48 Believe your eyes

*Kaler's POV*

I'm in trouble, because of that, my whole team is in trouble. I was locked in single combat with possibly the second strongest member of their team. I could here zipping and whirling outside. It was Zephyr launching arrows, just like Aurora predicted. "Honestly, he's rather pathetic." I heard a female voice say in my head.

"Gaia?" I asked telepathically. I was unsure, Gaia is always caring and kind. It was rare to see her take such a harsh tone.

"Seriously, indomitable phalanx is a complicated spell, but if he thinks that he outclasses you master, I must say, he is more pathetic than I initially thought." She clarified. I smiled at her words. She is right, I must not be easily dissuaded.

I charged lightning in my hand and launched it at him, a weak bolt first, however, enough to knock a person senseless and send him flying. Atreus reacted quickly, he raised his hand and the stones around him gathered, forming a shield and blocking my attack. The lightning crashed onto the stones, producing loud booming and crashing noises. I was unsurprised to see that he successfully defended. However, it seems that Atreus was the one caught off guard.

I intensified my attack a little towards the end. However, despite intensifying it a little, He rock shield shattered like glass. I could see it in his face, he was not expecting it. The lightning crashed against his inner shield and was dispersed along its surface. However, It pushed Atreus back at least 5 metres. He had to brace himself for the force, digging his feet into the dirt to stabilise.

When I ended the beam of lightning. I could see evident shock on his face. "Impossible! I was informed you could only use illusions. This is not an illusion! Furthermore, no student can break my defence! You didn't just break it… you shattered it… who are you…" He was rattled. I did not expect such a reaction from him. I must admit that his defence was extremely potent. It posed no challenge to me, but it would definitely be impossible for any normal student to pierce it, even Aurora would require Niflheim just to break it.

Thought I felt bad for him ever so slightly, we were still in the middle of a fight. "I'm sorry. Would love to talk later. For now, I have a job to do." As I said that, I felt my feet being lifted from the ground, and energy to start bottling up in my body. I was going to dismiss the Phalanx here, once and for all. I saw Atreus's reaction. His once angry and hate-filled face was not overridden with insurmountable horror. His mouth agape as he saw my body emitting bolts of thunder, my golden eyes brimming with power.

"Sorry." I said one last time. "Thundering Conduit." Lightning coiled around my body like a snake, charging me up. I released it all at once towards Atreus. He closed his eyes, still summoning as many stones as possible to lessen the force, however, it would be in vain. He was instantly thrust to wards the wall, shattering it like glass just from the force, tumbling onto the turf. I hurried over to him. It seemed that he was protect from physical injury, but was too exhausted due to excessive magic use.

I looked to my sides to see my team struggling. Ahead of me, about 50 metres was the flag, and Zephyr standing on a tower with magical runes carved onto it. I raised my hand to the sky as 2 tiny thunderbolts fell from the sky, directly onto the opponents on the flank. It shocked them, giving my team a chance to attack.

I then manipulate the wind and changed the trajectory of the arrows fired at them, directing them back at Zephyr. With a simple wave of my hand, the arrows aimed at my comrades now turned tail and whirled towards Zephyr. He was shocked, his face said it all. He had no choice but to jump off his tower. Now was my chance.

Zephyr struggled to his feet, stumbling from the fall. I calmly walked toward him. I waved my hand once more. The wind howled and swirled, encasing us in a tornado. It locked us in, a similar trick that Atreus used against me. Zephyr looked around, infuriated. Then, his eyes fell to me. His teeth clenched, his eyes full of hate. "Your simple tricks won't stop me!" He yelled with anger.

I only tilted my head in confusion. "Simple tricks"? Did he think that summoning a tornado and manipulating the weather was 'simple'?

"Your illusions will not work on me!" With that proclamation, it became clear to me. He does not believe what is right in front of his eyes. He can't believe that someone so young can wield so much power. Time to wake him up.

Zephyr reached in his cloak, pulling out 3 knives and launching them at me in one swift motion. He was well trained. The blades of the knives were all infused in a purple energy. I dodged the knives, letting them hit the ground behind me. The knives exploded shortly after. Explosive infusion magic. The risk of fighting an Arcane user, they are unpredictable.

"Tch!" He snickered with fury. His composure was breaking down by the second. He notched an arrow and released it. Like in Aurora's fight with him, the arrow split into 5. The 5 missiles all homed in onto me. I gathered the wind into my palm as it swirled like a vortex. The arrows gathered in my palm, stopping just before they hit me as I deflected them away.

Zephyr growled in anger. He repeatedly fired arrows, bombarding me with shot after shot. However, nothing touched me. I constantly deflected the shots away, inching closer to Zephyr. Zephyr was now almost at the edge of the tornado. I blasted his bow away with a small jolt of lightning. However, Zephyr did not stop his barrage.

Suddenly, a crossbow was deployed on his wrist, firing more explosive shots at me. I called the wind to surround me, preventing any shots from reaching me. "Damn you!" He was at his melting point. "Your petty illusions can't stop me!" Is that what he thinks is happening? He's just fighting one giant illusion?

"Wake up kid!" I yelled. "Believe your eyes! Everything is real!" I said. Unable to control myself, I blasted him to the tornado which propelled him skyward. I heard his yelping and cries as he flew through the air. I sighed heavily, knowing I might have went too far. I dispersed the winds and broke his fall using the wind. However, it seems that Zephyr was already unconscious. Probably due to shock.

I stood over his unconscious body, staring at his that are sealed shut. I couldn't help but wonder, ' My power is really that extraordinary huh? For someone as strong as Zephyr to believe it was all a lie, then I must truly be an anomaly.' I brushed the thought off for now, the flag was ripe for the taking. I scanned the area, looking for the two remaining team members, both of which were still dueling with Alistair and Thalia. They were holding their own, but Thalia and Alistair are by no means average.

I snatched the flag from its post and bolted back, facing absolutely no resistance, ending the game. I walked to Aurora after hearing the ending whistle, firmly planting the flag into the ground, like an astronaut that just touched down on the moon.

Despite our victory, Aurora and I were not pleased. Aurora had a pensive expression the entire time, frowning at the enemy flag, a supposed sign of superiority. However, I'm pretty sure she was looking at it the same way I was, a reminder of our shortcomings. Formation Flashpoint had holes, holes that needed to be corrected immediately.