"River Assassin, Tarcen, one of the followers of that being."
After showing respect to the boy who was risking his own life to evolve, Val'Drakar sat down, wanting to observe what would happen in that battle.
Enrico and Tarcen exchanged blows in the middle of the crater, but Enrico was clearly at a disadvantage. He did his best to remain standing, but his body wasn't responding properly to his movements. Even so, he continued attacking without showing any intention of retreating. A fire tornado appeared and advanced toward Tarcen, forcing the Nartheis to move away, while Valença continued running toward Enrico.
'His body is badly injured.'
Before she could get any closer, Enrico had already grabbed one of the Nartheis' heads with one hand and blown it up with fire. In the next instant, he ducked as Tarcen's claw passed over his head, tearing part of his clothes on his arm. Shortly afterward, Enrico's fist disappeared for an instant and an impact struck Tarcen directly, throwing him backward.
'He doesn't stop attacking...'
Valença shook her head and looked at Incandis.
"Incandis, show me what you can do."
The small spirit glowed intensely. At the same time, Valença felt that the fire magic inside him had become stronger.
'Fireball.'
A sphere of fire appeared before Incandis. Its power was much greater than any attack Valença expected from him, and the ball rapidly grew as it advanced toward Tarcen.
Enrico noticed the attack and jumped away before he could be hit. Tarcen also saw the sphere of fire approaching. His chest began to expand and, afterward, he spat out an enormous ball of water, slightly larger than Incandis's.
The two attacks collided, generating an enormous amount of steam that spread across the field.
"Even though it's an element at a disadvantage, my attack did well. You're incredible, Incandis."
Incandis seemed even more excited upon hearing that. Wanting to demonstrate that he could do more, he advanced on his own, causing Valença to run after him.
"Incandis, wait!"
Tarcen emerged from the middle of the steam. One of his claws had transformed, becoming even larger, and he made a movement through the air with that hand.
Five water slashes were launched directly at Valença.
"Quil!"
When the attacks were about to reach her, Incandis began releasing flames throughout his body. A small explosion of fire appeared around him and collided with the water slashes, causing all of them to disappear amid even more steam.
"Quil!"
"Fire Tornado!"
Valença raised her staff and launched a fire tornado that quickly surrounded Tarcen. The Nartheis jumped to escape over it, but Enrico appeared in his path and, using Charged Impulse, struck him with a kick that sent him directly back into the tornado.
Valença looked at Enrico and made a signal, indicating that they should combine their attacks. Then, she began closing the tornado around Tarcen.
Enrico, however, did not respond. At that moment, he was unconscious.
Even so, his body continued adapting. A kind of bow began to appear in his hand, formed by the magic itself. He pulled the string and created a third arrow.
Enrico's hand began to burn. He was trying to use a technique that, normally, should only have been possible from the second circle onward.
Even unconscious, his body continued forcing its limits.
Enrico released all three arrows at once.
They formed a triangle around Tarcen and, the moment the tornado touched them, an enormous explosion occurred. The smoke spread throughout the entire region.
'This is my first technique together with him... What should I call it?'
Valença ran around the smoke while thinking of a name for that technique. However, before she could decide, several fireballs began emerging from inside the smoke.
Enrico was in there.
He had returned to fighting Tarcen.
Valença looked at the battle while trying to keep up with the movements of the two. Then, Tarcen jumped backward and his chest began expanding even more than before.
He opened his mouth.
A gigantic shark made of water emerged from inside it and advanced toward Enrico.
Valença immediately pointed her staff and began casting magic as quickly as she could.
"Incandescent Ray!"
A powerful beam of fire was fired. Since it had been conjured in a hurry, it was weaker than it normally would have been, but it still managed to hit the water shark and divert its trajectory enough for Enrico to escape its range.
In the next instant, the attack struck the ground and a new crater appeared in the soil.
'So this was the attack that caused that explosion...'
Valença looked at the destruction as she finally understood what had happened.
Behind Tarcen, Incandis appeared again and released an explosion of fire toward his back.
The attack struck him directly in the back. Tarcen turned around and, irritated, slapped the small spirit, sending it flying away.
