The assembly area cleared out and Haroldson summoned a colosseum-like structure using his authority over the stone. Markus' and Fin's groups were on different halves of a 50 metre diameter circle. The attending students, staff and outsider spectators who were interested in the future student council were all on stone seats with an executive viewing chamber in the middle and lifted slightly forward, offering them the perfect view.
The customs of the Crimson region dictated that the strongest would lead and consequently they were having a battle as opposed to a debate. Wisdom could be gained from books and advisors but strength— it took longer to gain and was of greater use. No strategy would trump overwhelming power. So at the end of the day- a brute display of force decided most things. But it could be augmented by strategy. For instance…
Charlotte stood up and announced all competitors.
On Fin's side, in order of ranks:
Fin Topher
Angel Vinne
Tolla Quen
Field Marsh
Zion Marsh
Ginger Bell
Sennie Kell
Abel Derm
Isaac Metro
Anthony Fritz
Lauren Jensen
Jake Juren
They too were wearing their combat suits.
Markus did not recognise him at first but after hearing the name, he instantly recalled the last guy. Jake was one of the boys Markus beat up on his first day back at the academy after his training with Bailey… and also the boy whose family was executed because Markus told Micheal he was an imperial vessel…
The guild and regret that had been suppressed surged within Markus.
"That bastard Fin really knows how to rub me the wrong way—" Markus mumbled under his breath
Jake had somehow advanced to stage three and was now going to face Markus again since he would be fighting the nine learned opponents.
Under normal circumstances three of four learned should be enough to fight against an expert but Markus knew just how skilled Fin had to be to not only exert influence over his technique but also to be able to exert influence over whirlwinds with a specific purpose. He was a true genius so Markus did not allow himself to throw bodies at Fin without being sure they could at least resist and hopefully defeat him.
On Markus' side:
Markus Windwave
Helen Aquabourne
Amanda Rilan
Triss Mercer
Meer Cheek
James Gould
June Trof
Spence Bitta
Vern Wilder
Kal Fellow
Latham Zen
"May the strongest prevail!" she said before allowing them to commence
Markus stood still as his group fled forward to isolate their fights.
One by one, Angel was isolated with Helen and Amanda took Tolla to the side. Meanwhile Triss and the rest relentlessly pushed back against Fin.
When they were about to get attacked by the rest, the wind converged right in front of the attack and created a barrier, creating an explosion and damaging in turn the caster.
They soon realise how Markus' group decided to play this.
"Entertain them." Fin said
Field and the rest gave up on supporting their presidential candidate and approached Markus in a wide half circle. As they stepped forward, constructs formed above them.
Some were icicles, some were wisps of flame. Some were stones and platforms and some were water whips and tides. Then high up were wind constructs and attacks swirling.
Markus stretched his focus twenty metres around him in all directions. Then making use of his quickly restored wind essence, he released it and let it freely flow around him. This dampened the authority of other wind attacks and let him 'see' things without actually looking at them. Instead the disturbances in his essence zone were giving him feedback.
So when his opponents at last reached the very margin of his essence zone and slammed him with all their charged attacks, he exerted himself further, expanding his essence zone to 25 metres all around.
They were now within his reach.
Markus drew in a breath and commanded all air within his essence zone to leave. Then he used his own essence shell as an interceptive device to go forward and explode, upsetting every other attack coming at him.
This amalgamation of essence created a powerful blast and dust screen which Markus blew wide. His targets were already panicking on why they could not breathe and now having lost their vision, they were vulnerable.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Helen was suddenly unable to breathe as she got caught in Markus' essence zone. She was fighting Angel, a fellow water user. Instead of moving away, she used the waters to submerge herself fully and maximise her ability to move and manoeuvre herself, sacrificing breathing altogether.
Amy on the other hand was not caught as she was in the sky casting constructs against Tolla who was a stone user and had burrowed herself in a suit of enduring stone. Unfortunately because she was in the ground, she was within Markus' essence zone and was now incapable of breathing. As she began to move, Amanda cast down several windblasts which struck true and expelled her from the ground using the force. Tearing into the very earth with wind was unusual however it worked in this instance and Tolla, whilst now out of Markus' essence zone, was exposed.
On the other end of the battlefield, Fin felt the massive expansion of essence and wondered what Markus was up to. That said, he had to focus on his own troubles. He was facing five learned and four learners. A force to be reckoned with, especially for a lone expert. But Fin was not just a lone expert… he extended his own essence zone to just ten metres forward. This encompassed the attacking force and gave him an even higher degree of insight into his opponents than Markus had. As an expert, Fin was attuned to the wind to an exceptional degree and as such his essence was far more receptive to not only what his opponents were doing but their intentions, the power of their attacks. This allowed him to ascertain feints and combined attacks. Worse yet… despite being outnumbered 9 to 1… he still retained the arrogant smirk on his pale skin. His emerald eyes looked between his opponents and he could not see any way in this entire battle that he could actually lose.
Meanwhile in the spectator zones the people were enjoying the battle and looking intrigued at the battle splits. Whilst these battles were usually completed in a tournament style, where people had individual fights and then moved on elsewhere to assist or avenge their comrades, in this instance there were just four battles taking place. Two balanced fights and two absurdly ridiculous matchups. This however, made the show only that much more entertaining.
As for the more advanced spectators.
Bailey was actually there to see the event.
"His essence use is vastly improved and refined. He can command and withdraw his essence seamlessly and uses his vast reserves to hold his opponents at bay." Bailey remarked
"I don't know what is going on in his mind– fighting nine people of the same rank? His trick was nice but he might take a few down before the rest break out and counter. What then?" Charlotte wondered
The 'unusual' spectators were looking over. Their job was mainly to scout talent– winners or losers. The six stars of the show were their main focus naturally. But there were a few spectators who were not looking for talent. They were scouting competition. These belonged to other academies which often competed against Tuatri and gaining an insight into the winning council would be a great boon in competitions. For example one could warn their people about Markus' stupidly vast essence zone and the oxygen deprivation he causes.
Numerous things were happening all at once– and it was all thanks to Markus' own ambition to become president and make use of academy resources to become an expert before his 15th birthday.
The outcome of today would certainly be Marked in the history of the Tuatri Academy.