Damian retrieved his orb, and Edwin got his. The two bowed to each other and went their separate ways. Their groups faced each other as they were teleported to their respective towers.

“Me, Nico and Asela will go on the offensive. Wura and Kyrion I want you to set up defenses around the orb and tower.” Damian looked over at his teammate. “Our enemies’ strengths are unknown but our abilities aren’t. Everyone here knows what they can or can’t do and I believe that even with the element of surprise that we have, we won’t lose. They must have used some mana in the last fight.”

Damian, Nico, and Asela went off. Their strongest damage dealing team. Kyrion made his way around the perimeter, planting some thorned vine seeds. A gift from his master after he told them about his power to make plants grow. Wura went behind him and watered the plants with her ability, giving them a poisonous property. He didn’t understand how it worked, as the explanation Nico gave made his head hurt for some reason.

After finishing the perimeter, they set up traps inside, creating plants capable of fighting in and slowing down their opponents. They had many ways to slow down their opponents, but their offense was weak. He needed more high-quality seeds for that, it seems, and at that point, he’d be commanding creatures that were more monster than plant. A few fire pepper seeds were planted near pools of Wura’s ability, which would create pocket explosions capable of rendering its targets unconscious. This was an accidental combination that they found when Everest gave them to him. He said he got them off some rabbit with a bow. Kyrion then blew up part of the practice field while experimenting with his teammates.

Everest was out for a good four hours after that attack.

The last trap was a dummy sphere, made from another seed he picked up from his master. The dummy plant is a type of fly trap for people. It takes the shape of a plantlike pedestal and mimics the first object placed on it by consuming it and then replacing it with a replica. When the replica is touched, an unseen maw closes it around the victim.

Kyrion looked at his work proudly and looked for a place to watch the show. Damian and the others left quite a bit ago, and if any attackers were going to arrive, then they’d be here soon.

Damian and the others walked to the other side of the battleground under cover of trees. Careful not to give away their position. They had finally made their way out of the brush when they noticed their opponents. Three of them were standing guard, it seems, while another two stood on top of their tower.

“Should we get the others?” Asela asked.

“Probably not. It’s either some type of trick or a bluff. If we return and bring everyone over here they may have a way to get to our tower before we can react. Let’s start with the ring of fire. Really let it spread to the nearby trees and the dry grass around the tower. After it connects I want Asela to make them rise even faster while Nico pours more heat into them. Block off their exit. I’ll engage them directly and keep them in the circle as it forms moving to keep them from making it back to the two of you if possible. When you’ve reached the necessary heat, Nico send in your hounds to assist. and Asela keep them in the circle.” Damian gave them their orders and

Nico summoned his twin balls of fire, boosting their speed with a burst of mana. Then, the two balls moved to encircle their tower when the opposition caught on.

“They’re using fire!” Shouted the one in front. A strong boy with the build of one who could be a great knight when they grew up. He led a charge towards the flame.

Damian moved in and disabled him in an instant as the pommel of his sword went directly into the boy’s chin, knocking him unconscious. The other two saw this and immediately split up.

Damian went to intercept them when a grip latched onto his foot. Domain looked down and saw that the boy still had some fight left in him.

The boy flung Danian towards the tower, separating him from the rest of the group as his two allies made their way out of the enclosing flames.

Nico saw this and enclosed the boy who had just thrown their leader in a wall of fire.

Asela, in response, made the fire hotter and made tendrils of fire leap out of the wall and latch onto their targets.

One of them managed to deftly dodge while another was captured. The one who evaded went towards Asela and shot chains of red energy from his hands, restraining the girl and pulling her towards him.

Asela lost control of the tendrils, and the trapped ally managed to break free.

Nico returned his balls of fire to his hands and manifested them as the two hounds, Hunter and Ravager. They charged forward to engage the enemy that escaped, while Nico charred at the boy who just restrained Asela.

Damian landed on his feet, using his sword to slow down the momentum. He immediately summoned his second sword and began to coat his body in the yellow aura. Damian saw a large bird with two passengers flying towards their tower.

Damian stood up and ran on in. leaving his opponent alone in the fire while his teammates fended off the other two.

Kyrion watched as a giant bird came flying their way and let Wura know immediately. They barred the top entrance and lied in wait on the third floor where the final trap was laid.

The two arrived on the bird’s back and found that the door wouldn’t open at the top of the tower. Even though various attempts were made to breakthrough, it was rooted, so the bird was forced to land on the ground where the thorn trap was triggered, killing the giant bird nigh instantly.

Edwin jumped from his now dead bird and made his way into the tower. His companion freed herself soon after landing. But seemed to lag behind a bit.

The two entered the tower and encountered a set of sunflowers rooted to the ground. Edwin walked right through the vines, causing them to rot and decompose when they made contact. Minor cuts on his body seemed to recover as he passed.

The girl behind him released black flames that consumed the rest of the plants. Finally, they made it to the second floor of the tower. Edwin continued to walk forward, only to step in a metallic puddle. An explosion shook the tower.

A toxic miasma flowed through the room, trapped inside. Enough to incapacitate most people in the fledgling and lower tier.

His partner jumped at the sound of the explosion and rushed in. Soon after, the smoke and fire rapidly faded from the room. Revealing a slightly singed Edwin.

“Edwin! Are you ok?” She asked.

“Ow… That hurt! But I should be fine in a second. Thanks for asking Lisa.” Edwin stood up and the plants hiding in the metallic liquid began to die out.

“There are a lot of traps but we haven’t encountered anyone.” Lisa adjusted her brown hair and looked around.