"Incandis!"
Valença ran and managed to catch him before he fell to the ground. She carefully held him between her hands, worried.
Incandis was still conscious, but Valença noticed that something was different.
Judging by the amount of mana available around him, that seemed to be the maximum Incandis could do at that moment.
"You can rest and leave the rest to me."
"Quil..."
Incandis dissolved into magic and entered the mark on the back of Valença's hand. Meanwhile, Tarcen held his own back, where Incandis's flames had left a considerable wound.
Judging by the damage he managed to cause, it seemed that the little spirit's flames were even stronger than those of Valença and Enrico. Tarcen barely had time to react before receiving a kick to the face from Enrico, who spun through the air and dodged ten slashes launched by the Nartheis's claws. Behind him, Valença began charging her next attack, putting as much mana into it as possible, but Tarcen disappeared and reappeared behind her.
"How?"
Valença managed to strengthen her own body with magic, but still received five slashes across her back. She bit her lips to contain the pain, pointed her staff backward, and fired another Incandescent Ray, pushing Tarcen away. However, as soon as the attack ended, he disappeared again and appeared behind her.
'This isn't just speed.'
Valença was already prepared to receive the attack, but a fist covered in fire struck Tarcen's face. It was Enrico again.
The Nartheis did the same thing as her and appeared behind Enrico, but when his claw was about to strike him, Enrico disappeared, leaving only a small flame in his place, and reappeared behind him.
"Wait... I understand. The puddles of water."
Valença finally understood what Tarcen was doing. He used his own magic to move to the puddles of water scattered across the field and, apparently, the displacement was instantaneous. If that was the case, however, there had to be some weakness.
Enrico and Tarcen disappeared almost at the same time and reappeared in another corner of the crater, while Valença watched a small flame moving around Enrico, realizing that he also had a way of switching positions. At the same time, she noticed that Tarcen always appeared from the puddles of water.
'His weakness is very obvious.'
"Alright. Let's see what you do with this."
Valença summoned a fire tornado that split into three and began evaporating the puddles scattered across the field. With nowhere to escape, Tarcen received two Zero Impacts from Enrico.
The Nartheis jumped backward and created distance, positioning himself at a point where he could hit both of them at the same time.
He raised his arms, causing water claws to appear on his hands, while his chest began to swell.
Then, he lowered his arms and launched ten enormous water slashes, closing off the possible escape routes, before spitting out a large water shark in a straight line.
"There's no way to dodge..."
The slashes passed by Valença's sides, but left water currents directly behind them. Besides being tall, they also blocked her escape, so she placed her staff in front of her body and began accumulating mana.
Enrico, however, did something that shocked her: he grabbed the water shark with his bare hands. The impact rapidly pushed him backward, his veins seemed about to explode, and small cracks began appearing in his skin.
"ENRICO!"
Even so, he did not release the attack. When he managed to reduce its speed a little, he used Charged Impulse, stepping forcefully on the ground to slightly divert its trajectory.
The attack destroyed the water current and continued carrying Enrico along with it, causing him to pass through several trees until an explosion occurred. Valença immediately began running to help him, but received another attack that launched her to the side.
Her consciousness began to disappear, but when she looked at the place where Enrico had been thrown, a feeling of anger began to arise inside her. Valença slowly stood up while the air around her began to burn.
"You..."
Her words were interrupted when an enormous explosion of flames occurred at the place where Enrico was, causing even Tarcen to look in that direction. Val'Drakar also became serious. He thought about interrupting the battle, something he should not do according to the rules of that place, but he did not want to allow those two children, who could represent the hope of the Dark Elves, to die there.
"That's..."
Val'Drakar sat back down and continued watching. As the smoke began to disappear, Valença realized what had happened. Enrico was standing, his shirt completely burned and his body covered in injuries, but those dull eyes remained the same since the beginning of the fight.
The flames around him, however, seemed much stronger, and the amount of magic he was releasing had increased so much that everyone there could now feel it.
"He got ahead of me again..."
Valença said that sounding disappointed, but a smile appeared on her face. At that moment, she finally realized what had happened.
Enrico had reached the second circle.