Azura was intently watching the 3rd match. It was pretty obvious the tier of combat had gone way up. Not necessarily because the strength of the teams had gone way up as because everyone had seen enough matches with the other teams to start adapting strategies. Which left the matches a lot less predictable. Team tornado blade, and team frost fire were demonstrating that difference as they both cycled between all kinds of elemental attacks to try and get the upper hand on the other. Not to say they had abandoned their main strategies completely, blades of super condensed air still met with icy blue flames that froze whatever they came into contact with.
If Elismera stayed out of the next fight as well, then heâd need to have a tailor made strategy, his last attempt had been disappointing, but he had also been improvising that whole fight. He had let Elismeraâs presence get to his head, and had mostly just stuck to his original plan for supporting her, but when forced to fight on his own he fell short, but not twice. Next time heâd be ready. Even Auros was only factored into his plans rather than a main part of them. That way even if the man was taken out or decided not to fight his plan would be the same. Not to say heâd win on his own, no matter how he thought about it, it was impossible. Still heâd give it a solid try if it came down to it.
His biggest concern came from how exactly they were choosing the fights. He might have noticed a pattern, but he hoped he was wrong. He shook his head. He was letting himself get distracted, he had to focus on the match. Right as he tuned back in a blazing red fire enhanced by wind met the icy blue fire. A cloud of fog spread from the point of impact completely blocking everyone's view of the field. The fight would be decided by what each team did in the fog, and how well their team had strategized would become the most important factor with any means of silent communication cut off. Unless they had a telepath, but doubted it.
Shattering glass filled the air, 3 people were out, but the announcer didnât call it, so they werenât all from the same team. The fog was silent. None of the remaining 3 wanted to make themselves a target by revealing they were among the remaining 3. A loud explosion echoed out of the silence followed by the sound of air being cut and then shattering glass. He closed his eyes, the battle hadnât been called yet, but it was over. Team tornado cutter had prepared for visibility to disappear, having decided on a single target to take out so they knew which people were standing after each sound of shattering glass. Whereas the other team each attacked someone independently.
As expected the last member of frost fire shot out a big wave of the icy blue flames, but his attack surging for the right side hit nothing that foe had already been defeated, the violent tornado summoned on frost fireâs side quickly dispersed the frog, but it was too little too late, as the tornado fell upon the last remaining member and for the last time of this match shattering glass filled the air. All in all, it had been a fairly solid match. Heâd give both teams passing marks, but he didnât think either team was out of reach even if Elismera stayed back again.
He was prepared this time, even Auros had a new resolve burning in his eyes. Azura wondered if their new resolve would even have a chance to be tested. After all, sometimes when you reach for the stars, they reach back.
***
Kaiser was bored. The Silver kidâs match had been fun, and he was looking forward to his rematch with the kid and Elismera, but sitting through all these worthless matches was grating on him. The other teams were trying their best, but they didnât have the strength of Elismera, or the trickiness of Azura, which ultimately left the fights unentertaining. Even despite the fights themselves being boring his blood was raging violently through him. He vaguely recognized the feeling as excitement. Of course he was excited. Concurrent casting was the only thing Elismera surpassed him at, and Azura had been able to surpass even that. For the first time in a very long time he wasnât sure he would win, and that more than anything else excited him.
He could cast 8 spells at the same time, same as Elismera, but he had to really focus to do it, while she was capable of doing it mid-combat, while she was moving and fighting like normal. In this game that wouldnât come into play though, afterall in cyvran you had to stand still anyway. Even with that though, he had no hope of reaching even 9 much less something absurd like 18. Of course the number of spells wasnât the only relevant factor, but even still he might be pushed onto his back foot by that. At least if he was on his own. He didnât think heâd win a 1v2 against those 2, but in a 3v3 it was a coin toss at worst. He was still the strongest, and his teammates werenât slouches either. If Elismera and Azura focused on taking him out they might succeed, but his team would take out their 3rd member and back him up fairly quickly.
Then again he doubted they would do anything immediately obvious, after all that was Azuraâs greatest strength, he was unpredictable and would come up with complex strategies on the fly. He didnât need strategy very often, but he had learned not to underestimate it. So the question became, what was his plan? For the first time he could remember he actually considered what the best course of action to take in a fight was. âHey Gareth, you know Azura best, what do you think their plan is going to be?â Even a general idea would help him plan around it, or at least he figured it would. How hard could strategy really be?
