Seed Of Speed

While the two teams battled, a number of masters and a few grand masters had gathered in the sky above to watch. They were completely separated from the storm, and unable to be seen by the disciples below, but they could still sense the flow of energy throughout the island.

"You sure gave your disciple quite the challenge, Swordflash," Grand Master Plasmachop said as he watched the storm forming in the sky.

"The task is simply at the peak of his capabilities, like all of the challenges I give him," Swordflash replied.

Plasmachop could not help but snicker at Swordflash's statement, not believing his words. The crux of the Brightmelody's problem did not stim from his lack of ability, although the grand master did doubt his strength to match the elder Core Disciples as well. No, the problem remained with the group of mostly apprentices trying to match up to the strongest junior members of the sect. Even with the restrictions placed on the Core Disciples to not exceed the power of an apprentice, or an adapt if they faced off directly against Silverflame or Flowingrock, their experience and spell knowledge could not be underestimated.

"And what of his group? How can they measure up to our Core Disciples?" Plasmachop asked, hitting his main point.

"You've never left the desert; how could you understand the power of a Soul-Singer?" Swordflash said dismissively.

"Bah! The Great Founder and Patriarch may be concerned with this power, but it is just another form of magic. How much can it truly effect in the face of true power?"

"Which is exactly why they both agreed to my request. When Brightmelody's team wins, the sect will undergo a great change as we begin to scour the desert for more Soul-Singers!"

"I think you mean 'if' his team wins…" Plamsachop said, but the words died away as Brightmelody began his Spell-Song.

Despite being in a separate space, completely protected by the island's wards, the oppressive nature of Brightmelody's black hell flames could still be felt, especially when the black bulls charged through the air space where the masters had all gathered. Silence fell throughout the group as they felt the full force of the soul-shaking flames. It was as if all hope had been drained out of their bodies and each one was standing alone in the face of the judgement of the Heavens.

Although she was just a clone, Grand Master Whiteriver released a golden holy aura to weaken the effects on the surrounding masters who had completely frozen up. Swordflash gave Plamsachop a sideways glance and smiled lightly as the relaxed look on his face was now gone. He had traveled the world when he was young, so he had seen firsthand how powerful a true Soul-Singer, or Bard, could be and, once his disciple combined that power with those chilling hell flames, Swordflash knew only those with the strongest of hearts would be able to stand strong in the face of such an attack. Before the battle had even truly begun, the morale of the Core Disciples had hit rock bottom even if their pride kept them fighting.

"Still as confident as before?" Swordflash asked with a rare bit of amus.e.m.e.nt.

Plasmachop gave Swordflash a hard look before turning his attention down below, deciding not to comment.

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Shadowbolt watched separately from the main group of masters as she had the benefit of hearing her disciple's complete plan. She knew where most of the dangers to his team would be, so she had taken it upon herself to watch over them closely, especially her other disciple which would be facing her greatest challenge to this date.

Moonfall had volunteered to take down Dreamcaller's spell because she had the best concept of just how powerful it was and had the most tools to fight it within the small group. Illusions and Mind Arts were tricky magics that took a delicate touch to control, and with one small slip, the person in question could lose their mind to the spell completely.

Dreamcaller's spell, {Devils Called from the Dream}, was a complex trap hidden deep within the obvious trap. The unlucky victim would have to open their mind to the spell to be able to start untangling the mana web their mind would be stuck in, but the more open it was, the easier the spell could pry out the dark fears within the victim's mind. Not only would the creatures of their nightmares begin attacking them, the knowledge that it was caused by a powerful illusion would slowly be eroded from their mind until they surrendered completely and then they would fall under Dreamcaller's control.

Shadowbolt watched as Tovao carried off her screaming disciple to the trees, her heart gripped with pain. She had never married or had children, so she treated each of her disciples as her own, especially Moonfall, who she had watched grow up within the sect. Her parents were both elders, with her mother being an honorary disciple, but when little Nika had shown an incredible gift with Mind Arts at a young age, Shadowbolt had taken her under her wing and helped her craft her named spell, {Crushing Descent of the Falling Moon}.

Tovao carefully placed the thrashing Moonfall on the ground and stood as an ardent defender of the young girl. He kept his glaive in his hands and it gave off a faint red light from the fire enchantments built into the blade. His eyes never stopped moving since he could not trust his senses in such a powerful storm and there was always a chance that one of the members of the other group would come.

