Hyperion Evergrowing

Chapter 150: Humanity’s Finest

“It’s starting! It’s starting!” Roy said, bouncing from foot to foot. “We need to get inside!”

“Patience Roy, we’re at the front of the line.” Lucia said, placing a comforting hand on her younger brother’s shoulder.

“I can’t believe you have an Academy token!” Ella was saying to Leif, the first year student just as excited as Roy, only she was doing a worse job at hiding it. “You should have said something earlier! Associates of the Academy can use privileges and facilities most visitors cannot!”

“If you couldn’t tell from the mask, I’m trying not to attract too much attention.”

“Really? The mask is pretty eye-catching though.”

Leif tilted his head in acknowledgement. That was a fair point. Maybe he should have worn the plain wooden mask instead of the painted one he had bought from a market stall in Ahle-ho. Well, it's too late now. He thought, an official waving him and the others inside. The rumble of the crowd and the booming voice of the announcer washed over them as they climbed up into the outer ring of the stands. The sheer mass of humanity was an almost physical blow to the senses.

Roy covered his ears and shouted something to Lucia. The girl shook her head, then pointed towards a section of the stands where the press of people was relatively less.

“Oh wow, oh wow.” Ella said, clapping her hands together as they made their way around the outside of the upper most level. The announcer had just finished introducing the tenth blade. “I can’t believe we made it in time for the start of the fight. I can’t believe they let us skip right to the front of the queue!”

“I’m certainly not complaining.” Leif replied, though his attention was on the arena itself. There was a strange barrier blocking his aura, and the aura of all the spectators from entering the almost one hundred and fifty metre long stretch of sand. It partially reminded him of the protective barriers the sparring yards in the Twin Heart guild, but the aura rejecting component had more in similarity to the suppression bracers. He still missed them. He should buy some if he got the chance.

They were halfway to the sparsely populated side of the arena when the crowd roared and two figures stepped out onto the sand. From their distance, Leif and the others could just make out both combatants. A feat made easier as the field surrounding the innermost ring of the structure rippled, the effect somehow zooming in wherever Leif wanted to look. Roy almost walked into a trio of students, the boy staring in amazement at the magical display.

The closest blade to where they were was a tall, severe looking man who was likely within his later twenties, though with the slowed ageing of higher levels it was possible he could be quite a bit older. He had short grey hair that was neatly swept back from his face. Leif couldn’t see the man’s eyes, but from the arrogant tilt of his head he was likely looking down on his opponent.

The other was a welcome sight. It had been a year, or thereabouts, since he had last seen Hera. The woman still sported the same long blond hair and confident expression she had back during the expedition. A bow of conjured light was held loosely in one hand, the other was placed on her hip.

“That’s quite the enchantment.” Leif said appreciatively, nodding to the vision affecting shield. “I wonder how it works?”

“There’s an Academy legend about the team of students who discovered the arena control room and helped reverse engineer and repair the enchantments.” Ella yelled over the cheering crowd. “Well, not all the enchantments are working. But all the key one’s are functional. Other than the teleport arches. But I think that’s a power supply issue. Maybe? I’m not sure.”

The announcer started counting down to the beginning of the match. The crowd joined in on the count of eight.

“C’mon sis!” Roy said, tugging at Lucia’s hand. The girl had stopped in place and was staring down into the arena.

“I- Right. Let's go.” She said, shooting a look at Leif before grabbing Roy by the hand and leading him the final stretch of the way to a quartet of open seats. They had to squeeze past a group of orange uniformed students who were on their feet, Roy plopping down into the closest seat only to be shooed onwards by Lucia.

“Begin!” The announcer screamed, and both figures in the arena blurred into motion.

There was a flash of white light as in a single smooth movement Hera pulled back the string on her bow, conjured an arrow and loosed. The projectile shot across the arena, carving a white line through the air as it soared towards its target with no loss of speed. If anything the arrow sped up as it bore down on Kastro.

