Seira channeled her mana, getting used to her new power. It certainly seemed like destruction, but there was something about it that she couldn't quite place. Still, she had already figured out that it could do everything fire could do — and more. Blasts of flame weren't nearly as forceful as her improvised explosion, and her emerald colored attacks weren't just melting things. Those shards of stone had straight-up crumbled when faced with her attack. She didn't know if the same would happen to real rocks, but she was willing to try. Later, though. Right now, she needed to focus on the battle ahead.

Kiro ran beside her, his footsteps slightly charring the grass underneath them. She nodded approvingly. It looked like he was finally getting a hang of the Hong Clan's shroud. It was excessive — the technique used much more mana than a traditional channeling — but nobody could say it wasn't effective. And right now, they could afford to be a bit wasteful. Aer's fire-infused water swirled in their cores, releasing a gradual stream of energy to replace any that they used.

A crowd of stony beasts rushed to meet them, and she raised a single arm. A solid stream of scorching green shot out of her palm, destroying three of their attackers in a single swipe. Kiro pummeled another with a rock, but six more took their place. She couldn't be bothered with this fodder.

"Kiro! Back up again!"

He leapt back, much faster than the last time she had done this. Using the extra space, she pushed her mana outwards. All around her, the creatures flew back, screeching. She slowly advanced, eyeing the drake. With a roar of challenge, it rose to the air, flying towards her. The rest of the spirit-beasts backed off, bowing their heads in face of their leader. Ah, so it wanted a duel. She glanced back, but Kiro was already sneaking past the horde, back towards their encampment. He turned to her, giving her a thumbs-up.

Good idea. While she handled the big bad, he would be able to grab Rynn and lead him back towards her. Then they could either wipe out or scare off the rest of the little ones.

With a shout, she ignited her shroud. Lazy, gaseous, tongues of viridian fire spread over her, empowering her every movement. The drake responded with its traditional boulder. Last time, she had needed to avoid this attack, and her quick thinking had allowed her to use it to her advantage. This time, she responded with brute force.

As she had found out, aspectual ascension didn't just change your mana's aspect. Or perhaps it was better to say that changing your mana's aspect didn't just change what you could control. With that broader range came a landslide of power.

She raised a fist, and when it met the conjured rock, it was the rock that gave way. A spray of stray shards flew towards the drake, though they did predictably little to harm it. More importantly, though, they provided her with a distraction. She launched a green fireball, taking off a chunk off the creature's side.

An ear-piercing screech reverberated from the spirit-beast, signaling its agony. Hah! Not so durable now, huh? She sprinted to close the gap, forming a nascent attack. Then, just as she was about to strike it, a shroud of its own flared up. She leapt away, leaving a trail of emerald sparks. That was another disadvantage of shrouds. While your aura could only be seen by those of similar aspects, your shroud openly broadcasted your intent. But… no attack came. Did she say disadvantage?

The drake glowed with yellow light, and the gaping hole in its side stitched itself together. Except, where there was once a sea of dark onyx, now there were plates of shimmering gold. The beast shook itself, and the rest of its scales fell off, only to be replaced by their gilded counterparts. It let out another cry, and landed with an earth-shaking thump. That same instant, the earth beneath her shot up in a wicked spike. She hastily avoided the surprise attack, launching a wave of fire in retaliation.

The drake took it on its gleaming armor, unfazed.

She cursed. So it’s new hide could even shake off her pseudo-destruction. A wave of earthen spikes jabbed at her once more, and this time she didn’t bother avoiding them. Her shroud thickened, dissolving any attack that dared go near her. However, the drake wasn’t finished. A barrage of boulders flew at her, and she forced her shroud even tighter. How had Rynn managed to fend this thing off?

She launched a conjured lance, but once again the monstrosity just shrugged it off. Alright. That was it. She had already spent half her mana, and this condensed shroud would only drain it even faster. She needed to finish this now, and if she couldn’t hurt it at a distance, she would just have to get closer. With a burst of speed, she kicked off of ground, hurling herself at the beast’s head. Its eyes gleamed as it recognized a familiar situation. She smirked.

Yes, it had been able to shrug off her lesser, unnamed attacks, but her new aspect was a hair’s breadth away from being destruction incarnate. She wanted to see how it handled a full-force final move. Flames gathered in her palm, but this time she forced them to condense, in accordance with Aer’s technique. This was the Forged Fist, a technique the Hong clan had spent centuries refining, built upon by a Saint’s knowledge, and finally enhanced by her ascension to a higher aspect. As she flew through the air, she took a moment to give it a new name, one worthy of its newfound power. The Final Fist. If the drake could survive this, she might as well jump into its mouth herself.

An orb of pure viridescent energy gathered around her hand, and it took all her willpower to stop it from igniting prematurely. Her entire body shook with the effort, but her smirk never faded. If this attack was composed of normal flame, it would have surpassed white entirely, growing so hot as to ascend to the realm of violet. She descended upon the beast like a Saint of death, the tongues of emerald fire around her so dense they nearly looked liquid.

The attack impacted, and she was thrown across the plain by the force. A conflagration the size of a small building expanded from the point of impact, and the grass around the drake was incinerated in an instant. The lesser beasts nearest to the fight screeched, the residual destructive energy eating away at them. She blinked the spots away from her eyes, slowly rising to her feet. Her core was nearly empty, and her right hand felt numb, but she pumped her left in triumph. There was no way even a drake would have been able to live through that!

Except, the dust suddenly blew away, propelled by a pair of giant wings. The monster rose from the ground, shaking off the dirt and debris. On its head, right at the sight of impact, not a single scale fell out of place.