He heard the snap of a twig and he wheeled around with glaive ready to thrust but lowered it instantly when he saw the source. "Forgive me, Grand Master Shadowbolt," Tovao said quickly.

"Do not apologize for protecting my disciple," she said with a light chuckle, barely about the roar of the storm. "She has two minutes to free herself, or I will and remove her from the contest."

"I understand, Grand Master!" Tovao said with a bow.

Shadowbolt stood completely still, but it was as if the rain blowing around her simply moved around her body, never staining her robes. With a wave of her, she extended the same curtesy to her poor disciple on the ground and even Tovao. This was the extent of what she could do without officially interfering with the duel, so she just watched on quietly. To her surprise, or may not as Moonfall excelled in Mind Arts, in just under a minute, her frightened cries had all but stopped and a look of concentration was across the girl's face. In another breath's worth of time, the clarity had returned to Moonfall's golden eyes.

"Master?" she asked, still a little confused as her memories were still falling back into place.

"I was just ensuring your success, or I would deal with her spell myself. Good luck," Shadowbolt said then vanished into thin air as she reactivated her {Invisibility} spell.

"Come on, Tovao, get this rope off of me. We still need to deal with Hawkeye if Stormblade managed to draw him out!" Moonfall said, still tied up.

"Right!" Tovao said, stabbing his glaive into the ground.

He quickly untied Moonfall then pulled out his sect token and sent Stormblade a simple message of 'ready'. They both stood up, Tovao grabbed his weapon at the same time, and they both headed east, out of the tree-filled area.

Stormblade, and the {Water Clone} steering the stone griffin, were having a hell of a time trying to keep ahead of Hawkeye's attacks. The first volley of arrows he had deflected had made Stormblade's confidence swell, but only now did he realize Hawkeye had only sent simple arrows without any mana or chi encasing them. Now that they had gotten him into the air, Hawkeye had started treating the pair with care.

Hawkeye had dedicated his everything to the Way of the Bow, wanting to realize his father's dream of being the greatest archer to ever live. His flight magic and all of his personally crafted spells were just another way to strengthen the power of his arrows. Even with the restriction his master had placed on him for the duel, he could fire over thirty arrows in under a minute, and each one would hit the exact same point.

The stone griffin was constantly zig-zagging through the air and making dives in hopes of dodging the arrows, but Stormblade was still having to constantly protect his body, deflecting arrows that seemed to curve around to strike him at unusual angles. Even then, he still got cut by the odd arrow, and one was firmly planted in the outer muscle of his left shoulder.

An elder had just been about to step in when his whole body lit up with little snakes of violet lightning, blue streams of rainwater, and wispy yellow bands as he activated his {Body of the Storm}. The over-saturation of the three energies in the air made his spell nearly two times as strong and even was able to help him deflect some of the arrows. Although he was managing, Stormblade almost let out a cry of joy when his talisman buzzed. Without even checking the message, he pointed the clone east to meet up with the others.

Thanks to his spell, Stormblade was easy to see up in the sky as he zoomed over the heads of Tovao and Moonfall, but that was all part of the plan. Moonfall had already been forming her spell and, with Tovao's cue, she launched it and ensnared Hawkeye.

Suddenly, Hawkeye found himself standing on the shore of the sea with the desert behind him at midnight. He could not remember how he had gotten here, but the concern washed away a moment later like the gentle waves crashing upon the beach. The silver moon hung brightly in the sky, far bigger than he had ever seen before, and he quickly found himself enthralled by its beauty. Then he realized, the moon was still growing in size, but it was not just growing, it was falling!

He turned and attempted to race away, but no matter how far and fast he moved, the moon kept growing. He turned frantic, feeling the weight of the moon slowly falling onto his shoulders… but then, as suddenly as it had started, he found himself back on the stormy island with Grand Master Shadowbolt in front of him.

"By requiring my aid to break free of the illusion, you are now removed from the contest," Shadowbolt said, a small sparkle in her eye since it was her disciple-apprentice who had brought down this adapt Core Disciple relatively on her own.

Hawkeye gave a deep sigh as he ran a hand through his soaked hair and said, "I understand, Grand Master."

"Come, you can watch the rest of the duel with your master," she said and waved a hand, wrapping the island wards around him, so that he could join the other masters while isolated from the effects of the fight.