Who Will Win?

A small plain rock that looks no different from any of the others hovered in the air with a dangerous air of power around it. Out of the ten competitors left only six were able to take that last hit without much trouble. One of them was a hugely muscled man who used his bare body to protect himself. Along with one other man, one who blocked most of his face with his hair and had a small stature. The last two were two beautiful women with very opposing body types. One was very tiny and looked like anything could knock her over and the other was a lot taller and more graceful.

"Those are the ones we should be watching out for."

"Yeah the other four aren't of importance."

Discussing together they felt the weight of a Tenth Stage attack them as cracks started to form in their walls. Crack after crack dripped through the walls as everyone's defense threatened to break. Not a single person left from the ten were able to take this blow easily. This was reaching the highest levels of their country. Pushing as much energy into their defenses as they could, the ten of them all did their best to strive that little bit further. If they could survive thirty seconds they would be that much closer. Each person here had their own goals and the Twins had no room to retreat if they wanted to accomplish theirs.

Zilan had found them when they were younger wandering the world. They had left their home long ago in search of something they wanted to do. Since they were from a normal family they would never be a part of the "big clans." or a position like that and with their talent they needed to explore. It was a bit rough at first to leave their parents behind but with time they got over it. With years passing though they started to stagnate a bit. They stopped feeling that drive to improve, the want to do something great. Especially when they were faced with the reality that their talent was just another drop in the ocean. Compared to so many other people they were nothing.

"We lost our drive for competition..."

"Our drive to keep doing things."

They both became incredibly depressed as they continued their lives. It wasn't until they had found Zilan that things started to change. One day they were exploring an Astral Zone on another basic mission where they found a red haired man fighting a Stage three Astral Beast with almost zero Astral Power. His body had some but it was constantly leaking out making it practically useless. "He was a cripple." They both remembered that day like a permanent scar that would never fade. Zilan was losing awfully all by himself, at the time they didn't know whether to leave him to die or help out. That Wolf he was fighting threatened to rip his throat into pieces and tear through the rest of his body with it's claws.

Blood hit the ground like rain when the Twins finally forced themselves to move. Even in their current state they couldn't watch someone die in front of them. They both knew their parents would be disappointed in them if they knew. Getting closer though they watched a miracle happen. The Wolf's claws dug into the man's stomach but the wolf cried out in pain. The man took the Wolf's jaw in his hands and ripped it open. He didn't stop at that though, as the claws dug deeper Zilan tore the beast's jaw open more and more. The cracking of the Wolf's jaw echoed along with pain before eventually Zilan fully snapped it's head in half. Someone who couldn't even use Astral Energy beating a level one or even a stage two wasn't unheard of. Everyone had some luck, but a full fledged third stage was too crazy to even attempt.

"What...the.."

"Hell."

Watching Zilan turn around after his fight covered in blood and smile at the two of them changed their lives forever. "We'll catch up to him." Zilan gave them a drive to keep going forward, that even the unthinkable was possible and with the help of Zilan they soared forward. With ten seconds left until the next rock and the Eleventh Stage power coming for them the twins looked at everyone else. There were only five of them left. The two girls and the fancy looking man, the rest had been pushed out of the zone or their defense completely shattered.

"Five left folks, who will be the winner?"

The crowd's cheers ramped them up as the next rock appeared. Smashing into them with a force of a full blown Eleventh Stage the Twins felt like they just got hit by a house as they backed up. Struggling they did their best to hold on, the twins felt their grip on reality fading. Even if they could survive these kinds of attacks not a single person here could actually compete against it. With so much pressure and stress on their bodies everyone was going to fail this challenge. It was just a matter of who failed first at this point. Each person did their best to hold on as ten seconds passed. The strength just felt it got stronger though as the first one to fail left the arena.

"Out."

The fancy looking dude was the first person to leave, now it was just the two girls and the twins. The taller, more graceful girl covered her body in ice that could freeze a person solid. It was already cracking though and soon it would shatter. The small tiny girl was the most surprising of all as she used her own body to defend against the attack, shocking over half the audience. She was starting to falter though as her body got pushed back. If the Twins could just survive a few seconds they would make it to first and second.

"They're going to do it."

Watching from above all of them held their breath as they watched the event down below.

"I know you two got this."

Holding Marie's hand Zilan didn't even blink as he watched his friends. The first to lose in the battle was the taller girl who's ice shattered in the next few seconds and sent her flying. Her out was called instantly as the rest of the audience focused on the last three. The twins' walls were almost broken and the little girl was inches away from the out border. Any one of them could have been the winner at this rate. Darain looked between his brother and the girl as he tried to figure out a way to win. "If I do nothing Sarin will win." Stomping his foot on the ground he roared as he tried his last trick that he had left. He didn't want to show it off so soon before it was finished but it was too late, he had to beat his brother.

Energy glowed around his body as a few sets of armour coiled around his skin like snakes. He was forced to use his Astral Ring's armour, something that he didn't have much practice with. It was a defensive one though that slightly boosted his energy, as of right now though it only covered his arms. A layer of green coils tightened around his arms as it connected directly into his skin and pumped energy. Sarin turned to his side as he saw his brother use his Ring. Surprise Flashed through his eyes as he lost concentration for a split second. It was enough time though for him to completely lose his defense as it crumbled along with the little girl. Both flew out of the boundary leaving Darain as the last one standing.

"Out and Out, with such a close count we have our three finalists now. With The little girl and the older boy so close in their knocked out time I'm sure you're curious as to where they placed. I won't keep you in suspense so thank me later."

With a wink the announcer continued talking.

"In first place we have Darain....In second we have....Aelia and lastly in third place we have Sarin."

Hearing that Darain felt his body go weak as he collapsed, the next competition would be one Tearia and Marie would be competing in.