Chapter 8: Light

Claire and Lyn's Golem was doing a good job protecting Team B's flag, as Team A's best attackers tried in vain to destroy the behemoth, their best attack spells just bouncing off the monster.

"None of our attacks are working!" Bret said while frantically creating more splinters like a madman.

"We are in bad shape bro! Our fire controllers are practically useless against earth elementals!" Chimed another Team A member named Jerry who just joined them at the frontline.

"I have an idea!" Said Bret excitedly looking at Jerry.

"Can you find me some water controllers in our team? Maybe we can erode that thing out."

Jerry's eyes widened with glee as he quickly grasped the plan of his teammate, wasting no time, he started to run off, not before turning back to Bret and giving him the thumbs up.

"Leave it to me!"

A short time later, Jerry returned with two girls Lily and Gina who both are very good at controlling water MAGIC.

Bret, facing both girls, started to explain his plan.

"Listen, you two, our purpose is to topple the Golem and steal that flag on its head. So your job is to blast that monstrosity at its feet, tripping it down. That Claire is too clever to actually think of that strategy, I mean where would the safest place for the flag be? Put it in a monster's head…" Bret explained, his admiration of the strategy was very evident.

"Ehem… any questions ladies?" Bret cleared his throat as he once again focused back to the battle.

"Nope! We got you, loud and clear boss!" Said Lily giving Bret a salute.

……………………

In the corner of her eyes, Lyn saw her two fellow water controllers, talking with Bret, she already understood what they were planning. A small smile formed on her beautiful lips, anticipating their actions and the ensuing reaction when they finally saw the surprise that Claire and her came up with.

"I can't wait to see their faces." She giggled with excitement.

Claire went over to Lyn's side and whispered something in her ear, which made Lyn blush profusely. Claire then moved away with an impish smile on her face, making Lyn blushed all the more.

Bruno was now embedding his quartz shard all over the Golem's body, making it more durable and intimidating.

He was so proud of himself and keeps bragging about it to Jane who just rolled her eyes

Just when she was about to tell Bruno how pointless his contribution to the Golem was, she was taken by surprise by two powerful horizontal geysers shooting past her, almost hitting her directly.

"Wha… WHAT WAS THAT?!" Jane was down on her butt screaming in confusion.

Two powerful jets of water shot towards the Golems' feet causing it to stagger, this caused Team A to cheer thinking that they finally got the upper hand.

"Oho! So that's their play..."

Claire smiled at the fools who thought they already had things figured out.

"I can't wait to see their faces at the surprise waiting for them."

………………..

The steady jets of water unleashed by Lily and Gina were slowly being absorbed by the Golem.

As it turns out, Claire had shrewdly added some limestone and gravel, just like what she did with the wall. Lyn was the brains of it all, she had already anticipated what was going to happen.

Claire looked at Lyn's dark eyes as she was about to ask her about the point of it all.

"Why not make it concrete on the get go?"

Lyn smiled calmly, moved closer to Claire and whispered in her ear, tickling Claire at the same time.

"Deception of course… Remember, we are not here to attack but to hold out until the time expires, the more time they take planning a strategy, the more time is wasted; the more they think that their plan is working, that's another time consumed, you get what I mean right?"

Claire is still smiling when she recalled that conversation earlier, she can't help but admire Lyn's brilliance.

"Lyn, you are truly a genius… and you are all mine"

Bret noticed that something is wrong, peering more carefully at the Golem's feet, he realized that something is definitely wrong. Instead of eroding the Golem's earthen legs, it seemed to be making it a lot more solid.

Like a slap in the face, it finally makes sense now and Bret seen his error as clear as a crystalline water (which is ironic)

"GIRLS, STOP!!! YOUR WATER IS TURNING THE GOLEM INTO CONCRETE!!!"

Realising what is happening, the girls immediately dispelled their geysers, but it was a little too late, because the Earth Golem has finally evolved into a Concrete Golem.

The cheers of Team A was replaced by a disheartening silence. They knew they messed up big time, and all eyes were on Bret, a malicious look that clearly says he will be dealt with accordingly after this exercise.

The funny thing was, even Bret kind of agrees with them.

