Competition 2 (XI): Flame Ruby

It was hard not to be swept up into the frenzy and blood boiling scenario in front of them. Alex had even forgone technique, completely lost in the revelry of wanton battle and rage as his swords flashed left and right, reaping limbs and maybe even lives. Alex, the young innocent boy who's hands were without stain, yet in just an hour alone, it could be said that dozens of people had fallen to his hands. Yet it did not seem like he was any close to stopping or slowing down, as he carved a bloody path towards the glowing ruby crystal floating almost three meters in the air.

But he was not the only one carving a bloody path to that blood gem, Anya on her own was on a path of wanting destruction, and right there in the midst of battle, Alex felt her cultivation improve as she moved from the third level of the open meridian realm to the fourth, and even boldly charging to the faith level, increasing her battle prowess to unprecedented heights as she could he said to be amongst the top ten strongest fighters within this cavern.

However it was in noticing Anya's increase in cultivation level, that whatever spell that had held Alex bound broke, and he was able to notice the obscene amount of blood and guts splattered allover his body. Alex felt bile build up at the back of his throat, and he almost threw up in the process, however a stream of energy coming from his sheaths, aka the polymorphic walking stick given to him by his ancestors, steadied his stomach and his mind.

But with the sudden appearance of clarity, he was able to notice everything that was wrong, and also in bow much danger Anya seemed to be. Somehow, with the stream of energy coming from the sheaths, Alex was able to see things the others could not. The ruby floating above the heads of everyone, was surrounded by intense blood red flames, and those flames stretched tethers to every fighter within this cavern, even Anya.

But as if that wasn't enough, Alex could see that the ruby was actually taking energy away, though it was also given out energy of it's own too. The energy it was releasing was only helpful to some people, and those were people who at least had a connection to fire, and Anya was luckier than most as she seemed to have a very strong connection to fire, heck with this new sight of his, Alex could see a shimmering haze of flames just hanging over Anya's skin.

But the ruby was still taking something away from them, and what the hell that was, Alex had a feeling that it was quite important. However with every second he had spent dazed and trying to figure out the ruby, Anya was drawing more and more close to the ruby, however that also means the fighting was fierce where she was, and cuts were rapidly showing up on her body.

Alex shot forward, moving his sword s forward as he deflected a spear thrust that was head for Anya's back. The act of deflecting that spear alone shook his bones and made holding east cloud and west wind a little but difficult. Obviously the person he was fighting was a lot stronger than him, but in the interests of keeping Anya safe, he had to face that person head on.

The spear user was also under the control of the fire ruby, in his blind rage he was unable to add any sort of forms or technique to his attacks, making it incredibly easy for Alex to twist his way behind his opponent's neck, and bash him in the head with hilt of his swords. The guy crumpled to the ground like a puppet who's strings have just been cut off.

There was a loud bang behind Alex, and turned to see someone flying away with a caved in chest. Anya's scythe-hammer was extended fully, as she went into a blazing rotation that made her seem like a whirlwind of fire and iron. Everywhere she spun bodies went flying and bones got broken as she steadily made her way towards the fire ruby. Alex followed, trying his best to keep other fighters away from her, so as to reduce the pressure she was feeling, and hopefully so that he could talk her out of her intense anger and bloodlust.

Eventually Anya made it to the top where she was caught in a very intense battle with four other competitors, all four of them were in the fifth level of the open meridian real, which means in terms of cultivation they were evenly matched, not to mention it seems that just like Anya, they had all recently advanced. So with cultivation no longer a play on their strengths, they would have to rely on instincts alone, seeing as none of them had enough clarity to properly put to use their martial skills or even the weapons they were using.

Alex looked around, and noticed that Anya and her opponents were fighting on a hill, plus they were besides from all corners by every other person that was still fighting. Which meant they were paying attention to not just themselves, but also to the people coming closer to attack them. Alex knew that the only way to truly help Anya now, was to find a way to get rid of that fire ruby. And thankfully he had just the way.

Alex moved through the crowds, his pace frantic until he found himself on an isolated hill, away from the fight, but close enough that he could still what was happening, and be able to put his plan in motion. Alex changed the sheaths of his swords back into it's original walking stick form, and then he willed it to change again, turning it into a long wooden whip that danced through the air like some sort of snake.

