Chapter Ninety Two - Should I worry about the Seniors or Jin Li?
Bowyer and Pike has already come to an agreement before entering the illusion; they would fight as a team for the first forty five minutes, sharing spoils, but the last fifteen they would split to fight solo. Although the two men certainly wished to keep or raise their place in the Standings, the competition to better each other was still much in the forefront of their minds.
They were not the only ones to form teams. Luna had used her charms to convince two boys to join her team and the five, who had the least standing in this last group decided to fight together. How long these alliances would last, only time would tell. Ari chose to fight solo from the get go and no cajoling could change his mind.
Bowyer was a swordsman, Pike favoured heavier weapons and currently wielded two fair-sized hammers. He also placed a knife in his boot. Spiritual abilities could also be wielded in the illusion. Bowyer's root was metal and Pike's happened to be fire. Both roots were considered Major or primary roots, thus both could produce and use their element at will.
The illusion remained of a dark, dense forest space, with the only light being lanterns hanging from boughs in some places, tiny fireflies or glowing mushrooms in others. Some spots had no light at all. The two men swiftly moved deep into the forest, seeking out prey. They were not disappointed.
The first creature to fall upon their path was a Mystic Garuda; a bi-pedal beast, with the body of a monkey, the height of an ape and the razor sharp beak of a hawk. Upon it's slender arms were a thick array of blue-green feathers formed into wings. These feathers also adorned the tip of its white tail and head. As it had some intelligence and spiritual ability, it was considered to be a level five creature.
A Mystic Garuda was so named as unlike its cousins, it relied on its spiritual abilities to hunt and fight, so upon seeing the two men, it sent out a smattering of blades created from the air. The sharp wind blades could slice just as easily as a knife, but were not clear to the naked eye, however the two men had no issues avoiding the blades. Pike threw one of his hammers to distract the beast, while Bowyer swiftly made his way to the garuda's blind spot to leap and slice at the back of its neck. The creature barely dodged both, but a long gash formed across it, causing it to bleed heavily.
Pike swung with his remaining hammer, drawing the garuda's attention back onto him. Bowyer made a hand gesture and the hammer that Pike had thrown flew back into the man's hand even as he lifted it in order to make the final blow. These two men knew each other's habits well. They claimed the hefty amount of points without much difficulty, astounding those that watched them.
After that, they happened upon a flock of red sparrows, much weaker and distant kin to the legendary Feng Huang (Phoenix). They fluttered their mixed brown, red and orange feathers, shooting tiny blasts of fire towards the agile men. These were too easily dealt with by Pike, due to his root. Were the red sparrows of stronger bloodline, such as Blaze eagles, he would not have been able to use their fire against them. But if the mates were to put a level on Blaze eagles it would be closer to ten than the level three red sparrow each held due to their size and weak physical ability. However, there were eight in the flock and the two men annihilated each and every one, claiming an additional eighty points between them.
Elsewhere, the team of five had split into two groups, having struggled to work together well. There had been conflict amongst them once they approached a level four Alicorn, that Leon thought was much like the Unicorn of myths and legends, and most carried injuries now. Luna's team had settled on hunting smaller prey, level two's and three's, for the most part and were swiftly moving through the forest at a very steady pace. Ari had already found and battled a Jungle Garuda, which was more ape-like and relied on its array of muscles rather than head or abilities, three coeurl and was currently sweeping his way through a small pack of worgen, a creature that could only be described as a mix of feline and canine.
At the agreed time, Pike and Bowyer did split up and hunt alone, the view in Leon's bubble switched frequently between the two men, especially when they found prey at precisely the same time. Jin Li seemed to watch fairly passively; it was not that he was not interested in the battles, he especially felt he would enjoy challenging Ari, even though he suspected he might actually lose to the man, but his eyes were elsewhere. More specifically, he was watching Leon and becoming increasingly unhappy about it. Why was Leon watching the seniors with such interest? Look at him squirming in his seat as he stared at the bubble. Who had got his attention, was it that woman? If it was, he'd clearly be used like a rag, squeezed and wrung out until no longer of use and hung out to dry. But what if.. what if it was a man that had caught his attention? The seniors, especially Pike, seemed to be quite fond of him, like he was a pet. And why did Jin Li care in the first place?
As his thoughts tumbled about in his head, he became increasingly sour and even glared at Sun, who had gripped his arm excitably when the seniors finally left the illusion. Sun didn't notice, to busy looking over his idols. None of these seniors had left the illusion before time, most had high scores. Luna's group had a respectable three hundred, thus each member gaining one hundred a piece. Together, Bowyer and Pike had grabbed a good two hundred and eighty, happily split to mean each had one hundred and forty and that was before they began to move solo. The monstrous talent that was Ari, claimed a whole one hundred and ninety five points and would have claimed more had the time not ended during his last battle.
In the end, Pike happily left Bowyer in the dust; he had a total of one hundred and seventy points in this round, while Bowyer gained one hundred and fifty nine.