Chapter 64. Spars

"That was fun," Irene started as Michael and Jasper went back to their seats at the back row.

"Very fun. We all are eager for our next match between..." Jackson stopped as Irene continued.

" Aerie and Risper," Irene did not say much and in a few seconds two girls reached the platform. They were both in the eleventh stage of the Master Plane.

"The top ten are performing today."

"Its going to be fun."

"I know that this is going to be a beautiful match too."

" How beautiful."

" They are also our queens."

"..."

The top tens were famous and even the teachers knew them. They also were among the heads of their respective factions. Being in the top ten earned you 10,000 points. These people thus had unlimited access to techniques and everyone aimed for the top ten.

Irene and Jackson left the platform leaving it to the two beauties. Risper was 5'6 and had purple hair. Her elements were water and ice. Her sparring partner was Aerie standing at 5'7 with red hair. She was a fire elementalist. The two were 20 meters away from each other.

There was silence as they waited for the battle to begin.

"Let the spar begin," Irene started the match and the two did not charge at each other. It seemed that they did not enjoy close hand combat. They just bridged the gap and left only a ten meter distance between them.

There was no exchange of words as they both attacked. The ground Risper was standing started freezing as the ice circled her at a five meter radius. Aerie threw a fire ball that extinguished when it was three meters away from Risper. It seemed that it got colder as one neared Risper.

There was no change of expression as the first exchange was supposed to help gauge your opponent's attack power. They were just casual attacks. Aerie raised her hand and a large fire orb formed on it. She then pointed it at Risper and released it at Risper. The orb melted all the ice on its way.

Seeing the orb, Risper just created an ice dome and the fire orb struck the dome and dissipated. There was a white steam that covered the entire platform. When the steam disappeared, the two appeared and were now running in circles opposite to each other stil maintaining the ten meter distance between them.

Their eyes showed seriousness and both appeared like they were plotting a strategy. It seemed like they had communicated and had decided to use their most powerful attack at each other. It was just a spar and just had to show their power. The two suddenly stopped and gave each other time to build their best attack.

Aerie's hair and eyes glowed. Her hair shone with a red light as she raised her hand. Her hair rose as the ground she was standing started heating and a flame appeared and surrounded her. She raised her hand and struck the ground causing it to crack. Almost reddish yellow lava appeared from the crack and started filling the platform.

In a few seconds, the entire platform was covered with lava. The only exception was the point Rispers feet were touching. The temperature had suddenly rose and those at the front felt the full blunt of it. Risper was calm and was also preparing her attack. She closed her eyes and she suddenly levitated.

Gasps as the people knew that someone in the Master plane could not fly. She was only five meters from the ground as she opened her hands. A sudden wind blew over the stadium as snow appeared in the sky. The snow did not reach two meter from the ground before it melted.

Aerie had complete control over the ground while Risper had control aboveground. On the ground was red and aboveground it was white. Having created a perfect environment for their best attacks, they both attacked. Risper opened her eyes and spoke and so did Aerie.

"HELL FLARE."

"ANGEL ICE."

The words were clear to all as a magnificent sight filled their eyes. The whole platform was on fire like an explosion. Everyone felt the heat, even those at the back. The fire rose and covered almost twenty meters in the sky.

Everyone could think that Risper was defeated but that was wrong. The temperature started dropping. The snow which had stopped falling appeared again and an ice dome suddenly grew outwards covering the entire platform. The fire which had spread suddenly stopped at the level Risper was standing.

The ground remained red and hot but five meters above it, it was cold with temperature very low enough to freeze someone. The attacks seemed to have neutralized each other and both were at a stalemate. The temparature was back to normal despite the heat and cold they were producing.

Everyone clapped knowing that the spar had ended. They withdrew their attacks and bowed at the crowd and left. Murmurs about the match filled the air. Irene and Jackson had to wait for the crowd to calm down.

"That was beautiful," Jackson said and everyone agreed with a nod.

"Our next spar being between Julian and Maggie," Irene spoke and in a few seconds two appeared.

Julian was a guy 6'5 with black hair. His opponent was Maggie, a girl 5'5 with black hair also. Julian was a wind and space elementalist. Maggie was a wood and light elementalist. Jackson started the match but there was an exchange of words.

"Don't you dare go easy on me because of my size. I won't do the same," Maggie said solemnly.

Julian laughed as he scratched the back of his head.

"I never look down on any of my opponents and am not starting now," Julian replied.

" Good for you," Maggie said and attacked.

Intertwined vines shot from the ground and headed for Julian. They struck where he had been standing as he leapt back.

"Oh I like this. Straight to offensive," Julian said delighted. He prepared an attack of his own that appeared behind Maggie. It was an orb made with compressed air that appeared from behind her.

Maggie was quick to react as she used the light element to flash few meters away but she had underestimated the powerof a space elementalist. The attack appeared with the same velocity behind her and exploded. She took it head on as she was caught off guard. She was sent flying and rolling.

The match had already piqued everyone's attention from the first attack. The explosion could have killed Maggie had she not covered herself with a green light that glowed goldish. It was a wood defense technique. She rolled around five times and stood up with new vigor.

Everyone could feel their hearts palpitating with excitement. They were already loving it. Though, from the first attack from Julian, it proved that he had the upperhand but it was still too early to decide for Maggie was yet to make her comeback. Maggie liked the offensive and close hand combat but Julian seemed he did not.