...............................

Mr. Laymore watched with interest as the battle went on, scratching his head, impressed with what Lyn and Claire had created and the trap they had set.

"These two girls are worth observing, very promising potential indeed, don't you agree Bong?"

Bong, who was still woozy, just nodded his head in agreement even though he was too confused to understand any of the happenings in the field.

"Here, drink this…" handing Bong some of his homemade tea stored in his round canteen, the teacher once more directed his attention towards the battle.

…………………

The Team B defenders however were already starting to celebrate the expected victory; with only five minutes remaining of the time, and a very powerful Golem serving as a tank, there was nothing Team A could do.

"Lucky we have Claire and Lyn on our side eh Bruno?" Jane said to Bruno who was already relaxing in a corner, very confident of their imminent victory.

"I know! Thanks to them, it seems our passes for the exams are guaranteed one hundred percent. I couldn't be more happy at the thought."

Jane turned her sights towards the two girls responsible for this assuring win. Those two are undoubtedly the pillars of this team, they single handedly turned the tide of this battle to the defenders favor.

"Hmm…" she ponderously mumbled as she noticed Claire and Lyn holding hands.

"Now that is unexpected… why Lyn, I did not know you swing that way… must be the reason you rejected every guy who confessed huh?"

She then remembered that even her beloved Greg also confessed to Lyn once before and got rejected. This made her all the more furious, her face starting to contort into an angry visage as a vein popped on her forehead once again.

She swore that Greg is going to be punished after this exercise.

Her contemplation was interrupted when she saw Tusk running with speed towards the Concrete Golem, his right hands flaming and cracking with electricity at the same time.

"Oh dear, this is not going to end well" she thought as she silently retreated into the back side of the commotion.

……………………….

Tusk, with all the strength he can muster, leaped as high as he can. Trails of cracking electricity flowing through his arm. The static charge of electricity caused the air around him to glow a faint blue colour, enveloping his whole body like a ghostly shroud, and making him look extremely cool to the ladies.

"Show off..." Lyn muttered in an unimpressed tone.

Reaching the zenith of his leap, Tusk started winding up his right hand to gather more momentum, the boy then shifted his angle, twisting his hips towards the left side of his body, transferring his weight up to his right arm.

His fist burning and cracking with fire and lighting finally threw a devastating haymaker at the Golem, throwing all of his strength and weight behind the powerful punch.

His right arm still infused with the dual spell's MAGIC drove straight to the Golems chest, Tusk then released all of the stored energy of the fire lightning combination MAGIC, hoping to destroy the monster once and for all.

*BLAAAMM!!!*

The sound of a hundred thunderstorms reverberated throughout the whole school causing the very atmosphere around the area to tremble, blasting the students, as they fell sitting down on the very ground.

It was a clean hit, Tusk knews it, everyone knew it, as they all looked dumbstruck at the awesome display of MAGIC control, never before seen at this school.

But then something unexpected happened, one student was laughing maniacally, as he finally saw his moment to shine.

"I got you now, you bastard!"

Bruno, who was embedding his quartz shards earlier in the Golem, started to make his counter attack.

Nobody expected this, as everyone's eyes were fixed on Tusk... Bruno activated a simple yet very effective quartz control spell.

"Quartz control MAGIC; Refraction."

Normally you can't refract fire, but because this fire was infused in lightning, which has luminescence, Bruno's quartz shard which was reinforced in concrete was able to bounce the lightning of Tusk.

The bolt of red lightning was thrown back across the field, so fast and more powerful than it was before.

The Students watching the spectacular battle, followed the trajectory of the spell, their eyes transfixed.

*KABLAAAAM!*

The looks of awe suddenly turned into horrified gazes as they all witnessed the bolt hit Chitose straight at her chest, blasting the fat girl with a force so strong it sent shockwaves that shook the whole area within a hundred meters.

"NOOO!!! CHITOSEEE!!!" A horrified Lyn was screaming, all the color drained from her face.

Claire was already running towards Chitose with tears streaming at her face, eyes horrified by the unexpected turn of events.

"Nonononono! This isn't real! Chitose please be fine" she said trying to convince herself that this accident is all but a bad dream.