Leif missed how the man reacted to the sudden attack as he found his seat, but not the aftermath. A oozing grey tentacle had risen from the ground below the man’s feet, it writhed upwards, carrying Kastro forward. Two more arrows shot towards the tenth blade, he battered the first aside with a grey clad fist, but had to jump off the tentacle to avoid the other. He fell, but was caught by a second tentacle and continued forward.

“What is that?” Ella gasped, staring down at the display unfolding below them. “I thought Blade Kastro used fear magic? I don’t even know what kind of class can do that!”

Arrow after arrow fell towards the man, each was dodged, blocked or deflected, but the barrage picked up speed, more and more radiant projectiles coming towards Kastro from every angle. Some arrows curved down from above, others flew in from the side, guided towards their target.

A trio of trunk sized tentacles burst from the sandy ground, only to be pierced and pummelled moments later. Hera had yet to move from her starting position, her confident smile yet to fade. Kastro fell as his tentacles slammed down, sand sprayed in all directions as the man vanished into the cloud of his own creation. Hera’s eyes shone, then she took aim and fired another arrow. A scream ripped out from the cloud an instant later, followed by a dark pulse of energy that washed across the arena.

It buffeted up against the protective barrier like waves against the coast. As the skill travelled, dark figures, twisted and misshapen pulled themselves into existence. There was something primal and terrifying about them, how their very presence twisted the air and drew the eye. Several spectators flinched back, though whatever mental attack the summoned beings carried was negated by the barrier.

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For the first time since the battle started Hera kicked off, darting backwards, a wall of light being summoned to ward off the overbearing skill. Then she fired a quick volley of arrows into the air, each a blur of motion. Kastro burst out of the cloud of sand, ripping a shaft of light from his stomach and sprinting forward with a snarl. Grey water oozed up around his feet, the tide of liquid spilling out from his position and covering dozens of metres within half as many seconds. The arrows Hera had fired landed in a staggered interval, then they exploded, armoured figures of light coming into existence with gleaming weapons already swinging.

Kastro engaged with the one immediately before him as his summoned tentacles fought the others. The man ducked a strike aimed for his neck, sidestepped a thrust then retreated under a barrage of rapid jabs and half-swings. The monstrosities he had summoned ignored the sentinels, charging after Hera with their constantly changing bodies.

Hera kept retreating, cutting down creature after creature with a series of precisely aimed arrows. Then she vanished in a flash of light as she reached the far wall. The monstrosities and spectators both were confused, only for them to notice Hera a moment later. She stood on the other side of the arena, an arrow that had landed in the sand at the beginning of the fight warping the air as she teleported to it. Kastro redirected his summoned creatures and tentacles towards Hera, but the 9th blade simply repeated the steps from the start of the fight, retreating as she unleashed a hail of arrows.

Her opponent lashed out with whips of grey water, cutting apart the nearest sentinel but taking a slice to the arm in retaliation. Then he was tugged out of the path of a falling arrow by a tentacle and carried off to safety. The tentacles seemed to move faster within the grey water, the liquid oozing up Kastro’s body to seal off the wound to his arm. The twisted creations of nightmares finally reached the centre of the arena, but Kastro gestured for them to spread out and occupy territory instead of pursuing Hera directly.

The man warded off another half dozen arrows, then took shelter behind a barrier of tentacles. He was panting heavily, wincing in pain as his hand went to the still bleeding wound in his gut. Grey liquid flowed into the wound, staunching the flow of blood. He stood, his expression grim and held out his palm to place it onto the tentacles before him. Then an arrow far stronger and faster than any in the fight so far tore through the tentacles protecting Kastro and-

The crowd gasped collectively as the man’s arm was severed from his shoulder. Kastro screamed, another wave of terror inducing power washing over the arena’s sands, another fresh batch of twisted creatures manifesting as it did so. Another power shot flashed across the distance between both combatants, but the injured man fell into the water oozing around him, only to appear over twenty metres away as he emerged, completely drenched.

The tenth Blade had control of over half the arena’s surface by this point. But it didn’t matter. An increasingly large number of armoured sentinels appeared around Hera, protecting her from the approaching nightmares as she hunted Kastro with an endless volley of arrows. If she had needed to teleport again to escape she would have been in trouble, but Hera was never forced to do so.