***
Gareth was seething, even as the final match of the 4th round raged in front of him he couldnât concentrate on it at all. 18 spells, and that was 18 enchantment spells at that, no matter how you look at it itâs not possible. Yet he saw it with his own eyes. Just what was the heir of Silver? He knew for a fact Azura wasnât anywhere near that strong when they went to the capital, not even with the weird transformation that made him run wild. He was confident he was stronger than Azura until very recently. Honestly even when he lost their fight in the trials it wasnât because he was weaker, he simply hadnât known about Azuraâs copies.
So then when did Azura reach this level? It was way too sudden, but he couldnât deny the power Azura had displayed in front of everyone. He grit his teeth. His competitive spirit had been well and truly ignited. More than ever before, he didnât want to lose. If Azura grew in strength heâd just have to grow even more. The first part of that was the thing Azura had that he lacked, that is aside from unique magic and a strange transformation. Azura was a master of misdirection both on the field of conversation and battle. He already had conversation covered, but even though it wasnât his style heâd need to master the art in battle if he wanted to be able to see through Azuraâs intentions.
He may have lost once, but heâd be damned if he let it happen again. So he schemed. He thought about every route the fight could take, he considered the possibility that all 3 members of the other team had been holding back, and unfortunately found it very likely. It was obvious to anyone that his team which held the strongest in the school was the team to beat. Azuraâs team was naturally keeping as many tricks to themselves as possible before their inevitable match.
So then, what were their odds of victory? Kaiser was stronger than he could fathom, but the man had said heâd have his hands full dealing with Elismera. Kaiserâs strategy pretty much came down to him focusing as much power as he could on Elismera to stop her from interfering as he and Liander could take out the other 2. In a normal 2v2, no even if he was factored out and it was just Liander vs Azura and Auros, it was obvious the 4th year would win, but this was cyvran, and that meant even in a 2v2 he wasnât confident in their odds. In terms of power output and spell maneuverability he was still better than Azura, but the other 1st year had an edge in concurrent casting, and versatility.
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He sighed no matter how you look at it, this was any manâs game. The teams were nearly dead even, or at least they were so long as Azura was there to enhance his team members. That was perhaps the most galling thing. If he and Azura were taken out it would go from a 50/50 to practically a guaranteed win for Kaiser. In other words Azura had a much larger impact on the field then he did. Still most would think that Azuraâs team revolved around Elismera, and in some ways it did, but no the real lynchpin in their team was Azura himself.
Still Elismera wasnât a pushover, if Kaiser focused on taking out Azura he would take some damage from Elismera, and that would put them in a tight spot. So ultimately Kaiserâs plan was probably their best course of action, but a general idea of what to do wasnât going to be enough to overcome the other team, especially when Azura was no doubt thinking along the same lines as he was. He grit his teeth. He wouldnât lose this time, no matter what.
***
To Lily the 4th match was rather anticlimactic. Team metal turtle literally won by hiding behind shield after shield as their opponents exhausted themselves, and then finished the fight by creating a few holes in the shell so they could fire off decently powerful attack spells to take out their opponents. She couldnât say the strategy wasnât effective, but she could say it was boring. âThey really took their name seriously huh? I canât say I ever expected to see a turtling strategy in cyvran.â She rolled her eyes. Roran was trying to lighten the mood, not that she could blame him. The announcement of the first match of the semi-finals still rang in their ears, as the floating images of the 2 fighting teams hung above the arena like a guillotine.
âTeam Crimson vs Team Enchanted flower.â Her voice was laced with concern. They all knew the fight was coming, but she at least had thought it would come in the finals. Given the resigned sigh Azura had released before he walked off, he had predicted this. Realistically speaking, if the fights were random it wasnât odd for their match to take place before the finals, and if they had switched into brackets once an easier to manage number of teams were left then since they were the first 2 matches of last round they would fight in this round either way. âSeriously? The teachers should have just rigged it, whatâs the point of a fight after this one.â
âThis is actually exactly why Azura doesnât like tournament formats, itâs not always necessarily the best fighter that wins, in fact often it isnât.â Katy complained loudly. Frankly she didnât blame her. The most important fight in the tournament was about to happen, and there were 2 more fights after this. Frankly she hadnât even considered the possibility of the fight happening early until after it was announced.
âWell on the bright side at least the next fight wonât be boring.â She spoke up with a chuckle. The tense atmosphere eased slightly. Realistically the result of the fight didnât much matter. She doubted the reward would be anything too spectacular, and even if it was it wasnât like anyone other than Kaiserâs team would get it either. âPlus once itâs over we donât really have to watch anymore.â She couldnât say she was a huge fan of watching other people have fun. The typical boredom associated with it to her was only slightly alleviated by the caliber of the fights.