Tusk was unable to move, he was frozen stiff, looking at the direction of Chitose with wide eyes filled with terror knowing it was all his fault.

A dreadful silence filled the air of the school grounds.

………………….

"What's this warm place?"

"Am I falling?"

"Where is everyone?"

"Lyn? Claire? Where are you guys? I can't see anything…"

Chitose picked herself up, she tried to look around this strange place she ended up. She can see nothing but a wide expanse of emptiness and a cluster of mist, here and there.

"Where am I? What a strange place… HELLOOOO!!! ANYONE THERE?! YOU CAN ALL COME OUT NOW GUYS!"

She desperately shouted as she started to get scared shitless, for being in an unknown place with not one of her friends in sight.

Chitose started to walk for a distance and tried to explore the area. She tried to run from one direction, but it seems that she always ends up in the same place, or what seems to be the same place.

Then, all of a sudden, she heard a cheery but stern voice coming from the mist just ahead of her.

"So you are finally here, ho ho ho!"

Chitose faintly sees a lone figure of a man standing just a few meters from her, but she can't see the face through all the mist that is enveloping the area.

"So you are my descendant eh? I always thought it would be a man who would be able to fulfill the conditions and unlock the door to where I hid my spirit."

"Who are you?" Chitose nervously asked the mysterious stranger.

"And what do you mean your descendant?"

"My dear, I was with you, your whole life, as I was with your father, grandfather and before them. I am your, let's say, I am your great, great, great Grandpa." The stranger declared, puffing his chest up and starting to grin like a fool.

"You're my grandpa? Pffft…" Chi stifled a laugh.

"Okay 'grandpa' what's your name?"

"My name… wow, now that I think about it, it's been too long since I actually said my name… a really long time mind you…"

With a flourish and a wink, the stranger introduces himself in a playful voice.

"I am Sinante Bluewing… nice to meet you my granddaughter"

"Who?" Was all Chitose could utter.

"Since all of the conditions were met, I think it's time to unlock your mana, my dear. One by one, as you grow stronger, my skills- your skills will be unsealed, my knowledge and spells will be passed on to you, it will not be enough, you will need new sources of powers, learn new spells to control… Tarmora is back, and the world will need you to protect it."

"You are not making any sense..." A confused Chitose said, scratching her head.

Sinante, his face suddenly serious, then walked towards Chitose and placed his hands over her silver haired head.

"My dear daughter, it's time for you to inherit my mana and my light MAGIC... it is a weak kind of MAGIC, only good for illuminating dark places, but it would serve you well without falter… this is the last of my essence, that I had carefully preserved through generations, and it's now yours. You must work hard to harness this power of yours, make it far stronger than I had."

Sinante then gently kissed her forehead saying his parting words to his descendant.

"We will one day meet again my daughter, until then live your life to the fullest, always remember, coffee is far better than tea! Train hard and become High Balekon, farewell!"

With that, the last and only High Balekon in history finally moved on from this plane of existence.

Chi felt a warm and calm energy flow through her whole body, it felt very relaxing and comfortable, it even feels so familiar, like it has been with her, her whole life. She calmly accepted it all into her being, this energy flowing, so powerful yet so subtle.

She smiled a warm smile, like all the happiness in the world was hers and hers alone. She felt very light, like all the weight of the world has been taken down from her shoulders.

She slowly opened her eyes, it felt like a wonderful dream, a dream filled with love and hope.

She is smiling, and she sees Lyn looking at her full of tears, and also Claire who seems to be crying too. But she also notices that amid their tears, they seemed to look a bit confused, and surprised and uncertain at the same time.

"Eh? What happened? Why do you have that look guys?"

Lyn hugged Chitose tightly and Claire also joined in.

"We thought we lost you," Claire said, still crying.

"Are you okay, are you bleeding somewhere?" Claire proceeded to check Chitose's body.

"How is this even possible?! No wounds at all, and most of all…"

Claire grabbed Chi's shoulders with both hands and stared her straight in the eyes.

"Chi, what on earth happened, WHY HAVE YOU SO SUDDENLY BECAME SO SLIM?!"

"HAAA?!" Chi replied in shock.


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