Two minutes later Kastro fell to one knee and yielded. The crowd exploded in cheers.

“Did you see that?!” Ella screamed, shaking Leif’s shoulder and pointing towards Hera. “Look. Look at how cool that was! Did you see what I saw?”

“Yes. I think we all saw that.” Leif replied, amused. It was hard to miss. Has she gotten stronger since I last saw her? I don’t think I saw any new skills, but she didn’t even get hit once.

Another figure, a woman with the same grey hair as Kastro ran out of the entrance the man had initially emerged from, racing to his side. She glared at Hera as she trudged through the evaporating water that still pooled around the arena. Hera just smiled and dismissed her bow. waving up at the still cheering crowd.

I can’t believe it took her, Kaan, Pocht and that damn orc fighting together to defeat that awakened enslaver. Just how much stronger had that thing been? Leif wondered, clapping appreciatively.

“It was too fast!” Royce was complaining to Lucia. “I didn’t see enough of it!” For her part, his sister looked stunned, staring blankly down at the arena’s sandy floor.

“Right? That’s what the strongest of us are like!” Ella said. “Humanity’s finest, that's who the Academy Blades are!”

Healers in white robes were sprinting up to Kastro as the woman held the man’s severed arm up to his shoulder. One of the healers made his way to Hera’s side but she waved him away.

“Who’s the woman?” Leif asked, nodding towards the scene below.

“That’s Blade Daniela Low. She’s the seventh Blade, she’s the older… cousin I think. Yeah, older cousin of Kastro. There’s another Blade from House Low as well, Zane. He’s the second. They say he’s the strongest of them all, even if he’s only number two in seniority.”

“Three from one house, huh? Impressive.” Leif said. It was an honest assessment. Relatively weak compared to the monsters that lurked outside the humanities territory that may be, it was still a formidable feat to boast multiple level one hundred and above combatants.

The invisible barrier around the arena rippled, then vanished, the vision projecting enchantment disappearing with it. As one, the aura’s of the spectators flooded down into the sight of the battle like a waterfall cascading off a cliff. Leif had never been around so many high level people before, and even after his months of training it still felt like a chaotic mess of intentions, emotions and power signatures.

===

Hera blinked, buffeted by the onslaught of presences vying for her attention. She waved again, the slowly quieting crowd letting out another round of cheers. The pressure that had slowly been bearing down on her mind throughout the fight was drifting away, the mental assault she had been under for the duration finally letting her think straight.

“Bloody hells.” She muttered, glancing tiredly at where Kastro was being helped off the sands. “The Low’s have another monster. Unbelievable.”

She shook her head and started walking back towards her entrance. The corners of her vision still shifted with unseen threats and terrors. That was not pleasant to fight. Can’t imagine if I actually had to get close to deal significant damage, that would not have ended well for me.

The higher level someone got, the stronger their mental fortitude became. [Willpower] was a factor, certainly. As were skills such as her own [Mastery over the Self and Battle]. It had been… what? Years since she had endured a mental attack of that kind. Well, that's another thing to add to the training regime. No rest for the wicked, Hera. Literally, I’m going to have nightmares for days after this.

She flared her aura, pushing away a greasy aura from someone who tried to analyse her. Probably one of the faction representatives from Mekrylis. They should know better, but some people were too used to not having to deal with consequences. Then something tapped the edge of her attention. It was a polite greeting, but more importantly it was a familiar greeting.

Lars? Hera thought, turning to look up at the crowd. She hadn’t thought of the aura prodigy in years. Frowning, she scanned for the source. The tap came again, this time guiding her attention upwards and to the left. Not Lars then, this presence doesn’t feel like him. It’s more… noble-

She locked eyes with a masked man sitting up in the highest level of the stands. Hera snorted, then laughed.

Well, isn’t this a nice surprise. She thought, nodding slightly towards Leif before turning away. Then she missed a step. What if he’s pissed about the letters?

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