âThatâs true, win or lose this might as well be the final match.â Siara stretched her arms out and yawned. âWhich is probably for the best, watching all this exertion is making me tired.â They all laughed, even her, but she couldnât really hide her apprehension. Perhaps it was her competitive spirit, but she really wanted him to win.
***
Azura stood across from Gareth as the teams took their positions. Aside from Kaiser, everyone else looked apprehensive. Not too surprising, Kaiser and Elismera were monstrously strong, and he had revealed his extra casting trick. He had recovered enough to use his optimal multicast, but 8 spells at a time probably wouldnât turn the tide. If he limited it to 12 his circuits would still take damage, but it would take longer before the damage was enough to affect his combat ability. If he had to guess, probably around 30 minutes? No best to assume 20.
âYou ready? Elsimera asked neutrally. They had planned for this fight from the very beginning, and their strategy was already finalized. It would unfortunately leave a massive strain on him, as he was the lynchpin that made the strategy possible. It certainly didnât help that the enemy almost definitely knew that.
âAs Iâll ever be. What about you?â She shrugged With an awkward smile. He sighed, that about checked out. Sheâd have to handle Kaiser and the other 4th year, while Auros dealt with Gareth. Heâd simply be playing support for both of them. Simple didnât mean easy though, without a doubt his job was the hardest. He would have to adapt his enchantments constantly, and in cyvran that meant reapplying them constantly. He would have to keep a constant vigil, as one slip up or delay on his side and the fight would be over.
âI still canât believe my job in this fight is so easy. Not to say Iâm underestimating my opponent just cause heâs a first year, but even without your backup I think I could take him.â Auros chimed in. He hummed noncommittally. It was a tough call, Auros was definitely stronger and more practiced, but Gareth had the advantage of being able to wield several different elements. In cyvran at least it would be a coin toss, at least without anyone else involved. This fight would have 6 people in it, so it was even harder to judge things like that.
âDonât get cocky, even if Kaiser focuses on me right away, odds are their last team member wonât.â Elismera had a solid foundation in battle tactics, if you were simply talking about textbook strategy than she was without a doubt his superior, but that was because he focused more on unorthodox strategies. That being said she was certainly correct about who the enemies would be focused on. Kaiser couldnât afford to focus on him and risk getting taken out by Elismera, so his plan would no doubt be to try and keep Elismera out of the fight while the other 2 tried to take him out.
Unfortunately, predictable didnât always mean bad. That strategy was the best one that Kaiser could use, and it put him and his team at a distinct disadvantage.Still, he didnât think the fight was hopeless. It came down to who took out an enemy first. If any on either team fell the balance of power would heavily shift.
âAlright let's kick these semi-finals off with a bang! Team Crimson vs team Enchanted flowers⦠Fight!â The second the signal was given Tree roots surged around their side as Elismera protected them from the quick assault of blood. He quickly claimed the space to prevent any more attacks from originating on their side. As he enchanted the roots to be partially see through so he and Auros could still cast while shielded. The giant tree Elismera formed in an instant would be the center of their strategy. He buffed it as much as he could. Fire resistance, durability, magic destabilization, and eliminating wind resistance. The assault of roots and vines from the tree were much faster, and were tough enough to tank most hits.
2 of the other spells he could safely cast were used to increase the ice spear's heat resistance, and electrically charge the water dragon Auros had sent towards Gareth. The last 2 were used to create a magic circle at both Aurosâ and Elismeraâs feat. Those would gather natural mana, and passively buff their spells. He left himself no spells to cast any offensive or defensive spells of his own. It was a strategy that involved a lot of trust on his part.
Kaiser had created many tendrils of blood, and they waged a war against Elismeraâs assault. Gareth desperately tried to fend off the duel assault of Auros, but was struggling against the enhanced spells. The other 4th year jumped in to back Gareth up, a loud rumbling sound created a shockwave strong enough to blow away the icy spears, but the dragon held up, and swung its electrically charged claw at Gareth. Elismeraâs roots made for the 4th year to stop him from supporting Gareth. He used a time dilation spell to speed up the roots. That forced the 4th year to block them himself since Kaiserâs blood tendrils wouldnât reach in time. The claw struck down with incredible force, and a dust cloud came up. The fight had barely even started, and he was already stressed out.