But this was mainly because he was a space elementalist. Maggie charged and behind her, the vines grew. She then stopped and pushed her hands forward like she was pushing a wall. The vines shot at Julian who was about to use space element to teleport but it appeared that she had already accounted for this.

Since she had covered the ground behind her, he was not going to appear behind her. Also, she had charged at him and she would only leave his left side where he could teleport to. By the time the vines reached Julian and he decided to teleport, she had already sent another attack that was faster than the first one on the left.

By the time a Julian realized that he had fallen into a trap, he had already teleported and the vines were just appearing and struck him at his chest. He did not have enough time to create a wind shield to protect himself and he suffered almost a full blunt of the attack.

He was sent rolling and he stopped at the line. He had almost been disqualified. Julian realized that he had made a mistake and had actually underestimated his oppenent. He stood up and his playful demeanor turned serious.

"I guess we should end this," he said and no one knew what happened next.

Julian disappeared and appeared infront of Maggie with a clenched fist. He punched at her belly and his fist stopped few millimeters away from her. When everyone saw it, they sucked in cold breathes knowing that that attack could probably damage her origin source had it landed.

Even the headmaster flinched when he saw this. He wanted to end the match but Maggie, despite knowing she had been spared punched at him on his stomach with the same velocity.

"Ungrateful."

"Shameless."

"A snake."

"I now hate her."

"He should have just finished her."

"All is fair in love and war."

"Maybe you would do the same."

" He gave his opponent an opening."

"..."

Everyone was now criticizing her and some supported her. They knew there was no way Julian could teleport at such a sudden attack. He also had no time to react and would have to take it head on. But what happened next shocked them.

The attack stopped the same distance. Everyone sighed after they saw that they had not lost a genius. The two fists crossed and held each other's back. Maggie looked up at him as he pulled her closer to him. Her fierce demeanor turned fragile as he lifted her from the ground.

"You scared me there," Julian said and kissed her forehead. She just giggled as she held on his neck. He bowed and walked away carrying her.

The crowd was in shock. Some had their mouths open like they were saying "Heh?" Who could have expected that.

"Since when are they a couple?"

"They actually caught us off guard there."

"I am now giving up on the top ten."

"It seems that they are now into each other."

"I thought I had a shot."

"..."

The crowd was caught between shocked and angry for they had been played.

"And there goes our couple," Irene said as the couple went back to their seats.

"For the next match, them who ranked third and fourth," Jackson started and Irene finished.

"Ken and Virnie," there was an uproar as they welcomed the two with cheers and shouts and claps.

This was a match many were anticipating. The two were supposed to be ranked first and second but had somehow lost two Irene and Jackson.

Ken was 6'6 and blonde hair. He was a time and lightning elementalist. His opponent Virnie was a 6'5 with green hair. He was a space and water elementalist. Space and time elements were most goated and no one would want to miss a match between the two elements.

It was not everyday they met as opponents. Jackson called for the spar to start. There was no exchange of words and both sent attack to each other. Ken sent a lightning arrow that moved at a speed many could not keep up with. Virnie was the least bothered as he raised his hand and created a water dome.

Virnie was a water elementalist only and he could not use ice. The lightning struck the dome and the water dissipated and so did the lightning. The first attack had ended up in a stalemate having neutralizing each other's attack. It was Virnie's turn to attack and a sword made with water appeared and shot at Ken.

The sword was not moving in a speed any less than the lightning arrow by Ken. Ken quickly created another arrow and shot at the sword. They struck each other at the tip and both dissipated. There was a white steam that filled the stadium and settled in a few seconds. From the looks, they were friends.

They also knew each other's attack and were doing the same thing as the other.

"Now." They both said and the stood around thirty meters away. They raised their hands and a magnificent sight appeared in the sky. Had Alaric been here, he would have been intrigued. The speed they had taken to create the inscriptions was to be reckoned .

It took less than five seconds and two inscriptions lit up in the sky.

"Inscribers." People swallowed the rest of their words not willing to miss anything. Virnie's inscription was blue and that of Ken was silver. Both inscriptions we around twenty meters diameter.

One could not miss the grin on their faces and the smiles they were wearing that reached ear to ear.

"Am already loving this," Virnie said.

"Not as much as I am," Ken replied with the same ecstatic tone.

"Now!" They both said and raised their hands.

The inscriptions rotated and faced each other suchtm that they were standing vertically. This was something Alaric was going to learn in the future. The inscription could be moved to will as one reached the late stages of the master plane. If he learnt about it now, he would wish to reach it very fast.

The inscriptions faced each other such that their cores were pointing at each other and at equal length form the ground. The inscriptions glowed and were vibrating. It seemed that they were maximizing their power output. It seemed that after this attack, they would get destroyed.

Virnie's inscription let out a water spear that seemed to pierce through the air. When the spear was released, the inscription instantly crumbled. Ken's inscription released a similar spear and when it left the inscription, it crumbled. The two activities took place at the same time and both moved at the same speed. They both appeared to pierce through the air.

The attack power of the inscriptions was that of the first stage of the Salvia Plane which was enough to cause damage on the floor of the platform. When the two attacks collided, a resounding boom filled the stadium and one could see the shock waves in the air. There was also a wind that resulted from the impact.

The two were in the twelfth stage of the Master Plane and were in the process of filling the last of their meridians. One could also tell that they were slowing down their cultivation progress because of the upcoming competitions since those of the Salvia Plane did not take part in the academy competitions.