Alex sent the whip flying sword towards the ruby, hoping to vet it far away from everyone here, and on time too, so that no one else would die unnecessarily. However when the whip was just a meter away from the ruby, and obvious ring of fire showed up, preventing the whip from getting any closer to it. It was at that moment that Alex realized that no one would have been able to get that ruby, not with the barrier around it, which is to say that everyone here would have just kept on fighting until they were all dead. But with Anya in danger, Alex was not going to let that happen.

To be honest he had no idea how he controls the whip, it was not by qi, or his soul, burden rather a weird energy that he could feel allover his body. He felt the wood whip thug on that energy, and in a similar manner to an egg breaking, the whip broke the flame barrier around the fire ruby. Then it went forwards and wrapped itself around the gem completely, and immediately it did so, that aura that was forcing everyone to fight just disappears.

While everyone one else was trying to reorient themselves, and understand what could have caused such a violent reaction from them, Alex pulled back on his wood whip, returning it to his side along with the gem. However something weird happened, the whip changed back into it's walking stick form, and suddenly shot out one of the masks that it held.

The moment the mask appeared, there was a sudden release of pressure and formless energy. It was an energy that no one there was able to recognize, however it was so powerful that it knocked everyone there unconscious, with the exception of Alex who had all his movements sealed as he watched the mask float in the air above him.

The mask released a pulse of energy that stretched out and grabbed onto the equally floating fire ruby by it's side. Well it was not like it grabbed, but more like a suction force appeared from within the mask, and red flame energy was sucked out of the ruby and right into the mask. The ruby seemed to have a consciousness or will of it's own as it struggle fiercely, hoping to get away from the unforgiven draining of the spirit mask, but it was all to no avail.

The fire ruby had been the size of a baby's head before, but as the mask started absorbing it's energy, it started shrinking rapidly, and a sound like that of an animal crying was heard, but even then the mask did not stop draining the ruby, until what was left of it was the size of a lollipop. The blood red luster of the fire ruby was now incredibly dim, and the heat and flames it released was significantly weaker than before. The mask seemed satisfied as it let the ruby go, and then it fell from the air, straight into the outstretched palm of Alex.

He almost cried out in pain as the ruby touched his palm, it was so hot that the moment he came in contact with it, he was badly burnt. So he overturned his hand, and let it fall to the ground where it rested as his feet. But he had no time to focus on the pain he was feeling from being burnt, as the mask floating above his bead released another pulse of energy, but this time it was an energy that was filled with such heat, that Alex could feel the liquid in the air drying up as the air became unbearable to even breathe in.

And since they were all in an enclosed cavern without a wide enough ventilation system to get fresh air into it, this place became akin to an oven, and it wouldn't take long for everyone to be cooked to a crisp, the fact that they're unconscious didn't help either. The mask pulsed again, and all of the heat was being absorbed, even from within Alex's body and the body of everyone here too. Almost immediately, the temperature dropped drastically, and it became so cold that Alex could even begin to see the blood on his body freeze. This lasted longer than the heat, and Alex almost passed out before everything went back to normal, and he fell to his knees shivering as he used both his swords to hold himself up.

The walking stick changed back into the special harness/belt that had two sheaths for both his swords. Then it went over his body by itself, before sending a stream of information to his mind, and it was the first time Alex had ever truly interested with the walking stick.

SPIRIT MASKS (7)

1. FIRE SPIRIT MASK: 1 FIRE SPIRIT CONTRACTED

2. ??????

3. ??????

4. ??????

5. ??????

6. ??????

7. ??????

It was a simple table, but Alex honestly had no idea what it meant. He raised his head up and looked at the mask, and the he watched as the previous blue and green flames faded away and was replaced by a red so intense it was as if someone had splashed blood on it. Then slowly as if some invisible hand was at work here, line started appearing on the surface of the mask, red and deep just like blood. The lines moved allover the mask, giving it a terrifying visage as the mask grew a bit, getting jagged edges just like the drawings of a flame with the edges of the mask being blood red, then the part of the mask where the ear is supposed to be, grew. Anyone who looked at it, would think it was the ear of an elf from all those fantasy movies made in the Americas. But when coupled with the entire visage of the mask itself, it would be obvious to everyone who saw it, that that mask was the mask of a demon.

A demon of flame and blood, a creature of rage and destruction. Then as if attracted by some sort of magnetic force, the mask flew and plastered itself over Alex's face. And the Alex saw red, he saw flames, he saw death.