“They must have used a lot of mana to set these traps. Seeing as they have hidden from us.” She added.

Edwin stopped and looked through some rooms for the orb before returning. “Possibly. But if it’s only fire and plants we can handle it.”

Edwin made his way up the third floor when he heard a thud. Lisa had fallen to a knee and was unable to continue as quickly. He waited for a minute before deciding that she was stuck there. Oh well, he thought.

Edwin saw his prize sitting on a pedestal and went to grab it when a metal arrow stuck him in the shoulder, and a vine made from water slapped him hard into a wall. A dent where the two made contact was visible.

“He should be down now.” Kyrion stated.

“Yeah. I’ll go tie up the other one. Can’t have her running rampant here.”

“Good idea.” Wura went downstairs while Kyrion reached towards Edwin to tie him up.

Damian heard footsteps behind him as he entered the second floor. It looks like the durable one had followed, and now that he was out of sight, he could refrain from holding back. The rules of his clan were strict in that sense. It didn’t help that Nico was quite observant. As far as Damian was concerned, it may find itself written down in some book or scroll if he saw him use this technique once or twice.

The boy who charged forward began to transform his eyes, going bloodshot and his hands growing claws. Where Noah was a noble lion, this boy was some sort of feral wolf.

The wolf boy lunged forward with his claws. Damian evaded with a spin, slashing the boy’s back with a series of cuts followed by a kick that knocked him prone.

Damian entered a new stance, an aura of mana covering him in yellow light.

The wolf boy charged forward, claws extended even further.

In response, Damian continued to evade attacks and continue building momentum. It was then he noticed that the wolf had a slow regeneration ability. Instead of a shallow cut, Damian went deep, severing an artery and leaving a gouge across his back. The wolf fell on his stomach as his regeneration ability took him out of the fight.

“Huh. Looks like he doesn’t have enough mana to keep up Kyr’s rate of regeneration.”

Nico drew a quarterstaff that he had been training with and let out a series of jabs and strikes at their elusive opponent. While Nico wasn’t a master with this weapon, so long as he fed it with mana and hit with it, his target would take some damage.

Asela sent out whips of fire to keep them unsettled and off-balance, but despite all that, they couldn’t land a solid blow.

Nico’s hounds seemed to hold off the other one pretty well. Until the first one dropped dead, and the second followed soon after. The shock knocked Nico onto his knees. The two moved on to Asela and attempted to take her out of the fight.

The evasive one went to hit her on the side of the head when Nico muttered some words, and the world began to burn.

“Carnage. Come forth.”

A third creature the color of ebony appeared, its body oddly muscular and exuding great power, its frame enough to make a bear on its hind legs seem small. Its three heads were intimidating to look at and seemed feral, possibly demonic in nature. There were three collars. The one on the left was Hunter, the one on the right was Ravager, and the one in the middle had the name Carnage.

One of the two kids wet themselves while the other passed out in fear; it was too quick. Soon after, the creature vanished, and both Nico had passed out from mana loss. The raging fires finally ceased, and Asela stood there confused.

“What was that?” Asela muttered, putting the unconscious Nico against a tree to rest.

The two rested as Damian exited the tower with an orb in his hands.

“They got Nico? Damian asked?

“I think Nico overdid it.” Asela shrugged.

“He’s twice my height, so please carry him for me.” It didn’t come out as a question.

“Fine…He mostly lifts books so, I doubt he’s too heavy.” Damian slung the unconscious boy over his shoulder.

Kyrion began to tie up his roommate with a vine when he felt a hand pierce his stomach. Mana was rapidly being drawn from Kyrion and into Edwin.

After healing quite a bit, Edwin stood up and dropped some cubes on the ground. After he watched Kyrion gasp for air for a long second, he spoke. “I don’t love or hate you but orders are orders.” He plugged another hand into Kyions chest, causing the latter to spit up black gunk.

Kyrion felt weak; his healing didn’t function. He could move but thought that he shouldn’t force it. Something was wrong here, and he couldn’t figure out what.

“I see…” Kyrion grunted. “What did I ever do to you?”

“Nothing really. Orders are orders and for some reason my boss hates your guts. Now sit still and let me rip apart your core.” Finally, Edwin lunged and pierced Kyrions chest this time, mana began to leak out like a cracked pot did water.

It flowed out of him rapidly, and he found that he couldn’t connect when he reached out for it. All he could do was lay there helpless. After a while, the pot seemed to repair itself, but it seemed quite a bit smaller than it was before. Kyrion felt stiped bare as the day he was born, or at least he would feel that way had he been able to remember that time of his life.

He looked for a way to escape when something occurred to him. “Why is it always me? Literally, I’m eight, what could I have done to them. If anything I’m pretty sure that if he left me alone then I wouldn’t even know he existed!” Kyrion got a bit louder, trying to signal to Wura.

“No one can save you now.” Edwin went to deliver another blow.

Kyrions eyes were wide as he looked for a way out. His body grew weaker and weaker as the blows chipped away at his core. Finally, the pain forced him inside. As he looked around, he noted that his spirits were fine and still connected. He could still manifest them both.

So a long silver fox appeared and disappeared as quickly. The air in the room began to grow stronger as it surrounded them.

Soon after, a small blue bird appeared as moisture started to gather in whiplike formations, forming a wall of water between Kyrion and Edwin.

Mana spent, Kyrion passed out, unable to see the end of his fight.

“Why aren’t you out of mana! You should be dead! You monster!” Edwin managed to get out before Kyrions consciousness faded.